Middle Bay Fishing Reports

Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, December 20 Update:

Good news arrived this week with some opportunities for catch-and-release rockfish action opening up for Middle Bay anglers, with several readers reporting fish breaking water under birds in the deepwater areas between Chesapeake Beach and the Choptank down through the area off the Gas Docks last weekend and early this week. Most of the fish being reported were in the 20” to 35” range but several trophy-sized fish were landed as well. The Angler in Chief says he missed that action on a run south last weekend but found a few redfish, a speck, and a rockfish at the powerplant. The bites came on tandem rigs with silver spoons on bottom and small bucktails or feather jigs dressed with small Gulp!s or live minnow on top. Contributor Eric Packard also spent a day of casting into the warmed waters producing only three rockfish. Then midweek the AIC says the big rockfish showed up (WOOHOO!) under birds off North Beach and off Poplar in 35’ to 70’ of water. He said they landed a pair of rock slightly over 40” and plenty of 20- and 30-somethings while throwing topwater, nine-inch OG Eels, and Boss BKDs (both white and chartreuse) on 1.5 ounce heads. He noted that smaller paddletails weren’t being hit nearly as often when fished side by side with larger baits. A couple of times they were treated to the sight of beautiful trophy-sized fish rolling right on the surface.

Reports editor Dillon Waters made it out in the middle of the week and reported a slow afternoon trip. It took a while of running around and checking different ledges before finding a few birds working in front of Chesapeake Beach. He and a few other anglers caught around 15 rockfish between 19 and 25 inches. It wasn’t long before a half dozen other boats joined in on the action and scattered the fish into smaller schools that were hard to stay on. Yesterday we received several reports of more action across the Middle Bay zone with several boats landing trophy sized fish in the same areas and also outside of Eastern Bay. With Christmas next week, let’s hope we get some neat gear to try out this coming year. It’s not too late to let Santa know about that fishing combo you have really been wanting!

Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, December 13 Update:

In most Middle Bay waters the bite for stripers (now catch and release only, of course) has been tough. There are scattered fish hanging out around ledges and areas that historically hold fish such as Eastern Bay, the mouth of the Choptank, and the mouth of the Patuxent. The schools are usually small and won’t always bite, but all we can do is keep searching for them and getting lures down to hopefully get a strike. Depths of 30’ to 50’ of water seem to be where the fish are hanging out. There’s been some non-rockfish action at the powerplant, but anglers venturing there should expect big crowds and a very finicky bite. The Angler in Chief says he went there last weekend and even with the wind howling there were eight or 10 boats including a chaotic mix of trollers, anchored boats, and anglers drifting. Specks, including some exceptionally large ones, were hitting best on tandem rigs with silver spoons on bottom and a quarter-ounce chartreuse feather jig dressed with a three-inch copper-penny Gulp! paddletail on top. Dark blue 6” Gulp! shad bodies fished on three-quarter ounce heads also got bit. The bites were exceptionally light and difficult to detect and came when the lures were hopped right on bottom; a few redfish and even a couple of rockfish were also in the mix. A reader reported catching a pair of specks and a pair of under-slot redfish among 16 boats there midweek, including a dive boat which actually had a diver in the water (right where everyone fishes in the plume) doing surveys for the plant for about an hour. With rockfish now out of season and everyone waiting for (and hoping for) the big rockfish to show up for catch-and-release action, we’d expect it to continue to be very crowded there the next couple of weeks and everyone should expect that a healthy dose of courtesy and patience will be in order when making it your destination.

Inside the mouth of the Patuxent near Point Patience, white perch can be found in depths ranging from 40’ to 80’. An angler fishing there recently reported steady pickings of 10” to-12” perch caught on Sabiki rigs tipped with minnows and Fishbites. A few hours work produced a cooler full. Another angler went a few days later, but said fishing was very slow and he only picked up a handful of small perch. Small metal jigs can also be very effective this time of year. White perch are also schooled near the Bay Bridge rockpiles and in other deepwater areas with structure. Winter fishing can be very tough or exceptionally well, you just never know what you are going to get unless you go.

Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, December 6 Update:

Reports were slim this week likely due to the brutal cold snap and windy conditions we have been experiencing. Angler in Chief Lenny Rudow reports that in the Middle Bay zone fishing remains very hit or miss, with few bird shows in most of the usual hotspots. In the past week, two out of three trips ranging from the South River to the Little Choptank were duds and on the third, the fish were spotted via electronics rather than feathered friends. We had several reader reports of similar results in the same areas, with one reader catching a couple of slot fish off Deale and another trolling one up off Poplar. Another noted catching small rockfish and a couple of nice specks at the powerplant. Reports editor Dillon Waters got out this week as well and reported not being able to find a bite while fishing on one of the more blustery days. He and another angler marked plenty of bait from the West River to the Choptank but couldn’t find any schools of big fish. They also tried the Tilghman Island reef and Cedarhurst reef for sea bass, but again, couldn’t get a bite. Light tackle guide Pete Dahlberg of Four Seasons Guide Service says that the striper bite has not been easy a bit farther south, but he is finding his clients fish on most trips. A recent trip also produced several seas bass from “very deep” waters that included a few keepers. Striped bass season for the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries in the Middle Bay will close on December 10th. Catch and release fishing will still be allowed after the season closes.

Off the main stem of the Bay, action in the tribs for pickerel has been much better, with FishTalk’s Zach Ditmars noting that the fish have been hitting surprisingly large baits and 5” white Zman paddletails have been getting eaten even by 16” fish. A reader fishing the upper creeks and ponds off the Severn River reported catching 10 pickerel up to 22” on an outing last weekend. The pickerel bite seems to be the most consistent right now and will remain a great option throughout the winter fishing season.