Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, August 30 Update:
The AIC says Middle Bay tribs from the South down are still holding redfish and one evening this week casting shad darts tipped with grass shrimp also produced the best perch fishing he’s seen so far this summer with a 14” puppy drum providing extra action. Another evening the action was mostly from rockfish up to 20” plus underslot redfish while casting paddletails. A reader fishing the West with paddletails has been catching one to five redfish per venture, including a pair of keepers last week. The AIC also said there were hordes of flounder in 15’ to 20’ near the power plant (where action on reds and rock had slowed) and while most are throwbacks, he slid the net under three keepers this week. In the super-exciting category, he also saw three cobia just southwest of Poplar island midweek. Saw… not caught… so they’re still out there!! Light tackle guide Steve Griffin of Griffins Guide Service reports that the bull red bite has been on the slow side as of late with their boats only finding small schools from time to time. Despite this, Captain Steve says the cobia are making a big push north and they have been seeing a lot of fish in open water. Other boats have spotted cobia at the mouth of the Choptank and near Tilghman Reef.
Mack Speed Walt let us know that the Middle Bay reefs are loaded with croaker and although most are small there are some keepers in the mix. Sea bass, however, have been in short supply thus far. Spanish mackerel continue what has been a slow northward trek thus far, with readers now reporting solid success on fish up to 20” or 21” trolling spoons off of Chesapeake Beach. We also had a report of a mackerel catch near Poplar, but just a single fish. Schools of bluefish and mackerel have been more abundant the farther south you fish with the best Middle Bay results coming from south of the Choptank and Solomons zones. Bluefish are still outnumbering the mackerel, but there have been some big blues that have sent drags screaming which no one will complain about. The Tackle Box notes that the cutlassfish have been staging a recent invasion in the Patuxent. Trolled lures are catching them and small spoons or diving plugs generally get the job done on these toothy but tasty critters.
Editor’s note: missing from this week’s reports are the invaluable contributions of FishTalk team member Eric Packard. He took a bad fall on a boat this week and is recovering but will be landlocked for the next week or two; our thoughts are with you Eric—we’re all pulling for a quick recovery!
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, August 22 Update:
It has felt downright amazing outside this week as cooler temperatures are giving us the first hint of fall. Don’t get too excited though folks, we still have another month until the official start of Fall, so theres plenty of time for things to warm back up but were hoping this weather holds. The Angler in Chief reports that there seem to be more red drum in the Middle Bay than he can ever remember — ever. Last weekend he caught multiples in the lower Choptank, James Island, the Power Plant, and in the South River (though all in the South were undersized). Most of the slot-sized fish were in the 20” to 23” range and stripers were few and far between with just a handful in the mix. The fish were hitting several varieties of three- and four-inch paddletails but four-inch chrome Gulp! Paddleshad were a standout offering. The Tackle Box reports that the lower Patuxent is holding lots of reds, too, particularly the area around Half Pone Point and the mouth of Helen Creek.
A reader fishing around Chesapeake Beach said that small creeks are also holding lots of reds. Most are of the undersized variety, but a few slots have come into the boat including a 23-inch slot fish that hit a live bull minnow. He says that an outgoing tide has been best, and the reds seem to be feeding on the bait being swept out with the current. The pattern of fish biting on an outgoing current was also true for two readers fishing in the West River. They reported catching close to a dozen undersize puppy drum while fishing with peeler crab. Pitching baits up to deeper docks produced the bites. They also mentioned that an angler fishing a rip-rap shoreline nearby was plucking away at white perch. Poplar Island has been another area that anglers have pulled a few reds from, and there seems to be more rockfish hanging around too. Fish are being caught along the rip-rap shorelines along the southern portion of the island on both the east and west sides. Hallock’s Grace Charters was fishing in this zone boxed a boat limit of six slot rockfish. Another trip near Thomas Point produced some slot fish and when they switched to bottom fishing close by, they put 74 perch in the box and two bonus channel catfish.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, August 15 Update:
Angler in Chief Lenny Rudow says the stripers and redfish are still hitting in the South River, and last weekend a just-legal black drum popped up in the catch as well. The periods of dusk and dawn are still the times to fish, though he noted that some sub-legal redfish were willing to bite at around 6:00 p.m., an hour before the rockfish would even think about getting active. However, there were some evenings this week when very low water detered the action. He also mentioned that a run to the power plant produced slot rock and a keeper red, but at times the crowd was thick and tangled lines and close-quarters anchoring was observed. Meanwhile, at the mouth of the Choptank and just north of Sharp’s Island Light, beautiful numerous pods of bunker were on the surface. He says they only saw one predatorial swirl when they were there, but the tide was pretty dead at the time and this zone should hold some good promise. He did hear from a friend that they had caught a Spanish mackerel and several blues in that vicinity this week.
Additional areas readers checked in from with action on slot rock included the mouth of Eastern Bay, the rocks of Poplar Island, and the shallows of the Choptank. Former FishTalk intern Adam Greenberg says the Choptank has been awesome the past week, with rockfish hitting paddletails, twister tails, and spooks at dawn and dusk. Even more exciting, he said an attempt at night fishing with squid on Carolina rigs produced croakers up to a healthy 14”. A reader fishing near Chesapeake Beach reported good luck with slot reds this week catching a few between 18 to 23 inches along with numerous under-slot fish. Peeler crab tempted the slot fish into the net while live minnows and paddletails caught as many 14-to-16-inch fish as you wanted. Rockfish also became more willing to bite as the sun was setting. These reds should stick around in the shallows well into October, so take advantage of them while they are here.
Crabbing Report: A couple of readers made mention of excellent crabbing in the Choptank and nearby waters with full bushel baskets via trot lining and pull trapping. Eight feet of water was mentioned as the ticket. Another reader crabbing with drop traps in a small feeder creek reported catching around 50 mixed keepers during a three-hour trip. And the AIC laid out the trot line in eight or nine feet in the South River one morning late this week and enjoyed three runs with over a dozen crabs on each before heading back to the computer.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, August 9 Update:
The Angler in Chief says redfish were becoming more and more prominent in the shallows up to the South River just before the storm hit, and on a recent evening he ran out for one hour, caught two under-slots plus several rockfish, then returned home to find two reader report emails including a just-under redfish and a slot red caught in the South River. He said the rockfish were biting a bit better than prior to the shut-down, too, and another brief evening foray produced several legal fish plus throwbacks and another redfish, all taking gray four-inch paddletails on half-ounce heads around the river’s piers and riprap. Contributor Eric Packard says the reds are the big story in the Patuxent, too, and casting three-inch white/gray Gulps! produced a handful of small reds, some nice perch, and also some small croaker in quick under-an-hour outings on the shoreline.
Reports editor Dillon Waters got out on his kayak last weekend to fish Holland Point. He reported an abundance of under-slot reds hanging around the docks at the point. Live minnows and three-inch Gulp! minnows both caught fish and he ended the day with around 25 reds between 12 and 15 inches, one white perch, and a few rockfish up to 22 inches. Another reader fishing around Holland Point earlier in the week managed to pluck three slot reds while throwing paddletails. He also mentioned that when he moved further off the point to fish for perch in five to 10 feet of water, he picked up about a dozen keeper croaker that were all between 10 and 11 inches. It has been a while since we have seen keeper croaker in the middle Bay, but a few reports of keeper (barely) fish have come in over the past few weeks. There are also plenty of perch and spot around for anglers to target while bottom fishing along shoals or areas with oyster bottom. Rain and wind during the later half of the week has kept most anglers off the water, but the extended forecast is looking much better through the weekend. We need the rain, but once the remnants of Hurricane Debbie blow through, we will all be hoping for light winds and clear skies because August can offer excellent fishing opportunities.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, August 2 Update:
FishTalk Intern Adam Greenberg says the white perch fishing has been solid in the Choptank — to the tune of a fish every cast at times — throwing Perch Pounders at riprap. He also encountered a big bonus last week, tying into a 20” slot redfish that was mixed in with the perch. And he’s not the only one to find both slot and under-slot puppy drum in the Middle Bay this week. In fact, we had photo-documented reader reports of reds in the Choptank, Eastern Bay, the Patuxent, the West, and the South Rivers. Most are hitting similar small spinnerbaits (often cast by perch anglers) tossed up against riprap. This week we also fielded the first reports of Spanish mackerel moving significantly farther north than they have to date, up to the mouth of the Choptank on the east side and Chesapeake Beach on the west side.
Reports Editor Dillon Waters took a trip down to the Patuxent last weekend to kayak fish Cuckold Creek and found lots of fish biting. Live minnows and three-inch Gulp! minnows on a ¼ ounce jighead produced a half dozen puppy drum up to 16 inches, around 20 white perch, and a handful of bycatch striped bass up to 19 inches that were quickly released boatside (don’t they know we can’t catch them right now!). All fish were caught under or near docks and once the sun got high, fish were exclusively hanging out under shaded docks. He also noted that the river was loaded with pods of baitfish everywhere he fished, and that the jellyfish had also moved in thick.
The Solomons zone on the main stem of the Bay has been the scene for lots of bull redfish. The bulls have been popping up frequently to feed on bait at the surface and lots of boats have been enjoying double digit fish day. The name of the game for chasing these fish is to cover as much water as possible as there is not one location that these fish will be around from day to day. The boats that have the most success chasing these fish typically run the main shipping channel using side scan to look for the schools below the surface. Scanning the horizon is also important as birds have given away their location at times too. Fishing for bull reds is not easy, but the chance at a 40- to 50-inch fish is well worth the chase.
Crazy Fish Alert: Rumors are flying about tarpon - yes, tarpon - being spotted in the southern Maryland portions of the Bay. We haven't recieved photo verification from anyone who's caught one yet but wow, can ya imagine?!
Reminder to Anglers: Striped bass season is now open again in Maryland waters of the Chesapeake Bay. Anglers are allowed to keep one fish per person per day between 19 and 24 inches. The season will remain open until December 10th.