Maryland Fishing Report – October 29

---

Forecast Summary: October 29 – November 4:

Expect sunny and cool weather with relatively stable conditions for fishing in Chesapeake Bay waters. There is a limited chance of rain Wednesday and Thursday this week. As reported by the NOAA buoys, main Bay surface water temperatures are currently around 60 degrees and continue to slowly cool. River temperatures are slightly cooler and holding around the mid 50s.

Salinities are above normal for most Maryland waters this time of year. Oxygen conditions throughout the main Bay and Maryland’s tributaries are suitable to the bottom.

Expect average water clarity for Maryland’s streams, rivers, and main Bay waters. To see the latest water clarity conditions on NOAA satellite maps, check Eyes on the Bay Satellite Maps. There will be above average tidal currents Sunday through Tuesday as a result of the upcoming full moon on November 6.

Upper Chesapeake Bay

The Conowingo Dam power generation water releases continue to be on an irregular schedule this week. Periodically there have been evening releases which is advantageous to anglers wanting to cast a line after work. Striped bass are being caught near the turbine wash. During lull times when the dam pool is relatively calm, fishing for blue catfish and flathead catfish has been good. 

Anglers looking for striped bass in the upper Bay are finding some action in several locations. Anglers are catching striped bass in the Baltimore Inner Harbor during the morning and evening hours while casting topwater lures and paddletails near piers, bulkheads, and the rocky shores of Fort McHenry. Jigging along the channel edges near the mouth of the Patapsco River is also producing fish. Striped bass are being found near Pooles Island, the Love Point rocks, and the channel areas in the upper Bay. 

Good fishing for white perch is occurring at the mouth of Curtis Creek, the mouth of the Patapsco River, and various knolls and shoals in the upper Bay. Dropper rigs outfitted with small soft plastic jigs and shad darts or bottom rigs baited with grass shrimp, small minnows or pieces of bloodworm are the most popular rigs being used to reach the white perch.

Middle Bay

Anglers are reporting that striped bass fishing in the middle Bay is in a transition period as water temperatures drop toward the 60-degree mark. The shallower waters along bay and tidal river shorelines are still providing good fishing for striped bass for those casting topwater lures, paddletails and jerkbaits during the morning and evening hours. A few notable locations include Thomas Point, Poplar Island, Sharps Island Light, Eastern Bay, and the mouth of the Choptank and Little Choptank rivers. 

The Bay Bridge is never overlooked by anglers seeking striped bass holding close to the bridge piers and rock piles. Anglers who can still find spot for bait are drifting live baits to the pier or rock pile bases. Live eels and small white perch also work well. Others are casting soft plastic jigs to the pier bases and enjoying good success. The tide is always a critical factor, and anglers should check the tide charts before investing time at the bridge or at the river mouths. 

Baitfish in the form of juvenile menhaden and bay anchovies are moving out of the tidal rivers and into a phalanx of striped bass waiting along steep channel edges of the region’s tidal rivers. Jigging with soft plastic or metal jigs is a time proven tactic during this fall pattern of striped bass behavior. The mouth of the Choptank River and Eastern Bay are popular locations for jigging. Trolling with umbrella rigs behind heavy inline weights deep along channel edges is another proven method for those who wish to troll. 

White perch are moving down the region’s tidal rivers and will often school up over oyster reefs and lumps at the mouths of the rivers and eventually will move out to deeper waters in the Bay. Bottom rigs baited with grass shrimp or pieces of bloodworm work well. Dropper rigs fitted with small soft plastic jigs or shad darts are a good rig to use also.

Fishing for striped bass in the lower Bay continues to be good this week. Strong winds will be a player this week, but hopefully things will calm down by the weekend. Cooler water temperatures in the region’s tidal rivers are forcing bay anchovies and juvenile menhaden to exit the rivers and move south along main channels. 

The lower Potomac and Patuxent rivers are providing good striped bass fishing for anglers jigging in the deeper waters or casting paddletails in the shallower waters. The Piney Point area, the mouth of the St. Marys River and the Cornfield Harbor area are just a few locations where the fishing has been good. In the lower Patuxent River, the area around the Route 4 bridge and the Cedar Point rocks have been good places to jig in the deeper waters or cast paddletails along shorelines. 

The main channel edges of the Bay have been good places to troll deep with umbrella rigs along the steeper edges and the main channels leading out of the Potomac and Patuxent rivers. Casting paddletails along the shorelines on the eastern side of the bay near Hoopers Island and Tangier Sound are also productive ways to fish for striped bass and speckled trout. 

White perch are moving down the region’s tidal rivers and can be found on hard bottom reefs in the lower sections of the rivers. Jigging with dropper rigs or using bottom rigs baited with grass shrimp or pieces of bloodworm work well.

Blue Crabs

There are still some hardcore recreational crabbers who are setting their trotlines in 15 feet of water or more and catching some very large crabs. The crabs are being found in the lower sections of the Bay’s tidal rivers.

Freshwater Fishing

The fall trout stocking program enters its final week as October ends. Trout anglers are enjoying the generous stockings in many of the state’s trout management waters. The latest stocking was 700 rainbow trout in the upper Gunpowder Falls area yesterday. All trout stockings are recorded on the trout stocking website. 

Colder water temperatures at Deep Creek Lake and the upper Potomac River are causing walleye to be more active and anglers are enjoying fishing for walleye and smallmouth bass. The upper Potomac has been experiencing low flows for quite some time and that is predicted to change tonight with heavy rain in the forecast. Anglers have been dealing with grass beds breaking up and floating leaves and now are urged to be cautious of high flows later this week.

Largemouth bass are very active this week and as the shallower grass beds recede, they are on station in slightly deeper waters waiting to intercept crayfish and baitfish seeking cover in deeper waters. Chesapeake Channa (northern snakehead) are losing the thick grass beds they prefer and are finding less cover and warmer water. The sunny sides of tidal creeks is a good place to look for them during the early afternoon hours.

Atlantic Ocean and Coastal Bays

The Ocean City region is once again subject to stiff winds this week. Anglers had a break last weekend and enjoyed every minute of it with good catches inside the inlet and offshore as well.

The surf continues to be chewed up this week, and anglers will have a hard time holding bottom till the surf calms down. There are bluefish and flounder in the surf.

At the inlet, anglers were catching a mix of sheepshead and tautog earlier this week and that fishery should hold together this week. Flounder are moving through the inlet and headed offshore, the inlet and the channels leading to the inlet are the places to be. Water clarity will most likely be an issue so an incoming tide might offer clearer water. Striped bass are also being caught in the inlet and near the Route 90 Bridge piers.

The boats headed out to the wreck and reef sites found good fishing for their anglers this past weekend. Anglers made good catches of black sea bass along with a mix of flounder, triggerfish, sheepshead, and tautog. The captains that are targeting large flounder for their anglers are finding some impressive catches.

The few boats that traveled out to the canyons came back with limit catches of small dolphin near the lobster buoys and did some deep dropping for blueline tilefish and at least one swordfish was brought into the docks.