Way South Fishing Reports

Way South Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, July 1 Update:

There’s tons of action in this region right now as summer species move in and up the coast. Notably, Spanish mackerel bites are increasing by the day and in many areas they’re accompanied by ribbon fish. Generally, the mackerel are taking large spoons and Drones and the ribbons are hitting just about anything you might troll (at slower speeds, generally speaking). Dozen-plus fish days are being reported with some regularity. In the inlets, action is concentrated on the speckled trout and puppy drum bites. Some readers have begun fishing the inlets at night for redfish — successfully — as the daytime crowds and summer mid-day slowdowns have arrived. One noted catching them on the fly, using small brown and orange crab flies with some tinsel (thanks for that tip, Tim!). Anglers targeting the speckled trout are frequently opting for four-to-six inch curly and paddle tails in white and pink.

Cobia action is happening and the fish are most dense in this zone of the Bay thus far, as they’ve been thinner to the north and seem to be taking it a bit slower to move in that direction than in recent past years. Fishing for them with live eels in a chum slick is common right now. Some boats are choosing to rig with menhaden chunks on the hook, but this is producing sharks and rays galore. Sight fishers are doing well, too, and Ocean’s East is reporting that casting bucktails and live eels is doing the trick. The excitement can get amped up when schools of large red drum get spotted, which is still happening quite a bit in the vicinity of the CBBT islands. We heard from two reader who found beastly drum this week, one of whom caught three from the same school one after the next casting a white bucktail with a chartreuse twister trailer.

The CBBT pilings are producing reports of some spadefish (clam baits) and sheepshead (crab chunks).