Weekend fishing report

Let us begin our warm weather fishing report with James Rodriguez of Alexandria, who put his 12-foot boat into Burke Lake last week and with the help of an electric trolling motor began to drag a sinking, fluorescent Rapala lure around the lake.

A huge, channel catfish decided to take the lure. Another fisherman’s digital scale showed it weighed 291/4 pounds, but the lake’s bait shop scale said 261/4 pounds. Either way, it’s one heck of a channel cat. The state record came from the Rappahannock River in 1992. It weighed 311/2 pounds.

In the District, Maryland and Virginia, the hickory shad and white perch run is in full swing. From the Fredericksburg sector of the Rappahannock, Virginia state biologist John Odenkirk said, “The hickory shad are thick between the Route 1 Bridge and Embrey.” Odenkirk has not seen any shad activity yet above the Embrey Dam that was blown open a few weeks ago. But it will happen eventually.

In the upper Chesapeake Bay’s Susquehanna River area, the mouth of Deer Creek is seeing hickory shad action. “It can only get better as [more] fish move in,” said the Maryland DNR’s Keith Lockwood.

Locally, the tidal Potomac shows white perch, herring and shad in the Fletcher’s Boat House stretch, with largemouth bass and occasional stripers striking grubs, crankbaits and spinnerbaits from the District to western Charles County. In fact, La Plata fishing guide Dale Knupp hooked a 35- to 40-pound striper near the Chicamuxen Creek a few days ago while fishing for largemouth bass. His lure: A 3-inch-long Mann’s Sting Ray grub. Meanwhile, in the Washington County portion of the freshwater Potomac, walleyes are all the rage. They’ve been taking brightly colored, curly-tailed grubs without hesitation.

AREA 1: D.C. AND VICINITY

0-35 miles (…) — The Fletcher’s Boat House area (off Canal Road, call 202/244-0461) shows hordes of white perch, hickory shad, some white shad and a few large catch-and-release rockfish. (The D.C. season for stripers runs May 1 through July 31 and Sept. 1 through Nov. 14. Two rockfish a day, 18 inches minimum, 36 inches maximum, are legal.) The water is in fine shape for the weekend, and whether you rent a boat from Fletchers or walk the rocky banks, you’ll catch fish. Ray and Joe Fletcher will clue you in as to what works best. Bass hounds are scoring nicely sometimes, not so well on windy, colder days, from the Washington Channel and Hains Point stretch of the river down to the Fox Ferry rock line, the discarded junk metal strewn about the Spoils (where crappies and some perch are also biting), as well as the shoreline above Woodrow Wilson Bridge, down to the Piscataway, Marshall Hall (where white perch are hooked by shore anglers), and feeder creeks in Charles County on one side of the river and Fairfax or Prince William counties on the other. Guide Andy Andrzejewski (301/932-1509) said, “This week fishing was good one day, poor the next, but smartly fished Sting Ray grubs will see action. Texas-rigged blood-line plastic worms also have done fairly well in the Wilson Bridge area and downstream on main stem gravel shores, points and rock beds.” Small-boat charter captain Steve Riha (804/224-7062) is preparing for the soon-to-arrive croakers.

@Text.sans.8.rule:MATTAWOMAN CREEK: 40 miles (…) — Bass can be caught on bottom-bounced grubs and medium depth crankbaits. Fish the dropoffs adjacent to where the spatterdock fields are growing. Some days you’ll need to work hard. Fat crappies are hooked in shoreline brush and gravel bars with Gulp! 2-inch grubs, small live minnows or white shad darts under a bobber. Upper creek at Mason Springs (Route 225) sees herring and some white perch, even occasional hickory shad.

SOUTHERN MARYLAND LAKES: 40-50 miles (…) — Gilbert Run Park’s Wheatley Lake (Route 6, east of La Plata) offers a few crappies, some stocked trout, maybe a junior bass and sunfish. In St. Mary’s Lake (Route 5 south of Leonardtown, on Camp Cosoma Road) the bass, crappies, pickerel and fat sunfish are waiting.

LITTLE SENECA LAKE: 30 miles (..) — Black Hill Regional Park (off Route 117, near Boyds, 301/972-9396) and the nearby Seneca Creek Lake (Clopper Road, Gaithersburg, 301/924-2127) will show a few bass but more importantly, maybe a tiger muskie in Little Seneca Lake. This is the time of year when a slow-roiled spinnerbait or a lipped crankbait will be looked at by the toothy critters.

WSSC RESERVOIRS: 20-30 miles (..) — (Triadelphia, off Route 97, or Route 650, in Montgomery County; Rocky Gorge, off Route 29 in Montgomery County) Now is the time to slowly crawl a Sting Ray grub or a curly-tailed grub around shoreline obstructions, fallen trees, waterlogged brush and lake points for bass, maybe even a hungry striper who’s hunting food. The sunken brush and sand bars can hold crappies and, of course, catfish. Try a small shad dart under a bobber around brushy spots and see if a crappie or bluegill will inhale it.

PATUXENT RIVER: 25-60 miles (.) — The feeder creeks should see spawning white perch, but recent trips to the upper river between Jackson Landing and Wayson’s Corner haven’t delivered. Some white perch are possible, but yellow perch fishing was poor this year, and bass apparently have moved to Florida.

OCCOQUAN RESERVOIR: 25-30 miles (…) — In the Fountainhead Park (Route 123, Fairfax County) to Bull Run stretch, park ranger Smokey Davis said you can expect some good-sized bass to fall for spinnerbaits and Senko worms. “Crappies are coming on strong,” he reported. “A 2½ pound beauty was caught last weekend.”

BURKE LAKE: 29 miles (…) — (Ox Road, Route 123, Fairfax County) Alexandrian James Rodriguez’s channel catfish that weighed somewhere between 26¼ and 29¼ pounds — depending on the scale — made news. It took a trolled Rapala Husky Jerk lure. In addition, some fine bass are beginning to show up. Use slow-rolled spinnerbait or plastic grubs on 3/16-ounce jig heads. Crappies and sunfish are possible in brush and around shore obstructions..

@Subhed.frcd.11.rules:AREA 2: CENTRAL, WESTERN MARYLAND

@Text.sans.8:POTOMAC RIVER: 35-100 miles (…) — Biologist John Mullican said the river in Washington County is running at 4.4 feet, and so far it’s clear. Rain could change that. Until then, however, in the Dam 4 and Dam 5 area, the walleyes are beginning to spawn, and they’ll inhale a plastic grub or bucktail hair jig. Some tiger muskie activity must be expected, and a few smallmouth bass will suck in spinner lures or small crankbaits now.

@Text.sans.8.rule:DEEP CREEK LAKE: 210 miles (.) — Wait a while. The ice has just melted, so fishing is limited, although some crazies are out looking for smallmouths and pike. The McHenry Cove has given up a few pickerel.

SUSQUEHANNA RIVER: 65-100 miles (…) — Deer Creek is where the shad are, but even inside the river toward Port Deposit there will be some perch, maybe a few errant shad, and bass. Wind has been a huge problem for boaters. The rockfish action during the catch-and-release season has been only so-so.

@Subhed.frcd.11.rules:AREA 3: CHESAPEAKE BAY

@Text.sans.8:MARYLAND: 45-75 miles (.) — No reason to launch your boats just yet, but everybody knows that April is the month when the striped bass come up the bay to seek spawning waters. Some are already caught and released by probing trollers who want to know where the action is.

VIRGINIA: 75-150 miles (.) — Ken Neill, of the Peninsula Sport Fishermen’s Association, reports that croakers are hooked in the lower James and York rivers. They’ll move up the bay rapidly and soon should be in Northern Neck waters. Stripers are up, too, and one reporter says that dogwood blossom time is also bluefish time. We’ll see. The water temperature needs to rise more.

@Subhed.frcd.11.rules:AREA 4: EASTERN SHORE/MARYLAND

@Text.sans.8:CHOPTANK RIVER: 120 MILES (…) — (Route 50 east to Cambridge) Upper Choptank around Red Bridges and Greensboro shows spawning white perch, but it’s the Tuckahoe feeder above the Route 404 bridge that has been alive with white perch that would strike almost anything, such as ⅛-ounce shad darts, simply retrieved, or small spinners, curly grubs, etc. A few bass are hooked in the Martinak to Denton stretch.

@Text.sans.8.rule:POCOMOKE RIVER: 140-170 miles (.) — (Snow Hill to Shad Landing) Bass fishing isn’t very good. Some spawning perch are hooked toward Snow Hill.

NANTICOKE RIVER: 120 miles (..) — (Sharptown ramp off Route 313) Largemouth bass and some crappies are hooked in the feeder creeks, such as Marshyhope and Broad. Spawning white perch are up past Seaford, Del.

@Subhed.frcd.11.rules:AREA 5: CENTRAL VIRGINIA

@Text.sans.8:LAKE ANNA: 82 miles (…) — (Along Route 208, Spotsylvania County) Bass hounds are looking for action in shallow water, but a lot of the bass that jump on short worms, grubs, jigs ’n’ pigs and spinnerbaits are undersized males. Work those lures in five to 10 feet of water and see if you can’t hook a fat female. Pretty soon, though, the girls will be up in shallow water, too, depositing their roe. A few stripers are hooked on live shiners or Sassy Shads, while small minnows or tiny jigs under a bobber produce crappies around bridge abutments, sunken brush or trees.

@Text.sans.8.rule:RAPPAHANNOCK RIVER: 47-100 miles (…) — (Fredericksburg to Leedstown) White perch and hickory shad by the dozens — per angler. The hickory shad have really been thick from below the Route 1 bridge to Embrey Dam.

LAKE BRITTLE: 59 miles (…) — (Route 793, off Route 29) Fish with a 1/32-ounce or 1/16-ounce white/red or white/green shad dart under a bobber near sunken brush or shoreline trees and see if a crappie will inhale it. Leave about 3 feet of line between bobber and shad dart. A few bass are biting, too.

LAKE ORANGE: 75 miles (…) — (Concessionaire: Darrell Kennedy, 540/672-3997; look for left turn sign on Route 20 before entering town of Orange) Bass like short plastic worms or grubs, and the crappies go for small jigs or shad darts under a bobber in the sunken wood.

LAKE GASTON: 179 miles (…) — (Route 46, Gasburg) Rat-L-Traps and Speed Shads are seeing action from bass around creek points and rip-rap. Crappies are biting in the backs of the creeks. Jigs, grubs or live minnows will do.

KERR RESERVOIR: 185 miles (…) — (Route 58, Clarksville) Huge flathead catfish are caught, some in the 40-pound range. Live herring or shiners do best for them. Crappies are very active now, many close to two pounds. The bass like spinnerbaits, medium to deep crankbaits and plastic worms or grubs.

CHICKAHOMINY RIVER: 160 miles (..) — (Williamsburg area) Some fair bass catches are made in the upper “Chick,” along with occasional whopping blue catfish, but some locals are worried about the lack of a strong herring run. They should be up at Walker Dam by the thousands. Instead, only a few are seen here and there.

JAMES RIVER: 115 miles (…) — (Tidal Richmond area and downstream) Blue catfish that love cut fish on bottom rigs are available, including at least one that weighed 63 pounds. Stripers are available as well, but they need to be turned loose. The white perch and some nice bass are up toward the I-95 bridge in Richmond

@Subhed.frcd.11.rules:AREA 6: WESTERN VIRGINIA

@Text.sans.8:SHENANDOAH RIVER: 75-85 miles (…) — The Route 340, Front Royal, Luray and Bentonville stretch will be good for largemouth and smallmouth bass fishing this weekend. Spinners, crankbaits, poppers, soft jigs and tubes will find action.

@Text.sans.8.rule:SMITH MOUNTAIN LAKE: 210 miles (.) — (Route 122, east of Roanoke) Small rockfish and a few crappies.

UPPER JAMES RIVER: 130 miles (…) — (Route 6, south of Charlottesville, at town of Scottsville) Get going. The smallmouth bass will be waiting. Tubes, streamers, poppers, small crankbaits — all work.

@Subhed.frcd.11.rules:AREA 7: ATLANTIC OCEAN

@Text.sans.8:MARYLAND: 153-175 miles (…) — (Route 50 to Ocean City) There should be some offshore catches of Boston mackerel made this weekend, but thus far things haven’t looked very promising. The headboats: Bill Bunting Dock, 410/289-7424; Miss Ocean City, 410/213-0489.

@Text.sans.8.rule:VIRGINIA: 210 miles to Virginia Beach (…) — Flounder season started Monday, and some flounder drifters are hard at work in the backwaters of Chincoteague, Metomkin, Wachapreague and Oyster. Wachapreague reported one boat had six flatfish, but they weren’t legal size. Coastal wrecks are sure to deliver tautog and sea bass catches. For charter information, Virginia Beach Fishing Center, 757/422-5700.

NORTH CAROLINA: 280-310 miles to Outer Banks (..) — Ollie Jarvis of Dillon’s Corner Tackle in Buxton on the Outer Banks, said Cape Point has seen some channel bass caught and released, but the fishing is not red-hot. Some puppy drum (juvenile channel bass) are hooked along with small skates and sharks. The Ramp 55 area also had some drum and skate catches. If you want a copy of the Outer Banks tide chart, Ollie says if you send him a stamped, addressed envelope, he’ll send you one. Mail it to P.O. Box 963, Buxton, N.C. 27920.

EVENTS

East Coast Decoy Collectors meet — Friday and Saturday , Best Western, St. Michaels, Md. Free decoy identification and appraisals. Information: Jim Trimble, 703/768-7264; potomacduck Striper shore fishing contest — Saturday, Sandy Point State Park, near Annapolis. First place is guaranteed $500. Information: longcasters.org.

Wilderness first aid course — Saturday and Sunday, Alexandria. An 18-hour class in wilderness first aid that results in a two-year certification. Cost: $160. Registration, information 703/836-8905; wfa.net.

How to catch striped bass — April 10, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Chesapeake College, Wye Mills, Md. Outdoors writers Keith Walters and Bill Burton will do a seminar on striper fishing. Cost of $49 includes continental breakfast and lunch. Registration, 410/822-5400.

Safari Club banquet and auction — April 17, Caradoc Hall, Leesburg, Va. Details and directions, 703/328-2889, 301/320-4824.

• You can e-mail us at Gmueller@washingtontimes.com.