Middle Bay Fishing Reports
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, October 16 Update:
Rockfish are showing a mix of patterns throughout the Middle Bay, with bird action producing schools around Thomas Point and the Patuxent while structure, bridges, and shallow areas continue to hold better-quality fish. Spot remain available for live-lining around the Bay Bridge, bluefish are still providing some exciting action, and the South River continues to produce an excellent crab bite.
The AIC says there have been schools of rockfish near Thomas Point chasing bait and triggering bird shows in the 20’ to 30’ depth range, but as far as he could tell the fish there have all been small ones well under the slot. Up in the shallows on the shoal the fish are bigger and there are keepers plus a few overs (though many are still just under the slot). He also noted there have been a lot of boats working both areas, and when the boat traffic gets thick at the shoal the fish have been shutting down. FishTalk's Zach Ditmars spent an evening casting the docks and shallows in the same area and came up with three rock under the slot, a keeper, and an over-slot fish. The Tackle Box reports breaking rockfish in the Patuxent near Point Patience and Myrtle Point, and says they’re a better quality of fish, mostly in the 23” to 25” range. They also said bottom fishing in the river has held up so far with fewer big spot but weakfish, small blues, and some kingfish eating bloodworms on bottom. (The AIC adds that bottom fish seem to have thinned out in the South, and while he only tried for about an hour one afternoon this week, fishing Fishbites on the oyster bars only produced three spot). A subscriber reported relatively slow action for rockfish on structure casting in the shallows of the Choptank mid-week, but hitting numerous spots produced three quality fish in the slot. There was a better bite at the Rt 50 bridge, where live lining produced both slot and over-slot fish. In the evening, they also came up top and broke water near the lighthouse. He also mentioned that there were still some bluefish at the Diamonds and at times they were breaking water.
Reports Editor Dillon Waters made it out to Herring Bay this week and reports there are scattered rockfish in the shallows and some schools of rockfish working bait in 10’ to 15’.. On an afternoon trip, he found small stripers in the 10” to 13” range just off the docks of Holland Point. The fish were willing to hit small paddletails and straight-tailed soft plastics on half-ounce jigheads. As the sun got lower on the horizon, he headed out to slightly deeper water and found a few birds working some bait on the surface. Getting upwind and drifting over the area produced three slot stripers and one under slot while bouncing a jig along the bottom. Good Stuff Charters also checked in and reported that they have been finding some rockfish just outside the West River.
Bluefish may be thinning out as the temperatures drop, but before the latest storm hit, we had reports of success trolling in several areas. The mouth of Eastern Bay around Bloody Point, the mouth of the Choptank, and Point Lookout were all mentioned by different anglers, and the blues off Point Lookout were hefty choppers, too, with some reaching into the 10-pound range. Trolling Spoonbrellas was a top way to get them on the line. There was also a surprise catch this week that was caught aboard Bay Hunter Charters. While fishing around Poplar island, they hooked into and landed a roughly 40” redfish that hit a live spot. It is very cool to catch a bull red within eyesight of the Bay Bridge.
We had several Middle Bay reports of improving perch action just in the past 24 hours, with an angler fishing in the Severn reporting nonstop action in a cove above Round Bay. Casting a shad dart tipped with grass shrimp around the docks did the trick. He also said pickerel were thick around the piers and have been activated by the dropping water temps, hitting white paddletail swimbaits. An angler fishing docks and riprap in the South said he caught a half-dozen large perch while tossing small spinnerbaits and Beetle Spins. That may not be a mess of perch, but he noted that up until this week it was common to catch zero to two perch per outing. Another fishing in Ramsay Lake said he caught eight or 10 in a couple of hours while fishing along a bulkhead with grass shrimp.
Crabbing update - The AIC says the crabs in the South River are still on a rampage. Two hours in 10' with a 600' trot line produced a full bushel basket mid-week. There were plenty of females and a few smalls to weed through, but the bulk of the crabs were large, solid rust-bellies that didn't need measuring.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, October 9 Update:
The Middle Bay has been a little feast-or-famine lately, but when the fish are cooperating, there are some quality rockfish around. Surface action is developing in open water, while the shallows of the South River and surrounding tributaries are producing on topwater and paddletails. Spot and perch are still available, and the cooling water is also starting to bring pickerel into the creeks, setting up some fun mixed-bag opportunities.
The Angler in Chief says that so far it’s been a Rocktober of highs and lows. Some days in the past week, the fish were snapping and quality slot and over-slot rock seem to be all over the place, but others the bite got tough and/or it was all dinks. Thomas Point has had a good share of action recently with fish of all sizes up to around 26” on the shoal hitting white paddletails. The bulk of the fish have been in the 15” to 17” range with every fifth or sixth fish in the slot; there’s also been a small fleet on the hotspot most of the time. Several evenings this week, the shallows of the South River have proved productive casting topwater to structure with some fish hitting 25”, but some other times he’s skunked or nearly skunked, even when conditions appeared to be good. Oddly, he noted he’s been doing better in the shallows on low water than high water the past few trips. Small 12” speckled trout have also showed up inside the river at some of the usual rockfish spots, too, hitting five-inch white paddletails on half-ounce heads. Oyster bars in the South River are still holding fish and an afternoon casting bottom rigs with Fishbites bloodworm flavor produced numerous spot, some silver perch, and a few small weakfish. The croaker either disappeared or weren’t biting this week, and he didn’t see a single one.
A reader checked in after finding some fish feeding in open water between the West River and Chesapeake Beach. They said that birds gave away the location of rockfish feeding on the surface, but the schools were small and moving fast. The action was happening in around 15 feet of water and, rather than chasing the bird shows that were short-lived, getting into the general zone and drifting while jigging was the most productive method. They caught several slot-sized fish and a few under the slow on soft plastic straight tails on half ounce jigheads. Other anglers fishing in that general zone reported that more consistent surface action and bird shows had been popping up right around sunset, but not every day,
A reader fishing the Severn reports that the invasion of small speckled sea trout has extended that far north, and on a recent morning of fishing he caught several 12” specks while out looking for rockfish. He also mentioned that rockfish were breaking water in the mouth of the Severn one evening mid-week. The action only lasted a few minutes but was intense. Temperatures are cooling off, and it is about time for pickerel to start getting active in the tidal creeks of the Severn. Now is a great time to fish the smaller creeks and throw spinners or paddletails for a mixed bag of pickerel, perch, and rockfish. The pickerel tend to hang around docks, fallen trees, and other nearshore cover. The tributaries around Round Bay in the upper portion of the river are good areas to search.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, October 2 Update:
The storm may have kept boats off the water, but the dramatic change in conditions appears to have done the fishery some favors. Bait is moving, striped bass are feeding more actively, and surface action is becoming a much bigger part of the picture across the Middle Bay. Bottom fishing is still producing a mixed bag, while the crabbing remains surprisingly strong for early October.
The Angler in Chief says the storm last weekend and an accompanying drop in water temps really seemed to light off the fish, at least in the South River/Thomas Point area. Peanut bunker are on the move and were swarming in the creek mouths of the lower South early this week, and several evenings he saw rockfish sporadically break water in them. Some of the rock were big, too, and he pulled one pushing close to 26” out of the frenzies. A small topwater chugger worked well when the fish were visibly attacking, and paddletails worked better when the fish were acting more mellow. Rockfish were also hitting at Thomas Point Shoal, including slots and some over-slot fish, although there have also been a larger number of sublegal fish on the shoal.
Reports Editor Dillon Waters also made it out after the storm and found that water temperatures had dropped around 10 degrees from just a few days prior. The water also seemed to clean up quite a bit. After searching a few shallow water spots without any bites, he found a school of rockfish hanging around a rock jetty that were eager to hit topwater. He pulled around half a dozen slot-sized fish from the area and missed several other fish before the action died out. After that, he ran down towards Herring Bay where he came across a large group of birds working some bait balls. After moving in closer to investigate, rockfish started erupting all around the boat. The meter was lit up with fish and for the next 20 minutes the fish would come up and go down, but the birds gave up their location. After a while, surface activity stopped, but he was able to side scan through the area located the schools in five to 10 feet of water. Most of the fish were slot-sized, but a few were over as well. Topwater lures and three-inch paddletails both caught equally well.
The AIC also tried some “fun fishing” in the river, casting small shad darts tipped with grass shrimp in search of oddball species in the shallows and around Ramsay Lake. Most of the action came from spot, some big enough to eat, and he also caught a rare unicorn South River white perch topping 13”. The Tackle Box reports that the bottom fishing in the lower Patuxent River is still going strong after the storm. Anglers fishing aboard some of the charter boats boxed croaker, spot, small bluefish, and even some keeper weakfish this week. These fish should stick around for a few more weeks, but once water temperatures drop below 60, they will head south for the colder months.
Crabbing Report: The AIC says crabbing is still going strong on the South River, and despite battling extremely windy conditions, he managed to put three dozen chunky crabs in the basket last weekend. They were in 10’ of water and the ratio of throwbacks to keepers was much better than it’s been in recent weeks.
