Fishing on Oxon Cove
Fishing is allowed within Oxon Cove Park with the proper Maryland fishing license—no special license is needed from the National Park Service. The best spot is along Oxon Cove. A Ranger told me that the cove has the best crappie fishing on or near the Potomac, and when I visited, a fisherman had just caught a two-foot long catfish. You can also fish on Oxon Creek, but the farther you get from the cove, the narrower and shallower the creek becomes.
You can reach the cove either from the Oxon Hill Farm parking lot or from the Washington, D. C., neighborhood located at the Maryland-Washington border. The Hiker-Biker Trail is the route into the park from either end. Regardless of which way you come, it’s about a mile to the cove.
When I visited there had just been a sewage spill, and posted signs advised not to eat the fish. Sewage spill or not, I wouldn’t eat anything out of a body of water surrounding a city of seven million people. Most of the fishermen who I spoke with said they practice catch-and-release fishing, so they are just out to fish, not to catch dinner.
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Last updated on April 16, 2020
