Cover Image: Anglers employee Joe caught just under a bushel of crabs using a 1200 ft trotline with chicken necks in 7 ft of water this week! Doug Ritterman and his kids Wesley and Maya caught Spanish Mackerel trolling a Gold 00 Clarkspoon on a #1 planer just south of Poplar Island on Saturday!
Perch, Spot and Croaker: The white perch bite has picked up quite a bit, just in time for the White Perch Open next weekend! Register Here! White Perch Open
Perch are literally everywhere! You can catch them in shallow water in the rivers and creeks by casting spinners, or in deeper water in the rivers using Chesapeake sabiki rigs, bottom rigs or metal jigs. In the main bay they are both in shallow water around structure such as Thomas Point, the Six Foot Knoll or the Seven Foot Knoll, and in deeper water on points and the bay bridge pilings. Croaker and Spot are in all of the same areas. Chesapeake sabiki rigs with fish bites are especially effective for Spot and Croaker.
Rockfish: There is a good rockfish bite around the bay bridge pilings, north of the bridge around Tolchester, and south of the bridge at Thomas Point and Eastern Bay. Most fish are being caught by live lining spot. Jigging with plastics on jig heads or with metal jigs is also effective, and rocky areas like Thomas Point, Poplar Island and the mouths of many of the rivers are great early morning and late evening topwater spots right now!
Spanish Mackerel and Bluefish: Both Spanish Mackerel and Bluefish have moved up as far as Poplar Island! They can be caught be trolling small 00-1 spoons on #1 or #2 planers, or by casting metal jigs into schools of breaking fish. Cast over the breaking fish as far as you can and let the jig sink, then reel as fast as you can! You can slow that retrieve down just a little bit for bluefish, but mackerel especially are very speedy! When trolling, pick your speed up to 7-9 knots.
Bull Reds: Schools of big bull reds are being caught from Solomons south. If you can find schools of them breaking, a 1/2 jig with a heavy duty hook (try the new ones from G-Eye Jigs) under a popping cork is a great way to draw them in. You can also find them on your side scan and cast heavier 1-1.5 oz jigs to them. It’s also a good bet to try jigging for them under schools of breaking bluefish! Use larger 7-8 inch plastic on your jig heads.
Cobia: There are still plenty of cobia sightings in the area of Point Lookout and south, but the bite has reportedly been trickier than last year. If sight casting for them, have a variety of lures on your boat including plastics on jig heads like you would for redfish, bucktails and live eels.
Crabbing: Crabbing has been excellent this past week! Running a trotline with chicken necks or razor clams in 7-10 feet of water seems to be the ticket, but pull traps will work too. Both western shore and eastern shore rivers have been producing nice sized crabs! We’re also starting to see a lot of small crabs and female crabs, which is a great sign for next year!