Lower Bay Fishing Reports

Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, December 5 Update:

The striped bass season is coming to an end for those who want to take home some fillets. The season will end on December 10th for Maryland waters of the Chesapeake Bay. The Potomac and Virginia waters will remain open until December 31st. Catch and release will remain open after the season closes. Contributor Eric Packard reports that rockfish have been pushing bait to the surface in the lower Potomac, including into some surprisingly shallow areas of just four to eight feet of water near Point Lookout, and at times have been marked by fast-moving flocks of birds. White plastics and Steelshad blade-baits got them biting. A reader checked in after spending the day fishing with Thomason Tradition Sportfishing on the lower Potomac. They fished all day and said that the morning bite was slow, but the afternoon bite turned red hot with birds and fish feeding hard. Schools of rockfish were moving around, chasing bait in depths of 20’ to 30’. The afternoon bite seems to be the best time to get on the fish right now, but some morning action has also been reported; it is just less consistent. Another reader caught multiple slot fish trolling white umbrellas between Ragged Point and Sandy Point, in 30' of water.

Some white perch are being caught in the Potomac River in depths of 30’ to 50’ and are often found close to or mixed in with the schools of rockfish. Small metal jigs and bloodworms are working well when anglers come across the perch schools. Down on the Rappahannock, the rockfish bite has been slow, but trollers are plucking a few fish on umbrella rigs while working the ledges at the mouth of the river. In the upper portions of the Lower Bay tidal rivers, blue catfish have moved into their wintering holes but are still very active. Now is a great time of year to catch the big fish. An angler fishing in Washington D.C. on the Potomac River said that he has found a good bite in the channel near Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling and north of Georgetown. Anglers fishing on the James River are catching some monster fish in the 40-to-50-pound class in the upriver deep holes. Temperatures may be cold, but pulling in a fish of that size makes it worth it.