Image: Left: Connor Krosney was surprised and excited to catch his biggest rockfish yet on a perch pounder! Right: Alex Haus caught this rockfish just north of the bridge jigging a bucktail!
Rockfish: There are still plenty of nice, mid sized rockfish in our mid bay area. Check all of the mouths of the rivers and points, along with any structure such as the Bay Bridge, Sandy Point light or Thomas Point light house. The bigger fish however, are moving south. We have gotten some great reports from trolling down near the Target Ship. Both trolling and jigging are very effective methods of fishing right now. You definitely want to upsize your baits on both your tandems or umbrellas, and your jigs. Try Bust’em Baits Fat Boys or Z-Man XL. You will want to get your baits down deeper too, so use 1-1.5 oz jig heads, and add inline sinkers to your tandems and umbrellas. Fish are suspended in the middle of the water column in deep water!
Pickerel: Pickerel fishing is continuing to pick up in all of the rivers, especially the Severn and the Magothy! Use paddletails in shallow water or a minnow on a bobber. The upper parts of Eastern Shore rivers are good as well, along with Tuckahoe and any of the Eastern Shore mill ponds.
Perch: Look for thick schools of white perch in deeper water this time of year! Bottom fish for them in 15-30 feet of water over hard bottom or oyster beds! Yellow Perch are continuing to be come active the shallow creeks off of any of the rivers. A minnow on a bobber will be your best bet, but a small paddletail can work well too!
Snakehead: The occasional warm weather that we have been experiencing lately has kept the Snakehead active! Minnows will likely work the best, but you can also slowly fish a paddletail. Check out Blackwater, the upper Patuxent or the Middle or Bush rivers!
Crappie: Crappie fishing is excellent on the Eastern Shore! Any of the mill ponds, the upper parts of the rivers and creeks, and Tuckahoe creek will be great places to target them. Use very small jigs! Check out Bust’Em Bait’s perch baits, or Addiction Bait’s “Chatter Clappers”