Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, August 27 Update:
HOT WEATHER ALERT! Hey, FishTalkers! Our region is in the midst of another hot, hot, hot spell! We want to pop in and remind you to please keep undersized fish in the water when releasing them, and only bring them out when totally necessary, especially when air temps exceed 90-degrees. As anglers, we’re all in the fight to conserve and restore our striped bass populations—safe catch-and-release practices are an excellent way to ensure that we’re doing our part and reducing striped bass mortality. If you’re interested in learning more about safe catch-and-release practices, check out this Safe Summer Catch and Release article.
The lower bay is chock-full of action: Spanish mackerel, striped bass, bluefish, puppy drum, bull redfish, croaker, cutlassfish, specks, spot, and perch are all around. Contributor Eric Packard spent a day fishing out of Point Lookout and enjoyed some excellent Lower Bay action on four- and five-inch paddletails in white and Electric chicken, catching a mix of speckled sea trout, stripers, and slot reds. When they found the hotspot in 10 to 12 feet of water around structure, anglers aboard the boat reeled up a total of seven of the hard-fighting reds. Trolling afterwards in open water produced a Spanish and a blue. While Eric has an edge on most of us, with his finely attuned fishing prowess and near everyday retirement fishing extravaganza, his experience wasn’t necessarily out of the ordinary. The Tackle Box checked in to let us know that reds, specks, and stripers are all available near shorelines with structure. Speck action did slow down during this heat, but they’re still around for anglers working to get ‘em in the boat. Early and late in the day remain the best bet.
Several readers reported excellent trolling action south of the Targets, after finding breaking fish. We also had a reader report that two bull redfish chomped his small mackerel spoon, even as they were being pulled at high speeds behind a planer. And, speaking of redfish: there were also reports of big bulls showing up at the Mud Leads this week. Speaking of even more redfish: Another reader reported catching his limit of slot fish plus a speck and a ray while fishing with fresh peeler crab in the Gwynn Island area.
Cobia reports were on the thin side this week. We heard from a reader who caught one keeper off the mouth of the Rap, another who got one in the Smith Point zone, and one at the Mud Leads, all on eels in chum, but all singles.
Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, August 20 Update:
As throughout much of the Chesapeake, Spanish mackerel are the most prolific target here, too, with multiple reports of abundant action in the area surrounding the Target Ship, off Windmill Point, and basically popping up along all the channel edges and off the tributary mouths clear down to the mouth of the Bay and steady to just south and east of the CBBT. Blues are also in the mix. Exactly where they show up at any given time is a bit of a roll of the dice, as they’re chasing schools of bait in open water as opposed to sticking around any sort of structure, so keeping the binoculars handy to look for birds and staying on the move until you locate fish has been key.
Speck fishing seems to have dropped off quite a bit recently, but anglers are still finding them along grassy shorelines and up into the trib weedbeds. They’re hitting twister tailed white, pearl, and pink soft plastic paddletails with some sparkle. A few anglers reported that small blues are occasionally with the specks; they’ve been losing tails. Small flounder are also in the mix. As for reds in the shallows, the east side was responsible for the vast majority of the reports this week (see the Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore report for the details).
Multiple reader reports of bull drum caught both by accident while trolling for mackerel and by jigging when the fish were spotted either on the surface, or on the meter under breaking fish, came in this week. The Targets and the Point Lookout zone got mentions. Cobia reports were a bit thinner this week, though, with just one reader report (from Smith Point) of a 42-incher eating an eel in a chum slick.
Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, August 13 Update:
Spanish mackerel are all over the lower Potomac from St. George Island to Point Lookout and reports from this area have been very consistent. Trollers are finding success using planers and pulling small Clark and Drone spoons at a pace just above what you’d troll for stripers. Many boats have also been using working birds as their key to locating mackerel, although the Tackle Box reported that trolling blind has been working out for many boats. Truly, the fish have been all over — Cornfield Harbor, Point Lookout, and the Ship's Channel in mid-bay are all holding fish for trollers. We’re loving another summer of the Spanish mackerel!
The bluefish bite has been on fire, with breaking blues spotted outside the Target Ship this week. Fish were biting all around, with lure casters using jigs and jig heads landing dozens of blues to 27 inches. The bite has been dropping off when the tide quits and is best in the morning.
Slot redfish are available right now in the rivers and shallows with one reader reporting three in the box on the lower James. Anglers who chose to hunt for reds in the shallows also were coming across speckled trout and small blues that’ve been up in close to the shallows with them. Bigger 25-to-50 pound bull redfish have been reported in the main-stem Bay eating under the bait frenzies created by breaking mackerel and blues; fish showed up below the targets and in the Mud Leads this week. Larger reds were taking spoons and large jigs.
Cobia remain prevalent with chummers opting to use chum logs, fresh cut bait and live eels in the slick getting a steady bite. Many cobia from this week were between 32 and 39 inches (just below the 40-inch minimum) although some keepers were caught. Trollers using large red or green surgical eel lures have also scored. Contributor Eric Packard spent a day soaking eels within sight of the Target Ship last weekend and put a 44-inch cobia into the boat, saw some others, and caught multiple mackerel and blues casting around while waiting for the cobia to bite. One other boat back at the ramp had a cobia aboard from the Smith Point area. We also heard from readers who had success on cobia at The Cell recently, with several fish in the mid-40s photo-verified.
Bottom fishing is excellent as well, with plenty of spot and white perch to go around. The spot this year are CHUNKY, with plenty of eaters and baits in the mix. Some keeper croaker are also in the mix and recently we’ve been hearing about lots of small flounder also showing up (but keepers remain in short supply).
Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, August 6 Update:
Cobia hunters continue to prowl, but truth be told we heard more from anglers about skates than cobia this week from the entire Lower Bay zone. The target ship and Smith Point continue to be areas of interest. The Tackle Box echoed this, mentioning that chummers have had difficulty keeping baits on their lines thanks to skates and small sharks.
Spanish mackerel are all the rage right now — trollers are picking up bounties of fish hitting the channel edges, and the action has been smooth. While not all boats are reporting excellent catch days, most guys headed out have been reporting good, multi-catch action sometimes into dozens of fish. Number one or two gold and silver spoons and Drones behind planers are currently what most boats are pulling. Much of the fleet is sticking to the channel edges, although the Tackle Box let us know that they’ve heard good things from boats all over. Trollers are typically cruising somewhere between six and eight miles per hours, or just over what they’d troll for rockfish. Some of those folks must not know the formula to finding the ideal Spanish mackerel trolling speed! Small to mid-size bluefish have also been reported on the troll. The Tackle Box also mentioned that if you encounter a flock of birds over breaking fish, it’s worthwhile to throw a jig into the mix and quickly retrieve it. And look for those birds — finding them has often been the key to getting bit. Contributor Eric Packard noted experiencing a great bite trolling within sight of the Target Ship late this week.
Spadefish reports continue to come from the structure (clam bits are the ticket) at The Cell, but we didn’t hear of any particularly big ones this week. One nice (22 inch) flounder was reported there.
The tributary rivers and creeks are alive with spot, white perch, croaker, and the occasional speck and blue. Again, shoreline anglers are fairing well here. Before the sun is overhead, protected areas and structures are typically holding plenty of white perch on bottom. Spot and croaker can also be caught from shore, and tossing out a bottom rig with bloodworms, FishBites, or another tasty bait could result in any species. Casting small spoons and four-inch soft plastics is occasionally landing anglers a speck or bluefish (if they don’t steal your tail), but small striped bass are commonly biting in many areas as well.