Upper Bay Fishing Reports

Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, July 4 Update:

Striped bass fishing has been good during the first month of the season but are quickly approaching the summer closure. Readers report an uptick in the rockfish bite in the (former) Key Bridge zone. Slot-sized fish were caught by both trollers and jiggers, with white paddletails noted as effective. Other anglers fishing in the Patapsco River have reported that, with the warm water temperatures, fish have been holding near deeper structure in the river. Searching areas in the main stem of the river from depths of 20’ to 40’ should put anglers in the zone to start marking some fish. The rockfish bite at the Bay Bridge has been hit or miss with some fish hanging around the bridge pilings on most days. Whether they will bite has been a different story. Fishing during the early morning hours has offered anglers the best chance at catching fish at the bridge.

Another week has gone by, and perch fishing is still on the slow side. It sounds weird to say, but we are hearing about just as many keeper croaker being caught as white perch right now. There have been some isolated catches at the Bay Bridge, on the Upper Bay shoals, and in some of the smaller creeks in the tidal rivers, but overall, they are vacant from many of their usual summer locations. Spot and croaker are picking up their slack in the areas known to be good for bottom fishing this time of year. There have also been some increasing reports of keeper sized croaker and a few boats down in the Middle Bay found a good bite for them last week. There have been some keepers in the Upper Bay, but a lot of just undersized fish could move into keeper territory by the end of summer. Small bluefish have also been found at times and there were a few reports of them near the Stoney Creek area recently.

We are moving into the heart of fry ball season for snakehead, and fry have been popping up in tributaries all across the Bay. The Upper Bay tidal rivers are known to be a snakehead hotspot, with the Bush, Gunpowder, and tributaries around the Aberdeen Proving Grounds holding good numbers of snakehead. Topwater frogs are one of the most popular lures to throw this time of year as the snakes will often be found in very thick vegetation. They also react very well to topwater frogs when they are cast in the vicinity of fry balls. Popping the frog through a fry ball and twitching it usually entices a strike of there is a parent nearby.