A crankbait, spinnerbait, and jig are three lures you can count on in spring for bass.

The majority of us have the dilemma as fishermen; our full time jobs get in the way of spending countless hours on the water in pursuit of all the fish we want to catch. In the upper Chesapeake, springtime fishing has me thinking about the waters I could test and fish thereabouts. Thinking about the catch and release stripers on the Susquehanna Flats, and the largemouth bass in the same waters – it’s a wonder any work gets done at all. This spring will be especially tough because I will be breaking in a new boat. If only there was more time for fishing and less time for the necessities in life!

ROCKFISH
If regulations stay the same as the last two seasons, the catch and release fishery on the Susquehanna Flats begins on March 15th. The season is highly dictated by snowfall runoff. Since mighty Susqy traverses New York and Pennsylvania, we have to consider the runoff that flows into their sections of the river as well as our own. Though the season starts in mid-March, it is often worthwhile to start at the end of the month or into early April.

I will find my way to the ramp at Tydings Park in Havre de Grace where it is a short run to the fishing grounds. Rockfish are found at the mouth of the flats in deeper water. A good depth finder will show you the stripers, and just as important, the baitfish on which they feed. Stripers will be feeding on white perch, shad, and herring. Bucktails trimmed with twisters and soft jerkbaits impaled on jig heads are the best baits for jigging. Rattle baits, such as the Stillwater Clatter Shad worked with a slow and methodical sweeping retrieve.

Choose bucktails and jig heads in the 1/2 to 3/4-ounce sizes. White and chartreuse are the two best colors for bucktails. Albino and chartreuse-glitter are best for soft jerkbaits. Try the natural colors in clear to lightly stained water. If the flats are off color from run off, the yellow hues will work best. Natural shad patterns work well for the rattle baits. Try hues of gold and chartreuse for these vibrating baits when the water is highly stained.

As the water temperature on the flats warms through April, look for rockfish to move shallow. This is when topwater plugs come into play. The Stillwater Smack It

Jr. is by far the most common popping plug you will find cast on the flats. Walking plugs like the Heddon Zara Spook and Tsunami Walking Minnow are other plugs to consider. Target the troughs that run through the shallows of the main flats and shallows that run along the north channel.

LARGEMOUTH BASS
The Susquehanna Flats and River are always a hot bed of action for largemouth bass. The prespawn season is when a lot of lunker bass are caught. Look for bass to gang up around points and around deep water drop offs in mid-March. Try Carpenter Point, Stump Point, Garrett Island, and the edge of the back channel. Maybe even sneak around to fish the points at the head of the Northeast River. The best lures are suspending jerkbaits and slowly cranked rattle traps. Retrieve the jerkbaits with long pauses in your cadence.

Like rockfish, bass will move shallow when area waters warm. Rocks, fallen wood, and newly emergent grass beds will hold bass at this time. Look for this cover adjacent to deep water. Bass will retreat there under uncomfortable weather conditions. A number of baits will catch bass from these forms of cover. Square-lipped crankbait and spinnerbaits can be worked through the limbs of deadfall timber to entice bass. A jig or tube would also be good choices. Crankbaits, jigs, and Texas-rigged freak baits work well around rocks. Spinnerbaits and rattle traps are the best options when targeting bass in new grass. Look for some other cover within vegetation to pinpoint where bass will be holding.

The rocky confines of Garrett Island hold both largemouth and smallmouth bass in spring. Here I would suggest a good balsa wood crankbait with a square or coffin shaped lip to get the maximum deflection off of the rocks. The Harford County side of the island is usually best, but by all means, fish the top side of the island as well. The northern end of the Cecil County side has plenty of hard cover for cranking. If the actions wanes, cast jigs and Texas Rigged tubes for less active bass.

Ah, spring on the Susquehanna! Bass and rockfish are just waiting for my every cast. I can daydream at work and wonder why I can’t be casting a Clatter Shad or walking bait for stripers, or ponder the strike of a lunker class largemouth crushing my spinnerbait as it reaches the end of a sunken log. The kicker to tell entire tale is that an angler can catch both species in a single day. Sure, there are the weekend days to get out there and fish, but it is so nice to be out there during the week. There are numerous bass tournaments on the flats during the weekends, and working class light tackle fishermen like me crowd the flats. If only there more days in the week, or someone could invent the mental health day off.