Crabbing has been poor, while fishing has its ups and downs
I hope all the fathers and grandfathers felt loved and appreciated this past Sunday.
We celebrated with a seafood brunch on Solomons Island. It was nice not to cook for once, and even better not to have to clean up afterwards.
As we were leaving the restaurant, we passed by a couple sharing a tray of steamed crabs and they sure looked tasty. I haven’t had any myself yet this season, and so far this summer, reports indicate crabbing has been poor.
That’s exactly what one would expect based on the winter dredge survey results. There was a significant drop in the number of adult crabs that survived the winter, and commercial and recreational crabbers felt the effects this spring.
Those of us classified as “crab-pickers” don’t much like that kind of news, either, because scarcity drives prices up. There’s a simple long-term solution to the shortage of crabs — protect the females
from commercial harvest (recreational crabbers are already banned from harvesting females).
It might not be popular in some quarters, but it’s a logical way to ensure plenty of crabs for everyone.
Southern Maryland lakes and
ponds — If you’ve got access to a farm pond, now is the time to use it. The action on topwater lures early and late can’t be beat.
Anthony Hancock, assistant manager of Gilbert Run Park in Dentsville, said the bass fishing has been great, but the size of the fish has been lacking. Hancock has seen several anglers catch upwards of 30 bass in just 4 or 5 hours fishing. He said the bass at Wheatley Lake are holding tight to shoreline cover and will bite on many different baits, so keep your tacklebox stocked with a good array of lures.
Many bluegill and redear
sunfish have been caught in the shallows on small pieces of nightcrawler or a mealworm fished below a bobber. Crappie are scarce but a few are around deeper dock pilings.
If you want to see the record warmouth sunfish caught by Dezi Collins last week, stop by the park and check out the 150 gallon aquarium in the nature center.
Patuxent River — According to Ken Lamb of the Tackle Box in Lexington Park (301-863-8151), anglers can find rockfish in the shallows near the mouth eating most any cast lure at daybreak and sunset. Topwater lure favorites are Poppa Dogs, Atom Poppers, Tsunami and Chug Bugs.
Timing is everything, Lamb said, so get there on a moving tide.
Bottom fishermen are catching a mix of stripers, catfish and white perch above Cuckold Creek. The freshwater
runoff from heavy rains have brought the catfish down to dine on minnows and crabs. They’ll hit bloodworms, squid, shrimp, and peeler crab.
Potomac River — Reel Bass Adventures guide Andy Andrzejewski (301-932-1509) reports that water conditions are great and so is the bass fishing.
Topwaters are good for bass along marsh banks, pad fields, and grass beds. Whopper ploppers will draw strikes and snakehead, too. Inside edges of grass beds have bass that like small spinnerbaits or chatterbaits.
Andrzejewski recommends always following up with a large plastic worm. In the center of grass beds are bass that like creature baits and jig-andcraw combos.
Lamb said the fishing has been so good that some
charter boat captains have moved their boats from Solomons to Piney Point.
The river has lots of rockfish for trollers around the mouth of Herring Creek, Stewarts Piers, and up to St. Clements Island. The fish are in 20 to 40 feet of water and will hit trolled bucktails and shads on the bottom.
Juniata and Susquehanna rivers (Pa.) — Scott Johnson of Scott Johnson Fishing Adventures (240-625-2550) reports that fishing hasn’t been quite up to expectations after the 6-week closure was lifted last week, but he’s managed to put his clients on good numbers of bass including some quality-sized fish.
The key to success is fishing narrow bands of clean water mid-river, using spinnerbaits and topwaters near grass beds and islands at lower light levels.
Once mid-morning hits, Johnson recommends either fishing crankbaits in deeper ledges or slowly retrieving swimbaits near grass beds and islands.
With both techniques it’s key to maintain bottom contact with the lures.
Lake Anna (Va.) — McCotter’s Lake Anna Guide Service (540-894-9144) recommends anglers target schooled bass from the Route 208 region down to the
power plant with soft plastic jerkbaits and topwater plugs. The best schooling spots are next to 40 feet of water.
You can still catch bass shallow early in the morning using buzzbaits and wacky-rigged worms, mostly in the up-lake regions.
Stripers are schooled up deep from Rose Valley to Stubbs Bridge on down to the mouth of Sturgeon Creek. Trollers are catching them in 25 to 35 feet of water. Live bait will catch them, too, but keeping the bait away from catfish is difficult now.
If crappie is your game, get a couple dozen small minnows, some slip bobber rigs, and head for a bridge like Stubbs or Holiday Mill and fish from 7 to 9 a.m. for your limit.
Chesapeake Bay — Cobia are now off Smith Point and will hit cut bait and love live eels swimming in the chum line, according to Lamb.
Each hot day will bring them closer to us from the Atlantic Ocean. Speaking of hot weather, more hot days are needed to bring in the spot which are behind schedule due to a cool spring and excess rain.
White perch are abundant, with many in the 11- to 13-inch range and can be caught on bottom rigs baited with bloodworms or grass shrimp. Croaker and spot should be mixed in soon.
Atlantic Ocean — Flounder action in the bay behind
Assateague Island remains strong this week. The key to catching them is a moving tide and white, chartreuse or pink Gulp.
Larry Jock of the Coastal Fisherman has reported several cobia caught in the inlet, but none made the minimum size requirement.
The first white marlin of the season was caught and released last week, earning the crew of the “Stalker” a $15,000 payday for their catch. The tuna bite continues to be hot in the Baltimore and Wilmington canyons.
Tip of the week
New this year, Maryland has adopted a minimum size requirement and creel limit for cobia caught in state waters.
The minimum size is 40 inches and each angler can keep one fish per day. Up to three cobia can be kept per vessel if there are three or more individuals aboard.