Middle Bay Fishing Reports
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, September 18 Update:
The Middle Bay is offering a little bit of everything right now, although some fisheries are certainly making anglers work harder than others. Rockfish are showing up in select shallow-water areas, while perch, spot, speckled trout, and other species are keeping the rods bent. There is also plenty of bait around, and with cooler weather approaching, the region should continue to evolve with more consistent rockfish patterns as summer gives way to fall.
The Angler in Chief says the bottom fish were finicky when he was out this week and only a few spot chomped on his Fishbites at the South River oyster reefs. However, fishing grass shrimp on shad darts around the shorelines of the river at historic white perch spots proved very interesting, producing a catch including spot, black drum, and speckled trout. All the fish were small, but the action was consistent; white perch remained mysteriously absent. A subscriber fishing the shallows of the West and docks north of the river agreed with the lack of rockfish in this area, saying he’s been having a tough time finding any recently. But another who’s been fishing docks in the lower Patuxent said rockfish in the slot were hitting along the piers in the shallows in that trib. Right at sunset was best, and four-inch Electric Chicken paddle tails were the ticket.
Captain Josh at Good Fish Outdoors mentioned that schoolies were stacked up at Thomas Point shoal recently, and the kids aboard his boat had an awesome time reeling a few up. The AIC said he stopped there early this week and for a brief moment the fish were breaking water, but the largest they caught was just 18”. Another subscriber checked in after fishing some shallow water structure from their kayak on the Eastern Shore. They had a handful of blowups on a popper at daybreak, hooking four rockfish and landing two. The two they caught were right around 25”. Later on, they switched to trolling paddletails and caught a handful of dink-sized rockfish and one white perch. They covered over seven miles on the kayak and ended the trip with six rockfish and the perch.
The shallows of the Choptank have been producing too, with the best bites at sunset and some action also coming at daybreak. Both slot and over-slot fish have been around, including some pushing up into the upper 20s. Topwater walk-the-dog lures have been producing the best, but one angler said he’s done best using a five-inch chugger. The AIC made it there one day this week, but during the midafternoon hours, and while they managed to tug on a few rockfish off Cook Point, all were below minimum size. He also noted that there was a ton of bait on the south side of the river mouth, where some charters were trolling for bluefish. FishTalk contributor Adam Greenberg checked in after a morning fishing on the Choptank River. He had a few rockfish lazily commit to a topwater bait, but after switching to a paddletail, they were hitting with much more confidence. He caught one slot fish and close to 20 under-slot fish.
We had quite an interesting report come in this week. A subscriber fishing near the mouth of the Choptank on the south side reported catching five to seven small rockfish on each of two separate early a.m. and two late p.m. trips to the shallows in the last week, with just two slot fish appearing in the mix through the trips. Bone-color topwater was a hot bait. One of the evening trips was interrupted by a rather interesting event, however, when a small fish being reeled up to the boat was bitten clean off. A shark or perhaps a very large bluefish could have done the deed, but it wasn't spotted, and the angler said the jolt "almost ripped the rod out of his hands."
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, September 10 Update:
Bluefish are still around in the Middle Bay, though in some areas Spanish mackerel seem to have thinned out. Luckily, now that rockfish are back in anglers have plenty of options. Add bottom fishing to the list, because that’d been very productive recently, too, and many of the spot and croaker being caught are bigger than usual and fit for the frying pan.
The AIC says early this week there were rockfish of all sizes at Poplar but scattered all around the island rather than being concentrated in one or two specific zones, with low light topwater action being the best bet. A bone white Spook has been his top producer. A subscriber who checked in after fishing Poplar early this week said he had luck there as well, catching fish on assorted topwater lures on the east side. Thursday evening the AIC said he didn't find stripers up on the rocks, but possibly because before the sun got low to the horizon he was distracted by bluefish - they sporadically broke water on the north-west side, 100' or so off the rocks in just 10' to 15' of water. Birds were flying and diving but not concentrated, and the fish were prowling around bait in small pods then swirling on the surface for brief periods of time. A clear-glitter paddletail worked best and they also hit a chartruese shad tail fished under a popping cork. He mentioned that they were the perfect eating size at around 20", and also that there were a lot of boats hitting the island at dusk.
In the Choptank subscribers report a solid shallow water bite for stripers with good numbers of slot and over-slot rockfish. The better action has been coming in the evening hours rather than in the morning recently. Bluefish have been found breaking water in the area north of Brannocks Bay as well as between Cook Point and the west edge of Sharps Island. Contributor Adam Greenberg fished a bit farther out off the mouth of the river around Sharps Island this week and reported decent action on bluefish in the 14” to 26” range. Both trolling and casting were effective, and he said that while the bird action was short-lived, when there weren’t birds in the area they weren’t getting bites. We didn’t see any photo-verified reports of Spanish mackerel from the area this week, but it’s a sure bet a few are still in this area. Reports of Spanish mackerel did come in from Cove Point, however, along with some bluefish in the mix. Bull reds are still popping up here and there as well, though the reports this week were of scattered onesie-twosies. Most are from Hooper’s Island light south, though a report of one came in from a subscriber fishing the Holland Point area this week. Temperatures haven’t dropped enough to send those fish on their way as of yet so we’d expect to hear more on that front for the next week or two.
A subscriber checked in after hitting the docks and riprap of the West River one recent evening with disappointing results; spots that usually produce were barren. The AIC said he’s had a similar experience in the South this week looking for rockfish. Bottom fishing in the river with Fishbites bloodworm flavor remains good, however, with plenty of big (10”) spot, undersized weakfish, and a sudden appearance of silver perch. Croaker were scarcer this week than they have been in the past but those he saw were 12-inchers. Reports editor Dillon Waters had a similar experience over the holiday weekend and said that he also found the spot are plentiful on the South River oyster bars. Despite increased boat traffic during the holiday weekend, he and a friend found spot on several bars throughout the river. They ranged from perfect live lining size to jumbos and were caught using red worms tipped onto number six hooks on bottom rigs. Interestingly, they did not catch any croaker. The only bycatch was a lone sand perch.
An angler fishing in the Wye River found a good white perch bite in the Middle Bay, a rarity in recent times. Casting Beetle Spins to structure did the trick. Perch are also being reported by The Tackle Box in the creeks and feeders of the Patuxent. Anglers casting small lures to structure for them have been picking 12” to 15” puppy drum here and there along with the perch. Perch Hounders, Mepps, and Beetle Spins were all reported as effective for both species. They also noted that rockfish are in the shallows of the Pax at dawn and dusk.
Crabbing report: The AIC says that the number of crabs coming up on the trot line in the South River has been so spectacular it’s tough to go for more than two hours before the baits get picked clean. That said, in some areas there are lots of smalls and females and jumbos aren’t nearly as plentiful as they were a few weeks ago. Last weekend he moved his line after two runs simply because just-undersized crabs were overwhelming, and going from 12’ to a ledge dropping from 6’ to 10’ did triple the throwback-to-keeper ratio.
Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, September 4 Update:
Rockfish season is open again and anglers are reporting topwater action around Poplar Island and strong light tackle bites in some rivers. Bull red drum remain a major attraction, but finding them requires covering water and using side-scan to locate schools along shipping-channel edges from Sharps Island Light south toward the Maryland line. Spanish mackerel and bluefish continue to provide plenty of action, while croaker, spot, and other bottom species are holding over oyster reefs and hard bottom.
A great mix of species is currently in the Middle Bay in addition to the blues and Spanish mackerel most anglers have been chasing. Contributor Eric Packard reports that the cutlassfish are still in the Solomons area and spending an hour in Mill Creek last weekend produced a quick flurry of action. They bit on 3/8 jig heads with chartreuse twister tails in 16’ to 17’ of water and were stacked thick near the bottom. We had four different anglers check in with reports of keeper croaker over oyster bottom or reef sites and, in one case, jumbo spot plus small sea trout alongside them, all being caught on bloodworms and Fishbites bloodworm strips. The South River oyster bars, the west side of the Bay Bridge, and the Clint Waters reef in the Choptank were productive spots. Another cool bottom fishing catch came from a subscriber fishing near Holland Point, who reported a small black drum mixed in with spot.
A subscriber scanning through the area south of Hoopers Island Light reported locating some bull redfish on the meter and bringing two in the 40” range to the boat early in the week. He also said they saw the fish breaking water very briefly, but by the time they got there, other boats had arrived, and the brief frenzy had ended. The bull red drum fishing has been excellent over the past month, but don’t let all the pictures and videos of successful trips fool you, it still takes a lot of luck and some skill to have a successful day targeting these fish. Be prepared to cover a lot of water and deal with a lot of other boats searching for them too. The schools of reds can be found anywhere from Sharps Island Light down to the Maryland line, so there are a lot of areas to search. Running the edges of the shipping channel and scanning with side scan is the best tactic for locating them. When they show themselves on the meter or on the surface, be ready to throw large soft plastics at them and take advantage of the opportunities they present. As quickly as they appear, they can also disappear.
While we were hoping for cooler weather for the return of rockfish season, summer is trying to keep its grip on us with temperatures in the 90s. Luckily, the fishing is picking right back up where it left off in July. We had a few reports from anglers fishing several areas of the Middle Bay who found fish willing to bite. One reader checked in after fishing at Poplar Island. They said that the fish were willing to hit topwater along the east side of the island during an evening trip. Their crew caught 14 rockfish, all on topwater lures. Two were over slot, one was an under, and the rest were slot-sized fish. Another subscriber checked in after fishing the lower Patuxent for the second “opening day” of rockfish season for 2026. They said that the rockfish were thick around the piers and during the last half-hour of daylight, just about every cast produced slot-sized fish on half-ounce jigheads with five-inch Opening Night paddletails. Captain Kenny Spicer reports that the rockfish are active on the Eastern Shore. This week, he and a co-angler found them and white perch active and feeding in one of the Middle Bay rivers. The AIC says he hit Thomas Point, Poplar, and parts of Tilghman ISO rockfish yesterday, finding one dink at Thomas, halfway decent numbers but mostly small fish scattered at all parts of Poplar, and nothing in the shallows along Tilghman. White five-inch paddletails on half-ounce heads and Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow caught some fish, but a bone-color Spook attracted the most attention by far. Interestingly (and confoundingly!) a large number of larger slot-sized fish followed the Spook right up to the boat without ever committing. Some hit it gingerly (generally missing) and only a couple of decent-sized fish made a real attack.
