Maryland Fishing Report

November 23rd, 2018

We hope everyone had a happy and safe Thanksgiving full of delicious food, family and friends! Lots of great Black Friday sales are going on right now through this Sunday so be sure to swing in for some great savings on all your favorite gear! Fishing over the past week has been good for those who are braving the cold weather. You can grab some windproof cold weather gear so you’ll be able to stay out all day and catch plenty of fish!

Rockfish

This past week was a good week for catching Rockfish in the Chesapeake Bay. The better fishing was further south near the Point Lookout area but we saw fish being caught all over the place in a variety of ways.

Trolling

Trolling was definitely the way to go this week, especially in the Middle Bay area. Anglers had success with deep tandem rigs in 35’+ of water. 6oz to 8oz tandems worked well with chartreuse or white shads. Bottom bouncing chartreuse or white 1oz. bucktails was also really productive this week. Some of the better areas were outside of the Magothy River, Love Point or the mouth of the Eastern Bay. Water temps continue to fall with Bay temps in the Annapolis area currently at 48º. At this temperature, Rockfish are very sluggish and will hang out very close, if not, on the bottom. This is why bottom bouncing a 6″-9″ shad will entice bottom strikes and is an effective way to catch quality fish this time of year.

It seemed that jigging was a good way to catch stripers this week. 1oz-1.5oz jig heads with 6″ natural color trailers worked well especially in deeper water near the channel edges. The Bay Bridge produced quite a few fish however most of those were throwbacks. The best quality fish was found further south near Point Lookout and a few of those hit the 40″ mark. The best way to locate fish right now is by finding the bait. Look for birds diving on surface bait and stay back 100 yards from the action. Cut your engine and drift with the current over the school. You’ll want target the bottom of the school so let your lure hit bottom before you begin your retrieve. Snap jigging your lure off the bottom and letting it sink back down with a 1-3 second pause between snaps is a good cadence to start with. Find the pattern then replicate it!

Live/Cut Bait

Using Live/Cut bait is going to work for you pretty much year round. Some days are going to be better than others. This past week seemed like it was a live eel week. Many anglers had good success fishing live eels near deep structure like bridge pilings or sunken structure. Those of you who were lucky enough to grab some fresh LY from us had success fishing that on the bottom in 25’+ of water.

Pickerel

The river dragons are out in full force! Water temps in the upper 40º range will have them attacking swim baits, spinners and even jigs with live bull minnows. Look to find them in tidal rivers and creeks in 2′-10′ of water near submerged structure. Several anglers reported catches in the Magothy and Severn Rivers as well as Tuckahoe Creek and several fresh waters ponds and lakes.

 

White Perch

Anglers are reporting White Perch catches in deeper water on hard bottom. Popular baits this week were bloodworms, razor clams and bull minnows on top & bottom rigs in 25’+ water. Look for areas with hard bottom like oyster beds, sunken structure or deep bridge pilings like the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The rock piles at the Bay Bridge will also be holding decent fish. Target them with tandem shad dart rigs tipped with either bull minnows or your favorite soft plastic.

Yellow Perch

More and more “neds” are being found in the rivers and creeks around the area. With water temps dropping they’re pre-staging for their Spring spawn in these same areas. There are a variety of ways to catch these fish but bloodworms, razor clams and minnows have been the best so far. Utilizing the “Float-N-Fly” technique is a great way to catch these fish. The “Float-N-Fly” is a very simple and straight-forward technique. Essentially you’re fishing a 1/16th or 1/8th oz. jig head under a bobber using light line (4lb test). Some anglers scent the lure or tip it with live bait like a minnow. The depth of the jig under the bobber depends on the water depth and where the fish are. If the fish are suspended at 5′ in 10′ of water, you’ll want the jig 3-5′ under the bobber.

Show us what you caught!

We’d love to see your catches! 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!