Tangier and Lower Shore Fishing Reports
Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, October 16 Update:
The lower Eastern Shore continues to offer a wide variety of fall opportunities, with shallow-water rockfish providing excellent action in the marshes and bluefish producing explosive surface blitzes offshore. Speckled trout are becoming increasingly common around the grass flats farther south, while rockfish and white perch are feeding along marsh edges and deeper creek channels throughout the Tangier and Pocomoke systems.
Contributor Eric Packard hit the Honga mid-week and said the action was fair at best. Only one speckled trout turned up, a 19" fish that hit a ¾ ounce jig on a pearl color Jerk Shad. Striped bass were a bit more plentiful, with a handful of them willing to hit the same bait cast around the pilings at the bridge to Hoopers. They also encountered bluefish snapping at bait under birds and caught around a dozen throwing jigging spoons, but they were small fish in the 10" to 11" class. The influx of speckled trout is more apparent slightly further south than where Packard fished. The grass flats around Crisfield, Smith Island, and along the Eastern Shore of Virginia have been a hotspot for small specks with the occasional keeper mixed in. Small soft plastic paddletails and popping corks with shrimp baits have been particularly effective. There are also still some shrimp around the marshy areas of the Eastern Shore, so you may be able to use a cast net to catch some fresh shrimp for bait, which can be a golden ticket for producing bites this time of year.
Sea Hawk Sports Center reports that the big bull reds are still moving along the lower Eastern Shore both in the shallows and out along the shoals and channel edges. Some of their crew took a chance and fished some structure in more southern waters of the Bay this week and found a nice grade of redfish along with tautog, croaker, and plenty of oyster toadfish. They also saw some black drum caught as well. In the rivers of the Tangier and Pocomoke Sound, there are plenty of rockfish and white perch feeding along marshy edges, especially in creeks with deeper channels. These fish are being caught on an assortment of baits including paddletails, topwater lures, and small chunks of crab. The perch won't be in the shallows for much longer as cooler water temperatures will get them moving out to deeper water soon. The best chance at some late season perch in the shallows is to find creek channels with five to 10 feet of water with steep banks. Nearshore structures such as fallen trees, docks, and riprap can also hold them right now, but fishing in slightly deeper water than you would in the summer should produce more bites.
Captain C.L. Marshal of Tangier Sound Charters reported that the shallow water rockfish bite has been what most anglers dream of this time of year. His crews have enjoyed explosive blowups and steady catches of rockfish in the shallow marshes. They have also run across some “absolutely insane” bluefish blitzes in open water, so there are a few options for fishing trips right now. The blues are feeding hard before they head south, and there have been some big ones in the mix. The average lately has been three to six pound fish, but we have seen some anglers catch them up to 12 pounds on light tackle, which is a battle that can put anglers and gear to the test.
Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, October 9 Update:
The Tangier region is firing on all cylinders as cooler temperatures get baitfish moving and striped bass feeding hard. Rockfish are available from the marshes and tidal creeks to shoreline points and jetties, while speckled trout continue to provide plenty of action despite most fish being undersized. Bull red drum are also making their way south along the Eastern Shore, and some impressive fish are still pushing into shallow water to feed before continuing their migration.
The main focus for anglers in the Tangier region right now is rockfish. Cooler temperatures and shorter days are triggering these fish to feed hard on the baitfish that are beginning to school up and head out of the tidal tributaries. Water temperatures are in the 60s, so there are still plenty of shallow water opportunities over grass beds, in tidal creeks, and along the marshes. Captain C.L. Marshall of Tangier Sound Charters reports that rockfish have been plentiful in the marshes. During low light hours, topwater is working well, then casting paddletails throughout the day is keeping the action going. There seems to be plenty of slot fish around with a mixed class of over slot fish and underslot fish in the mix too. Lately, it seems like the fish are sticking to their sizes, so if you find some fish and are only catching smalls, it may be worth moving to hopefully find a keeper elsewhere. The best places to fish right now are shoreline points, creek mouths with a running current, and rock jetties. The key is to find moving water and bait.
There are also plenty of small speckled trout around, so the future of the speckled trout fishery looks bright as small specks in the 10” to 13” range continue to be caught across the tidal tributaries. We have reports of anglers catching them around grass beds from the Nanticoke down through the Pocomoke Sound and over towards Smith and Tangier Island. Some keeper specks are mixed in, but the bulk of the fish in the area right now are not keepers. The good news is that most of these fish should be keepers next year if they can make it until then. Nonetheless, they are still fun to catch and popping corks paired with soft plastics on 1/8th ounce jigheads have been working well over grass beds. There are some shrimp in the area, so soft plastic shrimp imitations should be effective. Small three to five-inch paddletails are also working well when casting and steadily retrieving over the grass or along marsh edges.
Bull red drum are on the move through the Tangier region as they are well on the way with their migration down Virginia's Eastern Shore. The shoals and reefs from the Tangier Sound down to Cape Charles have produced some big reds on cut spot and croaker, but don't overlook the shallow water just yet. As these fish work their way south, some will push back into the shallows around marsh edges, grass flats, and protected bays, particularly on warmer, sunny days. FishTalk contributor David Rudow has been finding some success on the lower Eastern Shore lately. David said finding clean water near grass beds has been key along with bait in the area. He caught some very big bull red drum while casting topwater lures over grass. These shallow-water fish can be a blast on large paddletails, swimbaits, spoons, and soft-plastic jerkbaits, with the best action often coming around moving tides and areas where bait is concentrated. Deeper channels and current seams are also worth checking as fish transition between feeding areas, and larger reds can be found staging in deeper water before continuing south. As temperatures continue to fall, expect the majority of the fish to continue south along the Eastern Shore, making the next few weeks a prime opportunity to intercept them before they leave the area.
Tangier, Pocomoke, and Lower Shore Fishing Report, October 2 Update:
The Tangier region really seems to have embraced the fall transition, with cooling water putting a wide variety of fish on the feed. Striped bass, perch, speckled trout, and bottom fish are all contributing to a mixed bag, while bull reds are making one of their final appearances before heading south. The next few weeks should offer some excellent shallow-water opportunities as bait and predators settle into their fall routines.
A subscriber sent in a lengthy report after spending a few days fishing on the lower Eastern Shore of Virginia. On day one, they fished a tidal creek during an incoming tide and found that the water was cold (63 degrees) the day after the Nor’easter passed. He focused his efforts on deeper channel areas and was struggling to find bites until he found the “magic dock” (two actually) which featured old pilings, strong current, and oyster bottom in around 10 feet of water. The rockfish were stacked up in the area, and he ended up catching 17 rockfish and two small speckled trout. About half of the rockfish were slot-sized, and the others were under the slot. On day two, he spent the day fishing around Fisherman’s Island. The tide was extremely high and most of the marshes that are usually high and dry were totally flooded. Fish were not widespread, but he found a couple schools of small trout in the 10” to 13” range on some flats and channel edges up in the marshes. He caught 27 small specks and two other anglers did about the same. On day three, they headed to the concrete ships at Kiptopeke. Unfortunately, the fishing “sucked.” He and his friends spent several hours fishing with bait around the ships and only caught a handful of small junk fish, including pigfish, lizardfish, toadfish, silver perch, sea bass, and kingfish. They also tried jigging for flounder using Gulp!, and only caught one undersized flounder. They talked to other anglers on the water who were having the same kind of luck. The final day (yesterday) they focused on sheepshead at the CBBT with Southern Reels Sportfishing, and saw plenty of fish on the Livescope, but only a fraction were willing to bite. Captain Jesse mentioned that the fish were in different spots than they had been before the storm. They boated four nice fish up to 24" and lost a few more boatside. It’s hard to say why the fishing was so tough, but the shake up from the Nor’Easter surely may have had something to do with it.
Sea Hawk Sports Center reports that the cooling waters have triggered fish to start feeding more heavily in the river mouths that lead to the Tangier Sound, which are producing a good bite for rockfish, white perch, croaker, spot, and even some keeper weakfish. The rockfish are relating to deeper channels in creeks and marsh points where there are current rips. Bottom fishing at the mouths of the rivers has been very good for anglers using peeler crab, but soft plastics and small spinners are also working well for rockfish and perch. Perch are keying in on small two-inch soft plastics on 1/16th to 1/8th ounce jigheads. Cooler daytime temperatures and water temperatures in the 60s have offered up an excellent topwater bite for the rockfish throughout most of the day. The bull red drum are still running along the shoals of the Eastern Shore from the Pocomoke Sound down to Cape Charles. These bull reds tend to move into the shallows again for a few weeks before making their departure from the Bay, so there is a chance to run across them over the grass beds in both the Tangier and Pocomoke. Small speckled trout have also flooded the grass flats and tidal rivers in this region. The bulk of the trout are in the 10” to 13” range, but a few keepers have also been tempted into the net. Popping corks with shrimp soft plastics or small paddletails are very effective for specks and also work well for hungry rockfish or reds cruising the shallows.
