Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report – July 6th, 2018
We hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July holiday! It sure was a HOT week and we’re looking forward to a cooler, less humid weekend! Over the last week we’ve seen great fishing in several areas and we’re excited about what this weekend looks like. If you’re planning on heading out, stop by the shop to grab fresh bait, supplies and any other last minute items you may need!
Rockfish
The Chumming bite continues to be the most productive way to catch fish right now. We noticed the HOT bite moved north of Swan Point around Gale Shoals and Hodges Bar this week. Love Point, Podickory Point and the Bay Bridge were also areas where anglers are catching fish, just not the same grade or as many. For a few hours of fishing, bring a Chum Log or two, a few bags of FRESH Bunker, in-line 6/0-8/0 circle hooks and a couple ounces of weight on fish-finder rigs.
Alex (left ) and his Dad Doug (right) both caught fish with Alewife while chumming near the Bay Bridge! Nice work fellas!
Cut the FRESH Bunker into 1″-2″ chunks and fish that on the hook. Use FROZEN Bunker for your cut chunks and throw those all around your boat. Anglers are targeting fish in 25′-35′ of water early in the morning or later in the evening during a transitioning tide.
If you’re fishing around the Bay Bridge, look to use Soft Crab bait banded to a circle hook with enough weight to get it to bottom. Keeper size fish are being caught pretty regularly with some throw-backs and one or two overs mixed in.
Pro Staffers Mike Fiore and Alex Perez had a great day on the water with Chug Norris. Nomad’s new topwater bait proved deadly landing dozens of fish in no time at all! Nice work fellas!
The topwater bite has been on fire this past week. Anglers are finding breaking fish early in the morning around the same areas as the Chumming fleet. The Bay Bridge rock piles have also been a decent spot to target them. Look to use either a Smack-It, Chug Norris or a Whopper Plopper and hang on!
Eric Packard with another keeper caught in St. Mary’s county. This fish bit a jig in 10′ of water under a shady dock.
Jigging has also been good this past week. Anglers are finding fish around the Bay Bridge pilings, around the Triple Buoys in the Love Point area and further north in the Patapsco around the Key Bridge. Popular colors have been chartreuse/white as well as natural bunker colors.
Eric Dickerson caught this nice 34″ jigging a 1oz bucktail with a twister tail in all white. This nice keeper was caught around six foot knoll.
The Trolling bite has been much like others, it continues to trend northwards. Focusing on the channel ledges around the mouths of the rivers in 25′-40′ of water has been ideal. Bouncing surgical tubes off the bottom or pulling spoonbrellas were the two most popular rigs this week. Purple, Red, Green or Blue tubes were all good color choices this week.
Perch
The Perch bite has been hit or miss depending on where you’re fishing. Anglers fishing the creeks/rivers around this area are finding some fish early in the morning around shallow structure. Ideal spots are going to have grass, bait, structure and should have easy access to deep water. With water temps increasing the best times to fish are going to be early in the morning or later in the evening. Look to use spinner baits in shallow water or bait fished on the bottom in deeper water. Good baits to use are the Perch Pounders in your favorite color, Bloodworms, Soft Crab or Razor Clams on top & bottom rigs.
If you’re looking for an awesome/fun tournament to get into, we have opened registration for our 3rd Annual White Perch Open on August 19th. You can head over to our WPO page to register now! There is an adult & children’s division so sign the whole family up!
Freshwater
As water temps rise, fish are finding deeper holes and structure to retreat to. Look to find fish around vegetation, fall-downs or submerged stumps. Present an easy meal with a flipping jig, stick worm or spinnerbait. Fish these baits slow but deliberate. When the water is hot, fish get lazy. You’ll need to give them a larger easy presentation to entice a bite. Be patient and persistent. Keep your color choices simple. Black/Blue in stained water. Green Pumpkin in clear water.
This nice sized Green Sunfish fell for an Electric Chicken Perch Pounder. The Perch Pounder catches so many species of fish! Pick one or ten up today!
Show us what you caught!
We’d love to see your catch! Send your photos with some simple 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!