From rockfish in the main bay to pickerel and panfish in the creeks, fishing is great! Anglers employees Ryan and AJ (pictured in the cover image) have both been catching pickerel and perch in the Magothy River, and LJ from G-Eye Jigs stopped by to talk about the rockfish bite! The weather isn’t great for fishing today though so you might as well come check out our huge Black Friday Sale instead!
Rockfish: The rockfish bite is primarily happening in the mid bay, from Thomas Point and Eastern Bay down to Chesapeake Beach and the mouth of the Choptank. Fish seem to be a holding deeper now that the water has cooled off, around 40 feet, and people are catching a nice class of mid 20-30 inch fish! Jigging is the primary way to target these fish. Since the fish are in deeper, you’ll want to use a heavier, 1-1.5 oz jig head with a 5-7 inch straight tail or paddle tail plastic. The fish are typically very easy to find, because the birds will show you the way. If you are having a tough time getting them to bite. Mix up the color that you are using!
Perch: While we typically expect white perch to be in deeper holes at the mouths of the rivers and in the main bay this time of year, our employees are still catching a bunch of them in shallow water in the upper parts of rivers like the Magothy and Severn and their creeks. Spinners like perch pounders, rooster tails and mepps are working the best! You should also be able to catch them in those deeper areas over hard bottom or structure. Using metal jigs for them is especially effective in these areas. We are also starting to see yellow perch show up in the upper parts of the rivers and creeks as well. Spinners or 3 inch paddletails are working well for them too, and you can always try live minnows!
Pickerel: The pickerel bite is still excellent especially in the Magothy and Severn. The eastern shore mill ponds are always good too! Pickerel are feeding on shad right now so a lure that imitates a shad pattern like the one that Ryan shows in the video would be a great way to go! Live minnows are also working very well.