Middle Bay Fishing Reports

Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, October 17 Update:

The weather was gnarly at the beginning of the week, which made getting out on the water tough. Wind, rain, and high water had the odds stacked against anglers, and reader reports indicate less action in the Thomas Point area in the recent past, but an improving bite at Poplar Island. As usual, the best bites are early and late, and topwater has been productive, but there’s been a midday bite as well on a mix of four-inch lipped jerkbaits and soft plastics. There has been some open water action in Eastern Bay this month, with schools of rockfish feeding on the surface from time to time. There have also been a lot of boats in the area looking to get in on the action. Weekends have been more packed, so if you can get out during the week, you will likely deal with less boat pressure. One reader said the fish have been in the 15’ to 25’ zone.

FishTalk contributor Adam Greenberg gave us a report from last weekend. Adam said he and a few friends tried for bull redfish in the shallows of the Eastern Shore marshes. Between five anglers, they were only able to land one fish while night fishing from shore. It was a big one though, measuring 45”. The fish was caught on a piece of peeler crab. On another day, Adam was fishing from shore with his girlfriend on the Choptank during the storm. They caught a few slot rockfish on diving plugs, along with a white perch that inhaled a four-inch paddletail. Cooling water temperatures are heating up the bite in the shallows, especially near shoreline points, creek mouths, and stump fields. Anglers should seek out shallow water cover where striped bass, speckled trout, and even a red drum could be hanging out, waiting to ambush baitfish.

Crabbing Report: The Angler in Chief says that between the recent boat shows and gusty winds, he hasn’t had the ability to fish, but he did string out the trot line in a protected creek off the South River last weekend and reports utterly spectacular action. Running necks in 10’ of water his bushel basket was completely full in an hour and a half, and he enjoyed his PB run with 19 keepers in the basket the first time he went down the line.

Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, October 10 Update:

The Middle Bay action is heating up as the weather is cooling off. Readers report somewhat consistent action on bluefish breaking water during the past week. Some schools have been made up of 12” to 14” fish, and others have held bigger 18” to 22” blues. They seem to be roving around from a few miles up into Eastern Bay all the way down to the west and south-west sides of Poplar. Evening often brings the most action, but they’ve been sighted at all times of day. The fish have been erupting on pods of bay anchovies and small bunker. However, we also heard from a few anglers this week who located large amounts of bait in this same zone without encountering the predators, so locating the bait is only half the battle, and you may need to stick it out through periods of inaction until the fish start chewing. We also had a few reports of rockfish feeding on the surface near Eastern Bay and Poplar Island. The fish are coming up and going down quickly, so it takes a bit of luck to be in the zone where they decide to pop up. One angler who got in on the action said that the fish wanted nothing to do with his jig, but he started getting bites when he switched to topwater.

Over on the Wye River, we had a reader check in with some rockfish caught on the Wye River. They mentioned that throwing swimbaits before the full moon was the ticket. Some oddball and interesting catches started popping up in the area all of a sudden, with the AIC reporting that an enormous pinfish (of all things!) and a small black drum both bit on bloodworm fished near Thomas Point recently. We also had two readers report catching small flounder, one in the West River and the other in the South River. Bull redfish have made a cameo here and there, appearing for two anglers in Eastern Bay and for a third fishing up inside the Choptank. We also had a single report of a slot red. Down at the mouth of the Patuxent River, anglers bottom fishing are catching a mix of spot, croaker, white perch, weakfish, bluefish, and the occasional red or black drum. Many of these fish will soon head south as water temperatures drop throughout the fall.

Middle Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, October 3 Update:

The Angler in Chief says shallow-running 4” blue/silver stickbaits continue to out-perform white paddletails at Thomas Point, where the rockfish have been active when a good current is running at dusk. He said being there at daybreak can also be productive, but one morning, even though everything looked good, the fish were a no-show. He also said a handful of fish were now prowling the mouth of the West, but just a handful. An angler kayak fishing near the Route 50 bridge on the South River reported a very slow afternoon of fishing. They were throwing three-inch paddletails and small perch jigs to docks and rip-rap shoreline but only caught three small rockfish. The lack of perch this year really has us scratching our heads.

A reader reported encountering blues in the 14” to 18” range on the west side of Poplar, where there was a lot of bait and intermittent surface action. He said there was just enough visible action to cast paddletails and catch all you wanted. Blues were also reported at the Stone Rock this week, with trolled hoses and spoons catching the fish. Reports Editor Dillon Waters made it out to Eastern Bay last week looking for bluefish and rockfish. He and a few anglers started looking for the schools of blues near Kent Point but didn’t locate any fish first thing in the morning. They then went spot fishing on the east side of Poplar Island and caught a few dozen spot to live line with. A stop at Bloody Point Lighthouse produced zero bites, so they went to the MARI reef in Eastern Bay, where small bluefish and a few overslot rockfish were willing to hit spot. The bluefish were in the 14” to 17” range and often bit the spot in half without getting hooked. Another angler fishing at the mouth of Eastern Bay this week said that there have been sporadic bird shows with fish feeding at the surface, but that they are short lived. The fish will come up for a minute, then go back down and are moving quickly. When their boat got to the fish before they went down, bluefish and rockfish were much more willing to hit topwater lures compared to jigs.