Way North Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, July 29 Update:
Anglers: with both sorrow and joy, we inform you of the departure of our Fishing Reports Editor Mollie Rudow. Mollie has begun a different chapter in her life with a new full-time job and will no longer be the driving force behind our angling intel. We wish her all the best, and thank her for four years of compiling the FishTalk fishing reports. We do have a new die-hard angler lined up to step in and fill the void – stay tuned for next week’s big announcement!
While awaiting the reopening of rockfish, there’s still plenty of action from the fish that’s become ol’ reliable in the lower Susquehanna and northernmost portions of the Bay: blue cats. Herbs is reporting lots of cats up into the 15-pound range and some larger than that, and a reader let us know that while he didn’t score any monsters, setting up in the Perryville area and dropping chicken livers to the bottom produced over a dozen in an afternoon. There are also some perch biting in the rivers mostly in shaded areas once the sun gets high, and anglers casting in the North East have been catching some bass.
Way North Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, July 21 Update:
Although striper fishing is out, there are plenty of species keeping anglers in this region busy. Catfish are a primary target, biting all throughout the open Bay and tribs. Blues and channels are biting in the Conowingo Dam Pool. Blue catfish are being caught around North East Town Park and the Susquehanna Flats on shrimp, chicken livers, and cut menhaden. We checked in with Herb’s, who reported catfish are biting in the Elk River as well. The occasional angler is reporting success on salted clam snouts, too. Many catfish reported throughout the week were chunky— they’re about the best size fish anglers are going to be reeling in until rockfish are back.
Largemouth bass fishing on the Susquehanna Flats is still going strong. Positive reports came in to Herb’s Tackle Shop from around North East Creek, North East Town Park and Broadcreek, too! They’ve moved into their summer modes of behavior, and will be found relaxing in deeper water, structure, and shaded areas as the sun moves overhead. This year we’ve seen a wonderful bass bite that’s holding up as we move into the dog days of summer.
White perch are holding in the tribs and creeks. Anglers hitting up shoreline structure early in the day and deeper pockets of water, from eight to twelve feet, are finding fish. They’re also avoiding oppressive heat, and so fishing for them in sun-lit shallow water isn’t advisable. In deeper and heavily shaded locations, casting small spinners or putting a bottom rig with bloodworms, FishBites, or grass shrimp on bottom for them works.
Way North Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, July 15 Update:
Rockfish Alert: Remember folks, at the end of the day today rockfish are closed in all Maryland water of the Bay through the end of the month. That means the entire Bay from headwaters to mouth is officially shut down for stripers. Not only can’t ya keep them, you can’t legally target them for catch and release, either. Despite the striper closure, not a lot has changed in this area due to a general lack of rockfish in the first place. Anglers are primarily targeting catfish in the Dam, and snakehead and catfish on the Susquehanna Flats. The Dam pool is giving some good action for anglers tossing chunks of cut bait into it. Before the closure, some guys were zipping topwater lures across the surface during daybreak for striped bass, and finding a decent number of mostly dinks. Many area anglers reported they had been heading down to Worton Point to target the rock.
White perch are up the tidal tributaries and tugging steady. They’re tucked away in shallow and protected waters now, often retreating to shaded areas during the heat of the day. Casting for them around docks, under piers, and submerged structure with small spinners has been producing recently.
Way North Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, July 8 Update:
Either fishing picked up in this zone or there was a ton of effort over the holiday weekend, but either way we heard about some nice catches made in the area recently. One reader checked in with a whopping-big photo-documented 38-inch blue cat caught near Port Deposit, another with a 34-incher in the same area that was one of 12 fish caught in just a couple hours of fishing, and another with a nice striper — tough to come by in these waters recently — hauled out of the dam pool.
Generally, catfish have remained the safest bet around, although it appears as though some more stripers (although primarily schoolies) are biting than the past couple weeks of reports have indicated. They’re in the Coniwingo dam pool and through the river, as well as on the Flats. Both blues and flatheads are biting (plus some channels), eager to swallow cut chicken liver, menhaden, gizzard, and occasionally clam snouts from the bottom. Chicken liver is reportedly working best. While the bite for the cats may be better, there’s only a week before striped bass fishing is shut down until the first of August. If you’re hoping to score a local striper, now’s the time to aim for them.
We had a reader report of good action on largemouth bass in the North East this week, with the fish in pressured spots fooled by fly fishing for them. White perch numbers aren’t great, meanwhile, but there is a bite in various creeks and coves throughout the region. Once you find a pocket of them the fish have been lively, happy to take small spinners, Beetle Spins, and bottom rigs baited with bloodworms or FishBites. One reader checked in this week with 14 in the cooler.
Way North Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, July 1 Update:
Most of the bite in this region is still focused on catfish and snakehead. Anglers who fished the Conowingo Dam this week reported that while casting into the pool with soft plastics was seldom tempting (mostly small) stripers, soaking baits was getting the cats to bite much more frequently. We also had an angler report catching a catfish on a spinner. The tune is pretty much the same on the Susquehanna Flats. Casting and jigging for striped bass is netting narrow results, particularly on high-intensity heat days. Letting cut menhaden, chicken liver, and clam snout sit on bottom for catfish is the strategy many anglers hoping to catch are taking. Several snakes were also reported on the Flats this week. Casting topwater lures, frogs, and plugs is activating them in weedy areas.
White perch are the other ongoing fishery right now; they’re also throughout creeks and the tribs, taking shad darts tipped with grass shrimp or blood worm, small spinners, and bottom rigs. The bite isn't as awesome as one would normally expect for white perch, but that seems to be the case up and down the Bay and we are hearing of some dozen-plus fish catches including a few hitting the one-foot mark.