Maryland & Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report
Sailing out of West Ocean City, Captain Monty Hawkins of Morning Star Fishing reported that some snotty conditions had them heading for home sooner than expected over the weekend; 30-knot winds are no fun when you’re 10+ miles offshore in search of bluefin tuna feeding on or near the surface. However, they were able to make it out on Tuesday of this week to troll for tuna. Tuesday’s trip found seven anglers battling and landing two 150-pound class bluefin after steaming 13 miles offshore, where they found dolphins feeding on sand eels—a promising sign of bluefin in the area. After seeing surface feeds, they set out a heavy planer with a ballyhoo in tow and hooked up. It was a 59.5-inch, 134-pound fish that made it to the boat in less than 25 minutes. While clearing lines, they received another knockdown that didn’t stay pinned long, and while resetting, they came tight to another tuna that jumped off the hook. Three and a half hours passed when they decided to troll a diving plug, and soon after a rainbow appeared, they located the biggest tuna feed of the day and came tight. The fight lasted 54 minutes, and despite the rod snapping halfway through and the 250-pound swivel straightening boat side, they were able to land the 62-inch, 147-pound bluefin. Safe to say there was more than enough meat to go around. The skipper plans to get back to bottom fishing for sea bass when the windy conditions subside, and there’s likely a couple more tuna trips on the horizon, so sign up for their email list on morningstarfishing.com to stay in the loop.
In Ocean City, Taylor Bakke from Always Bent Fishing OC reported: “Fishing has been insane here recently! The bluefin bite continues—boats are still catching them daily when the weather cooperates, however, this recent cold front and wind has dropped the water temps quite a bit, with inshore as cold as 44 to 46 degrees. With the colder water temps the migratory striped bass have begun to move in. When the bluefin weren’t cooperating, we decided to head inshore to calmer seas and see if we could find any life. Using our radar we saw a huge cluster of birds, so we ran and checked it out, and we pulled up to an all out bass blitz! Every cast for about 90 minutes, we all caught multiple stripers, and every fish was 35 inches or bigger. So cool seeing these big migratory bass traveling through on their way to the Chesapeake Bay, it’s amazing how those migratory ocean fish seem almost like a different species compared to our local resident schoolies. Needless to say, it saved our trip and turned our cold, wet day into an awesome day. This week, the weather is looking awesome, so if you’re able to get out and fish, now is the time. Trolling still seems to be most effective for bluefin, however, if you want to cast spinning gear for them, I think now is the best time for that as well! Captain Jeff from the Bad Habit caught 3 bluefin on Tuesday morning, releasing two, and found more stripers on the ride in. They were back at the dock by 10 AM! For the stripers, we were jigging and casting artificial paddletails and straight tails on spinning gear. I’m sure if you really wanted to you could troll for them, but we personally prefer casting and jigging for the stripers. It’s insane fishing down here right now. We’re headed out on Friday with two full boats to look for bluefin and bass. Good luck and tight lines to everyone fishing this week, and Happy Holidays!”
Anglers Sport Center Fishing Report – Annapolis, MD
The Anglers Sport Center fishing report is written by Anglers Fishing Manager & OTW Columnist, Alex Gallardo-Perez.
This week, anglers have been getting out when there is a break in the weather. We had lots of wind and some rain over the past few days. Striped bass fishing seems to be following the normal early-winter pattern, where most of the action moves down to southern Maryland around Solomons Island to the Potomac River. Some of the areas to look around for action would be the false channel on the Eastern Shore side of the bay. There are still some fish locally around The Hill at the mouth of Eastern Bay, but it’s not red hot action. Most anglers are bottom bouncing with metal jigs anywhere from 30 to 60 feet of water.
The best bite going right now is the bluefin tuna bite off Ocean City. Lots of anglers have been out there when the wind lets up, and some are getting multiple fish on the troll. Even the guys casting lures with spinning gear have been getting multiple fish. Most are casting 8-inch NLBN straight and paddletails. Some are also running in to schools of migratory striped bass inside the 3-mile line.
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
In the lower Bay, anglers can still fish striped bass in the main stem of the Potomac River (downstream of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge) until December 31, and keep one measuring between 19-24 inches. Be advised that Maryland’s tributary rivers feeding into the Potomac are closed to possession of striped bass. Trolling umbrella rigs down deep at 35 feet or more with heavy inline weights and heavy tackle are tools that are needed. Chartreuse trailers of bucktails dressed with sassy shads are the most popular offering.
When concentrations of striped bass can be located with depth finders along deep channel edges, jigging can be a fun way to fish. Both soft plastic and metal jigs are good choices to reach depths of 35 feet or more along the edges of the main channel.
In the Maryland portion of the lower Bay, striped bass fishing is now strictly catch and release. Anglers will be testing the waters this month hoping that a run of large migrating striped bass moving down the coast might make a right turn into the Bay and come into Maryland waters for some exciting catch-and-release fishing.
Blue catfish can be found in great numbers in the Potomac River from the Route 301 Bridge to the Wilson Bridge this week. The blue catfish are starting to concentrate in the deeper channel areas and make for some easier fishing success. The Nanticoke River around the mouth of Marshyhope Creek and the town of Sharptown is another excellent location to find blue catfish. Gizzard shad or menhaden make good baits for a circle hook and siding sinker rig.
Atlantic Ocean and Coastal Bays
Surfcasters continue to soak large baits of cut mullet and menhaden in search of a few stray large migrating striped bass, which might venture within casting distance of the beaches on their way south. So far anglers are catching a mix of dogfish and clearnose skates.
At the Ocean City Inlet and Route 50 Bridge area there is a lot more action with good fishing for tautog near jetty rocks, bulkheads, and bridge and dock piers. A good portion of the fish being caught exceed the 16-inch minimum and gives shore bound anglers some good fishing action. Sand fleas and pieces of green crab are the preferred baits. There also continues to be action with striped bass for those casting soft plastic jigs and working them close to the bottom.
Migrating bluefin tuna have been an exciting fishery for anglers recently; most of the action is occurring within 10 miles of the beaches. Anglers are trolling ballyhoo and a variety of other favorite lures or chunking. The anglers heading out to the offshore wreck and reef sites in search of black sea bass and tautog are doing well with limits being a common occurrence.
Maryland DNR Fishing Report is written and compiled by Keith Lockwood, fisheries biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.