The eastern shore of Maryland has several fantastic rivers for bass fishing, including the Pocomoke, Wicomico, Nanticoke, and Choptank rivers. Anglers fish from private boats or fish with a local guide for bass and other freshwater fish in these waterways.
The Pocomoke River is one of the most popular fishing spots in Maryland, especially on the Delmarva Peninsula. Guides offer year-round fishing charters and excursions in Pocomoke, even in the winter months. Cold water fishing starts after Thanksgiving until around the second week of March and can be surprisingly good. Bass is a cold-blooded fish, so its body temperature is the same as the water temperature for the most part.
Pocomoke River largemouth bass avoid strong currents and prefer stagnant areas where they can be suspended and conserve energy in cold conditions. They may only feed a couple of days a week due to their slow metabolism, so slower introductions with your baits are critical. Targeting areas such as meanders, marinas, cuts, or ponds gives winter anglers access to warmer water and low currents. The guides focus on local conditions for success. For example, the sun hits the north and northwest shores of the river more in winter, so your guide may target these areas for warmer water. A water temperature gauge is also helpful for winter bass fishing on the Pocomoke. Cold water lures include spinner baits, crank baits, jigs, and senkos.
The next phase of fishing occurs at the end of March until June. This period includes all phases of spawning. Fishing guides look for spawning areas such as coves, flats, and backwater areas. Bass anglers also look for deeper water with cover leading to spawning habitat. Pre-spawn fishing can be excellent around this structure. Pre-spawning, spawning, and post-spawning water temperatures can vary greatly, so guides often suggest checking spawning grounds and migration routes leading to and from them on each trip on this trip. time of the year. Keep in mind that bass prefer a sandy or hard bottom and must have sunlight to help hatch the eggs. Hard river bottoms are rare on this river, but bass will get by with the best it can find. Productive lures during this period are senkos, tubes, lizards, and flukes.
Summer is a favorite fishing season on the Pocomoke River as the fish are very active. The river is tidal which affects where the fish congregate. A good low tide is at least three feet down. In summer, this river is known to only drop a foot or less and quickly fill up again until high tide. Northeasterly winds usually push back the water at the mouth of the river and it’s a good bet that the next few days there will be really high tides. Largemouth Bass can still be caught adapting to conditions. Anglers may find containment areas such as bulkheads, walls, or high river banks that high tides cannot pass through. This keeps the fish in an area that you can still access. Jumping baits like senkos and frogs will also continue to be produced on flooded shorelines, creeks and pad fields. If you’re lucky enough to have a good low tide, fish for wood near channel falls, hash line falls, and creeks with jigs, senkos, spinner baits, and crank baits.
Fall is another favorite time to fish the Pocomoke River. Bass are not affected as much by cold fronts and are very active in feeding during the difficult days ahead. This is a great time to run up the creeks like Nassawango and even further north over the Snow Hill Bridge. An experienced guide will cover a lot of water in the fall with crank lures, spinner baits, and buzz baits. Senkos, jigs and worms are always good for the harsher fall days with high barometric pressures.
