Middle Chesapeake Bay, August 28 Update:
Angler-in-Chief Lenny Rudow reports a good mackerel bite but crowded, sometimes stressful trolling off the mouth of the Severn. As soon as a school of fish formed up last weekend, anywhere from a half-dozen to four dozen boats converged and pound the area. He reported boating four mackerel and losing a fifth at the boat during a morning of trolling, and that was after losing quite a bit of fishing time to untangling and re-rigging after one of the more aggressive boats in the pack cut across his transom, snagged four lines, and dragged them into a propeller — ouch! Two readers working the same water reported one mackerel and some little (accidental, immediately released) stripers, and five mackerel and a bluefish. Rudow also noted that in heavy cloud cover, the mackerel’s usual preference for gold spoons was dampened a bit and matte red/white and dull silvers were the colors getting bit. Additionally, Angler’s and Alltackle backed up these reports, saying that the weekend waters were absolutely packed with boats. They also noted that while there are plenty of mackerel around, if birds are a no-show it can be a matter of striking it rich or missing them completely and a few boats this week had total strikeouts.
Other reader reports of success on Spanish came from south and west of Poplar Island, where though birds were often in short supply, blind trolling produced one to five mackerel in the cooler for multiple anglers; also from off the mouth of the Pax (bigger numbers but hit-or-miss for some anglers, including one report of a dozen-plus fish and another of an empty cooler). We also heard from one angler who had a little success off Chesapeake Beach, but only put two mackerel in the box. One trolling a bit to the north off Herring Bay had a spectacular catch, however, including nine fish with a 26.5-inch monster mackerel that hit a Drone with red flash tape (which proved to be the hot lure of the day).
Also from the Patuxent, we heard from a reader who did catch a keeper cobia there “south and east of the river” while trolling tubes. Contributor Eric Packard also chimed in to let us know that casting at rip-rap in the lower river with small jigs and Beetle Spins produced lots of small red drum, some bluefish, white perch, and plenty of quickly released rockfish.
Middle Chesapeake Bay, August 21 Update:
Remember folks: targeting striped bass is now illegal in all Maryland portions of the Chesapeake Bay and they will remain off-limits for the remainder of August.
The Middle Bay has been active despite the striper shut-down, and we had a half dozen or so readers report in after trolling small spoons in the stretch from the western side of the Bay Bridge to Thomas Point Light, with a catch made up of Spanish mackerel, bluefish, and (accidental and quickly released) rockfish. Trolling the shipping channels is common right now, with much attention focused on the mackerel. Spanish numbers ranged from one to a dozen with four to six being average and unpredictable sizes, although we did get a few great reports of very large mackerel coming in. Off the mouth of the Severn has repeatedly been reported a hotspot and birds are often marking the schools of Spanish and blues. However, if you hit it this weekend expect a crowd; a couple of readers who visited the area mid-week reported that the entire charter fleet plus plenty of recreational boats was working the area. Readers trolling just south of Poplar reported very similar action, but fewer boats. One report from a boat running out of the Patuxent was even better, with “dozens” filling the cooler.
Speckled trout are also getting some attention — Angler’s Sport Center reported that the mouth of the Choptank is still holding them after this week’s rain. Alltackle recently got reports that the bite is best in the morning and casting four-to-five inch curly/twisty tail soft plastic is the move. Chartreuse, pearl, white, and pink are all working, although tossing in some sparkle can liven up the action.
Angler-in-Chief Lenny Rudow reports that perch are quite active in the tributaries, and tossing Perch Pounders to piers and rip-rap one evening this week produced a fish every third cast or so. Contributor Eric Packard found a great bite in the Patuxent, too, with a mix of (undersized) redfish, stripers, white perch, and bluefish smacking his small white spinnerbait. Fishing rip-rap did the trick. We also heard reports of those little but fun reds popping up in the South and West rivers, this week.
Middle Chesapeake Bay, August 13 Update:
Hey, folks! Please remember that as of Sunday the 16th of August stripers are off-limits in Maryland waters. The season officially opens back up September 1, and we’ll be reporting on them again at that time. Meanwhile... the mackerel are back! The mackerel are back! With striper fishing getting ready to close up shop we’ve never been happier to see ‘em. Angler-in-Chief Lenny Rudow reports that a bird factory appears to have opened up for business between the Bay Bridge and Thomas Point Light and he has his fingers crossed that the recent rains don’t change that. Multiple pockets of birds, including some very large flocks, have been observed diving over a mix of very small rockfish with some blues and Spanish mackerel mixed in. We had multiple reader reports confirming the presence of the mackerel in this zone, with one to six fish the range plus a couple of small bluefish caught by trolling spoons behind planers or by ripping spoons through the breakers. Several readers also specified finding the fish between Hacketts and about a half-mile south of the bridge. There were also reader reports of Spanish and blues coming from the north side of Poplar, one report of a catch of four mackerel south of Poplar, and one reader had a black drum strike a spoon intended for the mackerel while trolling there. Oddball report of the week: A sturgeon catch was photo-documented just outside of the Severn last weekend – when’s the last time anyone heard of that?!
Rudow also reported that the storm may have affected the shallows of the Choptank and Little Choptank as a run there produced just a handful of stripers one day last week, and a reader chimed in with a similar report of slow action last weekend. Hopefully, the impact was temporary and won’t take too much of a toll on the speckled trout fishery in the area. For the past few weeks, anglers have been reporting good speckled trout catches in the Choptank. Island Tackle Outfitters reported that some anglers have been coming in with fair catches after casting pink, pearl, white, or chartreuse sparkly curly/twisty tail soft plastics. Fishing grassy areas, points, and shallows has been productive. ITO also mentioned that Hoopers Island was a good spot this week.
Angler’s Sport Center reported that the striper fishing this week dropped off a bit, and the live-lining bite is doing best. Fishing with spot near Hackett’s or Thomas Point seems to be the ticket to finding keepers. Most anglers have been battling hordes of schoolies, before landing a substantial fish.
In panfish news, perch are providing anglers plenty of entertainment in the creeks and tribs. Widely available from shore and by boat, they’re the Fish of the People. Alltackle in Annapolis let us know that FishBites and bloodworms are the baits of choice, with anglers occasionally opting to go the grass shrimp route. Small spinners are also working well in the tribs. The perch aren’t discriminating too much on when they’ll bite; mornings and evenings are producing similar results, although the midday bite is a struggle with the sun beating overhead.
Crabbing Report: WOOOOHOOOO!!! Angler-in-Chief Lenny Rudow, fishing-reporter Mollie Rudow, and dinghy sailor Ryan headed out Tuesday at 4:30 in an attempt to wrangle some afternoon crabs in the South River. The trotline was baited with fresh, delicious fowl necks, they set up in in hopes of conquering the crustaceans. And boy, did they conquer! Within two hours and nine runs, the team had wrangled upwards of 40 keeper crabs. The keepers consisted of around eight jumbos, and the rest were an even split between mediums and just-over the mark keepers. Most keeper crabs were caught in around just a couple feet of water, with clarity marginal at best. The scooping action was ON! throughout most of the trip, with plenty of barely undersized males also coming into the boat. They also noticed that the line was chock-full of females, ranging in size from tiny to outrageously large. We’re taking that as a good omen for crabbing in years to come. If you’re heading out this week, try grabbing fowl necks — they’re tougher than your traditional chicken neck, and thus will last longer.
Middle Chesapeake Bay, August 7 Update:
Attention FishTalk Readers: Due to the impact of the storm Isaias on our region, we want to caution that regardless of whether you fish freshwater, the Bay, or the ocean, the fishing deck has been shuffled. Much of the intel we received this week was gathered prior to the storm so we have to question its efficacy. While we did also get some info in on Wednesday evening and through Thursday, we’d note that this week our reports may not be as helpful as usual in forming effective game-plans for the weekend’s fishing.
Before Isaias hit, fishing in the Middle Bay was on a clear upswing due to an influx of species. Alltackle in Annapolis and Island Tackle Outfitters both reported that tidal rivers, primarily on the eastern shore, are seeing more and more speckled sea trout in the shallows. While a fair portion of boats that headed out struck out on them, some found success fishing weedy, shallow areas. As per usual, the specks caught were reported on sparkly soft plastics. Pink, white, and pearl with sparkle were top producers. Alltackle mentioned that four-inch curly and twister tails were a top pick this week. Angler-in-Chief Lenny Rudow took a long cruise on a fast boat prior to the storms and said his crew enjoyed a fun morning of catching on the western side. The crew landed keeper rock up to 24 inches and a couple of speckled trout up to 20 inches, casting four-inch skirtless jigs in pearl and pink at the Power Plant. He said there was a small fleet anchored up in the discharge, including multiple charter boats. Due to the fleet, arriving early to get some bites before the fish got pounded was important. Rudow and his crew also ran down past the Patuxent and tried trolling tubes for cobia, but to no avail. Another small fleet was spotted just off Sharp’s Island flats, trolling for what a couple of readers reported was mostly blues, undersized rock, and a few Spanish mackerel. Angler’s Sport Center mentioned that plenty of little blues have moved up the Bay with a few keepers in their midst. The blues have been wreaking havoc on anglers using soft plastics. Getting into a little school of them can make for a quick demise of your soft plastic stock so either make sure you’ve got enough to beat ‘em, put on Zmans, or switch up spots/tactics if you notice that the blues are doing a number on your supply. Or, consider switching over to a trolling spread of spoons. Spanish mackerel numbers are on the up-swing, and we had multiple reader reports (from the Choptank, off the Rhode, and even one from Thomas Point) of mackerel showing up. Most were twosies-threesies but the reader we heard from who did best had six. Another reader reported getting into a school of ribbonfish while trolling near the Choptank — and catching them all day. Yes, photographic evidence was taken!
REMEMBER: Maryland waters are closed for stripers from August 16 (next Sunday) to August 31. If you catch a rockfish, handle it with care and try to unhook the fish in the water to reduce stress on them.
Crabbing Report: Angler-in-Chief Lenny Rudow reported that there are zillions of undersized crabs in the creeks off the South, a sentiment that was confirmed by readers who tried crabbing in the Severn and Fishing Creek. The throwback-to-keeper ratio was around 20:1 but numbers were high enough in all these areas to put together between two and four dozen legal crabs, running necks in three to six feet of water. Readers also reported an up-tick in the crab numbers in the Severn.