Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, 7/27/2018 Update:
Notice: Due to the torrential downpours and high winds, the fishing report may be a bit abbreviated this week. It was difficult to locate many people who were able to fish, much less those who have caught, within the past five days.
It’s been near impossible to get on the water this week, and those who did manage to get off land were met by torrential rains and runoff that muddied the waters of our Chesapeake. While rock fishing was essentially shut down, catfish are still in the tributaries, and mixed with white perch when using shrimp as bait, according to J&W. A few blue cats in the 25 to 35 pound range have been reported, and they took cut bait.
Prior to the mess stripers were being caught in the lower Potomac by chummers and live-liners working the drop-offs off St. George’s and Tall Timbers. This far down-river the water should be okay, but we haven’t been able to firmly verify any good catching in these spots since the rain ended. We do have (photo verified) reader reports of some small to just-legal stripers in shallows around the Solomons area. We look forward to updating you on how this weeks’ coming fishing is as water quality returns to its normal state.
Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, 7/19/2018 Update:
The Tackle Box confirmed that in the Lower Bay zone the chumming bite is, as in other areas of the Bay, doing anglers the best for rockfish. Most are chumming at the rock piles just north of Point Lookout, and the steep channel edges along St. Clements and St. George islands. Best depths are reported to be 15 to 25 feet of water. Although they’re seeing lots of throwbacks coming from these areas, there is also a mix of decent sized stripers. Some small blues are also in the mix.The lower Pax is still holding plenty of small stripers too, with one in 10 or so being a keepeer, plus some snapper blues here and there.
Live lining with spot has kicked off for the season, and the anglers with live spot are fishing just about the same areas as those chumming. J & W Tackle told us that the Cobia bite is still looking pretty positive at the Wind Mill Bar and there have been a few reports of cobia caught near the Target Ships, but most reports have the cobia hung up in Virginia waters farther to the south. As for spot and croaker, the lower Potomac and Patuxent rivers have been good for those using peeler crabs and/or bloodworms. Blue catfish have also been a part of the catch for those in the Potomac, a bit farther up.
Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, 7/13/2018:
Point Lookout has been the place to be this week, with J&W reporting a hot chumming bite, staying in tune with the most popular tactic for fishing across the rest of the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake. A few eating-sized snapper blues are now mixed in with the stripers. Action has slowed down during the daytime, when the sun is beating down on and heating the Bay’s waters, chasing fish into cool depths where they’ve been slow and trying to conserve energy. Keeping baits close to bottom has been the best tactic to combat this, as well as fishing deeper areas and channel ledges that give fish a place to escape from the heat of surface waters. The edges off St. George’s and the mouth of the Potomac have been the best places to hit. There are also still decent numbers of rockfish in the mouth of the Patuxent, around piers and pilings in the Solomons area.
Lower Bay perch haven't seemed to mind the unusually warm waters, and are still hanging in shallows, eager to bite bloodworm and grass shrimp dropped down to them. Spot and croaker have also been in the mix, however typically a bit further from shore and in deeper areas over shell bottom. There are enough spot in the mix to take some live-lining, in the same areas as the chummers. The Tackle Box also noted that recreational crabbing has taken off and crabbers in the Potomac are enjoying a bountiful supply of jimmies, most effectively secured by using a trotline and fresh chicken necks.
Unfortunately we are still waiting for cobia to make their way north — we have exactly zero confirmed reports of cobia around the Target Ships or Point Lookout.
Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, 7/6/2018:
The bite in the Lower Bay has picked up in the past week, despite the scorching temperatures. The Tackle Box notes that some big rockfish were caught in the past week, mostly by chumming. The mouth of the Potomac has been a good area to visit, with drop-offs from 20 to 30 feet providing the most action. Along the shorelines and docks there’s been good topwater action, but it’s mostly limited to sunset and sunrise and the fish in the shallows have been mostly throwbacks. Reader Eric Packard, who is doing his best to show us all what an ideal retirement looks like by fishing each and every day, reports a continuing bite on stripers up into the mid-20s around piers and pilings of Solomons. Casting small spinnerbait lures is also producing a steady pick on white perch.
Bottom fishing for croaker has been steadily improving, with bloodworms being the best bait. J&W noted that it’s often not so hot in up-river areas due to reduced salinity, and it’s best to stick with the river mouths if you want to go for this species. Most have been mid-sized but there are enough keepers to fill the cooler and some spot are in the mix, too.
Trollers working the open Bay have found it on the slow side, though they report that when they do catch, red and green hoses seem to be working the best. We still have no word on verified cobia catches in Maryland waters.