The summer striped bass pattern is here and live lining spot has taken over as the hot method for rockfish anglers through out the Chesapeake Bay region. Hot reports this week come from in and around the Bay Bridge area, the western shore from Breezy Point down to the Gas Docks and Cedar Point area. The southern Maryland waters have seen some breaking striped bass and smaller bluefish. Red drum fishing has picked up. There are some reports coming up the bay from south of Smith Point that there are some bruiser bluefish making their way north that has people getting excited in the southern Maryland waters.  We went out this week and hit the Gas Docks with some live spot and put a whipping on some stripers. Check the reports for full details…(pictured: fellow Tidal Fisher TimeFlies having some fun on the fly rod this past week. full report and pictures here)

Maryland Fisheries News
In the gym this past week I was having a conversation with one of the older guys that works out about crabbing and fishing. He lives on a creek off the Choptank River and said that his friend caught a rockfish in the creek that had twenty five crabs in it’s stomach. He said our crab problem has to do with having too many rockfish. It was almost a flashback to what the watermen have been saying. We got into a debate about it and I said the data does not support that crabs are a main portion of the striped bass diet. I told him just because one friend caught one fish that had crabs in its stomach does not mean you can take that one data point and jump to say that effects the whole population. Maybe his creek has an abundance of small crabs and not a lot of other bait like menhaden. I tol him I was going fishing this week and would check the stomach of all the rockfish we caught I bet him we would not find one crab in the stomach. I am going to collect that bet tonight when I see him. We caught and kept 10 rockfish the other day, checked all the stomachs and guess what we found, not a ton of food, but what we did find were spot menhaden. I am not saying that rockfish do not eat crabs, they do, but its a small portion of their diet and not why we have an issue with crabs. We have an issue with crabs because we humans overharvested and ate too many of them over the last few years and the whole situation is compounded bythe poor water quality that we have in the bay. I think it really is that simple. Read more on this one here to learn what striped bass eat and how much.

Weekend/Upcoming Fishing Events

Ocean City Maryland Tuna Tournament
Date: July 11-13, 2008
Details: One of the biggest tuna tournaments on the east coast. Lastyears payout was over $680,000, that’s some serious smackers.
Full details here
Fishing Day Camp Offered for Local Youth
When: There will be two sessions of the camp, running from July 21-25 and July 28-Aug. 1
Where: Point Lookout State Park
Details Point Lookout State Park from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Each day campers will learn angling skills, have a chance to practice those skills, and fish. On the final day of the camp, they will fish on a charter boat. Campers will receive a rod, tackle, life vest, and a copy of Lenny Rudow’s Guide to Fishing the Chesapeake. They will also get a one- year Youth Membership to CCA, including the Rising Tide magazine, access to the Rising Tide website, conservation tips and activities. The cost is $150 per camper.
Information: For more information about the day camp or to register, Brooke MacDonald, 1-888-758-6580, or Rob Schou, 443-926-6156. Registration is limited to 10 campers per week.

Maryland Fishing Reports

Upper Chesapeake Bay Region (Susquehanna River/Flats to Bay Bridge Waters)
Striped Bass fishing been concentrated in the lower upper bay area in and around the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Anglers continue to chum around the Triple Buoy, Love Point, Baltimore Light area with good luck. Live lining has also been a method of choice. Anglers have been finding spot at Podickory Point, Hackett’s bar and at the mouth of the Chester River and taking them to the chumming areas and dropping down a live one which usually results in a tight line. Some anglers are also live lining on the pilings at the Bay Bridge. The trick here is finding the pilings that are holding the fish. So if you do not get a striper right away, do not not get discouraged, just keep moving pilings, eventually you will hit them, they are there.

Richie Gaines from Angler’s Connection Guide Service reported that he is continuing to fish Belvidere Shoal just above the Bay Bridge. He said the ticket is to find humps on the shoal that come up to with in 10-12 feet of the surface. He is jigging soft plastics in the six inch size as well as Specialized Baits jigging spoons. Check Richie’s article for a full explanation of how to target fish on structure like this during this time of year. . Most of fish on the humps are in the lower 20 inch range. He said there is also a very good school of bigger stripers up to 28 inches that are prowling the area and breaking from time to time. Each tide they are coming up in a different location, so you really have to keep your eyes out if you want to target this school. The area to look for this school of fish is from the Triple Buoy (just outside Rock Hall) to the LP Buoy by the Bay Bridge, out to the Shipping Channel. If you look at a map and draw this area, this is where these breaking fish have been.

Mid Chesapeake Bay Region (Bay Bridge to Honga River Waters)
If there is one headline this week in the middle bay when it comes to striped bass fishing its “ Live Line for Big Stripers”. Live lining has been producing well on the western shore along the no entry boundary of the gas docks. The hot spot has been on the northeast and south east corners. Its not hard to miss, you will see the fleet when you get there.  It can take twenty minutes or so to get the fish going when you have good current, but once they find your live spot it’s hot and heavy action. We ventured out on Wednesday and got our limit of ten fish for the five of us in about forty-five minutes, which includes getting the boat anchored, rigged up and our spot in the water. Once we got the stripers under the boat we were able to throw the jig on light tackle and get them. You can check out our  full report and pictures here

Light tackle anglers have had to work a little harder for fish over the last week. The rivers have been early morning and late evening programs and even that has been hit or miss. Breaking fish are around, but they apparently did not get the word that we like them to be predictable and have been popping up and down with little warning or predictability. The hot area to chase them has been Breezy Point down to the gas docks in 30-38 feet of water. These fish are prowling the area and moving fast chasing bait. In general there have not been birds on the fish. If you see one bird sitting it could indicate there are fish in the area, so slow down and watch your fish finder. One technique that we have been using that if we do not see any breaking fish or find any after driving around for a while we will just turn the engine off and sit and drift. A few times we have found breaking fish from hearing the splashes and then motoring over.

Captain Walleye Pete Daulberg of Four Seasons Guide Service reports that he has been spending all his time concentrating on the western shore. He has been mainly fishing from Parker Creek south to Cedar Point.  He has been hitting structure early in the morning and then motoring around looking for fish on the finder and breaking fish. When they show up on the finder it is fast a furious.

Lower Maryland Chesapeake Bay (Honga River down to the Maryland /Virginia Line Waters)
Mike and Christy from Buzz’s Marina in Ridge buzzed in a report this week and said fishing has been steady for stripers, big croaker, bluefish and the red-fishing (aka red drum) has picked up. Mike said the big blues have no moved in yet, but there are plenty in the 2-4 pound range. The croakers have been biting day or night. Hot areas have been buoy 72 and Corn Field Harbor. If you hit buoy 73 expect to find a few charters there chumming, but after about 3pm they are done so you will have the place to yourself.

The Wilson bridge reef has been holding a good amount of striped bass, but the key there is 1) current- making sure you have plenty of it, 2) vertical jigging- you need to drop your jig straight down and give it the vertical jigging action. Any bucktail, jigging spoon, or soft plastic will do the trick in the 6 inch range. Dropping straight down is the trick.

There have been some scattered reports of breaking stripers and bluefish, but there has not been any consistent pattern yet. So if you head out looking for breaking fish make sure to bring your binoculars and have a back up plan to fish structure .

Mike said he did get a report of some bigger blues being caught south of Smith Point so it is just a matter of time before they invade the region and make for some great fishing.

Ocean City Maryland Offshore Fishing Reports
Ocean City Fishing Center reported: “July 9,2008 offshore. I’m going to start today’s fishing report with an apology to the crew aboard the “Jade II”. It seems we have been neglecting these guys. Capts. Ed Kaufman & Butch Brooks and Gary the mate have been catching nice size Bluefin Tuna, Dolphin, Bluefish and a whole lot more. Also, catching fish, Capt. Joe O’Boyle on the “Mojo” came in today with one Bluefin Tuna, and two Dolphin. Capt. Geroge Merrick on the “Ursula Priscilla” also came in with a nice Bluefin and Dolphin. “

Sue Foster from Oyster Bay Tackle and Fenwick Tackle reported:
“Stripers! We’ve been hearing more and more about stripers this week from the Ocean City Inlet, Indian River Inlet, and the Route 50 Bridge at night. Richard Eger of Hernando, FL came in with a 12 pound 4 oz striper caught from the Indian River Inlet on 7/1. Louie Hionis, Louie Hionis, JR. and Jack McCoy of Fenwick with two, 33-inch stripers caught at the Indian River Inlet.
Anglers have been using live eels, live spot, or dark colored Swim Shad lures for the stripers.

Tautog fishing is still happening but the fish are running a lot smaller. It seems to be best at the inlet or end of the Oceanic Pier.  Tautog like sand fleas or green crabs when they are available. Places to catch tautog from the shore are: The bulkhead from 1st to 4th Streets. The ends of the streets at 5th and 6th Street, the Route 50 Bridge near the “draw,” the inlets, and the very end of the Oceanic Pier.

Sheepshead! Anglers are catching big sheepsheads from the Inlets and from their boats casting towards the South Jetty. Anglers are using sand fleas or peelers for bait for these.

Striper fishing from the Rt. 50 has been good this week. Anglers use  Swimming Shad lures for the best results fishing from the Bridge at night for stripers. Spec rigs and Gotcha Plugs work good for the blues, trout and shad.

Fishing this week was good on flounder though there were lots of throw-backs. There were a good amount of kingfish in the surf, along with shark catches at night. Striper fishing at night improved from the Rt. 50 Bridge and Inlets. Tautog and sheepshead were around. Sea bass was still a little slow, but some nice tautog and flounder were caught offshore. Further
offshore, lots of tuna…. and the first wahoo!

Assateague surf saw kingfish, a few croaker, spot and some small red hake on bloods and  Fishbite Bloodworms. A few bluefish were caught here and there on finger mullet along with some big sharks on bunker or whole squid.

We at Fenwick Tackle and Oyster Bay several reports of kingfish biting on bloods and  Fishbite Bloodworms on small hooks. These fish seem to bite best in the early morning and again in late afternoon into the evening. I’ve heard of some groups catching as many as 20. I went fishing on Maryland Ave in Fenwick Island on Tuesday morning and caught 7 kingfish and one small trout between 8:30 A.M. and 10 A.M. on a combination of real bloodworm and Fishbite Bloodworm. The tide was high outgoing. Later in the day I tried the Fenwick State Park, but by then the sun was out and I could only get one to bite. I saw huge schools of bunkers close to the beach. Anglers were casting spoons and bait underneath them, but “nobody was home!”

We are also hearing of huge rays, big sharks at night, along with a few reports of croaker and sea trout.Be careful with those big sharks and rays. Anglers are putting SO much pressure on their rods the inserts in the guides are popping right out!  Keeping my Dad busy at Fenwick Tackle replacing them….”

Until next week, good times,and good fishing!

Brandon

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