Maryland Fishing Report
May 3rd, 2019
Welcome to May folks! This is a great time of year to get out and enjoy all the fishing opportunities that Maryland has to offer! From the ocean to the mountains, anglers all over the state are catching fish and having a great time doing it! If you have young ones or can take a kid fishing, you should do it. The life-long memories and experiences can be made just by venturing out and wetting a line…catching fish is icing on the cake!
Trophy Rockfish
The trophy bite continues to be slow, at best. In the upper bay, anglers are finding some fish on deep channel ledges between Love Point and Bloody Point and then further south around Calvert Cliffs. The best chances to find post-spawn trophy rockfish is going to be down in the southern bay region as the majority of the fish have moved down and out of the local rivers.
Trolling the upper bay has been slow with fish caught near Love Point and further south around the mouth of the Eastern Bay near Bloody Point. Majority of the fish caught have been on white tandems in 45′-65′ near channel ledges. We have seen a few trophies caught near Baltimore light while chumming and fishing fresh LY on the bottom, but the majority of the fish biting were catfish. We now have soft crab in stock so big chunks of soft crab will be a great bait to start using. Light tackle jigging the bay bride pilings and areas like Thomas Point Light, Calvert Cliffs power plant and the channel ledges between the bay bridge and Bloody Point will land fish, most likely not trophies.
Snakehead
The snakehead bite has been on and off, depending on where you’re at. In Blackwater, the spawn is on and we’ve been battling some high tides recently. If you’re seeing this, focus your efforts in the heavy cover. Good ways to catch them when you see this is by throwing baits and lures directly into the pockets of thick cover. Great baits to do this with are craws, jigs and topwater frogs.
In the local rivers and creeks, we’re finding them in slow moving pockets near submerged structure, especially on a low tide or low water levels. With all the recent rains, expect higher than normal flows over the next few days. Mepps spinners, chatterbaits, paddle tails and live bait like minnows will all work well. In low current areas, look to use topwater frogs, mice or buzzbaits.
We’re having a Monster Snakehead Hunt Tournament which takes place May 27 through September 2nd! Sign up here and whoever brings in the heaviest fish will win a snakehead mount that will hang on our walls forever AND they’ll take home 100% of the entry fees!
Catfish
As we mentioned before, many anglers fishing with bait in the mid to upper bay have found quite a few catfish. Some anglers caught so many, they stopped having fun catching them! The truth is, with salinity in the upper bay area way down, we’re finding more and more catfish every year. This year is no different and it’s looking like they’re getting bigger, which is always fun!
Fresh LY, bloodworms, razor clams, soft crab, and nightcrawlers are all great live/fresh baits to use to catch catfish. With a simple bottom rig and an ounce of weight (depending on depth and current you may need more) and some good bait, you’re sure to find plenty of catfish.
Perch
The White Perch spawn is nearing it’s end as the majority of the perch being caught in tidal creeks and rivers are spawned out. There are still quite a bit of perch in the creeks and rivers so it’s a fun activity to take the kids out and hit the banks! Float and fly techniques will work great as well as small Mepps spinners, rattle traps, and spinnerbaits like the Perch Pounder.
In deeper holes and in the main bay stems, you will find perch holding close to hard shell bottom with bloodworms on bottom rigs.
Trout
The state trout stocking program continues on as anglers take advantage of the program catching nice trout in stocked waters. Anglers of all skill levels can enjoy these fish in a variety of areas. Be sure to check out the stocking map before you head out!
Crappie
Crappie fishing has been great over the last week. Anglers targeting submerged structure in 5′-15′ of water have found a few nice ones with minnows. Small Mepps spinners and small jigs under slip bobbers will catch a good amount of them.
Largemouth Bass
With water temps continuing to rise, the action has been picking up. In lakes and ponds you’ll find the majority of the females leaving the nests looking for food. With water temps continuing to rise, you’ll find fish hanging out in shallower water longer throughout the day and into the evening. This is when topwater fishing is at it’s best, especially in the evening.
With a warmer trend over the next week or so, we’re anticipating this bite to continue to get better. Largemouth Bass are being caught with regularity on swimbaits, chatterbaits, topwater, and dropshot. With varying water depths and temps between bodies of water you’ll see some fish are pre-spawn, some are currently spawning and some are post-spawn. We’ve seen large bedding bass in areas like Wye Mills, Unicorn Lake and Tuckahoe while areas like Loch Raven are still seeing pre-spawn conditions. Keep an eye on water temps and if you’re seeing 60º+ look for fish on beds. Otherwise, look to use swimbaits, crankbaits or jerkbaits worked in deeper water near structure.
Show us what you caught!
We’d love to see your catch! Send your photos with some simple info (your name, location, bait/technique) and any other info you’d like to share to kevin@anglersannapolis.com. By sending your images you are giving us permission to use them online.
If there are any children under 18 we need their parents permission before posting any images online!