Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, 5/25/2018:
One of the best reports we heard this week was from reader Eric Packard, who apparently retired so he could go fishing every day. We mean, EVERY DAY! (Yes we did ask Eric if he would trade jobs and no he did not bite). The good news is that stripers, many keeper sized, have moved into the Western Shore rivers of the Lower Bay zone. Casting around near Solomons has produced hordes of stripers (one day’s report included 35 stripers with four keepers up to 24.5 inches), with a strong white perch bite around the piers, as well. Skirted jigheads with plastics in chartreuse and white have been doing the trick for the rock; Beetle-Spins are tempting the perch.
Meanwhile, reports for the Potomac are focused more on chumming and trolling. Both tactics are taking good numbers of fish in the low to upper 20’s, with the best bite coming off St. George’s Island and Tall Timbers. The 20 to 25 foot depth range seems to be best. We also had one (unconfirmed) report of a good bite for stripers casting topwater to rip-rap in the St. Mary’s.
The Tackle Box says trolling has been the most effective method and staying tight to channel edges has been producing the highest grade of fish both in the river and out on the open Bay. They recommend using a mixed spread of soft plastics and bucktails. Bright colors such as chartreuse, white, and pink haven't been getting the bites that we normally see, and have possibly been less effective this week due to the poor water clarity from the past weeks' rain and runoff. Instead dark colors like purples and root-beer have been generating more bites. Parachutes have also been less productive than in past weeks, as have hoses. They also mentioned CP buoy south to the 68 buoy has been hot.
Light tackle jigging has become more common within the past week and the same channel edges that are typically good for trolling have been productive, although fish caught jigging have on the whole been smaller than those picked up by the trollers and chummers.
The other good news for Lower Bay anglers is that croaker are now officially in town and have been caught in both eastern and western shore haunts. The bad news is that most have been small, and the numbers haven’t been great. Bloodworms on bottom rigs are the ticket.
One other bummer: J&W reports that crabbing still hasn’t really begun. It’s past time, but the big giant freshwater flush we just received doesn’t seem to be helping things.
Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, 5/18/2018:
ANGLER ALERT: Remember that circle hook regulations have now gone into effect! All anglers chumming or live-lining in the Maryland portions of the Chesapeake MUST use in-line circle hooks. Read Maryland Chesapeake Bay Circle Hook Regulations, to get the full scoop.
After asking The Tackle Box what parts of the lower bay have been the best recently, they said that anglers trolling between Chesapeake Beach and Point Lookout have had great success. They added that trolling the Western Shore side closer to Calvert Cliffs, the anglers have enjoyed a better class of fish. The stripers are mostly in the upper part of the water column, as to be expected as the warmer weather has arrived.
Along with the trophies still making their way back out of the Bay, school-sized fish are around in decent numbers. Many trollers have begun mixing six-inch tandem rigs in with the larger tandems and umbrellas, to keep the action steady. White, chartreuse, and yellow have been the best colors.
Smaller (but now keeper) fish have also made their presence known in the lower Potomac along the channel edges near St. George’s Island, for trollers pulling down-sized lures. The fish set up shop here for much of last season, so we could be in for a repeat performance. Although we didn’t hear from anyone who’s tried chumming here yet this tactic was a killer here last year and should be a good option; setting up on the edge in 20-something of water should do the trick.
The first reports of croaker in the region are in, with J&W noting that a few have been caught by bottom fishermen soaking bloodworms and squid bits. As of yet, however, the bite has been slow and difficult to target. Also, although no black drum have been reported north of the VA line as of yet, they are moving into Virginia's waters in force (and have also made their presence known in the Delaware Bay) and should continue moving north in the Bay in the coming days.
Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, 5/10/2018:
The Tackle Box tells us that fish have moved into the Potomac over by Raggedy Point and Point No Point, and both trolling and jigging around these areas has seemed to produce some fish. Although the numbers haven’t been the best, with the constantly improving reports and warmer weather coming our way, boats should come in with more to show for their efforts. As usual, tandems and umbrellas are accounting for the bulk of the catch with white and chartreuse being the top colors. We've also heard chatter about dark heads providing a leg up.
Fishing for blue catfish has remained strong in the Potomac, from DC to Indian Heads, and these beasts are eating just about anything they can find on the bottom. Cut fish or chicken livers set in the channels and holes are the normal offerings.
J&W tackle shop said there were also reports of croaker being caught in gill nets but they have yet to see anglers target them because the water temperature is still rather cold. (We are hearing reports of them in Virginia's waters, near the mouth of the Bay. See the Way South and VA report, for more info). They also said a few puppy drum have now been caught just to the south and they'll surely begin making their way north as water temperatures rise.
Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, 5/4/2018:
Trophy season in the Lower Bay has finally turned on, and a decent proportion of the boats are coming home with fish in the boxes. The water temperature reached 56 degrees this week in the area, which is ideal for female rockfish to spawn. As they've been making their way back down the Bay, many have been sticking close to channel edges, where trollers have the opportunity to pick them up. Fishing is still not what one would call "great," but boats are regularly picking up several fish in a day. It seems that the Choptank spawn opened up a spigot, and boats have been heading south a bit to keep pace with the main school of fish. Using chartreuse tandems with nine-inch soft plastics has been the most successful tactic according to the guys at the Tackle Box. They also recommended fishing Ceder Point and Piney Point, which have been producing large numbers of fish. In addition, trolling the edge from the 76 buoy down past 72 has been a hot zone to fish.
Although the fish have changed up the pattern a bit and started hitting baits high in the water column - as opposed to the deep boat rods that provided what little action there was early in the season - the Hooper Straits area (one of the few bright spots early on) has also continued to produce some fish. There has been some chatter from the Lower Bay region that parachutes with dark heads are out-performing straight whites and chartreuses.
Other area anglers have headed up the Potomac to enjoy constant blue catfish action, and even farther up, the shad run (see the Freshwater Report, for more info). The perch run is basically done for the season. There are still no reports of early season croaker but these fish did arrive in Virginia's portion of the Bay last week, and should hopefully work their way north in the near future to add some diversity to the potential target species.