Middle Chesapeake By Fishing Report, June 24 Update:
Thomas Point, the mouth of the Choptank, and the lower Pax have all been mentioned as good bait-gathering spots for spot this week, with bloodworm-tipped Chesapeake Sabikis doing the trick in depths ranging from five to 12 feet of water. Chesapeake Outdoors suggested running up to Love Point, where liveliners have also been picking up stripers. Overall, the vast majority of anglers in the Middle Bay have been running north to the Love/Hodges/Tolchester areas recently. This week, it seemed like the ENTIRE fleet was rafting up there. The Famous Frankie Backlash from Rusty Hook Bait and Tackle in Easton let us know that he’s hearing the same, and all reports of striper are coming in from up north of the Bridge with the area between Love Point and Tolchester producing most of the keep. Famous Frankie also suggested heading in close to shore to wrangle stripers locally and said that there are good reports from guys fishing light tackle in the creeks, with occasional catches of 20- to 25-inches.
The Tackle Box reported that spot have invaded the mouth of the Patuxent, mentioning that jiggers seeking rockfish near the mouth of Lewis Creek found spot so thick they were snagged by the lures. Even with that much bait around rockfish were caught, although many were undersized. Spot are being caught off the shore by surf casters using FishBites as bait two at the time on double hook bottom rigs off Hog Point and Goose Creek on the Naval Air Station. The spot are also holding off Green Holly, Sandy Point, Seven Gables, Kingston Hollow, Myrtle Point, and Hawk's Nest. Some interesting catches are now in the bottom fishing mix, too, and we got word of some small flounder (plus one 23-incher), almost-keeper croaker, and plenty of white perch as well. The Rusty Hook reminded us that the perch fishing right now is world class if you’re getting in to them. They’re heavy on structure, seeking out rocky and protected areas. Additionally, a reader picked up a slot red at 21.5 inches, in the lower Pax on a six-inch BKD - wow, nice job Todd!!
The Rusty Hook also told us of some promising speck reports: there were trout caught in the central area of the bay this week in the grass beds. Frankie echoed the wisdom of many of the Chesapeake’s speck-sharpies, that speckled trout will spook easily when anglers are noisy. When the trout are finicky, noise-reduction can be key to getting them on the end of your line. Electric and nuclear chicken were hot lure colors this week.
Middle Chesapeake By Fishing Report, June 18 Update:
Angler in Chief Lenny Rudow reports fishing the bridge and finding lots of stripers willing to hit five-inch paddletails and jigging spoons, and also saw some schools of fish breaking water, but all were undersized. Even the boats dropping spot were coming up blank or catching almost all throwbacks. He also reports making a foray to the Choptank to search for the specks that have been reported there for a couple of weeks now, but to no avail. He says the shallows were holding plenty of stripers, but most are in the 15- to 17-inch range. Five-inch white paddle tails were again the best bait. Angler’s Sport Center and Alltackle also heard that the bridge bite was underwhelming size-wise, although a few keepers did come off of it. Angler’s suggested using five- to six-inch white paddle-tails or jerkshad — they’ve been outperforming other lures this season. Many reports coming in have indicated that skirted versus un-skirted isn’t making a huge difference.
ITO heard that although the Middle Bay bite has generally been slow, some liveliners who hit up Thomas Point were getting into fish. Angler’s heard the same about Hacketts and Eastern Bay, both of which were common spots to liveline. The fish just didn’t seem to want to show up for many boats and many that did were undersized. Jigging told the same story this week, often with long waits between bites and not a whole lot of fish breaking the 19-inch mark. On the upside, the week wasn’t a total wash and everyone we talked to had heard from guys that did do well. Liveliners can locate spot off Chesapeake Beach, in the mouth of the Choptank, and in the mouth of the South.
AIC Rudow also joined Family Fishing Adventures in Annapolis for a trip mid-week and says all 10 kids aboard had a great time catching spot, white perch, and croaker, while dropping bloodworms on bottom rigs in and around Annapolis. He also noted that some of the croaker were pushing keeper size and if they hang around through the fall, should break the nine-inch minimum. Later in the week, a Fish for the Cure trip produced plenty of small rock and some chunky white perch with the Bailey family.
Middle Chesapeake By Fishing Report, June 10 Update:
Maybe it was the heat, maybe it was the boat traffic, or maybe it was the pressure systems and fronts pushing through, but for whatever reason we’ve been hearing from readers and from our Angler in Chief that this past week (and especially over last weekend) some days striper fishing became very tough during the midday hours. Fish have been hitting well at daybreak and again for a very brief burst of action just before the sun sets, with live-lining offering the best opportunity. Fish are also being caught on jigs (white skirted in chartreuse being the move), but again, mostly during brief windows of opportunity. We heard that even the white perch have been acting finicky in open Bay waters during the midday hours, with a better bite to be found close to shorelines under docks and in shaded areas. Hopefully, the recent weather will shuffle this pattern and late risers won’t get denied.
With spot available in the river mouths (try jigging Chesapeake Sabikis tipped with bloodworm or Fishbites bits in 14 to 18 feet of water) most of the fleet is live lining. Readers reported areas producing rockfish this week included Hackett’s, Eastern Bay, and the mouth of the Choptank. Angler’s Sport Center, Alltackle, and Tochterman’s all suggested hitting Hackett’s for your spot. There have been TONS there recently, and anglers are catching them on bottom rigs with bloodworms.
Most boats are finding that unweighted or lightly weighted live spot are working best for the stripers. Some anglers are finding that tossing soft plastics is supplementing the live lining bite. Lure casters and jiggers have a slower bite overall but Alltackle reports that they are finding fish at Thomas Point, Gum Thickets, and the False Channel.
Contributor Eric Packard reported a slow bite casting the piers and points in the lower Pax one afternoon this week, with zero specks taking the bait. He also noted that he saw several (keeper sized) rockfish floaters. The search for speckled trout went better on the eastern side, with a couple of readers fishing the shallows of the Choptank and Little Choptank reporting success casting small plastics in white, pink, and green on quarter-ounce heads. Angler’s heard the same, with the Choptank consistently popping up as a favorite spot.
Middle Chesapeake By Fishing Report, June 4 Update:
Readers report that there are some keeper-sized stripers at the Bay Bridges, hitting live spot or small white perch and jigs on the incoming tide. However, they also report that the bridge is attracting the usual crowds and over the holiday weekend when the weather got decent it was a bit of a madhouse around some of the better pilings at times.
The rocks of Poplar Island are holding rockfish with the south side the best by all reports, but the vast majority of the fish caught lately have been undersized. Same goes for the fish at Thomas Point, where the AIC says casting early this week produced only ginormous rockfish up to 10 or 12 inches (yikes!) Angler’s Sport Center reported that boats hitting the Choptank had some better luck, and jigging in open water with Zman Steakz XLs produced keeper fish. Even better? Angler’s reported that hitting the mouth of the Choptank and using three to five-inch Diezel Minnowz in less than four feet of water produced a mixed bag of stripers, white perch, and speckled sea trout. That’s the kind of action we like to hear about!! Plus, the speckled trout caught at the mouth of the Choptank were on the hefty side and a few broke the 20-inch mark. Two additional reader reports backed up the Choptank speck action and we also had a reader report of a single speck mixed in with rockfish while casting paddletails in the shallows of Eastern Bay.
Crabbing report: ready your trotlines and find some fowl necks… it’s time to go crabbing! Crabbers on the west side in the Severn and South both reported increasing catches this week; the best we heard about was close to a bushel. One report from the Choptank of a full bushel came in, as well.