The Conowingo Dam pool will always be a dead end for fish traveling up the Susquehanna River and a buffet of fresh chopped up gizzard shad passing through the power generation turbines. There is good access for anglers at Fisherman’s Park for those casting medium weight surf rods to reach the turbine wash when fishing for striped bass. Drifting cut bait in the dam pool is an excellent way to catch the blue catfish and flathead catfish there, along with some striped bass.

Water temperatures are dropping in the upper Bay and anglers are beginning to enjoy shallow water fishing along the east and west edges of the Susquehanna Flats, as well as promising looking shorelines throughout the upper Bay. Casting poppers and other topwater lures and white or pearl paddletails are the most popular way to fish these areas. 

Live-lining small eels near Pooles Island and favorite channel edges is always a favorite fall tactic. There are still spot available in the lower Chester and Magothy rivers and Podickory Point, but the weather system we are experiencing this week may start to push them farther south. The Love Point rocks is a good place to live-line spot or eels this week or to work soft plastic jigs along the bottom during current flows. Watching depth finders carefully when exploring channel edges can lead to finding striped bass suspended off the bottom. 

Chesapeake Channa are active this week and fishing for them can offer fun and safe fishing in the more protected upper sections of the region’s tidal rivers and creeks. Casting a variety of soft frogs and chatterbaits over grass beds is an excellent way to target them this week. Casting white or pearl colored paddletails in more open waters near the grass bed edges is another excellent way to fish for them.

A mix of blue catfish and channel catfish can be found in all the region’s tidal rivers this week. Cooling water temperatures are causing them to be more active and to venture out of the deeper channels and move nearby shoal areas.

Locating white perch can be a challenge, but once located they are receptive to spin-jigs and small spinnerbaits cast near shoreline structure during the early morning and evening hours. Dropper rigs and bottom rigs tipped with grass shrimp, peeler crab or small minnows work well in deeper waters. 

This weather we’re experiencing is putting a damper on fishing this week and when it is all over, anglers may find that bluefish have left the region. Bay water temperatures continue to fall and are now below 75 degrees. Spot, croaker and speckled trout will most likely hang on for another week or so, but they will eventually head south also. 

Fishing for striped bass has been good lately, with most of the action occurring in the shallower portions of the bay during the morning and evening hours. This is a great time to fish the morning hours before Daylight Savings kicks in. Casting poppers is one of the most popular ways to fish the shallower waters; paddletails in pearl or white are also an excellent choice. Anglers are also enjoying catching small speckled trout, hopefully they’ll return next year at a larger size. 

Spot are still available and anglers are taking advantage of them still being present and live lining along various channel edges. The Bay Bridge piers and rock piles are a good location for drifting live spot to the pier bases and submerged rocks, and channel edges are also holding striped bass. The channel edge locations vary but some of the traditional locations with good reputations are Thomas Point, Buoy 83 to the False Channel and Hackett’s Point. The 30-foot depth mark tends to be the sweet spot for finding striped bass suspended off the bottom.

White perch can be tough to locate, but once found anglers can enjoy some action. Deep water docks and piers, the older the better, offer structure and food sources for white perch so they are a good place to target with live grass shrimp, peeler crab, or small minnows. During the morning and evening, casting small spin-jigs and spinnerbaits along promising shorelines with structure is a good way to target larger white perch. 

The chilly stormy weather will make it tough to fish, but conditions are bound to improve by the weekend. Bluefish are still being found in the lower Bay, but this weather may start to push them south. At present the largest bluefish are being found in the main portion of the Bay, and the deeper waters along the eastern side of the shipping channel tend to offer some of the better fishing. Smaller bluefish are being found in the shallower waters of the Bay, the tidal rivers, and Tangier Sound. The larger bluefish are being caught mostly by trolling surge tube lures behind planers, the smaller ones by casting a variety of lures or trolling small spoons.

Anglers are enjoying good fishing in the shallower waters of the Bay and lower sections of the tidal rivers. The weather will make it tough to be on the water for today, but conditions should improve by the weekend. Casting paddletails and a mix of other lures along shorelines has proven to be a good way to catch a mix of striped bass, small bluefish and speckled trout, also known as spotted trout.

Live-lining spot continues to be a popular method to fish for striped bass this week. If conditions calm down, the 30-foot depths of several popular channel edges will be good places to start the search for striped bass: the steep channel edge from St. Georges Island to Piney Point, the channel edge off St. Clements, and the channel edges in the lower Patuxent, Cedar Point, and Cove Point. 

Fishing for spot and croaker continues to be good in most areas of the lower Bay and excellent in the lower Patuxent River. Anglers are also seeing a mix of kingfish and small speckled trout. Bloodworms are a very precious and expensive commodity so many anglers are using artificial bloodworm baits or lug worms, or mixing pieces of nightcrawler worms in bloodworm juice when they cut up their bloodworms. 

The large red drum continue to entertain anglers with some exciting catch-and-release action this week. They are being found schooled up at times feeding on small menhaden, either on the surface or deep below. Diving gulls often mark the surface action; slicks are a telltale sign of action below. Casting large soft plastic jigs is the most popular way to fish for them. 

White perch are proving difficult to find at times and there is no doubt that populations are generally down throughout Maryland’s portion of the Chesapeake. If anglers explore the type of habitat white perch prefer, they can improve their odds of finding them. Structure, current flow, and a food source are three things that are very important to white perch. If one can put those three elements together in an area, one stands a better chance of finding white perch. Grass shrimp is one of the best baits you can use if you plan to use bait. You can catch your own and avoid the high price of bloodworms. Check the DNR website for some pointers on catching your own grass shrimp. The other option is casting small spin-jigs, Beetle-spin type lures, and small spinnerbaits near shorelines during the morning and evening hours.

Blue catfish are becoming more active as water temperatures cool. The fall months are a great time to find them venturing out of the deeper channels to nearby shoal areas. The tidal Potomac, Patuxent, Nanticoke, and Wicomico rivers are excellent places to fish for blue catfish. A simple one hook bottom rig of a sliding sinker and circle hook or a traditional J-style hook is all that is needed. A variety of cut fish baits, scented chicken or other scented baits work well.

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Freshwater Fishing

The rivers and creeks of the western and central regions are receiving a bump in water levels and flows this week due to the rain we are receiving. This is a good thing for the smaller creeks that are scheduled to be stocked with trout in October for the fall put-and-take trout stockings. It is not uncommon for crews to relocate trout destined for a particular stream or creek because of low water conditions. If stream flows revert to low water conditions, trout anglers should be prepared for such adjustments. Those adjustments will be posted on the trout stocking website on the day of the stockings. 

Anglers are enjoying fishing the many rivers, lakes, ponds, and reservoirs in the state for a wide variety of species. Largemouth bass and smallmouth bass are still holding to a summer pattern and now that area waters are beginning to cool, the fish are becoming more active. Bass are not the only fish that are becoming more active in area reservoirs. Crappie, chain pickerel, trout, tiger muskies, and in some select reservoirs, landlocked striped bass can be found. 

The upper sections of the Bay’s tidal rivers provide a lot of excellent fishing for largemouth bass, Chesapeake Channa, chain pickerel, and crappie. These sheltered waters can provide safe and comfortable fishing for small boats, canoes and kayaks.