Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, August 7 Update:
Bluefish and Spanish mackerel are providing exciting action in the Middle Bay, with trolling and occasional surface-feeding frenzies producing fish from Sharps Island south toward the Patuxent. Bottom fishing remains excellent, with jumbo spot and croaker providing steady action over oyster beds throughout the region. Cutlassfish have also arrived in numbers around Solomons and Mill Creek, adding another unique summer target to the mix.
A subscriber fishing the mouth of Eastern Bay in the area of The Hill the day before the rockfish closure last weekend reported excellent action while live-lining spot. But it wasn’t rockfish doing the eating, it was a nice batch of big bluefish. The AIC says he visited the same spot early in the week and located huge amounts of bait, but at least while he was there nothing was harassing it. He saw the same thing just east of the Stone Rock (where he hooked and lost the one fish of the afternoon) and also in the mouth of the South/West River area off Triton Beach. Another reader checked in and let us know that there are plenty of spot with a lot of jumbos in the mix on the oyster beds between the West River and the South River. Drifting over the oyster beds in 12 to 16 feet of water produced a steady bite while dropping down bits of bloodworms on bottom rigs. One day, they boxed several spot between nine and 10 inches. Bottom fishing is a great option right now throughout the Middle Bay. Any area with oyster bottom or shell bottom has a chance of producing spot, croaker, and other bottom dwellers.
Subscribers fishing off the mouth of the Patuxent and in the Point Lookout area report that a nice mix of bluefish and Spanish mackerel has moved in. Catches of both species have been reported by trollers pulling small spoons behind planers and by those casting spoons and bite-proof plastics when the fish have corralled bait and started breaking water. Multiple summer bird shows have been spotted this week and many anglers are trolling when they don’t spot visible action, then casting into the frenzy with light gear when the fish appear. Hallocks Grace Charters checked in and let us know that bluefish are still plentiful around the Sharps Island Lighthouse area. Trolling hoses and spoons is producing bluefish in the 18 to 23-inch range. They also caught a bull redfish in this zone last week and have seen a few cobia boated as well. When they move a few miles south of the lighthouse, they encountered a few more mackerel while trolling. They are catching their bluefish at depths of 15 to 25 feet of water, and the mackerel have been between 20 and 40 feet of water.
Cutlassfish numbers are on the increase and a subscriber fishing near Solomons reported a fantastic morning bite recently, reeling in around 40 while casting a blade-bait from his kayak. Contributor Eric Packard confirmed their presence in the Solomons zone and said soft plastics that aren’t bite-proof are getting nipped in half with regularity. The hot zone seems to be around the mouth of the river up to and inside Mill Creek. We also had a report from the Tackle Box that there has been a decent white perch bite at times around the Solomons Island Bridge. An angler checked in with them after catching several keeper perch and croaker while fishing from the fishing pier next to the bridge.