Maryland Fishing Report: June 6

June 6, 2018

Note: If you’re looking for the June 13 report, please click here. The northern snakehead has gotten a lot of press attention and has been called “Frankenfish.” It inspired a movie called “Snakehead Terror” about 8-foot long fish terrorizing a lakeside community, which helped create a common belief that snakeheads can walk on land. In reality, snakeheads are an invasive species that is spreading quickly through the Chesapeake Bay watershed. They eat anything that moves within their watery environment and they grow large. One saving grace is they make excellent eating and are often what’s for dinner for many fishermen. The use of any legal recreational gear is considered eligible for a Maryland state record in the invasive division of state records. A Virginia angler currently holds the world record for a hook-and-line snakehead at 17 pounds, 12 ounces. Maryland anglers have taken several larger than that with bow and arrow, including our new state record of 19.9 pounds set on May 24 by Andy Fox in Charles County. Now we need someone to top these records with hook and line and bring Maryland the bragging rights for the world record – so here’s a tip: Northern snakeheads are aggressive predators and nothing seems to drive them crazier than a buzzbait over or near grass beds. Don’t forget there are some free fishing days coming up June 9 and July 4. If you can think of someone you might like to introduce to fishing, this is a great opportunity for someone to try the sport without buying a license.

Weekly Fishing Conditions Forecast Summary: June 6-12 Expect muddy waters to continue to reduce water clarity in most areas of Maryland’s waters. Anglers will experience mild, partly cloudy fishing conditions for most of this upcoming week. Bay temperatures have cooled slightly from recent cloudy, cool, rainy conditions to the lower 70 degree mark, but will slowly rise this week due to mild air temperatures and long daylight hours. Be aware that areas from Swan Point south to Plum Point are showing poor bottom oxygen conditions below about 20 feet. However, other portions of the main bay and tidal rivers have much better oxygen conditions, so be sure to check the full forecast and the Don’t Fish Below this Depth for conditions in your area. There will be above average tidal currents Sunday through next Tuesday as a result of the new moon on June 14. For the full weekly fishing conditions summary and more detailed and up-to-date fishing conditions in your area of the bay, be sure to check out Eyes on the Bay’s Click Before You Cast.

Upper Chesapeake Bay Despite some stained water in the very upper reaches of the bay, fishing for striped bass is very good in the lower Susquehanna River and the channels leading to the Susquehanna and Elk rivers. Since June 1 all areas of the bay and tributaries are open to striped bass fishing. The Conowingo Dam is currently in a power generating schedule that starts in the early mornings and lasts till the evening hours. The striped bass are being caught by those casting swimshads, bucktails and crankbaits but also by fishing with white perch. Some are live-lining them with circle hooks but others are taking freshly caught white perch and using them as cut bait with excellent success. Farther down the upper bay region there are excellent chumming opportunities for striped bass. Swan Point, Love Point, Podickory Point, and some of the shoal areas such as the 7-foot and 9-foot knolls have been good places to set up chum slicks or chunk. As is often the case, the largest striped bass are being caught in the back of the chum slick on baits left to sit on the bottom. A good tide is needed, and many report the last of a flood tide can offer some of the best fishing. Trolling is another good option in the upper bay, and the eastern side of the bay tends to have clearer water, so the Love Point area down to the Bay Bridge has been a popular place to troll. Mixed spreads of bucktails, swimshads, parachutes, spoons and umbrella rigs have all been popular. Dark colors, gold spoons and of course chartreuse have been doing well. Jigging is another good option along the channel edges with the 30-foot curve tending to hold the most fish. The Love Point channel edge and the Bay Bridge piers have been popular places to jig. Many are using 8-foot or more of soft plastic trailers in dark colors as well as pink with as light of a jig head as possible.

Middle Bay Striped bass fishing opportunities abound this week in the middle bay region, as surface water temperatures are in the low 70s and striped bass feel comfortable at most any depth and location. Trolling has been popular along the shipping channel edges and other prominent channel areas. A mixed spread of medium sized bucktails, parachutes, spoons and umbrella rigs are common. The eastern shipping channel edge south of the Bay Bridge past Bloody Point and all the way down to the CP Buoy has been a good place to troll. The western side of the channel in front of Hacketts Bar and Chesapeake Beach down past Parkers Creek has also been holding good numbers of striped bass. Jigging is a great option this week and light tackle anglers are enjoying plenty of striped bass action near channel edges, structure and anywhere fish can be spotted on a depth finder. The tributaries are open now to striped bass fishing, and some of the steep edges in Eastern Bay off Tilghman Point are great places to jig. Chumming is a very popular way to fish this week at many of the traditional locations. The outside edge of Hacketts, the Hill and numerous channel edges are great places to set up a chum slick or to do some chunking for striped bass. As is usually the case with chumming or chunking, the best grade of fish are coming from baits allowed to sink to the bottom at the back of the chum slick. Light tackle fishing in the shallower areas of the bay and tidal rivers has been spotty this week for those casting topwater lures in the mornings and evenings. Some days the fish are there and other times somewhere else. It is always a great time to be out on quiet water whether one is casting a popper with a spinning rod or skipping bugs with a fly rod. Many of the fish are just under or over the 19-inch minimum but are still plenty of fun either way. The rocks at Poplar Island and locations in all of the major tidal rivers offer good places to fish.