Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, September 24 Update:
The Bay Bridges continue to be a focal point for many anglers, with good catches on fish up to 30 inches being reported by readers. Both jiggers and live-liners have been happy, and at least up until this big change in the weather there were still plenty of spot readily available. Reports from up the tribs slowed a bit, however, with one reader on the Magothy noting that water temps rose back above 80-degrees early this week and the bite in the shallows dropped back off. Another noted that perch fishing remains sub-par as well. Tochterman’s and Alltackle echoed these sentiments. Both suggested heading to the Bridge if you’re trying to put a striper on the end of your line. Alltackle heard of one boat landing a 32-incher this week late in the afternoon. Love Point, Swan Point, and Tolchester are all also favorite spots for liveliners right now. The bulk of the fleet is heading out to stock up on spot, and cruising for these areas.
We’ve seen an uptick in the number of trollers around as well, which should continue as we move into fall. The trib report was thin at the tackle shops as well, although there was some action reported around the Key Bridge and in the Patapsco. Lure casters were able to find stripers stacked along the pilings, with varied size results. We had one angler check in who reported a day of dinks, while another managed to find a 26-incher — not too shabby.
White perch had an especially slow week and neither us or our sources heard from anyone that they got into a good groove with the fish. A couple scattered perch were reported in the Magothy and near the Key Bridge, though, and they were biting Beetle Spins.
Spot have been biting especially at the Magothy’s mouth and Bay Bridge shallows, both are good places to locate them while dropping Chesapeake Sabikis tipped with bloodworm or Fishbites.
Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, September 17 Update:
Anglers casting jigs in the tidal creeks are landing a surplus of throwback striped bass around docks, pilings, and rip-rap. We had readers report that the Magothy has been giving up some decent-sized fish, including some keepers. The top water bite has turned off a little bit the past few days but is still going on in the shallows. Try utilizing those topwaters during the early morning for some good yields— the dawn bite has been best!
Chumming and live-lining has been the ticket for most anglers, with Love Point, Tolchester, the Bay Bridge, and Swan Point producing fish. The bulk are sub-legal, but most anglers are able to sort through them to put together nice catches of fish up to 26-inches and occasionally a 28-incher. Live-lining has been especially good, and catfish have been a common surprise-catch recently, and are putting up fun fights. Cats up to 32-inches were reported from the Upper Bay this week. Trollers working the edges off Love Point have found that small umbrellas and four- to six-inch plastic shad and Tsunamis are accounting for much of the catch. White seems to be the color of choice.
Lastly, the spot bite has been doing very well for this time of year; most are being caught on bloodworms and/or Chesapeake Sabikis tipped with bloodworm or Fishbites in a variety of areas in the Upper Bay. Many anglers are finding them in the mouth of the Magothy, around the Bay Bridge pilings on the western side, and also around the Narrows, usually in 10 to 15 feet of water.
Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, September 10 Update:
Although stained water is hampering the bite, the Bridge and Swan Point were able to produce throughout the week. Most of the poor water conditions have remained north of the bridge and Anglers headed to the pilings and rockpiles found fish that were willing to take drifted baits and spot. Angler’s in Annapolis reported that most guys coming in found livelining was working best. Many of the fish caught have been in the teen-to-20s range, with some smaller pockets of better fish around. A couple of boats reported to Alltackle that finding working birds was their saving grace after a tough day of fishing, most commonly in the afternoon. The Bridge has been exhausted late in the day possibly due to traffic and pressure, and of course the poor water conditions aren’t helping out the bite. At Swan Point, lineliners found adequate numbers of fish despite the conditions this week.
The white perch bite is finicky in stained waters, although some angers did report catching them up in the creeks this week. In the Bay, water 10 to 15 feet with oyster bottom was holding them as well. Angler’s suggested using small spinners, bottom rigs, or perch pounders.
Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, September 3 Update:
Although the waters may get mucked up from Ida pouring down on us this week, fishing before the floodgates opened proved productive for many anglers. As water conditions continue to develop, we’re hoping that there won’t be a lasting effect on the fishing. Prior to the storm, the Tolchester Lumps and the Bay Bridge were hotspots bringing the fleet in thick.
The Bay Bridges were producing solid numbers of fish mostly in the 18- to 24-inch range with a larger rock showing up on occasion. It’s been best to be there early, especially on weekends, as you can expect plenty of competition once the sun is up. Angler’s and Alltackle in Annapolis both backed this, adding that casting the pilings early in the morning has been producing some good results. Jiggers and liveliners were both enjoying some hefty hard-hitting bites throughout the day.
Tolchester has also been hot, however, we have had multiple reports from Tolchester that at times, it’s difficult to hook up a striper due to catfish interference. Even still, livelining remains the top way to entice stripers to bite. The trolling bite around Tolchester has been good as well, with umbrellas and tandems getting top billing. In general, anglers trolling the channel edges north of the Bridge are doing fairly well when water conditions are right. Anglers also reported that Swan Point and Love had fair numbers of keeper stripers on them.
Tochterman’s heard plenty of reports from the Key Bridge recently, which has mostly been dominated by a mixed bite of schoolies, perch, and catfish. Striped bass are biting for jiggers and lure casters, but most have been small and perch fishing is providing much better results if you want to bring home dinner. Bottom rigs, Perch Pounders, Sabikis, and little spinners all produced great perch results this week. A big plus about the Key Bridge is that it’ll hold perch late into the day. They’re holding in deeper waters like those of the Bridge when the sun beats overhead. Catfish in the area also haven’t been picky about when they’re biting, with multiple reports of cats this week up to 33-inches. Cut menhaden, clam snouts, chicken liver, and gizzard shad are top baits.