Maryland & Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report
Sailing out of West Ocean City, Captain Monty Hawkins of Morning Star Fishing reported that with the black sea bass season closed, they opted to run a couple of tautog trips. The first trip on the 4th left much to be desired; only a few tautog caught, as well as some throwback sea bass. Their trip on the following day was one strange day of fishing. The tautog fishing was again slow, but they still managed to catch a bunch of sea bass on green crabs, despite all of them being throwbacks. A bent rod is a bent rod! To make things more interesting, they happened upon a whole bunch of bluefish and for about 40 minutes, everyone enjoyed jigging up cocktail blues with a couple of Spanish mackerel and bonito mixed in, and even a triggerfish that the skipper marked on his electronics. They’ll be back to sea bass fishing for a bit now that the temporary closure has ended. Give them a shout to get in on the action.
Taylor Bakke of Always Bent Fishing OC out of Ocean City reported: “Capt. Chris Miller and his crew hammered the yellowfin yesterday at the Hot Dog, so it was a nice little late-season, semi-inshore yellowfin bite. We are continuing to see more and more stripers in the back bays and the inlet, too. There’s also been a hot bull red drum bite in the surf off Assateague Island! Guys are soaking sand fleas and cut bait and catching the big bulls right in the shore break or within casting distance and catching consistently. Fishing on a high tide has been the key factor.”
Anglers Sport Center Fishing Report – Annapolis, MD
The Anglers Sport Center fishing report is written by Anglers Fishing Manager & OTW Columnist, Alex Gallardo-Perez.
Maryland DNR Fishing Report
Maryland DNR Fishing Report is written and compiled by Keith Lockwood, fisheries biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
Marylanders continue to see temperatures dip as we move our way through October. Fishing could hardly be better for a wide variety of freshwater and saltwater fish. To the delight of trout anglers, the fall trout stocking program has begun. Other anglers set their sights on fish like the invasive flathead catfish.
With the fall fishing season well underway, anglers are encouraged to participate in the Department of Natural Resources’ volunteer angler surveys. This is a chance for anglers to directly help in fisheries management. The information you provide assists the Department’s fisheries biologists with collection of important data, including species caught, harvest (fish kept), total catches, and fish released.
Lower Bay
A major focus of the lower Bay fishing community is fishing the shallower waters along the shores of the Bay and tidal rivers for a mix of puppy drum, striped bass, speckled trout, and bluefish. Casting topwater lures such as Zara Spooks and poppers is a great way to fish over grass beds and enjoy some explosive surface action. Paddletails, spin-jigs, spinnerbaits, swimshads, jerkbaits, and crankbaits can be good choices for fishing in slightly deeper waters. The lower Potomac and Patuxent rivers and the Tangier and Pocomoke sounds are excellent places to explore for shallow water action.
Anglers are also having good luck in catching speckled trout and puppy drum in the Hoopers Island area, as well as Tangier and Pocomoke sounds by using popping corks with a plastic shrimp trailer when fishing over grass beds. Others are having good luck drifting peeler crab baits in areas of substantial currents.
Out in the deeper waters of the Bay, near the Target Ship and nearby channel edges, large bluefish can still be found in good numbers this week. Trolling with planers and surgical tube lures is the most popular way to fish for them. These large and fat bluefish will often go 10 pounds or better. A few cobia are also being caught while trolling and must be released now that the season is closed. There are still some large red drum scattered around the eastern side of the bay, but they are becoming less abundant this week.
Fishing for a mix of spot, croaker, kingfish, white perch, blowfish, and small black sea bass is very good this week in the lower Patuxent and Potomac rivers, Tangier Sound and Pocomoke Sound. The croaker tend to be undersized. Bloodworms, peeler crab and shrimp can work as good baits for a variety of species. The spot tend to be locked in on bloodworms.
Bay anglers are reminded that new regulations for sheepshead have been in effect since August. The minimum size limit for sheepshead is 12 inches, with a daily limit of four fish.
Atlantic Ocean and Coastal Bays
Rough surf and persistent winds have made it tough for surf anglers to hold bottom but some are finding sloughs where the wave action is not as bad. A mix of spot and kingfish continue to be the target of anglers fishing with small baits of bloodworms, and bloodworm alternative baits. Those fishing larger baits are hoping for some catch-and-release action with large red drum, and some bluefish are being caught.
At the inlet there is a lot going on at the South Jetty where anglers are catching sheepshead and tautog on sand fleas. Anglers getting out on the water during the early morning hours or late evenings catch a mix of bluefish and striped bass by casting and jigging with soft plastic jigs or bucktails dressed with twister tails. Got-Cha lures are also popular when targeting bluefish. Flounder are always moving through the inlet so it can be a great place to drift a live bait or bounce a Gulp bait along the bottom. A reminder to coastal anglers, the minimum size limit for sheepshead is 12 inches, with a daily limit of four fish. The same regulations also apply to the Maryland section of the Chesapeake Bay.
Flounder fishing in the back bay channels is good as water clarity improves. The channels leading towards the inlet tend to be the most productive. Drifting live spot or finger mullet has been the best way to catch the largest flounder, Gulp baits in pink and white are also good baits to use. Anglers are enjoying some catch and release action this week at the Route 90 bridge with striped bass. Most of the bass are coming up just a little short of the 28-inch minimum but provide fun fishing. Casting soft plastic jigs and paddletails at the bridge pier bases is the most popular tactic.
The black sea bass season opens October 10, and if the weather allows, boats will be taking anglers out to the offshore wreck and reef sites. Tautog season is open, so if one uses the proper baits, they can also target tautog. Flounder tend to group up near these sites also and can offer a real bonus.
Out at the canyons a few persistent anglers aboard boats continued to troll and some found a warm eddy recently, where they were able to boat a mix of bluefin and yellowfin tuna. Dolphin can still be found near the lobster pot buoys and any floating debris or grass lines. Deep dropping for a mix of blueline and golden tilefish usually helps bring some meat back to the dock. A few swordfish are also being caught by anglers fishing in the extreme depths for them.
Maryland DNR Fishing Report is written and compiled by Keith Lockwood, fisheries biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.