Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, November 24 Update:
The Eastern Shore and marshes and islands offer us some of the most beautiful scenery on the East Coast. Throw in some amazing fishing opportunities and we have more than enough to be thankful for. Most of the fishing action as of late has been centered around rockfish. As water temperatures have dropped, there has been a slow movement of fish out of the shallows and into deeper water. There hasn’t been much bird action down this way, but there is plenty of structure that the fish have been holding close to. Sea Hawk Sports Center reports that their crew has been finding fish concentrated on deeper stump fields and rocks. Rap-10s have been the hot bait. Most of the action has been early in the day, but decent catching has persisted so long as a good current is running. They also had some success in deeper holes of tidal creeks while throwing paddletails.There has also been some rockfish action at some of the deeper reefs around a few of the day markers in the lower Pocomoke and Tangier Sounds. These fish are more willing to hit heavy jigging spoons or large soft plastics. 20- to 25-inch fish have been standard, but a few over-slot fish have been brought in this week.
Black sea bass are also being found at the deeper reef and wreck structures. Most of the fish are just under legal size but a few keepers are being caught by those with enough persistence. Structure in 40 to 60 foot of water is where most of the fish are hanging out at right now. Small metal jigs or bottom rigs tipped with Fishbites have been working well.
Up in the Eastern Shore tidal rivers like the Nanticoke and Pocomoke, blue catfish are very active. The Nanticoke is known for producing big blue cats, and the colder months are the best time to catch them. The deeper holes and channel ledges are where these fish like to congregate right now.
Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, November 17 Update:
November is a prime month to fish the sounds of the Chesapeake Bay. Water temperatures have cooled off significantly and the rockfish are much more active feeding in both the shallows and deeper water. Reports have indicated that there isn’t a huge biomass of fish, but the quality of fish has made up for that. The rockfish in the shallows are holding close to submerged structure, shoreline points, and rock jetties where there is a good moving current. Paddletails and lipless crankbaits are doing a lot of the catching. Some of the more productive areas have been stump fields but be prepared to get snagged. Often the cast required to get a fish to bite will be threading the needle between stumps. Tangier Sound Charters has found good luck fishing these shallow water areas and even had an angler catch two keeper sized fish on one rig during a trip this week. Captain C.L. is finding water temperatures havering around the 52-degree mark. Another boat fishing in the Pocomoke found a fast-moving school of rockfish during a mid-week trip and caught five fish up to 24 inches before losing the school
The blue catfish are providing good action for anglers targeting them in the Eastern Shore tidal rivers. The Nanticoke and Manokin have been highlighted as having the best bites for catfish this week. Deeper channels and holes in the rivers are where these fish like to hang out. Dropping down fresh cut bunker is usually their favorite, but any variety of fresh cut bait can work.
The cooler weather also has the pickerel much more active in the rivers, lakes, and ponds. Many of the Eastern Shore millponds are known for producing giant pickerel and the colder months is the time to fish for them. That said, Contributor Eric Packard hit two this week and found the bite at Smithville very slow, and the bite at Johnsons a bit better but still on the slow side. He was casting a #4 Mepps and a twitch-bait. A variety of lures work well including spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, and chatterbaits. Lures with some shine are often good for getting reactionary bites. Live minnows floated under a bobber also work particularly well. The CCA Pickerel Championship is currently underway. It is a great opportunity to compete against fellow anglers for some cool prizes. The tournament runs until the end of February, so there is plenty of time to make a run at winning it all.
Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, November 10 Update:
November is a premier month to catch rockfish in this region of the Bay. Captain C.L. Marshall of Tangier Sound Charters has been enjoying steady rockfish action in the shallows. The flip-flop weather patterns we have been experiencing are making him work hard on certain trips, but if there’s one captain who can find the fish in this region, it’s C.L. On a trip this week he and his crew found a steady mid-day topwater bite while fishing nearshore structure. They caught fish up to 27 inches along with plenty of other keeper sized fish in the mix. Paddletails and spook-style topwater baits are enticing the rock to bite.
Captain Cook of First Light Charters says he spent some time on the ESVA learning the area recently, and caught speckled trout, redfish, and some tog. Out on the deeper wrecks and reefs, sea bass have been showing up all throughout the bay as far north as the Bay Bridge. These fish offer a good colder weather fishing opportunity, and the southern reaches of the Bay could even see some tautog show up at these sights. Chesapeake sabiki rigs tipped with squid or Fishbites should get them biting if you can find a school.
Sea Hawk Sports Center also checked in to let us know that their reports also indicate anglers are having to work hard to find fish. Despite the quantity being hard to come by, the quality has been great with mid-to-upper-slot rockfish being found throughout the sounds. They also said the better red drum and speckled trout action has been on the southern Eastern Shore in Virginia waters, but that there are still a few hanging around the Tangier. Some of their crew was out this week and found rockfish being the driving force behind most of the action. The fish were spread out from deeper structure to creeks so small it was hard to turn the boat around in. Their most productive lures were Rap10s and SaltWater Assassin Sea Shads in opening night colors on half-ounce jigheads. Covering a lot of water has been the key to success.
Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, November 3 Update:
It felt like summer last weekend on the lower Eastern Shore, but this week has brought much colder conditions to start November. There are still plenty of fish in this region of the Bay that will be available to catch throughout the month. A reader kayak fishing the lower ESVA during a multiday trip last week reported a wonderful mix of fish are still around, with lots of specks (up to 20”), lots of puppy drum including both slots and under-slots, plenty of keeper flounder, some weakfish, and a sheepshead rounding out the catch. Cooling water temperatures has Captain C.L. Marshall of Tangier Sound Charters excited because it will spur the rockfish to start schooling. Now through the end of the year is a great time to get on a fantastic light tackle rockfish bite in the Tangier and Pocomoke Sounds.
Gamefish such as speckled trout, red drum, and rockfish are still being caught in the shallows near stump fields, creek mouths, and current breaks, but their numbers will begin to dwindle as they migrate to deeper water throughout the fall. Some of the crew from Sea Hawk Sports Center was out this week and reported finding lower quantities of fish than expected, but that the quality was great. They boated several rockfish in the 25-to-29-inch range which helped counter the hiatuses in the action when they had to search for fish. Most of their fish were found tight to structure and were hitting a variety of paddletails and Rat-L-Traps.
Attention Anglers: Maryland Department of Natural Resources biologists are looking to better understand the striped bass recreational fishery in the Chesapeake Bay and are asking for your help. Biologists have set up an online survey site where anglers can enter fishing data from a smartphone or computer. All you need to record is the length of any striped bass you catch and whether you kept or released it.