Maryland and Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report
Captain Jamie Clough of Eastern Shore Light Tackle Charters said that striped bass in the bay are still stationed in shallow water, but they are tightly hugging nearshore structure. Sod banks, rock piles, and submerged points are common areas to find fish holding, as long as there is moving water. The skipper noted that Capt. Mike is just beginning to see pods of breaking fish on peanut bunker, especially during low-light hours of the day. Topwater plugs like spooks have been the ticket to success for their recent charters. To get in on the action, head over to the ES Light Tackle Charters Facebook page for contact info and trip rates.
From Ocean City, Taylor Bakke of Always Bent Fishing OC reported that over-slot striped bass have made another appearance in the backwaters this week after a slight lull. The fish have ranged from 33 to 37 inches and they’re seeing the most consistent action by jigging soft plastics in the bridge and dock lights after dark. Bluefish are still hanging around as well, as evidenced by the occasional shredded soft-plastic bait. Out in the surf, Bakke said, the action has slowed down a bit—but there were a few big red drum caught on the beaches of Assateague Island, and black drum, striper, and bluefish remain in the mix. The big news this week, however, is the arrival of sheepshead. Shore and boat anglers are picking a few right inside the inlet along the jetty rocks, and sand fleas or frozen shrimp are the baits of choice. While the striper action may soon begin to dwindle, accessible summer species like flounder and sheepshead will continue to fill in.
Captain Monty Hawkins of Morning Star Fishing out of West Ocean City shared that he headed out in the fog on Monday, Memorial Day, with a light rail of just seven anglers due to rain in the forecast. On their first drop, in came a mix of sea bass and bluefish to roughly 4 pounds, which caught everyone by surprise. According to the skipper, it had been decades since he has seen bluefish on reef structure in the spring—it is a bit more common during the fall. The sea bass bite, he said, was excellent, with several anglers reaching double-digit catches by noon followed by a few limits shortly thereafter. The crew of 7 wound up with a full limit. The following day, the Morning Star was greeted by calm seas and a light drizzle as they pressed toward the sea bass grounds and on the first drop, it became apparent that 12-ounce sinkers were necessary to hold bottom, and the action was rather slow. Before they could pick up and move, a 27-inch fluke was netted. They continued to work the same area as the current slowed and wound up with a better pick of sea bass, which led to several limits. While the action has been steady, they’ve had to weed through quite a few shorts to put some keepers in the box. Captain Monty said sea and weather conditions look good for a couple more days, and the Morning Star will be sailing for sea bass accordingly. Head over to morningstarfishing.com for contact info and give them a call to reserve your spot on the rail.
Anglers Sport Center Fishing Report – Annapolis, MD
Written by Anglers Fishing Manager & OTW Columnist, Alex Gallardo-Perez.
The striped bass bite has been steady with anglers catching a good amount of fish in the early mornings on topwater plugs around shoreline structures. Live-lining spot is still a great way to get them to bite, especially around deep water structure, like the Bay Bridge and lighthouses around the area. Most fish are in the low-20-inch class with a few over-slot fish mixed in. The Patapsco River seems to be holding a good amount of fish, as well as the mouth of the Chester River.
Bottom fishing is getting better, with more spot showing up in the area as well as white perch. Anglers are also catching more perch along shorelines, so we hope it continues to improve in the next week. Blue catfish are still around and anglers are catching them in numbers in a variety of areas north of the Patapsco 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
Fishing for striped bass at the Bay Bridge piers has been good this past week and should continue. Boats have been anchoring up-current of the bridge piers on the east side and drifting live spot and assorted baits back to the pier bases. Other anglers are positioning close to the piers and casting soft plastic jigs to the pier bases with good success.
Striped bass fishing is very good for light tackle anglers casting and jigging in many traditional locations in the middle Bay. Eastern Bay, Poplar Island, Thomas Point, and the mouth of the Choptank River are just a few locations where casting paddletails and soft plastic jigs is working well. The shallow waters are good places to cast paddletails and topwater lures. The deeper channel edges are the places to jig with soft plastics. The bluefish have made it to the middle bay region in the past week, so it might not be uncommon for some soft plastics to get chewed up.
Trolling along channel edges at about the 30-foot depth is another good way to target striped bass this week. The channel edges at Bloody Point, the Buoy 83 edge, and the False Channel are just a few of the good places to troll. Umbrella rigs with bucktail trailers have been popular. With the arrival of bluefish in the region, placing Drone spoons in a trolling spread might be a good idea. Spot are arriving in the region and anglers are already taking advantage of this little striper candy and live-lining at favorite locations.
Lower Bay
Deeper waters along channel edges are being targeted by anglers jigging with soft plastic jigs or by trolling with umbrella rigs down along the 30-foot edges. It is a good idea to place a few Drone spoons behind inline weights for the bluefish that are in the region. The steep channel edge of the Potomac from St. Georges Island to Piney Point. The lower Patuxent and the eastern side of the bay from Buoy 76 to Buoy 72 are worth exploring.
Red and black drum are being found on the eastern side of the Bay from the Middle Grounds up past the Target Ship and Tangier Sound. Finding them on depth finders and dropping soft crab baits to them is the most popular way to fish. Red drum can also be caught by jigging with large soft plastics or trolling large spoons behind inline weights.
Spot have arrived in the lower Patuxent River, St. Marys River, near Hoopers Island, and Tangier Sound, and anglers will begin to live-line spot near traditional channel edges. Anglers must remember to use non-offset circle hooks whenever targeting striped bass with live or cut bait.
White perch are steadily moving into their typical summer habitats; some report the process seems a little slower than previous years. Bottom rigs baited with grass shrimp or pieces of bloodworm work well in deeper waters, casting spin jigs and small lures in shallower waters can provide a lot of fun fishing.
Atlantic Ocean and Coastal Bays
Surf anglers are enjoying good fishing off the beaches of Ocean City and Assateague Island. Anglers fishing with large cut baits are catching large striped bass, red drum and bluefish. Most of the striped bass measure over the maximum slot size of 31 inches, but provide exciting catch-and-release action, as do the large red drum. Black drum are being caught on sand fleas and clams.
At the Ocean City Inlet and Route 50 Bridge area, anglers are catching striped bass by casting soft plastic jigs and paddletails. A fair number of the striped bass being caught are falling within the 28-31 inch slot. Anglers drifting cut baits in the inlet during the evening hours are catching good numbers of striped bass. Flounder are moving through the inlet and there is catch and release fishing for tautog.
The back bay channels leading from the inlet are good places to drift for flounder, as they move through those channels and spread out throughout the back bay waters. Striped bass are being caught near the bridge piers of the Route 90 and Verrazzano bridges, by anglers casting soft plastic jigs and paddletails.
Fishing offshore at the wreck and reef for black sea bass has been very good with limit catches being common. Flounder and ling can be part of the mix for anglers. Farther offshore at the canyons, anglers are finding the first of the yellowfin tuna and dolphin and there have been reports of bluefin tuna moving through the canyon areas.
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.