Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, June 28 Update:
The striped bass fishing in the Upper Bay has been shifting over the past few weeks. When the season started, most of the fish (and boats) were in the Patapsco, but it seems that the bite in the river has slowed down significantly recently. There are still days where good fishing can be had, but the summer lull is setting in. Live lining has been the go-to with spot being easy to catch especially around Sandy Point, Six Foot Knoll, Seven Foot Knoll, and Belvedere Shoal. Bloodworm flavored Fishbites work excellent for spot and will stay on the hook much better than other baits. Good reports for stripers have also come from Pooles Island and near the Aberdeen Proving Grounds. We are only a few weeks away from the summer striped bass closure, so it may be best to shift focus to other species while water temperatures are very high to prevent catch and release mortality. As always, we encourage anglers to use proper catch and release techniques for striped bass. The stripers don’t fare very well in the heat, so it is best to keep them in the water, if possible, handle them with wet hands, and don’t let them flop around on the ground or bottom of a boat. We all have a responsibility to be responsible anglers.
Perch are biting as well, and an angler fishing in the 20’ depth range in the Patapsco had a great day white perch fishing this week. Soft crab paired with plain long shank number four hooks caught plenty of eater size perch. He also mentioned catching a few under size rockfish and one small puppy drum. The shallower creeks in the Patapsco have also been holding their fair share of perch. Bottom rigs with your favorite white perch bait will get them biting, but small spinners and jigs will work too for those looking to fish with artificial lures on ultralight gear.
Spot and croaker are available at the various shoal and oyster bottom areas in the upper Bay. Nice eater sized spot have been caught around Sandy Point and can be a great opportunity to take kids out for fast paced fishing. Keeper sized croaker have been hard to come by, but a few are around. However, don’t expect to fill a cooler with them. The dolphins have also made their way up north which may be part of the reason that the fish have scattered. Big pods of dolphins will devour schools of rockfish and can shut a bite down very quickly. Although they are a beautiful sight to see, they aren’t great news for anglers.
Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, June 21 Update:
Fishing so far this summer has been good in the Upper Bay as many anglers are hitting the water to enjoy the nice weather and chase the big schools of stripers that are around. Eelers report some success near the Pooles Island lumps, including slot and over-slot fish. The lumps are a historically productive location for catching stripers and now is also a great place to catch blue catfish. Eeling is one of the most popular tactics, but live lining and jigging will also work. Blue catfish are in spawn mode now that water temperatures are around 80 degrees in the Upper Bay. There is usually a lull in fishing for them from late May through June as they have love on the brain, but the bite will get back in order once the spawn is over. You can still catch them right now, but the smaller one-to-five-pound fish seem more willing to bite than the big ones.
There are still plenty of rockfish in Patapsco, but it seems some of the fish are starting to move north. Anglers Sport Center let us know that fishing for striped bass has been good at times around the Baltimore inner harbor. Most of the fish are holding tight to structure, usually around the pilings and shipping docks. Topwater fishing has been decent in the shallows early with the fish pushing to deeper water once the sun gets up.
Last weekend a boat fishing in front of the Seagirt Terminal reported that slot stripers were biting on small live lined spot. A kayak angler fishing Hanover Street Bridge was fishing a tough bite until they started throwing out live minnows under a bobber. They said the fish weren’t interested in jigs or jerkbaits, but that live minnows were getting schoolie stripers to bite. This past week the bite was tough for most anglers with the prevalent south winds and lots of boat activity. Many anglers reported skunk trips or trips with very little action. The summer lull may be setting in early, but we will have to wait and see.
White perch, spot, and small croaker are being caught at Belvedere Shoal and Six Foot Knoll. Bottom rigs tipped with bloodworm or Fishbites typically gets the fish biting. If you are looking to get spot for live lining, there has been a good bite right off Sandy Point. The Bay Bridge has been holding some slot stripers if you don’t want to make the run north. Pitching baits to the pilings in the 20- to 40-foot range during a running tide has led to the best results.
Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, June 14 Update:
Sweet summertime has arrived, and the fishing is good on the Upper Bay. A lot of anglers are hitting the water along with plenty of pleasure boaters, so be ready to deal with lots of boat traffic for the next few months as we all enjoy some of our favorite outdoor recreation. The larger schools of striped bass are in the upper section of the Bay again this year. Most of the fish are hanging out inside the Patapsco River in the vicinity of the shipping docks and Baltimore Harbor. While there is no doubt fish there, there are also a lot of other boats to deal with. Fishing has been good on most days with boats catching their rockfish by trolling, live lining, and light tackle jigging, but the best bite is very early before the boat traffic picks up.
Shallow water structure has been holding scattered fish that are willing to hit topwater lures in the early morning hours. This includes docks, rip rap, shoreline points, and bridges. A running tide has been an important component for finding willing fish to bite. Once the sun gets up, searching for schools of fish in open water has been a good bet. A boat fishing in the Patapsco reported a good evening bite this week with the fish really turning on during the last hour of light. Metal jigs, paddletails, and topwater baits all caught fish. Some birds started working the fish busting at the surface, but nearby boats chased them around relentlessly which is a good way to shut down a bite.
Spot have moved up the Bay and can be found in good numbers around Sandy Point, Belvidere Shoal and Six Foot Knoll. Since the rockfish slot this year is 19 to 24 inches, spot on the smaller side (three to five inches) will be best for boxing slot fish while live lining.
Other than stripers, white perch are a good option to fish for right now. They are being caught in the rivers and creeks in the shallows and out in deeper water in hard bottom areas. Bottom rigs tipped with bloodworms, nightcrawler, grass shrimp, or Fishbites will do the trick in deeper water. Small jigs and spinners usually get them biting near shallow water structure. The pilings in the eight-to-15-foot range at the Bay Bridge are also good places to fish for perch and there are usually plenty of eating size fish around to take home for a delicious meal.
Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, June 7 Update:
Striped bass season is now underway in Maryland and many anglers got out this past week to chase after them. Resident FishTalk kayak sharpie Zach Ditmars reports that there are plenty of rockfish — and plenty of fishing boats — for kayak anglers in the Patapsco as well as boat anglers. Paddletails drew plenty of bites and while the bulk of the fish are dinks, he mentioned having one on that was blatantly above the slot and looked to be 30-plus inches. Just like last year, the larger schools of stripers seem to be hanging out well into the river. But much of the charter fleet has flooded into the river along with recreational boats, and the increased boat traffic has made the bite tough on some days. A boat fishing inside the remnants of the Key Bridge was live lining with white perch and jigging four-inch paddletails without much action. They were surrounded by several charter boats and a few recreational vessels and only saw a handful of fish caught. Getting on the water early and staying away from the crowds has been the more productive strategy for many boats this week. A boat trolling near Dundalk using a five-rod umbrella spread and tandems stayed away from other boats and caught around a dozen fish from 16 to 31 inches with many being in the slot. Another boat jigging caught fish up to 25 inches while using soft plastics and metal spoons while drifting. All things considered this is one of the hottest zones around right now for stripers, so it made this month's Hot Bite Report!
White perch fishing in the creeks is now in fine summer form, and a reader report of solid success fishing with grass shrimp came in from Stoney Creek this week. They can be found near docks, riprap, and shoreline points in the shallow creeks throughout the upper Bay tidal tribs. Small spinners in chartreuse or white reeled in just fast enough to keep the blade spinning is hard to resist for hungry perch. Out on the main stem, bottom fishing has been good at the various shoals in the Upper Bay. Six-foot knoll and seven-foot knoll are two of the popular bottom fishing locations and anglers are catching a mix of white perch, spot, and some catfish right now. The Bay Bridge pilings in the 10 to 15 foot of water range have also been a good place to perch fish. Dropping down live minnows or grass shrimp is working well.