9/29/2017 Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report Update:
Island Tackle Outfitters, Marty’s Sporting Goods, and Bay Country Crabbing Supply all reported that Tolly’s Point is a great place to be for anglers looking to catch rockfish. Trolling has been the most productive, and rubber skirts, Tsunamis, and green umbrellas have been the best lures in the spreads. Jigging has also proven productive, with half-ounce to three-quarter-ounce white jig heads with pearl and chartreuse GULP! Lures being most effective.
Hacketts Bar, the mouth of the West, Thomas Point and the channel ledges in Eastern Bay, have also been hotspots. Most anglers have been trolling or jigging, using the same tackle mentioned above. Thomas Point also has had breaking fish, however it isn’t incredibly productive. Fish can often be spotted on the meter to the north of the lighthouse in 30 feet of water, but only come up top sporadically (sometimes for as little as 30 seconds). As fish move into their fall feeding habits, this should change and anglers should expect the bite up to take off.
Small blues have been spotted breaking around the cargo ships, however Island Tackle Outfitters reported that not very many people have been catching them, and they have indeed been small. Mostly, they're just chewing off plastic tails.
Spot action has been best at the mouth of the South River, where Marty’s reports that they had a day this week where they caught over 100 spot in 18 to 20 feet on the hard bottom.
Bay Country Crabbing Supply reports slow crabbing as far as filling the bushel basket goes, as many of the crabs are females and recreational crabbers cannot keep them. Males have been in deeper, saltier water. Angler Crabber-in-Chief Lenny Rudow reported crabbing last weekend in the South and had a 20-to-one ratio of females to males; three hours of running the trot line resulted in two and a half dozen keeper crabs.
9/27/2017 Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report Update:
Bait is still thick throughout the middle Bay, and stripers are still present just north of Thomas Point in good numbers. These fish are being quite picky about when they decide to get active, but if you don't spot birds keep a sharp eye on the meter. Even when sitting on bottom, you can get a bite or two. White paddle-tails and live spot will tempt them.
9/22/2017 Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report Update:
Anglers reported that the Middle Bay has been full of activity in the past week, with bait abundant along channel edges and a variety of species in the water. Spot have been schooling around channel edges on hard bottoms, and finding them has been difficult depending on the day. Since the spot have been on the move, it’s hard to call one spot more reliable than the next. AllTackle reported that for anglers who do manage to catch their share of spot, live-lining has been the method of choice throughout the bay. Just north of the bridge, Podickory Point has been popular, as well as just south around Hacketts, Eastern Bay at around 25 feet, and the False Channel. Bluefish have been present at all of these spots, so as always, plan on bringing more than enough bait.
FishTalk Angler-in-Chief Lenny Rudow reports that if you want spot for live-lining, try fishing shallow. They've been in eight foot depths at the mouth of the West River, mixed in with some very nice white perch. One oddball catch there the other day was a puffer fish.
All were biting bloodworms with abandon. But the jigging bite has been a bit tougher. The fish between the Severn and Thomas have broken up, no wonder as there are countless small pods of peanut bunker swimming around everywhere throughout the area and clear down to the Choptank. There are also some schools breaking sporadically near the ships and at the mouth of Eastern Bay, but most of the fish are throw-backs. Reports from Marty's are similar, with many customers remarking that there are "tons and tons" of fish under 20-inches around but finding larger ones can be a challenge.
Perch continue to be abundant in rivers, and are mixed in with some small croaker. As always, they are taking bloodworms.
Crabbing has been fairly steady in the South, West, and Choptank rivers. The big problem right now is an overwhelming number of females, which chew your baits to pieces. The folks at Bay Country Crabbing Supply suggest using whole necks so they last through the onslaught, and remind us that fowl necks hold up better than regular chicken necks.
9/14/2017 Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report Update:
With fish spread throughout the waters of the region, the Middle Bay in itself is a hot spot for fishing as we move into fall. With a stellar live-lining bite, anglers living in the region are fortunate to have spot hanging out close to home. Alltackle in Annapolis reported that spot have been hanging out on hard bottoms in shallow water, and are in great numbers when found. Finding them can be tricky at times, however many have been schooling around the number three channel marker in the Eastern Bay according to Marty's Sporting Goods. After catching your fill of spot, they suggested heading over to Thomas Point, Tolly Point, the False Channel, or the number seven channel marker in the Choptank to turn them into rockfish; read How to Live Line with Spot, to get a refresher on how the technique works.
If you see birds working in the southern sections of the Middle Bay (mostly from the Choptank south) be sure to jig deep beneath them. There are still some monster redfish being caught beneath the breakers.
The area around 85A has been a good spot not only to catch rockfish and blues, but Spanish mackerel as well. The mackerel have been mixed in with the trolling bite, and are hitting small spoons. Looking for working birds is a good bet to catch some fish, and many birds have been working the area around 85A. Martys Sporting Goods also received reports of Spanish mackerel around the mouth of the Severn, but noted that as this was earlier in the week, and chilly temperatures could have driven them South by now. Angler in Chief Lenny Rudow confirms that the mackerel were still around as of last weekend, along with stripers in the mid 20-inch range, though many of the fish had moved slightly south between the Severn and Thomas Point, and were out in about 40 feet of water. Sporadic bird action gave away their general location, but the fish weren't staying up top for more than a moment or two at a time.
Perch are abundant throughout the Middle Bay, and cooler water temperatures are driving them to channel ledges and shallow water. They’ve been taking bloodworm and spoons, and croaker have been mixed in with the bite. For anglers looking for a nice croaker dinner (or just steady action), we suggest heading up to the Bay Bridge to fish the pilings, where many fish have gathered.
Crabbing in the Middle Bay has been wonderful, and crabbers are often coming home with bushel baskets full. The toughest thing is weeding out all the females, which do out-number the males by a wide margin in the Middle Bay right now.With the seasons end in near sight, we highly suggest jumping on your boat and heading out there to take advantage of them while they’re hot. Trot liners have had the best success.
9/7/2017 Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report Update:
The Middle Bay has been on fire recently, starting with the hot striper bite stretching from Tolly Point (see the 9/3/17 update below) down to Thomas Point. The bite took a hit on Monday when there were outrageous numbers of boats around, but quickly rebounded. Both jiggers and live-liners are having success (white is the hot color for jigging soft plastics) but on days like monday when the competition is fierce, live-lining is more effective. Island Tackle Outfitters let us know that livelining around Thomas Point has been excellent, and many of the fish being caught are keeper size, though most are still under 30 inches. Spanish mackerel have moved up the bay and are hitting live spot, peeler crab, spoons, and other lures being tossed for stripers in this same zone.
Here's one we haven't heard about for a while - flounder have been in Eastern Bay, and the best bait has been squid. Good numbers of redfish have also begun moving into the area, down towards the Choptank and to the south, and are present below breaking fish. Check out our Chesapeake Bay Bull Redfish article, by Walleye Pete, to find out how to target them.
Bay Country reported a good crabbing run has taken hold in the Middle Bay, and should continue into early October.
9/3/2017 Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report Update:
Team FishTalk ran north to join in a rather epic bite just east of Tolly Point in 30' to 40' of water. Stripers in the 18 to 26 inch range were blasting peanut bunker out of the water, and despite a lot of pressure - there were maybe 20 boats on the scene - kept pushing the baitfish up top and busting water. There were birds around, giving away the fish's location each time they resurfaced. The surprise, however... well, check out this pic:
We've caught mackerel this far north on the Western shore before, but it certainly doesn't happen very often. It ate just what the rockfish seemed to like best: a white BKD. White clearly out-fished chartreuse, pearl, and lime green. Spot were in the livewell, and interestingly, only accounted for a couple fish - the jigs worked better. In fact, the first half-hour of fishing all spot produced only three fish and then as everyone began switching to jigs, a limit catch (4 anglers aboard) filled the box in about an hour. During that time there were also two bite-offs and two tails bitten off, so we suspect there are either more mackerel mixed in with those fish or a few blues are in attendance, too.
9/2/2017 Middle Chesapeake Bay Report Update:
We received a report today from a local angler who was at the False Channel that the bite has tapered off there. He also gave confirmation that the fish around Poplar aren't legal size.
9/1/2017 Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report Update:
Action in the Middle Bay has been strong recently, with good numbers of stripers up into the mid-20’s showing up off the mouth of the South and West Rivers. Alltackle had some reports of fish breaking water in this area, as well as off the mouth of the Severn, and anyone who’s been past Thomas Point Light has seen the flotilla jockeying for position around the rocks. Although this spot has been pounded on for over a month, somehow, it's still producing keeper fish. Fishing in the shallows up on the point itself had slowed, but as the waters cool off this fall we expect that trend to reverse itself.
We’ve had a large number of confirmed reports, including from Marty’s in Edgewater, of hordes of fish hanging around the bows of the ships anchored up off Annapolis. Although the vast majority are throw-backs, angler-in-chief Lenny Rudow did pull a couple of barely-legals out from the ships on a recent trip. The trick was to up-size your lead-head, add a skirt, and jig down deep (chartreuse BKDs were doing the trick) below the masses of smaller fish. Some blues are also in the area, however, including around the ships, and every 10th or 12th strike results in a little less plastic being retrieved back to the boat.
Reports coming from Eastern Bay have included Spanish mackerel recently, though Chesapeake Beach has been holding more of these fish plus decent numbers of bluefish. As usual, small spoons fished fast are the best bet for the mackerel. Local sharpie Travis Long checked in to let us know that there were also some decent blues in the area, and large numbers of sub-legal stripers near Poplar. The main fleet in this segment of the Chesapeake, however, has been focused on live-lining at the False Channel. Most of the stripers here are 20-plus inches and the biggest impediment to getting them is often finding a place to drop anchor among the crowd.
Perch and spot have been biting strong for anglers using bloodworms on bottom rigs, throughout the Middle Bay. Some of the spot are eating sized and on occasion, you’ll also encounter undersized croaker. The Middle Bay has also had some of the more reliable crabbing to be found. While areas farther north have found crabbing difficult at times, from the Severn south you can reliably fill your bushel basket. Interestingly, most folks have agreed that chicken necks seem to be out-doing clam bags.