Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report 12/29/2017 Update:
SHOCKER ALERT: not much action has been reported in the region, this week. It’s been so frigid many anglers are forgoing getting on their boats, and those who have been heading out haven't been having the best of luck, generally speaking. We have had two reader reports, however, of catch-and-release striper fishing down in the Point Lookout area. This was just before the rather extreme cold moved in, so we can’t say that will continue. Marty’s echoed the Upper Bay reports that perch are active in deeper water around the bay bridge pilings, and have typically been caught on jigs. A few small, straggling rockfish are also being reported Thomas and Breezy Points by Anglers, but some larger fish have been mixed in. However, since the season has ended and anglers can’t keep them, the level of effort has dropped off quite a bit.
Angler in Chief Lenny Rudow reports that he pulled the boat and drained all its systems but forgot to remove the porta-pottie, and is now scared to death to open the console compartment.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report 12/22/2017 Update:
Happy holidays, anglers! Cold weather and the end of rockfish season has made fishing for keepers nearly nonexistent in the Middle Bay area, and Anglers in Annapolis and Bay Country both recommended heading south to Point Lookout for the best catch and release results (see the Lower Bay Report for more info), where although fish are out of season, they're being caught. That said, some readers chimed in with reports of very nice stripers closing out the season in its final days.
We also received reader reports of keeper stripers up to 25" near Thomas Point, and up to 40" from the mouth of Eastern Bay. Lenny Rudow reports closing out the season off Chesapeake Beach, where trollers were picking up scattered fish in the mid-20's to 30's in surprisingly shallow water (under 30') in the shadow of the radar towers, jiggers caught some small fish under birds, and they plucked a 22" from bottom in a whopping 85' of water. There were also small stripers breaking surface on the Eastern side, just south of the Choptank.
Those interested in taking some fish home for dinner may want to try dropping tandems with small jigs and flies on the top hook in the deep water at the mouth of Eastern Bay. Though they weren't verified with pictures, we did hear about some big white perch coming from the deep trench just east of The Hill (see the first chart in Fishing Eastern Bay for a visual ID of the spot, which historically is a good late-season white perch haunt).
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report 12/15/2017 Update:
According to the folks at Anglers, Alltackle, Island Tackle Outfitter, Bay Country, and Marty’s (hey, they all agreed!), his report ought to be an open letter to Mother Nature asking for less wind and cold now that these trophy fish are showing up, but alas, that is out of our control. Each tackle shop we called this week told us that the Bay has been blustery and anglers out on the water have been few and far between since the snow hit last weekend. In the hours prior to the storm the bite was strong but since then just a few determined anglers have been out to pick up a handful of fish, mostly in the 30-something range, jigging skirted BKDs in 40-plus feet of water on the Eastern side.
We didn’t hear from anyone hitting the power plant this week but water temps are where they need to be for this action to take off, and it’s a sure bet there’s still a speck or two swimming around in the heated water.
Other anglers sought refuge this week in rivers, and targeted cold-weather species such as pickerel or yellow perch. Bay Country recommended heading into the back creeks of the Severn, where boats will be protected by wind and chain pickerel have started hitting Gotcha plugs. They also recommended purple and chartreuse for the jiggers and trollers, and sticking to the channel edges.
We know reports this brief stink, and we’re bummed, too, but the fact is that this week very few people got out since last weekend. The weather this weekend looks a bit better – don’t miss one of the last chances to put a striper in the box during 2017!
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report 12/8/2017 Update:
Anglers trolling the open Middle Bay have been catching plenty of large fish along the channel ledge on the western side, and according to Anglers in Annapolis, a few true trophies as well. (See our Fishing Alert, from earlier this week). The fish are being caught primarily in 35 to 45 feet of water, on umbrellas or tandems towed close to bottom. Some 16 to 23 inch fish have been lingering, however as water temperatures have cooled, less and less of these small fish are being caught. Jiggers are still finding some active fish from North Beach south, though the bite in areas farther to the north seem to have tapered off lately and it's getting tougher to find flocks of working birds. Late last week there were some near Thomas Point, but this slug of fish seems to have moved off and didn't make a showing this week. Area anglers also report the ships were more or less deserted.
The Bay Bridge pilings have been holding large schools of undersize stripers, and getting to the bigger fish has meant sorting through the smaller ones. Lenny Rudow paid a visit to the pilings five days ago to check out the reports of monster white perch schooled around the rockpiles in 35 to 45 feet of water. While the endeavor did produce some perch he also reported that the undersized stripers were so thick that it was difficult to get a perch on the line before a little rock snapped up the two-inch jigs and streamers tied on his tandem rigs. He also mentioned that very dark green out-fished other colors (see the Update below).
Elsewhere white perch have moved away from shore and into deeper water, primarily hanging around at the mouths of rivers and in the channels. White perch have been hitting bottom rigs with blood worms, and a few catfish in the Chester were also reported to Alltackle.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report 12/3/2017 Update:
We decided to check out the reports of big white perch at the Bay Bridge today, and found that there are in fact some nice chunky whites at the eastern rockpile, mostly on the west side but also on the south side. We also found a few on the east side of the western rockpile. The biggest problem with catching them was actually all the rockfish. Hoards of dinks between 10 and 16 inches are all around the rockpiles and often they'd strike before the perch had a chance. We caught on dark green, chartreuse, and white two-inch twisters, streamer flies, and tube jigs, jigged on tandem and bottom rigs. Dark green was the best color, and 35 to 45 feet of water was the best depth.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report 12/1/2017:
With the past week’s fair weather, Anglers reports that fishermen able to get out on the water found that large, active rockfish on the western side of the Bay along the shipping channel, producing full fishboxes and dinner plates. Trolling has been the most successful method for bringing up fish, however weighted rigs are essential as the fish have been very close to bottom.
Our Angler in Chief Lenny Rudow reports an on-again, off-again bite ranging from Thomas Point down to Chesapeake Beach. Though it’s been hit or miss it’s well worth the attempt, as many of the fish are now fat, healthy, 28 to 30-plus inch fish. There have been birds and occasional breakers, but mostly it’s a game of using the birds to locate the general area and then finding the fish on the meter. He also notes that the fish have been hitting jigs worked a bit slowly at or near bottom most of the time. White BKDs fished on heads with red or pink skirts have been the best baits. Other reports indicate the bite may be a bit steadier slightly farther to the south. In all these areas, trollers are doing best one day and jiggers are doing best the next.
The dusk bite has tapered off in the rivers, though while fewer fish are being reported, most that are being caught have been larger. The schooled fish having pushed out into deep water means it’s now necessary to focus on structure, to be successful in the rivers.
In addition to the change in the striper fishery, white perch have moved away from piers and docks, and are mostly now in deeper water. Another change brought about by the weather is the appearance of some speckled sea trout, a few of them quite large, in the warm water discharges. We don’t want to get everyone too excited, however, because from what we’ve been told this bite has been going on (and efficiently kept quiet) for a couple of weeks now and has already peaked-out. That’s not to say there aren’t still be a few in there to be caught, but we wouldn’t want anyone making a long trip and counting on it, then being upset if it didn’t pan out. We apologize for not bringing you this news earlier, but our original source told us about this bite in confidence and asked we not make it public knowledge. It’s a conundrum, folks, but when someone specifically asks us not to make something public, we feel that we have to respect it. Then we heard about the speck action on the radio yesterday, so we guess that officially makes the information public and releases us from this obligation.