Cover Image: Left: Anglers employee caught and released several nice rockfish trolling near Bloody Point with a blue Anglers custom umbrella! Right: Carlos Williams Lopez Espinosa caught and released this beautiful rockfish at Sandy Point using our fresh alewife!
Rockfish: We received consistent reports this week of nice sized rockfish, up to 50 inches, being caught trolling, mostly in the area of Bloody Point and Poplar Island, over to mouth of the Patuxent. The fish that are being caught are of a very nice size, but we aren’t seeing huge numbers, so it does mean that you will need put in your time and work for those fish! Fish are mostly in the upper part of the water column, so you don’t need a lot of weight on your lures, although it’s always good to vary depth until you personally notice a consistent pattern. Report are showing that blue is the best color to use, followed by chartreuse! Jigging for these fish with larger profile plastics is certainly an option too, there are just aren’t as many people out there doing it right now.
Chumming is the second most popular option. Anchor up on a point such as Hackett’s, Tolly’s or Podickory and use chum and fresh alewife! Fresh alewife has also produced some nice rockfish from shore at Sandy Point, and we now have soft crabs available which are always a great option! When chumming or fishing from shore, you will also catch a lot of catfish. Catfish are all over the bay and in the river, and make for a really fun option!
Perch: White perch are starting to move out of shallow water and down into the main parts of the rivers and towards the mouths of the rivers. Bloodworms or razor clams on a bottom rig or spinners such as perch pounders will work really well!
Shad: Shad fishing is starting to die down, but they can still be found in some areas such as the Susquhanna near the Conowingo damn, Fletchers and the upper Patuxent! Now’s your chance to get out there with shad darts and Bust ’em Baits stingers or small nungesser spoons while those fish are still biting. Try rigging them in tandem!
Snakehead: This cold and rainy weather is not good for snakehead fishing! As the weather warms up into next week though we expect things to pick up again at Blackwater and it’s surrounding tributaries, as well as in the upper bay. There are reportedly tons of snakehead up around the Conowingo dam, and the Bush river is always a good spot to try as well.
Surf Fishing: There are still black drum being caught at Assateague and Chincoteague using sand flea or Power Bait sand flea! There are also nice sized rockfish being caught in the surf using alewife!