Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, south of Cambridge in Dorchester County, is a huge tidal marsh on the Blackwater and Little Blackwater rivers, and DNR says it has historically been one of the most productive snakehead grounds anywhere. The same grassy creeks hold tidal largemouth bass, white and yellow perch, black crappie, pickerel and catfish, and the Little Blackwater has a popular spring white perch run. Almost all of the fishing is from kayaks and small boats, and the refuge has its own rules to follow.

When to fish

• Late winter and early spring: yellow and white perch, with the white perch run up the Little Blackwater. Most refuge waters are closed to boats until April 1, so fish from the causeway until then. Striped bass are off limits from March through May because the Blackwater is a spawning river.
• April and May: snakeheads get active on the sunny side of the creeks and feed hard before they spawn, making this the best time for them. Bass and crappie are shallow too.
• Summer: snakeheads, bass, crappie, sunfish and white perch in the grass beds and spatterdock. Snakeheads are harder to catch while they spawn in June, then feed actively again afterward.
• Fall: bass, snakeheads, white perch and crappie until the refuge waters close to boats on October 1.

Where to fish

• The Key Wallace Drive causeway over the Little Blackwater: the only place to fish from shore, in daylight, all year.
• The marsh edges and creeks off Button Creek, west of the MD 335 bridge, and the open refuge water with small marsh islands past the bridge.
• Grass beds, spatterdock and lily pad fields, sod banks, fallen brush and the bridge pilings.

How to fish it

• Snakeheads: white paddletails rigged weedless, bladed jigs with white soft plastic trailers, and soft frogs worked through and along the grass and pads; or a big live minnow about a foot under a bobber. Give a fish a few seconds to take the frog before setting the hook. It's illegal to keep a snakehead alive, so kill any you keep.
• Everything else: from a shallow-draft boat or kayak, cast to the sod and grass banks, fallen brush and the bridge pilings.

Getting there

From Cambridge, take Woods Road and MD 16 to Church Creek, then MD 335 south. The Golden Hill Road (MD 335) paddle launch near the Harriet Tubman visitor center has a paved lot for about 15 vehicles; there's another soft launch on Egypt Road. For the Key Wallace causeway, park at the west end at the Wildlife Drive entrance (no trailers, no parking on the causeway). Fishing is daylight only, anglers in boats must stay in them, and the Wildlife Drive is closed to fishing. You need a Maryland Chesapeake Bay and Coastal Sport Fishing License.