Cover Image: Mariana Brittain caught several nice catfish in the Magothy River using soft crabs! Four and half year old Gunnar caught a 28.5 inch Mackerel trolling a size 0 silver Clarkspoon in about 30 feet of water near Sharp’s Island!
Rockfish: There is a great live-lining bite around the bay bridge right now, so stop by to pick up your live spot this weekend! Soft crab is also working well at the bridge pilings. Other local structures such as the Key Bridge, Kent Narrow and any of the local light houses are also producing fish on live spot and soft crab. Otherwise, shallow water fishing has picked up in both the main bay and in the local rivers such as the Magothy, Severn, Patapsco, South and Chester! Fish top water at sunrise and sunset, and jerk baits or 3-5 inch paddletails on light jig heads.
Spanish Mackerel/Bluefish: There are still consistent reports of Spanish Mackerel and Bluefish being caught as far north as Poplar Island and Bloody Point, but the numbers and your chances of catching definitely increase as you head south to Chesapeake Beach/the mouth of the Choptank and down to Solomons. As we head into September, we expect them to continue to move up. The bluefish numbers have been especially impressive, but they are smaller in size. Mackerel on the underhand, aren’t as plentiful but there have been have been numerous citation size fish reported! Both trolling small 00-1 size spoons on #1 planers at 6-9 knots, and casting metal jigs are still proving very effective. Look for birds and breaking fish!
Redfish: There are still schools of bull reds anywhere from Solomon’s south. The most common way to catch them has been to locate them on side scan and cast to them. Use heavy duty 1.5 oz jig heads (Like the G-Eye Jigs HD jig heads) and a seven or eight inch paddletail (like Z-man 7 inch Diezel Minnows). If you get lucky enough to find a school breaking, a popping cork with a light jig head and seven inch plastic under it is the way to go! If you can’t find them on side scan, you can always cover some ground and troll for them using surgical hoses or large spoons.
Cobia: Your best chances of catching a cobia are to head a little further south from Solomon’s to Point Lookout, the Target Ship and into Virginia waters. A lot of people are having success trolling for them with surgical hoses. Chumming with fresh alewife can also be effective but you will catch a lot of rays! And of course, have a rod rigged up with a bucktail or a 1.5 oz jig head with a seven-eight inch plastic for sight casting!
Perch/Spot/Croaker: The panfish bite in the bay is excellent right now! The Bay Bridge, Podickory Point, Hacketts, the Severn River and the Magothy River are all holding tons of white perch, spot and croaker, just to name a few locations! While casting a spinner towards structure or shoreline in shallow water is definitely effective, a lot of people have been having success bottom fishing for them using metal jigs like 1/2 oz G-Eye Jigs Rain Minnows or bottom rigs or Chesapeake Sabiki Rigs tipped with fishbites, lugworms, soft crab or razor clams!