Cover Image: Kyle Hanes caught this snakehead using a Z-man Willow Vibes jig head with a 3.75 inch Diezel Minnow! Right: Danny Pearson caught nice catfish just north of Sandy Point using our fresh Alewife!
Catfish: With rockfish season still closed, catfish has been the go-to species to target in the main bay. Sandy Point is still the hot spot from shore. From a boat, Podickory Point has really been producing. Catfish can, of course, be caught inside all of the rivers as well. Fresh alewife has been the most productive bait, but fresh shrimp and bloodworms are working well too.
Snakehead: Warmer weather means more Snakehead! Live minnows are working well, and fish are also being caught on lures such as paddletails, chatterbaits and topwater frogs. Blackwater and the surrounding areas are producing well, and some of our western shore areas are heating up as well. Try Mattawoman creek or the upper Patuxent! Fish shallow, sunny areas that warm up quickly and fish during the late afternoon.
Perch: While the yellow perch bite seems to have slowed down quite a bit, there white perch bite is still very good! They aren’t really in the headwaters in creek anymore, but you catch them in the middle parts of the rivers, typically closer to shoreline and structure. From shore, cast a minnow on a bobber out towards the middle of the river and slowly work it back to shore, popping it occasionally.
Shad: Shad fishing (mostly Hickory with some American mixed in) picked back up this week with the warmer weather. Fletcher’s, Mattawoman and eastern shore creeks are all good places to target them! They can be caught using Nungesser spoons (try rigging them in tanden with a shad dart) or by jigging small plastic stinger on light jig heads.
Black Drum: The black drum bite is going off down at Assateague! You can target them surf fishing with sandfleas or Fishbites EZ Flea.