Middle Bay Fishing Reports

Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, April 17 Update:

The AIC says there are still some B-I-G rockfish around, but they have been finicky at times. He found a small group of fish in the mouth of the Miles milling around multiple pods of good size bunker, saw one roll on the surface, and had huge marks on the meter 15’ to 20’ down in 30’ of water. However, despite the best efforts of everyone aboard they had only one missed hit and no solid hookups. He also reported finding (smaller) fish at Poplar on the side-scan, but again they refused to play. A reader fishing Eastern Bay over the weekend reported a very similar experience. However, the AIC said that when he returned to the north side of Poplar a few days later, rockfish from 18" to 26" were chewing hard. A white 5" paddletail on a half-ounce head was the hot bait and he noted that most of the fish were 20' or so off the rocks, not right up against them. A relatively fast retrieve high in the water column drew the most strikes.

Another reader who caught a few cows farther south reported finding them in the shallows but noted they were also very picky and would only hit a glide-bait. We also had two reports from readers who hit the Bay Bridge, both experiencing skunks, but one sent in some pics of the fishfinder screen with plenty of marks; considering that we heard from several other anglers who found fish but couldn’t get bites late last week and over the weekend, when those fish shake off their funk the bridge could be a good bet.

Reports Editor Dillon Waters took a trip to one of the Mayo Peninsula Salt Ponds and reports a great bite for white perch. The bite was best during early mornings and late evenings last weekend. At certain times, he and his brother were getting bites every cast, but the average size of the perch were around eight inches. Grass shrimp on very small shad darts under bobbers was the ticket. It took some weeding through of smaller fish, but they were able to put some nine to 11-inch fish in the bucket for the frying pan. They also said there were some micro perch in the two-to-three-inch range in the mix.

Contributor Eric Packard took another trip to the upper Patuxent River in search of American shad, but again struck out. Packard theorizes that the lack of rain, and thus slower moving water, has caused the shad to find better flows elsewhere. While the shad run has been lackluster on the Patuxent, the white perch run has been very good. We heard from a reader who fished the river north of the 214 Bridge that said they caught plenty of eater sized white perch last weekend. Grass shrimp and bloodworms on bottom rigs was the ticket. They also mentioned that schools of fish seemed to be relating close to fallen trees in the river.

Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, April 10 Update:

We have enjoyed some beautiful weather this spring, but a cold front this week brought us back to the reality that we aren’t even halfway through April yet. Despite the colder weather, fishing opportunities are still abundant. A reader reported that the white perch were in the salt ponds and biting strong. At this time of year, grass shrimp are usually the ticket, but he got the job done by floating small minnow under a bobber. Contributor Eric Packard says the bite in the Pax remains strong north of Jug Bay. Bass were hitting a flat-side crayfish pattern crankbait and remained pinned in close to deadfall. Small brown underspin/twister tails drew strikes from a few crappie, white perch, and bluegills. He also mentioned seeing a pair of snakeheads and had his first hookup of the season with one, but it came unbuttoned. The AIC says the recent cold slowed down the action in the upper Patuxent. Midweek, he spotted just a single snakehead which was swimming lethargically and rejected 5" white flukes.  Even the largemouth bass had slowed things down, with only two taking the lures and one of them making repeated short-strikes before hitting for real. A reader reported some very nice keeper yellow perch, and a mixed bag of bullhead and blue catfish using minnows and nightcrawlers on top and bottom rigs in the Choptank. Anglers nearby who had grass shrimp were steady on white perch.

A reader who enjoyed the return of catch and release striper fishing in April tried his luck in Eastern Bay last weekend and said they were tough to find but were there in small schools of mostly 20” to 30” fish, and he caught a few by tempting them with seven-inch lime paddletails on one-ounce heads. Another tried hitting the Power Plant and said it was a bust and fairly crowded, too. He also mentioned seeing porpoises already while at the Gooses. Reports Editor Dillon Waters reports that a productive zone in Eastern Bay for stripers at the end of March has dried up, and two recent attempts have not produced any bites. This is likely due to fish moving up and spawning in the tributaries. Several reports of post-spawn fish have come in from several different areas of the Bay. The spawn is not over yet, but post-spawn fish will likely be heading south for the mouth of the Bay soon. As water temperatures warm, we can expect schoolie resident fish to return to many of their summer locations. When water temperatures exceed 60 degrees, the shallows come alive again, and areas such as creek mouths, shoreline points, and stump fields are all very productive. Warm temperatures in the forecast should heat up the shallow water bite. You may even be able to start catching fish on topwater lures too.

Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, April 3 Update:

Two readers reported a mediocre shad bite after fishing on Mason Springs last weekend and midweek this week, each catching between a half-dozen and 10 hickories (plus a couple of herring and small yellow perch) in a few hours of afternoon fishing. One was using a silver spoon/white-pink-chartreuse dart and the dart was the hot ticket for the shad. Contributor Eric Packard had similar results at multiple spots looking for shad recently, with up-and-down action and seven or eight fish the norm. A small gold spoon drew bites. He also tried a couple of areas on the Patuxent that normally produce fish but drew a blank. He also noted that lots of wind had made fishing tough recently. This week’s warm temperatures should have schools of hickory shad and American shad migrating up the Chesapeake Bay. Large schools of menhaden are arriving along with them, and the striped bass are following closely. Several guide boats are reporting an improved open water bite as striped bass are moving up the Bay. The key in the main stem has been to find the large schools of bait. There have also been some schools of fish moving through the shallows, but locating them is not all that easy. They are often on the move and can move through an area quickly as they are on the way to the spawning areas.

It seems that the yellow perch run may have wound down for the season; the last report of a full stringer on the Tuckahoe came in last week, and since then several readers have reported catching just a few small males there, at Mason Springs, and near 214 on the Patuxent. The white perch should be spawning with the warm temperatures this past week. They will likely have pushed into the upper reaches of the Middle Bay tidal rivers such as the Choptank and Patuxent. The Angler in Chief reports a great bite of mixed species was happening in the Patuxent this week a couple miles north of Jug Bay. Using a mix of grass shrimp and minnow fished on darts and Sabikis, he and Contributor Eric Packard caught a couple of yellow perch, a bunch of white perch, some crappie, a channel cat, and an accidental carp. But the best action came while tossing four-inch white flukes into deadfall, which produced one largemouth bass after the next. He noted that the water was exceptionally low and the panfish were hanging in channels, while the bass were all focused around deadfall being hit by current and were on the up-current side of the structure.