The nor’easter has finally fizzled out. After a week of unfishable weather, Southern Maryland anglers were left wondering what had happened to the fish, according to Ken Lamb of the St. Mary’s Tacklebox. The early answer is that plenty of them are still around and hungry.
The slow-moving storm pushed tides well above normal along the St. Mary’s County shoreline for days. The National Weather Service issued repeated coastal flood warnings and advisories from Sept. 24 through Sept. 27, warning of tides two to three feet above normal. At that level, water covers roads on St. George Island and floods marinas along the St. Mary’s River, Smith Creek and Jutland Creek. The same storm canceled the Oceans Calling festival in Ocean City.
Bottom fishing bounces back
Capt. Bernie Shea took the Shea-D-Lady (301-672-3282) out Sunday with a bottom-fishing party, working the wind-protected waters of the lower Potomac. His party found plenty of spot, trout, croaker and bluefish, plus a whiting, all eager to bite.
Monday’s fishing was good too, Lamb said, though filling the coolers took a little more effort. “Capt. Bernie Shea can always find them,” Lamb said.
Stripers at Smith Creek
More anglers found fish Monday as water levels began to drop and the winds eased. Stripers were taking cast lures at the mouth of Smith Creek in the lower Potomac. One angler landed about 20 rockfish there. Most were undersized, but one keeper topped 19 inches.
Maryland’s fall striped bass harvest season runs through Dec. 5 with a 19- to 24-inch slot and a one-fish daily limit. Fish outside that window must go back.
The bay is an unknown
Lamb expects big bluefish and bull red drum to be in the main stem of the Chesapeake Bay. Bull reds typically run well over Maryland’s 27-inch maximum and must be released. Most of the Spanish mackerel, which flooded the bay in large numbers in August, may have left for the Atlantic.
No one knows for sure yet what the bay holds after the storm. “We will all be pioneers when venturing out in the bay as the storm has had us all tied up tending to over-flowing tides,” Lamb said.
Before the storm, Maryland DNR’s Sept. 26 fishing report noted that main-bay surface temperatures had dropped into the mid-70s. It also said bay salinities were running higher than normal after a dry stretch.
Freshwater: St. Mary’s Lake
Freshwater anglers had no storm hangover. Fish were biting Monday at St. Mary’s Lake, where crappie, largemouth bass and even snakehead were very active. Snakehead are an invasive species, and Maryland asks anglers not to release them alive.
For last week’s report on blues, rockfish and reds, see the Chronicle’s fishing archive.
