Upper Bay Fishing Reports

Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, August 29 Update:

The white perch bite has been best on oyster bars and shoals in the Upper Bay this summer. Anglers fishing the waters around Six Foot Knoll, Seven Foot Knoll, and Belvedere Shoal are catching them using bottom rigs tipped with bloodworms and Fishbites. There was also a report from an angler who caught a mess of white perch in the Patapsco River using bloodworms and bottom rigs. The spot fishing has been excellent this year, and there are a lot of jumbos out there right now. Upper Bay hotspots have included Sandy Point, the mouth of the Magothy, and the mouth of the Chester River. Spot in the eight-to-10-inch range have become more common this month, but there is still plenty of smaller spot to catch and use for live lining. Little croaker and some keepers are also in the mix. We had a cool report from an angler fishing near Joppa. They sent in a few pictures of some crappie they caught while throwing a bobber and worm along some bulkheads. The cooler water temperatures must be getting them more active and he said he usually only finds them during the colder months.

Hallocks Grace Charters reported a decent striped bass bite at the Bay Bridge this week. Other anglers jigging or live lining at the Bridge are also reporting some success. The bite is not red hot, but early mornings and fishing during a running tide has been the best time to find some hungry fish. An angler fishing in the Patapsco reported that they had a good bite during last weekend’s flood tides. The rockfish bite got hot during the evening hours, and they caught around a dozen fish, a lot of which were slot sized. Unfortunately, there were reports of a “pistachio tide” in the Patapsco River this week likely caused by a sewage spill. The greenish water caused crabs and fish to float up dead. Other areas of the Upper Bay have experienced poor water quality recently as well. Cooling water temperatures should help clean up the water, but whenever there is a sewage spill, it tends to affect the fishing in the area.

Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, August 22 Update:

White perch fishing has been off this year in the Bay. There were some glimpses of better action over the past few weeks, but the bite has been very inconsistent. A reader who lives on the Magothy reports that perch fishing had improved quite a bit after a very tough start, but last weekend it was again tough to find the fish and the action was “so-so” with a morning of casting at docks with Super Roosters and little spoons producing five fish. The bottom fishing bite on the main stem has been more consistent for perch around the area of Seven Foot Knoll. Bloodworms, peeler crabs, grass shrimp, and Fishbites are all baits you should consider having in your arsenal when bottom fishing. Perch have also been willing to take grass shrimp around the pilings of the Bay Bridge recently with depths of 5’ to 15’ being productive. Spot and croaker are still abundant at the Upper Bay shoals and at the mouths of the tidal rivers. They will also hit any of the baits mentioned above when bottom fishing.

The cooler weather usually makes for better striped bass fishing, but the bite was on the slow side this week. A reader fishing at the Bay Bridge says they caught just a few rockfish while jigging the pilings recently. They were all slot fish, but bites were few and far between. The action in the Patapsco River has also slowed down with anglers catching some fish around the area of the former Key Bridge, but the large schools closer to the harbor have not been around. Over on the Chester River, the shallows have been holding some rockfish as well. Clean water and moving tide have been the two biggest factors. Structure to look for includes docks, shoreline points, and rip rap shoreline. Live lining spot is still a great option this time of year as they are abundant and relatively easy to catch. Some of the well-known areas to live line for rockfish include Love Point, the Bay Bridge, Pooles Island, and the shipping docks in the Patapsco River.

Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, August 15 Update:

The cooler weather has made for some beautiful late summer days on the Bay since the start of the month. A few mornings have even felt like fall, which is just around the corner. Striped bass fishing has improved thanks to the summer closure and subsequent cooler weather. There are a good number of charter boats fishing in the Patapsco River near the former Key Bridge. Live lining with spot has been the go-to method for the charter fleet, but recreational anglers are having luck with light tackle jigging too. Outside the river, there have been some reports of stripers being caught around the lumps at Pooles Island in depths of 10’ to 40’. The calm days on the Bay have even offered up some breaking fish during low light hours.

A reader let us know that there are some fish around the Bay Bridge pilings on the west side, but more perch than rockfish and the rockfish he caught were “unimpressive.” Other readers fishing at the Bay Bridge reported a good perch bite on the east side. Grass shrimp have been the best bait for perch, but other bait such as Fishbites or bloodworms will also work. Grass shrimp are readily available and big this time of year in the Bay. You can catch them by using a minnow net to scoop along pilings at piers and docks, or along marsh banks. It shouldn’t take too long to catch enough for your fishing trip. There has also been an excellent bottom fishing bite for spot and croaker in the mouths of the Upper Bay tidal rivers, including the Magothy, Chester, and Patapsco. Jumbo spot in the eight to 10” range have been the highlight along with increasing numbers of keeper croaker showing up. The spot still greatly outnumber the croaker, but this is the time of year where each species will be their biggest in our waters.

Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, August 8 Update:

Blue catfish have been more active since the cooler weather moved in. We had a reader check in who caught eight blue catfish last weekend near Abbey Point while fishing with cut bunker chunks. They were successful using both bottom rigs and fish finder rigs. The lumps around Pooles Island are another great area to target blue catfish throughout the year. Bottom fishing with your any type of meaty bait can work, but the blue catfish in this region have a preference for bunker chunks or fresh clam. The cooler summer temperatures also seem to help the white perch bite in the Upper Bay. The various lumps and shoals, especially the areas from the mouth of the Patapsco down to the Bay Bridge, have been holding decent numbers of perch along with a lot of spot and croaker. Reports from inside the tidal rivers are also improving. One angler fishing the Patapsco reported finding a good perch bite in eight to 10’ of water. Grass shrimp was the hot bait.

Since striped bass season has opened again, the fishing has been good in the Upper Bay. Again, we can thank the milder air temperatures which have brought out water temperatures down into the mid 70s to low 80s. The channel edges in the Patapsco River have been a good place to find bigger schools of stripers in depths of 20’ to 40’. Reports from light tackle anglers have shown a good jigging bite in the river. Live lining has also been working well, and boats live lining near the shipping docks are still catching some fish. One report from a kayak angler fishing in the Patapsco showed plenty of stripers willing to bite, along with channel catfish keeping them busy during slack tide. Early morning and late evening have still been the best bite windows. Anglers fishing in the Chester River are also finding striped bass in the shallows as far up the river as Chestertown. Shoreline points, larger docks, and rip-rap shoreline have been productive zones.