Young Logan Ortel is all smiles with this large blue catfish he caught. Photo by Tim Ortel.

 

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Forecast Summary: July 24 – July 30:

For detailed and up-to-date fishing conditions in your area, check the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ Click Before You Cast website.

Upper Chesapeake Bay

The Conowingo Dam continues on a late afternoon to evening power generation schedule. The cool water releases are stimulating an evening smallmouth bass bite for anglers casting spinnerbaits, tubes, and small crankbaits. There are Chesapeake Channa – also called northern snakehead – being caught in the dam pool, lower Susquehanna River, and the Susquehanna Flats grass beds. Soft plastic frogs, buzzbaits, and chatterbaits are lures of choice.

Now that the striped bass season is closed through July 31, many anglers are focusing their attention on blue catfish and catching some real whoppers. Cut menhaden is the most popular bait being used, although chicken liver works well. The lower Susquehanna River near Port Deposit is an excellent place to fish, as is the upper Chester River above Crumpton, and rivers of the western shore. Blue crabs can chew on bait in the Bay and tend to drive anglers a little crazy, thinking they’re getting a bite from catfish, so it is a good idea to fish farther up the tidal rivers to get away from roaming crabs. 

Water temperatures in the Patapsco River area are holding around 83 degrees and salinity values are about 6 ppt. White perch can provide plenty of fishing fun in all the region’s tidal rivers. They can be found along channel edges, old piling fields, bridge piers, and rock jetties. Casting small spinnerbaits and soft plastic jigs during the morning and evening hours is a great way to target the larger white perch. Fishing with bottom rigs baited with grass shrimp, peeler crab, or pieces of bloodworms on the shoals and reefs in the upper Bay is another good way to target them.

 

Middle Bay

A mix of white perch and small spot can be found at various hard-bottom areas near Tolly Point, out in front of Chesapeake Beach, and near Black Walnut Point. A simple bottom rig baited with grass shrimp, peeler crab, or pieces of bloodworm will do the trick. Kent Narrows is an excellent place to target white perch. Drifting along shorelines with structure is a great way to target large white perch during the morning and evening. Casting small spinnerbaits, spinners, and small soft plastic jigs is a good way to target them.

A few bluefish have been showing up in the middle Bay for those trolling a mix of Drone spoons and surgical tube lures. 

There are plenty of channel and blue catfish to be found in the region’s tidal rivers this week. Anglers are urged to move farther upriver to avoid blue crabs ravaging baits. The Choptank River near Denton is a great place to fish for blue and channel catfish.

Lower Bay

Lower Bay anglers are fortunate to have so many fishing options while striped bass are off the table. Bluefish are being caught by trolling Drone spoons and surgical tube lures behind planers and inline weights along the main channel edges. Large red drum can also be part of the mix and offer some exciting catch-and-release action.

Cobia fishing is good this week. Anglers are anchoring up and chumming near Smith Point, the Target Ship, and nearby Mud Leads. Most are drifting with live eels or cut baits to the back of the chum slick with good results. Cownose rays continue to be part of the mix. On flat days with little wind, sight fishing for cobia can be productive with large soft plastic jigs and an offering of live eels.

Anglers working promising shorelines, grass beds, and stump fields are finding a mix of speckled trout and puppy drum. Casting Zara Spooks over grass or paddletails near structure is working well for light-tackle anglers. Drifting peeler crab or soft crab baits at the mouths of some of the major creeks has also been producing nice fish.

Flounder are being found in Tangier Sound, Pocomoke Sound, and the Point Lookout area this week by anglers working minnows or pink, chartreuse, or white Gulp baits along hard-bottom shelves next to channel edges.

Sheepshead can be found near the Target Ship and peeler crab tends to be the most popular bait. Black sea bass are also being caught near some of the artificial reef sites. Most are undersized but a few keepers are being caught.

White perch are providing plenty of excellent fishing in the many tidal rivers and creeks. Casting small spinnerbaits and small soft plastic jigs during the morning and evening hours is a great way to target them. Rock jetties, bridge piers and shoreline structure are all good places to try. The mouth of the Patuxent River is a good place to catch a mix of white perch and spot this week. Unfortunately, the spot tend to be small but there are larger ones in the mix. 

Recreational crabbers continue to report catches being off this week, but most can put a decent catch together. Everyone is looking for those extra-large blue crabs and there are some in every catch, but most of the crabs being caught are about 5.5 inches. The best depths to crab are reportedly 12 feet to 15 feet, and waters 6 feet deep or less are crowded with very small crabs. The lower Eastern Shore area has been producing the best catches.

Freshwater Fishing

The reservoirs and ponds that dot the western Maryland landscape are providing plenty of good fishing for a variety of species. At Deep Creek Lake, smallmouth and largemouth bass can be found near floating docks, rocky points and shoreline structure in the form of grass beds and sunken wood. Drifting minnows along the edges of deep grass can offer opportunities for yellow perch, crappie and smallmouth bass. Slow trolling rigged nightcrawlers deep along the dam face is a good way to target trout.

Piney Reservoir, Broadford Lake, the Savage Reservoir, New Germany State Park, Rocky Gap, and Blairs Valley Lake are just a few locations that offer good fishing opportunities. The DNR website offers information on places to fish by region.

The upper Potomac River continues to experience low summertime flows this week. The low water levels can make it very difficult for fishing from a boat but is ideal for wading. Anglers not only get to cast to smallmouth bass but get a reprieve from summer heat. Casting a mix of root-beer-colored tubes, small crankbaits, and spinnerbaits work well when cast near large mid-river boulders and current breaks.

Largemouth bass tops the list when it comes to warm water freshwater fishing and largemouth bass are active during the summer months, offering plenty of exciting fishing opportunities. Generally, they are feeding at night in the shallower waters and retreat to deeper waters that provide shade and cover during the day. Thick floating grass mats, lily pad and spatterdock fields, sunken wood, docks, fallen treetops, and brush all provide shade and a place to rest. 

During the early morning and evening, largemouth bass can be found approaching the shallower waters. Topwater lures in the form of frogs, buzzbaits and lipless crankbaits can be good choices for lures. It is hard to beat a wacky rigged worm when fishing transition areas, cover and places where largemouth bass can be found holding during the day. When fishing grass in tidal waters, Chesapeake Channa will be part of the mix when casting noisy topwater lures.

 

Atlantic Ocean and Coastal Bays

Surf anglers are enjoying good fishing for a mix of kingfish and spot along the beaches. The best fishing is reported to take place during the morning. Those fishing larger baits are catching bluefish and a mix of inshore sharks and stingrays.

At the inlet and Route 50 Bridge area, anglers are finding fun fishing for a variety of species. Bluefish and a few striped bass are being caught by those casting soft plastic jigs and Got-Cha lures. Anglers are reminded that striped bass season is open in the Atlantic Ocean and coastal bays with a 28-31 inch slot. At night, drifting cut baits is also an effective way to fish for bluefish. Sheepshead are being caught near the jetty rocks and bridge piers on peeler crab and sand fleas. Flounder are always moving through the inlet, so casting Gulp baits and working them slowly across the current is a great way to target them.

In the back bay area channels, flounder are the focus of most anglers. Boat traffic can make fishing difficult and even dangerous at times. The East Channel and Thorofare are busy, but Sinepuxent Bay usually has less boat traffic. A lot of the flounder are undersized but larger ones are being caught, especially when using larger baits. White and pink Gulp baits and finger mullet are excellent larger baits to use. Traditional baits of squid strips, minnows, and silversides are a mainstay of the summer flounder fishery.

Flounder are also being caught at the shoal areas and offshore wreck and reef sites off the coast of Maryland. The anglers fishing for black sea bass often find flounder being a welcomed addition to their daily catch. Fishing for black sea bass remains very good this week.

The fleet headed out to the offshore canyons are finding good numbers of fish species for their anglers. Bigeye tuna and yellowfin tuna are at the top of the list, while white marlin, longfin albacore, and dolphin finish the list. To add a little more meat to the catch, many are taking a break from trolling and deep drop fishing for limit catches of blueline and golden tilefish.