Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, 9/28/2018 Update:
Most of the worst of the flotsam and water discoloration ends south of the Bay Bridges, though as noted in the Upper Bay report, fishing around the bridge pilings and rockpiles remains strong. And there is still an above-normal danger of striking a log or limb in the middle Bay zone, not so much as to keep anyone at the dock, but captains do need to pay attention. Angler in Chief Lenny Rudow reports that bottom fishing in the Choptank was a blast last weekend, with spot, flounder (small), speckled sea trout (also small), stripers, silver perch, white perch, and toadfish all coming over the rails during the Rod & Reef Slam tournament last weekend. Congratulations go out to Rudow (first place overall), and FishTalk team members Zach Ditmars (first place boat category) and Bob Daley (second place boat category)! Bloodworms were the top bait.
Live-liners working the reef site for stripers had limited success, and moved off in the direction of The Diamonds. Fortunately, in this area although there are fewer spot than a week or two prior there are still plenty to fill the livewell.
On the way back across the Bay they encountered multiple schools of breaking stripers in the mouth of Eastern Bay, in the vicinity of The Hill. Unfortunately they were undersized, but the stripers are definitely shifting into fall mode and busting under birds more and more as water temps drop. We also had reports this week of birds working near Thomas Point Light, south of Poplar, and just north-east of Deal. Be sure to check out Keepers in the Chaos: How to Catch Big Fish Under Working Birds, if you're being plagued by throw-backs without managing to fill the cooler. Thomas Point remains a top bet, as it has been for much of the recent past, but the lighthouse and rocks are consistently under a ton of pressure and competition. It's not necessary to join the fray, however, as we had several reports this week from anglers who moved away from the lighthouse and found good schools of jig-able fish on the meter. White BKDs and Bass Assassins on half and three-quarter ounce leadheads got fish up to 23-inches biting.
Crabbers in the Middle Bay are still enjoying a productive fall bump, with multiple reports of full bushel baskets coming in this week. Five to 10 feet of water was the ticket, though we also heard that due to reduced clarity spotting the crabs as they come up is tough, and you have to really stay on your toes.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, 9/21/2018 Update:
Starting up north in the Middle Bay, stripers (plus some big perch) are being caught all over the bridge pilings and rockpiles on a variety of jigs and swimbaits, by chummers, and by live-liners (more on this bite in the Upper Bay report). The bridge has actually also had reports of consistent topwater action. Thomas Point has been bigger news recently, however, for all methods for stripers. Anglers have been jockeying for position around the lighthouse rocks and pitching back both jigs and live spot, which is still highly effective, but also rather cramped and overly competitive these days. Fortunately, fish have also been turning up within sight of the lighthouse breaking water. Anglers casting six-inch white BKDs on half and three-quarter ounce jigheads, and at times topwater plugs, have been getting them. The birds are up and down, but once their general vicinity has been exposed searching with the meter and then jigging on them has proved effective. A few fish have also returned to the shallows in the same area, thanks to the recent cool-down.
The shallows of Eastern Bay have produced fish lately as well, including along the rocks of Poplar. The majority of the fish are small, but if you weed through them there are plenty of fish up into the mid-20s to be found. Working birds have also been popping up over deep water from Eastern Bay down, and also around the ships at anchor. The vast majority of these are 10 to 14 inch fish, but letting live spot swim among them will expose some in the 19 to 24 inch range.
Farther south off Chesapeake Beach and the mouth of the Choptank there have been some schools up top as well, some with Spanish mackerel and snapper blues mixed in. The recent cool-off may well send the mack packing very soon, though, since they usually tolerate just a few drops of the thermometer before heading south. You probably have another week or two to fish for them, but after that all bets are off.
Also, the perch bite is still hot! All the major creeks and rivers are producing. Anglers armed with spinners, darts, spoons, and Perch Pounders have still been producing healthy fat whites. The Severn has been mentioned as an especially good bet for this species recently.
Lastly, crabbing remains good, a nice change from earlier this year. Trot-liners in the tributaries are filling their baskets, and the good pick continued right through the crazy tides we've been having. Five to seven feet of water has been the ticket.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, 9/14/2018 Update:
Editor’s Note: Due to Hurricane Florence, some areas of our region (particularly to the south) will be unfishable this weekend while others may be fishable but with challenges like unusual tides on top of breezy conditions. Please note that while we’ve done out best to gather quality intel, basically, as this storm causes radically changing conditions, all bets are off.
Hurricane Florence is slowly threatening more rain to our area, but it shouldn’t do much to the fishing besides stir up some silt and raise the water a bit more - we’re used to it now, right? Luckily, the fishing has been very good in the Middle Bay. First, stripers are caught all over the bridge pilings and rockpiles on a variety of jigs and swimbaits. The bridge has also had reports of consistent topwater results no matter the time of day, so try out some new poppers like the Chug Norris or Halco Roostas. Jigging around the same spots has been great when paired with a brightly colored soft plastic tail. Still, fishing live spot remains the number-one tactic with some anglers also anchoring between the bridges and chumming. Most of the catch has been fish in the 14 to 24 inch range.
Thomas Point has been great for all methods for stripers, though the trick here has been arriving when there aren't already 10 boats stacked all around. The wildly-swinging tides and resulting strong currents have also made it both difficult and somewhat dangerous to anchor close to the rocks, as it's hard to stick bottom in this area and dragging anchor is common. Angler in Chief Lenny Rudow reports that the tides have also made it difficult to predict the fish's behavior, and spotting fish on the meter has not necessarily equated to putting fish in the cooler the past few days. He mentioned trying a few spots in the South River last weekend when the winds were too high to go into the open Bay, and two hours of casting resulted in a strange, smelly, black-and-white critter in the fishbox.
Slightly farther south the fleets from Deale and Chesapeake Beach have spotted some schools working the surface this past week, though the weather has made getting out tough at times and last weekend made plenty of people rather miserable. Trolling has been ratcheting up, with many of the boats deploying small spoons to get a few mackerel into the mix of stripers and (mostly very small) blues.
Lastly, the perch bite is still hot! All the major creeks and rivers are hopping. Anglers armed with spinners, darts, spoons, and Perch Pounders have still been producing healthy, fat perch. The Bay bridges have also had a fairly decent perch bite on a few pilings with soft crabs and bloodworms yielding some fish upwards of a foot long. Bottom fishermen have also been doing well off Tolly's Point, in 23 to 28 feet of water.
Crab Alert: Crabbing has been at its strongest yet this year, in five to eight feet of water in recent days. Full bushel catches of fat, heavy crabs are being reported.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, 9/7/2018:
Labor day is over, the heat is still beating down hard outside, and the kids are back in school. This, however, doesn’t mean that the fishing is slowing down – it’s far from the truth actually. Light tackle has been doing phenomenal, with a half to one ounce jig with your favorite four to seven inch tail being the killer for the week. The trick, though, has been to get those jigs down deep, around 20 feet or so. The oxygen content has been the number one factor to find fish the past few days and the run of fish in the shallows during the recent cooler evenings has shut back down with the heat. The best spots have been the Bay Bridge pilings (see the Upper Bay report for more details), and Thomas Point light. Again, during the heat of the day get down deep to the good water for those stripers.
We’ve seen more and more Spanish Mackerel being caught in the Middle to Lower Bay region. Areas like the mouth of Eastern Bay and along the ledges of the shipping channels to the north are getting some macks on spoons and soft plastics. Capt. John on the Patent Pending checked in to let us know that Thomas Point to Chesapeake Beach has been picking up for both trolling and livelining, with a lot of undersized fish but 25 to 27 inchers mixed in. Capt. John’s gold spoons have been productive for stripers, blues, and also mackerel.
Topwater and trolling are in a weird boat right now, with these methods working on the best outgoing tides around dusk and dawn. If you do go the trolling route, some of the better areas have been up north at Love Point, Swan Point, and also around the mouth of Eastern Bay. For topwater, the rock piles under the Bay Bridge and around Thomas Point lighthouse have all been good spots to target them.
Bottom fishermen are encountering good numbers of perch and spot on bloodworms at Tolly’s Point. Some of the spot there are well beyond bait-sized and are pushing the “jumbo spot” margin, so you may pick up some there big enough for the frying pan.
- By Parker Martin