Potomac River--Aqua Land Marina over in Maryland (301-259-2222) reported that the striped bass showed up this past week. They can be caught from Swan Point to Port Tobacco River. Troll for them. The croaker are slowing making their way in our waters too. A few have been caught. The same goes for perch. Catfish are biting everywhere. Aqua Land offers fishing and boat rentals 7 days a week 7-7. You can fish off the beach too. Get there by 7 PM and stay all night if you want!
Upriver the bass fishing is good near the grass but reportedly better near wood. Use finesse worms and creature baits. Some gar and catfish are also keeping bow anglers entertained now that we have clearer water. A few snakeheads are in the mix.
Rappahannock River--The upriver reaches have cleared and are offering some fair to good bass angling on the creek mouths and wood structure. However, the downriver stretch has been slow even for catfish. It is so odd to have catfish angling so slow. A few white perch can be caught on gravel banks with bait or Beetle Spins.
Motts Run Reservoir run by Don Minor with assistants, Mason and Nate, is a gem in our region. It can be tough to fish if you don't fish it often but the fish are definitely there. We saw some monster bass cruising the shallows Friday but no hook ups. There are plenty of white perch and yellow perch being caught right off the piers on minnows. Catfish in this reservoir are chunky and appear healthier than the river cats I have caught the past few years. Motts has night fishing on July 27th, August 10th, 24th and September 14th. Boats are permitted if you have lights. ALL boats must be off the water by 12:30. Grills and picnic tables are available. No alcohol permitted. 7PM---1 AM is the event time frame. Great time to night fish for a lot of nice catfish or other fish!
Ponds--Pond fishing for bass and sunfish is pretty good. Use topwater like Mann's Toadz or weedless frogs in the lily pads. It is hard to go wrong with a white beetle spin for bream, bass or crappie. Crappie fishing with minnows has been really good in small ponds. Some anglers are getting 20 plus fish early and late. Catfish Kelly's on Rt. 3 in Ferry Farm has minnows and great service too. Get some seafood or  a sandwich while you are there. www.facebook.com/catfishkellys/posts/?ref=page_internal
Saltwater---Lewisetta Marina https://www.facebook.com/pg/pages.lewisettamarina/posts/?ref=page_internalis  is one of the nicest marinas I have been to lately. Located just past Callao on Lewisetta Road, the marina offers a nice ramp, some fishing bait, tackle and boat supplies and friendly service. We purchased some sandwiches and they were the BEST sandwiches we have had in awhile. The lunchmeat portion was healthy in portion as was the cheese and the sandwiches were wrapped in paper like the old country stores used to do them. Miss Helen and the men at the marina were generous with information too. Croaker are biting as are spot and white perch down that way on the Coan River and the Potomac. Some of their Lewisetta Chum has been responsible for some really nice cobia catches nearby too. A few blues and Spanish are showing up at Smith Point and Point Lookout, a short boat ride away.
Further down the bay the Spanish are hitting around Windmill Point. Some small blues are in the mix. Croaker are hitting some. Cobia are def. in the area as well. Look for the red drum bite to pick up later in the month. Down around Virginia Beach some whiting are being caught too.

Fishing in the rivers is pretty slow. On the Rapp the floodwaters finally receded near Fredericksburg and some bass are being caught off the wood with white and chartreuse spinnerbaits. Some anglers are reportedly taking some fish on plastics worked slowly along wood. Catfishing has been slow lately. The high water that is flooding timber and weeds is offering fish more food and hiding spots. The heat is not helping either. Last, some fish are still spawning. I caught a dozen fish this AM and over half had eggs in them still. A few white perch are taking Beetle Spins.
Potomac River bass anglers are reporting decent bites off wood with plastics and early and late with chatterbaits. A few snakeheads are being caught. Catfish are pretty much the only bottom fishing game. Croaker are still no shows for the river from Coles Point all the way up. A rare few striper are  hitting some baits but not with enough consistency to make it worth taking the boat out if that is all you are going for. Rough summer for anglers!
Pond fishing is good early and late. Bream are hitting baits such as spinners, poppers, worms, crickets and Beetle Spins. They just came off the spawn. Bass are hitting topwater early and late. Some plastics are taking nice bass near vegetation too. Crappie are hitting slowly trolled jigs and minnows in ponds.
Lake Anna anglers are taking some nice striper very early in the AM near the 208 Bridge. Bass are in the vicinity as well but once the sun comes up, the fish go deep.
Saltwater action is slowly coming alive. RWs noted that no croaker are really being caught yet. However, some blues and a few Spanish are showing up around Reedville. Further south  near Dameron Marsh the cobia action is picking up and in the bay the cobia are really providing the best action yet. Bluefish are being caught along the CBBT and off the oceanfront as well as Spanish. Some small croaker and nice spot are in the same area.
Hoping the fishing picks up soon. Summer is half over!