Image: Emma Li and Peiyuan Chen went fishing for the very first time with Captain Travis Long on Schooled Up Guide Service and had a great time jigging for Rockfish with G-Eye Jigs jig heads and Z-Man Fishing plastics.
Rockfish: Water temperatures are still in the low 70s, so the fish still are not quite as active as what we expect in “Rocktober.” Look for the weather front that’s coming in this weekend to cool things down though, and hopefully we will see the bite heatup! There has been a decent shallow water fishery in the rivers and in the main bay though! The Severn, Magothy and Patapsco have been good as well as the Choptank and Eastern Bay. Target points and rocky shoreline. Topwater is typically popular to use in the early morning and evening, but we’ve heard of some fish being caught on topwater during the mid-day too! Otherwise, jerk baits have been working really well along with the classic paddletail on a 1/4-1/2 oz jig heads. Remember to move around. Try a shoreline or a point that looks good, but if they aren’t biting there, move to a different one! Also don’t be afraid to cast on the other side of the boat away from the shoreline. The fish are not always tight up against the rocks and points. If you prefer to troll, the mouths of the rivers on a moving tide are still a good place to be, as there is a ton of bait moving in and out of the rivers! There are plenty schools of breaking fish out in the middle of the bay too, but those fish will likely be smaller in size than the fish in the shallows and at the mouths of the rivers. From shore, the late evening and night time bait using alewife or soft crab seems to be the most productive!
Bluefish: Anywhere from Chesapeake Beach/Poplar Island and south, you will find bluefish mixed in with those breaking small rockfish! The bite actually seems to be best right at sunset. Cruise around and be on the lookout for any sort of movement on the surface of the water.. breakers can pop up anywhere! Use metal jigs like G-Eye Jigs rain minnows or epoxy jigs, and vary the presentation. In the middle of the summer we typically do a very fast retrieve. Now you can slow it down and even jig it a little bit.
Perch: As with rockfish, we are waiting for water temperatures to cool down for that fall perch bit to pick up. Right now there are still some nice sized perch in the shallows of the rivers! You may not catch large numbers of perch, but when you find them they will be nice eating sized! 3 inch paddletails and popping corks work really well for these bigger fish!
Pickerel: Also up in the rivers, the pickerel bite is starting to really get good! A variety of lures work for pickerel from rat-L-traps and jerk baits to paddletails. Cast towards shoreline and structure like downed trees. Minnows under a bobber work well too!
Snakehead: Pushing further up into the rivers and creeks, the snakehead bite has really picked up! Cool nights have made them more active, and they sun themselves in shallow water during the day. Lower Eastern shore rivers have been quite productive as well as the Severn and the Magothy on the Western Shore! A variety of lures are working from simple paddletails to chatterbaits to top water frogs. Minnows always work well too!