Tips on fishing the Patuxent River that the Indians wish they had known…
On the Western Shore of the Chesapeake Bay, the Patuxent River begins in Maryland and ends in Maryland’s Bay waters. This historic river whose shores were home to many generations of native Eastern American Indian tribes is still a place of both waterfront residential properties and recreational opportunities.
The lower Southern Maryland portion of the Patuxent River is bounded by St. Mary’s, Calvert, Charles, and Prince Georges Counties. In addition to the historic and scenic value this river offers, there are very unique environmental characteristics, both natural and manmade, that make the Patuxent a prime place to fish during any season of the year.
Believe it or not, you can start your New Year off as well as any East Coast angler can by fishing relatively warm and always calm waters of the Chalk Point power plant discharge canal. The power plant can be easily accessed by launching at the Department of Natural Resources public boat ramp at Barstow on Route 231 in Calvert County.
A three mile run up the river past the large power plant will bring you to the narrow mouth of the warm water discharge canal which is just downstream of the riverside community of Eagle Harbor in Prince Georges County.
The water depth runs over ten foot deep through most of the manmade canal which winds back to the power plant where the towers are cooled. A floating scum barrier blocks close access to the facility but a variety of fish may be caught in the half mile space between the mouth of the canal and the barrier.
Probably, the most important factor in fishing the flat calm waters of this canal in January, February, or early March is to have proper life jackets, better yet, a life raft as well. Also, mount an auxiliary motor on your boat’s stern if you do not have twin engines to get you back home should you encounter mechanical problems. Likely, there will be no one else on the river that time of year to provide immediate assistance.