Tactical Angler: Fishing Tactics

Fishing tactics and techniques used on the Chesapeake Bay, Atlantic Ocean, and surrounding freshwater fishing areas are covered in depth.

May 15, 2022
Jigging a spoon for black sea bass may not load the boat quite as quickly as dropping a standard top-and-bottom rig with baited hooks, but it does often result in catching significantly larger fish.…
May 13, 2022
Many anglers dread the May worms, as they can lead to striped bass with full bellies and little desire to eat a lure. Consider this event from a slightly scientific-ish perspective, however, and you…
April 21, 2022
Presented by SiriusXM Marine Offshore action is right around the corner, and now’s the time to start thinking about getting ready to take on those tunas, billfish, mahi-mahi, and wahoo. It’s been a…
April 19, 2022
Fishing for speckled sea trout can be downright maddening. You hear there’s a red-hot bite one day, and the very next morning you can’t buy a strike to save your life. One moment you get a hookup on…
April 12, 2022
If you want to target black drum in the surf April is an excellent month of the year to give it a shot. Follow this simple game plan, and with a little luck your drag will soon be screaming. Surf…
April 10, 2022
Speckled trout have an unusual relationship with riprap, which is different form how species like striped bass or white perch associate with it. Yet riprap can still congregate the fish and lead to…
March 11, 2022
Who goes flounder fishing in March? Almost no one… except for those who know better. Truth be told, however, the first early birds will appear in our coastal bays this month, usually by the second…
February 13, 2022
Tactics for catching yellow perch in February can be as complex or as simple as you make ‘em. In the piece-of-cake category, we have fishing bull minnow on a bottom rig. But some anglers prefer to…
February 11, 2022
Largemouth bass will bite all winter long, but they tend to sit near bottom along ledges and edges in deep water most of the day. And thanks to their lethargic behavior in the chilly water, they aren…
January 12, 2022
Most people picture golden tilefish when they think about deep dropping but wreckfish will also bite all year long off the Virginia coast — if you can find ‘em. The toughest part of this mission is…
January 8, 2022
Anyone who's ever tried Chesapeake Bay Fishing has almost certainly stumbled into a tackle store to grab some lures at one time or another, and struggled to pick which colors to go with. With a…
December 15, 2021
Cold water means active trout, but with most of the fall stockers being caught out by the time there’s a possibility of snow in the forecast, that means you’ll need to fool some savvy fish. Casting…
December 13, 2021
It’s true that during the late fall and winter, night fishing can be extremely difficult and uncomfortable. It’s also true that it can produce catches of rather epic proportions. You say you’re…
November 27, 2021
To Chesapeake Bay fishing sharpies and non-fishers alike, the names are unmistakably Native American in nature: Pocomoke, Wicomico, Rappahannock, and of course, Susquehanna. These Chesapeake tribs…
October 21, 2021
By Thanksgiving Day most Chesapeake Bay anglers will winterize their boats, leaving them covered by shrink wrap. Outboards will be fogged, inboards will be drained, and rods and reels will be stowed…
October 8, 2021
You know the scenario: there’s patchy bait on the meter scattered at all depths, and you can see the telltale arches of big striped bass on the hunt. But they’re not sitting near bottom nor are they…
October 6, 2021
You say you want to tie into some late season largemouth bass before cold weather slows down the bite? Fishing a Ned rig will help make it happen — here’s the drill: Get in on the bass bite, before…
October 2, 2021
There’s a chill in the air, water temps have dropped, and you’ll need to bundle up to go Chesapeake Bay fishing? That doesn’t mean warm-loving species like speckled sea trout have to come off the…