Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, December 26, 2019 Update:
Happy Holidays and Merry Fishmas anglers - we hope your holidays are full of lake trips, bucktails, and winter water wonderland fishing success stories. This week, the below report is going to be a little light due to the hectic nature of the festive season and much-deserved breaks of tackle shop employees, but we still encourage you to get out and finish out 2019 with your last fish(es) of the decade. Next week when everyone’s back from vacation and we can get in touch with all our usual sources again we’ll be back with the first FishTalk fishing report of 2020!
There have been a few large migrators showing up for the dedicated anglers around, says The Tackle Box, but overall the end of this year’s fishing season has slowed significantly. Reports coming in from anglers trolling the channel edges throughout the Lower Bay have been sparse, with few fish being pulled from the water all the sudden. Most boats have been cruising around to spot stripers on the fish finder and jigging large spoons when they’ve been found, or trolling. Trollers are seeing very little action, and oftentimes have been braving the cold without a bend in the rod. Most are tugging along umbrellas, Mojos, and bucktails in tandems in hope of snagging their last striper this year. The stripers that have been caught (and released) since the season closed out have been in deep water.
With striper season in shut-down mode, attention is currently turned to the rivers where perch are hanging out in deep holes and cuts. Dropping bull minnow on bottom rigs has been the ticket for plenty of anglers who are enjoying steady catches after getting into schools.
Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, December 19, 2019 Update:
Thanks to the weather and the time of year reports were a bit thin this week. Still, those who did fish found the mouth of the Potomac and the Smith Point area remain choice destinations for stripers, and though Maryland’s catch-and-keep season has come to an end, Virginia and the Potomac River itself remain open until the 31st. By all reports, however, it’s become tougher to get the stripers to bite with birds usually over undersized fish and larger rock hanging deep in 40-plus feet of water near bottom, often acting lethargic. Many light tackle anglers have switched from plastics to heavy jigging spoons, so they can get down quickly and feel bottom easily when fish are spotted on the meter. Trollers are pulling the usual mix of Mojos, tandems, and umbrellas with enough weight to get down deep. Some bigger specimens were caught in the Lower Bay in the past few days too, including fish over 40-inches.
The Tackle Box mentioned that anglers working the main-stem just below Smith Point were doing well on slot-fish, with a few ocean-run fish also turning up. Reports from farther down the Bay are of a hit-or-miss situation, with anglers working off the York/New Point Comfort area reporting an average of a couple-few keepers in a day of trolling with some empty boxes in the mix, while those few who get lucky and find a spot where they're schooled up under bunker go home happy.
Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, December 12, 2019 Update:
You want to catch stripers? Then this is the zone to be in. The mouth of the Potomac and out two to three miles into the Bay is still red hot, with plenty of reports coming in of jiggers and trollers both catching 18- to 26-inch class fish by the dozens. There are also fish in the 30-inch class popping up here and there, and gannets, gulls, and even (still!) pelicans are often marking the best locations to try for ‘em. There are also lots of schools of undersized fish around, though, so if you run into hordes of 18-inchers move on. The Tacklebox mentioned that the HS buoy down to Smith Point is a hot zone, while they’ve heard of more large fish coming between 72A and the HS. Inside the Potomac, meanwhile, has slowed significantly and the folks at Machodoc Creek Marine checked in to mention that even the catfish have become tougher to catch recently (though there are some coming from the power plant).
Some of the large migrator stripers are also being caught in the Lower Bay. We spoke with one reader who caught three 40-plus-inch rock off the mouth of the Rappahannock, towards Stingray Point, while trolling. We need to remind everyone that fish over 36 inches get tossed back over the side in VA waters.
Beyond the striper action we didn’t hear of much from the Lower Bay this week until getting down to the CBBT (check the Way South report), though considering the weather that’s no surprise. Effort has been severely curtailed recently and other species have become few and far between.
Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, December 5, 2019 Update:
Anglers in the Lower Bay region (and those from other areas as well) have been flooding the waters, with the striper bite absolutely on fire. The hottest zone seems to be where Maryland and Virginia waters meet, and The Tackle Box let us know that rockfish are gathered in the mouth of the Potomac and out into the Bay throughout the Triangle area. Anglers have been going after them trolling and jigging, with equal catches. Trollers are opting to pull umbrellas dressed with sassy shads and bucktails, along with an inline weight. With the fish close to bottom, rigs need to stay down deep in order to get in on the catch. Jiggers have been using larger lures, around nine-inches. Currently, rockfish leaving the water are in the 22 to 30 inch range. The Tackle Box reported that the big stripers in the 40 to 50 inch Atlantic Ocean fall run have yet to show up, but they prefer the big bait that is here now and may arrive soon. Keeping an eye on the horizon for working birds has been a must-do, with a great bite occurring under the bait balls.
Contributor Eric Packard checked in after a day of jigging produced 100-plus fish, including plenty of keepers. Two-ounce jigging spoons were the top bait and the fish were deep, in 45 feet of water. Aside from the stripers, the white perch bite in deep areas of rivers is doing well. Plenty of anglers are catching them with bloodworms on a heavily-weighted bottom rig.