Lower Bay Fishing Reports

Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, July 18 Update:

The striped bass closure is now in effect for all Maryland waters of the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac. Anglers will not be allowed to target striped bass until August 1st. However, Virginia waters are still open for catch and release fishing. While the striped bass are off limits, anglers are shifting their focus to other species such as cobia, bluefish, and red drum. There have been some very large schools of bluefish near the Target Ships and at the mouths of the Potomac and Rapahannock. Calm days have offered some big schools feeding on fish at the surface with some big red drum close by as well. A good pair of binoculars can come in handy when searching for breaking fish or bird shows. Cobia fishing has been hit or miss with no zone producing a red hot bite. The traditional cobia grounds near Smith Point, Windmill Point, and the Target Ship are producing some fish. Eels, cut bunker, and sight fishing are all working when fish can be located. Big schools of bull red drum have also been roaming the deeper waters of the Lower Bay. Boats with electronics equipped with sidescan and livescope are having the most success locating these elusive brutes. They tend to cruise near the shipping channel and along ledges this time of year.

Contributor Eric Packard reports some improving speckled trout action on the bayfront near Point Lookout, with fish hitting along the shoreline at daybreak but retreating to deeper water very rapidly as the sun came up. He did find fish again, this time in a trough with deeper water about 40’ off the shoreline. Striped bass were mixed in, too, and broke water for a brief moment. The puppy drum that we enjoyed last year have not shown up in any numbers in Maryland waters yet, with only a few being reported in the Potomac so far this season. There is still time for them to make their way to us, but they are not yet a reliable target for the striped bass closure unless you head down to Virginia waters. The Rappahannock has been a more reliable area for puppy drum recently, and anglers are catching them in the Rapp, Corrotoman, and Piankatank near docks, rip-rap, and other shoreline structure.

Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, July 11 Update:

There is a variety of species to catch in the Lower Bay throughout the summer months. Contributor Eric Packard visited a few different Lower Bay rivers this week with mixed results. The Corrotoman was windy, dirty, and filled with floating grass, and just a couple of puppy drum were willing to bite. At the Piankatank the water was also “churned up pretty good” and just one speck inhaled his white paddletail. And a trip to the Potomac produced only a few small stripers. His best trip of the week came from a tributary just off the main stem of the Bay where he caught rockfish, speckled trout, croaker, small bluefish, and even a weakfish while casting paddletails. A few slot puppy drum have now been caught on tributaries on the Potomac, but the farther south Lower Bay tributaries are still your best bet for finding better numbers of puppy drum.

A reader fishing near the Target Ship reported that there are plenty of bluefish around. They boxed close to 20 blues. mostly around the 18” to 20” range. Trolling small surgical hoses did the trick in depths of 15’ to 30’. They also mentioned that there were some charter boats in the area also catching bluefish, and they saw one cobia come over the rails. Cobia have been more abundant in areas like Windmill Point near the mouth of the Rappahannock. There can be a lot of boats out there at times, but weekdays tend to be less crowded. Chunking pieces of cut bunker, live lining eels, and sight fishing on calm days are all reliable methods.

There was a report of improved perch fishing near the mouth of the Wicomico River on the Potomac this week. Small panfish jigs worked well to box close to 50 perch. They also caught croaker, small bluefish, and small schoolie rockfish. Trollers and light tackle anglers have been doing well for rockfish on the Potomac River from colonial beach to down to St. George Island. The shallows have also been productive around Piney Point. The striped bass closure will go into effect from July 16th to July 31st in all Maryland waters of the Chesapeake Bay. The closure is meant to protect our resident striped bass during the heat of summer, when high water temperatures cause increased catch and release mortality. The Potomac River closed July 7 and is a no-target zone until August 21st and Virginia waters are catch and release only until October 4th.

Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, July 4 Update:

Cobia fishing has been very hit or miss in the Lower Bay this year. Some days offer several opportunities to catch them, while others it seems like there are no cobia to be found. Chasin’ Wake Cobia Charters has been experiencing this pattern of mixed results and reports that one day they will catch five to 10 cobia, then the next they will be lucky to see five all day. Patience and determination has been needed to be rewarded with this elusive fish. The Rappahannock also had some bull reds around the mouth and there was a report from an angler who caught a couple bull reds up to 45” and found some speckled trout and striped bass in the shallows. The puppy drum have been slow to push north this year, and the Rappahannock seems to be the farthest north that we are hearing of consistent reports. Pups have been found under docks in the Rapp, Corrotoman, and Piankatank. Now that water temperatures are in the mid to upper 80s, docks with deeper water and shade will be good places to search for pups.

The main stem of the lower Potomac River has been producing a good bite for striped bass this summer. Captain Chad Koenig of Dog Days Fishing has been keeping his anglers on a good light tackle jigging bite in the river. Depths of 15’ to 30’ over structure has been the ticket. Contributor Eric Packard says the bite in the Potomac has varied as rapidly as the temperature swings lately, with one day producing excellent action on specks and rock and the next making for tough fishing and just a bite here or there from a speck or bluefish. A reader noted that trolling tubes near the Target Ship resulted in an excellent catch of bluefish in the two- to three-pound range. Bull redfish have started their exit from the shallows and are now schooling up in deeper water. They have already been spotted in open water at times and one angler fishing out of the Potomac encountered them last week. They said that a big school of bull reds started feeding on bait at the surface and were hitting any lure you threw into the frenzy. They also came across a school of two-to-five-pound bluefish feeding on the surface in the same general area.