Tons of fishing reports this week from all over the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake. Reports from different tributaries around the Maryland bay region suggested a large amount of spawning activity took place. Once these striped bass “do their thing” in the tributaries, it generally means the stripers are hungry and heavily feed as they make their exit out of Chesapeake. This most likely is what we can account for the hot bite that has been happening up and down the bay.  We received our first reports from some light tackle jiggers who found good concentrations of stripers below the Choptank River. Trolling anglers have been having their best luck with fish hitting in the upper part of the water column and fishing in less then 40ft of water.  (in the pictures Paul S and his friend George took their daughters fishing. They fished out of Breezy Point and managed to catch some nice fish and as importantly had a great day on the Chesapeake with their daughters. Click on the image for a larger version. Check their full report.)

Weekend/Upcoming Fishing Events
The MSSA Spring Fishing Tournament is in full swing this weekend with over 600 boats entered. Also this weekend is the Rod and Reel Fishing Tournament.

Maryland Fishing Reports

Upper Chesapeake Bay Region (Susquehanna River/Flats to Bay Bridge Waters)
The Susquehanna Flats season is winding down ending on Sunday May 3, 2008. There were many reports that the stripers were spawning south of the flats area in the main part of the bay in shallower water on the western shore and the eastern shore in the Elk River all the way down in and around the Sassafras River. Usually this is good news in that after the fish spawn the males will return to the flats to feed for a day or two to fuel up before heading back to the ocean. The females on the other hand will also head to the flats to feed, but generally only stick around for one or two tides and then head back out to sea. This pattern has not played out as much as anglers have hoped with some slower then expected catches. There have been moments of excitement with anglers catching a good pod of fish they have been able to catch with plastics, swimming plug, flies and in some cases top water lures.  Remember, fishing on the Susquehanna Flats ends on Sunday when it is no longer legal to target striped bass.

There are reports that the hickory shad are in and around Deer Creek and up ni the Susquehanna River. I had lunch with a friend yesterday who has been going up to Deer Creek on a regular basis and he said the shad have really been thick, so thick that he said it was hard not to snag them. Small flies in chartreuse, rootbeer and off white have been the trick.

Striped bass fishing just above the Bay Bridge has been steady. Most anglers are fishing the western edge of the shipping channel between the Bay Bridge and Love Point. The bite has been in the upper portion of the water column. Umbrella rig as well parachutes have been the lures of choice. No one color has jumped out as the hot color, however chartreuse, purple and white have been the colors of choice.

Mid Chesapeake Bay Region (Bay Bridge to Honga River Waters)
The first reports of light tackle jiggers came in this week from the middle bay region which is good news for those of us that light the light tackle action. These reports have come from in and around the mouth of the Choptank River and south. The trick is finding these fish which takes some discipline to drive around and keep your eyes glued to the fish finder. You also have to keep your eyes peeled for birds sitting on the water. When I am looking even one bird sitting can be suspect and is worth a look; they usually give away where some bait was not too long ago. Lures of choice have been plastic baits rigged on one and two ounce jig heads.
You can check out Jumbo’s Fishing Report here
Also check Shawn Kimbro’s great report where he even managed to spot a pod of dolphin here

On the trolling front there are a ton of fishing reports. I’ll let the fishing reports speak for themselves, but to summarize the action has been hot in and around Thomas Point Light on the western shore, on the edge in and around Bloody Point, further south from Breezy Point all the way down to the Gas Docks. There does not seem to be any one particular color of parachute or umbrella rig that stands out, however one thing that does stand out is that the lines on the planer boards seems to be the lines that do best.

montauk17 had an outrageous day out of the Breezy Point the other day:
“The bite was outstanding today. My buddies (Jason, Chip, Tommy) and I had a great time fishing both the West side and East side of the channel around Parkers today. The bite seemed best when we were trolling from East to West versus the bite trolling West to East.

I didn’t take good records of what bait caught what fish but I can tell you that the hottest bait today was a White w/Mylar Parachute Daisy Chain and also the single parachutes (every color). The bite was awesome today. We had our limit by 8:45 but continued on with a little C&R. We caught at least 12 Stripers between 06:15 and 12:00 ranging in size from 28 to 44 inches. Jason had the big fish of the day with a personal best, 44 inch Striper. We had two fish today that twirled in causing everyone a lot of pain. Those twirlers are like trying to reel in a Mack Truck and they really mess up mono even with a couple inline swivels.” Check his full report with pictures here.

RiverCat09 posted a great report out of Chesapeake Beach where he got to take his 87 year old Dad out and put him on some fish that brought back memories for both of them of fishing together back in the early 1970’s.:”We arrived at Chesapeake Beach, were leaving port at about 6:20, and had the lines all in the water off the radar towers at about 6:45. The wind was light, and the water was 58*. We were marking bait off & on, but didn’t get a knockdown (a miss) until about 9:45 or so after the tide started to move out. We kept trolling the same area and continued to mark bait off and on.

Then it happened: At about 10:20 or so, I marked a bait ball with a few rock underneath, then several more, then several more after that, many accompanied with rock. As this was going on, while Pop was visiting the head, I said “We marking bait! Lots of bait balls! I see rock!! Stand by! Pop, get ready, you’re up! More bait balls! Stand by!!” Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see rod #2 (port side mid ship, 200’ back with a tandem 2 oz chartreuse bucktail and 4 oz chartreuse chute) go twitch! twitch! twitch-zzzzzzzzzzzz!!! As the rod doubled over and the drag stared screaming, I shouted “Fish! On!!” Read more the report and see a bunch of pictures of some nice stripers here.

drichitt reported on his mid-bay trip this week: “Last few trips have been tough with all of the boat traffic. Arrived at SP ramp at 5:45am to find only 12-15 trailers and I was all smiles. My HOs today were my wife, Dawn, and our new son-in-law, Todd. Everyone had their rain gear just in case. I knew we had a short period before the outgoing tide would start to slow, so I didn’t really want to run too far. Started putting over our 13 rod spread about 2 miles south of the bridge, on the western side. Bait seemed to be concentrating, as before, in the 40-50′ range. Didn’t take 15 minutes before we had our first fish and we let Todd have the first crack; a nice healthy 36″ fish had hit a 2oz Alien off of the planer boards, back only 50′. In the box it went. Next up was Dawn and she only had to wait a few minutes, as 35″ fish hit another planer rod. It hit a 5oz ruby lip, which was rigged in tandem with a 9oz chute nearest the boat and back only 4 bars. This combination was our hottest as it caught 4 of our 13 fish, and pretty much continued to remain on the inside position all day. With 2 in the box, I decided to gamble on catching a citation fish for one of my crew and would hold off icing our 3rd fish. We continued to pick away at some nice fish until Todd landed a nice 39.5″ fish. I had a feeling we had a very good chance of picking up a citation fish, but just could not throw back a 39.5″ fish. The past 2 weeks had taught us to put on ice the first few fish because the bite tended to stop early and without notice. I caved on my gamble and put this fish in the box.” Check his report and pictures here.

There are a ton more reports on the TidalFish.com Maryland Angler message board, check them out here.

Lower Maryland Chesapeake Bay (Honga River down to the Maryland /Virginia Line Waters)
It seems that the lower bay anglers are having about as good of luck as the middle bay anglers, although the stripers seems to be a tad smaller then what the middle bay anglers are catching. This will most likely change as the bigger stripers in the middle bay continue to move south on their way out of the bay. Trolling has been the ticket as in the other parts of the bay. Tidal Fish Dadsdayoff2 did a three day trip out of Tangier Sound fishing the lower part of the bay and provides our best report for the week: “WOW! Just about say’s it all. Got out Tuesday @ 11:30am top of the incoming tide. While sending out the 3rd line on the boards, fish on. In less than an hour we had our limit of 3 fish 31-36 & 37″ males. With in the next hour we released 3 more with two fish going 40″. Wednesday morning bottom of the tide same thing, limited out in less than a hour. All 3 fish 37-38″ males and released 5 up to 41″. Thursday morning 5am the wind was kicking so back to sleep. At 6:30 the wind layed down a little, so we went out. No sooner did I have my spread out and the wind turned back on. Released a 39″ cow and my crew was starting to look green, so we wrapped it up. The fish hit everything from singles 180′ back, tandems 50-70 off the boards to a deep umbrella w/16oz in line. Color didn’t matter and the only thing I found in their stomachs was little crabs. It’s a beautiful thing when the bite is hot and you don’t have to run all the way to #70 to catch nice fish! Capt. Ken”

Ocean City Maryland Offshore Fishing Reports

Ocean City Fishing Center reported: Last weekend, Capt. George Merrick aboard the “Ursula-Priscilla” came in with 40 Seabass and 12 Tautog.  Capt. Bob Gowar of the “Bay Bee” caught many keeper Flounder and lots of throw backs.  Capt. Nick Clemente on the “Get Sum” caught a few Flounder and Tautog keepers and they also had many throw backs. The weather is great!

Sue Foster from Oyster Bay Tackle and Fenwick Tackle reported: That there have been some flounder caught in the back bays which is a good sign that the fishing is about to pick up.

Clark from Old Inlet reports on the 27th of April: ” They  are picking at the stripers in the Indian River Inlet. Both sides of the  tide are yielding mostly short fish with the occasional keeper in the mix.  Red and white bucktails have been the preferred bait. Night time fishing has been slow with the cool water temperatures. This should change over the next few weeks.Togging has been fair along the rocks. Please be advised that  tautog season will be closed in Delaware waters from May 11 through June 30.  For now, live green crabs are the best bait. No live fleas available at this time. Good news from the surf. Scattered reports of blowfish, kingfish and small bluefish. The best action has been on 3R’s Road and the Fenwick beach.  Squid strips worked well for the blowfish. Live bloodworms for the kings.  Fresh bunker and frozen finger mullet for the bluefish. Steady flounder action in the Inland bays. A few keepers in the mix. Live minnows with the squid strip are the hot bait.The flounder regs are currently 19.5 inches and 4 fish a day. On May 11th the minimum size will be reduced to 18.5 inches with a 4 fish a day limit.”

If you are looking for an archive of past weekly fishing reports you can find them here

Good luck fishing this week, go get’em!

Brandon
Chief Angler, Lateral Line

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