Red Drum

March 20, 2024
This month we talk with Captain Pete Dahlberg, otherwise known as Walleye Pete, of Four Seasons Guide Service. Our topic: Finding and fishing shallow water structure. Captain Pete knows how to find…
March 17, 2024
For anglers in the southern areas of the Bay — or those willing to travel there — March has come to mean you can start chasing red drum. Will those massive schools of bulls have arrived yet? Probably…
September 13, 2023
When I exited school and had no kids, no real job, and no serious obligations, naturally, I fished just about every waking hour. A buddy and I would pore over ADC map books (remember those?) looking…
April 16, 2023
At some point this month the first big bull red drum of the season will show up. Expect them to make their initial appearance at the shoals at the mouth of the Bay and along the lower Eastern Shore…
March 25, 2023
When anglers think of sight fishing for red drum, they often picture scenes of tailing reds from South Carolina or Florida. But you don't need to travel to experience fantastic eyeball red fish…
March 5, 2023
Yes, you will have to time your trip in-between passing fronts, it may be frigid outside, and the potential for a skunk is always there even if you pony up and go on a charter fishing boat. No, March…
October 31, 2022
Fishing reports published in print are generalized and weeks may have passed before the report gets into your hands, so for timely up-to-date reports, visit our Fishing Reports online. Current…
October 29, 2022
It’s early in the morning and I’m heading out for a morning topwater bite. My kayak glides across the surface of the water, and there is a light fog rising off the creek parting as I pass through it…
September 21, 2022
Following an unseasonal cold front and pounding rain, a stiff breeze churned the waters a bit much for Chesapeake Bay fishing as the dawning sky began to grow more pinkish to the eastward over the…
September 12, 2022
Red Drum in skinny water can be some of the most action-packed fishing you can find on the lower Chesapeake Bay during the late summer and early fall months — this month is the perfect time to get…
June 2, 2022
For many years, all of the big red drum I caught were on live or cut bait like crabs, menhaden chunks, spot, or croaker. And that is an excellent way to catch them, particularly in late spring. We…
March 29, 2022
You will hear this fish called by many names: red drum, redfish, puppy drum for small ones, and bull redfish for very large ones. When I was young, the old timers in our area referred to them as…
March 5, 2022
Are you a lifelong Marylander, have you moved here from afar, or are you just in the state for a visit? No matter why you find yourself in a Maryland state of mind, if you’re an angler, you’re in…
July 24, 2021
As August hits many Chesapeake Bay catch-and-release anglers will begin targeting big bull redfish in the Middle Bay, and as summer turns into fall, Lower Bay anglers of a similar attitude will enjoy…
October 20, 2020
If you enjoy Chesapeake Bay fishing during the fall, there's no doubt you've heard some fact and some fiction about when and where those stripers will bite. Fact: when it goes from “chilly” to “…
October 9, 2020
For many Chesapeake Bay anglers, the shorter days and cooling temps of fall signal big striped bass, fat crabs, and football. The land of pleasant living, however, has many secrets. One of those…
March 21, 2020
When someone says the word “spring” to a saltwater angler who enjoys fishing in the Chesapeake Bay where it meets with the Atlantic ocean, immediately two fish come to mind: tautog and big red drum.…
August 13, 2019
Red drum, also known as redfish, are one of the top targets of many anglers when they go fishing on the Chesapeake Bay. Big red drum like this are the stuff reams are made of. Photo courtesy of…