Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, August 28 Update:
Sea Hawk let us know that the speckled trout craze continues to carry on. They’re still taking lures along shorelines and in grassy beds. Curly/twisty-tailed white, pearl, and pink soft plastics remain hot. As usual, smaller sizes are the specks preferred lures-of-choice. Four- to five-inch soft plastics are ideal. Sea Hawk also mentioned that the little blues continue to cause havoc in open water. They’re shredding soft plastics and making it near impossible to cast for mackerel under working birds when they’re there. Pull out spoons, crank the reel as fast as you can, and hope that you can retrieve fast enough to interest the Spanish and too fast for the baby blues to latch on.
The keeper flounder bite is dominated by anglers jigging pink or white soft plastics and Gulp!s. Chartreuse was a secondary color this week. Jigging around channel edges for them or letting baits (live minnow are best) drift on the bottom are both productive options.
Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, 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.
Sea Hawk reports that speckled trout remain the primary target in the Sounds. They’re still biting steady along shorelines and in grassy beds, eager to hit curly/twisty-tailed white, pearl, and pink soft plastics. Smaller sizes work best for the specks: four or five-inch soft plastics are dominating. Sea Hawk maintained last week’s advice to head out early for them: the bite is absolutely best in the mornings and evenings. Plus, with so many boats fishing for them, you’ve got a better chance at your top-spot by pushing off early. Little blues are absolutely terrorizing anglers casting soft plastics, however, and casting under working birds has been a fruitless affair and detrimental loss to many. If you want to catch them instead of feeding them a plastic meal, tossing spoons is a must; there are some mackerel in the frenzies, too.
Throughout the Sounds flounder fishing still remains pretty steady. The keeper flounder bite is best for anglers fishing with pink or white soft plastics, bounced off the bottom. Jigging around channel edges for them or letting baits drift on the bottom are both good options. Bottom fishing for croaker has been picking up, too, with a few more eaters coming in this week and plenty of spot.
Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, August 13 Update:
Hey, folks! Please remember that as of Sunday the 16th of August stripers are off-limits in Maryland waters. Fortunately, the Sounds in both MD and VA waters remain action-packed, and a hot destination for anglers from across the Chesapeake. Sea Hawk reports that the talk of the town is still speckled trout. They’ve holding steady along shorelines and in grassy beds, ready to take curly/twisty-tailed white, pearl, and pink soft plastics. Smaller sizes work best for the specks: four or five-inch soft plastics are dominating. Sea Hawk suggested heading out early for them. The best bite has been when the sun breaks the horizon and just after, with a bonus bite at dusk. There have been a few stripers mixed in with them, but most are undersized. We’re hearing that a lot of the striper catch is schoolies, and they can often be found under working birds in open water alongside itty-bitty bluefish with a few mackerel in the mixed frenzies.
Throughout the Sounds and down towards The Cell, flounder fishing remains (somewhat) steady. The keeper flounder bite is best for anglers fishing with pink or white soft plastics, bounced off the bottom. Jigging around channel edges for them or letting baits drift on the bottom are enticing them. Squid and cut menhaden have been working. Bottom fishing for croaker has also been good. While they’re mostly undersized, anglers using cut peeler crab and bloodworm are having some luck.
Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, 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.
Speckled trout are providing abundant opportunities to catch throughout the Sounds. Both the Pocomoke and Tangier have been hotspots for them throughout the summer, with plenty of weedy areas and shorelines for them to hide in. Sea Hawk Sports Center let us know that pre-Isaias, the specks were biting strong with a fantastic morning bite. Curly and paddle tail soft plastics in sparkly chartreuse, white, or pink (they mentioned that sparkly/iridescent pink has been especially hot) are getting them to bite. Fewer stripers than in previous weeks were reported in the past one, although some anglers did find schoolies under working birds out over deeper water. With most of the stripers coming in undersized, please be mindful when unhooking stripers and keep them in the water when possible if they’re being released. REMEMBER: Maryland waters are closed for stripers from August 16 (next Sunday) to August 31 and Virginia waters remain closed until October 4. If you catch a rockfish, handle it with care and try to unhook the fish in the water to reduce stress on them.
Flounder fishing is reportedly okay. Boats who fished for them by casting soft plastics, bouncing them off the bottom, or drifting bait all had greatly mixed results. We didn’t hear of any large flounder caught this week, but Sea Hawk reported that a few keepers were caught.
Croaker and bluefish are also in the Sounds. Most of the bluefish are small, with some keepers in the mix. The little ones have been a major obstacle for anglers fishing with soft plastics at times. If you’d like to catch them, tossing or pulling spoons is good practice. For croaker, bottom rigs with assorted baits are working best.