Middle Bay Fishing Reports
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, September 4 Update:
Bluefish are still around in the Middle Bay, though in some areas Spanish mackerel seem to have thinned out. Luckily, now that rockfish are back in anglers have plenty of options. Add bottom fishing to the list, because that’d been very productive recently, too, and many of the spot and croaker being caught are bigger than usual and fit for the frying pan.
In the Choptank, subscribers report a solid shallow water bite for stripers with good numbers of slot and over-slot rockfish. The better action has been coming in the evening hours rather than in the morning recently. Bluefish have been found breaking water in the area north of Brannocks Bay as well as between Cook Point and the west edge of Sharps Island. Contributor Adam Greenberg fished a bit farther out off the mouth of the river around Sharps Island this week and reported decent action on bluefish in the 14” to 26” range. Both trolling and casting were effective, and he said that while the bird action was short-lived, when there weren’t birds in the area they weren’t getting bites. We didn’t see any photo-verified reports of Spanish mackerel from the area this week, but it’s a sure bet a few are still in this area. Reports of Spanish mackerel did come in from Cove Point, however, along with some bluefish in the mix. Bull reds are still popping up here and there as well, though the reports this week were of scattered onesie-twosies. Most are from Hooper’s Island light south, though a report of one came in from a subscriber fishing the Holland Point area this week. Temperatures haven’t dropped enough to send those fish on their way as of yet so we’d expect to hear more on that front for the next week or two.
A subscriber checked in after hitting the docks and riprap of the West River one recent evening with disappointing results; spots that usually produce were barren. The AIC said he’s had a similar experience in the South this week looking for rockfish. Bottom fishing in the river with Fishbites bloodworm flavor remains good, however, with plenty of big (10”) spot, undersized weakfish, and a sudden appearance of silver perch. Croaker were scarcer this week than they have been in the past but those he saw were 12-inchers. Reports editor Dillon Waters had a similar experience over the holiday weekend and said that he also found the spot are plentiful on the South River oyster bars. Despite increased boat traffic during the holiday weekend, he and a friend found spot on several bars throughout the river. They ranged from perfect live lining size to jumbos and were caught using red worms tipped onto number six hooks on bottom rigs. Interestingly, they did not catch any croaker. The only bycatch was a lone sand perch.
An angler fishing in the Wye River found a good white perch bite in the Middle Bay, a rarity in recent times. Casting Beetle Spins to structure did the trick. Perch are also being reported by The Tackle Box in the creeks and feeders of the Patuxent. Anglers casting small lures to structure for them have been picking 12” to 15” puppy drum here and there along with the perch. Perch Hounders, Mepps, and Beetle Spins were all reported as effective for both species. They also noted that rockfish are in the shallows of the Pax at dawn and dusk.
Crabbing report: The AIC says that the number of crabs coming up on the trot line in the South River has been so spectacular it’s tough to go for more than two hours before the baits get picked clean. That said, in some areas there are lots of smalls and females and jumbos aren’t nearly as plentiful as they were a few weeks ago. Last weekend he moved his line after two runs simply because just-undersized crabs were overwhelming, and going from 12’ to a ledge dropping from 6’ to 10’ did triple the throwback-to-keeper ratio.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, September 4 Update:
Rockfish season is open again and anglers are reporting topwater action around Poplar Island and strong light tackle bites in some rivers. Bull red drum remain a major attraction, but finding them requires covering water and using side-scan to locate schools along shipping-channel edges from Sharps Island Light south toward the Maryland line. Spanish mackerel and bluefish continue to provide plenty of action, while croaker, spot, and other bottom species are holding over oyster reefs and hard bottom.
A great mix of species is currently in the Middle Bay in addition to the blues and Spanish mackerel most anglers have been chasing. Contributor Eric Packard reports that the cutlassfish are still in the Solomons area and spending an hour in Mill Creek last weekend produced a quick flurry of action. They bit on 3/8 jig heads with chartreuse twister tails in 16’ to 17’ of water and were stacked thick near the bottom. We had four different anglers check in with reports of keeper croaker over oyster bottom or reef sites and, in one case, jumbo spot plus small sea trout alongside them, all being caught on bloodworms and Fishbites bloodworm strips. The South River oyster bars, the west side of the Bay Bridge, and the Clint Waters reef in the Choptank were productive spots. Another cool bottom fishing catch came from a subscriber fishing near Holland Point, who reported a small black drum mixed in with spot.
A subscriber scanning through the area south of Hoopers Island Light reported locating some bull redfish on the meter and bringing two in the 40” range to the boat early in the week. He also said they saw the fish breaking water very briefly, but by the time they got there, other boats had arrived, and the brief frenzy had ended. The bull red drum fishing has been excellent over the past month, but don’t let all the pictures and videos of successful trips fool you, it still takes a lot of luck and some skill to have a successful day targeting these fish. Be prepared to cover a lot of water and deal with a lot of other boats searching for them too. The schools of reds can be found anywhere from Sharps Island Light down to the Maryland line, so there are a lot of areas to search. Running the edges of the shipping channel and scanning with side scan is the best tactic for locating them. When they show themselves on the meter or on the surface, be ready to throw large soft plastics at them and take advantage of the opportunities they present. As quickly as they appear, they can also disappear.
While we were hoping for cooler weather for the return of rockfish season, summer is trying to keep its grip on us with temperatures in the 90s. Luckily, the fishing is picking right back up where it left off in July. We had a few reports from anglers fishing several areas of the Middle Bay who found fish willing to bite. One reader checked in after fishing at Poplar Island. They said that the fish were willing to hit topwater along the east side of the island during an evening trip. Their crew caught 14 rockfish, all on topwater lures. Two were over slot, one was an under, and the rest were slot-sized fish. Another subscriber checked in after fishing the lower Patuxent for the second “opening day” of rockfish season for 2026. They said that the rockfish were thick around the piers and during the last half-hour of daylight, just about every cast produced slot-sized fish on half-ounce jigheads with five-inch Opening Night paddletails. Captain Kenny Spicer reports that the rockfish are active on the Eastern Shore. This week, he and a co-angler found them and white perch active and feeding in one of the Middle Bay rivers. The AIC says he hit Thomas Point, Poplar, and parts of Tilghman ISO rockfish yesterday, finding one dink at Thomas, halfway decent numbers but mostly small fish scattered at all parts of Poplar, and nothing in the shallows along Tilghman. White five-inch paddletails on half-ounce heads and Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow caught some fish, but a bone-color Spook attracted the most attention by far. Interestingly (and confoundingly!) a large number of larger slot-sized fish followed the Spook right up to the boat without ever committing. Some hit it gingerly (generally missing) and only a couple of decent-sized fish made a real attack.
