4/28/2017 Update:
Anglers Sport Center let us know to target trophy rockfish by trolling chartreuse daisy chains or tandem rigs in 35 to 65 feet of water. They say the better bite, however, has been to our south near the shipping channel edges between Cedar and Smith Point. As water clarity gets better and the bay warms up, anglers should find more success trolling closer to home. Chumming and cut bait have produced the most fish in northern areas so far, especially near Podickory Point (there it is, again!)
FishTalk Angler in Chief Lenny Rudow reports a skunk after fishing bunker chunks off Tolly Point for a few hours last Sunday afternoon (ouch!) Even with lots of nice looking marks on the meter there were zero bites, but he also said that the thermocline in the area was unbelievably strong. Running at about 20 feet it was such a hard break that the fishfinder showed this water barrier consistently in red like a solid bottom reading, something he said he’s never seen on his meter before.
Perch fishing has been good, and now that spawning is over fish can be found in back creeks and rivers under structure such as fallen trees. Local anglers on both eastern and western shores have been using shad darts with bloodworm bits and minnow. Beachwood Park in the Magothy River, and on the Choptank near Greensboro, have been hot-spots. The western shore salt ponds connected to the bay (such as at Triton-Beverly Beach Park) are also filling up with white perch.
4/23/2017 Late Breaking Update:
The trophy bite lit up on Friday and Saturday. Whether it's due to the shift in the weather or the fish moving out of spawning areas, anglers in the middle Bay (all through the bay, actually) reported improved catches with a number of boats reporting limits. The waters near Thomas Point, the Green #1 to its south, and from Chesapeake Beach to Solomons all came up in reports as winners. White and chartreuse were both effective for trollers, while cut bunker fished on bottom produced good numbers of fish (mostly in 35 feet of water over mud bottom). There are also plenty of reports rolling in of fish from 30 to 40 inches coming from Eastern Bay, but don't forget that these waters are closed during trophy season. Still, it's a great sign for the future and indicates trolling near the mouth of Eastern Bay should also be effective in the coming days!
4/21/2017 Update:
A slow bay-wide opening has left many anglers returning without a fish in the box this past week. However, those who were successful left with some monster trophy rockfish, with reports of 42 to 46 inchers, and one 49.75 inch fish was caught just off Thomas Point on opening morning. Chumming in 30 to 35 feet of water on the western side has been as or more effective than trolling, though this could change at any time. With a hit-or-miss bite since opening day, fishing is expected to pick up as the season progresses with fish leaving the rivers they’ve been spawning in.
Angler's Sport Center reported a strong bite on bunker and confirmed the 30 to 35 foot range as being the hot ticket. They also noted that people casting from the shoreline have been doing pretty good.
There's also been a strong bite on school-sized fish at the Bay Bridges. While keepers have not been the norm, (we were unable to confirm one single fish over 35 inches coming from the pilings) catch and release anglers have been having a ball. If these fish stick around until the size limit drops, it should become a prime target zone. We did speak with one angler who said that after leaving this bite, he caught a fish over 40 inches plus two slightly smaller rock in the shallows, on soft plastics. While we don't have a specific location tied to this report, it bodes well for light-tackle anglers who want to make a run at keeper fish. As we saw in the Upper Bay Report, there certainly seems to be more action than one would expect in five or six feet of water recently, especially at dusk.
4/16/17 Update:
Well, darn... it was a slow opening day for many anglers. Most boats reported zero to three fish and a DNR officer working the fleet just south of the Bay Bridge said they had checked about 20 boats as of 9:00, and only saw one fish. There are still plenty of marks on the fishfinder, so prevailing theories are that the bright moon overnight and/or all the boat traffic left the fish less apt to bite. The waters from the ships to south of Bloody Point did look rather crowded; we did a spot-check from Thomas Point and counted over 120 boats within view, mostly packed down near Bloody Point. Those that did catch said white parachutes did best. On the western side, 35' sounded like the best depth overall. We also heard reports of lots of the dreaded jellies in some areas, on the eastern side of the bay. Two bright spots: there were a lot of sub-legal but still very nice fish on structure, which bodes well for the future, and while there was some debris floating around, the water looked relatively good.
4/14/17 Update:
Angler's Sport Center in Annapolis reports that stripers have been favoring white tandem rigs and mylar parachutes, with some bigger fish down towards the bottom though that should change as the waters warm a bit more. They also note that the white perch are still running in areas like Tuckahoe Creek and the upper Chester, and the shad run has begun as well. Check out Angler's full on-line fishing report for more info. At Island Tackle Outfitters on Kent Island, we heard about stripers being trolled up by pre-fishers from Love Point to Bloody Point, but those attempting to jig on the fish had a tougher time when fish spotted on the meter weren't always willing to bite. ITO also mentioned they'd heard about a few yellow perch being caught in the Wye.
Bay Country Crabbing Supply in Edgewater, Maryland let us know that there's good white perch fishing going on at Wayson's and in the upper Patuxent in general. The best bait has been grass shrimp on shad darts, sometimes suspended under a bobber. And - are you ready for this - anglers have also encountered some snakeheads in the same areas perch have been caught! Bay Country also let us know that crabs are on the move. Some have been caught (in pots) out around the mouth of the West River using razor clam and menhaden, in depths of 18' to 20'. It won't be long before it's time to start stretching out that trot-line and remember, Bay Country has one of the most extensive selections of crabbing gear in Maryland.
Meanwhile, Travis Long checked in to let us know that the shad run is kicking in (editor's note: we've heard from other sources that they have arrived at Fletcher's on the Potomac), and at the same time he also mentions the Patuxent and says on a recent trip they caught white perch, yellow perch, bluegill, and crappie. Small jigs with Bust 'em Bait stingers and Pro-Cure anise scent did the trick, along with the usual grass shrimp and bloodworm bits.
4/7/2017
Anglers pre-fishing the middle bay have reported that the rock are in! An early spawn this year means fewer fish with eggs should be caught once the season opens. Dave from Island Tackle Outfitters, located in Chester, Maryland, recommend using parachutes with nine-inch shad, umbrella rigs, and soft plastics to go after striped bass this April. Dave also shared that catch-and-release fisherman have successfully been finding working birds (using soft plastics with a one or two ounce jig head), including gannets, catching from Bloody Point down to the Choptank. Lenny Rudow recommends that anglers looking to chase birds this season invest in gyroscopically-stabilized binoculars, which will give them the ability to clearly spot birds from miles away. The folks at Angler’s Sport Center in Annapolis agreed that stripers appeared early and in good numbers, and say warm water discharges were popular for pre-season anglers. White perch are also expected to be plentiful in the middle bay this spring, having spawned early this year. Grass shrimp and blood worms have been successful in targeting white perch, which will move to deeper water after spawning.
