Your Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report for December 1st, 2016

The past couple weeks have been tough fishing on the Chesapeake Bay. Wind and Rain has made it somewhat difficult to catch good fish but when the weather has broke, the bite has been decent. Try to get out as often as you can because the break in the weather will not last long as we move into December!

Trolling

The trolling bite for Rockfish in the Chesapeake Bay has been decent when the whether cooperates. Some hot spots that have been producing decent fish are Bloody Point, Love Point and Baltimore Light. The water temperatures have dropped over the last two weeks and we’re finding that the fish are holding tight to the bottom. Getting your rigs down that far (some depths are up to 50′) you’ll want to increase the size of your rigs or use inline weights to get your rigs down to where the fish are. Increasing the size of your baits to a 6″ & 9″ on tandem rigs will help target the larger fish and also help get your baits down that deep. With the cooler temps and rockfish looking to hunker down for the winter, the bite has been somewhat slow so don’t get too frustrated if you’re marking fish but aren’t hooking up. The key here is being patient and outlasting the fish!

Jigging

Jigging has also been producing decent fish when the weather has broke. With the cooler water temperatures the fish are moving deeper in the channels and holding tight to the bottom so getting your jigs down 30-50′ will take either inline weights or really beefing up the size of your jig head and trailer. Increasing the size of your jig heads to a 2-4oz head and 6-9″ holographic chartreuse shad will help get it down that deep on a slow troll or jig.

Cut or Live Bait

We’ve had reports that cut bait has been working well for catching Rockfish and even Blue Catfish in deeper water while tipping bottom rigs with a bit of bloodworm have been catching Perch on hard oyster shell bottoms or rock pilings near the Bay Bridge. The trick is being patient while the bite slows down. Target fish near or on the bottom with bottom rigs in 30-50′ of water along the shipping channels and near the Bridge and let us know what you get! Pro staffer Alex Perez shows off a nice Carp he caught with some corn in the Magothy yesterday in 4′ of water.