9/29/2017 Tangier Sound Fishing Report:
The Tangier Sound has had a great speckled trout run to start off fall recently, with plenty of keeps ending up in coolers. Casting jig heads with Bass Assassin lures has been the best method, and many specks are holding close to banks, in anywhere from two to five feet of water. White and chartreuse are good choices but never underestimate bubblegum pink, when casting plastics for specks - you might catch fewer stripers, but the trout are loving it. Sea Hawk Sports Center recommends fishing for them on the outgoing tide or first thing in the morning, and also mentioned that using soft crab for bait has been effective. In addition to the speckled trout, stripers are running strong in the Sound, and will be mixed in with the catch.
Puppy drum are also hanging around the Sound, however locating them hasn't been as easy as finding stripers and trout. The best bites can be located around marsh island points where there's good current; visible rips are a dead give-away. Stump fields have also been producing some fish. Soft crab has been the bait of choice for targeting them, but they're also hitting jigs, wobbling spoons, and spinnerbaits with gold willow blades. Many of the fish are falling into the slot limit, so you can keep a few if you so choose.
Bottom fishermen remain focused on perch, spot, and some croaker on shell bottom, with bloodworms taking top honors for the bait.
9/22/2017 Tangier Sound Fishing Report:
Speckled trout are still throughout the Sound, and are taking peeler crab and topwater lures fished around the marsh island edges and points. There have been reports of plenty of rockfish mixed in with the bite, although many are small in size. Sea Hawk Sports Center reports that most of the speckled trout are still hanging around marshy shorelines, and biting in the early morning and late in the evening, as well as on the tide change. There's also been a nice fall run of redfish, and unlike many of those being caught out in the main-stem Bay, reds found in the sound are often falling into the slot limit.
Bottom fishermen report that spot are heavy in the Sound, as well as perch and croaker. There are also still some kingfish and puffer fish around, though the kingfish aren't present in the same numbers as they were at times earlier this season. The best way to target the bottom fish has been with a bottom rig and bloodworms, dropped near shore along drop-offs and around shell bottom.
9/14/2017 Tangier Sound Fishing Report:
Sea Hawks Sports Center reports that spot have been packed tight in the Sound, and many of them are eating-sized. Mixed in with the spot catch have been croaker - some very nice ones - and perch, which are primarily hanging out near shorelines and drop-offs or in channel pockets. Fishing bloodworms on bottom rigs is the top tactic. Big croaker have also turned up in some of the high-current channels between the marsh islands.
Speckled trout have continued to hang out in the Sound and are taking peeler crab baits, however, casting topwater has been the best way to catch them. Most have been hanging around marshy shorelines and the best bite is early and late in the day. There are plenty of (mostly small) stripers mixed in with the catch. Anglers fishing the marsh islands of the Sound have also encountered more redfish recently, with many falling into the legal slot limit. Best bets for catching them include peeler crab or shrimp baits, and casting soft plastics, especially GULPs. Cobia seem to be more or less done for the season, in the Tangier.
Crabbing remains excellent in the Sound, with chicken necks doing the trick.
9/7/2017 Tangier Sound Fishing Report:
Sea Hawk Sports Center reports that rockfish are still present and plentiful in the upper Sound, and are mixed in with speckled trout and bluefish. Specks are taking peeler crab, Bass Assassins, and also clam baits, while the stripers are reacting better to topwater lures. Bluefish have been content with taking whatever they can steal. Redfish are throughout the lower Chesapeake and around redcar reef. The best way to find them in open water is to jig deep, below schools of breaking fish. In the shallows, they're hitting plastics and eating peeler crab.
Bottom fishing remains steady with croaker and spot providing the bulk of the catch, for anglers dropping bloodworms and peeler crabs. A few more flounder have also been showing up mixed in the catch, but not enough to make it worth focusing on the species. Some kingfish and also puffer fish are also being caught by bottom fishers using bloodworm and small hooks.
9/1/2017 Tangier Sound Fishing Report:
Large numbers of stripers have been in the shallows of the Sound, and have provided much of the action for light-tackle anglers. Unfortunately, speckled trout numbers haven't yet picked up for a fall run and the guys at Seahawk thought the trout numbers may have actually thinned out a bit in the past week. For both of these species, casting soft plastics along the sod banks and off points and creek mouths has been effective - but using topwater at daybreak and chunks of peeler crab fished near bottom once the sun is high in the sky seems to be taking more of the fish. Redfish have been a bit of a disappointment this season and are still not around in huge numbers, but the southern areas of the Sound have been producing a few here and there and that bite has actually improved a bit in the recent past.
Bottom fishing in the Sound has been good recently with bloodworms and peeler crabs accounting for spot, kingfish, and an occasional flounder. Bottom fishers also pick up a puppy here and there. The bigger news this week is that some fat yellow-belly croaker have showed up. Try dropping bloodworm and soft or peeler crab baits to the bottom along shelves and points with steep drop-offs, especially in the 10 to 20 foot range.
Crabbing has been and remains excellent in the Sound.