Fishing Conditions Forecast
Weekly Fishing Conditions Forecast Summary
March 13 - 19, 2024
With Spring a week away, the signs are everywhere - peepers are peeping, trees are budding, and daffodils are blooming. As the days grow longer and increasingly warmer, Maryland Bay waters will continue to slowly heat up for gamefish such as yellow perch spawning or preparing to spawn in the next couple of weeks in Maryland waters. As reported from the NOAA buoys, main Bay surface water temperatures have risen to upper 40s (°F). River temperatures are also holding in the upper 40s. However, smaller streams and downwind areas on a sunny day will warm faster and will often hold water temperatures in the middle 50s. Such areas with low salinity will be prime areas to look for spawning yellow perch as they move up from their wintering areas in the downstream portion of rivers.
For more detailed and up-to-date fishing conditions in your area of the bay, be sure to check out Eyes on the Bay's Click Before You Cast.
Fishing Condition Details:
- Pattern Stability - Cooling temperatures as the week progresses, Wednesday through Friday (day: 70s and night: 40s/50s) and Saturday through Tuesday (day: 50s/60s and night: 30s/40s). Chance of rain on Friday. Expect 10-15kt winds through Sunday with windier conditions on Monday and Tuesday. Sunrise next week around 7:15am and sunset about 7:14pm.
- Salinity - No new data yet
- Oxygen - Recent oxygen conditions are as follows:
- Stateline up to Point Lookout: Adequate oxygen to bottom
- Point No Point up to the Gooses: Adequate oxygen to bottom
- Little Choptank up to Choptank River: Adequate oxygen to bottom
- Bloody Point: Adequate oxygen to bottom
- Bay Bridge: Adequate oxygen to bottom
- Swan Point: Adequate oxygen to bottom
- Still Pond up to the Susquehanna Flats: Adequate oxygen to bottom
- Potomac River: Adequate oxygen to bottom
For oxygen forecasts, see VIMS Depth to 3 mg/l.
To identify your local conditions, see "Don't fish below this depth."
For information on Maryland's main bay oxygen conditions, see Maryland's latest hypoxia report. - Temperature (°F) - Main Bay surface temperatures are holding around 50 (°F). River temperatures are also holding in the upper 40s. As recorded at the real-time NOAA and DNR buoys, daytime Bay water temperatures are as follows:
- For the upper/mid-Bay:
- Susquehanna River at Darlington (USGS): NR
- Tolchester: 38.3°F
- Baltimore/Patapsco River: 48.7°F
- Thomas Point: 37.9°F
- Annapolis NOAA Buoy: 55.6°F
- For the mid/lower-Bay:
- NOAA/DNR Gooses Reef buoy: 48.2°F
- Bishops Head: 44.2°F
- Choptank, Cambridge: 49.8°F
- For the Potomac River:
- Point Lookout NOAA buoy (surface): 49.3°F
- Lewisetta: 50.7°F
- Mallows Bay: NR
- Washington DC at Little Falls (USGS): 52.7°F
To see water temperature by depth, check out our interactive “Water Temperature by Depth map.” For water temperatures in some of Maryland’s smaller rivers and streams, check “NOAA’s Mid-Atlantic Water Temperatures.”
- For the upper/mid-Bay:
- Clarity - Expect average Bay water clarity for most of Maryland portions of the Bay and rivers except the Potomac River above St. George's Island and the Bay mainstem down to the Patapsco River. To see the latest water clarity conditions on NOAA satellite maps, check "Eyes on the Bay Satellite Maps.”
- Habitat - To see locations of key Bay bottom habitat, see the ”Bay Bottom Habitat Mapper.”
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Moving water - Expect average flows for most Maryland rivers and streams, but high and dropping conditions on the Potomac and Susquehanna Rivers. There will be above average tidal current conditions through Friday as a result of the previous new moon on Sunday, March 10th.
- Putting it all together - The best fishing areas could be further refined by intersecting these prime areas with underwater points, hard bottom, drop-offs, and large schools of baitfish.
For a step-by-step way to find the best fishing areas based on water conditions, be sure to check out Eyes on the Bay's Click Before You Cast. Have a safe and enjoyable fishing trip, and as always, drop us a line with comments or suggestions.