October Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report

Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report Update, 10/26/2018:

Birds are still being sighted at the mouth of Eastern Bay, south of Poplar, and down towards Chesapeake Beach, but it’s been mostly hordes of dinks chasing anchovies – it appears that Rocktober is taking a quick pit stop for the moment when it comes to quality fish, with hit-or-miss reports coming in from all around. Jigging on the outskirts of the schools has plucked a few keepers, but be prepared to pick through the schoolies (especially with poppers – crush those barbs!) The water temperature drops have been a very important part of the latest stutter in the fishing in the Bay, but luckily, it should just be for the time being, as the fish are simply getting acclimated to the colder temperatures that Autumn hasn’t sent us until now. Angler in Chief Lenny Rudow reports fishing near Thomas Point one evening and smacking great numbers of 20-somethings, then returning a couple evenings later only to discover a lackluster bite. Readers in the area have also reported abrupt day-to-day changes, so if you go through a tough spell don’t get discouraged and remember that with every shifting tide your fortunes can quickly change.

middle chesapeake striper
Capt. Marcus sent us this pic, after a great day of trolling on the Middle Chesapeake.

The best bait? Fresh. Best fresh bait? Alewife or bunker, you choose. Menhaden will also work(!) It’s been nabbing keeper fish in the 20 to 30 foot depth ranges while chumming of drop-offs and edges. Your chum slick will be the determining factor as well, as many anglers reported less fish when running out of chum for the day. Some said that they went back in to buy more chum, then later came home with a few keepers. The fish aren’t as tight-lipped as we may believe, but the things that matter here are fresh bait, chum, depth, and water clarity. That last one shouldn’t impact you as much south of the bridge, thankfully.

Down around the Chesapeake Beach/Choptank zone trollers have been having the most luck, with Capt. Marcus on the Hot Lick chiming in to let us know that umbrellas and tandems have been luring in fish from 20 to 30 inches. We also received some nice fish photos from readers casting jigs to shallow water structure in the mouth of the Choptank, with lots of 20-somethings in the mix.

Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report Update, 10/19/2018:

The birds... they’re everywhere. And so are the fish! Chasing birds in the middle of the bay (especially Eastern Bay and just south of Poplar) has been the easiest way to find fish at the moment. When moving up to a school remember to drift in closer slowly, to not put the fish down – especially on weekends, they’re getting pounded by large number of boats. Cast your jigs and poppers to either side of the school in order to up your chances of bringing in a keeper, and remember that the larger cows like to stay down deep while the frenzy is going on (they’re lazy!). Other areas with breaking fish reported this week included the ships off Annapolis, Thomas Point, the mouth of the West, and the mouth of the Choptank. One down-side: many of the schools have been hordes of very small 10 to 14 inch fish. Anglers looking for dinner need to keep on the move and abandon schools of dinks, and work deep under the school or work topwater when finding almost or barely-legals.

huge striped bass
Cole Randolph and Johnny Loiacano got into an awesome topwater bite this week, catching some of the biggest fall fish we've heard of yet - including a 35 and a 38 inch fish.

In the tributary shallows and along shorelines topwater at daybreak and sunset has been absolutely stellar, just like many sections of the Chesapeake. Mornings during the strongest tides near shallow water structure is providing anglers with plenty of explosive hits to satisfy them before the sun even comes up. Interestingly, however, the delayed departure of peanut bunker from the rivers seems to have delayed the excellent schoolie bite we’ve been seeing the past few years in the usual river mouths; this could and hopefully will change any day, but at least recently, for small boat anglers fishing the tributaries the best move has been to target individual fish on structure as opposed to looking for the small schools and pods in open waters of the rivers.

If you’re looking to use some natural bait, the bridge pilings and near the sewer pipe have been good options (more on this in the Upper Bay report). Live-lining perch is bringing up the larger stripers consistently. Be on the lookout for live eels being the new first choice for bait, though. As the water cools down more significantly, the stripers will start to prefer the larger target.

Slightly farther south, trolling red and green hoses and six-inch tandems, with some added gold or silver spoons, near the channel edges from 84 to off Sharp’s Island flats has provided some varying results, including some good numbers of keepers caught. Chartreuse shads in the spread aren’t hurting.

Crabbers, meanwhile, are finding their catch plentiful and full of stuffed, heavy crabs in seven to 10 feet of water. There are plenty of females to cull through but at least for the moment, the bushel baskets are overflowing.

Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report Update, 10/11/2018:

The fish don’t seem to mind the warm water sticking around later than usual, and Middle Bay hotspots have been quite good recently. Even though the sun is still giving many of us 80 degree days, the water has the oxygen content of a normal chilly October, giving us anglers the best of both worlds. The usual suspects are still working without any hiccups: Chumming and live-lining are producing the best fish around the bridge and Thomas point, as well as near Bloody Point. There have been many keepers nearly reaching the 30” mark this week, and most have been caught on chunks of fresh alewife and bunker. Jiggers at the bridge have also been doing well this week when using jig heads with larger tails. While Thomas Point light remains under continual pressure - when have we not seen boats there recently??? - it also continues producing fish on a rather amazing level. On cooler evenings, they've also been showing up in the shallows nearby as well as along the edges of Poplar, hitting both topwater and jigs. Whites and pearl have been tough colors to beat.
thomas point striper fishing
Kevin Thomas caught this 28-incher at an (ahem) undisclosed location.

Something many anglers in the Middle Bay area have probably noticed is the increase in bird activity. The flocks are sure signs to find small fish, and many have been marking huge shoals of 12 to 17 inchers plus the occasional keeper when getting down deep or fishing the side of the school. There have been sizable flocks at the mouth of Eastern Bay, and south of Poplar. Keep those binoculars on standby! 

One very interesting phenomenon this fall has been the hanging-on of the Spanish mackerel, thanks to cool weather. Although the incoming front could shuffle the deck, as of mid-week Spanish were still being caught by the Middle-Bay charter fleets and anglers trolling small spoons from the radar towers south. Small blues are also in the mix, but the vast majority are under a pound.
 
The white perch bite has been a constant variable for the region. While many perch fishermen are looking for their quarry on the normal grounds, they’re mostly disappointed with the haul of many catfish that have been plaguing us in the rivers since the late summer. However, the perch are staying shallow and near hard bottom, so be sure to target areas from four to 15 feet of depth.
 
Finally, crabbers continue to make nice hauls. An overabundance of females has meant a lot of culling recently, but filling a bushel basket with prime Jimmis hasn't been problematic recently. Six to seven feet of water has been ideal.

Water quality and temperatures are both moving in the right direction for an improving bite, although area anglers should still keep an eye peeled for floating logs. Angler in chief Lenny Rudow reports getting out a couple of times in the past week, and finding an on-again, off-again bite in the shallows on fish up to 22 inches in the Thomas Point/South River/West River zone. We also had reader reports come in of fish in the shallows a bit farther north, from the Severn. Both topwater and pearl or white/chartreuse skirted jigs were most effective.

striper caught in the shallows
FishTalk team member Zach Ditmars caught, tagged, and released this 21-incher off Thomas Point a couple days ago. Keep your eyes out for those tagged fish, folks!

Any day now the fish should become schooled and more active at the tributary river mouths and in Eastern Bay, but it seems that most of the bait has yet to push out and the hot river bite hasn’t really kicked in just yet. Meanwhile, there have been large schools of breaking fish in the mouth of Eastern Bay and just south of Poplar, however, these have been made up of 10 to 14 inch fish.

Trollers working out of Deale and Chesapeake Beach and pointing the bow southward have still been finding some mackerel, often under birds mixed in with stripers and a occasional snapper blue, and mostly on the troll. Small spoons weighted and/or on planers and Spoonbrella rigs have been doing the trick. Capt. John on the Patent Pending had at least one day last week where the mackerel out-numbered the stripers. That species can’t be expected to stick around much longer as water temperatures begin to fall, so if you want to put Spanish mackerel in the box now’s the time to act.

Crabbing has been excellent with most trot-liners reporting a full basket in a matter of hours, but a strong influx of mature females has made choosing a good spot and moving when covered up with the girl crabs a necessity. Seven to 10 feet has been hot.

-By Parker Martin