Maryland and Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report
Sailing out of West Ocean City, Captain Monty Hawkins of Morning Star Fishing reported up and down results on the offshore sea bass grounds over the weekend. They had been docked since Hurricane Erin but on the 23rd, found the fish chewing “crazy good” in the skipper’s words. It wasn’t necessarily calm seas, but tall, long period swells at around 12-second intervals made it doable. Sea bass were chewing hard after an increase in bottom temperature following the storm; they had their first limit by 9:45am and others followed soon after until almost every angler on board had reached a limit of keepers. Sunday was a much different story, with tough sea bass and mahi fishing, so much so that a decent keeper fluke beat out the largest sea bass for the pool. Then, after what must have been an off-day, the captain and crew were greeted by a ferocious sea bass bite once again on Monday; they couldn’t keep sea bass off the hooks and wound up with their first full-boat limit of 2025. That same steady action from quality sea bass continued into Tuesday as bottom temps remained warmer than average, although with surface temps lower than anticipated, mahi did not cooperate. The Morning Star will be sailing for sea bass and mahi when conditions allow. Give them a shout at (443) 235-5577 between 8 AM and 8 PM to reserve your spot on the rail.
From Ocean City, Taylor Bakke of Always Bent Fishing OC said there’s been an epic white marlin bite over the past 3 days, which is an extension of the excellent marlin fishing that occurred during the MidAtlantic tournament last week. That’s been the big news locally. Meanwhile, inshore fishing is going strong too. The nighttime striper bite is the main draw and the name of the game is working soft plastics on jigs along lighted docks and bridges, as stripers use the shadow lines to ambush baitfish. High slack tide has been the most productive window for consistent action and quality.
Captain Jamie Clough of Eastern Shore Light Tackle Charters reported that topwater striped bass fishing in the bay continues to be outstanding in protected locations that are out of the wind where there’s calm water. The skipper said bait is still thick in the rivers, and areas with good current and plenty of grass seem to be holding a better class of fish. Give Captain Jamie a call or visit his Facebook page to learn more and to get in on the action.
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Anglers Sport Center Fishing Report – Annapolis, MD
The Anglers Sport Center fishing report is written by Anglers Fishing Manager & OTW Columnist, Alex Gallardo-Perez.
Since the storm, the striped bass bite has been hit or miss for most of the region. The high tides and drastic water temperature changes didn’t make it easy for anglers. The upper Bay still produced some topwater action in shallow water around structure, especially in the Patapsco and Chester rivers. Guys drifting eels around Pooles Island did okay on the outgoing tide. One of the good things that came from the storm is that it pushed some bluefish closer the the Annapolis area; recently, there have been reports of good-size blues around Poplar Island, and some around Bloody Point, feeding on small peanut bunker.
The bite down south for bull reds and cobia is still there, but it has slowed down for bull reds. Anglers were able to find some cobia from Solomon’s down to the Target Ship this week. Historically, the first and second week of September have been the best time to cobia fish the middle to lower Bay, so let’s hope for good couple of weeks ahead. Perch fishing and catfishing in the upper to middle Bay have both been steady, with anglers catching more channel and blue cats from the upper reaches of the bay down to the Severn River.
Maryland DNR Fishing Report
Maryland DNR Fishing Report is written and compiled by Keith Lockwood, fisheries biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Read the full DNR report here.
Middle Bay
The best fishing for striped bass in the middle Bay is reported to be coming from those who fish the shallower waters along shorelines during the early morning and late evening hours. Casting poppers and paddletails are the two most popular lures being used. Eastern Bay. Poplar Island, the lower Choptank River, and the Dorchester County shorelines are some of the better places to target striped bass this week. Water temperatures have dropped into the upper 70s in most areas and the fish are responding favorably to those cooler water temperatures.
Live-lining spot is a popular way to fish for striped bass this week, and a couple artificial reef sites and steep edges on the north side of Tilghman Island and Sharps Island Light are good places to check. A good depth finder is very important in locating striped bass suspended off the bottom. There is some on-and-off striped bass action at the Bay Bridge piers for anglers drifting live spot back to the pier bases.
Small bluefish can be found throughout the middle Bay – some are as small as 12 inches in length. Trolling has been a popular way to fish for them, and anglers are managing to be able to catch one-to-two-pound bluefish while trolling along the main channel edges with surg tube lures and spoons.
Lower Bay
Bluefish can be found in good numbers throughout the lower Bay, with some of the best fishing success occurring on the eastern side from the HS Buoy south to the Middle Grounds and Tangier Sound. The mouth of the Potomac and Point Lookout to Cedar Point has also been a good place to fish for bluefish. Trolling surg tube lures and spoons are the two most popular lures to use. Anglers are also encountering schools of bluefish on the surface chasing bait schools and catching them by casting metal jigs.
Trolling Drone and Clark spoons at slightly higher speeds with planers is a productive way to catch Spanish mackerel this week. The Spanish mackerel will also mix it up with bluefish when chasing bait and a lightning-fast retrieve of a metal jig is a proven way to target them. Anglers should keep a watch on depth finders looking for heavy marks indicating there might be large red drum or cobia holding close to the bottom underneath the surface mayhem. Large soft plastic jigs or a live eel is a great way to find out who is down there.
Seasoned anglers know that when you cast your line into the water, you never know what you might catch. Carlos Matus was trolling for bluefish in the lower Bay when he hooked up with this adult tarpon. After a strenuous fight, the tarpon was quickly released in the water. Historically there has been a late summer tarpon fishery on the lower eastern shore of Virginia that does not get much attention, which suits the locals just fine. This author fished there in the mid-1970s and jumped two but lost them both when they threw the hook, which is very common in tarpon fishing. It is not a stretch that some of these tarpon would wander into our waters. It is a common scientific fact that the largest of a species will tend to wander the farthest north.
The shallow water fishery for a mix of striped bass, slot-size red drum, speckled trout, and bluefish is doing well this week. Slightly cooler water temperatures may be a factor in that fishery doing so well. The traditional locations along the lower Potomac and Patuxent rivers, shorelines of the Eastern Shore shorelines, and Tangier and Pocomoke sounds are all producing good fishing. Poppers, paddletails and popping corks trailing soft plastic shrimp are all good ways to fish.
Fishing for cobia has been good for those sight fishing on windless days or more traditional chumming and fishing a live eel at the back of the chum slick on the bottom. The Target Ship and Middle Grounds are good places to give cobia fishing a try. Large red drum are also in the area and can provide some exciting catch and release action when jigging, fishing bait or trolling large spoons. Large red drum will sometimes give their presence away with slicks, disturbed water or chasing schools of bait on the surface.
Sheepshead are being caught near the Target Ship on fiddler crab or peeler crab baits. A few legal-sized flounder are being caught by those who target them near Point Lookout and the Tangier and Pocomoke sounds. Fishing for spot could hardly be any better, and many are large now, and the croakers are measuring more than 9 inches. A mix of blowfish, kingfish, and small black sea bass can also be in the mix. The mouth of the Patuxent, Tangier Sound, and the lower Potomac are some of the popular places to fish this week. Look for hard bottom in 15-20 feet of water.
Atlantic Ocean and Coastal Bays
The coastal waters off Ocean City received a significant heave last week, and sometimes in late summer a little stir to our ocean waters is a good thing. Surf anglers have seen the surf calm down and fishing for a mix of kingfish, croakers, spot, blowfish, and flounder picked up right where it left off. Bluefish are in the surf and are being caught on cut bait and finger mullet. A few pompano were caught recently in the Assateague surf on sand fleas.
There are bluefish and striped bass to be caught in the inlet and Route 50 Bridge area for those casting soft plastic jigs. Paddletails or drifting cut bait. Sheepshead are being caught near jetty rocks on fiddler crabs, peeler crab and pieces of green crab.
The bay waters have cleared up and flounder fishing prospects for this week look very good. It is going to be a busy boating weekend so be careful when fishing in the channels. Live bait and Gulp baits are catching the largest flounder. Squid and minnow baits work well and provide the added entertainment of small black sea bass and croakers.
The near-shore wreck and reef sites are providing good fishing for larger flounder and that good flounder fishing extends out to the wreck and reef sites that are farther offshore. At those offshore sites fishing for black sea bass has been very good lately with many anglers coming close to catching limits. Triggerfish have also been part of the mix and small dolphin tend to be a bit scarce.
At the canyons, anglers who are trolling are experiencing multiple white marlin catch and releases along with some large dolphin. Yellowfin tuna have been a bit sparse but that could change any day. Deep drop anglers are enjoying bringing blueline tilefish back to the docks to round out their canyon trips.
Maryland DNR Fishing Report is written and compiled by Keith Lockwood, fisheries biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Read the full DNR report here.