Maryland and Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report
Captain Jamie Clough of Eastern Shore Light Tackle Charters reported that striped bass are coming hot out of the rivers around the middle Bay this week. He’s seen mostly big fish moving south fast; they’re not sticking around one area very long. Capt. Jamie also noted that the bass have been far more responsive to rapidly-retrieved lures. They’re getting a ton of follows and when the bass do commit to the plug or plastic, the eats are explosive. The skipper said that small 5-inch baits were the ticket on Wednesday’s charter, with Z-Man’s Diezel Minnowz in the Opening Night pattern being the most productive. On Tuesday, however, Rapala X-Raps were getting the job done. Capt. Jamie also noted that they’re getting a lot of fish to follow walk-the-dog style topwater plugs. The bite is changing on a daily basis as post-spawn fish exit the rivers ahead of the new moon, so they’ve had to pivot to new areas or switch up the approach to convert followers into eaters. Head to the ES Light Tackle Charters Facebook page for contact info. to book a trip while the gettin’ is good.
Taylor Bakke of Always Bent Fishing OC relayed that black drum have shown up in the OC surf with big migratory bass mixed in. The bass are eating anything from bloodworms and eels to clams and sand fleas (of which the latter two are prime black drum baits). The back bays, Bakke added, are on fire with resident schoolies and migratory slot-size bass passing through in waves. As far as the local bottom fishing scene, the flounder bite has picked up in the backwaters and coastal bays. with a noticeable increase in larger, keeper-size fish being caught this week. Tautog, he said, have been chewing inshore and although it can be a finicky bite at times, even the fishermen targeting hard structure well inside the inlet are catching at a steady clip. However, finding a keeper tog requires picking through a lot of short fish. Frozen shrimp and green crabs are producing the most consistent results. Finally, speckled trout have been missing in action, which Bakke attributes to the harsh winter. But with water temperatures climbing more quickly due to this unseasonably warm weather, and local fisheries firing, he said anglers in the area are eagerly anticipating the arrival of bluefish already.
Anglers Sport Center Fishing Report – Annapolis, MD
Written by Anglers Fishing Manager & OTW Columnist, Alex Gallardo-Perez.
The striper bite has been good this week with mixed sizes of fish being caught out there. We got some reports of post-spawn fish being caught just outside the mouth of the Choptank River and Eastern Bay. Most guys are finding fish moving through the shallows around Eastern Bay and south, from the Choptank River to Tangier Sound. They are moving fast and not as willing to bite, but some of the lures that have gotten the attention of the fish are the twitchbaits in natural bunker colors, and Rapala X-Raps.
Shad fishing is in full swing. The Potomac and Patuxent rivers are the places to be this week with most anglers catching them on shad darts and small spoons. White perch have also shown up in great numbers in both of those rivers. With the exceptionally warm weather, snakehead anglers have been getting out and catching good numbers of fish down in the Blackwater area, as well as in the Potomac 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.
Maryland Bay waters are heating up for gamefish moving up the Chesapeake Bay to spawn. As reported from the buoys, main Bay surface and river mouth water temperatures are now in the low to mid 50s. Smaller rivers and streams temperatures are holding in the upper 40s to low 50s.
Middle Bay
Catch-and-release fishing for striped bass has been going well this month and this week’s warm temperatures make fishing out on the Bay much more comfortable. Trolling and jigging along the main channel edges is a popular way to fish for striped bass moving up the bay. Striped bass have been spawning for the last two weeks in the upper Choptank, so anglers may encounter post spawn fish heading out of the river. In all cases anglers should practice the best catch and release techniques. The DNR website has tips on handling fish as little and quickly as possible.
White perch can still be found in the upper sections of the Choptank River and Tuckahoe this week. Anglers will encounter post-spawn white perch as the perch head downriver from the spawning reaches. A 1/16-ounce or 1/8-ounce jig head tipped with grass shrimp or a piece of minnow or bloodworm is a popular offering. In deeper waters a bottom rig baited with the above baits will also catch white perch.
There are plenty of blue catfish in the Choptank River this week and many of them can be found in the Dover Bridge area up to Denton. The deeper channel edges on the outside of river bends and deep shelves alongside the channels are a good place to look for them. Most of the blue catfish in the Choptank are less than 30 pounds so they’re perfect size for table fare. Cut bait of gizzard shad, menhaden, or white perch work well as do scented baits. Please use an 8/0 or 9/0 non-offset circle hook when fishing in the Choptank River since striped bass are present.
Lower Bay
Striped bass catch-and-release anglers are reporting post-spawn striped bass moving down the Potomac River and out into the bay this week. There is still quite a bit of spawning going on in the Patuxent and Nanticoke rivers but fish that spawned earlier this month will be making their way out into the lower bay region. Schools of menhaden that are being seen along steep channel edges will surely attract the striped bass.
Trolling large barbless bucktails dressed with chartreuse or white sassy shads will be a very popular way to catch and release striped bass. Jigging with large soft plastic jigs will be equally popular with light tackle anglers. Light-tackle anglers are also catching and releasing striped bass in the shallower shorelines of the bay. The DNR website contains maps to identify where striped bass can be fished legally.
Catch-and-release fishing for hickory and American shad is good this week in the Potomac River below the Chain Bridge in the District of Columbia. Water flows are low and water temperatures relatively warm. The shad are responding to flashy spoons, shad darts and brightly colored sinking flies. The Mason Branch of Mattawoman Creek is also a great place to catch hickory shad.
Fishing for blue catfish this week is very good along the edges of the main channels in several of the tidal rivers in the lower Bay. The Potomac River above the Route 301 Bridge to the Wilson Bridge is loaded with blue catfish eager to take a bait. The Patuxent River from Benedict through Jug Bay and the Nanticoke near Sharptown are all good places to fish for blue catfish. Cut bait of gizzard shad, menhaden, white perch, or live bluegill sunfish will be attractive to the blue catfish.
Atlantic Ocean and Coastal Bays
Surf anglers are reporting increasing numbers of black drum along the beaches of Assateague this week. Sand fleas and peeler crab have been the most popular baits. At the Ocean City Inlet and Route 50 Bridge area, anglers are catching tautog, flounder and striped bass. The tautog are being caught on sand fleas and pieces of crab, flounder on Gulp baits and squid strips. The striped bass are mostly a catch-and-release fishery, since most fail to measure more than 28 inches.
Increasing numbers of flounder are being caught this week, the ebbing tide tends to produce the best results. The channels leading from the inlet are the most popular place to fish. Striped bass are producing a lot of fun catch and release fishing at the Route 90 and Verrazzano bridges. Casting soft plastic jigs and paddletails are the favored lures. Most fish being caught are too small to keep, but now and then one will fall into the 28- to 31-inch slot.
Tautog are being found on the inshore and offshore wreck and reef sites. Catches have been good for anglers using pieces of crab for bait. Flounder can also be part of the catch for those who target them.
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.