Maryland & Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report
Sailing out of West Ocean City, Captain Monty Hawkins of Morning Star Fishing reported that the mahi fishing on Monday the 9th was very slow. After 8 spots they switched to targeting sea bass to bend some rods and get some fish on ice. The sea bass bit well along with some red hake (ling), and by mid-day, they were back to pot-hopping for mahi. They found mahi on four pots, then the next seven were completely bare. On Tuesday they returned to the area and found no mahi at all, except one mini chicken mahi that spit the hook near the boat. Instead, they headed to the sea bass grounds again, which turned out to be the right move. According to the captain, “They bit fantastically. Jig, bait – didn’t matter. A couple fellows up front even caught some squid. Very glad to see that. Excellent sign of healthy reef I think.” The skipper said that he has not yet given up on mahi and will be on the grounds today, as well as Friday (if they go out)—they have almost nobody booked for the 13th! Give them a shout to reserve your spot on a light rail and get in on some mahi and/or sea bass action.
From Ocean City, Taylor Bakke of Always Bent Fishing OC reported: “Tuna are back! We got 3 yellowfin yesterday while trolling, but lots of boats are catching while chunking as well. The bite has been inshore, over the 20 to 30-fathom lumps instead of in the canyons, which is a nice surprise this time of year! But offshore is still happening with good marlin fishing in the canyons, mahi are pretty much everywhere, and now we’ve got a good inshore tuna bite going. Also, the stripers are starting to show up thick in the bays and inlets. Lots were caught yesterday including some nice slot-sized fish. There have also been a lot of nice weakfish caught in our area recently.” Check out their website for more detailed fishing reports from the Bay to inshore and offshore.
Anglers Sport Center Fishing Report – Annapolis, MD
The Anglers Sport Center fishing report is written by Anglers Fishing Manager & OTW Columnist, Alex Gallardo-Perez.
Cooler temperatures during the morning have created a good top water bite for striped bass in most of the rivers and major points in the main body of the Bay. Structure in the Patapsco River, particularly around the port of Baltimore, have been great places to fish for striped bass in the mornings and evenings. Poplar Island continues to produce a good amount of fish as well, especially during the morning hour.
We are also seeing more bird activity and some breaking fish during the tide changes in Eastern Bay and parts of the Severn River. We are seeing a lot of southern species in the area as well, like puppy drum, speckled trout, even flounder. Most are bycatch while fishing the shallows for perch or striped bass, or when jigging deep water.
Maryland DNR Fishing Report
Maryland DNR Fishing Report is written and compiled by Keith Lockwood, fisheries biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
Lower Bay
Bluefish tend to be the main event this week in the lower Bay. There are two sizes that are roaming these waters. The big boys tend to average around 10 pounds and are very fat. They can be found out on the edges of the main channels in the bay and trolling along the channel edges with red or green surgical tube lures or by casting metal jigs to breaking fish is the best way to catch them. They are also being caught in chum slicks when anglers are maintaining a chum slick when fishing for cobia by drifting cut baits. The mouth of the Potomac River and the area near the Target Ship are a few of the better places to look for the large bluefish.
Smaller bluefish in the range of a half-pound are showing up throughout the lower Bay, in shallower waters and out in the main part of the Bay. They are being caught by anglers casting a variety of lures when shallow water fishing and when anglers are trolling small spoons for Spanish mackerel.
Anglers are reporting that large red drum are becoming hard to find this week but catches of cobia are improving for those chumming, trolling or sight casting. The 2024 cobia season will close September 16. Anglers targeting large sheepshead at the Target Ship with peeler crab baits and catching a few speckled trout in the process. Flounder are being caught along the shelf edges of various channels in the Tangier/Pocomoke sounds areas and near Point Lookout. Gulp baits in pink or white are popular baits.
Fishing for a mix of spot, croaker and kingfish has been excellent in the mouth of the Patuxent River, the Potomac River, and Tangier Sound. Bloodworms or bloodworm alternatives are the baits of choice for spot and kingfish, croaker like bloodworms also but will bite on peeler crab.
Anglers who are targeting blue catfish report that they have moved downriver a bit on the Potomac River and can be found in the general area of Cobb Island. In the Patuxent the Benedict area up to Jug Bay is a good area to fish for blue catfish as is the area near Sharptown on the Nanticoke River. Fresh cut menhaden tends to be the most popular bait. I have heard recently from a few catfish anglers that popular Cheetos cheese snacks make excellent bait. I’m not too sure how long they’d stay on the hook once they get soggy, but it makes sense that they would put out a cheesy scent trail. Cheese baits have long been a popular bait for southern catfish anglers, blood baits are also popular.
Fishing for white perch is always fun and productive this time of the year. The water temperatures are cooling a bit, and the white perch are fattened up and very active. Fishing peeler crab baits near bridge piers, submerged rocks or docks over relatively deep water is always fun. If you can get them, grass shrimp are candy to white perch and can be fished in shallower waters under a bobber or on a bottom rig close to structure. Small minnows under a bobber are a good way to fish deeper shorelines and shoreline structure. Casting small spinnerbaits, spinners and small soft plastic jig spins are fun ways to fish shoreline during the morning and evening hours.
Atlantic Ocean and Coastal Bays
It is after Labor Day now and living and fishing in Ocean City means that the summer crowds are now mostly limited to the weekends. Surf anglers can find plenty of room on the beaches of Assateague to fish for a mix of kingfish, spot and the occasional croaker and blowfish. The kingfish and spot are being caught on bloodworms or bloodworm alternative baits. Blowfish will take bloodworms but really like squid as do flounder. Soon anglers may soon see large red drum moving along the beaches as well as bluefish.
At the inlet, most fishing is focused on casting jigs for a mix of bluefish and striped bass near the jetty rocks, bridge piers and bulkheads. In the evenings, drifting cut bait works well for bluefish. A few sheepshead, tautog and triggerfish are being caught near the South Jetty on sand fleas and peeler crabs, and of course flounder are always moving through the inlet.
Flounder fishing in the back bay channels continues to be good and less boat traffic makes for more peaceful drifts. Live spot or similar live bait and Gulp baits are catching the largest flounder. Traditional minnow and squid baits will always do well.
The anglers headed to the offshore wreck and reef sites are catching a mix of black sea bass, flounder and small dolphin. Captains admit that sometimes they must move to different sites to find action, but most are doing very well.
The offshore canyon fishery for those trolling for tuna and marlin has been a bit lackluster for the past few weeks to say the least. Small dolphin have been the one bright spot with limit catches being common. Anglers have been undaunted and have switched to deep dropping and doing a great job of bringing fish back to the dock and finding out what is down there. Recently we had a new state record set for blueline tilefish and this week we have a whopper of a grouper called a Yellowedged grouper, which weighed 38 pounds and was only 10 pounds under the current world record.
Maryland DNR Fishing Report is written and compiled by Keith Lockwood, fisheries biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.