Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, November 24 Update:
One of the many things we have to be thankful for is the Chesapeake Bay. Between her beauty and great fishing opportunities, we can all agree we have access to a truly special place. Good fishing this week also gave anglers a reason to be thankful. Reader reports of success on rockfish have come in from Brickhouse Bar, Love Point, and the mouth of the Patapsco, with a steady drumbeat of trollers doing better than most of the anglers applying other tactics. Six-inch shad umbrella rigs weighted down with 12 ounces of lead have been noted as effective. One angler reported in after a good day of catching keeper sized fish while trolling in an undisclosed location of the Upper Bay. He and another angler kept a 29 and 25-inch fish for the dinner table and he noted that most fish were caught on chartreuse colored baits. We also had a report from a reader who let us know that he is still catching rockfish off his dock at night in the Magothy. The fish have been attracted to the lights and are busting small baitfish that come through. They have been finnicky though, and he said a small Rat-L-Trap has been all they are willing to hit.
Anglers Sport Center reports that the white perch have mostly moved to deeper waters where they will hangout for the colder months. Deeper channel areas, ledges, and holes with hard bottom like oysters are their preferred locations. Bottom rigs tipped with Fishbites or bloodworms are popular options that usually get the fish biting. Thick schools of perch will show up on the fish finder holding close to bottom so idling around while keeping a close eye on the screen will be a good way to locate them. If the perch or rockfish won't cooperate, the pickerel action has been very good as of late. The Severn and Magothy are two of the better tidal locations to target pickerel in the state. The upper reaches of the smaller creeks and coves off the main stem of the rivers are where you will find the best concentration of fish. Spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, and live minnows work great for casting around nearshore structure. If you haven’t already, now is a great time to sign up for the CCA Pickerel Championship. It is a great opportunity to compete against fellow anglers for great prizes and more importantly, bragging rights.
Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, November 17 Update:
Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and while that means turkey is on the menu, there are still plenty of fish to catch that can be served at dinner too. Anglers targeting rockfish in the upper Bay have found mixed results. Lately, it has taken a lot of searching to find the schools of fish cruising around channel edges. Searching at some of the more well-known locations like the Patapsco, Key Bridge, Pooles Island, and the mouths of the tidal rivers are good bets. A couple of reader reports of success came in from Love Point this week, including one who said trolling chartreuse umbrella rigs with six-inch shad was effective on fish up to 30”. The rock piles at the bay Bridge are also holding some fish, but the bite can be finnicky. One boat reported in after catching a few fish up to 24 inches while jigging soft plastics. Anglers Sport Center let us know that blue catfish have taken center stage for many upper Bay anglers. These fish have a heavy presence in this region and Anglers reports that key areas to find them include the mouths of rivers and along channel edges. The lumps around Pooles Island are still offering some big catfish to anglers dropping down cut bait.
Pickerel activity has really picked up with the falling water temperatures. The Severn and Magothy rivers are two of the better tidal rivers in the upper Bay for targeting pickerel. The upper reaches of the feeder creeks are where many anglers find the most success. The pickerel like to hangout near docks, rocky shorelines, and submerged structure, which the tidal rivers have plenty of. On sunny days, the southern facing shorelines will usually have the warmest waters which can attract pickerel. A variety of lures work well for targeting the pickerel 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.
Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, November 10 Update:
The weather has been wacky lately with warmups and cool downs every few days. It seems that is has the fish confused on what their typical pattern should be, but nonetheless, anglers are persisting through the ups and downs. The Angler in Chief says a foray up to the Pooles Island lumps and the mouth of the Bush while fishing in the Fish For a Cure Tournament last weekend produced fair catfish fishing, with one nice 33-inch blue cat topping the charts – and putting Team FishTalk/PropTalk in first place in both the Grand Slam and Invasive Species categories. The other blue and white cats they caught were less impressive, and white perch and even a couple of holdover spot rounded out the catch. Cut menhaden was the top bait. He also said there were a few rockfish around the Bay Bridge rockpiles, all between around 18 and 23 inches. One-ounce jigging spoons in chartreuse and white and white shad-tail plastics fished on bottom in 30 to 40 feet of water got them biting.
The bulk of the better rockfish action seems to be taking place in the middle Bay, but there are still fish to be caught in various areas of the upper Bay. The mouths of the tidal rivers are good places to look along the channel edges for schools of rockfish searching for bait. The Patapsco also has a good number of fish still, it just may take some more searching to find them. This river has resident fish year-round and offers an opportunity to catch rockfish during every month. One angler fishing out of Joppatowne reported a solid evening bite earlier this week while trolling umbrella rigs. They even had times where three rods were getting hit at once. They kept a 28 and 29 inch rockfish and released many others between 19 and 22 inches. Just because “Rocktober” has come and gone doesn’t mean that the fishing must stop. November is now widely considered one of the best months to target rockfish in the Bay.
The cool weather pickerel bite has begun in the Baltimore-area creeks and Upper Bay tributaries. Contributor Eric Packard visited Stoney Creek this week and caught a nice selection of pickerel from 14 to 24 inches, casting a white paddletail on a 3/8-ounce jighead. He noted that most of the fish were concentrated on a windblown shoreline, between piers.
Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, November 3 Update:
The colder weather has the big blue catfish very active right now, and when we say big, we mean B-I-G. There have been multiple catches of fish over 20 pounds and even some in the 40 pound range. The area of Pooles Island has been productive for anglers dropping down cut bait, eels, or spot. Catfish have seemed more prevalent, but there are also some rockfish being caught in this area too. There was also an interesting report from an angler after some observations while out on recent trips. They said over the past few weeks they have been fishing various areas in the upper Bay and have found schools of rockfish with fish between 14 to 25 inches. Sometimes the birds give away their location, other times you had to rely on the depth finder. The interesting part is that on multiple occasions, they are catching giant blue catfish alongside the schools of rockfish. It’s possible that the catfish are following the rockfish schools to feed below them. Something to keep in mind while out on the water. These blue catfish will regularly hit soft plastic jigs, just make sure your gear is heavy enough to handle a big one if it bites.
White perch are starting to move out to deeper water in greater numbers. Bottom fishing for them along areas with oyster bottom will be a good way to keep catching them as their numbers thin out in the shallows. Bloodworms, or Fishbites on bottom rigs usually gets the perch biting once you locate a school. Another good option for fall and winter fishing are pickerel. The pickerel fishing is starting to pick back up in the tidal rivers and will only get better as the temperatures get colder. The CCA Pickerel Championship started on November 1st and will run through the end of February. There are plenty of divisions, so make sure to enter and support a great organization and a fun winter tournement. The Severn, Magothy, and Bodkin Creek are all hotspots for fall and winter pickerel fishing on the Bay.
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.