Maryland & Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report
Sailing out of West Ocean City, Captain Monty Hawkins of Morning Star Fishing Charters reported that sea bass fishing was rather challenging this week. Earlier this week, they had a very light rail and after hitting 3 different reefs, the fourth stop finally yielded some fish. Among the three anglers on board, they ended the day with only 9 keeper sea bass. On their Tuesday outing, the fishing started off brutally slow and looked like a repeat struggle, but the bite ended up really turning on. They had steady action for hours with diamond and epoxy jigging the most productive method, as it resulted in 4 or 5 limits throughout the course of the day.
In Ocean City, the guys at Always Bent Fishing OC reported a great day of flats fishing around Assategaue Island with gator bluefish crushing topwater plugs and speckled trout taking light soft-plastic jigs. The big blues are around in numbers, as other anglers are finding success jigging for them with metals and Z-Man soft plastics around bridge pilings. Check out their Instagram page or YouTube channel for footage of bluefish to 36 inches airing out over the sand flats!
Maryland DNR Fishing Report
Maryland DNR Fishing Report is written and compiled by Keith Lockwood, fisheries biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
Although the season doesn’t officially change until June 20, it sure feels like summer, and everyone is enjoying the outdoors, especially their favorite fishing adventures. A popular pastime is fishing for invasives like blue catfish and Chesapeake Channa, also known as northern snakeheads, which provide a wonderful dinner item.
Maryland Department of Natural Resources fisheries biologists are busy studying striped bass; interested anglers can keep up on the latest striped bass findings and other current news on our website.
Lower Bay
Many species of summer migrant fish are becoming more prevalent this week, giving anglers more variety than just targeting striped bass. Red drum, black drum, speckled trout, bluefish, and spot are moving into the lower Bay. Some of the best fishing is occurring in the shallower waters around the region by light tackle anglers.
The shallower waters of the Bay, Tangier Sound, Pocomoke Sound, and the lower Potomac and Patuxent rivers offer plenty of fun and exciting fishing opportunities. Most anglers are casting topwater lures; poppers with internal rattles and off-white Zara Spooks are at the top of the list. Casting over grass beds and into stump fields are two favorite targets to find a mix of striped bass, slot-size red drum and speckled trout. Other anglers are having good luck by casting paddletails and jerkbaits near docks, submerged rocks, and bulkheads where grass is not a problem.
Striped bass fishing has been good in the lower Potomac where anglers are live-lining spot near Point Lookout. Trolling bucktails dressed with sassy shads or twistertails is working well and when fish can be found suspended near channel edges, jigging with soft plastic jigs is a good option. Bluefish are becoming more common for those trolling or live lining.
Using spot for live lining has been a good option along the 30-foot channel edge at Cove Point, Cedar Point and Point No Point to name a few sites. Anywhere where striped bass can be found suspended along channel edges is a good place to live line spot. Spot can be found at the mouth of the Patuxent River, Cornfield Harbor and Tangier Sound.
In the area of the Middle grounds up past the Target Ship to the HS Buoy, anglers are having excellent luck catching a mix of red drum, black drum and speckled trout by fishing with peeler or soft crab baits where concentrations of these species can be located with depth finders. Unfortunately, cownose rays like the same baits.
White perch are being caught in the lower sections of the region’s tidal rivers and creeks this week, often mixed in with spot. Bottom rigs baited with pieces of bloodworm are one of the most popular baits when fishing over oyster bars and hard bottom in the open waters of the tidal rivers and sounds. Bridge piers are an excellent place to target as are old piers and piling fields. Casting small spinnerbaits along promising looking shorelines during the morning and evening hours is always a fun option to target larger white perch.
The tidal Potomac River from the Wilson Bridge to the mouth of the river offers plenty of opportunity to catch blue catfish. The same can be said for the Patuxent River and the Nanticoke. Lower Eastern Shore rivers such as the Wicomico and Pocomoke also have populations of blue catfish.
Atlantic Ocean and Coastal Bays
Along the beaches of Assateague Island, surf casters are catching a mix of black drum and red drum by using sand fleas, cut bait, and peeler crab for bait. Bluefish and striped bass are also being caught on cut mullet and menhaden baits. Most of the red drum and striped bass being caught are above the maximum lengths allowed and being released, which is a big thrill for any angler. Anglers using smaller baits of bloodworms are catching kingfish and spot, flounder, and blowfish are being caught on squid.
At the Ocean City Inlet and Route 50 Bridge area, anglers are catching striped bass and bluefish by casting soft plastic jigs or by drifting cut bait in the current. There was a report of a couple of sheepshead caught at the South Jetty on sand fleas. Flounder are always moving through the inlet on their way to the back bay waters so the inlet and the channels leading away from the inlet are excellent places to intercept them. Traditional squid and minnow baits as well as pink and white Gulp baits work well.
Outside the Ocean City Inlet, anglers are catching large flounder on some of the inshore shoals and inshore wreck and reef sites. At the offshore wreck and reef sites fishing for black sea bass has been very good with limit catches being common. Anglers are also catching a few flounder at these sites to round out the mix. At the far offshore waters near the canyons, anglers trolling are catching a few dolphin and the season’s first yellowfin tuna and the first white marlin of the 2024 season. Deep drop anglers are reporting good catches of blueline tilefish.
Maryland DNR Fishing Report is written and compiled by Keith Lockwood, fisheries biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.