Upper Bay Fishing Reports

Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, May 3 Update:

This week’s warm up was a nice change of pace after the cool down last week. The white perch run is all but over for the year and they will start spreading out in the tidal rivers to their summer hangouts. Bloodworms, minnows, grass shrimp, and nightcrawlers are all great baits but as they transition from the areas they run in to their summer haunts locating good numbers of fish can be difficult. Pickerel are still a great spring fishing option in the Upper Bay tidal tributaries and the fishery is open again for anglers who are interested in keeping a few for the frying pan. You can find healthy populations of them in the Magothy and Baltimore area creeks. Focusing your efforts in the smaller creeks off the main stem of the rivers will yield the best results as the fish will be hiding near weed edges, docks, and other structures that they can ambush bait from. The citation length for pickerel in Maryland is 24 inches and the Upper Bay holds some big fish that will qualify.

Striped bass season is right around the corner. The season will open in portions of the Chesapeake Bay on May 16th. Certain areas of the Upper Bay will be open to harvest while others will still be catch and release only or restricted from targeting. We recommend viewing the striped bass regulation maps on the DNR website to see when and where areas will open to targeting stripers. The summer season will allow recreational anglers to keep one fish per person per day with a slot of 19 to 24 inches. With a few weeks left until striped bass can be targeted, catfish have been keeping anglers busy. The blue catfish bite has been great in the Upper Bay this spring and May should be another great month to fish for them. All the tidal tributaries have blue catfish that can be caught just about anywhere. They are biting on a variety of baits like alewife, gizzard shad, perch, and just about anything else edible. Taking your bait of choice and casting it out on a fish finder rig is the best way to start fishing for them. If you can get out on a boat, anchor up near deeper holes or channel edges. We had a report from an angler who was fishing in a creek off the Patapsco who caught a 5.5 pound white catfish this week. White catfish are the only native catfish species to Maryland and are commonly found in the Bay.