Striper fishing improves despite rain

reel report

Friday, May 8, 2009

This time of year is sometimes called Blackberry Christmas.

A lot of old timers swear we always get a chill when the wild blackberries bloom, and they're now doing just that.

Don't complain, we needed all the rain and I, for one, will truly enjoy my wife's efforts if I pick a few of those blackberries later in the season, like I do most every year, and she makes up a few jars of preserves.

Boaters should beware out there, especially in places like the tidal Potomac River, for the high water is going to dislodge a bunch of flotsam and that stuff is dangerous, to your boat's pretty hull and also to your safety if you should happen to bump into a real big piece when you're flying low down the river.

Do you bassboaters really have to be going 65 mph out there? Slow down, and keep a sharp eye out.

There's actually good news this week about our spring trophy striper season … see below. And, many of our freshwater and tidal water bass will be actively spawning for the next week or so.

Please, consider fishing around those beds instead of trying to snag one of the bigger occupants.

Southern Maryland lakes and ponds – The bass, crappie and now quite a few bluegill are all active. We've got the May full moon this weekend and you can bet the mortgage many bass will be bedding down.

I'm not a sight fisherman, it's just not my style, but I can guarantee there will still be plenty of bass around those spawning sites, either in a pre or postspawn mode.

Why not target those guys and leave the actual bedding fish alone to help insure good fishing for our children and grandchildren?

Small to medium minnows suspended under a bobber should entice a few crappie while a little piece of worm rigged the same way will get attention from the bluegills.

Mattawoman Creek – Ken Penrod with the Life Outdoors Unlimited guides (301-937-0010) is telling of good fishing throughout the creek with the very best action coming from the grass found between the state park and the mouth.

Nearby, the vegetation in and around the Chicamuxen and Chopawamsic is worth some of your time, and the mouth of the Aquia, although being hammered by fishermen every day, continues to hold up as a prime bassin' destination.

Upper Potomac River – Not recommended. Maryland has already issued an advisory on boating up here earlier this week and those dangerous conditions won't be gone away for a few more (dry) days.

Tidal Potomac River – Andy Andrzejewski with the Reel Bass Adventure guide service (301-932-1509) says the combination of the full moon and perfect water temperatures will be driving bass into the shallow bays and coves throughout the river.

Those bass will be skittish during the bottom of the tides, but Andrzejewski recommends you be out there between half-incoming and half-outgoing to solve that little problem.

These RBA pros have had many bass in the 5- to 7-pound class this week and keepers, over 15 inches now, are very common.

Andrzejewski recommends reaction baits like white chatterbaits, Mann's Baby 1-Minus and Strike King Red Eye lipless crankbaits plus his old standby, the Storm Thin Fin.

The LOU guides are doing well up around the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and the extensive vegetation in Dogue, Greenway Flats and right around the mouth of the Pomonkey they say holds good fish.

Lower Potomac River – George Quade, down at Quade's Store in Bushwood, tells me the boats are getting in on some good croaker action not too far from shore.

Some croakers are even coming off his pier in the evening at high tide times. "The fishing is coming along," Quade said, "but, not great yet."

Rockfish are roaming down toward the mouth.

Patuxent River – This water is mostly off limits to striper fishing right now. However, Ken Lamb is reporting some nice hardhead coming to fishermen right around the mouth.

Loch Raven Reservoir – The bass fishing has been wonderful in shallow water. Adam Montgomery at the Fishing Center there also says the crappie action is red hot, also in shallow water, and especially around any downed trees and brushpiles.

Deep Creek Lake – Some decent northern pike are hitting large live shiners but a few fishermen have been surprised to find these toothy critters on the end of their lines hanging onto a crankbait or spinnerbait, as well.

For bass and walleye, nightcrawlers and minnows will perform and a few bluegill are taken on wax and meal worms.

Lake Anna – Bass are now postspawn downlake and actively spawning mid and uplake.

The stripers are shallow, both early and late in the day but move to 20- and 30-foot depths when the sun gets high. The crappie have moved a bit deeper to between 6 and 15 feet of water and are being caught around the deeper water docks and shallower bridge pilings.

Chesapeake Bay – It's been awhile getting here, but the traditional first-rate spring striper fishing seems to have finally arrived.

Lamb, at the Tackle Box in Lexington Park, calls the action "hitting full stride" right now. Lots of 40-plus inchers are coming from places like Point No Point to Point Lookout and up north a bit from the HI Buoy to the Gas Docks.

Lamb recommends white and green umbrellas, tandem rigs, big Mojos or diving lures. 20- to 40-foot depths seem to be the prime range.

Fred Donovan at the Rod ‘N' Reel dock in Chesapeake Beach called it, "a wonderful week" with plenty of good fish coming into their scales.

One little 10-year old girl caught a 44-incher and plenty more children, and adults, had nice fish approaching the 50-inch class.

Atlantic Ocean – Sue Foster at Oyster Bay Tackle in Ocean City is reporting some flounder still being caught in the back bays and off the Oceanic Pier despite a little drop in water temperatures over the past week or so.

In the surf, it's mostly dog sharks and skates with the rare, but occasional, striper.

Virginia surf fishermen working to the south on Assateague are now getting into a few black drum.

zbasser@aol.com