Upper Bay Fishing Reports

Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, October 10 Update:

This week, we saw one of our first big cold fronts of the fall, with temperatures dropping into the 40s and 50s later in the week. These cooler temperatures usually fire the fish up. The bluefish have made their way north of the Bay Bridge, but they likely won’t stick around for much longer. Water temperatures in the Upper Bay are in the low 70s, but we have cooler weather and shorter days on the way that will cause them to steadily decline. The bluefish are being caught consistently as far north as Hart Miller Island. These fish are on the smaller side, in the 12” to 14” range in most cases. Hotspots have been the Bay Bridge, Love Point, mouth of the Patapsco, and in the waters around North Point State Park. Bluefish are harassing live spot, often biting them in half. One reader said the trick that has worked for him has been to thread the hook through the jaw of the spot and then hook it in the tail. This has led to a much higher hook-up ratio when the blues are biting.

Striped bass fishing has been good this month, and the name Rocktober is still ringing true. We heard several good reports from the Bay Bridge up to Pooles Island. Rockfish are being caught in the shallows, but more fish are also schooling up in open water, feeding on bait and occasionally breaking the surface. Depths of 15’ to 25’ between Hart Miller Island and Pooles Island have seen some fish feeding on the surface this week. There are also schools of fish cruising around the lumpy bottom in that zone of the Bay. Spot are still around, but they won’t be for much longer. Anglers are already reporting that it is getting a bit harder to locate them, and by the end of the month, they will be all but gone. Anglers fishing with bait are having luck with eels and spot. Light tackle anglers are having luck jigging with three-to-five-inch soft plastics and also topwater lures in certain scenarios. Topwater has worked well in low light conditions in the shallows near shoreline cover. Docks, rocks, and sea walls are all producing.

Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, October 3 Update:

“Rocktober” is here, and the striped bass bite should really pick up this month throughout the Bay. Rockfish are beginning to school up and feed more regularly as we have now entered the fall.  Reader reports from the Upper Bay were mixed, with a reader catching a great mix of slot rockfish and jumbo white perch above Pooles Island on eels and peeler crab. Another reader said the Patapsco bite had grown erratic recently, with one evening trip producing action along piers and bulkheads on 4” plastics, but two days later the fish displaying lockjaw. Another angler fishing the Patapsco reported that ledges and lumps in the 20’ to 30’ range were productive this week. Jigging straight tail soft plastics on skirted jigs produced a good class of slot and over slot fish, especially on the overcast days. Anglers fishing around Love Point had been catching some rockfish and a few scattered bluefish last week, but the bite varied greatly from day to day.

The Bay Bridge has been a hotspot for striped bass recently. Fish have been holding around the pilings and rock islands, but a lot of boats have been fishing in the area, especially on weekends. The bridge has been less crowded during the week, so that’s the time to get out if you can. Light tackle anglers and live liners are both finding success. The best bite has occurred during a moving tide. Small bluefish in the 12” to 15” range have also been found around the bridge, especially near the rock islands. They are hard to catch while live lining as they often bite a spot in half before getting hooked. Unfortunately, they have been more willing to hit a live bait than artificial, so they can be a nuisance at times. White perch fishing has also been good around the Bay Bridge pilings recently. The perch are very picky and seem to only want to hit fresh grass shrimp. Small jigs and spoons are not getting much interest. Even Fishbites and bloodworms aren’t working all that well. The good news is that grass shrimp are still abundant in the shallows. Scooping a minnow net along docks or marshy shorelines will often produce plenty to use as bait.