Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, May 2021

Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, May 28 Update:

Could this be the year of the speck? Several readers report that four- and five-inch grubs and paddle tails are producing fish (mostly in the 18- to 20-inch range) when cast to points and rip-rap in the lower Rappahannock, the Piankatank, and to a lesser degree the Potomac. Schoolie rockfish are mixed in and though many are throwbacks there are plenty of slot fish in the mix. The Tackle Box reported that the specks are also at the salt islands and the Honga River. They mentioned that the shallows that anglers have been fishing for specks are also chock-full of schoolie stripers. Anglers casting around for them are finding stripers mixed in thick, and aren’t complaining!

kayak fishing for speckled sea trout
Could 2021 turn out to be the year of the speck? Um... YEAH! Photo courtesy of Eric Packard

Boat-on-a-Budget Builder Ryan Gullang hit up the St. Mary’s this week, and reports that the perch fishing near the St. Mary’s College waterfront is active. A Beetle Spin and Fishbites on a bottom rig rapidly produced multiple perch. While Gullang reported that the white perch are abundant in numbers, their size varied. About two-thirds of the fish caught were eating size, whereas the rest would’ve been great bait.

A bit farther south, spot and croaker are in the building. Anglers fishing bottom rigs baited with bloodworms are finding both, plus white perch mixed in in some areas, on hard bottom in the eight to 15 foot range. Most are small thus far but the numbers are solid. One reader also reported catching some small weakfish mixed in as well with bloodworms in the Wolf Trap area. A few croaker have also been reported inside the Rap in the general vicinity of the Rt. 3 bridge, but most are small.

Crabbing report: Crabs are on - our first report from the Rap (pull traps) accounts for two dozen in a morning! The Tackle Box also mentioned that the crabbing bite is picking up, full steam ahead. In the St. Mary's River the crabs have finally made their way to the docks and reports editor Mollie Rudow scoped out the crab situation at the docks multiple times in the past few weeks, and notes that around a half dozen crabs are within eyesight at any time.


Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, May 21 Update:

Trolling white and chartreuse tandems and umbrellas in Potomac in Ragged Point vicinity, some readers checked in to let us know there were lots of throwbacks plus some 19-inchers and a 26-incher, with the bigger fish hitting eight-inch white behind an umbrella. A few trophy-sized fish are also still being trolled up at the mouth of the river and off Smith Point. The Tackle Box confirmed this, noting that the lower Potomac and channel edges in 38 to 42 feet of water are a sweet spot for trollers. They had quite a few photo-confirmed keepers this week, with a few at or over the 30-inch mark. (Remember that in the Potomac these fish are legit; VA anglers in the main Bay and south are capped at a max of 28 inches). In Virginia waters a few over-slot fish have been reported as well, but most anglers trolling six-inch tandems and umbrellas are finding fish the “right” size. White continues to be the color of choice across the board.

lower chesapeake bay rockfish
Patrick and Tim pulled up a couple nice ones on Gerry C Charters, trolling near the mouth of the Potomac.

Several readers chimed in this week to note that the Gwynn’s Island area, the mouth of the Piankatank, and Milford Haven are holding specks. Most are in the 14- to 20-inch range and are hitting pink and white Gulp! jerkbaits and swimming mullet. A few keeper-sized flounder have been caught in this zone recently, too, though we didn’t hear of any reds this week in this area. Readers did report a bite for slot reds down the Bay a bit in the mouth of the York, however. We also had one check in after fishing the Poquoson and taking home three slot reds and two specks in the 20-inch range, all caught on white/pink Bass Assassins. Shrimp under a cork was also mentioned as effective this week.

Up the tribs as usual for this day and age large catfish are stealing the show. Throughout the Potomac from 301 and up, in the Rap from 360 north, and in the James above Clairmont the guys who have been targeting them are enjoying steady fishing and several 50-pound-plus fish were reported recently. Cut gizzard shad and fresh bunker are the move but we also had a report of a monster fish caught this week on a live sunfish.


Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, May 14 Update:

Get ready, Virginians—slot season for stripers opens up Sunday, May 16!! One fish at 20 to 28 inches is the mark to target. We’ve had a couple of reports of rockfish being caught by accident prior to opener by anglers casting in hopes of a speck or a red, with fish popping up in the shallows on structure, rip-rap, and the Eastern Shore islands. As has been true during the Maryland trophy season, white is the hot color this spring and five- to seven-inch plastics will do the trick.

trolling for rock in the chesapeake bay
Are you ready to see some stripes? We certainly hope so!!

Trollers located in the Lower Bay in MD and Potomac waters were in prime position to score trophies this week compared with anglers further north. Trolling white parachutes and tandems is top choice right now, with white as the above-all standout color for the trollers, too. The Tackle Box mentioned that anglers rigging up with bucktails are doing equally as well as those pulling parachutes. The Tackle Box also said 38 to 42 feet of water is the sweet spot. In the lower Potomac reports were slightly less consistent than the open Bay. Piney Point to St. George’s Island was the best area within this zone. Additionally, the Lower Bay has had plenty of reports of undersized fish.

Up the Potomac and the Rap, plenty of catfish are coming in still. This season remains off the hook for them and shoreline anglers are especially loving the high concentrations we’ve seen throughout the year. They’re easy to find and access. The key to catching them has been soaking fresh(!!!) baits on bottom. Clam, cut menhaden, gizzard shad, and white perch are working best. If you’d like the freshest of fresh baits, hit up your favorite white perch spot before targeting the cats. They’ve settled into summer haunts and now can be scooped up with bloodworms, FishBites, or grass shrimp on a bottom rig. Sizes vary, but whoppers aren’t a rarity.

A few specks are being reported as far north as the MD line, but just a few here and there with the best concentrations still from the Gwynn Island area south. Small soft plastics and Gulp! shrimp in New Penny and Pearl White are getting the job done. The rising water temps stalled a bit with the chilly nights we’ve had recently and water temps are still hovering around the 60-degree mark, but as soon as it starts climbing again we’d expect (hope for!) the fish to make a northward push and get back to business.

For those who tried to tune in to Live With Lenny last night we apologize for the technical difficulties, evidently we broke the internets. The show has been rescheduled for next Wednesday evening at 5:00 p.m. when we'll have a striper season update and discuss targeting invasive species like snakeheads and blue cats with David Sikorski from the CCA.


Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, May 7 Update:

For anglers fishing Maryland waters and/or the Potomac who are able to get in on the trophy rockfish season, things got off to a rather blustery start. Opening weekend reports were mixed, although most indicated that the bite wasn’t great. Boats that did catch tended to be far down near the mouth of the Potomac, according to the Tackle Box. The bulk of guys who came into them after the weekend reported being in this area, while anglers who hit the area around St. Clements were reporting zeros. The Tackle Box also mentioned that they had a couple of confirmed reports from around Piney Point and St. Georges. One of the fish caught in this zone was a 44-incher. White tandems were mentions as hot.

snakeheads in the potomac river
Snakes have been active in the creeks of the Potomac, and Apex Predators has been after 'em.

Further up the rivers, the bite shifted to catfish and snakeheads. On the snakehead front, both topwater (frogs and Whopper Ploppers in shallow) and subsurface lures (chatterbaits and spinnerbaits run outside weed and pad lines) have been doing the trick and Apex Predators reports some gar mixed in with them. There were multiple reports this week from the Rap, James, and Potomac of large catfish, and someone landed a 55-pound blue cat. Other anglers reported cats ranging from 20-pounds-plus being common. Mud shad were the top bait.

We weren’t able to verify any speck reports from the west side Lower Bay this week, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t out there. As of the last intel drop they were in and around the Piankatank and only growing in numbers (along with the reds) to the south, so anglers casting four- to five-inch plastics and Mirr-O-Lures should have a good shot in the coming days.

If you struck out on trophies last weekend during the Maryland Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River rockfish season openers, don’t feel bad — you weren’t alone, and not by a longshot. We ran an informal poll in multiple Facebook groups to find out the ratio of boats that came home with versus without fish (though we note that several anglers did report releasing trophy-sized fish, and for that folks, you have our kudos). After asking folks to report on the number of keepers they caught including skunk trips, waiting for the posts to remain up for 24 hours, and counting keeper fish only (multiple boats did report undersized fish), here are the results: 18 boats reported catching two or more trophies, 44 boats reported catching one trophy, and 113 boats reported a skunk in the box. Virginia has, of course, closed down trophy season… let the debate on the wise or not-so-wise nature of this decision begin!