The arrival of Spanish mackerel is providing plenty of exciting fishing opportunities in the lower Bay. Trolling small Drone or Clark spoons behind #1 and #2 planers and inline weights at about 7 to 8 knots is a popular way to fish for them. The Spanish mackerel are beginning to concentrate enough that they are forming up with small bluefish and chasing schools of bay anchovies, which of course attracts the attention of seagulls when the bait is pushed to the surface. Trolling around this action, but never through it, is a good tactic.

Another good tactic is to carefully come up on the upwind side of the breaking fish, cut your engine and drift towards the action. Casting Got Cha lures or small heavy jigs and speed reeling is a fun, light-tackle way to catch the Spanish mackerel. Make sure to use black swivels and snaps on your leaders since the small bluefish have a habit of snapping at most anything moving through the water and can cut you off. 

As the breaking fish action becomes more common, large red drum have a habit of residing underneath the surface action close to the bottom, waiting for injured or dead anchovies to drift down from above. Jigging with large soft plastics can pay off with some rod-bending catch-and-release action.

Cobia fishing is good this week in several locations. The Target Ship area and the Middle Grounds are just two popular locations to chum and chunk. Drifting live eels with a little weight in the back of a chum slick is working well. Fresh menhaden baits drifted back will also work well. When the Bay waters are calm, sight fishing for roaming cobia is always fun and exciting. Casting large soft plastics or live eels will get you into the action. 

Legal-sized striped bass can also be found holding close to the bottom underneath breaking fish; jigging with soft plastics can pay dividends. Some anglers are trolling umbrella rigs with bucktails dressed with a twistertail or perhaps a swimshad as a trailer. Tandem-rigged bucktails and swimshads with or without inline weights are usually part of a trolling spread. Channel edges are often the best places to look for suspended fish which can be found holding at 30 feet. The mainstem of the Potomac River has been closed to striped bass fishing since July 7 and will remain closed through August 20. The tidal rivers feeding into the Potomac on the Maryland side are open to striped bass fishing at this time.

Jim Livingston shows off a half bushel of large crabs he caught in the Rhode River. Photo courtesy of Jim Livingston

Casting a variety of lures in the early morning and evening hours along shoreline structure is an excellent way to target striped bass and speckled trout with light tackle. The tidal rivers on both sides of the Bay are good places to target. The Cedar Point Rocks is a popular place to fish along with the cuts through Hoopers Island. The marsh edges, grass beds, stump fields, and small marsh creeks are good places to look for speckled trout on the eastern side of the Bay.

Spot can be found in excellent numbers in the lower Patuxent River, Tangier Sound and other locations throughout the lower Bay region. White perch can also be found at these locations and can be found in the region’s tidal creeks. Flounder are being caught by those who target them in Tangier and Pocomoke sounds as well as the Point Lookout area. 

Recreational crabbers are seeing improvement in catches this week and catching a half bushel of good crabs per outing is becoming more common. The best crabbing for some is in waters about 10 feet deep. Many crabbers are reporting quality over quantity when crabbing, with a good portion of the crabs being caught being extra-large.

No matter what type of freshwater fishing you do, the early morning and evening hours often present some of the best fishing opportunities. This time of the year is wonderful for fly fishing in the trout management waters of the western and central regions, where waters are set up for catch-and-release only or restricted to fly fishing only. Matching early morning or evening hatches or terrestrials is often the challenge anglers are seeking.

Anastasia St. Cloud caught this northern snakehead while fishing on the Little Blackwater River in lower Dorchester County recently. Photo by Eric Packard

The upper Potomac River is running low and clear this week and anglers are finding smallmouth bass concentrated in some of the deeper pools. Long casts with light lines and smaller lures is often the ticket to success; soft plastics, crankbaits, and occasionally topwater lures are working well. Deep Creek Lake is in the height of the summer vacation season and anglers are enjoying a wide variety of fishing opportunities. 

Fishing for largemouth bass continues in a summer mode of behavior for both fish and anglers. The fish feed mostly at night during the heat of the summer, so if one wants to catch them in the shallower areas, it means being out on the water at dawn or late evenings. Casting topwater lures and lipless crankbaits in the shallows is always an exciting way to fish for largemouth bass. As the day wears on, targeting thick grass beds and any kind of shade is a great tactic with wacky rigged stick worms or soft plastics that are worked slowly and deliberately.

Northern snakeheads are taking center stage in many of the tidal creeks and rivers in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. It is almost impossible to find a creek or river where they do not reside and their populations are expanding rapidly. They have large appetites and are having a dramatic effect on species such as white perch, minnows, American eels, and the list goes on. On the flip side they offer anglers exciting topwater action when casting chatterbaits, frogs, and similar baits, and provide excellent table fare.

Photo by Big Fish Classic, used by permission

Last week we had a swordfish state record, set by angler Peter Schultz and his team off the coast of Ocean City. The swordfish was brought to gaff after an eight-hour battle and weighed in at 301 pounds. 

The big event in Ocean City this week is the White Marlin Open, and with a purse exceeding $9 million and 444 boats entered it is no small affair. Anyone fishing near the inlet, the East Channel, or other channels leading from the inlet should watch out for sportfishing boat traffic. 

Fishing in the surf of Ocean City and Assateague Island is mostly focused on catching kingfish, spot, and small bluefish. Due to summer temperatures and strong sunlight, the best fishing for kingfish often occurs during the morning hours. Pieces of bloodworm make the best bait for spot and kingfish, while cut bait from spot works well for the bluefish.

At the inlet, striped bass and bluefish are being caught in the evenings by casting jigs and bucktails or by drifting cut bait or live bait. Most of the striped bass fall short of 28 inches but offer fun catch-and-release fishing. Flounder are being caught in the inlet and a few sheepshead are being caught on sand fleas near the South Jetty.

In the back bays, flounder fishing is good this week, including the channel area in front of the Ocean City Airport. Flounder are also being caught in the channels leading from the Ocean City Inlet and near the Route 90 Bridge.

Fishing for sea bass continues to be excellent this week at the offshore wreck and reef sites. Limit catches are not uncommon. Large flounder are also being caught at the wreck and reef sites as well as shoal areas off the Ocean City beaches. 

Chunking for tuna at the 30 Fathom Lump sites has been good recently. Right now all focus has shifted to the White Marlin Open and despite all of the open water from the 30 fathom line to the canyons, the best fishing areas may seem a bit crowded with a fleet of 444 boats entered in the tournament. One boat has sunk already on the first day of the tournament so be careful out there.