Bay Quarters (Coan River / Pressley Creek)

[rdw930]

We just bought a waterfront vacation house in the Bay Quarters (VA) area. We are right at Coan River and Pressley Creek area. I love kayaking and want to get into fishing the area. I was hoping for any advice, local clubs, locals in the area that may be willing to show me the ropes. I have never fished this type of water. I mainly have just dabbled in catfish and bass near my house. Thanks and hope to have some great kayaking and fishing experiences in the new place.

[mchottie]

Looks to be directly across the Potomac from Point Lookout? I bet the fishing is FANTASTIC there! Would love to get down that way when the weather warms up!

[rdw930]

Yes, I can see Point Lookout and we are at the meeting of the bay and the Potomac. I plan to spend a lot of time fishing down here this summer just need some people that know what they are doing to learn from.

[kevinfry]

Id say just keep exploring trolling an x-rap on one side and paddletail (my search bait is salt/pepper bassassain with a chartreuse tail) on the other. Coan river has a lot of the characteristics we look for on the Maryland side. You'll soon find some hotspots! If you like perching, you'll have fun...piers galore!

[Big Mike]

Looking at NOAA chart 12233 I see tons of points and a very nice edge on the channel leading into the Coan river. I’d be fishing that edge that goes from 5’ to 17’ in the Potomac. Later in the summer I’d also troll a 4” paddletail on that big flat in the Potomac to the right as you come out. Unfortunately it’s a bit of a haul for us to kayak over to you but we’ll be waving from St George’s Island and PLO. Really good fishing in our stretch of the bay/river last year.

[HeaveToo]

OOOOHHHH....The Coan River. I found a good spot in that area that you could probably hit with a kayak. That is my fav place to launch my Bay Boat.

If you watch the mouth of the river later on the menhaden stack up and the fish will sometime follow. You will actually see the baitfish move when they are out there.

The place that I fish is a place that holds Reds and Stripers. It is in the Coan River.

You are also a close drive to some other places on the Bay. I would really try the little Wicimico River and try the rock channel at the exit.

[ronaultmtd]

LIKE MIKE SAID... and my favorite searchbait in the Spring before June is an XR 10 or XR12 Glass Ghost/Blue/silver or Bunker colored XRap trolled at about 2.8 to 3 mph...if the water is shallow (under 4 FOW) drop the XRap back about 25 feet...if it is over 5 FOW drop it back 50 feet...troll back and forth in a crisis cross and pay atttention to where you got a fish...what direction you were trolling, speed water conditions...one good rule of thumb- never leave fish...if you are catching dinks...stop trolling and put on a heavier jighead and a 4 inch swimbait- cast to the dinks but let the jig hit the bottom and bounce it back to you in a hop, hop, hop retrieve- sometimes the big fish are a lot smarter than the dinks and let the small fish wound the bait for them and take their sweet time eating right near the bottom...especially true of speckled trout...