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Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report April 2025: Catfish, Shad, and Perch on the Bite
This is Artificial Lure with your Chesapeake Bay fishing report for April 19, 2025, focusing on the Baltimore and Washington D.C. region.
Let’s start with today’s conditions and tides. We’re looking at typical early spring temps, with some chilly mornings but warmer afternoons. Sunrise was right around 6:22 a.m., and sunset will be at 7:45 p.m. The forecast calls for light winds and a bit of overcast, with the rivers running a little high from recent rains. That means higher, maybe muddier water and improved action for bottom feeders and migratory species.
Tidal charts for today show a morning high tide peaking around 8:00 a.m. and a late afternoon low tide, making the window right after sunrise prime time for setting out lines—especially in the upper tributaries and around river mouths.
As for what’s biting: the striped bass season is closed in all Maryland Bay waters until May 16, so you can’t target or keep stripers right now. Focus instead on the hot blue catfish bite—they’re running strong and spreading down from Hart Miller and Pooles Island, even showing up just north of the Bay Bridge. Anglers this week have hauled in a mess of blue cats, with some fish in the 10 to 20 pound class and even a few pushing 40 pounds or more. These invasive cats aren’t just good eating—they’re plentiful and help the Bay when you take them out. You can even log your catches for the CCA Maryland’s Great Chesapeake Invasives Count for a shot at prizes.
Meanwhile, up in D.C. and the Potomac, the shad run is on fire. Folks are catching 30-plus shad in a day using shad darts, spoons, and, for the fly crowd, tiny shad flies. Catfish are also biting well on the Potomac—flatheads up to 38 inches in water 10 to 30 feet deep. The Potomac up near Fletcher’s Cove and Pooles Island have seen the most action. On the Middle Bay side, white perch are packed in thick at places like Triton Beach and local salt ponds—shrimp on shad darts under a bobber is the ticket there.
For lures and bait, bring cut bait or chicken breast for the blue cats—use it on a fish finder or Santee rig. For shad, try a tandem rig with bright darts or small spoons, and use a hint of scent. White perch are hitting grass shrimp or bloodworms under floats.
Hot spots this week are the mouth of the Patapsco near Hart Miller Island, just north of the Bay Bridge for catfish, and Fletcher’s Cove for shad and flathead cats. Also check the Severn for white perch. Pick your tide windows, and get on the water early.
That’s your report from Artificial Lure—tight lines and good luck out there.
Let’s start with today’s conditions and tides. We’re looking at typical early spring temps, with some chilly mornings but warmer afternoons. Sunrise was right around 6:22 a.m., and sunset will be at 7:45 p.m. The forecast calls for light winds and a bit of overcast, with the rivers running a little high from recent rains. That means higher, maybe muddier water and improved action for bottom feeders and migratory species.
Tidal charts for today show a morning high tide peaking around 8:00 a.m. and a late afternoon low tide, making the window right after sunrise prime time for setting out lines—especially in the upper tributaries and around river mouths.
As for what’s biting: the striped bass season is closed in all Maryland Bay waters until May 16, so you can’t target or keep stripers right now. Focus instead on the hot blue catfish bite—they’re running strong and spreading down from Hart Miller and Pooles Island, even showing up just north of the Bay Bridge. Anglers this week have hauled in a mess of blue cats, with some fish in the 10 to 20 pound class and even a few pushing 40 pounds or more. These invasive cats aren’t just good eating—they’re plentiful and help the Bay when you take them out. You can even log your catches for the CCA Maryland’s Great Chesapeake Invasives Count for a shot at prizes.
Meanwhile, up in D.C. and the Potomac, the shad run is on fire. Folks are catching 30-plus shad in a day using shad darts, spoons, and, for the fly crowd, tiny shad flies. Catfish are also biting well on the Potomac—flatheads up to 38 inches in water 10 to 30 feet deep. The Potomac up near Fletcher’s Cove and Pooles Island have seen the most action. On the Middle Bay side, white perch are packed in thick at places like Triton Beach and local salt ponds—shrimp on shad darts under a bobber is the ticket there.
For lures and bait, bring cut bait or chicken breast for the blue cats—use it on a fish finder or Santee rig. For shad, try a tandem rig with bright darts or small spoons, and use a hint of scent. White perch are hitting grass shrimp or bloodworms under floats.
Hot spots this week are the mouth of the Patapsco near Hart Miller Island, just north of the Bay Bridge for catfish, and Fletcher’s Cove for shad and flathead cats. Also check the Severn for white perch. Pick your tide windows, and get on the water early.
That’s your report from Artificial Lure—tight lines and good luck out there.
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By Quiet. PleaseThis is Artificial Lure with your Chesapeake Bay fishing report for April 19, 2025, focusing on the Baltimore and Washington D.C. region.
Let’s start with today’s conditions and tides. We’re looking at typical early spring temps, with some chilly mornings but warmer afternoons. Sunrise was right around 6:22 a.m., and sunset will be at 7:45 p.m. The forecast calls for light winds and a bit of overcast, with the rivers running a little high from recent rains. That means higher, maybe muddier water and improved action for bottom feeders and migratory species.
Tidal charts for today show a morning high tide peaking around 8:00 a.m. and a late afternoon low tide, making the window right after sunrise prime time for setting out lines—especially in the upper tributaries and around river mouths.
As for what’s biting: the striped bass season is closed in all Maryland Bay waters until May 16, so you can’t target or keep stripers right now. Focus instead on the hot blue catfish bite—they’re running strong and spreading down from Hart Miller and Pooles Island, even showing up just north of the Bay Bridge. Anglers this week have hauled in a mess of blue cats, with some fish in the 10 to 20 pound class and even a few pushing 40 pounds or more. These invasive cats aren’t just good eating—they’re plentiful and help the Bay when you take them out. You can even log your catches for the CCA Maryland’s Great Chesapeake Invasives Count for a shot at prizes.
Meanwhile, up in D.C. and the Potomac, the shad run is on fire. Folks are catching 30-plus shad in a day using shad darts, spoons, and, for the fly crowd, tiny shad flies. Catfish are also biting well on the Potomac—flatheads up to 38 inches in water 10 to 30 feet deep. The Potomac up near Fletcher’s Cove and Pooles Island have seen the most action. On the Middle Bay side, white perch are packed in thick at places like Triton Beach and local salt ponds—shrimp on shad darts under a bobber is the ticket there.
For lures and bait, bring cut bait or chicken breast for the blue cats—use it on a fish finder or Santee rig. For shad, try a tandem rig with bright darts or small spoons, and use a hint of scent. White perch are hitting grass shrimp or bloodworms under floats.
Hot spots this week are the mouth of the Patapsco near Hart Miller Island, just north of the Bay Bridge for catfish, and Fletcher’s Cove for shad and flathead cats. Also check the Severn for white perch. Pick your tide windows, and get on the water early.
That’s your report from Artificial Lure—tight lines and good luck out there.
Let’s start with today’s conditions and tides. We’re looking at typical early spring temps, with some chilly mornings but warmer afternoons. Sunrise was right around 6:22 a.m., and sunset will be at 7:45 p.m. The forecast calls for light winds and a bit of overcast, with the rivers running a little high from recent rains. That means higher, maybe muddier water and improved action for bottom feeders and migratory species.
Tidal charts for today show a morning high tide peaking around 8:00 a.m. and a late afternoon low tide, making the window right after sunrise prime time for setting out lines—especially in the upper tributaries and around river mouths.
As for what’s biting: the striped bass season is closed in all Maryland Bay waters until May 16, so you can’t target or keep stripers right now. Focus instead on the hot blue catfish bite—they’re running strong and spreading down from Hart Miller and Pooles Island, even showing up just north of the Bay Bridge. Anglers this week have hauled in a mess of blue cats, with some fish in the 10 to 20 pound class and even a few pushing 40 pounds or more. These invasive cats aren’t just good eating—they’re plentiful and help the Bay when you take them out. You can even log your catches for the CCA Maryland’s Great Chesapeake Invasives Count for a shot at prizes.
Meanwhile, up in D.C. and the Potomac, the shad run is on fire. Folks are catching 30-plus shad in a day using shad darts, spoons, and, for the fly crowd, tiny shad flies. Catfish are also biting well on the Potomac—flatheads up to 38 inches in water 10 to 30 feet deep. The Potomac up near Fletcher’s Cove and Pooles Island have seen the most action. On the Middle Bay side, white perch are packed in thick at places like Triton Beach and local salt ponds—shrimp on shad darts under a bobber is the ticket there.
For lures and bait, bring cut bait or chicken breast for the blue cats—use it on a fish finder or Santee rig. For shad, try a tandem rig with bright darts or small spoons, and use a hint of scent. White perch are hitting grass shrimp or bloodworms under floats.
Hot spots this week are the mouth of the Patapsco near Hart Miller Island, just north of the Bay Bridge for catfish, and Fletcher’s Cove for shad and flathead cats. Also check the Severn for white perch. Pick your tide windows, and get on the water early.
That’s your report from Artificial Lure—tight lines and good luck out there.