Lower Bay Fishing Reports

Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, March 6 Update:

We heard the first peepers of the year this week as the first signs of spring start to reveal themselves. FishTalk contributor Eric Packard visited Mason Springs on the upper Mattawoman this week. Eric caught a bunch of yellow perch and a few sunfish while bouncing around small panfish jigs. He said that about half the perch were keeper size while the others were small males. The yellow perch bite should pick up as we head into next week. Small panfish jigs are effective for catching several species of fish in these small creeks, but tipping your jig with minnows or grass shrimp is the most effective method to catch fish during the perch runs. As water temperatures climb, yellow and white perch will be making their way up the Lower Bay tidal rivers. On the striped bass front, we had a report from an angler who said they have been catching big migratory striped bass at the mouth of the Potomac River over the past few weeks. These fish are hanging around channel ledges but will also move onto shallow flats to take advantage of slightly warmer water during warm fronts. Anglers should remember that as of March 1st, there are many areas within Maryland waters of the Chesapeake Bay that are closed to targeting striped bass. This includes all the tributaries off the main stem of the Potomac on the Maryland side of the River. The Virginia tributaries are still open for catch and release fishing, as is the D.C. portion of the river.

The D.C. Department of Health lifted the recreational advisory for the Potomac River on Monday, March 2nd. Testing has shown that bacteria levels have stabilized to a normal threshold over the past few weeks, so recreational activities can resume on the river. We are just a few weeks away from the start of the shad run, which typically kicks off during the end of March, so hopefully all the contaminated water has been flushed out of the river by now. Fletcher’s Cove is one of the best shad fishing locations on the East Coast, offering excellent opportunities for hickory shad and American shad during the spring. These fish will also be running up the Rappahannock to Fredericksburg, on the York River to West Point, where they will split into the Mattaponi and Pamunkey rivers, and on the James up to Richmond. These rivers should be on all shad anglers’ radars in the coming weeks as we have reports of fish running up the tributaries in North Carolina, so our migratory fish should be here soon. Hickory shad are the first to show up and American shad usually arrive a few weeks later. American shad are less numerous but grow much larger than hickories. Both species look very similar, but the tell-tale way to identify them is that hickory shad have an underbite jaw while American shad have an even jaw.