We all know printed fishing reports are generalized, and weeks have passed before the report gets into your hands. For timely, up-to-date reports, visit our Reports pages. Current reports will be published every Friday by noon — just in time for your weekend fishing adventures. In the meantime, here’s our monthly prognostication.
COASTAL FISHING FORECAST
Our freezers will have to do without those bluefin steaks, denying a repeat of the feast from last fall and early winter due to the changes in regulations. However, there should still be plenty of action to enjoy: daytime swordfish fishing offshore, tautog and flounder inshore, and a wide variety of species in the surf. Flounder sharpies: remember that last year the run of doormats at the inshore wreck and reef sites was rather awesome for those dropping Gulp! Swimming Mullet on big tandem bucktails or Fluke Killers.
FRESHWATER FISHING FORECAST
You can bet that this will be an excellent month for freshwater anglers around the dial, with every sweetwater species feeding hard to fatten up for winter. Look for bass to be uber-active up on the banks and crappie to be swarming beaver dams and deadfall. And in the rivers smallmouth action should be rockin’ it right about now just as long as no storms muck things up. Added bonus: the cooling weather is sure to get the pickerel snapping, too.
WAY NORTH FISHING FORECAST
If this year is like last year we can bet that the blue cats will be on a rampage this month. Stripers were a bit disappointing in 2024, however, so it remains a question mark as to how that action will be. Luckily, the smallmouth and walleye bite in the river should pick up steam in November, adding to your options.
UPPER CHESAPEAKE BAY FISHING FORECAST
All eyes will be on the rockfish this month, and hopefully Upper Bay anglers will get treated to some better bird shows than they saw last November. Considering the results of recent years hotspots are likely to include the Patapsco and the Bridge, and hopefully Pooles will see some improved bites as well. Also remember that as the water chills and white perch shift out to open water bars and knolls they usually feed with abandon.
MIDDLE BAY FORECAST
Will we see flocks of working birds and surface-busting rockfish? One can only hope. Eastern Bay, the mouth of the Choptank, Chesapeake Beach, and the Patapsco zone should all hold some promise, and as the month progresses the bite window should continue to expand well beyond dawn and dusk. Note that in 2024 the action for perch (in the Bay) and pickerel (in the tribs) picked up in late fall so hopefully those fish will kick into gear, too.
LOWER BAY FORECAST
Rockfish are in for all Lower Bay waters this month, so you can bet they’ll be the main target. The mouths of the Potomac and the Rap are likely to be good bets going by last year’s action, but don’t forget that plenty of other species are still likely to be available. Last year bluefish, slot reds, speckled trout, and even cutlassfish were still hanging around into November. That said, the reds and specks certainly didn’t push north in 2025 the same way they did in 2024, so when targeting those fish the farther down the Bay you go the better the action is likely to be.
TANGIER, POCOMOKE, AND LOWER SHORE FORECAST
We’re entering the final phase of shallow water fishing in the Sounds this month, but before that action ends it usually provides quite a bang. Expect rockfish action to peak as the more southerly species thin out. Also remember that the tribs usually spring to life at this time of year, with yellow perch, crappie, and pickerel bites all picking up momentum.
WAY SOUTH AND VA FORECAST
If past is prelude speckled trout action should peak this month and the puppy drum bite should remain strong as well. Last year the west side often beat out the east side for speck action, but it was the opposite for reds. Which will be where this year? We shall see… And while many of the summer visitors swimming around the CBBT will depart this month, we can also look for the tautog action to pick up at the very same time.
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