Left: Shane Doyle caught this incredible fish trolling an umbrella rig in Eastern Bay! Right: Willy Garcia caught two nice rockfish, 22” and 24” at Sandy Point using fresh shrimp!
Rockfish: While there are still some fish around the bridge, the bite north of the bridge has slowed down quite a bit with this cooler weather, but the bite in the lower bay is fantastic! Eastern Bay and Chesapeake Beach has been productive, but as you head down toward Point Lookout the bite gets even better. Fish are in very deep water, up to 70 feet so you will want to use heavier jigs (1-2 oz) and bigger profile baits like Bust ‘Em Baits Fat Boys. Metal jigs work great for fish on the bottom too! Fish are on ledges. A drop off from 50-70ish feet would be perfect! You can troll the channel ledges as well. Umbrella rigs have really been producing! From shore, there have some nice Rockfish caught at Sandy Point! Fresh shrimp seems to be the bait to use
Perch: White perch are in deeper water (30-40 feet) in the main bay or towards the mouths of the rivers. Look for submerged structure or oyster beds. Metal jigs work very well for catching bigger ones, tip them with fish bites or bloodworms! Chesapeake Sabiki Rigs will work well too! From shore, there have been perch caught at Matapeake! Up in the creeks, we are starting to get more reports of yellow perch being caught! Try using a minnow on a shad dart!
Pickerel: Pickerel fishing is one fire! The Severn River has been especially good, as well at the Magothy. Many different types of lures will work well from paddletails to spinners like mepps and jerkbaits. Try a bladed jig head like Willow Vibez from Z-Man t0 create that extra action! Live minnows work well too. Target structure such as downed trees, and use a slip bobber to keep the minnow out of the structure.
Catfish: The waters north of the Bay Bridge are loaded with channel and blue catfish! A variety of baits will work including alewife, shrimp and powerbait!