Middle Bay Fishing Reports
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, August 21 Update:
Bluefish and Spanish mackerel continue to provide exciting surface action around Sharps Island Flats, Hooper's Island, and the mouth of Eastern Bay, with some bull reds and even cobia mixed into the schools. Bottom fishing remains excellent, with anglers catching plenty of keeper croaker and spot over South River oyster bars, while white perch are providing good action in Choptank creeks. Crabbing is also on fire, with reports of epic catches coming from the South, West, Rhode, and Choptank rivers.
The AIC says the combined bluefish/mackerel bite at the southern tip of Sharps Island Flats continues to produce, though the last time he was there the birds were breaking apart very quickly, and it was tough to stay on them for long. It seems that the more boats that are around, the faster the schools move. Casting spoons and popping cork rigs trailing small silver spoons produced plenty of bluefish in the 16” to 22” range (plus a couple in the mid-upper 20s) and a mackerel here and there. We’ve had multiple subscribers report picking up a bull redfish in the same zone, and early this week two (photo verified) reports of cobia catches came in as well, so there are some bigger fish shadowing those schools. 8/21 5:00 p.m. back-at-the-dock update: It was all bluefish and no mackerel in this area today. It was also a slower bite than recent trips, with long periods between the action for light tackle casters waiting for bird play; trollers appeared to enjoy a fairly slow but steady pick with Spoonbrellas. Several charters had moved up to the Strone Rock area to troll. Below Hooper’s Island light was reported as another zone of action this week, with some very nice blues including a few pushing close to the 30” class tearing through bait. Another hotspot for bluefish has been the mouth of Eastern Bay, where a subscriber trolling spoons and Spoonbrellas got into them last weekend. He noted that the Spoonbrellas out-fished the spoons by far; adding eight ounces of lead put the lures in the sweet spot.
The Angler in Chief also says bottom fishing in the South River is holding up, and through an evening trip and a morning trip’s combined catch, they reeled in over 25 keeper croaker, mostly in the 10” to 11” range, plus a mix of spot of all sizes and small weakfish. They were hitting lugworms, grass shrimp, and Fishbites bloodworms on bottom rigs, with the Fishbites accounting for the largest share of the catch. The fish were in isolated schools roving the different oyster bars in the river, and moving around until locating them has been key. Red Alert: there are big numbers of very small weakfish between 6” and 10” mixed in with the croaker and spot. This is a fantastic sign for a potential weakfish rebound in the future, so if you’re bottom fishing for croaker or spot and come across the weakfish, please remember to handle each and every one of the little guys with TLC; wet your hands before holding them and release these fish as gently as possible. Thank you!
Over on the Eastern Shore, a reader checked in and let us know that he has been catching white perch up to 11” in some of the creeks on the Choptank. Casting Perch Pounders to shoreline structures like rip rap and wood has worked well. Both white and chartreuse caught fish, but white was the hot color for bites.
Crabbing Report: Multiple reports ranging from “epic” to “awesome” keep coming in from the Middle Bay especially in the South/West/Rhode complex and the Choptank. We’re also hearing from lots of anglers who are spotting big numbers of crabs swimming around just about anywhere and everywhere in the same areas. A reader checked in after crabbing in the West River last weekend. They said the shorelines were slammed with trot lines, so finding a spot was tough, but they managed to catch a mixed bushel near the mouth of the river in a few hours of work despite muddy water and windy conditions.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, August 14 Update:
Bluefish are putting on a show around Sharps Island and the mouth of the Choptank, with Spanish mackerel mixed into surface-feeding schools and providing exciting light-tackle action. The Patuxent is also producing steady blues and mackerel, while spot and keeper croaker are keeping bottom fishermen busy around oyster bars and deeper river structure. Cutlassfish remain abundant as well, and the crabbing has been exceptional in several of the tidal rivers.
The mouth of the Choptank remains a hot zone for bluefish, and a subscriber reported catching one after the next on cut spot near Sharps Island Light. Fishing the late afternoon into the night, the best bite was after dark, and they also had a pair of over-slot red drum show up and snack on their offerings. The Angler in Chief paid a visit to the same area this week and enjoyed casting to bird shows with 18” to 22” bluefish and a few Spanish mackerel mixed in. The southern tip of Sharps Island Flats along the drop from 12’ to deep water was the hot zone, but often the fish popped up and churned water well inside the drop in water just 12’ or 14’ deep. Silver spoons, white/chartreuse spoons, and four-inch tooth-proof paddletails under popping corks were all highly effective. He said he also saw trollers swinging fish over the rails on Spoonbrellas. Reports Editor Dillon Waters and his crew also took a few trips to the area around Sharps Island this week. One day started with trolling where they caught 16 bluefish and one mackerel in around an hour and a half. Then the birds started working over breaking fish, so they switched to casting metal jigs. They quickly finished off their bluefish limit of 20 fish and also landed one more mackerel while casting. They continued to catch and release bluefish on light tackle but saw several mackerel in the mix feeding on the surface. The number of blues in the area made it tough to single them out. A few days later, they revisited the same area and again found breaking bluefish under birds, but no mackerel mixed in. They quickly caught another limit of bluefish on light tackle while chasing down little flurries of breaking fish popping up over the flat at 12’ to 14’.
A subscriber trolling spoons behind planers at the mouth of the Patuxent enjoyed constant bluefish action last weekend, pulling up a boat limit with four aboard as well as a bonus Spanish mackerel. The fish were in the one-to-three-pound range. We had another report from a subscriber who encountered a mix of bluefish and spanish mackerel slashing the water just off Cedar Point. The fish were unmarked by birds despite feeding hard on the surface. Casting spoons led to plenty of hook-ups on both species. Inside the river, 35’ was reported as a hot zone for bottom fishing, with spot coming over the rails one after the next including double-headers on bloodworms. There are also schools of croaker in the area of the lower Patuxent with a fair number of keeper fish in the mix. Fishing over the area's oyster bars is a good way to catch croaker, but you will also likely encounter spot, white perch, little flounder, pufferfish, and even cutlassfish. Cutlassfish are still in the area in solid numbers, too, and fishing spoons and plastics on jigheads produced a cooler full in Mill Creek. (Remember to use tooth-proof plastics for these fish, though, because they have fearsome teeth and shred regular plastics with ease).
Crabbing Report: The AIC says he stretched his shortie (600’) trotline baited with necks in 8’ to 10’ in the South River last weekend and was thrilled to enjoy some of the fastest crabbing action he’s seen in the past decade. It took just five runs—five—to fill the bushel basket to the brim. The crabs ranged widely in size from minis to jumbos, and there were very few females in the mix.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, August 7 Update:
Bluefish and Spanish mackerel are providing exciting action in the Middle Bay, with trolling and occasional surface-feeding frenzies producing fish from Sharps Island south toward the Patuxent. Bottom fishing remains excellent, with jumbo spot and croaker providing steady action over oyster beds throughout the region. Cutlassfish have also arrived in numbers around Solomons and Mill Creek, adding another unique summer target to the mix.
A subscriber fishing the mouth of Eastern Bay in the area of The Hill the day before the rockfish closure last weekend reported excellent action while live-lining spot. But it wasn’t rockfish doing the eating, it was a nice batch of big bluefish. The AIC says he visited the same spot early in the week and located huge amounts of bait, but at least while he was there nothing was harassing it. He saw the same thing just east of the Stone Rock (where he hooked and lost the one fish of the afternoon) and also in the mouth of the South/West River area off Triton Beach. Another reader checked in and let us know that there are plenty of spot with a lot of jumbos in the mix on the oyster beds between the West River and the South River. Drifting over the oyster beds in 12 to 16 feet of water produced a steady bite while dropping down bits of bloodworms on bottom rigs. One day, they boxed several spot between nine and 10 inches. Bottom fishing is a great option right now throughout the Middle Bay. Any area with oyster bottom or shell bottom has a chance of producing spot, croaker, and other bottom dwellers.
Subscribers fishing off the mouth of the Patuxent and in the Point Lookout area report that a nice mix of bluefish and Spanish mackerel has moved in. Catches of both species have been reported by trollers pulling small spoons behind planers and by those casting spoons and bite-proof plastics when the fish have corralled bait and started breaking water. Multiple summer bird shows have been spotted this week and many anglers are trolling when they don’t spot visible action, then casting into the frenzy with light gear when the fish appear. 2:10 Friday Update: Contributor Eric Packard let us know he was on his way in after trolling spoons behind #1 and #2 planers off the mouth of the Patuxent, and bluefish in the 20" class were chewing nonstop this morning. After the boat limited out on bluefish they ran inside the river and loaded a cooler with cutlassfish by casting pink twisters on quarter-ounce heads. He noted letting the jig hit bottom then working it back slowly did the trick.
Hallocks Grace Charters checked in and let us know that bluefish are also still plentiful around the Sharps Island Lighthouse area. Trolling hoses and spoons is producing bluefish in the 18 to 23-inch range. They also caught a bull redfish in this zone last week and have seen a few cobia boated as well. When they move a few miles south of the lighthouse, they encountered a few more mackerel while trolling. They are catching their bluefish at depths of 15 to 25 feet of water, and the mackerel have been between 20 and 40 feet of water.
Cutlassfish numbers are on the increase and a subscriber fishing near Solomons reported a fantastic morning bite recently, reeling in around 40 while casting a blade-bait from his kayak. Contributor Eric Packard confirmed their presence in the Solomons zone and said soft plastics that aren’t bite-proof are getting nipped in half with regularity. The hot zone seems to be around the mouth of the river up to and inside Mill Creek. We also had a report from the Tackle Box that there has been a decent white perch bite at times around the Solomons Island Bridge. An angler checked in with them after catching several keeper perch and croaker while fishing from the fishing pier next to the bridge.
