Solomons Island is a great destination to chase after Chesapeake species ranging from croaker to cobia. It's a relatively short drive from the Baltimore/Washington metropolitan area, there’s a fleet of charter boats with highly experienced captains, a top-notch boat ramp, and best of all the water is just plain riddled with fish. There’s even a large public fishing pier for shore-bound anglers to enjoy. Are you ready to consider heading for this Patuxent River paradise?
Geography Matters
Fishing is excellent in this sector of the bay for a number of reasons, starting with the variety of potential hotspots within reach of Solomons that provide fish with good feeding opportunities no matter what the conditions. Another important one to note is the strong currents. Take a look at a chart of the bay, and you’ll notice it narrows down in the area. This creates a choke-point as currents carry water in and out of the bay, accelerating its speed. Take this into account when considering what hotspot to hit on any given day. Remember that current flow plays a key role in which location, timing and tactics will prove best, and respond accordingly.
HOTSPOT #1 Is the set of lumps below RWHS buoy (just south of Hooper Island Light, on the eastern side of the bay). About two miles south of the buoy, there’s a pair of lumps that come up to 30’ and are surrounded by much deeper water. This is a particularly important spot to take note of in the hot summer months, when deep water in the bay may become oxygen-depleted and fish look for cool water that has plenty of oxygen. Often, the boundary level they find is right around 30’ to 35’ and if you locate structure in this zone — like these lumps — it’s a winner. As the weather cools, the ridge dropping from 20’ to 40’ just north of these lumps often takes over as a more productive zone.
HOTSPOT #2 Heading north from this spot, there’s a long stretch along the eastern side which used to be prime for flounder (which haven't entered this portion of the Bay in large numbers in recent years). They love sheer drop-offs like this one; try drifting the upper edge (between 30’ and 10’) while dragging Fluke killers baited with minnow, or bouncing jigs along the bottom, to catch these flatfish. At the very northernmost portion of this spot there's some live bottom in about 15 feet of water, which has been seeing one of the northernmost Bay runs of cobia with some reliability from season to season. You can't always plan on them being here, but if you're fishing from mid August through mid September, you could get lucky... very, very lucky.
HOTSPOT #3 The drop-offs around Cove Point was another prime flounder zone, where these days you’ll more likely encounter striped bass. At Cove Point drift the edges just outside of the light house, which are easily spotted by the line of crab pot floats. On an incoming tide start on the southern side, and on an outgoing, the northern side.
HOTSPOT #4 If you want to target stripers, Cedar Point is a great place. Move in close and cast to the lighthouse ruins, particularly at dawn, dusk, and in low-light conditions. Approach this area cautiously, however, because these rocks are quite unforgiving if you come in too close.
HOTSPOT #5 There’s a classic chumming hotspot within easy shooting distance of Solomons, about 13 miles north of the mouth of the river, up towards the Choptank: the Summer Gooses. The bottom comes up to 25’ here and is surrounded by water at least 40’ deep on three sides. A bit farther toward the Choptank the False Channel is also close by. There are some of the better-known spots in the bay for both chumming and live-lining so it’s quite crowded here when the stripers are in town. And naturally, they don’t swarm here each and every season. But one should note that when the rockfish don’t make a showing at the Summer Gooses, bluefish do quite often.
Plan B for Solomons Fishing
What happens when the wind blows, and keeps you pinned down inside the Patuxent? Don’t worry, there are some great back-up spots inside the river.
PLAN B-1 Hog Point, at the mouth of the river, features a drop-off from 5’ to 22’ which often holds flounder, croaker, and sometimes sea trout. Try drifting chunks of peeler crab off this edge, or bounce jigs along the drop-off, and sometimes you’ll have so much action you stay here all day regardless of the conditions on the main-stem bay.
PLAN B-2 The eastern edge of the bar just inside the river mouth, marked by the green #1 marker, is a great option. The bar itself has just a couple of feet of water at low tide, while this edge drops down below 20’. Fish with the usual methods to catch stripers, snapper blues, croaker, flounder and trout. If you want to specifically target rockfish, though, troll the edges of this bar with light tackle and ¾-oz. blue or silver Rat-L-Traps, at very slow speeds.
PLAN B-3 When all else fails, the piers and pilings along the edges of the creeks behind the island usually hold good numbers of stripers. Although most are throw-backs, if you work hard you should pick up a keeper or two for every 10 or 12 shorts you catch. In recent seasons a surprising number of cutlassfish have also been caught in the creek during the summer months.
PLAN B-4 The pilings of the Governor Thomas Johnson bridge also hold fish at times. In fact, during the fall you’ll sometimes find hordes of white perch schooled up around them. Try dropping top-and-bottom rigs baited with bloodworm bits or grass shrimp, particularly along the pilings on the river’s south side.
SHORELINE ANGLERS As we mentioned, there’s a large fishing pier here that people who don’t have a boat, or don’t want to hire a boat, can enjoy. Try casting out a top-and-bottom rig baited with bloodworms to catch croaker, spot, and the occasional trout or striper. But also try dropping a rig or two right next to the pier pilings. Many people spend all their time casting as far as possible, but quite often, fish set up shop right next to those pilings. And, if you can catch a spot in the four to six inch range, put a hook through its back, toss it out into open water, and let it swim as freely as possible. If there are any decent-sized stripers around, they’ll find it.
Choices—that’s what makes Solomons so great. You can fish close to home or out in the bay; you can launch at the excellent ramp facility below the bridge, hire a local charter captain, or even fish at the public pier (also located right below the bridge.) There are good hotspots to the north and south, and plenty of good fishing in the river if the wind blows you off the bay. Stripers, flounder, trout, blues, and croaker all roam the area. No matter how you cut it, Solomons ranks among the top middle bay areas to go fishing — and to go catching.
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