Breton Bay Info

[Archivist13]

So I've been a shore fisherman down here in S. Maryland mostly at Wheatley Lake near my house and have a lot of experience fishing walleye in Lake Erie and Lake Ontario being I grew up in the Great Lakes region. This spring I bought a kayak for fishing since I have more time now that the kids are getting older and I need to get off the shore and back on the water. Anyways, Breton Bay is the area that I am trying to focus on this year. I have launched out of Abell's Wharf twice, Leonardtown Wharf once, and done the McIntosh Run stretch a couple times. I've had good luck in McIntosh run on white perch and Largemouth but have struck out on Breton Bay itself. I notice nobody talks about the upper bay near Leonardtown so I'm assuming its a bit of a dead zone? Abell's Wharf has come up a couple times a year here so I guess that is a better area. I haven't been down to the mouth of the bay where the Potomac meets. I enjoy figuring out the spots and experimenting but I was hoping maybe a hint on whether the area north or south of Abell's Wharf is more productive and do I need to stay out in the middle channel area or is the entire area good? What species outside white perch, stripers, and catfish can I expect to potentially catch in that area? Should I be focusing more on the lower area of the bay or is it better after I have more experience with the kayak setup being it appears to be bigger water? Thanks for any help and looking forward to sharing any reports that I may be able to provide!

[Big Mike]

I fish BB a lot, kind of consider it my home water. Because I trailer I exclusively fish out of Abell’s Wharf. I’d like to fish the upper portion, convinced snakeheads are in the weed beds but it’s a haul to get up there. Most of our fishing is done within 1 mile of the ramp. First thing, be on the water at dawn or dusk, the stripers patrol the shallow water coming off the gravel plant point. Troll 4” paddle tails in pearl or limetruese on 1/8 to 1/4 jighead and work the point hard at first light. After you’ve done that explore the areas around the channel poles you can see. This includes trolling them, if that doesn’t get hit bottom bounce some metal or gulp in same areas. We also work the shore to the left coming past gravel point. I troll 3” gulp and stop and fish every pier and the rock walls. Make sure you cast under the docks, not outside. I’ve caught large stripers , an occasional 20” speckled trout, and nice perch on that stretch. In years past if you head out to the middle from the left shore you’ll find a drop that goes from 5’ to 10’ that runs almost the whole length of the area. Bottom bounce gulp for perch and if they ever show up again, croaker along that edge. I don’t have a FF these days so it’s a crapshoot when I try to locate it.

Like everywhere it helps to have moving water, just being out early but dead low might disappoint you. The current in BB is very mild but it is there and fish respond to it. Finally, if you’re new to salt the best teacher is to go often under different conditions and find what works for you. We all have our preferences, and you’ll discover yours. Hope to see you on the water some day and tight lines.

[Archivist13]

Mike, wow you went above an beyond! Thanks a lot, it's very much appreciated! So it sounds like you spend more time on the south side of the gravel mine point. I have done all my fishing, "exploring" is a better word, from the green marker 9 drifting north toward Leonardtown about half a mile. In fact I was there yesterday and it was really quite choppy with a S wind blowing up the bay and I only caught one tiny white perch. When I went back to land at about 8:30 there were shore fisherman on the beach next to the launch catching 10-12 inch croaker. I just laughed to myself.

I was actually up at the mouth of McIntosh Run and Breton Bay this evening. I caught 14 white perch, a few nice size, and over 30 spot of about 6-7 inches. They were everywhere. I didn't catch any, but another guy with a kayak that was fishing about 50 yards from me with a fly rod caught 4 striper around 16-18 inches. There is a lot of baitfish in that area and although I haven't caught a snakehead in there, something was hammering the baitfish. Lots of top water explosions and boiling in the 2-3 ft weedy areas. Don't know what was down there chasing them but it was quite active.

Again thanks a lot, and if you see a guy out there fishing that looks like he has no clue what he's doing, it's probably me!!