The Spanish are invading Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay, Spanish Mackerel that is. Reports are in with excellent catches of Spanish Macs from the Maryland line all the way up to in and around the bay bridge area. Flounder pounding reports are in the from the middle and lower Chesapeake. It’s been a few years since I’ve heard such good reports coming in, but keeper flounder are back in Maryland’s Chesapeake waters. Punk (ie undersize) striped bass are all over the bay along with their friends the bluefish. The action has mainly concentrated from Sharps Island, Popular Island up to Thomas Point, mostly on the eastern side.
(pictured is Steve’s (aka michasp1) son Randy with a nice spanish mac caught in the middle bay. You can check their full report with more pictures here )

My Fishing Shop Visit
I was in Baltimore this week and stopped in to Tocherman’s Tackle located on Eastern Ave. in Baltimore. I heard about the the shop for years, it’s actually been there before I was even born. I was having lunch with a friend around the corner and decided it was time to stop in and check out the action. I had remembered that local well know fly angler Joe Bruce (formally of the Fisherman’s Edge) had told me he ties flies in the store on Fridays and sometimes on Thursdays. As soon as I walked into the shop I was overwhelmed, fishing tackle everywhere. A huge selection of lures, rods, reels, and a breath of fresh air as I kept walking and looked to my right and saw Joe tying flies surrounded by fly tying materials and tackle. I finally got to meet Tony Tocherman and his lovely wife. I hung out with Joe watching anglers steam in on a regular basis. A fly angler even came in and bought a Continue Reading »

August is usually a slow month in the northeast. It does not mean there are not stripers or blues around, but it seems the fish take a bit of a vacation. But, that is not always the case as evidenced by Capt. Brendan McCarthy’s monster striper last week and this week follows that rule just a little further up the coast. The spotlight this week is on Maine striped bass fishing where Capt. Eric Wallace reports that the fishing in shallow water has been fantastic. This is great news for a fishery that many considered was pretty much dead based on past years fishing. You’ll have to read the report for the details, but you can trust that I’ll be putting Maine and Capt. Eric on my list to visit.

August also usally marks the arrival of the bonita and albies in and around the Nantucket area and sure enough as clock work some reports are coming in that they arrived. Another surprise this week is the striped bass are still un and around Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. Usually the bulk of the fish have left, not this year.  All great news for the saltwater fly, surf and light tackle anglers! Read the reports for details… Continue Reading »

Virginia Marine Resources (VMRC) 2009 Saltwater  Fishing Tournament Leading Entries for the week of August 7,2009 .Click on the image for a larger view of the leaders.

There should be no problem finding a species to target right now. Both inshore and offshore varieties are available. Inshore, cobia action continues to lure anglers to the lower Bay shoals. Chummers are scoring with a nicer class of fish using chunks of bunker, live eels, and live croaker fished on the bottom. The best locations for chummers lately are the seaside areas of Fisherman’s Island, the Nine foot shoal, and Latimer shoal. Sight-casters are lagging behind, mostly because of frequent cloudy and windy conditions. Pier anglers where thrilled this week when 3 big cobia hit baits off the Seagull Fishing Pier located at the 1st island. Red drum are also taking cut bunker in these same areas. Black drum are still circling the islands of the CBBT, with a smartly placed shad or buck tail the lure of choice.

Flounder action is hit and miss again this week, but anglers who put in their time are finding a few keepers. Most keepers are coming from drifting with strip baits and minnows. The Hampton Bar, buoy 36, Back River Reef, and the Thimble Shoal Channel, are proving the most action for drifters. Those dropping live bait and jigs on lower bay structures are also finding a few nice fish along the HRBT and the CBBT. Within Lynnhaven Inlet, Rudee Inlet, and Wachapreague, flounder enthusiasts are finding a few fish, but the action is generally slow.

The hunt for the king mackerel is on. Unfortunately, the kings are not cooperating. A few small kings ranging from 10 to 15 pounds are coming from the CB line of buoys near the entrance to the Bay. Spanish mackerel action has also slowed up. Captain Steve Wray, skipper of the Ocean Pearl out of Lynnhaven, reports that the best Spanish bite is occurring off the Virginia Beach ocean front, where the fish are hitting in 10 to 30-feet of water.

Some spadefish are schooling around near shore wrecks, the span of the CBBT, and the 3rd and 4th islands. Most of these fish are ranging to around 4-pounds. Plantation Light and the Cell are holding some larger fish, but getting them to bite is another story. Triggerfish are helping themselves to the clam offered to spades near the islands, which are fun to catch, and a good consolation prize.

Sheepshead action is good lately, with fish to14-pounds taking fiddler crabs dangled along the Bridge Tunnel complex. Noel Dennis of Carrollton, scored with a trophy 10-pound sheepsead while offering a fiddler crab at the CBBT. Decent tautog are also coming from the same areas, with fish tipping the scales at 9.5-pounds this week.

Plenty of medium-sized croaker and nice spot are scattered around the lower Bay. The lower Bay inlets, the Concrete Ships, and the small boat channel south of the first island are providing good numbers right now. Squid, shrimp, and Fishbites are all working well.

The folks at Ocean’s East 2 report that speckled trout made a modest showing within Lynnhaven, Rudee, and Little Creek Inlets lately. Most fish are just keeper sized, but a few 4-pounders are also in the mix. Puppy drum are going strong, with fish active in all the lower Bay shallows and Inlets, with the Elizabeth River, and Lynnhaven Inlet favorite hot spots this week. A few pups are pushing up to over 30-inches.

The folks at Chris’ Bait and Tackle report that other than a few sightings, the tarpon action is still basically non-existent. Tarpon experts are speculating that the Virginia tarpon run may not materialize this season if it does not jump-start within the next week or so.

Amberjack are a no-brainer at the South Tower, where anglers are finding good numbers of Continue Reading »

The Adaptive Fly Fishing Institute (AFFI) is excited to announce a new, comprehensive Adaptive Fly Fishing Instructor Certification Program (AFFICP).  The purpose of the AFFICP is to educate and ensure the quality of training of adaptive fly fishing guides and instructors worldwide through the establishment and teaching of a standardized apprenticeship-based curriculum and the administration of an objective examination process.  Candidates who achieve certification through the AFFICP will be entitled to display the title “Adaptive Fly Fishing Instructor” TM or “AFFI” TM following a comma after their names in all promotional literature, advertisements, and so forth so as to inform the public that they have been certified by the Adaptive Fly Fishing Institute as fully accredited to teach and guide fly fishing for special needs students and clients.

The Adaptive Fly Fishing Institute exists for the professional development of adaptive fly fishing to better serve the needs of the disabled community.  The AFFI Advisory Board consists of Colonel Rick Morrow (USAR), a service-disabled combat veteran Army Medical Command-qualified Chaplain who did substantial work to help establish Continue Reading »

Some say there are not as many big striped bass around as there used to be, I agree wholeheartedly with that, but that does not mean there are still not a few monster striped bass swimming around along the coast. Capt. Brendan McCarthy proved that this past week with a nice monster taken on …………  Plenty of other striper action in the northeast this week all the way up to Maine….

Northeast Saltwater Fisheries News
Some anglers were a little freaked out about the recent appointments of council members to the Mid Atlantic Fishery Management Council appointments who might labeled as “environmentalists” . Often times anglers get scared that these people are out to stop not just commercial fishing, but recreational fishing as well. Well, Capt. John McMurray waded in this week and provided us a good perspective that these appointments might be a good thing, not bad. Read his whole piece here.

Northeast Saltwater Fishing Reports
*note the northeast fishing reports work their way up the coast from south to north starting with New Jersey.

New Jersey Saltwater Fishing Reports
Capt. Bryan DiLeo  from Iowa Fortune Guide Service fishing in the southern New Jersey waters from Atlantic City to Cape May gives us this report: The action in the back country remains a “steady as she goes” situation as we head into the month of August. The top water action continues to be priority laying the ground work as we head into the Fall run which looks to be very Continue Reading »

Just last week I was driving in the car and thinking to myself what a cool beginning for the summer we had. Sure enough a day later our normal hot humid summer Maryland weather arrived. As I am sitting here writing a good summer thunder storm is rolling across the Chopank River. I wanted to welcome Charlie Taylor to my fishing reports Charlie does a great job summarizing what is going on and will be checking in weekly with great reports.

Fishing has not been as hot as the weather, but it’s been consistent though out Maryland’s portion of the Chesapeake. The hottest fishing for striped bass has been in the middle of Maryland’s Chesapeake, while the lower portion of the bay has been producing some good fishing. Offshore fishing out of Ocean City has been good. If you are in Ocean City or along the Maryland Delaware Beaches be sure to check out the White Marlin Open weigh-ins at Harbour Island Marina at 14th St. and the Bay. The tournament is this week August 3-7th and is always great fun to see white marlin, sharks, tuna and dolphin weighed in. If you can not make it, they do have a live weigh in cam which you can check out here. http://www.wmophotos.com/marlincam/ Check the reports below for full details…

Maryland Fisheries News
August is vacation month, which means most everyone is out of town and not much happening. There is no Sport Fish Advisory Commission this month. However, the Man of War Shoal dredging topic still is a hot topic. This should heat up again in September. But check the section below for an informative meeting happening this week which you can attend if you want to learn more.(pictured is foster with a schoolie striper from the Bay Bridge. Check his full report here)

Tournaments, Events and Other Fishing Happenings

CCA Maryland’s Baltimore Chapter Meeting
When: Tuesday, August 4th at 6:30 PM
Where: Nick’s Inner Harbor Seafood, 2600 Insulator Drive in Baltimore
Cost: Free
Description: If you want to hear the facts and details regarding the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ pending permit application to dredge Man-O-War Shoal. In early July DNR submitted an application for a permit to dredge 5 million bushels of fossil oyster shell from Man-O-War Shoal, located off the the mouth of the Patapsco River, with the possibility of dredging up to 30 million bushels of shell over a longer period of time. The permit application review process provides the opportunity for public comment and requires a separate analysis by the Maryland Department of the Environment, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Maryland Board of Public Works.

This event is not an official meeting or hearing as part of the permit review process, but an opportunity to hear a factual summary of the permit application presented by the CCA Baltimore Chapter, to discuss the issue with others and an opportunity for members to let CCA’s volunteer leadership know their thoughts about the permit application and how they believe the organization should respond during the public comment period.

More Information: For more information please email baltimore@ccamd.org
MSSA Essex Chapter Meeting: Brandon White (me) Speaking on Light Tackle Fishing for Striped Bass in the Chesapeake Bay
When: Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Cost: Free

Upper Chesapeake Bay Region (Susquehanna River/Flats to Bay Bridge Waters)
Most of any of the action in and around the Susquehanna Flats is fishing for largemouth bass. There are some stripers, but most all are small and not many anglers are targeting them this time of year.
A little further down the bay in and around Still Pond down to Worton Point and Hart Miller Island area light tackle anglers have had some success with Continue Reading »