Lower Bay Fishing Reports

Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, October 3 Update:

October is here, and many anglers know it as “Rocktober”, though it is a far cry from what it once was. The striper bite is picking up, and we can expect that trend to continue throughout the month. Anglers fishing on the Potomac River are reporting a good bite for striped bass on the ledges and lumps spanning from the 301 Bridge down to St. Georges Island. The Tackle Box reports that the stone piles around Ragged Point have been productive for light tackle anglers. Boats trolling umbrella rigs and sassy shads behind inline sinkers are doing well near Swan Point. They also mentioned Point No Point lighthouse as an area where some schools of stripers have been hanging around. A kayak angler fishing in a tidal creek just off the Potomac River reported that there is a good mix of species willing to hit small jigs in the shallows. In recent trips, he has encountered small flounder, kingfish, lizardfish, small black drum, perch, and stripers. We will see the diversity of species start to decline as water temperatures continue their downward trend with cooler air temperatures moving in.

Contributor Eric Packard says the bluefish in the vicinity of the Target Ship continue chomping. At times, finding fish on the meter, then casting sinking lures, including bucktails and one-ounce jigs with white paddletails has been working. At others, casting topwater and Rapala X-Raps has drawn blow-ups, even when breaking fish haven’t been visible. He mentioned that the fish were running between 24” and 27” and on one active afternoon early this week, they caught around 50. The Tackle Box reports that the stone piles around Ragged Point have been productive for light tackle anglers. Boats trolling umbrella rigs and sassy shads behind inline sinkers are doing well near Swan Point. They also mentioned Point No Point lighthouse as an area where some schools of stripers have been hanging around. The bluefish are also running on the main stem of the Bay in Virginia waters. The larger class of fish are being caught along ledges and lumps, while the smaller fish have moved into the tidal rivers. The speckled trout bite is also heating up in the Virginia tidal rivers. An angler fishing on the Rappahannock this week reported an excellent trip where he caught several dozen specks up to 23”. Another angler fishing shoreline docks reported catching a few keeper specks and some under slot puppy drum while throwing Z-Man Diezel Minnowz this week. As water temperatures cool into the low 70s and upper 60s, speckled trout get very active.