Roger and Rich brave the “storm” to bring you this week’s fishing report.
We are truthfully not totally sure what the heavy rainfall that we are expecting to see this weekend will bring, but prior to the storm rockfish fishing was really heating up in the rivers, and perch were moving into their fall patterns in deeper water. We expect that to pick back up once this storm passes and waters settle down. The Severn and Magothy River have both been doing especially well! Topwater in the morning and evening has been good around points and rocky shore line, but only if the wind isn’t blowing too hard. Marking rockfish on your electronics in the rivers and jigging for them is also effective. If you are fishing right after the storm, use dark colors like black and dark blue. Bait fishing can also be especially effective when the water is cloudy. Fish may not be able to see lures, but they can smell bait such as alewife and soft crab!
White Perch are still being caught in the rivers but are definitely moving into deeper water spots in the mouths of the rivers and in the main bay. Chesapeake Sabiki rigs are very effective in deeper water as are metal jigs, especially for targeting larger perch! Try structure like the bay bridge or the six foot knoll, and points like Podickory and Hacketts!
We expect that the rain will push the remaining mackerel, bluefish and redfish out of the middle bay area, but we’ll have a better idea of what really happened once the storm clears!
Snakehead fishing will most likely not very good right after the storm since they can be tough to catch in murky water, but again, try dark colored black or blue lures. Once the water clears up, its the time of year where cooler temperatures make snakehead fishing very good! Western shore rivers like the Magothy, Severn and Patuxent normally pick up this time year as well as local ponds and of course the eastern shore blackwater area. Top water will still be effective, but you can never go wrong with a subsurface lure like a chatterbait or live minnows.