Maryland and Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report
Sailing out of West Ocean City, Captain Monty Hawkins of Morning Star Fishing reported some decent mahi fishing offshore amid the residual storm swell on Tuesday. There was plenty of clean water by the time they had steamed 5 miles, and anglers on board worked hard for no bites in green, nearly 78-degree water. The best action came further north and east where there was some blue water and similar temps. They boated a total of 4 mahi and dropped two. Late last week (Thursday) before the weather took a turn for the worse, the skipper put his anglers on a good sea bass bite that eventually shut down when a survey boat came into the area, forcing them to push 8 miles south where the sea bass were still chewing—just not as well as they had been at the first stop that morning. 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 the White Marlin Open is the talk of the town this week, but the weather and sea conditions have been less than ideal. Bakke and Capt. Jeff Rosenkilde of Bad Habit Sport Fishing fished on Tuesday and missed a few takes from small white marlin while they were targeting tuna. As of Wednesday evening, 282 white marlin have been caught, along with a handful of tuna and blue marlin. The Bad Habit will be back on the scene on Saturday and Sunday. Back inshore, Bakke said the best thing going right now is a spectacular sheepshead bite. Grab your jigs, crabs, and sand fleas and hit local hard structure near the inlet and area bridges for the best chances at some sheeps.
Anglers Sport Center Fishing Report – Annapolis, MD
The Anglers Sport Center fishing report is written by Anglers Fishing Manager & OTW Columnist, Alex Gallardo-Perez.
The bluefish bite that was going on last week in the southern portion of the bay seems to have slowed down with fewer breaking blues on the surface. Some have found them around the channel edges glued to the bottom near the Target Ship and the mouth of the Potomac River.
The striped bass bite continues around shallow water areas of the Choptank, Patapsco, and Eastern Bay with topwater action in the early morning hours being the most consistent pattern. The upper Bay area is holding some good fish just south of Pooles Island, and most angler are drifting eels around the lumps between the island and the channel edge.
Bottom fishing continues to yield mainly spot, croaker, and some white perch depending on the area; most anglers in the southern part of the bay are beginning to catch some good-size croakers up to 13 inches on bloodworms and peeler crabs.
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.
The summer fun continues across Maryland, as the White Marlin Open in Ocean City has begun and is attracting anglers from many distant ports. Many anglers are also seeking out more local and satisfying fishing such as Chesapeake Channa, AKA northern snakehead, in the Bay’s tidal rivers this week.
Middle Bay
Fishing for striped bass in the middle Bay tends to see the best success during the early morning and late evening hours. Anglers are always drawn to the Bay Bridge when scouting for striped bass and they are finding some success. Drifting with live spot or soft crab baits down current to the bases of the piers at the 30-foot edge on the eastern side of the bridge is reported to give the best results. Casting soft plastic jigs at the pier bases during the early morning hours is always a fun way to fish the bridge piers.
A mix of striped bass and bluefish can be found along some of the steeper channel edges near the Brick House Bar, the Gum Thickets, Stone Rock, and Breezy Point. The Sharps Island Light and up the Choptank River near Cambridge have been an especially good areas to live-line for striped bass this week. Live-lining spot is a very popular way to fish and when bluefish show up, many anglers are using cut spot with good success for the bluefish and striped bass. The Department of Natural Resources website includes a map to help familiarize anglers with some of the traditional fishing locations in the middle Bay, along with additional maps on the webpage.
Trolling is another option to target striped bass. The striped bass are suspended along channel edges so inline weights or planers are being used to get lures down to where the fish are holding. Red and green surgical tube lures are working well for bluefish and Drone spoons and bucktails for striped bass. The False Channel and the channel edge below Buoy 83 have been good places to troll.
Fishing the shallower waters in the lower sections of the tidal rivers, the Poplar Island rocks, and Bay shorelines during the very early morning hours is always a fun light-tackle way to fish. Water temperatures have dropped slightly but the shallower waters are warmer, and fishing for striped bass tends to shut down once the sun clears the horizon. The evening hours offer another option for casting poppers and paddletails; a few speckled trout have been part of the mix lately.
Lower Bay
Fishing for bluefish is very good this week throughout the lower Bay but there are some standout locations. The area around the Point No Point reef, the Target Ship, and the HS Buoy are providing excellent fishing. Trolling a mix of Drone spoons, surgical tube lures in red and green behind planers and inline weights is very popular. At times anglers encounter breaking bluefish chasing bait and casting metal jigs to them provides a lot of fun fishing. A few Spanish mackerel are beginning to show up in the melee. Cobia and large red drum may be found lurking underneath the surface action and holding close to the bottom.
Cobia are being found near the Target Ship, Smith Point, and Point Lookout; they tend to be scarce but a few are being caught by sight fishing and chumming. Large red drum are being caught and released out in the main portion of the bay near the Target Ship, Mud Leads, and the Middle Grounds.
The best striped bass fishing is being reported in the lower Potomac River along the steep channel edge between St. Georges Island and Piney Point. Jigging and live-lining spot are two of the most popular ways to fish there. The lower Patuxent, Cedar Point, Cove Point, and Point No Point are other locations where striped bass are being found. Bay waters are still in the low to mid-80s so any striped bass to be released must be done quickly and in the water to prevent stress mortalities.
A mix of spot, croakers, blowfish, small sea bass, and kingfish are being caught by anglers targeting spot and croakers. The lower Potomac near Point Lookout and up to Cobb Island, the lower Patuxent, Tangier Sound, and Pocomoke Sound are all good places to fish.
Atlantic Ocean and Coastal Bays
Surf anglers continue to enjoy a variety of fishing in the surf of Assateague Island this week. Those fishing small baits of bloodworms, artificial bloodworm baits, peeler crab, sand fleas, and squid are catching kingfish, spot, croakers, blowfish, flounder, and a few pompano. Fishing larger cut bait will attract bluefish, large red drum, inshore sharks, and sting rays.
Fishing at the inlet and Route 50 Bridge area is best done very early in the morning and evening or at night. The White Marlin Open is in progress this week and traffic of large sportfishing boats will be heavy. Anglers have been doing well at night drifting cut bait and catching striped bass and bluefish. Sheepshead are being caught near the jetties and bridge piers on sand fleas and fiddler crabs.
A mix of flounder, croakers, and small black sea bass are being caught in the back bay waters. The channels leading from the inlet are going to be a busy area, so be careful of large sportfishing boats. Sinepuxent Bay might be a safer place to fish.
Outside the inlet and out to approximately the 20-fathom line, anglers who are trolling are catching a mix of bluefish, Spanish mackerel, false albacore, and small dolphin. The inshore wreck sites are holding large flounder and even a few cobia this week. The wreck and reef sites a little farther offshore are providing good fishing for a mix of black sea bass, triggerfish, flounder, and small dolphin.
At the canyons this week the White Marlin Open fleet is plying the waters in search of that elusive winning white marlin. A significant number of white marlin have been released that did not meet the qualifying weight and a huge 929.5-pound blue marlin has been brought to the scales. Deep drop fishing for blueline tilefish continues to be a good way for anglers to take some fish home when trolling is not productive.
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.