Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, August 30 Update:
Fishing is hot right now people! If you can get down to the lower or southern Bay, opportunities are seemingly endless. Up in the southern ESVA creeks, Team FishTalk found a nice speck bite late last week (see the Way South report for the lowdown on the open water bite) with good numbers of keeper fish between 15” and 20” hitting 4” paddletails cast along undercut banks. The flounder bite was pretty strong, too, with lots of flatties brought up to the boat including a few quality fish up to 22”. White, pink, chartreuse and chrome all caught fish with Gulps! seeming to do better than other plastics. Puppy drum were also in the mix but small bluefish were present, too, so if you’re going to cast bitable tails be sure to bring plenty.
Bull reds are making a push into the tributaries as their spawning activity picks up. They are being caught in both the Tangier and Pocomoke Sound as well as the main stem of the Bay along the shipping channel. The bulls have been harder to locate during the day, but are showing themselves more frequently along ledges and shoals in the evenings or at night. Slot reds are also abundant in the shallows of the Eastern Shore and it is one of the best years we have seen in a long time for slot red drum. Captain C.L. Marshall of Tangier Sound Charters has been taking full advantage of these opportunities and is consistently putting his clients on drum of all sizes. Evening trips this week have produced multiple citation sized red drum. C.L. is also finding a wide variety of other fish during his trips including rockfish, bluefish, speckled trout, Spanish mackerel, flounder (including keepers), croaker, spot, sharks, rays, and even pompano. That’s right, the pompano are making their return to the Bay and some big ones have been caught on the Shore. Soaking baits on bottom and casting lures will give you a chance at just about anything this time of year—you just need to get out on the water.
Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, August 22 Update:
After a scorching hot first half of summer, we sure are enjoying this cooler weather as fall is knocking on our door. The cool temps and light breeze have made for excellent fishing conditions this week. A reader checked in with a monster bull redfish caught just off Tangier Island. Schools of the big reds have been roving the area and making for some very exceptional catches when anglers troll tube or spoons through them or get lucky enough to sight the fish and heave a jig to them. Schools of bluefish and Spanish mackerel are still being found along the shipping channel edges and in areas of 15 to 40 feet of water. The mackerel are becoming more abundant, but bluefish still outnumber them for the most part. Trollers are finding success using small drone or clark spoons pulled behind number one or two planers. Speeds of six to nine knots are usually required for the mackerel and anything slower will get you bit by bluefish.
Team FishTalk reports some interesting adventures on the lower ESVA this week, including a couple of bull drum catches, weakfish, bluefish, croaker, and flounder at Kiptopeake. The most plentiful fish, however, was cutlassfish. Small spoons and biteproof plastics proved effective on all of the above, with most of the fish found in the 25 to 30 foot range. Captain C.L. Marhsall of Tangier Sound Charters continues to hammer the redfish cruising around the shallows of the Tangier and Pocomoke Sound. He says that peeler crabs are catching the most fish, but topwater baits and popping corks have been great artificial presentations. He has also seen an uptick in the bull redfish action and the best fishing for them is happening in the evenings. The bite wasn’t wide open this week, but persistence paid off on his trips. Wind kept them to protected water on one day, but they still managed a limit of slot reds, plus a dozen other species. An early week trip started with slot reds plus a dozen or so shorts, then they found a few specks and around a dozen bluefish. They also caught a cobia which resulted in a successful catch and release. Cobia anglers should get out every chance they get over the next few weeks because there is less than a month before the season closes. Cobia season will close in Maryland and Virginia on September 15th.
Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, August 15 Update:
The shallows of the Chesapeake Bay have seen quite the surge of drum this summer and anglers on the Eastern Shore have enjoyed steady pickings of the spot-tails. Waters got churned up quite a bit from the big storm last weekend, but things are starting to settle back into their normal summer pattern. Puppy drum are being caught along grass beds, flats, and at small feeder creeks. Plenty of slot fish are around along with a plethora of smaller fish. Captain C.L. Marhsall of Tangier Sound Charters is the resident expert when it comes to red drum on the Eastern Shore and he has been enjoying excellent drum action on recent trips with plenty of slot fish in the shallows and bull reds in deeper water. A moving tide has been required, and during a midweek trip, C.L. boated 20 slot reds with his crew then moved out and caught bulls up to 50 inches as the sun was setting. Maryland regulations allow anglers to keep one fish per person per day between 18 and 27 inches. Virginia regulations allow anglers to keep three fish per person per day between 18 and 26 inches.
The cooler temperatures have also seemed to bring a resurgence to the speckled trout bite with better reports this week. Popping corks over grass beds trailed by light jigheads in the 1/8 to 1/4 ounce range tipped with soft plastics have been most productive. Paddletails, straight tails, and shrimp soft plastics are working great. We are seeing a push of white shrimp up the Bay, which will become a main forage for predatory fish while they are here. Anglers are catching them in their cast nets all the way up to the Middle Bay. One reader reported catching a 24-inch speckled trout on a grass flat that they saw chasing a school of small baitfish. Low light conditions are still best right now, but if the daytime temperatures stay on the cooler side, we should see the bite last throughout longer periods of the day.
Bottom fishing has also been excellent in the rivers of the Eastern Shore with anglers reporting nice sized white perch, spot, keeper croaker, kingfish, and many other species biting. A variety of baits will work including bloodworm, squid, peeler crab, and Fishbites. Anglers can be sure that they will enjoy any fishing trip on the shore thanks to the beautiful scenery—catching fish is just the icing on the cake.
Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, August 9 Update:
Wind and rain kept many anglers off the water this week as the remnants of Hurricane Debbie continue to blow through our region. There were some fishing windows earlier in the week, but the wind still kept most boats to protected shorelines and backwater areas. Captain C.L. Marshall of Tangier Sound Charters has found an excellent puppy drum bite throughout the summer and that action has continued this week despite less-than-ideal conditions. Last weekend, Captain C.L. had a boat limit of slot reds and released around another two dozen. Chunks of peeler crab on fish finder rigs fished along edges of grass beds have tempted the spot tails into the net. Trips this week were filled with pups and plenty of bottom dwellers including good catches of eater sized white perch. Early reports of shrimp showing up in the shallows have also started to roll in with anglers finding them in their cast nets. They should become more abundant as we get closer to fall.
The big schools of bull reds have been making infrequent appearances along main channel edges. Boats searching for the big reds have had to cover lots of water, some days logging over 100 miles before finding the fish, or not. When they have been lucky enough to stumble into the schools, large swimbaits on one-to-two-ounce jigheads, and even topwater lures, have enticed the bulls to bite. Sea Hawk Sports Center says the good news is that if you can’t find the reds, there are plenty of bluefish and mackerel in open water. The bluefish have outnumbered the mackerel by about three to one in most cases. Trollers are having the best luck pulling small gold, silver, pink, and green spoons behind number one planers in 15 to 30 feet of water. Mackerel have been mostly in the 15-to-18-inch range while the majority of bluefish have been one to three pounds. Some larger chopper blues are still around too, mainly located on isolated structures, however. It will be windy and wet through today and into tomorrow, but the forecast looks much better to start next week. Temperatures will also be on the cooler side compared to what they have been this summer. Expect the fishing to be red hot if the forecast holds true.
Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, August 2 Update:
The weather lately has looked a lot different than earlier in summer when scorching heat and lack of rain were what we complained about. Now, fishing windows have been limited by frequent summer storms and wind that have us hoping for clear skies. The rain has been a good thing, however, as it has dropped water temperatures slightly and fish are responding well everywhere from the shallows to the main stem. Spanish mackerel action has ticked up significantly this week as boats are reporting steadier catches around Tangier Island, the Target Ship, and the main shipping channel. Small spoons trolled behind number-one planers have picked up the toothy speedsters. Silver, gold, pink, orange, and green colored lures are all good options to have in your arsenal as the mackerel may prefer one color over others on certain days.
Sea Hawk Sports Center reports that cobia fishing has been fair with anglers reporting better results the further south you go. Lots of boats are trolling or chumming along lumpy zones and shoals in 15 to 30 feet of water. Fish finder rigs baited with bunker chunks or live eels is the preferred method when chumming. Be prepared for a lot of bycatch with this method as rays and sharks are often quick to pick up the fresh cut bait. Boats that focus on sight fishing have had a bit more difficulty as of late with clouds and wind making it difficult to spot fish on the surface some days. When good weather windows present themselves, sight fishing with live eels or bucktails has been very effective.
Captain C.L. Marshall of Tangier Sound Charters has been enjoying some excellent fishing in the shallows of the Tangier and Pocomoke this week. Breezy conditions during an early week trip kept him in protected water, but that wasn’t a problem as he put his crew on slot redfish on topwater lures and a few striped bass. They then moved to bottom fishing and put 20 big white perch in the box. Later in the week, his anglers enjoyed excellent puppy drum fishing in Virginia waters and took home a limit of slot fish. C.L. says speck fishing is also good right now, but early and late is when these fish seem to be cooperating.
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.
Crazy Fish Alert: Rumors are flying about tarpon - yes, tarpon - being spotted as far north as Maryland portions of the Bay. We haven't recieved photo verification from anyone who's caught one yet but wow, can ya imagine?!