Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report
Hope everyone had a great week! We’ve been busy planning our Fall Events & Seminars recently and the next one scheduled is our St. Croix event on September 23rd. We’re excited to have our St. Croix rep here to demo our St. Croix rods and answer any questions you may have. You’ll be able to get your hands on several different St. Croix rods and feel how they cast/handle so you can make the right choice for your style of fishing. Every St. Croix rod sale comes with a FREE St. Croix hat and you will automatically be entered into a raffle where we’ll be giving away 7 St. Croix rods to 7 lucky winners! Raffle is at 5pm so be sure you’re around the shop at that time!
Now lets get into the Fishing Report!
Rockfish
With cooler air temps we’ve seen water temps dropping to a 76º average in the middle-upper bay area. This will have many Rockfish feeding in the shallows early and later in the evening. Look to use topwater baits like the Stutter Step, Badonk-A-Donk, or Coltsniper topwater baits. Some areas that have been good this past week have been Hacketts Point, Love Point (in 5′-7′ of water), Thomas Point Park and the Upper Severn River (north of Round Bay) in the evening.
The Stutter Step from Bill Lewis is a great topwater bait to use for Rockfish in the Fall.
Chumming the area has also been really good this past week. Grab a chum log, Soft Crab or cut Alewife or both and head out to Love Point, Baltimore Light or Hacketts and have a good time! Some other good places have been down south around the Target Ships. Look to drift over channel edges on a transitioning tide early in the am or later in the evening and you’re sure to hook into something!
The Patapsco River has been producing fish this week as well. The Key Bridge pilings have held fish and they’re catching them with live Spot, jigging the pilings, as well as topwater early in the mornings. If you’re getting short strikes on topwater baits, look to switch to a subsurface bait like the SP Minnow by Daiwa.
We’ve seen quite a few schools of breaking fish this past week. The highest concentration of those has been around the mouths of the rivers in the area, Poplar Island at the mouth of The Eastern Bay, as well as the Narrows. Jigging these schools of breakers has produced some nice fish. A mix of Bluefish have been found in these schools so some anlgers are switching to metals like the Lil Bunker, Kastmaster Spoons and Crippled LY. If you’re catching the 20″ and unders, try throwing on a heavier jig to get to the bottom of those schools. Typically the larger fish will hang out at the bottom of the school.
Try using a Kastmaster Spoon with a surgical hose trailer to catch Rockfish or Bluefish!
Live-lining Spot around the Bay Bridge, The Hill, in the Choptank and Little Choptank has worked really well this past week. Depending on the water depth, you’ll want to add weight to your live-line rig. If you’re in 40’+ of water, you may want to add 1/2oz. to 1oz. of weight to your rig.
Shore Fishing
The best area to fish from shore this week was Thomas Point Park. Anglers are using topwater baits early in the morning, some sub-surface baits like the SP Minnow just after sunrise and also using Soft Crab on the bottom once the sun is up. Don’t forget you need a pass to get into the park!
The SP Minnow from Daiwa is a great sub-surface bait that has a weight transition system that allows you to cast it super long distances making it a great bait to use from shore.
Matapeake and Romancoke piers have produced a mix of Blues, Rockfish, Spot and Croaker using Soft Crab or cut Alewife.
Sandy Point has been better at night this past week. Anglers have been using Soft Crab, cut Alewife, or even live-lining Spot under a bobber and letting it drift off the rock jetties.
White Perch
We’ve seen White Perch all over the Bay this past week. Anglers are catching them in shallows around structure on a moving tide. Throwing small Tony Spoons, Perch Pounders or even Rooster Tails. In deeper water like near the Bay Bridge, anglers are catching them on top & bottom rigs with Razor Clams or Bloodworms.
Spot
Some of the better areas to target Spot this week have been Poplar Island, Hacketts and Podickory Point in the shallows near pilings on hard bottom. You can use Soft Crab, Razor Clams or Bloodworms and they’ll pretty much all work.
Cobia
There is still a Cobia bite going on down in the Southern Bay. The best areas seem to be near the Target Ships. Drifting on a transitioning tide with Live Eel has been the most effective way to catch them.
Bluefish/Spanish Mackerel/Redfish
As we move further South in the Bay, we’ve started to see a better quality fish this past week. Chesapeake Beach, Solomons Island area have been producing better fish and most have been keeper sized. In the Cove Point, Hoopers Island area, we’ve seen a mix of Blues, Rockfish, Redfish and Spanish Mackerel. Around the Sharps Island Lighthouse there have been quality Spanish Mackerel being caught this week.
Paul Wimbush shows off a nice Redfish caught just south of the Target Ships in the evening.
Crabbing
The Fall crabs are starting to show up! We’re seeing fatter crabs being caught in the 6′-12′ range of the tidal rivers in the area. A moving tide is a must and great baits to use have been Razor Clams, Chicken Necks or Frozen Spot or Alewife. We carry a variety of traps, nets and baits and have lots of other necessities so swing on in and stock up on Crabbing supplies!