Tydings Park and Marina, located In Havre De Grace, Md., is the farthest, and most difficult drive to access the Sassafras River. We launch from this area only when we have located good numbers of bass on the Susquehanna Flats or in the nearby coves or docks of the Northeast. The drive from here can be dangerous in the early morning fog and heavy boat wakes in the Spring and Summer. At 55 mph, it takes about 25 minutes to reach the first starting point on the Sassafras. The best area to launch in the Sassafras is in Duffy Creek, located right behind the Granary Restaurant, on Sassafras Street, in the town of Galena. This is a private marina, with average parking facilities, and a good ramp. It is a pay per use facility, and charges a daily fee of $5.00.
The second area to launch is the public boat ramp on Sassafras Street, right before the restaurant. This is a small boat only ramp, but it is adequate for launching most any bass boat at the proper tide. In low tide situations, this can be a tricky ramp, so great care should be taken during these times, as it is extremely shallow, and has ruined many a boat prop and hull. The next spot you can launch is a “permit only” ramp located in Turners Creek. This area has the most parking, and offers a middle of the river launch site. The only drawback is that the number of permits are limited, and can be difficult to obtain for out-of-state anglers.
When and Where To Go – Turners Creek
Although the Sassafras offers excellent fishing all times of the year except the winter, the Early Spring is the best time to start. Spring on the Sassafras is similar to any other body of water, in the respect that the basss life revolves entirely around the spawning process, and the locating of spawning areas. The Sassafras normally hold bass in almost every area of the river, but at this time of year, it suddenly shrinks to a few, and eventually, two major creeks.
In the early pre-spawn, largemouth can found in the emerging grasses and the wood cover, in locations such as Halls Creek, Freeman, McGill, Turner, DuPont, and Lloyds. As the spawn gets even closer, they make their way to Turners and Lloyds almost exclusively.
Turners Creek offers a huge amount of diverse cover for bass. There is a narrow entrance to this creek where the main river channel runs right along a wood laden bank with a steep drop-off. Pre-spawn bass lay along this drop at depths from 2-18 feet, all of which is loaded with laydowns and emerging vegetation. Directly next to the entrance is a small bay loaded with lily pads and several varieties of emerging grasses, on a slow tapering bank, that eventually levels off into the main river channel. This area at the entrance to Turners Creek, is one of the 2 major staging areas for largemouth in the Sassafras. The Western shoreline of this creek is totally covered with what are emerging lily pad root systems, that are mixed in with several varieties of vegetation, including Milfoil and Hydrilla. Many bass choose these root systems to spawn. The Eastern shoreline offers a hard sand and rock bottom, along with vegetation, that mixes in with a number of large boat docks. The bass use the docks, and standing and decaying pilings to hold on, and eventually make their beds on, to escape the current and predators which are prevalent in the river.
