9/29/2017 Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report Update:
It's our final report for September and still, after the amazing summer the Upper Bay has had, although isn’t the hotspot it was in the dead of summer action has certainly been good in the past week. Live-lining with spot has died down as spot are on the move (try the mouth of the Magothy, if you still want to catch spot for baits), and is being replaced by a strong jigging and trolling bite. Fishbones had multiple hotspots to report, including Podickory Point, above the Mud Flats, Belvidere Shoals, Gales Lump, and Tea Kettle Shoals. Both tactics have worked in all these areas, and jigging half-ounce jig heads with chartreuse soft plastics has been the best general method. Belvidere Shoals has had a hot trolling bite, where bucktails and spoons have been the lures of choice. Chartreuse, white or pearl, and light blue are the best colors. Trolling in 15 to 20 feet of water has produced good results, but keep in mind that as the water cools fish will start moving into the 30 foot depth range.
Just north of the bridge, trolling small Tsunamis, bucktails, and #0 and #1 spoons has been producing some pretty decent fish. Jigging Bust ‘em Baits in chartreuse or white and ZMans has also been a great option. Keep in mind that the further south you go, the more likely you are to have the tails of your baits stolen by little blues, which is happening up to around half a mile north of the bridge. One wacky Upper Bay catch to report: a reader caught a Spanish mackerel all the way up at Love Point this week.
The Patapsco is holding a good number of stripers in the 19 inch range according to Tochtermans, where light tackle, Rattle Traps, and soft plastics have been bringing in the fish. Sifting through the small fish close to 19 inches has been resulting in a few keepers for most anglers, as well as a steady day of fishing. Just remember to swap the trebles for single hooks (or at least clip off one tine of the treble) on your plugs, when lots of throw-backs are in the mix. Rockfish are also holding around the Key Bridge and towards Sparrows Point. Other good bets this week included six, seven, and nine foot knolls; jigging these areas has been the best option.
White perch are schooling in the Magothy and in Bodkin Creek, around shallow water lumps. Bloodworms are the best bait to go after them with.
The one down-side for Upper Bay water rats: crabbing has been sub-par.
9/22/2017 Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report Update:
Tochtermans reports that 22 to 26 inch rockfish are abundant in the Upper Bay, hanging around channel edges, near Podickory Point, Love Point, and Snake Reef. Live-lining has been the best way to target the larger fish, and spot have been schooling on hard bottoms. Finding the spot hasn't been easy, as they are constantly on the move. However, once anglers get into them, they are reporting catching them in large numbers. Eight to 15 foot depths off the mouth of the Little Magothy, Sandy Point, and the south side of Bodkin are good places to look for them.
Trolling small spoons has also been a great way to target the rockfish, and some bluefish have been in the mix, depending on how far south you’re fishing. Bluefish have been a problem for live-liners near the bridge, and as far north as Love Point. At the bridge itself there's been plenty of action along the pilings, but the vast majority of the fish are small and on weekends the boat traffic has been rather intense lately. We also had one (unconfirmed) report that the sewer pipe was producing some stripers, too.
Perch are still hanging out in most local creeks, and some channel catfish and a few croaker have been reported as well.
Crabbing has been great in the Magothy for trotliners, and is hitting the fall stride. Chicken necks are the best bait.
9/14/2017 Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report Update:
With changing water temperatures, Fishbones reports that live-lining has been the go-to method for anglers looking to catch good sized rockfish in the Upper Bay. Spot have been present around the bay bridge pilings, where many anglers are heading to catch their bait. Podickory Point, Love Point, and Swan Point have all had steady live-lining bites. Despite the great bite at these spots, live-liners—beware! Reports of bluefish snatching baits have been daily, and many anglers have been shut down due to the pesky bluefish. We advise making sure you have plenty of extra baits on hand because you well know, nothing is worse than running out of bait during a hot bite. Most of the larger fish being caught have been in deeper water off channel edges.
Along with live-lining, jigging has become increasingly productive in the past week as water temperatures have changed, and many fish are holding tight to bottom. Tochterman's reported that half-ounce jig heads with chartreuse and white BKDs or GULP lures have been a popular choice, as well as blue and white spoons. Tochterman's also noted that some areas of the Bay have a hefty current ripping along bottom, and when you’re on top of fish working against the current jigging, it may be wise to take the time to up-size the weight of your jig head and make sure you’re hitting bottom.
Fishbones also has had a few reports of croaker this week, with most are schooling south near Podickory Point and the bay bridge pilings. The pilings have been a great source of action for anglers looking to bring home a croaker and perch dinner, as many are sticking right up close. While there have been a few reports of rockfish on the pilings, most have been small.
9/7/2017 Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report Update:
We had an update just yesterday, so keep scrolling down after reading today's update. Fishbone’s reported that the upper bay has been full of life this past week, with plenty of small stripers above the bridge in their mid twenties around Belvidere Shoals. Most anglers have been light tackle jigging with Bust ‘em Baits in chartreuse and white, or have been chumming. Swan Point has had many keepers, however there have been a fair amount of bluefish in the mix stealing baits and jigs. Love Point has been another good area for trollers with small umbrellas and spoons doing the trick. Spanish mackerel have moved up north according to Tochtermans, and have been hitting small number-one spoons. The bite at Podickory Point has died down a significant amount, however, and most of the fish still being caught in the area have been undersized.
Live-liners looking for spot have found that many have tucked up into tributaries, coves, and creeks, and are fairly shallow.
Plenty of catfish are up north, as well as a few croaker, and both species are biting cut baits with peeler crab being a top choice. Tochtermans also reported that the croaker being caught up north are primarily small fish, yet are still in great numbers. Fortunately, many anglers are also encountering white perch to keep them busy and fill the cooler.
9/6/2017 Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report Update:
Two readers have checked in with us in the past two days to report a good bite in and around the Patapsco. One had a striper at 32" plus lots of schoolies, and the other had a 32" striper, blues, white perch, and even a catfish. Both were fishing near the mouth of the river. Meanwhile, down at the bridge it was a mad-house over the holiday but even so, there were good numbers of stripers from 16" to the mid-20's biting for jiggers and live-liners alike. The stretch from the western shore rockpile to about a quarter mile south-west was a hot zone, with birds popping up now and again.
9/1/2017 Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report Update:
2017 will certainly go down in the record books as one of the best ever, for striper anglers in the Upper Chesapeake Bay. No matter who we speak with—Tochterman’s in Baltimore, Fishbone’s in Pasadena, or Angler’s in Annapolis—everyone agrees that the most consistent striper bite in the Bay has remained north of the Bridges ever since the spring trophy season ended.
Recently the bite has dropped off a bit at Podickory Point (which was the go-to hotspot for months on end) but there are still good numbers of fish in the area. Chumming and live-lining has been the ticket for most anglers, with Love Point and Swan Point producing fish. The bulk are sub-legal, but most anglers are able to sort through them to put together nice catches of fish up to 26-inches and occasionally 28-inches. Trollers working the edges off Love Point have also been successful, with small umbrellas and four- to six-inch plastic shad and Tsunamis accounting for much of the catch. White seems to be the color of choice. Blues had moved in and were snatching some plastic tails (and spot tails) but their numbers seem to have backed off.
Jiggers have been having the best luck using skirted plastics, mostly BKDs, at Belvidere Shoals and around the Bay Bridge pilings. Another area jiggers have scored—including on some 30-inch-plus fish—is in Baltimore harbor, working the rip-rap and pilings with white and chartreuse lures. In fact, Tochterman's had confirmation of a 33-inch fish pulled from the harbor this past week.
The perch bite has also remained strong in the Upper Bay. Anglers fishing in the tributaries and also on shell bottom in open water have been catching all they can handle on bottom rigs baited with bloodworms. Six Foot Knoll, Snake Reef, and the lumps of Belvidere are all holding plenty of these panfish, along with some small spot and a few small croaker.