Maryland Fishing Report
June 21st, 2019
Fishing has been as hot as the weather lately! Anglers are quickly catching their limits of Rockfish in the Mid-Bay area whether they are Jigging, light tackle trolling or fishing bait like soft crab or fresh LY. Now that schools are out and Summer is officially here, what better thing to do than to get the entire family wettin’ some lines?! If you’re headed out on the water or headed to the beach, make sure you stop by and grab everything you need to make your trip successful AND fun!
Rockfish
Jigging
Jigging the Mid-Bay region has been great recently. The Bay Bridge pilings have been especially good these last few weeks with anglers catching their limit in hardly any time at all. The Eastern side (Kent Island side) of the bridge has been better, but nearly every piling is holding some fish. Using a 1/2oz-3/4oz G-Eye jig paired with a BKD in Limetruese or “Go-to” has been hot. Some other spots that have been hot lately have been Love Point, the sewer pipe and the mouth of the Eastern Bay.
Live-lining/Chumming/Chunking
The Chumming/Chunking bite continues to produce a heavy mix of schoolie sized rock as well as Blue and Channel Catfish. We want to make sure everyone is aware at this point…you MUST be using in-line (non-offset) circle hooks if you are live-lining or chumming/chunking. We’ve been using 5/0-8/0 hooks with a 24″-36″ leader and 2oz of weight in 20′-35′ of water. Best baits to use are live soft crab, live spot, FRESH Bunker (LY) or Bloodworms. We should be getting our first batch of Spot early next week so stay tuned! If you’re using Bunker, make sure the hooked baits are FRESH. There is a huge difference between fresh and frozen. Frozen ly works well for the cut chunks as attractant.
Some of the better areas this week were just north of the Triple Buoys around Swan Point, Podickory Point and Hacketts was pretty productive. Make sure you’re fishing during a transitioning tide. This is will be the most productive time to fish as bait and Rockfish are moving around and most active during this time. If you’re out there during a slack tide, make sure you have snacks/beers and enjoy the scenery!
Trolling
Trolling has been decent this past week. Some of the hotter baits to pull around have been drone spoons and red hoses. Look to focus on the shipping channel ledges between Poplar Island and Swan Point. That is a large area to cover but fish are all over the place right now. Target different parts of the water column by trolling some spreads deep, and some spreads shallower. Fish are being caught in 20′-40′ of water and some of the hotter colors have been Red and Blue. The key here is patience, finding clean quiet water and of course a transitioning tide.
White Perch / Spot / Croaker
The Summer perch bite continues to stay hot. Whether your beating the banks targeting shallow fish or out on the boat vertical jigging deep hard bottom, you have a great opportunity to catch some nice perch. In shallow water you’ll want to target docks, rip-rap, submerged structure and grass lines. Fish a spinnerbait slow and steady near the bottom and you’ll hook up with one or a few dozen eventually! If you’re in deeper water, you can jig or bottom fish for them. Using smaller spoons or jigs tipped with bloodworm, razor clam or soft crab you can vertical jig the Bay Bridge pilings for nice perch. If you find hard bottom in deeper water, look to use these same baits on a top & bottom rig and wait for the double hook-up!
We’ve received several reports of anglers catching spot and croaker in the mid-bay region. We’re finding them in the creeks as well as around the bridge pilings on a moving tide. Bloodworms fished on bottom rigs will do well to land you some. We aren’t seeing them in huge numbers but they’re definitely here!
Largemouth Bass/Snakehead
The bite has been relatively slow this past week. We’re seeing lots of muddy water, wind, rain and choked out areas due to thick vegetation. If you’re able to get into some decent water, look to use senkos rigged either texas or wacky rigged. Craws, Flukes and Frog imitation lures will also produce a few fish, especially around submerged structure.
Our Monster Snakehead Hunt is going strong with Alger Stoneburner leading the pack with his 12.01 northern snakehead. Tournament registration will be cut off August 1st so make sure you sign up soon!
Coastal Fishing
Headed to the beach? Make sure you stop by on your way there! Grab some bait, sunscreen, sand spikes and some Crazy K’s Shark rigs. Anglers fishing from the shore in Assateague are landing Sandbar & Sandtiger Shark while fishing Tuna Head. Surf casting fresh Bunker has also been productive.
Fishing the inlet has been decent in the evening. Some Blues and smaller Rockfish have been caught there recently. Some keeper Flounders have been caught there recently as well. Look to target them with White Gulp Mullet on a jig worked near the bottom.
Crabbing
Crabbing has been decent on the Eastern Shore side of the bay. There have been a few good days here and there but in general, it is much slower on the western side. Main thing you want to focus on is a transitioning tide in 15′ of water or less. Drop a trap loaded with either Razor Clams, frozen Bunker or Chicken Necks and let it sit for a little. Trot-lining has been the most successful method. Look to do this in 8′ of water or less. Make sure the depth of the entire trotline is consistent. You don’t really want your line rolling over humps and pockets. Try to keep the entire 600′-1200′ in a consistent depth.
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!