Chesapeake Bay Fishing Reefs 3: Places That We Never Knew

Chesapeake Bay Fishing Reefs 3: Places That We Never Knew

This third volume of Chesapeake Bay Fishing Reefs explores uncharted features that provide marine habitat and fishing structure in the Chesapeake Bay main stem and tributaries. Recent hydrographic surveys were scoured for uncharted rocks, ruins, wrecks, obstructions, ancient riverbed rapids, oyster reef remnants, “buoy holes”, artificial reef deposits, and environmental restoration sites. Findings are characterized by composition, configuration, least depth, and vertical rise off the bottom. Locations are shown on maps and position coordinates are given. Tidal tributaries explored for survey “technological burns” include the Elk, Chester, Severn, Wye, Miles, Lower Patuxent, Potomac, Rappahannock, York, Mattaponi, Pamunkey, and James Rivers. Also covered are fishing conditions found at many oyster restoration sites, Bay caisson lighthouses, Civil War wrecks and obstructions, and barge wrecks that provide cover for baitfish and foraging conditions for sportfish above the summer thermocline. Focused spot checks are given for the Love Point area, the Potomac’s Hog Island and Kitts Point artificial reefs, Calvert Cliffs warm water discharge complex, Cove Point gas docks area, and the lost target ship USS Manta . The book concludes with what to do and not to do when anchoring. If you’re a new recreational fishermen looking where to begin fishing Chesapeake Bay and tidal tributaries, an occasional fisherman seeking to optimize available fishing time, or a veteran fisher expanding to new areas, this book and other volumes in the series will help you rapidly ramp up local area knowledge, find clusters of hotspots to plan fishing trips around, and fish it safely.