June 9, 2024
Spring crappie fishing is a glorious thing — meaty slabs that taste great, bobbers going under, and the tug of a big panfish coupled with the joys of family fishing. Great times, great memories. But…
November 4, 2023
Cold fronts are pushing through and a chill has crept into the air — in freshwater venues and upper tidal rivers throughout our corner of the world, crappie will be trying to pack on the pounds…
July 17, 2023
A friend of mine, Dennis, had asked a few times if I’d like to do some crappie fishing on the Potomac River with him. But I always had some other commitment. So when I read a text from him saying “…
March 3, 2023
You wish you could shove Old Man Winter down a flight of stairs as he makes his way out of our house? Us, too — 80 degrees and sunny sounds pretty darn magnificent right about now. But short of a…
February 9, 2023
Countless anglers plying the waters of DelMarVa have used shad darts thousands of times and caught countless fish on them — without ever necessarily shad fishing. While fishing for shad can be a ton…
January 20, 2023
Something I love about Chesapeake Bay fishing is the relatively mild winters compared to my home state of Pennsylvania. As much as I love fishing, freezing in an ice shanty and all the work and…
October 7, 2022
Every year I look forward to the autumn months when slab-sided crappie are putting on the feedbag to fatten up for the winter months. Temperatures are dropping, leaves are falling, and northwest…
August 26, 2022
As water temps in reservoirs first begin to drop, usually in mid- to late-September, crappie will put on the feed bag to fatten up for winter, and often become uber-aggressive when they see small,…
August 18, 2022
Whether Alexandria is your atmosphere, Baltimore is your backyard, or Chesterfield is your corner of the world, if you enjoy chasing fish like bass, crappie, and bluegill, somewhere close by there’s…
March 1, 2022
You say you did not partake in the ice fishing season and you’re sick and tired of sub-freezing temperatures, not to mention cold winds and being bottled up inside? Us too — thank goodness we’ll soon…
January 16, 2022
As the water temperatures start to drop there is no need to stop dropping jigs on top of schooling crappie. Here in the Mid-Atlantic region, you will find black crappie in most reservoirs, rivers,…
December 21, 2021
Blade baits and largemouth bass in the Mid-Atlantic zone… hmmm. I always thought it was a Mid-South, cold weather Tennessee Valley type of gig for deep-water spotted bass, and maybe some white bass…
October 27, 2021
Most people who know me know that I have a longstanding addiction to panfish species, especially bluegill and crappie. Throw in the possibility of catching trophy-class fish and the addiction only…
August 30, 2021
More than two decades ago famed bass angler Ned Kehde, of In Fisherman fame, created the now classic “Ned rig” for finesse bass anglers and multi-species fishermen. Basically, it’s a light jig head…
January 10, 2021
As long as the fresher headwaters of tidal creeks and tributaries doesn’t freeze solid, a mixed bag of crappie, perch, pickerel, and bass awaits. One under-utilized method of prospecting for winter…
November 20, 2020
Many of us cruise down the DelMarVa peninsula on a regular basis during our fishing endeavors, whether it’s to hit a Chesapeake Bay fishing hotspot or reach the beach for some saltier action. But…
June 15, 2020
When you hear about fly fishing, most people automatically think of rainbow trout. Visions of Norman Maclean and Izaak Walton (though the latter didn't actually fly fish) wading in a scenic stream or…
May 24, 2020
Looking back at my 2019 fishing log has me thinking about some summertime crappie fishing from my kayak. Fishing for those summertime slabs in the warmer months of the year can pose several…