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Home › Waters › Maryland › Potomac River
River · Upper Potomac · Maryland

Potomac River Fishing Guides

The upper Potomac above Washington, a wide, shallow, ledge-and-grass river that is one of the great smallmouth bass fisheries on the East Coast.

Still water and rock ledges on a forested Appalachian river
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Guides on the Potomac River

Claimed profiles take booking requests. Unclaimed profiles are built from public records so the river is never empty; the guide can claim or remove one any time.

About the Potomac River

Above the fall line at Washington the Potomac is a completely different river from the tidal water most people picture. From Cumberland down through Hancock, Williamsport, Shepherdstown, Harpers Ferry, Point of Rocks and on to Whites Ferry it is wide, shallow, ledgy and full of grass beds, and it fishes as one of the best smallmouth bass rivers in the eastern United States. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal towpath runs along the entire Maryland bank, which gives the river something few big rivers have: continuous public access for a hundred and eighty miles.

Smallmouth are the fishery. The combination of ledge rock, grass beds and abundant crayfish and baitfish produces both numbers and quality, and float trips in a raft or jet boat are the standard guided day. Largemouth take the slower backwaters and the grass, channel and flathead catfish are abundant, walleye run in the spring, and muskellunge have become a serious cold-weather pursuit in the reaches above Harpers Ferry. Striped bass come up as far as Great Falls in the spring below Point of Rocks.

The Point of Rocks gauge is the reference number for the whole middle reach and the one that guides quote. Moderate readings mean wadeable ledges, clear water and good floating. High spring water or a big rain in the Shenandoah Valley browns it out and makes the ledges dangerous; it clears from the top down over several days. Late-summer lows are clear, grassy and technical, and the best fishing is at first and last light. Wading anglers should respect the ledges, which drop off abruptly.

Point of Rocks, Brunswick, Harpers Ferry, Shepherdstown and Williamsport are the access towns along the corridor.

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The photo at the top of this page is not Potomac River.

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  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Fished this water? Add a photo

Reviewed by hand before it appears. Pick the water, not the spot — we never publish exact locations.

Never published. We use it only if we need to ask about the photo.

Posting to Potomac River.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Flow alert

Tell me when the Potomac River cfs

Now: 5,030 cfs, read 2:55 am CDT, Mon Oct 19, 2026 (USGS 01638500, POTOMAC RIVER AT POINT OF ROCKS, MD).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

Point of Rocks: boat ramp and access at the gauge.
Brunswick and Lander: C and O Canal ramps and campsites.
Harpers Ferry and the Shenandoah confluence: the best-known reach.
Dargan Bend and Antietam Creek: canal access points upstream.
Shepherdstown and Taylors Landing: mid-river ramps.
Williamsport and Dam Number 5: upper reaches and the pool water.
C and O Canal towpath: continuous bank access along the entire Maryland shore.

Seasons

March and April: walleye and high spring water; muskellunge fishing at its best.
May and June: the strongest smallmouth months, spawning and post-spawn.
July and August: low clear water, grass beds, topwater at dawn and dusk.
September through November: the biggest smallmouth of the year and excellent floating.

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Questions

What is the current flow on the Potomac River?

As of Oct 19, 2:55 am, the USGS gauge POTOMAC RIVER AT POINT OF ROCKS, MD reads 5,030 cfs, the 79th percentile for this date, with water temperature 59.7 F. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Potomac River?

Anglers target Channel Catfish, Flathead Catfish, Largemouth Bass, Muskellunge, Smallmouth Bass, Striped Bass, Walleye on the Potomac River in Maryland.

Are there fishing guides on the Potomac River?

GuidedFloats lists 1 guide and outfitters on the Potomac River. Claimed profiles accept booking requests; unclaimed profiles are built from public records and link to the business.

Where can you access the Potomac River?

Point of Rocks: boat ramp and access at the gauge. Brunswick and Lander: C and O Canal ramps and campsites. Harpers Ferry and the Shenandoah confluence: the best-known reach. Dargan Bend and Antietam Creek: canal access points upstream. Shepherdstown and Taylors Landing: mid-river ramps. Williamsport and Dam Number 5: upper reaches and the pool water. C and O Canal towpath: continuous bank access along the entire Maryland shore.

When is the best time to fish the Potomac River?

March and April: walleye and high spring water; muskellunge fishing at its best. May and June: the strongest smallmouth months, spawning and post-spawn. July and August: low clear water, grass beds, topwater at dawn and dusk. September through November: the biggest smallmouth of the year and excellent floating.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Potomac River?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Maryland agency site: https://dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries/pages/regulations/index.aspx