Upper Bay Fishing Reports

Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, June 26 Update:

The summer bite has been up and down for Upper Bay anglers this year. A couple of readers have checked in to say the white perch bite in the Magothy is well below par thus far this year. One mentioned that small stripers are also absent from the river for the most part. This has been the resounding theme this summer across much of the Bay for perch anglers. After a seemingly routine spawning run this spring, the perch have been hard to locate and are vacant in many of their usual summer haunts. Perch have historically been a reliable summertime target, but that has not been the case this year. We can only hope that they make a showing soon and that this is only an anomaly. Bottom fishing for spot and small croaker is still going strong with both fish hitting bloodworms and Fishbites on bottom rigs. Areas that have consistently produced include the Bay Bridge, Sandy Point, Belvedere Shoal, and the mouth of the Patapsco River. Some eater-sized spot have been around and there have also been reports of a few keeper croaker too.

Anglers fishing in the Patapsco River this week reported a more difficult bite for striped bass. The extreme heat likely contributed to the slower bite as water temperatures skyrocketed into the 80’s with daytime highs over 100 for several days this week. The schools of fish that were active in the main stem of the river are likely still there, but boat pressure and warmer waters may have them feeding less consistently. Charter boats that are live lining spot from the old Key Bridge up into the Baltimore Harbor have been working hard to catch their limit of fish, though some days they are running around to several different spots in the river before limiting. Channel catfish and some blue catfish are also being caught in the river. Light tackle anglers fishing the section of the river closer to the inner harbor are catching them while jigging for rockfish. In the Chester River, blue catfish are biting in the middle and upper sections of the river, especially near Chestertown. Fresh cut bunker and gizzard shad are usually their bait of choice, though they are known to hit just about any meaty offering.

Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, June 19 Update:

We finally broke out of our cooler pattern this week as temperatures soared into the 90’s. The overcast and rain that seemed to be plaguing us also shifted to strong scattered thunderstorms on several days and required anglers to pick and choose their fishing windows. Good reports are still rolling in from the Patapsco with fish being caught from the old Key Bridge up into the Baltimore Harbor. There was a report from a few anglers fishing in the harbor from shore that said they caught over a dozen stripers while throwing soft plastics from sidewalks in the inner harbor. Most of the fish were slot or under slot. A boat fishing near the power lines that cross the river close to the old Key Bridge reported a hot bite with non-stop catching for a few hours while jigging paddletails. There are usually fish in this area of the river, and good electronics on your boat can help you find them, especially a unit with sidescan.

Reports Editor Dillon Waters made it to the Bay Bridge on his kayak last weekend and was able to catch around a half-dozen rockfish while jigging pilings in 15’ to 20’. A white BKD on a one and a half ounce jighead worked well when bounced along bottom. The rockfish bite shut down about an hour and a half after sunrise, so he switched to dropping down a one-ounce, two-inch metal spoon along the pilings in 15’ of water and was able to catch a half dozen eater sized white perch that went in the cooler. Anglers Sport Center reports that bottom fishing has been good for those dropping down baits on the Upper Bay shoals. There is no shortage of spot and small croaker but catching eater sized fish has been a bit more challenging. There have been some eater sized spot and some barely legal croaker around, but you will have to work to catch them. Bottom rigs tipped with Fishbites or bloodworms will do the trick. If you are just looking to put a bend in a rod, bottom fishing is a great way to accomplish that goal.

Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, June 12 Update:

We are moving into the heart of striped bass season on the Bay, and there has been mixed success during the first month. Readers checking in from the Patapsco have given a wide range of reports, from excellent catches of slot rockfish to skunks. It certainly seems like there are plenty of fish from the former Key Bridge up to the shipping terminals, but whether they’re willing to bite or not is in question on a day-to-day basis. We did hear of more success from live liners (including one using white perch) than from jiggers. Over on the Chester River, the shallows are producing some rockfish near shoreline points and other shoreline structure. There have also been some fish around the Love Point Light with live liners catching fish from the remaining structure, and trollers finding some fish along the ledges at the mouth of the river. The Bay Bridge is another area holding some stripers. Live liners are having mixed success on both the East and West sides of the bridge. Some days, anglers are catching their limit quickly, while other days have been tough fishing with slot fish hard to come by. Fishing the eddies on the backside of the pilings during a running tide seems to be where most fish are hanging out. The rock piles have also been holding fish in deeper depths. When casting out a live spot, you want to make sure to give it enough slack for it to swim down the pilings or rock piles before being swept in the current.

Anglers Sport Center reports that bottom fishing has provided steady action recently in areas around the Bay Bridge. Spot and croaker have been the main catches, with some white perch mixing in too. The spot are ranging from three inches to nine inches. The smaller ones are great for live lining, and the bigger ones are worth throwing in the cooler for a delicious fish dinner. Croaker have once again been on the smaller side, with most in the five-to-eight-inch range, but some keeper fish around 10 inches have also been caught. A medium light rod rigged with bottom rigs or Chesapeake sabiki rigs and a one-to-two-ounce weight is all you need to get started. Hook sizes from size six to size two work well when tipped with bloodworms or Fishbites. The perch fishing has been slow in the shallows, with only a few reports of them being caught in the tidal river creeks. The reports have also been lackluster at traditional open water spots like Belvedere Shoal and Six Foot Knoll. The cownose ray invasion has pushed into the upper Bay, and anglers are finding big schools in the tidal rivers. They can be viewed either as a nuisance, or a fun target for a serious angling battle when hooked. No matter how you view them, they are here to stay for the summer months.

Upper Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, June 5 Update:

The Bay has been busy with anglers getting out for rockfish now that the season is open in all Maryland waters. The few charter boats fishing at the Bay Bridge this week said that the bite was inconsistent, with some days producing limits and other days producing only a few under slot fish. The rock piles have been a productive area with fish holding down deep close to bottom. Pilings have also been holding fish, but not all of them. It often takes checking a few before locating some fish willing to bite. Live lining spot has been the most popular method, but jigging is also producing fish. Contributor Adam Greenberg wrote in to let us know he and another angler had some luck fishing in the Magothy and jigging the Bay Bridge pilings last weekend. Four-inch paddletails on one-ounce jigheads were the ticket at the bridge, and the same tails paired with underspins on lighter jigheads were the key in the river. They both caught several slot and over-slot fish at the bridge, but the fish in the river were mostly unders. The rockfish bite has also been hot in the Patapsco River since the season opened last weekend. Boats are catching fish in the mid-section main stem of the river with a concentration of fish hanging around the former Key Bridge. Paddletails and straight tails on one-ounce jigheads are working well, and some anglers have even jigged up some blue catfish and channel catfish while searching for stripers. Anglers should know that the recent rains caused a large sewage spill in the river last week and there was an oil spill near the inner harbor this week, so water quality in the river is something to keep a close eye on.

Reports of snakeheads haven’t entirely shut down for the spawn yet, and while the volume of reader reports of snakeheads wasn’t great this week, we did hear about a couple of serious dragons. A 34.5” 13.5-pounder came from a creek off Middle River on a #3 Mepps, and a 33” came out of a Pasadena waterway. Anglers fishing with topwater frogs in areas with thick vegetation are still finding good success. Some mating pairs have been spotted, but no fry balls as of yet this early in the season. There is an upcoming snakehead tournament courtesy of Maryland DNR. The Snakes on the Dundee, fishing tournament is scheduled for June 7th at Gunpowder Falls State Park. We also encourage anglers to participate in CCA Maryland’s Great Chesapeake Invasives Count. Anglers can log their invasive species catches to be entered for a chance to win monthly drawings. The data collected also helps fisheries managers track the spread of invasive fish in our waters.