Rockfish season over, plenty of fish still being caught!
Winter is officially here and with that, the Rockfish season came to a close. The end of the season came with a flurry of big fish being caught locally and further south. Areas like the Eastern Bay, Bloody Point and Thomas Point have all been on fire over the last couple weeks. Trolling and light tackle jigging have both been producing fish this past week. We heard reports of good fish being caught around the Bay Bridge pilings as well as further south near Thomas Point Light.
Rockfish
The keeper season may be over, but fishing for Rockfish is really hot. Many anglers are landing quality migratory fish between the Bay Bridge and Poplar Island on both eastern and western sides of the Bay. Trolling and light tackle jigging are working the best right now. Anglers jigging for Rockfish are having success with larger profile lures like a 2oz. jig head with a 10″ BKD trailer.
Areas like the warm water discharges near Calvert Cliffs make for fun fishing for giant Rockfish. Some other hot spots this past week were down south near buoy 72, the mouth of the Potomac and Point Lookout.
Mr. Zagalsky had quite an end to his season. Landing many 46″+ fish in the last few weeks. Winning tournaments and snow fishing…nothing else like it! Nice to see this migratory fish get released to spawn once again!
Luke Siple and Edd Kalb landed this 40″+ fish just south of Bloody Point while trolling storm shads deep in the shipping channel. Good to hear this beauty got released back where she came from!
Yellow/White Perch
Perch fishing this past week really started to heat up. These fish are starting to be caught more and more in the local rivers as opposed to in the main stem of the Bay. As winter settles in, you will find more and more of them moving into shallower water where they’ll spawn in late February to early March.
Some of the better spots to target them are in Tuckahoe Creek, Red Bridges, Magothy River and the Chester River. The best way to catch these fish is with a good ol’ shad dart or a 1/16th oz. VMC Hot Skirt Jig tipped with live bait like bloodworm or minnow. Little spoons and Mepps spinners will also do the trick. Mepps spinners will also catch a nice variety of species like Pickerel, Perch, Bass and even some smaller Rockfish.
Share your catch!
We’d love to share what you catch! Send your photos with some basic info (your name, location, bait/technique) and any other info you’d like to share to kevin@anglersannapolis.com. By sending your images you are giving us permission to use them online. If there are any children under 18 we need their parents permission before posting any images online!
We want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We thank all of our loyal customers and readers of Anglers Sports Center. We are excited about 2018 and what the future holds for us all.
As always, tight lines!