Way North Fishing Reports

Way North Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, September 12 Update:

As summer is coming to an end, many anglers are anxiously awaiting the famous time of year known as Rocktober, where baitfish will begin to exit the tidal rivers and striped bass will be chasing them around frantically. Not much has changed in this section of the Bay thus far, but as fall progresses, we should see some patterns shift and action pick up. Many anglers are focusing their efforts on catfish in the lower Susquehanna and on the Susquehanna Flats. The cooler end of summer has led to fish feeding for prolonged periods throughout the day. It is still best to fish during a moving tide and those night fishing have reported good success in the area of Port Deposit. Cut bait is the preferred choice when searching for the bottom dwellers, but blue catfish are known to chase down crankbaits, chatterbaits, and jigs. If you find a stack of them, breaking out a light tackle rod typically used for striped bass fishing is a fun way to target them. The blue cats in this portion of the Bay are known to get upwards of 40 pounds, so make sure your tackle isn’t too light. Any medium light to medium rod spooled with 20-to-30-pound line should suffice.

White perch are around in the creeks rivers, with reports of either spinners or small minnow under a bobber generating the action. At the Conowingo Dam, anglers have been targeting striped bass and smallmouth bass. Fishing has been on the slower side, but there have been some nice smallies and slot sized striped bass pulled from the water this week. Fishing has been best early in the morning, and we had reports of a decent topwater bite along the rocky shorelines. Smallmouth anglers are using spooks and poppers in low light hours then transitioning to tube jigs and crankbaits as the sun gets up. Most of the striped bass will be found in the wash below the dam and it typically requires a large surf rod to get baits into the strike zone. Wading out into the water and casting baits as far as you can is the standard approach for targeting the stripers. Artificial jigs and bucktails worked through the current will get bit with the right presentation, just make sure to not let your lures get all the way to bottom as the rocks below the dam are notorious for snagging lures.

Way North Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, September 5 Update:

Fall is in the air and most anglers are happy after a summer of extreme heat. Anglers fishing around Port Deposit this week enjoyed a solid catfish bite and those night fishing had some big fish hit their lines. A few in the 20-pound range were reeled in by an angler fishing at Marina Park. The mouth of the river and the main channel running along the Susquehanna Flats were also good for catfish anglers this week. As temperatures cool down as fall progresses, the fishing action should pick up with fish feeding hard on the abundance of baitfish around. All the area tidal rivers including the Northeast, Elk, and Sassafras have large populations of blue catfish that can be caught year-round. Deeper holes and ledges are prime locations to search for them. Make sure to participate in CCA Maryland’s Great Chesapeake Invasives Count to help out with some cool citizen science. Anglers are asked to log their catches of invasive fish species and are then entered to win monthly prizes. It is a great cause and a great organization to support.

Sarge’s Bait and Tackle let us know that they had a few reports of improved smallmouth action on the lower Susquehanna this week. The early mornings and late evenings were best with a few big fish being caught on topwater lures. The Conowingo Dam was also productive for smallmouth this week with a few three pounders being caught along the rocky shoreline from below the dam. Now that river conditions have improved and water flows are lower, anglers are returning to fish from shore along the rocks and the walkway at Conowingo Fisherman’s Park. Striped bass fishing is also picking back up and there are a good amount of slot sized fish hanging out below the dam in the moving water. To effectively target them, anglers should use larger surf style rods with long casting capabilities. A three-way rig with a sinker at the bottom and a lure above works well for getting down in the water column to where the fish are. Just make sure to keep the rig off bottom as the rocks are very snaggy and are notorious for taking away rigs.