Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, 5/25/2018:
We really hope you're reading this from the cockpit of your boat, because with how hot the bite is right now you ought to be out on the water. Fishing the Middle Bay has produced nonstop action for many anglers, and the fish are packed in tight. The primary mode for many anglers has shifted from trolling to jigging — Anglers recommends hitting Bloody Point and the Bay Bridge, where half ounce GI jigheads with six inch pink, purple, and chartreuse Bust 'em Baits soft plastics has steadily produced solid fish up into the mid 30's. Anglers also recommended trying around Thomas Point, and using six inch shad or Tsunamis. Keith at Alltackle suggested using a 20 pound fluorocarbon leader and high-speed jigging to keep the fish interested.
Hacketts has been the spot to be for chumming, with some pretty killer fish coming out of the water this week. Angler in chief Lenny Rudow reported a rather slow but steady bite on fish to 32 inches in 30 feet at Hackett’s on the incoming tide, with bottom lines catching most of the fish and the bite reportedly picking up on an outgoing tide. He also says that the mahogany tide on the Western side was awful early this week, and the shallow water spots he probed (which were in very dark stained waters) proved devoid of rockfish. Poplar Island, on the other hand, had beautiful water and was loaded with fish. Although it’s 10-to-one throwbacks, if you sort through the masses you will find keepers. Interestingly, the bulk of the fish are holding about 50 yards off the rocks (mostly on the south side but also on the west side) where you find drop-offs from eight or 10 feet to 12 or 15 feet. Cast out parallel to the rocks, and bounce your jig along the bottom. Soft plastics in white, pearl, and chartreuse seemed equally effective.
Trollers should consider focusing their attention just off Deal, Chesapeake Beach, and around Bloody Point. FishTalk team member Bob Daley reports a limit of fish up to 25 inches while trolling between 83 and 85A in 60 feet of water. White and yellow bucktails with six-inch shad did the trick.
We still have no word of black drum at the Stone Rock, which we sure hope changes soon. It’s more or less the same for crabbers; we heard of trot-liners who made an attempt in the past week getting between zero and two dozen crabs, with most reporting zero to three. Seriously.
Middle 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.
Marty’s says that the jiggers should start to have some luck with striped bass this week picking up, as we move into the summer patterns. Jigging with white and green have been absolute favorite this year, specifically BKD’s and Bust em’ Baits. It also seems as though fish are starting to gather on the rock piles and ledges of Poplar Island. Matapeake and Romancoke Piers have been good place to go if you’re fishing off the shore. Anglers Sport Center says that areas including Hackett’s Bar, Thomas Point, and the Point Lookout zone have all been producing fish in numbers for those chumming with bunker. Setting up right on the edges of drop-offs in around 25 feet of water has been the best move.
Trollers are still working the open waters of the Bay looking for a monster or two, with more success than at the beginning of the trophy season but not exactly world-class action. Parachutes and umbrellas still rule the roost, but many anglers are now mixing in some smaller six-inch Tsunamis and similar lures and are picking up good numbers of fish that weren’t legal last week, but can now be dropped into the cooler. The mouth of the Choptank and the False Channel area have been good areas to try for those willing to sacrifice size for numbers. Capt. John on the Patent Pending says that the regular rockfish season shows improvement, with rockfish from 20 to 30 inches being caught trolling in 30 to 40 feet of water from Chesapeake Beach to the West River. He also mentioned that tandems with six-inch shad are working well. However, the water quality is poor and probably will not improve until the rain subsides - chartreuse and yellow baits seem to work well under these conditions. Planer board lines are still producing the best results.
As for the much-awaited start of crabbing, Bay Country said it’s off to a very slow start, but should really start to pick up after memorial day weekend. With many trot-liners out in the mornings experimenting, most have had slim to no luck thus far. The only people catching crabs seem to be the potters, but Bay Country also adds that they aren’t doing very well either, catching a slim couple-few bushels for hundreds of pots. Luckily it seems fishermen are having better luck as Bay Country also mentioned that anglers appeared to pull in great catches of stripers recently trolling in the area of buoys 83, 83a, and 84.
Angler in Chief Lenny Rudow reports that while out on a boat test yesterday they saw a boat at Hackett's with a bent rod but more importantly, he believes that thanks to the endless rainfall he now has snakeheads in his back yard. And the front yard. And maybe also in the driveway.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, 5/10/2018:
Like the areas to the north, when it comes to the Middle Bay once again, we hear reports of rock fish action picking up! Island Tackle Outfitters tells us that with the warmer weather coming and rising water temperatures it’s time to start trolling in shallower water. They say trolling where the fish come in and out of the rivers to spawn can be a great way to put a bait in front of their face with white and chartreuse always seeming to be the hot colors. Dark heads seem to be providing an edge. Hot zones of note have included the ships, and over near Bloody Point and just outside of Eastern Bay. Anglers tells us that chumming might also be another good way to get to the stripers. Sinking chunks to the bottom in 25 to 30 feet of water seems to do the trick this time of year, as long as you're using a big fresh piece of bunker as bait. Tip: don't forget that at this time of year, when chumming you should weight your chum buckets instead of letting them flow on the top - a lot of rockfish will be hanging out right on the bottom looking for a snack and although trollers usually do best running their lures in the top of the water column, bait anglers always do best on keeper-sized trophies focusing on the bottom.
Reports of keeper fish caught jigging have been slim, but as warmer water comes using soft plastic lures like BKD’s will become highly effective. We're also still getting reports that the Bay Bridge rock piles are holding some nice striped bass but they aren't keepers, at least not yet, and we haven't heard of any that came particularly close. Another way to fill the plate right now is to look for white perch, which are being caught in good numbers in spring post-spawn areas, including the salt-ponds off the tributaries, on grass shrimp and bloodworms.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, 5/4/2018:
Warm weather this week made for an excellent time to be on the water enjoying the Bay and its bounty, and boats are finally starting to return with some fish in the coolers - including the FishTalk/PropTalk crew, who went out on the Ebb Tide out of Deale on Tuesday and scored 40, 42, and 44 inch rockfish (detailed in our May 3 Angler Alert). The channel edges around Thomas Point and Bloody Point have produced a good number of fish this week, and Anglers Sport Center heard good reports from the False Channel. Trolling has been the name of the game, with the vast majority of charters using standard-issue tandem rigs in chartreuse and white. Umbrella rigs in the same colors have also been hooking fish. Most guys who are catching trophies have been heading out early and catching the sunrise or early morning bite, Capt. John Whitman of Patent Pending Charters reported. And while the fishing is still not what you'd call excellent, it's a heck of a lot better than the first dismal week to 10 days of trophy season.
We also heard from a handful of readers who trolled the Bridge-Bloody Point-Thomas Point route with some success, catching singles in the upper 30 to lower 40 inch range. In all of these areas, board lines were out-performing boat rods and the fish are now striking lures running shallow. The 60 to 80 foot depth range seems to be the best zone.
There's been a lot of consternation about taking rockfish this spring - we're sure you've seen or heard of it - and we're relieved to report that most of the fish being caught in the Middle Bay right now are in fact post-spawn. The fish we hauled aboard the Ebb Tide were skinny, with two of the three having spawned completely and the third having a relatively small sack of un-ripe roe. (Which seems a bit strange to us at this time of year...) We also spoke with a couple of mates who do the filleting, and they reported a similar ratio of spawned vs. roe-laden fish. As always, we stand behind anyone's decision to take home a legal fish and would never deny someone their right to keep their fish of a lifetime. But we do hope that when fish come up with sagging bellies, as is bound to happen sometimes, anglers consider slipping them right back over the side.
As for the jiggers, fishing the bay bridge pilings hasn't been producing large fish, however it has provided great fun for anglers looking for steady action. Casting around the pilings has been a sure way to keep fish on the line, with Marty's reporting throwing soft plastics has worked best. We received no reports from the bait guys, this week.
The other action in the Middle Bay area is limited to post-run white perch, although snakeheads are once again making their presence known in the region. See the Freshwater Reports, for more info on this bite.