Co-founded by the National Park Service Chesapeake Bay and the Chesapeake Conservancy, Find Your Chesapeake is an incredible resource for discovering outdoor recreation in the Chesapeake region. I was fortunate to be a contributor for this site, which gave me the opportunity to travel to some of the coolest places in the watershed and meet some wonderful people along the way.
When I moved to Annapolis in 2014, something I was looking forward to was the opportunity to learn a new fishery – the Chesapeake Bay. As a trout and bass angler from Pennsylvania, I was accustomed to very different scenery and style when fishing. Though Maryland and Virginia have many opportunities to fish for both trout and bass, the Bay and its tributaries offer a fantastic fishery, right in my backyard, and hopefully yours, too.
Snakehead, sneks, dragons, or any other name for them have become the main species to fish for at Blackwater in recent years. Why? They are plentiful. Though Blackwater holds largemouth bass, striped bass, and multiple species of catfish, perch, and other panfish, much of the habitat is tailor-made for snakehead. Snakehead become active when the water temperature rises, starting around March or April, depending on the weather. The shallow water of the Blackwater River heats up in the summer months, lowering the oxygen levels and sending many species to deeper waters.
The National Oceanic Service defines the term invasive species as an organism that causes ecological or economic harm in a new environment where it is not native. The Chesapeake Bay watershed has become a home for several invasive fish species, the most prominent of which are blue and flathead catfish, and the northern snakehead.
The ground crunches under my boots and becomes a gentle squish as I walk from the frost-covered field to the slightly frozen mud next to the duck blind. Every year I forget that the blind is shorter than I am and bump my head on a beam at the entrance. Maybe I’ll remember next year. I lay down my gun and ammo box, then find my spot and check out my surroundings. I spread the grass and arborvitae to create a hole big enough to see the creek and my general area—I will be shooting at birds coming from the left—but still small enough to keep myself covered for the most part. It’s still dark, but the faintest hints of orange begin to light up the horizon and the black of the night sky fades to blue just above the treetops. In a few minutes the wisps of cloud turn a brilliant pink as the sun rises.
The road gets longer and longer as the anticipation grips me. Is that the turn? No. Is that the turn? No! Invariably I see the sign too late and have to reverse. The darkness starts to fade and daylight creeps up over the Potomac as I hurry down the gravel drive at Wilson’s Landing Road, the closest launch point to Mallows Bay. The day may be early, but the sounds of boat motors speeding along the main stem of the river, the chirping of osprey—a sound that will remind me of the Chesapeake as long as I live—and the splash of leaping fish and the bait schools they scuttle all welcome me as I load up my kayak with camera gear in waterproof cases and a fishing rod and tackle box.
“You're not on vacation. This ain't camp. It's an experience. It's an opportunity to become something bigger than you already are,” instructor Lindsay Land tells her crew of 10 students, age 14 and 15, and two fellow instructors on day one of eight for Baltimore Chesapeake Bay Outward Bound School’s Sea Kayaking and Environmental Leadership course. By the end of the program, these students paddled between 30 and 40 miles of the Nanticoke River. They camped at six different sites along the river, where the lack of development and light pollution revealed a sky full of stars, the most stars some of the students had ever seen in their lives. They also learned how to read navigational maps and tide tables, cook and clean with very limited resources, and live without the usual comforts of home—refrigerators to preserve food, indoor plumbing, beds with mattresses and sheets, electronic devices with wifi.
Lightweight, manually powered, highly customizable, and much more versatile when fishing some of the shallower areas of the region, a kayak grants an angler greater access to the water than bank fishing, but, in turn, does not break the bank.
When you hear about fishing in the Chesapeake, the immediate first thought is rockfish—Maryland’s state fish—and other bay species like red drum, speckled trout, and white perch. Wild trout is certainly not the first thing most anglers think of when choosing a body of water to fish. However, the tailwaters of Gunpowder Falls State Park below Prettyboy Reservoir offer seven miles of wild trout fishing that provide a unique challenge and opportunity to East Coast fly anglers.
Interviews
Dr. Mamie Parker
Dr. Mamie Parker is a well-known fish and wildlife biologist and distinguished environmental motivational speaker. She is the former Assistant Director of Fisheries and Habitat Conservation at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). She is a former board member of the Chesapeake Conservancy and is president of Ma Parker and Associates. She made history when appointed the first African American USFWS Regional Director of the 13 Northeastern states.
Joe McCauley
Joe McCauley retired from United States Fish and Wildlife Service after a 32-year career that included serving as assistant refuge manager at Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in southern New Jersey, deputy refuge manager at Back Bay NWR in Virginia Beach, and refuge manager at Rappahannock River Valley, James River, Presquile, and Plum Tree Island refuges in eastern Virginia.
Ann Graziano
Ann Graziano is the president of the Rappahannock Wildlife Refuge Friends, an independent nonprofit group of individuals dedicated to supporting the National Wildlife Refuge System and promoting awareness of the Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge through education and support.
Kim Hernandez
Kim Hernandez is a coastal resources planner with the Chesapeake and Coastal Service in the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Previously, her work included studying the effects of beach nourishment on sea turtle habitat as a graduate student at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment. Then, as a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coastal Management Fellow, she worked on the Mid-Atlantic Regional Ocean Action Plan and has contributed to efforts to designate Mallows Bay-Potomac River as the first National Marine Sanctuary in the Chesapeake.
Nathan Burrell
When it comes to the James River Park System, few people know it as well as Nathan Burrell. Currently the park’s superintendent, he has worked there for 15 years, beginning as an intern working with only one other person on staff to manage 600 acres in the middle of Downtown Richmond.
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Mike Kelly
Local musician Michael Kelly was so inspired by the story of Bronza Parks, he wrote a song entitled The Boatbuilder in tribute to him. I set out to find singer-songwriter Michael Kelly and ask him how the Chesapeake shapes him as a musician
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Leo Vensel
Leo Vensel is a fly fishing guide in Southwest Pennsylvania, focusing mainly on wild trout on the Little Juniata River.
Chris Barry
Chris Barry is a local high school student and avid birder. He volunteers as an intern with the Chesapeake Conservancy, helping with their multiple wildlife webcams.
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Featured Photos
Roving Ranger Ready to Roll
Susquehanna petroglyphs find a home near their original site
Mallows Bay Park