Fish Lines
What's the Catch?
Washington & Vicinity
TIDAL POTOMAC RIVER -- Grass beds between Piscataway and Nanjemoy provided the best largemouth bass action, with Piscataway Creek, Marshall Hall, mouth of Mattawoman Creek and grass beds just inside the mouth of Chickamuxen Creek among the most productive locations. Buzzbaits were effective early in the day, but when the sun gets high, stickbaits and plastic grubs rigged to quarter-ounce leadheads were the only game in town. Not much going on between Belle Haven and the D.C. bridges. Algae blooms continue to plague the river, and as temperatures continue to rise, the problem could worsen. Channel catfish to 10 pounds continue to dominate the action near Fletcher's Landing and Washington Channel, where shorebound and boating anglers caught good numbers of catties using bottom-fished night crawlers, stink baits and slabs of cut herring. A few monster carp were also taken from the same locations and put up an incredible battle on light tackle. Some carp caught and released were estimated at more than 20 pounds.
UPPER POTOMAC RIVER -- The river's upper reaches were slammed by the past week's heavy rains, but a few more days of hot, dry weather should bring some clearing conditions. Before the rains, good catches of smallmouth bass were reported at Whites and Edwards ferries, where tiny tube lures enticed strikes from bronzebacks up to 12 inches.
SUSQUEHANNA RIVER (PA.) -- Tailrace waters downriver of Holtwood Dam, the mouth of Muddy Creek and cut between Big Bear and Little Bear islands provided anglers with good catches of smallmouth bass, many of which tipped the scales at 12 to 15 inches. Channel catfish were found at the same locations, most weighing two to three pounds at best. Live minnows proved best for bronzebacks, while chicken livers, night crawlers and prepared catfish baits enticed catties. Conowingo Lake's lower reaches provided scattered catches of largemouth bass for early morning anglers casting shallow-running crankbaits near the log jams at Police Cove and across the lake along the rocky eastern shore.
Maryland
TRIADELPHIA AND ROCKY GORGE RESERVOIRS -- The past week's largemouth bass action was slow, though both impoundments provided weekend anglers with good catches of channel catfish, crappie and white perch, all taken on night crawlers.
LOCH RAVEN RESERVOIR -- The impoundment remains at full level. White perch catches were good for weekend anglers, but many of the fish measured six to 10 inches at most. Largemouth bass catches were fair for early morning anglers fishing the edges of grass beds and log jams above Dulaney Valley Bridge, while beneath the bridge a few crappie to 10 inches bit live minnows. Chain pickerel remain plentiful throughout the lake's middle reaches, mainly along the edges of grass beds.
Virginia
LAKE ANNA -- Summer bass fishing patterns are in full swing, with the largest fish holding tight on deep drop-offs, beneath bridges and in the shade of deep-water piers. Most of the bass taken were found in the main lake and mouths of creeks where water temperatures are a few degrees lower. Darrin Bache and Larry Meadows of Fredericksburg caught an 11-pound stringer, with their largest fish tipping the scales at six pounds. Lots of stripers scattered from Dike No. 1 to Stubbs and Holiday bridges. The fish seem to be in tight schools and holding in depths of 20 to 30 feet. Weekend trollers scored well in the main lake, fishing mainly with XPS, Cordell Redfins and DD-22s. Live bait is also working well. Local anglers John and J.C. Moran caught limits of stripers with combined weights to 56 pounds. Crappie remain plentiful beneath bridges and deep-water piers, where live minnows and two-inch plastic grubs rigged to tiny leadheads enticed fish to 12 inches. The same rig also provided some unexpected hits from big channel catfish.
SHENANDOAH RIVER -- High, muddy water eliminated much of the past weekend's fishing activity.
Chesapeake Bay
UPPER BAY -- While there are still good numbers of striped bass being caught from the tailrace waters of Conowingo Dam, most measured a few inches shy of the 18-inch minimum size limit. Farther down the Susquehanna River near the head of Robert Island in The Pool, a few-keeper size stripers were taken on small surface plugs fished late in the afternoon and early evening. Only a handful of stripers were found among the patches of Susquehanna Flats' aquatic vegetation during the past week; most were too small to keep. However, the same grass beds held tidewater largemouth bass to five pounds; the fish were extremely aggressive despite rising water temperatures. Deep channels of the adjacent North East River provided anglers with small white perch and big channel catfish. Some of the catties topped 12 pounds, and nearly all were taken on cut herring chunks and bottom-fished chicken livers. Catfish from two to seven pounds were found in the channels of the Elk, Sassafras, Bohemia and Bush rivers, and the C&D Canal. This has been an unusual year for big stripers, many of which seem to have remained in the confines of Chesapeake Bay instead of taking their normal trip north to New England. Trollers using tandem bucktails umbrella rigs and dark-colored surgical hose eels caught rockfish to 39 inches while fishing Love Point Light, Hickory Thickets, Gum Thickets, Peach Orchard, Belvedere Shoals and several other upper bay sites along the main shipping channel's edges.
BAY BRIDGE AREA -- At the bay's western channel edge just above Sandy Point Light, anglers found some big stripers in depths of 25 to 35 feet. Jigging spoons worked tight against the bottom during periods of moving tide were effective, luring fish to 30 inches. A bit to the south at Brick House Bar, similar-size rockfish were caught while chumming with ground menhaden and using slabs of cut menhaden for bait. While you had to cull the catch, the majority of the fish measured 18 to 24 inches in length, and throwbacks were minimal. A few bluefish from 12 to 18 inches were also taken from the chum slicks as well. Chumming lured keeper rockfish from the mouth of Eastern Bay, while inside Eastern Bay the catches consisted of mid-size white perch, spot and a few croaker. The best perch action was at the mouth of Wye and Miles rivers, where bottom-fished bloodworms and imitation bloodworms were effective.
CHOPTANK RIVER AREA -- The river's lower and middle reaches provided anglers with a mixed bag of striped bass and croaker. The stripers, mostly measuring 18 to 20 inches, were taken early and late in the day while casting bucktails in the river's shallows between Cook Point and Castle Haven. Most of the croaker were caught by nighttime anglers drifting squid strips and bloodworm imitations in depths of 25 to 30 feet along the river's southern channel edge. Nighttime was also the best time to hook up with channel catfish and white perch from the decks of the Route 50 bridge at Cambridge, where bottom-fished bloodworms, razor clam and cut herring baits were effective.
