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Coastal Fishing Forecast
Offshore anglers focused on billfish have been waiting for September to arrive, as there’s a good chance we’ll see the number of white marlin prowling off the coastline grow this month. A drop in temperatures to our north will begin their southward push, though just when this happens depends on just what the weather does. Meanwhile, hopefully the tuna bite will keep up some steam. Inshore we can expect the sea bass and flounder bites to also improve over what we saw during the hottest period of the summer. Better yet, inshore mahi should remain a possibility throughout the month and off the Virginia shores this is when king mackerel usually make the strongest showing. On the beaches get ready for the peak bites from panfish like kingfish and spot with a real possibility of pompano right about now, and along inlet rocks the sheepshead should be snapping, too.
Freshwater Fishing Forecast
While peak fall bites will likely come towards the end of September or once October arrives, action in our reservoirs, river, and ponds should click up a notch with every drop from summertime high temps. Fish should begin shifting from midsummer haunts towards shoreline structure and shallower waters for longer periods of the day and everything from bass to bluegills will be trying to pack on some fat before colder weather arrives. Remember to get in your licks on snakeheads before the weeds start dying back and the fish shift out of the shallows. And anglers heading for the rivers in search of smallmouth or trout should keep an eye on water levels and time trips so it’s up but not raging from recent rainfall.
Way North Chesapeake Bay Fishing Forecast
If you want constant action and the tug of monster fish, all indications of the past few seasons point to hitting the lower Susquehanna for blue cats right about now. For several years running September reports have been chock full of 20, 30, 40, and even 50 pounders, big numbers, and full coolers—especially for those who anchor up and drop the baits within sight of the 95 bridge. Stripers, meanwhile, are likely to start off slow as the season opens back up but should start hitting better around the Flats and in the rivers as temps begin to cool down towards the end of the month.
Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Forecast
As with recent past years we can expect much of the month to go by with summer patterns continuing and spots like the Bridge, the Patapsco, Pooles, and Tolchester holding some potential for stripers as the season opens back up. Don’t forget that when temperatures drop, if the water turns over as it did last year it can cause a bunker die-off substantial enough to attract flocks of birds which can fool you into thinking there’s a bite going off—when you see menhaden floaters, don’t waste your time. Also remember that last year we saw some big spot show up in areas of the Upper Bay (Fort Armistead, Seven Foot Knoll, Belvidere Shoal, etc.) and considering how big the spot have been this year, there could be fish fit for the frying pan ready to munch on bloodworms and Fishbites bloodworm flavor.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Forecast
Let’s hope the striper season reopens with solid action, while recognizing that September often starts off with bite windows limited to sunrise and sunset then expanding as the weather cools off. If the last few years are any indication expect Poplar Island, the Choptank, and the Patuxent to all offer opportunity. As that weather cools bluefish action should peak, and we’ll get in our last licks at more exotic species like mackerel, cobia, and redfish. Also expect—well, hope—that we may be in for some of the best Middle Bay bottom fishing we’ve seen in a long time. The size of the croaker and spot we saw this summer was way better than in recent years and by this point in the season there should be plenty of keepers of both species prowling around the oyster bars and reef sites.
Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Forecast
Many bites are likely to blow up this month just as soon as water temps start dropping. Predicting which will be best is a fool’s errand, because we may see bluefish blitzing, schools of monster bull redfish chasing bait in open water, and/or hordes of bottom fish chewing on whatever baits you might choose to drop. We have our fingers crossed for specks and slot reds in the shallows, and we do expect to see a bump in the action as fall begins, but considering how lackluster these bites have been in recent months we wouldn’t say it’s likely to be epic. Bottom fishing, on the other hand, may well be off the hook considering how it’s been thus far this season.
Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Forecast
The shallow water bite should only improve as the waters begin to cool and rockfish come back into season. That said, considering the lack of specks and pups thus far in 2026 we expect the bulk of the action to come from rockfish. Let’s all cross our fingers that the bull redfish stage along the channel edges and shoals ready to chomp fresh cut spot and fresh peeler crab like they did last year, and that the bluefish continue marauding around wrecks and reefs in deeper waters.
Way South Chesapeake Bay Fishing Forecast
It’s summer at the CBBT and your options here are just about endless: sight fishing for cobia, hunting bull reds at the islands, dropping fiddlers for sheepshead at the pilings, drifting between them for flounder, trolling spoons for Spanish and blues—all have been happening bites in recent years. A hot prospect may well be the flounder bite, which was good but with many fish under the size limit last year; with a little luck they’ll have grown up and decided to come back. And while bottom fishing doesn’t usually grab the headlines, let’s remember that more and more keeper sized croaker have been showing up, kingfish have been chewing on bloodworm bits, and last season we also saw plenty of puffer fish come to town. Those funny little critters may be strange, but they do taste great!