Susquehanna Flats and Havre de Grace

The Susquehanna Flats spread across the head of the Chesapeake at Havre de Grace, where Maryland's biggest river enters the Bay: thousands of acres of shallow water holding the largest underwater grass bed in the Chesapeake. In summer the grass fills with largemouth bass and snakeheads, striped bass prowl its edges at dawn and dusk, and big blue catfish, white perch and yellow perch run the channels. Havre de Grace and Perryville give easy shore and ramp access, including license-free piers.

When to fish

• Winter into early March: yellow perch school up in the channels and around the Perryville and Havre de Grace piers until they spawn in early March.
• March: catch-and-release striped bass along the channel edges; then the whole area above the Abbey Point–Worton Point line closes to striped bass in April and May for spawning.
• Spring: white perch arrive, and largemouth bite as the grass emerges; DNR reports mostly catch-and-release bass fishing then, and tidal bass rules set a larger minimum size in spring.
• Summer: largemouth and snakeheads in the grass; stripers only at first and last light. August is closed to striped bass fishing.
• Fall: stripers return to the grass edges in September, then move to steeper channel edges as the grass dies back in October; blue catfish crowd around Havre de Grace late in the year.

Where to fish

• The grass beds: largemouth and snakeheads, from late spring to early fall.
• The east and west edges of the Flats: stripers at dawn and dusk.
• Channel edges: stripers in March, midsummer days and late fall.
• Shore spots: the license-free Tydings Park area and Hutchins Park pier in Havre de Grace, the Concord Point pier, and the free Perryville Community Pier overlooking the Flats.

How to fish it

• Bass and snakeheads: DNR reports buzzbaits, bladed jigs and frogs over the grass, and weedless flukes and paddletails along its edges.
• Stripers: poppers early and late in the shallows, paddletails and crankbaits a bit deeper, and large paddletails or rattling crankbaits along the channel edges in March. When the sun is up in summer, jig deeper channel edges, live-line spot or drift cut bait.
• Perch: a two-hook top-and-bottom rig with a worm and a minnow, small grubs, or shad darts tipped with grass shrimp; white perch also take bloodworm on a bottom rig.
• Blue catfish: a sliding-sinker rig with a circle hook and fresh cut bait.

Getting there

Launch at the Havre de Grace town ramp in Millard Tydings Memorial Park (fee for trailers, free for car-top craft), the shallow Jean Roberts Park ramp, or the Perryville ramp across the river (fee). The Flats, the lower Susquehanna and the Northeast River have their own striped bass seasons, including the April–May closure; use non-offset circle hooks with bait when stripers could be the target. The Flats' western shore, from Swan Creek past Spesutie Island, is part of the Aberdeen Proving Ground restricted area, open to boat fishing only at posted times and never to landing. You need a Maryland Chesapeake Bay and Coastal Sport Fishing License, except in the license-free areas, where a free angler registration is required.