Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report – October 31st, 2025!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

• Rockfish are biting well in the Upper Bay, with reports flowing in from the Baltimore Harbor, the mouth of the Patapsco River, Pooles Island, Love Point, and the Bay Bridge. Some fish are still being found in the shallows during early morning hours, in which case topwater plugs, diving plugs, or paddletails will be effective. Others are finding fish in deeper water over rock piles, on the Bay Bridge pilings, and along channel edges. Use a paddletail or straight tail on a jig head to get your bait down to the fish. Live-lining with spot or eels has also been effective. Keep your eye out for bird shows, too, as they have been popping up sporadically throughout the region. Trolling with umbrella or tandem rigs will also be a good option when fishing channel edges. Blue catfish are also being caught live-lining in these same deeper water areas, and can also be caught on bottom rigs baited with cut alewife. White perch fishing has been fair, with anglers reporting catches from the Bay Bridge pilings, the mouth of the Patapsco, and other Upper Bay shoals or areas with hard bottom. Bait fishing with grass shrimp or bloodworms has been producing the best results. Pickerel are fired up and are being caught around grass and wood structure in the Magothy, Severn, and Patapsco Rivers. Small paddletails and spinnerbaits are effective this time of year.

• Plenty of reports of rockfish being caught this week came from Poplar Island, Eastern Bay, Thomas Point, Sharp’s Island Light, and the mouths of the Choptank and Patuxent Rivers. Fish can be found around shallow water structure, under diving birds, or suspended over deep water structure and channel edges. Use topwater plugs, diving plugs, and paddletails in shallow water. For deeper water, go with heavier jigheads for your paddletails and straight tails as well as metal jigs. Trolling with umbrella rigs can also be effective along channel edges. A solid white perch bite was reported from the mouth of the Patuxent. Micro jigs or sabiki rigs tipped with bloodworms or grass shrimp should get it done.

• Rockfish are plentiful and biting in the Lower Bay in areas like the Potomac River, Tangier Sound, Hooper’s Island, and around the Target Ships. Look to cast topwater plugs, diving plugs, or light paddletails in the shallows. Along channel edges and over deep structure, cast heavier jigs or troll umbrella rigs. Speckled trout and a few puppy drum are being caught on grass flats and around other shallow water structure in these same areas. Target them the same way you would target rockfish, but downsizing your baits or opting for a popping cork rig might score you more bites. White perch are biting well around Point Lookout, with anglers finding success on sabiki rigs or micro jigs tipped with bloodworms or grass shrimp.

• Fall trout stocking is wrapping up, but there are still plenty of fish to catch. Check the DNR’s website for exact locations. Powerbait rigs, small spinners, and small jerkbaits are great options for trout in streams, lakes, and ponds. Largemouth bass will be suspended off of shallow water structure in ponds, lakes, and reservoirs. Target them with chatterbaits, jerkbaits, swimbaits, and glide baits. Crappie will also be suspended around structure and should be schooled up tight, so if you find one there’s a good chance there’s more. Use a micro skirted jig or live minnow on a jighead and subtly jig the bait through the water column. Snakehead are moving deeper and can still be caught on subsurface lures like chatterbaits and spinnerbaits, but they will soon have lockjaw as the weather continues to cool. Look for them in Blackwater and in tributaries of the Upper Potomac River. Smallmouth have been fired up in the Upper Potomac, Monocacy, and Susquehanna Rivers. Look to throw spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, swimbaits, football jigs, and ned rigs at them. Pickerel fishing is hot as well, with the Eastern Shore mill ponds producing lots of fish. Small paddletails and spinnerbaits as well as live minnows are great options to target pickerel.

• High winds made things tough again this week on the coast, but anglers willing to brave the weather found bluefish, flounder, and bull redfish in the surf. Target bluefish and bull reds with cut mullet or spot, and target flounder with bucktail teaser rigs tipped with Gulp, shiners, squid, or minnows. Tautog fishing is still hot at the inlet, with a few sheepshead still in the mix. Bottom sweeper jigs tipped with sand fleas or fiddler crabs should be effective. In the back bay, flounder are heading back out to the ocean to seek warmer water, so this is a great time of year to intercept them. Drifting bucktail/teaser rigs tipped with Gulp, minnows, shiners, or squid strips is an effective method to target flatties. Rockfish and bluefish continue to be caught at the RT 50 bridge on live eels, heavy jigs paired with soft plastics, and deep diving plugs. The offshore wrecks and reefs are hot right now, with anglers catching plenty of triggerfish, tautog, flounder, sheepshead, sea bass, and a few porgies. Bottom rigs tipped with squid are the go to, but slow pitch jigging can be effective for most of these species as well. Out in the canyons, most boats are targeting swordfish, however we’ve heard scattered reports of mahi and yellowfin being caught. Bottom fishing for blueline tilefish remains reliable in 300 feet to 500 feet of water.

• Crabbing has slowed down significantly, but folks running trot lines are finding success in 15 feet or more of water. Chicken necks and razor clams continue to be the hot bait. Good reports of catches have come from the Chester, South, and West rivers.