Articles

Mallows Bay to Moss Point

-by Andy Andrzejewski

Mallows Bay, located on the Maryland side of the river, encompasses the area bound by Liverpool Point at the south end of the bay and Sandy Point on the north end.

Mallows Bay is easily identifiable by the large numbers of wrecks, or more appropriately, wreck remains, which time and nature have made look more like islands than wrecks.

A large steel vessel, the Accomac, sits incongruously at the southern mouth of the bay and marks the channel entrance into Mallows Creek. Enter this area on the downstream side of the Accomac and navigate by the lighted range markers which sit on the shore at the entrance to the burn basin, the location of the Mallows Bay boat club. The whole of this area is a navigational hazard, proceed slowly and with caution.

Mallows Bay contains far too much history and habitat for me to do justice to in this article. For students of the Potomac and those sincerely interested in learning about the opportunities that exist in this area, I recommend purchasing the book, Ghost Fleet of Mallows Bay, authored by Donald G. Shomette and available from Tidewater Publishers. This is the most comprehensive book that I have read on this amazing fishery.

I will touch briefly on a few fishing facts of this area and then I will digress. The area we commonly call Mallows is actually made up of two bays and creeks.

Begin at Liverpool Point, a rocky main river point that provides great fishing throughout the year. Both largemouth and smallmouth bass come from this point, as well as rockfish, perch, crappies, and bluegills. There are many large rocks scattered across the point as well as a few subtle drop offs that have given up many bass in the five and six pound range.

Fish your way around the point and into the first small bay on the right. This is Liverpool Bay, fed by Liverpool Creek which enters in the rear of the bay. The bay has a sandy, rocky bottom and is a bass spawning area.

Liverpool Bay has numerous pieces of wrecks, some visible, some not, rimming its perimeter. All hold bass.

Continuing around Liverpool Bay, you will come to the concrete structure which marks the entrance to the burn basin. Objects to fish within the basin are obvious and need no explanation.

At the back left corner of the basin, Mallows Creek enters. The creek is accessible to bass boaters for a few hundred yards, but each year it seems that more sediment is accumulating and it is only a matter of time before it will be too shallow to access. Take advantage of it while you can.

About 150 yards inside of Mallows Creek, on the upstream side of the tree lined bank on your left, just beyond the fallen tree that almost blocks the creek, lies an old wooden boat under the water, situated in the outside of the creek bend. It is visible in the summer months when grasses in the creek clear the water. Learn where it is at and fish it. It is always good for at least one bass.

Before we leave this area, Ill mention one other location that will require reading the book, Ghost Fleet, to locate. Between wrecks diagramed as numbers 9 and 10, is a seven foot deep hole. I have taken many limits of bass from between those two wrecks. Its worth the price of the book itself to learn of their whereabouts.

As we leave Mallows Bay and proceed upriver, our first stop is at the wharf remains at Sandy Point. This is the northern most area of the salvage operation and this point is guarded by an old wreck which sits just north of the pilings.

The pilings have wrecks remnants and other detritus scattered about the bottom, which makes for good bass habitat. These pilings produce good bass on occasion and, because of their juxtaposition to the river channel, make for an excellent summer spot.

One should not overlook all the options Sandy Point itself provides. A ledge swings away from the point just downstream of the wharf and this ledge has provided many a limit of bass at the beginning of the incoming tide.

The visible wreck upstream of the wharf is a hit or miss spot. The bottom configuration changes with the weather, changing bass habitat with it.

Continuing up the Maryland shoreline, you will come to a small feeder creek. Recent geological survey maps dont show a name for this stream, but an 1816 map of Charles County that I was able to locate indicates that this used to be called Rennos Creek.

The same map shows that this also was the site of Lower Goose Bay Landing, an old steamship port until about 1930. This could account for the pieces of boat wreck that lie at the mouth of the creek.

This creek, again dependent on weather patterns, may be accessible for a short distance by smaller boats. If you can gain access, chances are fairly good that you will find some bass inside of the creek. If you cant get your boat inside, this is a good spot to beach your boat and wade fish the tributary. Granted, this is not allowable in bass tournaments, but then that gives the recreational angler an avenue he can pursue, fairly confident that he wont be crowded.

Grasses in this area are cyclical but if they are present, be at the mouth of this creek at the beginning of the outgoing tide.

About 100 yards north of this creek, sitting about 50 to 70 feet off the shoreline, are the underwater remains of an old wooden wreck. This wreck can be located by lining up on a lone cedar tree that sits on the shore, not an easy feat since cedars are abundant in this area, or by proceeding to GPS coordinates 38-29-950, 77-16-070. The water here is shallow and at low tides your boat or motor may strike the wreckage.

As you continue along the Maryland shore, no single, significant feature stands out until you get to Goose Bay. Goose Bay is the area which is readily identifiable by the sand and gravel operation which is present. Several old metal barges were run aground and partially filled with ballast to form the foundation for the waterside, conveyor-loading operation. A barge basin, as well as a boat channel leading in from the main river, was dredged to approximately 13 feet to provide barge and tug access.

Dolphins, wood piles lashed together, were placed along the inside edge of the dredged basin to permit barge mooring while loading, although most have since been knocked down.

Work here proceeds at a feverish pace and with tugs and barges entering and exiting as well as the practice of the tug Captains to keep the barge basin clean by remaining moored to the barges during loading and accelerating their engines to blow the silt out with the tugs propellers, this area is not fishable most weekdays.

Historically, this seems to be the area which once saw the operation of Budds Ferry. If so, commercial operations have probably resulted in the destruction of any such archeological evidence.

At the north end of Goose Bay, a private pier is present. Seventy five feet south of the pier, extending from the shore, you may notice a small rock bar. This is ballast rock, all that remains of what years ago appeared to be a small, work-type craft. The rocks will, on occasion, hold bass.

The private pier itself should not be overlooked. The shoreline from the pier to Moss Point is a great bass area. In the spring, many quality pre-spawn bass frequent this shoreline as they prepare to move into Chickamuxen Creek.

Next issue we will begin with Moss Point and proceed north to the mouth of Mattawoman Creek, including the fishing opportunities offered in Chickamuxen Creek. Dont miss it!