Tangier and Lower Shore Fishing Reports

Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, September 12 Update: 

The season is changing, and so will the fishing over the next few months, with a lot to look forward to. The bite has been red hot for big reds along the lower Eastern Shore, and the fall run should last through the end of the month. The big bruisers are being caught from the Tangier Sound down to the mouth of the Bay. The shoals and ledges in this zone have been reliable in the evenings when the drum are more willing to feed. Fresh cut bait has been the ticket with several varieties working, including peeler crab, spot, croaker, and even bluefish. Depths of 15’ to 30’ are the zone to drop your baits. Reefs and other bottom structure are also areas to focus on. The reef sites have also produced some black drum and big sheepshead willing to hit crab baits. Light Tackle Guide C.L. Marshall from Tangier Sound Charters has been enjoying the pullage from the bulls this month. Recent trips have yielded several bulls, with trips producing over a dozen bull reds. A few have even stretched over 50 inches. Along with the reds, small sharks, rays, skate, and several other “pickers” have been biting to keep the action steady.

Sea Hawk Sports Center reports that the shallow water action for speckled trout is not on fire, but the fishing has improved as water temperatures have cooled off. Specks have been concentrated to shallow grass beds in the Tangier and Pocomoke Sound. There are several expansive grass flats near Smith and Tangier Island that can be productive for speckled trout. Any areas with eel grass should be of interest as they are known to hold specks, and some big ones at that. Popping corks with paddletail or shrimp soft plastics are very reliable. Shrimp are another thing to keep an eye on for this time of year. It may come as a surprise for some, but we do have white and brown shrimp that migrate into our waters, even in Maryland. The shrimp usually start to show up in the Lower Bay tidal rivers in late September and October. Many anglers will throw a cast net in small tidal creeks to catch them. They work great as bait, or you can keep some to eat for yourself.

Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, September 5 Update: 

The red drum bite on the lower Eastern Shore has really picked up. Unfortunately, so has the wind. Rough waters have limited opportunities to get out in the sounds to search for the reds, but there were a few calm days this week that produced big fish. The big drum have been cruising around reef sites, ledges, and shoal areas. The best bait has been fresh chunks of bluefish, spot, croaker, and kingfish. To catch some fresh bait, all you need is a bottom rig tipped with peeler crab, bloodworms, or Fishbites. Drop down anywhere from five to 15 feet of water and you should be able to load up with plenty for an evening of chunking. Captain C.L. Marshall of Tangier Sound Charters has been putting his anglers on bull reds for the past few weeks and one trip this week stood out. His crew started off hitting the shallows and one angler caught a 25” speckled trout. After that, they moved out deeper to bottom fish and caught spot, croaker, and kingfish. With fresh bait in the cooler, they set up to drum fish and over the next few hours they boated seven red drum, one cobia, a few rays and skate, and around a dozen small sharks. Five of their red drum were citation sized.

As the weather has cooled off, the speckled trout bite has improved slightly. Sea Hawk Sports Center reports that anglers fishing the shallows are having better luck with speckled trout over the shallow grass beds. Popping corks have been working very well, or if you can get out in the early morning hours, topwater lures have been effective. Striped bass have also been in the shallows, but they are concentrated more around creek mouths, shoreline points, and other nearshore cover. We had high hopes for the return of puppy drum this year, but that has been disappointing, to say the least. There have been very few slot redfish landed on the lower eastern shore, and the better reports are from way down the shore in Virginia waters. It looks like the drum won’t make it in numbers to the Tangier region, but as fall sets in, the rockfish and speckled trout bite should really pick up.