Cover Image: During Anglers Combos for Kids event out of Podickory Point, Baltimore city youth caught nice sized perch at the Bay Bridge using small pieces of soft crab on bottom rig and Chesapeake Sabiki rigs!
Remember that rockfish season remains closed until August 1st! Fortunately, there are many other fun species out there to target!
White Perch: The white perch bite has really picked up especially in the main bay. The bay bridge pilings are producing nice sized perch, as are other deep water locations like Podickory Point and 6 foot knoll. When the tide is low, they will be in deeper water, up to about 15 feet. They are also in deeper water early in the morning and then push in shallow. In deeper water, use Chesapeake Sabiki rigs or bottom rigs with fish bites, lugworms, little pieces of soft crab or razor clams. As they move into shallow water, throw spinners or small paddletails!
Catfish: Bottom fishing for catfish is a really fun thing to do this time of year! They can be caught from a boat or from shore in the main bay or any of the rivers in our area! Fresh alewife or soft crab works great!
Croaker: We are finally starting to see good number of croaker being caught in our area. They can also be caught from shore or boat using fishbites! Sandy Point has been a great shore fishing spot for them!
Speckled Trout: Speckled trout are still in the area, mostly on the Eastern Shore side, as far north as Eastern Bay, but it’s definitely an early morning. Plan to be on the water before sunrise to get on that first light bite. Cast in shallow water toward shoreline as soon as the sun comes up. As the day heats up, move out deeper and cast away from the shoreline. Use 3-4 inch paddletails on 3/16 or 1/4 oz jig heads.
Spanish Mackerel and Bluefish: Mackerel and bluefish are being reported as far north as Chesapeake Beach! Look for schools of breaking fish and cast into them with metal jigs such as G-Eye jigs rain minnows.
Redfish: Bull reds are also starting to move into our area and have also been spotted as far north as Chesapeake Beach. If you get lucky, you just might find a school of them breaking. In this case, it can be really effective to use a popping cork with a 7 or 8 inch plastic on a 1/2 oz jig head to draw the fish in to the boat! If you see them on your side scan, cast out to them with a heavier 1.5 oz jig head. Redfish also like to follow those schools of breaking blue fish, so drop a 1.5 oz jig head down below those schools to target them!
Cobia: Cobia are also moving in, but the best place to target them is still going to be out of Point Lookout around the middle grounds or target ship. Most people are sight casting to them with jigs, but trolling surgical hoses and chumming with fresh alewife is also successful!