Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report – October 17th, 2025!

Rocktober is here! Fish have been feeding hard in areas like Pooles Island, Love Point, the Bay Bridge, and the Patapsco River. Live lining spot and eels has been effective both in open water and in the shallows. Rockfish with small bluefish mixed in have been spotted breaking under birds in open water. Metal jigs and three to five inch paddletails are great options to throw at open water fish, and topwater in the shallows during low light conditions has been effective as well. Anglers trolling umbrella rigs along channel edges have been finding success in these areas as well. Bottom fishing is yielding spot and perch, however the spot will be heading south any day now. Hard bottom in the Chester and Magothy Rivers has been producing fish. Pickerel have been biting well in the Upper Bay tributaries like the Magothy and Severn Rivers. There are lots of numbers, and casting paddletails or spinners over and around grassy cover is the best way to target them this time of year.

Anglers fishing for rockfish found success this week in the vicinity of Poplar Island, Eastern Bay, Wye River, Choptank River, South River, and Thomas Point. Live lining spot and eels has worked well both in open water and in the shallows, as well as diving plugs and paddletails. Bird shows have been popping up in the late afternoon/evening, with a mix of rockfish and bluefish busting on bait at the surface. Bottom fishing is still providing a nice mixed bag of species from Solomon’s south, but many of those critters will start heading south as the water continues to cool. Perch have been a bit more present in the shallows of the Middle Bay than in recent weeks, and anglers are finding success using sabikis or micro jigs tipped with grass shrimp.

If you want reliable action, the Lower Bay is delivering this week. Bluefish are abundant from the MD/VA line all the way up toward Sharp’s Island. Big blues are schooling around bait, and they’re catchable by metal jigs, topwater plugs, or trolling spoons and hoses. Striped bass, speckled trout, puppy drum, even a few bull reds are showing up in the lower rivers. The Potomac and Patuxent are especially active. In the creeks and shallow backwaters of the Tangier Sound anglers report success with paddletails, popping corks rigged with shrimp-style plastics, small topwater plugs, and light jigs. Bottom fishing around Point Lookout and the deep structure is still productive, though tapering. Sabiki rigs with bloodworms or Fishbites are producing spot, croaker, perch, weakfish, lizardfish, kingfish, and more.

Freshwater has a lot of interesting motion this week as fall moves in and stocking begins. The DNR fall trout stocking program kicked off in early October, hitting streams and impoundments in the Western part of Maryland. Be sure to check the Maryland DNR website for details. Smallmouth in the upper Potomac and Monocacy rivers remain lively, despite lower flows. Water clarity is not great right now due to the recent storm, so topwater plugs, chatterbaits, and anything that makes noise or vibration should work well. Crappie are grouping around structural features—fallen timber, submerged wood, rock piles, dock pilings, etc. A minnow under a bobber or small jigs dropped around structure are good producers.  Largemouth bass in ponds, lakes, and reservoirs are still active. Many are still occupying shallower cover, feeding up for winter. Topwater lures, wacky rigs, spinnerbaits, and chatterbaits near grass edges and other structure are all good options.

Surf and inlet fishing has been challenging at times given unsettled winds and waves, but pockets of opportunity remain. The red drum bite in the surf is on fire. Use heavier sinkers and cut mullet or spot to present in moving surf. Jetties continue to produce sheepshead and tautog. Use heavy jigs or bottom rigs baited with crab, sand fleas, or peeler crab. Striped bass and bluefish are still around the bridges and inlet. Soft plastic jigs or drifting cut bait can work. Flounder are still being caught in inlet channels or near edges, but cloudy water can suppress their bite; the cleaner water from an incoming tide can help. Offshore, black sea bass reopened October 10. If sea conditions allow, anglers plan to push out to reef and wrecks. The reports from the canyons were few and far between this week as weather made it difficult to get out there.

Crabbing continues to hold strong across most areas of the Bay, though activity is shifting deeper as temperatures drop. 12 to 15 foot contours and channel edges are currently holding the best concentrations. Many rivers and tributaries report solid catches. The lower tidal reaches remain dependable. Lighter crabs (recently molted) are increasingly common after the full moon, so culling will become important.