Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, July 31 Update:
As is the case elsewhere, the continuing heatwave has compromised striper fishing throughout the Middle Bay except for the first and last light bites, and made it tough to even be out on the water midday. However, it's also opened up great opportunities to bottom fish. White perch, croaker, and spot can be located on hard bottoms, and are coming up in high numbers. A few scattered black sea bass and weakfish have also popped up. Most of the croaker are small but we heard of several keepers this week and of some huge perch. Anglers are commonly dropping down bottom rigs with bloodworms (when they can find them), FishBites, or grass shrimp. In the rivers, the story is pretty much the same. White perch are taking all the same baits, and are accessible to just about anyone with a rod. While they aren't in super shallow water, casting away from piers or near structure is proving successful. Alltackle and Anglers both reported that the bite on bottom has been hot, especially in the Severn and Choptank.
The Choptank has also been a hotspot for boats hoping to land bluefish and speckled trout. Angler-in-Chief Lenny Rudow ran to the mouth of the Choptank this Saturday, and caught a few rock including two keepers off Sharps Island Flats and Todd Point. He said he didn’t see the blues or specks, and the heat made fishing difficult. It was impossible to fish one spot for more than 15 minutes before running the boat again - just to make a breeze. Rudow and crew also spotted working birds, however, the fish underneath were greatly undersized. Another reader report from Choptank did include a handful of specks from the shallows, and another hitting the little Choptank had stripers up to 26.5 inches. With crazy high temps, please be mindful of how you're releasing undersized fish. Keeping them in the water to unhook or minimizing the amount of time they spent out of the water if it's impossible to unhook them in it is ideal.
A handful of readers report still finding specks in the lower Patuxent, but more stripers are coming in than trout and most are throwbacks. This week also saw the first report of the year of a (small) ribbonfish in the Pax. We also had a report for specks farther north on the western side, between the Patuxent and Chesapeake Beach.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, July 24 Update:
The intense heatwave this week has subdued striper fishing, with fewer fish than in previous weeks coming out of the water. Angler’s reported that most of the action has shifted to the different fisheries, which are picking up throughout the region. Most notably, this was the first week that Spanish Mackerel began showing in the Middle Bay. We had reader reports of success around Sharp’s Island Flats, where one angler got a pair of ‘em while trolling bluefish and another reader picked up a single. While they certainly haven’t moved in in full force, we are hoping for a repeat of last year, when the bite was crazy-good throughout most of the summer. Note: if you're good with catching blues, they were thick in the Sharp's Island area several days last week.
With striper fishing lackluster, some other anglers shifted their attention to speckled trout this week, as well. The Choptank is standing out as a hotspot right now, with Alltackle in Annapolis reporting that the grass beds are providing excellent opportunities to get into the fish. We had two reader reports successful trips into the lower Choptank southern shoreline, where casting four-inch pink and white plastics and topwater at daybreak were the ticket to landing them. We also had reader reports of successful speckled trout angling in the lower Patuxent this week, with paddle-tail lures.
The perch and spot bites remain solid — Alltackle suggested heading to Thomas Point, Poplar, or the Choptank for them. Fishing the bottom with FishBites has been common, due to the bloodworm shortage. Small croaker and plenty of spot, some eating size, can be found in these areas as well.
Note: If you do choose to head out for stripers this week, please be mindful of how you handle the fish in extreme heat. Fish should ideally be released without ever leaving the water, and should come out of it only when absolutely necessary. When fish are brought out, please try to minimize the amount of time they’re in the air.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, July 17 Update:
With the speck bite turned on in multiple areas of the Middle Bay, many anglers have been shifting their attention to hunting ‘em down. Contributor Eric Packard took to the specks this week, and had a great morning fishing in Mill Creek off the Patuxent catching five up to 19 inches on five-inch green and pink paddle tails. We had two readers report good speck catches in the Patuxent as well and one report coming from the Choptank. The next day Packard headed to the mouth of the Choptank, where he caught several more specks plus a bunch of bluefish (and donated many paddle-tails to blues, as well). Angler-in-Chief Lenny Rudow headed down to the Choptank to hunt for them this week too, but came up short on the speck front. However, fishing the shallows with four and five-inch pink and pink-chartreuse combo soft plastics did produce a striper limit, with fish up to 25 inches. Rudow’s fish-of-the-week came from the Choptank as well: a chunky black drum that hit a Gulp! Jerk Shad jigged in deeper water just inside the river. Rudow also saw another boat fishing crab baits in the same area hook up three big black drum and catch two. Back on the western side, meanwhile, Rudow says that the perch, spot, and croaker bite on Fishbites at the mouth of the South and West Rivers on shell bottom in 15 to 20 feet of water is great, although the croaker are mostly tiny and many of the spot are more bait size than eating size. One reader reported that there are some larger croaker in the Severn, not huge but in the eight- to nine-inch range.
Three readers let us know that there are bluefish in the two-pound range hanging around just outside the edges of Sharps Island flats. They’re in good numbers, occasionally under birds. If you’re hoping to target them, trolling with spoons is highly effective.
We’re waiting on the Spanish Mackerel to show up (still) but hoping that they’ll make their way up any day now.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, July 10 Update:
Attention Maryland Rockfish Anglers: We are getting multiple reports of numerous striped bass floaters drifting downstream from the fleets of boats fishing the Tolchester area. Unfortunately, no governmental or scientific agency seems to be investigating or documenting the issue. Please help us try to gain an understanding of just how significant this is, by performing a count of how many dead rockfish you see floating if you go fishing in this area. We’d like to know:
- The date you went fishing
- How many dead fish you see
- How many hours you were in the area
- How many of the dead fish appear to be keeper size versus how many appear to be undersized
Please keep track the next time you go fishing, and report your observations to Lenny@fishtalkmag.com. THANK YOU for your help, FishTalkers!
Reports from Angler’s Sport Center indicate that the Middle Bay fishing is more or less in a summer holding pattern; many anglers continue to run north to the Hodges Bar area (hence the above paragraph) since the bite is on the slow side to the south, although some stripers continue to be caught around Thomas Point and Poplar. We had a couple reader reports of some striper action in the shallows of Eastern Bay this week, though with a high throwback-to-keeper ratio and with the bite mostly limited to the morning hours. Shallow water anglers may find the opportunity to catch speckled trout a bit more exciting, as reports have come in from multiple sources indicating that they’re being caught in decent numbers in the lower Patuxent (from Hickory Landing Creek down) on the western side, and as far north as the lower Choptank, on the eastern side.
Perch fishing throughout the Middle Bay tribs seems to be in rare form, as long as you play your cards right. A couple of readers let us know that small spinnerbaits and Mepps spinners were producing a-fish-a-cast when you located shaded water with several feet of depth and some sort of structure, ranging from boat houses to rip-rap. Angler’s is reporting a good perch bite often alongside spot, in deeper water at Hackett’s and the Bridge, too. They also mention that bloodworms can be difficult or impossible to obtain, and remind folks that Fishbites, razor clams, and soft crabs — all of which they keep in stock — also make excellent perch baits when fishing bottom rigs in deeper waters. A few small sea bass and micro-croaker are showing up for anglers dropping bottom rigs, too, and on top of that we had a reader report that bottom fishing produced spot, white perch, and some eating-sized croaker south of the West River.
More on the bottom fishing front: The Tackle Box is reporting rather epic spot catches (eating-sized fish) for bottom fishermen in the lower Patuxent, from the river mouth to Benedict. They also noted the lack of bloodworms but say the spot are so numerous in the Pax right now that it doesn’t much matter what substitute you drop to the bottom. They note that perch fishing is excellent in the Pax right now, as well.
Crabbing Report: Crabbing south of the Bridge is in good shape, with both necks and clams working well. Angler in Chief Lenny Rudow tried one late afternoon in the South last weekend and found that they were fairly deep in eight to 10 feet of water, but using necks in two hours he reports three dozen in the basket with two dozen of them being rather huge (though about half the jumbos were white-bellies). He also said there were tons of undersized crabs chewing up the baits.
Ummm… Errr… Dolphin Report? We think it’s worth noting that although you can’t catch ‘em, according to about a half-dozen reader reports we received this week there are dolphin at the mouth of the Severn, near Cedarhurst, in the West River, and off Point Lookout. Keep your eyes peeled and there’s a good chance you’ll spot some, wherever in the Middle Bay you may be.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, July 3 Update:
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP - Attention Anglers: Everyone should be aware that there's currently a bit of a bloodworm shortage, and you may have trouble locating this uber-expensive but uber-effective bait. Anglers around the dial are reporting that Fishbites Bloodworm flavor has been the next best thing. So if you call around and come up blank on the bloodies, reach for the Fishbites. We now return you to our regularly scheduled fishing report. - BEEP-BEEP-BEEP
Happy Fourth, anglers! We’re sure you’ll be out on the water celebrating the holiday this weekend. As always, expect heavy boat traffic and wakes. Head out early (yeah, set that alarm for four a.m.) to beat the crowds, and catch ‘em up for holiday dinner. The early morning bite has been a blessing for light tackle casters this week. Angler’s reported that the dawn bite at Poplar and in the Choptank is really exciting right now, with a fair mix of throwbacks and keepers. Hitting these areas with topwater is a great way to start the day, although you’ll need a plan of attack for when the sun is at full force.
When it’s time to shift gears, break out your trolling gear or head to the hard bottom at the mouth of the Choptank or Chesapeake Beach to load up on spot and white perch. We were excited to hear from a reader who did catch a couple speckled trout in the Choptank this week. Live-liners have been having some luck at Thomas Point, Breezy and Bloody Points, and Hacketts. Alltackle let us know that these popular areas are likely to be packed this weekend, and you’ll want to stake out a spot early. These locations are producing a mix of (very) undersized and a few keeper fish. Trollers are having some luck at them, as well. The typical mix of chartreuse and white umbrellas and shad behind inline weights is pulling in fish, although slowly. Readers reported that Eastern Bay also has a good number of stripers, but finding any that stretch the tape beyond 19 inches is proving tricky. Regardless of size, pearl and white plastics had 'em biting. Similar reports are coming from the lower Choptank, where readers let us know that there are plenty of bites but the bulk of stripers are in the 12 to 16 inch class. Additionally, a reader who headed out this week found a great mix of big white perch and small rockfish in Eastern Bay in the shallows around grass beds, hitting on jigs and small spinnerbaits. One out of six or eight stripers made the grade.
While there’s plenty of bluefish hype coming from areas further south, it seems the bluefish and mackerel still haven't made their way into the Middle Bay in good numbers yet. Two readers who checked in with us tried trolling spoons in the Hooper Island to Solomons area, and between the two of them caught just one blue and a dink striper.
On the perch front, David Rudow reports that perch bite is strong in the creeks of the South River, where casting Mepps spinners with chartreuse blades and white hair has been proving quite effective. Alltackle mentioned that throughout the tribs, white perch numbers continue to pick up. If you’re planning to head out for perch but can’t seem to hunt down bloodworms, they’ve got multiple varieties of Fishbites in stock, and you can feel good about buying your bait while supporting a local business.
NOTE: With warming water and surface temps, a quick reminder to handle undersized fish with care. Unhooking in the water whenever possible is the best practice for reducing stress on the fish and check the Maryland DNR Striped Bass Advisory Forecast before you fish.
Crabbing Report: It’s been hit or miss, from what we hear from our readers. Some are reporting banner days and full baskets while others are reporting difficulties hitting the dozen-mark. Four to eight feet of water sounds to be the best bet.