Lower Bay Fishing Report, August 25 Update:
There were finally some better cobia reports this week, which may mean the fish are pushing north to feed on baitfish before heading south once the cooler weather returns. Many boats are transitioning to trolling for these fish but drifting live eels or cut bait can still bring in the man in the big brown suit. One angler reported landing three while trolling large surgical tubes outside the mouth of the Potomac. Another angler caught a keeper while drifting live eels near the Target Ship. The Tackle Box also let us know there were decent reports from the charter boats trolling tubes south of the Target Ship. Cobia season will close after September 15th, so get out now if you want to put a bruiser in the cooler.
There have been a fair amount of puppy drum in the western shore creeks. Many fish are in the eight-to-14-inch range but there are also some slot-sized fish cruising around. Bull reds are also on the table; these schools move around a lot and are hard to track down, but the chance at a trophy sized fish is enough for many boats to search for them. They often cruise along channel edges but are rarely in the same place they were the day before. Some anglers are catching them by dropping down cut bait for anything that is willing to bite. A boat fishing near the mouth of the Rappahannock was having fun catching small sharks when they got a nice surprise by hooking up to a bull red. After a decent fight on 20-pound test, they got the 43-inch fish into the net, snapped a quick picture, then released him back to be caught another day.
Not only is there an abundance of fish in the lower Bay tribs, there is an abundance of species and you never know what you might catch. A few anglers fly fishing in the Great Wicomico River had a great day landing over 100 fish. Most of these fish were 10- to 16-inch puppy drum while the rest consisted of rockfish, croaker, spot, perch, speckled trout, and weakfish. On the Corrotoman, an angler reported that the river was full of life and that a lot of slot fish were in the shallows. He landed pups between 22 and 25 inches in what he described as skinny water. Fishing will only get better if temperatures start to cool down as we near fall.
Spanish mackerel and bluefish have also been abundant in the lower Bay. A boat trolling between Buoy number one and three in the Potomac caught several macks and blues during a trip this week. They reported that most of the mackerel were between 20 and 22 inches. These fish should stick around as long as the water temperatures remain warm. Meanwhile, rockfish season has finally reopened on the Potomac, and we got a few reports from anglers who were eager to start chasing them again. Trolling channel ledges, jigging, and fishing the shallows have all produced fish this week. One angler reported a good bite for blues and rockfish while jigging near Colonial Beach.
Lower Bay Fishing Report, August 18 Update:
Late August has brought some hot temperatures to our region but also abundant fishing opportunities. Rockfish, speckled trout, white perch, and most other species that can be caught in the shallows are seeking clean water and cooler temperatures for their feeding endeavors. Mornings and evenings are best for fishing right now, but you can find fish sulking in deep water during the mid-day heat as they wait for a good running tide to start feeding. Many lower Bay anglers are awaiting the opening of fall rockfish season on the Potomac. Anglers will be allowed to target rockfish again on August 21st and will be allowed to keep two fish per day between 20 and 31 inches. Virginia’s fall rockfish season will not open until October 4th but catch and release is still permitted.
In the meantime, there are plenty of other species to target in the lower Bay. Ken Lamb from The Tackle Box got out for a quick evening trip in a local creek last weekend and found jellyfish hindering his lure on almost every cast. Despite the jellys, he caught nine puppy drum that were eager to hit his Beetle Spin tipped with Fishbites. The only perch he caught was in a shaded area with moving tide that provided some cooler water. Speckled trout and red drum are putting a bend in rods for those searching the shallows of the Rappahannock and the Potomac. Both species can be found near shallow grass beds and other structure, but the key recently has been fishing areas with deeper, cooler water nearby. One angler fishing the Corottoman River caught a couple slot sized puppy drum using a four-inch Z-Man paddletail. The fish were biting best in five feet of water during the incoming tide.
Many anglers shave been enjoying good action while trolling for Spanish mackerel and bluefish in open water. This year we have seen larger bluefish in the three-to-six-pound range and even some chomper-sized fish showing up. The blues and mackerel can be found along channel edges in the main stem of the Bay and larger tidal rivers. Reports of fairly good Spanish mackerel trolling (small silver and chartreuse spoons) came from Ragged Point and Smith Point from readers this week. One reported catching three in a couple of hours, and the other had eight in the boat. Another boat trolling between Buoys nine and three in the Potomac caught six mackerel while trolling in 30 feet of water. One fish was caught on a bird rig and the other five were caught on silver and gold spoons behind number one planers. Trolling small metal spoons works best when searching for these fish but if you can find them breaking on top, casting Gotcha plugs and other metal jigs then reeling fast can offer some great light tackle action.
Cobia reports remain slim, but a few fish are being caught near Windmill Point and the Target Ship. They won’t be around much longer so if you want to catch one of these bruisers, get out there soon.
Lower Bay Fishing Report, August 11 Update:
The warm salty waters of the Chesapeake are producing a large variety of summertime species throughout the lower Bay. The Tackle Box let us know that speckled trout and puppy drum are plentiful in the tributaries. We aren’t seeing many big speckled trout, but their numbers are solid and a lot of them meet the 14-inch minimum size. Small pups in the eight-to-12-inch range are often found with the schools of perch but some larger slot sized fish have also been cruising around the shallows willing to hit paddletails. An angler fishing from shore near Black Marsh this week caught 12 nice sized white perch and a small puppy drum while throwing a beetle spin close to submerged grass. Contributor Eric Packard reported that the speckled trout are biting good in the lower Potomac, with a 20- and 17-incher hitting pink/chartreuse paddletails on 3/8-ounce HHCB jigheads during a short late-morning trip early this week. A puppy drum was also in the mix. An angler fishing the areas around the Rappahannock and Piankatank reported catching a mix of Spanish mackerel, bluefish, flounder, rockfish, weakfish, speckled trout, puppy drum, croaker, spot, and lizardfish during a few trips to start the week. The flounder were caught using Gulp! curly tails, the blues and macks were caught on metal jigs, and the rest were caught on paddletails. Talk about a smorgasbord of fish!
There are plenty of bluefish and Spanish mackerel schools cruising around channel edges feeding on bay anchovies and other small baitfish. Boats trolling small Drone and Clark spoons have been picking up these fish all over the lower Bay from the Rappahannock up to the Potomac. Anywhere from 15 to 40 feet of water could hold schools of these toothy fish. Some larger blues in the three-to-five-pound range have been reported along with the occasional chomper sized fish. A boat trolling between buoy number nine in the Potomac and Smith Point Light caught 17 mackerel and 10 bluefish. Now that is a large area, but they reported catching fish in several different places along that stretch of river. A lot of the mackerel were between 18 to 20 inches with the biggest measuring nearly 23. All fish were caught trolling Clark spoons at around seven knots.
Crabbing Report: The Tackle Box reports that the crabbing has been great in the lower Bay tidal creeks. They say trot liners are doing well along channel edges in the creeks and rivers and that crab pots are loading up with big fat crabs. A reader using drop traps in Smith Creek said that they caught a bushel of crabs in just over two hours of work last weekend. Despite the good crabbing, they were unhappy to report that there was a staggering number of jellyfish floating around which covered their traps on each pull. If you go crabbing, make sure to wear some gloves so you don’t get stung!
Lower Bay Fishing Report, August 4 Update:
Striped bass season is still closed in Virginia and in the Potomac River (until October 4 in VA and August 20 in the Potomac), but rockfish is back open in Maryland waters of the Chesapeake Bay. Most of the rockfish action has been limited to shallow water structure or reef/wreck areas. Water temperatures are still very warm, so it is important to keep their time out of the water to a minimum when catching them. The western shore lower river and creek bites for speckled trout and puppy drum appears to be holding up into the dog days of summer, as we had reader reports of good catches of fish up to 25 inches on jigs (plus one on jerkbaits) from the Potomac, Rappahannock, and Piankatank this week. Slot and just under-slot reds appear to be providing most of the action with mixed species catches and a few redfish limits being reported. Hitting the shallows and grass beds or structure in five to 10 feet of water was noted as productive.
Bluefish are just about everywhere, and we had readers check in from south of the Targets and off Windmill Point with catches of around a dozen one to three pounders. One mentioned that trolling a mix of spoons and tubes did the trick. Surprisingly, though, neither of those anglers had any Spanish mackerel jump on their lines. Meanwhile, a troller pulling pink and silver spoons off Smith Point reported a limit catch of mackerel (plus small blues). So, the bluefish/mackerel ratio seems to be varying widely from one spot to the next.
The cobia bite is still slow in the lower Bay, but anglers who are persistent have been finding some fish. Chesapeake Unlimited Sportfishing boated 42- and 58-inch cobia during an outing this week out of Deltaville. Areas around the Target Ship, Smith Point, and the Middle Grounds have been noted as productive but there still seems to be more anglers fishing than fish being caught. Drifting live eels while chumming is the most common way to entice the man in the big brown suit. Schools of big red drum have been popping up sporadically in these same areas. These fish are hard to target, and it often takes a lot of searching before getting lucky enough to find a few of them. A good tactic is to find breaking bluefish or mackerel, then look for big marks below the bait. This usually indicates the reds are feeding on scraps at the bottom. Dropping down big soft plastics has produced some big fish up to 50 inches for anglers who have located these schools. One angler drifting Gulp! Baits for flounder in the mouth of the Rappahannock unexpectedly hooked into a bull red. After chasing the fish down, they were able to land it, take a quick picture, and safely release it to be caught another day. Now that’s a cool catch!