Middle Bay Fishing Reports

Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, January 8 Update:

The migratory stripers have not pushed up to the Middle Bay zone like they have in recent years. Most of the action is centered around the mouth of the Patuxent River and areas south. Over the past two weeks, the big fish have moved inside the mouth of the river and are even being caught just north of the Solomons Bridge. The biggest factor in locating fish has been to first find schools of bait. The stripers often follow closely behind or are mixed in with the bait. Griffins Guide Service has been running trips in the southern zone of the Middle Bay with a lot of success. They have run multiple trips this week and put their clients on some fish stretching into the upper 40s range. Steve Griffin reports that the six-inch ZMan Diezel Minnowz have been the hot bait for big fish this winter.

Contributor Eric Packard reports a few rockfish are biting in the Patuxent, including some cows over the 40-inch mark, but just a few. During one trip last weekend, they landed a pair and saw a few smaller fish caught on nearby boats. Water temps were 39 degrees, and three other anglers they spoke with at the ramp had caught skunks. A reader reported doing better with a few trophy-sized fish a few days later, and another reported catching a 46-incher. Chartreuse paddletails did the trick. We also heard from a reader who caught one striper over 40” and a handful of resident-sized fish at the powerplant. The hot white perch bite that many anglers enjoyed at the beginning of winter at the mouth of the Patuxent has mostly shut down. We did have a recent report from a reader who tried for perch around Solomons but only caught five using live minnows. He said that he marked some schools of what he believes were perch, but they just wouldn’t bite. The cold water temperatures likely have the perch hunkered down and not very active for the remainder of winter. 

Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, January 1 Update:

Happy New Year folks! We hope that everyone has made one of their resolutions to get out and fish more in 2026. Most of the striped bass action has been in the southern reaches of the Middle Bay zone, but there have been a few fish caught further north. We had a report this week from a boat trolling near Bloody Point that caught a half dozen striped bass ranging from 32” to 43”. They said that the bite was slow, but they were marking a few scattered fish suspended in the water column along the main shipping channel. Most of the boats searching for fish from Poplar Island down to the Choptank are reporting very little life in the main stem of the Bay. We also had two reports from readers who fished the Powerplant this week. One was skunked, and the other said they only caught a few fish between 22” and 30”. The plant bite is very hit or miss this time of year.

Contributor Eric Packard located a few fat residents and two cows (with one pushing 45”) off the mouth of the Patuxent and on the east side across from the river on a recent trip. The birds weren’t doing it so they had to find the fish, which were suspending at around 45’, on the meter. He also noted that quite a few boats were fishing the area. A 10” lime BKD on a 1.5-ounce head did the catching. Reports Editor Dillon Waters hopped on board a trip with Travis Long of Schooled Up Fishing Charters this week in search of migratory striped bass. The cold temperatures made the bite tough, but they were able to locate some fish feeding on bait balls around the mouth of the Patuxent River. They key was to find the bait as fish that they marked away from bait were not willing to eat. Their crew boated around a dozen stripers in the 38” to 45” range during a six-hour trip. All their fish were caught on chartreuse colored soft plastics, and the hot bait was a 7” chartreuse ZMan diesel Minnowz. The depths that they caught fish ranged from 25’ to 45’, but they also marked some fish even shallower than that.