Young Isaac looks like he was having a great time catching catfish recently. Photo by Eric Packard
As cold weather prevails, water temperatures are dropping, which is limiting some fishing opportunities but is expanding others. Many of our resident fisheries are in transition — striped bass fishing is still good but slowing down, white perch are active but now are schooled up in deeper water. Trout fishing is very good as is fishing for walleye, yellow perch, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass and chain pickerel. At the coastal areas, summer species are being replaced by cold water fish such as sea bass and tautog.
An often overlooked species is our catfish in Maryland, and cooler water temperatures tend to kick their feeding activity into high gear. We have two native species of catfish in Maryland, the white and the bullhead. Introduced catfish species are the channel, flathead and blue catfish.
Whether you choose to eat them or just catch them, they can provide some exciting and fun fishing from docks and piers, a favorite shoreline or a small boat. They can be caught by watching a baited line while relaxing along a sunny shore and they provide plenty of enjoyment for our younger anglers. If a good tussle and plenty of fishing action that is easy to arrange sounds good to you, give it a try.
Forecast Summary: Nov. 14 – 20
As water temperatures cool and approach 50 degrees, our tasty blue crabs are moving towards the deeper channel edges to bury in the mud for the winter. Chesapeake Bay anglers need to get out there as fish feed heavily to prepare for winter conditions or migrate out of the bay. With plenty of cool waters and oxygen from surface to bottom, avoid waters with poor water clarity from recent, heavy rains. For tidal rivers and main bay areas, focus on areas with good structure such as underwater points, oyster bottom, reefs, channel edges, and large schools of baitfish. During lower light conditions, hungry rockfish will also roam the nearby shallow water areas looking for an easy meal.
Temperatures will be cooler this week as another chance of rain rolls in on Thursday. Expect windy conditions on both Thursday and Friday. Expect sunny to partly cloudy conditions most of the other days with air temperatures in the 40s to lower 50s and nighttime temperature in the high 30s to low 40s. At the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration buoys, water temperatures continue to cool, with Annapolis now at 52 degrees, Gooses Reef at 55 degrees and Point Lookout at 56 degrees.
There is still poor water clarity on the main bay down below the mouth of the Chester River and on the Potomac River down to near Colonial Beach. In addition, expect water clarity to decline at localized and nearshore areas due to the rain. There will be above average tidal currents on Monday and Tuesday as a result of the full moon on Nov. 24.
For the full weekly fishing conditions summary and more, please be sure to check out Click Before You Cast.
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Temperatures will be cooler this week as another chance of rain rolls in on Thursday. Expect windy conditions on both Thursday and Friday. Expect sunny to partly cloudy conditions most of the other days with air temperatures in the 40s to lower 50s and nighttime temperature in the high 30s to low 40s. At the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration buoys, water temperatures continue to cool, with Annapolis now at 52 degrees, Gooses Reef at 55 degrees and Point Lookout at 56 degrees.
There is still poor water clarity on the main bay down below the mouth of the Chester River and on the Potomac River down to near Colonial Beach. In addition, expect water clarity to decline at localized and nearshore areas due to the rain. There will be above average tidal currents on Monday and Tuesday as a result of the full moon on Nov. 24.
For the full weekly fishing conditions summary and more, please be sure to check out Click Before You Cast.
More
nice fish & hat buddy !
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