Tangier and Lower Shore Fishing Reports

Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore fishing report, October 15 Update:

Pearl proprietor Chris checked in to let us know that while fishing the waters of Smith Island last week some of his visitors had some rather unusual luck, catching a decent sized tautog (yes, a tog!) along with stripers, lizard fish, and a couple of beautiful slot reds. In general, the Sound bite has been excellent —Sea Hawk Sports Center reported that over the past week, tons of rockfish, reds, and some speckled trout have continued hitting the decks. No matter what time of day, anglers heading out are seldom coming home disappointed. All these species are still in the shallows, providing anglers with healthy topwater (daybreak and sunset) and soft plastic bites. While most specks and pups have been undersized, keepers are being caught. In general, the fish have been around in good numbers and if you’re using the right tactics, they’ve been willing to play. Smallish soft plastics up to six inches are working great. Chartreuse, white, albino ghost, salt and pepper, and Electric Chicken are the standout colors. Pink tones and Chicken-on-a-Chain remain popular as well.

Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore fishing report, October 8 Update:

*We apologize for the light reports this week, but due to exhibiting at the U.S. Powerboat Show in Annapolis (come see us this weekend at booth F7) and some personal matters we have not been able to gather as much intel as usual. Stay tuned for next week’s reports!

Sea Hawk Sports Center reported in that speckled trout are being caught in numbers seaside, and big bull reds are getting pulled in from the surf up and down the Maryland and Virginia coast. In the Chesapeake Bay, the Tangier sound is producing lots of specks and rockfish. The flounder are still there but fishing is started to slow. Your best bet is finding clean water and fishing the last flow of the moving tide.

Ocean’s East told us that a customer weighed in 13-pound sheepshead this morning and that they also received some reports of anglers catching them at the concrete ships.

Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore fishing report, October 1 Update:

We heard from Chris of The Pearl on Smith Island this week, who reports that despite some high winds last weekend, a smattering of species were swimming in the shallows and around the marsh edges. Most of the bites came from small rockfish, however, several small flounder plus lizardfish were also in the mix. A chunk of peeler crab produced an epic hook-up that unfortunately broke off — considering the big bull reds that have been popping up in the Sounds and Lower Bay, there’s a good chance…

The folks at Sea Hawk have been steadily reporting a nice mix of stripers, specks, and reds in the Sounds. While the numbers of speckled trout haven’t really matched up to a peaking fall bite as of yet, some large fish are coming in and the action here should only get better and better in the coming weeks—if the darn weather cooperates. We had a reader check in after fishing near Tangier Island but finding wind-churned waters and sub-par speck action. He did mention that stripers were still hitting, despite the riled waters. Most are on the small side but if you work at it, keepers are there to be found.