Upper Bay
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Rockfish are closed for targeting and harvest in the Chesapeake Bay until August 1st! In the meantime, white perch fishing is finally hot. The Magothy, Chester, and Patapsco Rivers seem to have the highest concentration of perch in the Upper Bay at the moment. Small jigs tipped with grass shrimp, sabiki rigs tipped with bloodworms or grass shrimp, and Perch Hounders are all working great right now. Look to target structure like rocky shorelines, docks, and areas with contour and hard bottom. Spot and croaker can be found in the same areas using sabiki rigs or small Gulp baits.
Middle Bay
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Rockfish are closed for targeting and harvest in the Chesapeake Bay until August 1st! There are an increasing number of perch to catch, however, so there is still opportunity to put a bend in your rod. The Severn, South, Patuxent, and Choptank rivers have been particularly hot areas. Casting small spinners, curly tail grubs, and paddletails at shoreline structure like rocks, docks, and grass has been very productive. Bottom fishing with bloodworms, FishBites, or razor clams is still producing tons of spot, croaker, and even the occasional flounder. The bluefish bite seems to have moved further south, though a few fish are still being caught. Speckled trout continue to increase in numbers in the Middle Bay, and can be caught on 3 inch to 4 inch paddletails, popping cork rigs with a soft plastic shrimp trailer, or diving plugs.
Lower Bay
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Rockfish are closed for targeting and harvest in the Chesapeake Bay until August 1st! The talk of the town in the Lower Bay right now is bluefish, bull reds, and cobia. In the vicinity of the mouth of the Potomac River and Target Ships, there have been massive bluefish blitzes recently. If you’re lucky, you may find some bull reds hanging out beneath the blues. Otherwise, trolling hoses or larger spoons along ledges, or running around to try and mark fish on side scan is the best way to tangle with a bull. 6 inch to 8 inch profiles are hot right now. Cobia fishing is still hit or miss, but some fish are being caught while chunking. Set out a chum bag, put some pieces of cut alewife on the bottom, and float an eel for the best chance at hooking up. Some anglers are finding cruising cobia on occasion, in which case a live eel or large paddletail is the best option to throw at them. Speckled trout are biting readily at daybreak on paddletails with thinner profiles that match the Atlantic silverside hatch. Look to target them in deeper water as the sun gets higher. Puppy drum are around, but not nearly in the numbers that we saw them last year. Target them with soft plastic shrimp behind popping corks, Gulp swimming mullets, or paddletails slathered in Procure. They love the scent!
Freshwater
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Ponds, lakes, and rivers are being targeted by anglers for largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, sunfish, and snakeheads. The low light hours of early morning, dusk, and rainy days are best for largemouth. Wacky rigged or Texas rigged senkos in green pumpkin or black/blue are very effective for largemouth. Target shade, wood laydowns, and submurged rock or wood structure. Smallmouth can be caught in the shallows early in the morning on topwater lures, jigs, and jerkbaits. They will definitely push deeper during the day, and are better targeted using chatterbaits. Sunfish are readily available to catch all day long, and will hit a worm under a bobber or a micro jig. Inline spinners will catch sunfish as well. Some snakeheads are still guarding fry balls, while others have moved back into thick vegetation. Weedless presentations like topwater frogs or weedless chatterbaits in bright colors are good ways to score a bite.
Coastal
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Tuna, mahi, and even a couple marlin and wahoo are still being caught out in the canyons, with the Washington and Poormans being reported as hot areas. Trolling is the way to get it done for any of these species, except mahi which can also be found around the lobster pots. Chunking squid or reeling lures like diving plugs or stingsilvers extremely fast are good ways to fill the box. Offshore wreck and reef sites have been quite hot for bottom fishing, with many boats limiting out on seabass and flounder. Jigging or dropping bottom rigs tipped with squid are great options for seabass, and bucktails tipped with Gulp or minnows work great for flounder. The surf bite has slowed down for most large species except sharks, rays, and the rare red drum. Most anglers are using chunked or whole spot or bluefish. There are plenty of kingfish, spot, and croaker in the surf as well, which can be targeted using bloodworms or sand fleas. The occasional flounder is in the mix as well, with anglers finding success with the classic Gulp/bucktail combo or squid/minnow combo. In the inlet, anglers are finding sheepshead and tautog using shrimp, sandfleas, or crabs on bottom sweeper jigs. Rockfish are still legal to catch in the ocean and back bays, and anglers will find bluefish mixed in with them as well.
Crabbing
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We are steadily approaching the peak of crabbing season. Razor clams are the top bait in pots right now, and chicken necks in pull traps and on hand lines are performing well. Trotliners are using a mix of both. Areas to target include the Choptank, South, Magothy, Chester, and Severn rivers.
