Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, September 26 Update:
The Angler in Chief says some rockfish have (finally!) moved in around Thomas Point and similar west-side structure. The fish include plenty of slots and some overs, with the best bite recently taking place at dawn and wrapping up by 8:30 or so. The peak of the current is also producing some fish in the afternoons, especially on cloudy days. White paddle tails and Rapala X-Raps are doing most of the catching, with blue and silver mackerel patterns proving effective. However, he noted that he’s also spoken with some (solid) anglers who have found the fish there unwilling to bite sometimes, including at daybreak. A reader fishing from a dock near downtown Annapolis reported a successful hour of fishing last weekend. They were casting small paddletails to open water and surrounding docks and caught a few big white perch and some schoolie stripers. Their trip was in the middle of the day, but overcast conditions likely kept the fish biting. Another reader reported catching a few slot rockfish in Annapolis area creeks over the past week. They were kayak fishing, casting paddletails to docks, and although the bite wasn’t red hot, the fish they caught were under the shaded platforms at the end of docks.
Bluefish are still being caught around the Sharps Island Light and other areas down to Solomons. Trollers are having the best luck by pulling spoons and hoses behind inline sinkers or planers. Working humps and ledges between 15’ and 30’ seems to be the hot zone. The AIC reports there was a huge volume of rain bait in Eastern Bay mid-week, along the stretch from the Green can off Kent Point to three or four miles up the bay, with packs of mixed rockfish and blues popping up and breaking water sporadically. They didn't stay up for long periods of time, but the water erupted every 10 to 15 minutes for some great frenzies. Spoons and paddletails were both effective with the rockfish running between 18" and 28" and the blues in the 20" to 24" range. Down at the mouth of the Patuxent River, jumbo spot are still being caught by anglers bottom fishing. There have been several other species in the mix as well, including croaker, white perch, weakfish, and the occasional red drum. While the bottom fishing bite is hot right now, we will only be able to enjoy it for a few more weeks before colder weather pushes many species south.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, September 19 Update:
The Angler in Chief says the east side topwater rockfish bite right at daybreak and dusk has swung between excellent and tough from day to day recently, and other than during low light, it can be extremely tough to get fish to bite. Poplar Island continues to be a highlight. Both the north and south ends have been productive at times. He also said there have been a ton of three- to four-inch bunker around, and matching their size is important; one evening this week, a five-inch plug was ignored while a four-incher got smashed right next to it over and over again. When the sun is up, he’s noticed that a four-inch X-Rap in Blue Sardine color cast near structure in two to six feet of water was out-catching everything else. Bizarre catch report: an angler on his boat snagged a two-pound mullet this week. (Turns out fried mullet really isn’t very different from frying up speckled trout. Go figure.)
FishTalk contributor Adam Greenberg checked in with a few reports from the past week. Last weekend, he was out with a friend on the Choptank River looking for flounder. They caught one small flounder near the reef balls at the mouth of the river, along with a few spot and lizardfish. Next, they headed out to Sharp’s Island Light and jigged around with no luck. Adam said there was a lot of bait around, so they chased them around for an hour also with no luck. After that, they went back into the river to fish shallow cover for the evening and had a great bite for the last three hours of light. Three-inch paddle tails and five-inch straight tails were great, and they switched to topwater around sunset. They kept two fish and caught many more slot, and under slot fish. Some perch were also caught on the three-inch paddle tails. While Adam didn’t have much luck with the Sharps Island Light, other anglers have been enjoying a great bluefish bite in the area. Trolling hoses, spoons, and spoonbrella rigs has been the ticket. We had reports from a boat that caught over two dozen fish, and Hallocks-Grace Charters checked in one day with 45 bluefish on ice. A lot of the fish are in the three-to-six-pound range.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, September 12 Update:
The Angler in Chief says there’s a wonderful topwater bite going off on the east side shallows for slot and over-slot rockfish, however, as has been the case for much of this season, it’s limited to the first and the last hour of daylight, and you could spend hours spinning your wheels with very little to show for it fishing in broad daylight. Spooks and Current Snipers in silver and bone white drew dozens of blow-ups inside this limited timeframe early this week, when cast to riprap with close proximity to six or more feet of water. He also mentioned that large numbers of small flounder, along with a bunch of lizardfish, have moved in on the shoal edges west of Poplar Island and will happily munch top-and-bottom rigs baited with Fishbites bloodworm bits. FishTalk contributor Adam Greenberg reported that he was out with a few friends this week, fishing north of Solomons for Blues, mackerel, and cobia. They had limited success trolling for toothy critters, only catching a handful of each. Adam says that while they were trolling, they spotted a few cobia up top, so they switched gears to sight fishing. They had a few opportunities to cast at fish, but they just wouldn’t eat.
Though the weather has cooled off, there is still an excellent bottom fishing bite throughout the Middle Bay. The Patuxent has been the highlight with anglers fishing near Point Patience reporting jumbo spot, keeper croaker, some white perch, kingfish, and the arrival of some keeper weakfish. Bloodworms, red worms, and Fishbites have been the ticket. Other shoals and rivers to the north have had solid numbers of spot and croaker as well. Anglers looking to live line should be able to get plenty of three-to-five-inch spot. There has been some success at the Middle Bay lighthouses and at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The bite is best on a moving tide, especially when it lines up with the early morning or evening hours.
Crabbing report: The AIC says crabbing remains fantastic in the South, and reports from the Severn and West rivers are similar. However, there are so many smalls and females that throwbacks are 10 to one versus keepers, and baits get stripped rapidly. If you want a full bushel basket, bringing replacement baits may be necessary.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, September 5 Update:
FishTalk’s Zach Ditmars said the topwater bite was MIA when he got out over the holiday weekend. However, trolling spoons between Poplar and the Stone Rock did produce a few Spanish mackerel. A reader reported a mackerel and some small bluefish from the same area. The AIC says he encountered some large schools of bluefish churning the surface and a bird show on the west side of Poplar, however; they were small fish in the nine- to 12-inch range. He also fished the South River for a couple of hours one afternoon this week and while only one rockfish was willing to play the water looked cleaner than it has in months, and it seems the worst of the recent (horrific) algae blooms may finally be behind us. An angler he spoke with reported catching two slot fish in the river on peeler crab baits. On the main stem of the Bay off Calvert Cliffs, schools of bluefish are cruising around feeding on bait. We had good reports from the area around Sharp’s Island Light and areas south. One reader said that single spoons and hoses have been catching a few fish, but their top producing rigs have been “spoonbrella” rigs. Imagine an umbrella rig you would use for rockfish, but instead of sassy shads, they are metal spoons.
Bottom fishing for spot is still going strong in the Middle Bay tributaries. The Tackle Box reports that spot have been plentiful in the lower Patuxent River. Keeper croaker and some white perch have also been in the mix, but the highlight has been the big numbers of jumbo spot. Bloodworms, red worms, and Fishbites tipped on bottom rigs are the ticket for success. A reader also fishing in the lower Patuxent, but north of Point Patience, said that the fishing in the shallows for perch, croaker, and spot has been excellent. Small panfish sized chatterbaits tipped with Gulp! minnows have been their go to. Perch have been on shorelines with rip-rap and in areas with oyster shell. The spot and croaker have been hanging more on gradual ledges in four to eight feet of water.
Crabbing report: The AIC says that despite this year’s poor survey results, right now trot lining with chicken necks in the South River is about as good as he’s ever seen. He’s hearing similar things from the West, Rhode, Severn, Eastern Bay, and nearby creeks.