Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, June 28 Update:
In the northern parts of the Lower Bay, the Tackle Box ensured us that the reasons to get out on the water this week are many – killer bites are happening throughout the region. The Potomac has been particularly hot, and is holding a multitude of species. The channel edges have been filled with trollers pulling red hoses, umbrellas, and bucktails with plastic shad, particularly near the river mouth. We’ve had reports of guys opting to use larger bucktails, hoping to entice fish in the 30-plus inch range with some success for those with patience. Jiggers are having luck between Piney Point and St. George’s Island, where there are also some chummers in attendance taking stripers from mostly throwbacks to up into the mid-20s. And bottom fishermen using bloodworms are finding mixed schools of croaker, spot, and perch.
Spanish mackerel are turning up in greater numbers every day. Trollers using small Drone Spoons and planer rigs at Windmill Point on Sunday had great success landing fish and at the moment they seem to out-number bluefish in much of the Lower Bay. Many of the mackerel are on the chunky side, and since they've been catching citation-sized Spanish with regularity down at the mouth of the Bay for a couple of weeks now, we may be in for an epic summer of mackerel fishing this year.
With the first rumors of cobia ranging up into the Point Lookout vicinity, these fish are also on everyone’s minds. From all reports they’re still mostly well below the state line, with the mouth of the Bay up to Cape Charles producing the lion’s share of the fish. But they have expanded their range recently and have now been caught up to Smith Point in good numbers. This week we did hear the first rumblings of a cobia or two showing up near the state line. Still, however, Windmill Point and hotspots farther down the Bay have better numbers. Sight fishers have still been having a tougher time than guys using bait, though conditions have improved for those spotting fish and casting bucktails dressed with twisters or live eels into their path. Eels have also been a solid choice for cobia anglers chumming on drops in the 20- to 25-foot range. Chumming has also become a bit less tempting as rays have become a serious impediment. They’ve moved into the region in large numbers and are triggering a lot of false alarms as one waits for the strike from cobia. The past week trollers using surgical hoses enjoyed some drag-stripping hits from cobia, as well.
Crabbing Report: Crabs are in the tribs of the Lower Bay in great numbers! Head out and make sure you’re using fresh bait; razor clams and chicken neck are doing the trick.
Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, June 21 Update:
The Tackle Box let us know that cobia are beginning to make their way up the Bay moving in from the south, and a 30 pounder was taken in a pound net off Cornfield Point this past week. The cobia have been scattered up and down the shipping channel edges from Smith Point to the Bay Bridge Tunnel, and although we now have some northern sightings the best numbers remain down south from the CBBT to The Cell. J&W had some great reports of this species as well, noting that eelers at Windmill Point have now encountered cobia, too. On the whole, bait anglers and chummers have been doing significantly better than sight-casters due to relatively rough and turbid conditions much of the time. When conditions allow, a white bucktail with a chartreuse twister (or a chartreuse bucktail with a white twister) has been a go-to lure.
The Tackle Box also reminded us that the catfish in the two to seven pound range are eager to take fresh cut bait most everywhere off the shorelines of the Potomac and says the bridge at Piney Point to St. George Island is very consistent. Reports from surf casters at Point Lookout Pier have included some bluefish, rockfish, and catfish. Far more stripers are being taken in this neck of the woods by chummers setting up on the edge of the shelf off St. Georges, in the 25-foot range. There’s a high ratio of throwbacks, but plenty of keepers to be found as well. Trollers and jiggers have been working the same area with success.
Fortunately catfish are also thick in the Rappahannock, unfortunately croaker fishing remains fair. Bottom fishing is steadily getting better, though, and some perch and spot up to eight inches are mixed in. In the mouth of the Rap, finding drop-offs from 20 to 40 feet and sticking with bloodworms has been the key. In the Way South report this week we heard about some excellent action on larger croaker picking up sharply this week down at the mouth of the Bay. Hopefully, some of these fish will head north and things will continue to improve for bottom fishermen.
Spanish mackerel have moved in and have been caught in the Lower Bay all the way up to the MD/VA line, snapping away at trollers’ Clarke spoons. These fish are constantly on the move and haven’t settled into any sort of pattern or specific geographic area just yet, however, and at the moment it may be difficult to target them north of the mouth of the Bay unless you spot working birds.
Crabbing report: crabbing is much better in the Lower Bay than up north, with the Patuxent apparently dividing hot from not.
Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, June 14 Update:
Anglers: we apologize for the technical difficulties experienced last week. Unfortunately it caused our website to crash multiple times over multiple days, but the computer wizards assure us that it’s now completely fixed. We sure hope they’re right!
The Lower Bay has been hot for anglers looking to catch a variety of species and is providing some of the best rockfishing in the Chesapeake right now. The lower Potomac, buoy 76 to 72B, and Cove Point have all been great places to troll, according to The Tackle Box. Most boats are pulling a mix of bucktails, spoons, umbrellas, and hoses. These areas have also been a hotspot for jiggers when they can locate suspended fish along the channel edges. Most fish have been schoolie sized, however, a few larger outliers are being caught. That said, overall the most productive tactic for bending a rod the past week has been chumming. Even if you don’t catch stripers it’s been difficult to come home skunked because so many channel and blue cats are hanging around, and eager to pick up baits.
Another interesting option for anglers in this area remains the excellent snakehead fishing. Particularly in the creeks of the Potomac and the Rappahannock, a steady stream of excited reader reports flowed in this week of snakes willing to hit topwater frogs and Whopper Ploppers, as well as eating large minnow. At least for now, the Western Shore trib bite seems to out-rank any other for this (ahem) unusual species.
South of the Potomac the VA season for stripers closes the 15th, but anglers are fortunately being treated to a good cobia bite already. There are plenty of fish ranging from the Way South and Lower Shore zones up to Wolf Trap, with best numbers being farther south down the Bay and the biggest impediment recently being wind and weather. Chummers using fresh bunker do seem to be doing better than sight-casters, possibly because of this factor. That said, bucktails dressed with plastic twisters in white, pink, and chartreuse colors will get them biting.
Croaker are slowly starting to fill into the tribs and will gladly take a bloodworm on a bottom rig where you can find them, but the Rappahannock is about as far north as you can be and still hope to get a decent bite going. Even there, it takes a lot of searching - farther south is better. A few small flounder and spot are also in the bottom fishing mix.
Crabbing report: it's now game-on, with good numbers of large crabs around although many of the biggest are light at the moment. Clam and necks are both getting the job done. Eight feet has been reported as a good depth.
The Lower Bay has been providing a productive fishery to anglers within its reach, as well as a larger variety species as the water temperatures continue to warm. As for stripers, rolling has been most common along the shipping channels and in the Potomac and Patuxent, and most guys are pulling spoons, large bucktails, and umbrellas. Anglers targeting rockfish have had also plenty of action jigging and chumming, with Sheridan Point to the mouth of Cuckold Creek producing in the Pax, and the area off Tall Timbers and St. George’s Island working out well in the Potomac for anglers with baits set on bottom in 20 to 30 feet of water. The Tackle Box noted that jigging with white, purple, and chartreuse soft plastics and bucktails have been the most common artificial offerings, fished with half-ounce jig heads. Purple has been hot lately due to the rain dropped on the Bay watershed, when in areas with muddying waters and stained conditions in the tribs. Stripers have also been biting for anglers casting jigs around the docks and piers in the Solomons area. White perch will mix in with the catch for those who tie on smaller lures like Beetle Spins or three-inch twisters. Chumming has been a popular tactic as well, particularly around Piney Point and St. George’s Island.
Cobia have entered the Bay in solid numbers but are mostly still fairly far south. Despite some rough weather this week anglers who’ve been targeting them have found fish. The best numbers have been within sight of the CBBT so check out the Way South report for more details, but be forewarned, if the weatherman is correct about this weekend hitting big open waters will be out of the question.
As far as bottom fishing goes, croaker are being caught from the southern Bay piers and in the mouth of the James and have finally started to pop up in the Rappahannock and even up around Point Lookout in decent numbers, and in some areas are mixed in with white perch and the channel catfish that have dominated many areas of the Bay thus far this year. Using bait has been the best way to target them, and bloodworms are the surest offering to land a variety of species, though spot numbers seem low thus far.