Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, September 26 Update:
In the open waters of the Sounds from out near the islands to the Target Ship there are schools of bull redfish to be found, and The Tackle Box reported some very nice catches were coming in the Tangier vicinity while jigging over structure. We also had a reader report hooking into several bull redfish plus a holdover cobia in open water.
Captain C.L. Marshall of Tangier Sound Charters says there’s been a nice influx of redfish in the shallows, too, with slot sized fish in the 18” to 26” range hitting swimbaits, crab, and shrimp under a popping cork. The slot fish have been showing up as shallow as 1.5’ but have also been around deeper structure, and larger drum of both the red and the black varieties have been showing up around channel edges and deeper wrecks at dusk. C.L. also noted that speckled trout numbers have been climbing as well in recent days with lots of smaller fish in the grassy shallows.
Editor’s Note: Our intrepid and awesome Reports Editor Dillon Waters is away on his honeymoon this week, and the reports were compiled by the staff in his absence. We send Dillon and his bride Layla our congratulations and best wishes for a wonderful future.
Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, September 19 Update:
The old saying of “Fish from the east, fish bite the least” has rung quite true lately as a persistent northeast blow has made for poor conditions this week. Reports editor Dillon Waters made it over to the shore last weekend to fish with captain C.L. Marshall of Tangier Sound Charters despite a poor forecast. Winds were light enough in the morning to run out and fish the islands of the Pocomoke Sound where they found two slot reds up to 24 inches, a few under slot reds, two speckled trout, and a handful of striped bass up to 28 inches. The wind kicked up and forced them back to calmer waters along the mainland. There they tossed out peeler crab along protected shorelines where they found a slow bite for small red drum and plenty of Atlantic stingrays and cownose rays. The first part of the week kept C.L. off the water, but as the winds died down during the second half, he found that the red drum bite turned back on. His recent trips have produced several upper slot red drum.
The drum have been a treat this summer and now that fall is here, the bull reds are being caught more consistently in the Tangier and Pocomoke Sound. The reefs and wrecks in this section of the Bay are holding a variety of species right now. Sea Hawk Sports Center reports that bull reds, big black drum, sheepshead, bluefish, and many other species are all being caught. Chunks of peeler crab on fish finder rigs have tempted the larger drum into the nets. The larger bluefish have been caught by anglers throwing paddletails and other hard bodied artificial lures. Make sure to add heavy fluorocarbon or metal leader when fishing for them because their sharp teeth are sure to break off lighter line. Bottom fishing has also been excellent at the mouths of the lower eastern shore rivers with a lot of tasty fish biting. Big white perch, keeper croaker, spot, and kingfish are making up the majority of the catches for those throwing out small bits of peeler crab or Fishbites on bottom rigs. The Manokin, Big Annemessex, and Pocomoke rivers were mentioned as productive this week.
Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, September 12 Update:
The Eastern Shore has been the scene for some red hot action this week. The up and down nature of this month’s weather has made the bite erratic at times, but this week we settled into a nice pattern of steady catching. Puppy drum are the big talk of the town as they continue to prowl the shallows willing to take a variety of baits from soft crab to paddletails. Sea Hawk Sports Center reports that slot and under slot fish are abundant on the grass flats around Crisfield, Smith Island, Tangier Island, and Saxis. They also mentioned the speckled trout bite is picking back up and popping corks have seduced specks, mainly on the smaller side, into the net, though there have been some giants in the upper 20s mixed in. Shrimp have moved up and into the tidal creeks and onto the grass flats as well, so mimicking them with Z-Man EZ ShrimpZ will be a good tactic over the next couple weeks.
Light Tackle Guide C.L. Marshall of Tangier Sound Charters stayed on the fish this week putting together multiple successful trips on the Tangier and Pocomoke Sounds. One trip started off catching slot reds and rockfish on topwater along shoreline points. They then moved to shallow flats and continued to pick at more puppy drum before moving to deep water structure. For nearly two hours they had a wide-open bite catching bull reds and big black drum on peeler crab. A trip later in the week saw a wide variety of fish as his anglers boated over a dozen species including slot striped bass and puppy drum. If you don’t know by now, soft crab will catch just about everything. Fishbites on bottom rigs are also an excellent setup to catch a multitude of fish including spot, croaker, kingfish, rockfish, specks, drum, and much more.
We are just a few weeks away from the fall striped bass season opening in Virginia which will run from October 4th through December 31st. Fall is one of the most exciting times of the year for fishing on the Chesapeake Bay, so much sure to get the plans into motion now so you don’t miss out on the action.
Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, September 5 Update:
It was a gorgeous week on the Chesapeake Bay with daytime highs in the 70s and overnight lows reaching the 50s in some places. Water temps are ticking down, and fishing action is picking up. There are less than two weeks left for cobia season, and anglers are definitely doing their best to get in the last few catches before it will move to catch and release only. Notable areas have been in the vicinity of the Target Ship and lumpy areas to the west of Smith and Tangier Islands. Anglers have reported lots of boats on the water during calmer days, so be prepared for boat pressure. Trolling with large surgical tubes is the preferred tactic right now. Colors of pink, orange, tan, and purple have been known to work well. In addition to catching cobia, the rubber tubes are catching nice size bluefish upwards of 25 inches. The Target Ship was noted as being productive for big blues last weekend and one reader filled a boat limit for three people while casting metal jigs to schools of bait being chased by choppers.
If you haven’t heard by now, Captain C.L. Marshall is the resident expert for fishing in this section of the Bay and if there is fish around, he will find them. C.L. runs Tangier Sound Charters and fishes all the waters of the Tangier and Pocomoke Sound. This week he found that the cooler temperatures made for hungry fish, but stiff north winds kept him and his crew to protected waters on a few trips. Rockfish action in the shallows is heating up and his anglers had good success fishing shoreline points and creek mouths. The puppy drum action has also remained excellent, and he had multiple boat limits this week. Bottom fishing has also been good for his crews with spot, kingfish, white perch, and even keeper croaker showing up. Bottom rigs tipped with bloodworm Fishbites and peeler crab are catching a plethora of fish. Sea Hawk Sports Center let us know that the bull redfish bite in the sounds has also been improving from Watts Island south along sloughs and shoals. Fresh cut spot and peeler crab on fish finder rigs has brought around half a dozen reds a night into the net during recent trips.