Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, October 24 Update:
The winds have been blowing this week, and it hasn’t made for easy fishing. Rockfish are a popular target for Bay anglers as they are schooling up to feed on baitfish that are exiting the tidal tributaries. The Patapsco River has been fishing well recently, and there are plenty of areas to fish that are near wind-protected shorelines. One reader checked in after fishing on the Patapsco this week. They reported that the rockfish were active in the main stem of the river, where they found a few schools and caught fish between 20” and 27”. Another angler reported fishing upriver of Fort McHenry where the stripers were eager to hit jerkbaits. They mentioned that the shaded side of deep water structure seemed to produce the most bites. The Bay Bridge has also been a hotspot as rockfish are schooling around the bridge pilings and rock islands waiting to feed on bait being swept by the current. Anglers live lining with spot are doing well, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to find spot for bait.
We have good news on the white perch front this week. Recent reports indicate there is a very good white perch bite happening at the mouth of the Patapsco River. Several charter boats have been fishing the waters off Fort Smallwood Park and are loading up on white perch. Bottom rigs tipped with bloodworms are working well. Anglers should also be able to catch them with minnows or grass shrimp too. The perch are moving out of the small tributaries and schooling up in depths of 10’ to 25’. Drifting around the mouth of the river until you find some will be a good way to locate them. Once you do, you can anchor up or continue to drift while enjoying a hot bite. As water temperatures cool off, a seasonal fishery is starting to emerge again. That’s right, it is now pickerel season. These fish can be found in the smaller creeks on the Magothy River, Patapsco River, Bodkin Creek, Main Creek, and several others of the Upper Bay tidal tributaries. FishTalk Contributor Adam Greenberg says the pickerel in the Magothy have turned on for fall, and while hiding from the blustery winds one day, he and some friends caught dozens, with many in the 20” to 23” range and one 24” fish. There was also a handful of rockfish in the mix. The CCA Pickerel Championship has officially kicked off this month, and it is a great annual tournament for anglers to participate in. The tournament runs until the end of February 2026, so there is plenty of time to climb the leaderboard.
Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, October 17 Update:
Gale force winds from the Nor’easter last weekend kept many anglers off the water, so, unfortunately, our reports are pretty slim. Striped bass are still the main target for most anglers, as it is arguably the best time of year to fish for them on the Chesapeake Bay. The hotspots before the latest blow were Pooles Island, Hart Miller Island, the Love Point Rocks, and the Bay Bridge. There has been a good striped bass bite in the Patapsco River this past week. Anglers are finding them in the upper portion of the river, and it seems as though riprap shorelines are the hotspot. Mornings have been very good, along with overcast days. The stripers seem to be feeding more throughout the day, but the tide still plays an important role for bite windows. Pickerel fishing is now back on our radar, and we heard of a few successful trips in the Severn and Magothy this month. The bite should only get better as the weather gets colder.
There were still some bluefish as far north as Hart Miller Island last week, but we haven’t heard any reports this week. There could still be some around Love Point and the Bay Bridge, but they will be heading south soon if not already. The latest cold front should cause water temperatures to drop quickly, which will push our warm water species south, but should fire up our resident striped bass. The cooler water temperatures are causing baitfish like menhaden and bay anchovies to exit the tidal tributaries and head for the main stem of the Bay. Schools of striped bass will start to follow these schools of baitfish and feed on them the rest of the year. Now is a great time to check channel edges for schools of striped bass. A good fish finder unit with clear downscan and sidescan imaging can make a huge difference in locating fish.
Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, October 10 Update:
This week, we saw one of our first big cold fronts of the fall, with temperatures dropping into the 40s and 50s later in the week. These cooler temperatures usually fire the fish up. The bluefish have made their way north of the Bay Bridge, but they likely won’t stick around for much longer. Water temperatures in the Upper Bay are in the low 70s, but we have cooler weather and shorter days on the way that will cause them to steadily decline. The bluefish are being caught consistently as far north as Hart Miller Island. These fish are on the smaller side, in the 12” to 14” range in most cases. Hotspots have been the Bay Bridge, Love Point, mouth of the Patapsco, and in the waters around North Point State Park. Bluefish are harassing live spot, often biting them in half. One reader said the trick that has worked for him has been to thread the hook through the jaw of the spot and then hook it in the tail. This has led to a much higher hook-up ratio when the blues are biting.
Striped bass fishing has been good this month, and the name Rocktober is still ringing true. We heard several good reports from the Bay Bridge up to Pooles Island. Rockfish are being caught in the shallows, but more fish are also schooling up in open water, feeding on bait and occasionally breaking the surface. Depths of 15’ to 25’ between Hart Miller Island and Pooles Island have seen some fish feeding on the surface this week. There are also schools of fish cruising around the lumpy bottom in that zone of the Bay. Spot are still around, but they won’t be for much longer. Anglers are already reporting that it is getting a bit harder to locate them, and by the end of the month, they will be all but gone. Anglers fishing with bait are having luck with eels and spot. Light tackle anglers are having luck jigging with three-to-five-inch soft plastics and also topwater lures in certain scenarios. Topwater has worked well in low light conditions in the shallows near shoreline cover. Docks, rocks, and sea walls are all producing.
Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, October 3 Update:
“Rocktober” is here, and the striped bass bite should really pick up this month throughout the Bay. Rockfish are beginning to school up and feed more regularly as we have now entered the fall. Reader reports from the Upper Bay were mixed, with a reader catching a great mix of slot rockfish and jumbo white perch above Pooles Island on eels and peeler crab. Another reader said the Patapsco bite had grown erratic recently, with one evening trip producing action along piers and bulkheads on 4” plastics, but two days later the fish displaying lockjaw. Another angler fishing the Patapsco reported that ledges and lumps in the 20’ to 30’ range were productive this week. Jigging straight tail soft plastics on skirted jigs produced a good class of slot and over slot fish, especially on the overcast days. Anglers fishing around Love Point had been catching some rockfish and a few scattered bluefish last week, but the bite varied greatly from day to day.
The Bay Bridge has been a hotspot for striped bass recently. Fish have been holding around the pilings and rock islands, but a lot of boats have been fishing in the area, especially on weekends. The bridge has been less crowded during the week, so that’s the time to get out if you can. Light tackle anglers and live liners are both finding success. The best bite has occurred during a moving tide. Small bluefish in the 12” to 15” range have also been found around the bridge, especially near the rock islands. They are hard to catch while live lining as they often bite a spot in half before getting hooked. Unfortunately, they have been more willing to hit a live bait than artificial, so they can be a nuisance at times. White perch fishing has also been good around the Bay Bridge pilings recently. The perch are very picky and seem to only want to hit fresh grass shrimp. Small jigs and spoons are not getting much interest. Even Fishbites and bloodworms aren’t working all that well. The good news is that grass shrimp are still abundant in the shallows. Scooping a minnow net along docks or marshy shorelines will often produce plenty to use as bait.