Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report July 28, 2015
Striped Bass
The school everyone seems to have been pounding on at the pipeline, and dumping grounds is starting to dissipate and has begun to move North and South. This is good news for fishermen who don’t want to feel like they are sitting in a parking lot.
We have been receiving solid chumming and live lining reports on the North side up towards Love Point and the Triple Buoys in 23-29 ft of water. Good numbers have been showing in The Western ledge at Podickory in 30-35 ft of water in the main channel. Great success is being had by trolling candy apple red surgical tubes and 15 inch Tony’s in gold.
Bridge fishing has remained solid using jigging Bass Assassins, BKD’s, and 7-inch Z-Mans in darker alewive colors on 3/8-1/2 oz mission heads. Positive reports are coming primarily from the Eastern side, from piling 47 to 56A and the Western side from piling 12 to 20 upwards of 30 inches at the start of an incoming tide. Both the Western and Eastern rock piles have been producing quantitative amounts of Stripers; though mostly on the smaller side of things.
South of the bridge things are starting liven up again. Reports of chumming at Hackett’s and Tolly’s Points are coming in 25-32 feet of water, with solid fish being caught among a few pesky cow-nosed rays.
From Brickhouse down to Gum Thickets and across the main channel are starting to harbor summertime Breakers as well as the start of a Bluefish run. Popular lures have been gold sting silvers in 1.5oz and p-line jigs up to 2oz. From the shore, the past week has been phenomenal as fish are starting to move up in the shallows off the Sandy Point State Park and Matapeake State Park. Fish are being caught in the evening, on incoming tides, using soft crabs and live eels as bait.
Spot
Ah, the all popular Spot. This year has been a tricky one for Spot, although only tricky if you are looking for small spot to live line. Greenbury and the inside of Tolly’s down to Thomas Point have been producing solid numbers of “pan-sized” Spot upwards of 13 inches. Success has been reported in 12-18 ft of water using bloodworms and razor clams intermingled with White Perch. Though they are plentiful; small live-lining sized fish have been hard to come by…for every five caught, only one may be under 8 inches.
White Perch
It’s that time of the year folks! Break out your ultralight outfits, 4lb test, Bert’s perch pounders, Rooster tails, Shad darts tipped with Gulp, Kastmasters, small Tony’s and just about anything that looks fishy. The creeks are loaded with these little critters, off structure in 3-8 ft of water. It is preferable to be fishing in the shade in the afternoon as warm fronts have made water temperatures climb steadily. Solid Black Backs have been caught out of virtually every creek in the Severn, Magothy, and Chester Rivers as well as around Whitehall Bay. For bait use popular baits like bloodworms, razor clams, and live soft crabs; throughout hard bottom, all the way up to the Bay Bridge sitting on structure in 15-25 ft of water.
Croakers
Though they have been a mystery fish the past few years, they are here now, although not in huge numbers. Bait shrimp and soft crabs have been the ticket over hard bottom in 15-20 ft, from the dumping grounds all the way South, past Bloody Point into Eastern Bay. Croakers are mixed in with the Spot and White Perch being caught.
Channel Cats
Normally I don’t write a report on Channel Cats as they typically don’t appear in the main Bay much. But North of the Bay Bridge, with as much rain as we have had, and the influx of freshwater from the North, this summer anglers have been reporting plus sized Channel Cats all over the place! They are being caught mainly on bottom, using soft crab and alewive in 10-25 ft of water.
Crabs
The Severn, Magothy, and South Rivers have been hot! Thank the lord they are finally here! Solid reports have been coming in all over the place reporting bushels of jumbos coming up on trotlines in 8-11 ft of water. The best success is had right on the 10 ft mark. Though it has been an extremely slow year they are finally here, and hopefully here to stay! Razor clams and chicken necks have been doing the trick, for the most part, although few crabbers have been successful with salted eel and bull lips.
Tight Lines,
Capt. Avedon
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