Strong northeast wind and occasional heavy rain did not help local bass fishermen, especially those who worked the main stem of the tidal Potomac River and its tributaries.
This week, a lot of the bass hunters complained of meager catches. But nor’easters actually convince certain fish species that it’s time to begin feeding. One of them is the fighting cobia, a sleek, brown-skinned battler that apparently enjoys a stiff breeze around its hangouts in the lower Chesapeake Bay.
And what about much-smaller white perch?
“We had a ball catching nice-sized perch on small Chatterbaits and little spinnerbaits,” said La Plata’s Dale Knupp, who this time of year aims his lures at rocky shorelines, fallen timber, sand spits and weed-bed edges in the middle and lower tidal parts of the Potomac and Patuxent rivers and their feeder creeks.
By the way, Lexington Park’s Ken Lamb reminds us that Norfolk spot are now on the fishing reef in the mouth of the Patuxent, off the Cedar Point Officers’ Club.
“This is a good place to stock up on spot for live-lining rockfish, which will begin in earnest in October in the area from Cove Point to Cedar Point, and at the Gas Docks and Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant,” he said.
Lamb believes the stripers might be in those locations a bit earlier this year because the weather has been cool in the northern Atlantic, perhaps bringing the bigger fish south earlier than usual.
Meanwhile, a good mix of bluefish and young stripers is found up and down the Chesapeake Bay from above Annapolis down to the Rappahannock River in Virginia. Spot and croakers are taken inside the Eastern Bay and stripers have struck lures under the Route 50 bridge in the Kent Narrows.
(Ratings key: ****=Excellent fishing; ***=Good; **=Fair; *=Poor)
AREA 1: D.C. AND VICINITY
TIDAL POTOMAC RIVER: 0-35 miles (***) — At Fletcher’s Cove (Georgetown, off Canal Road; call 202/244-0461) a bit of a slowdown was noted by visiting anglers. Not much was caught. The same applied to the rest of the upper tidal portions of the river. Strong northeast winds some days and a full moon followed by rain didn’t exactly provide explosive catches of largemouth bass for river boaters and shoreline anglers. All the same, small spinnerbaits, in-line spinners, tiny Chatterbaits and little, curly tailed grubs work well even when the weather doesn’t cooperate. The perch fishing on the main stem from Wade’s Bay to below Colonial Beach has been fine. Bluefish and rockfish of mostly smaller sizes are found by trollers over wide river parts from the Route 301 bridge to the mouth at Point Lookout. The flounder continue to cooperate at Steuart’s Pier and the general Piney Point area, as well as along channel ledges from St. George’s Island clear down to Cornfield Harbor, which actually has been the most productive spot — but usually on the deep sides, near the river channel.
WICOMICO RIVER: 55 miles (*) — Slow going for most species this week. The perch fishing usually holds steady and will get better this weekend, but don’t put your money on the hardheads (croakers).
MATTAWOMAN CREEK: 40 miles (**) — If the fishing for bass was less than you expected, blame the wind, full moon, rain — or all three. Saturday and Sunday should bring more stable conditions and better catches of largemouths and catfish.
SOUTHERN MARYLAND LAKES: 40-50 miles (**) — Gilbert Run Park’s Wheatley Lake (Route 6, east of La Plata) didn’t turn up much of anything over the past several days, but it will be OK this weekend. At St. Mary’s Lake (south on Route 5, past Leonardtown, to Camp Cosoma Road) the bass fishing will be in full swing once the weather settles back down.
LITTLE SENECA LAKE: 30 miles (**) — Black Hill Regional Park (off Route 117 near Boyds, 301/972-9396) and the nearby Seneca Creek Lake (Clopper Road, Gaithersburg, 301/924-2127) Wind and rain didn’t help. Neither did the full moon before it rained. But the bass and panfish should be back in action this weekend.
WSSC RESERVOIRS: 20-30 miles (***) — (Triadelphia, off Route 97, or Route 650, in Montgomery County; Rocky Gorge, off Route 29 in Montgomery County) There’ll be murky or muddy conditions in the upper reaches of the reservoirs, but bass and crappies are used to seeing changes in water clarity. Work those scented baits, such as Berkley PowerBait worms, jig’n’pig lures (with a real pork chunk on the hook). The bass will find it. Small minnows now would be best for crappies.
BALTIMORE-AREA RESERVOIRS: 50-75 miles (***) — Prettyboy Lake is on Route 137; Liberty is on Oakland Road in Eldersburg, Carroll County.) Even if the wind and rain slowed down johnboaters, the fishing will be back in good form by the weekend, I hope. Scented plastic worms, loud topwater chug baits and spinnerbaits will draw strikes from bass. Live crawfish will attract smallmouth bass quicker than any artificial lure.
PATUXENT RIVER: 25-60 miles (***) — The Tackle Box in Lexington Park reports that the bottom fishing has been good for croakers in the mouth of the river. Good catches came in over the weekend, with some of the fish measuring up to 18 inches. “Snapper blues are still on the beaches, and white perch are active in the creeks,” Ken Lamb said. Norfolk spot are now on the fishing reef in the mouth of the Patuxent off the Cedar Point Officers’ Club.
OCCOQUAN RESERVOIR: 25-30 miles (***) — Fountainhead Regional Park ranger Smokey Davis reported that the cooler nights contributed to some fine bass action over the past week. “Several limits of quality fish were caught,” he said. “The crankbait bite is just now starting to turn on with medium running shad and bluegill patterns seemingly working the best. Carolina-rigged lizards and 8-inch purple worms also caught good fish off main-lake points and in the mouths of deep coves. Nice catches of crappie were taken off main-lake blowdowns, with the larger fish found as deep as 11 feet.” Before the rain, the reservoir was clear and down 12 inches, with surface temperatures staying in the mid-70s.
BURKE LAKE: 29 miles (***) — (Ox Road, Route 123, Fairfax County) This lake is not nearly as affected by rains as some others are. The bass, crappie, sunfish and catfish opportunities will resume now. Try to fish as early as possible even though it’s a bit cooler.
AREA 2: CENTRAL, WESTERN MARYLAND
UPPER POTOMAC RIVER: 35-100 miles (**) — Rain might have hurt a bit, but smallmouth catches should be back on this weekend no matter where you go. It can happen as far up as Washington County and as far down as the Seneca Breaks in Montgomery County.
DEEP CREEK LAKE: 179 miles (***) — Lake guide Brent Nelson (240/460-8839) agrees with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ Keith Lockwood, who reported that local hardcore fishermen up this way are happy to get their lake back now that most vacationers have left. At least the boat traffic has dropped significantly. “Walleyes and smallmouth bass are holding along the edges of the deeper grass beds in about 10 to 15 feet of water,” Lockwood said. Meanwhile, Nelson finds largemouth bass on tubes and jerkbaits in shoreline rocks and brush and in the backs of deepwater coves.
SUSQUEHANNA RIVER: 65-100 miles (**) — Slow going for bass inside the river this week, but there’ll be a mix of rockfish and snapper blues outside, in the northernmost portion of the Chesapeake Bay.
AREA 3: CHESAPEAKE BAY
MARYLAND: 45-75 miles (***) — The moment the wind stops howling there will be fish caught all over the Bay. As far up as Baltimore Harbor, keeper-size rockfish and snapper bluefish have been hooked. Then there are schools of stripers (most of them barely legal, but also some in the 23- and 24-inch class) along with roving schools of blues that can range from the upper parts of the Bay down to the Virginia state line. Some of our readers are having a ball on spot and croakers inside the eastern Bay, the Poplar Island stretch and the broad outsides of the Choptank River mouth where spot, rockfish, blues and some croakers can show up at any moment. Heading down into lower Eastern Shore and southern Maryland waters, you’ll catch blues, rockfish, some red drum and flounder. Look out for breaking schools of stripers and blues, such as the ones that were found by young charter captain Greg Buckner, who comes out of Solomons. Buckner had breaking fish galore near the PR Buoy. A mix of Spanish mackerel, bluefish and stripers was hooked, and everybody aboard got a limit catch.
Lexington Park’s Ken Lamb has a plan. He said there are tons of spot in the mouth of the Patuxent River, off the Officer’s club. “This is a good place to stock up on spot for live-lining rockfish, which will begin in earnest in October in the area from Cove Point to Cedar Point, and at the Gas Docks and Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant,” he said. Lamb believes the stripers will be in these locations earlier this year because the weather has cooled more than normal. “Fall trolling may come in faster, too, as the northern coast of the Atlantic has been extra cool all summer, maybe triggering an early rockfish run,” he figures.
VIRGINIA: 75-150 miles (***) — Lots of breaking Spanish mackerel, bluefish and striper action will be had in the Northern Neck’s waters down to the Rappahannock River mouth right now, but the wind needs to lay down so you can see the fish to throw a surface lure to. Down in the lower Bay, the cobias didn’t mind the nor’easter that made everybody else miserable.
“It has been the fish of the week,” Ken Neill of Virginia Beach said. “The first northeast blow usually [turns] these fish on — and we have had a blow. York Spit and the hills around Bluefish Rock have been very productive for anglers chumming for cobia. The CB buoys have been holding good numbers of cobia and pods of fish are being encountered around the mouth of the bay and along the oceanfront.” Neill also said that a few big red drum are being caught by anglers chumming for cobia and by others fishing for flounder. “The flounder bite has actually been pretty good considering the wind,” he said. “It should get better when things calm down again.”
AREA 4: EASTERN SHORE/MARYLAND
CHOPTANK RIVER: 120 miles (***) — (Route 50 east to Cambridge) Look for keeper rockfish, bluefish, spot and croakers in the mouth and for some distance up inside. Perch, some spot and hardheads could be taken from the Bill Burton fishing bridge in Cambridge, but not many people have tried in the rain and wind. Ditto for the bass boaters who normally would be on the river around Denton.
POCOMOKE RIVER: 140-170 miles (***) — (From Snow Hill down to Shad Landing) Rainy weather didn’t hurt this river. Not only that, but this also is a place where you can find shelter from strong winds, what with all the heavily treed shoreline banks up and down the river. You’ll find a bass or two or three if you work soft plastics or medium crawfish-pattern crankbaits in flooded wood and brush.
NANTICOKE RIVER: 120 miles (**) — (Sharptown ramp off Route 313, or use the Marshyhope Creek ramp outside Federalsburg) The wind has been blowing, and it stopped people from even trying it on this river. However, bass can be caught in the Marshyhope or Broad creeks, as well as around the blowdowns and bulkheads up around Seaford, Del.
AREA 5: CENTRAL VIRGINIA
LAKE ANNA: 82 miles (**) — (Route 208, Spotsylvania County) Blame the recent weather, but when it blows this lake can be a tough adversary; hence not many main-lake boaters have been out. There will be a good bass and striper bite this weekend, for sure, even after the rain.
RAPPAHANNOCK RIVER: 47-100 miles (*) — Upper-river smallmouth bass might be on hold for a while because of recent rains. For that matter, so will the tidal parts of the river that surely will be muddy by now.
LAKE BRITTLE: 59 miles (***) — (Route 793, off Route 29) Even when it’s discolored, there will be bass, sunfish, catfish and crappies willing to bite. Bass chances are good if you use scented plastic worms or live minnows under a cork.
LAKE ORANGE: 75 miles (***) — (Concessionaire: 540/672-3997; look for left-turn sign on Route 20 before entering town of Orange) Catfish are a good bet, but some bass can be taken on live bait even after inclement weather.
LAKE GASTON: 179 miles (***) — (Route 46, Gasburg) Bracey, Va., resident Marty Magone said: “Water temperatures are cooling but Gaston’s bass are still relating to the upriver grass beds. If you’re having trouble getting a lure through the vegetation, try rigging a large weightless Senko Texas-style and it will slip right through the toughest grass. Stripers are moving past the Route 1 bridge and will hit topwater lures as well as jigs.” Down the lake, dock patterns are starting to deliver fine near the Pea Hill Creek tributary.
KERR RESERVOIR: 185 miles (***) — (Route 58, Clarksville) Catfish, crappies and bass — in that order. All three will bite this weekend as long as the wind lays down.
JAMES RIVER: 115 miles (**) — (Tidal Richmond area and downstream) Expect the blue catfish to bite, maybe a few bass in river pockets and coves where blowdowns and discarded metal is seen.
CHICKAHOMINY RIVER: 135 miles (***) — (Williamsburg area) There will be bass, catfish and some fat white perch and crappies caught, but most of that will happen in the upper half of the creek.
AREA 6: WESTERN VIRGINIA
SHENANDOAH RIVER: 75-85 miles (***) — (Route 340, Front Royal, Luray and Bentonville areas) The smallmouth bass are reacting to the cooler weather and they’re not bashful about hitting a topwater chug bait, or a small crankbait in crawfish colors.
SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE: 210 miles (***) — (Route 122, east of Roanoke) Landlocked stripers are getting more active downlake. Deep-jigged lures or live bream that are used as bait will find them on channel ledges. The largemouth bass are beginning to chase crankbaits around boat docks and lake points.
UPPER JAMES RIVER: 130 miles (***) — (Route 6, south of Charlottesville, Scottsville) The smallmouth bass like Zoom Flukes, medium-diving 1/4-ounce crankbaits and tube jigs in the rock beds and deep pockets that are found on the downstream side of large boulders.
AREA 7: ATLANTIC OCEAN
MARYLAND: 153-175 miles (***) — (Route 50 to Ocean City) Strong northeast winds didn’t help the fishing here, but the Department of Natural Resources’ Keith Lockwood reminds us that on Sunday the closure of flounder season will take effect while flounder fans are doing quite well in the back waters of Ocean City and Assateague Island. The inlet also holds the flatfish, as do the beach waters. Rockfish come into the inlet every night and they’re hooked between the ocean and the Route 50 bridge. If it doesn’t blow and the blue-water boats can get out to the canyons, there will be yellowfin tunas, false albacore, dolphinfish and wahoos, but the latter two will disappear quickly if cooler weather arrives.
VIRGINIA: 210 miles to Virginia Beach (***) — The wind has been a problem of late, but from Virginia Beach, Ken Neill said the Spanish mackerel are still available in the lower Chesapeake Bay and along the Virginia Beach oceanfront.
“Amberjack continue to be thick at the South Tower,” he said. “Some amberjack and jack crevalle have shown at the Chesapeake Light Tower. Boats getting offshore are encountering billfish from the Washington Canyon on south. Good numbers of dolphin, wahoo, and more tuna are also showing in the catch. For charter bookings, check with the Virginia Beach Fishing Center, 757/491-8000.
*Look for Gene Mueller’s Outdoors column Sunday and Wednesday, and his Fishing Report on Thursday, only in The Washington Times. E-mail: gmueller>washingtontimes.com. Also check out Inside Outside, Gene Mueller’s blogs about outdoors happenings here and elsewhere. Go to www.washingtontimes.com/sports and click on Inside Outside.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.