Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, May 23 Update:
It was an eventful week for Chesapeake Bay anglers as rockfish season is now open. The fishing seemed to be good in several areas on the opener, but the winds last weekend made things tough. We had reader reports of plenty of fish on the meter at Poplar for opening day, but difficulty turning them into bites. Anglers fishing the shallows in the mouth of the Choptank and out at Janes Island reported better action, including plenty of slots, and we also had a report from Contributor Adam Greenberg of multiple slots plus five specks in the Choptank’s shallows during a morning of fishing just before the wind cranked up. Contributor Eric Packard has been finding some slot-sized stripers in the Patuxent at the bridge by Solomons, but not great numbers. He did mention that wind has been a consistent problem and made fishing tough recently. Charter boats in the middle Bay have found some limits while live lining at the Bay Bridge pilings and we had a report from Hallock’s-Grace Charters of fish up to 30 inches on opening day.
The Angler in Chief says there’s a surprising number of smallish black drum in the 22” to 24” range in the Middle Bay, and six were reeled up to the boat while dropping soft crab near the power plant recently. However, a return trip a couple of days later resulted in zero drum, and instead, one ray after the next—in fact, the rays were so thick that after two hours of cranking them up nonstop they shifted gears, started throwing jigs for rockfish, and… snagged several more rays. There are also some nice bluefish around and several over 20” were caught as well. On opening day, several boats fished in the vicinity of the CCNPP and there were good reports of slot rockfish caught. Bluefish also made an appearance at times, with fish in the 20” to 25” range pushing bait in open water and showing up in the discharge as well.
Crabbing Report: A reader checked in after trying a small creek in the Deale area but said an hour running 20 drop traps only produced six keeper crabs. They picked up their gear and went over to the Rhode River where they caught three dozen keepers in two hours of crabbing. They mentioned that their pots were in depths ranging from three to 10 feet, but most crabs came from the five-foot zone.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, May 15 Update:
It was a wet week with several rounds of rain coming through the region. This was a good opportunity to stay inside and get gear ready for rockfish season. While the stripers have been off limits, anglers hitting the creeks are reporting that white perch are moving into their summer haunts and hitting the usual offerings like Perch Hounders and spinners. One person fishing Ramsay Lake off the South River mentioned that fishing docks in four or five feet of water produced bites and although the numbers weren’t great, he did take home four over 10”. Reports Editor Dillon Waters hit the West River on his kayak this week in search of perch, but did not find any while fishing docks. However, he did find several stripers willing to hit his small jigs while casting to docks. He fished several docks, moving after catching a striper or two, and said several were holding fish in four to five feet of water.
A reader fishing at the mouth of the West River wrote in to say that spot have moved in thick. He and another angler caught over 100 while fishing with bloodworms in six to 10 feet of water. Most spot were between three and six inches, and they also caught a few small croaker. There should be plenty of spot in the Middle Bay for anglers looking to live line once striped bass season opens this Friday. Just prior to rockfish opening, Contributor Eric Packard went on the hunt for specks and reds on the East side in the Hooper’s Island area, but the only fish willing to grab his jigs had stripes. He reported that they kept moving around looking for a different species, but the rockfish wouldn’t leave them alone, and eventually, they switched to smaller gear and started catching white perch. After a month and a half closure, the striper season will open on May 16th for the majority of Maryland waters in the Chesapeake Bay. The slot limit is 19” to 24” with a creel limit of one fish per person per day. Not all areas are open to harvesting or targeting striped bass, so make sure to look at the Maryland DNR striped bass regulation map to see where fishing for stripers is allowed.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, May 9 Update:
We are one week away from the opening of striped bass season on the Chesapeake Bay and anglers are eager to get out and chase them. Since they have been off limits since March, we don’t have much intel on where they are being caught, but popular Middle Bay locations such as the Bay Bridge, Poplar Island, and the remnants of James Island should be holding fish. Luckily, some other species are starting to show up for us to chase while the stripers are still off limits. The Angler in Chief says WOOHOO—there are some black drum in the Middle Bay!! An afternoon spent speck-hunting in the vicinity of the Choptank produced only accidental stripers (between 16” and 24”) while casting small speck-sized paddletails. But after visiting several shallow water spots then shifting deeper, Reports Editor Dillon Waters got a serious bend in his rod while jigging 20’ down. After a long battle on light gear, he brought a 31” black drum up to the boat. The AIC also claimed to have hooked one that came unbuttoned, though we have our doubts…
We had a photo-verified report of the white perch moving into the creeks, with one angler in the Pax reporting a half-dozen up to 12.5”. All were caught on Beetle Spins, and he noted that the fish were way back in the coves. The Tackle Box is also reporting that white perch, spot, and croaker are now being caught on the lower Pax near Solomons. FishTalk contributor Eric Packard reports that he has not encountered any speckled trout or red drum in Mill Creek on the Lower Pax, but there are plenty of schoolie striped bass that he has accidentally encountered as bycatch. Packard also reports that small spot and croaker have moved into Mill Creek, and he caught both using small bits of Fishbites. There have been some additional hearsay reports of speckled trout showing up in the middle Bay shallows, but we have yet to have a reader check in with any verified catches. We did have confirmation of two 20 inchers showing up in a pound net near Deale, so there are some moving up the Bay.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, May 2 Update:
Readers making an early run on the white perch in creeks off the South River reported no joy as of yet. The perch should start showing up in their summer haunts this month, which will include the shallows in all the tidal tributaries, areas with oyster bottom, and any of the artificial reef sites in the Middle Bay. Small spinners, artificial jigs, minnows, and grass shrimp are some of their preferred baits. The catfish bite on the main stem of the Bay has not been reliable this year, but the tidal rivers have provided better results. Anglers are catching blue catfish in the upper portions of the Patuxent and Choptank rivers with cut bait such as fresh gizzard shad working well. There are also plenty of channel catfish in these same areas that will be providing plenty of opportunities for the remainder of the spring as well.
We have reports from the local netters that they are starting to see spot and small croaker showing up in their pound nets. This is good news for striped bass anglers as there should be plenty of spot around to catch for live lining endeavors. Bottom rigs or Chesapeake sabiki rigs baited with small pieces of bloodworms (very expensive) or pieces of Fishbites (more affordable) should do the trick. The striped bass sum/fall season will open this month on May 16th. The regulations are the same as last year with a slot of 19-24” and a creel limit of one fish per person per day. Only certain areas will be open to harvest starting May 16th, while other areas will be either catch and release only or still no targeting. Anglers can view the Maryland DNR striped bass regulation map to see when and where they can target striped bass.
Crabbing Report: Yes, a crabbing report at the very start of May! The Angler in Chief says that this past weekend he managed to scrape up eight keeper crabs running a shortie 600’ trot line in the South River, after prospecting four different areas. Four to six feet of water over muddy bottom was the ticket to these early-early season Jimmies. FishTalk’s Zach Ditmars did even better last week, catching a grand total of 17 when the sun was shining and the crabs started moving around a bit.