The crappie is biting, the bass is hungry, and the yellow perch is set to spawn.
Pond and lake fishermen have been using live minnows during this warm spell to catch pickerel, bass, and crappie.
Big crappie in the 14-inch range is biting in St. Mary’s Lake. There is largemouth bass hitting whacky rigs in the Lake and ponds. Some out-sized crappie has taken those whacky rigs, too. Pickerel are always hungry and will hit most any shiny spinnerbait
Yellow perch are gathering for their spawning run at Wayson’s Corner and Allen’s Fresh. The upper regions of the Nanticoke have a huge run beginning now. The critical factor is the tide. Any high tide that is strong enough to fill the upper regions of the spawning grounds will trigger a spawning run. The upper St. Mary’s River will have yellow perch all the way to the bridge at Great Mills under Route 5 on a good tide. This will happen for about 24 hours and may occur in the middle of the night.
Rockfish are now beginning to move in the rivers. Pound net fishermen have picked up a handful this week.
Only a single or two alewives and shad have shown up.
The warmth and rain coming this week will mark the beginning of springtime fishing.