Maryland Tidal Waters

sarce

sarce

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I will be in southern maryland on tuesday, and wondering if any of the tidal creeks and rivers there have any decent fishing this time of year. would love to get something on the fly but I'll do spin gear if I have to. Looking at the area between East/ESE of DC (western shore of Chesapeake bay) and Baltimore.

All I've been able to gather so far is that some creeks have a run of perch this time of year and there are probably other panfish around, which could be a blast IF I can find them with limited time and no past experience to go on...not liking my chances but I am not letting a great day go to waste! Would really appreciate any help. TIA
 
Yep - pickins are slim this time of year.
If the creeks are relatively ice free, your best bet would be pickerel. They hit flies and are very aggressive in cold water. The west side rivers such as the Severn and Magothy have a lot of 'em in backwater areas. It's probably a bit early for perch but they typically start their run in March. Shore fishing opportunities are limited so hiring a guide with boat would probably be the best bet. The Maryland DNR website has a good fishing reports section and you might check that out, if you haven't already, to see what conditions are like.
 
I spent some of my youth fly fishing and plugging those waters. Most cases you need a boat or know a dock somewhere to fish from. The creeks are muddy banks and almost impossible to get to through the grass and marshes. You can find Lg. mouth bass, pickerel, cats, and white perch in march, but this year I would say they are in deep water from the cold weather.
 
I walked the Brandywine park in Downtown Wilmington at lunch - two herons picking over the tidal pocket water.

must be some bait around - water was fast and turgid, maybe 1ft higher than usual.

wherever you go, i'd guess a sinking tip or leader and a clouser, coneheads etc might be needed to get down into "the zone"
 
Great info as always, thanks. Gonna make a few casts off a pier with a small clouser, might trail a nymph off the bend and try to pick up some panfish at least. Guess we'll see what happens :)
 
Forgot to get a MD license before I left, so I didn't end up fishing. But took a walk through Patuxent River Park and it was pretty cool. Cypress trees in some areas and with the 70 degree air temps it was easy to pretend I was in some tropical place.

There's a chance I'll be moving to that area so a little advance scouting certainly didn't hurt!
 
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