Kristin Lenox holds up a large sheepshead she caught at the Ocean City Inlet recently. Photo by Scott Lenox
Labor Day has come and gone. Most families have wrapped up their summer vacations, schools have started, and everyone is enjoying the cooler weather. September is a wonderful month to enjoy the outdoors and fish under less crowded conditions.
The Atlantic coastal states of Maine through Virginia have scheduled hearings to gather public input on Draft Addendum II to Amendment 3 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Menhaden. The Draft Addendum considers options to reduce the Chesapeake Bay Reduction Fishery Cap (Bay Cap) by up to 50% and distribute the cap more evenly throughout the fishing season. The options aim to alleviate a concentration of effort that may be affecting other fisheries within the Bay and other potential ecological impacts. A public hearing is scheduled in Annapolis on September 15, or you can participate in one of several virtual meetings and enter comments online.
Anglers pursuing striped bass since the season resumed are catching quite a few fish over the 24-inch maximum. Anglers should make every effort to release these fish while they remain in the water. Studies have shown that larger striped bass are more vulnerable to catch and release stress during warmer water conditions. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources website offers tips for safe catch-and-release fishing.
Forecast Summary: September 9 – September 15
Main Bay surface and river mouth water temperatures are holding in the low 80s and will likely continue to remain stable all week. Temperatures in smaller rivers and streams are holding in the upper 70s. Currently there is adequate oxygen in most Bay bottom waters except near Indian Head to the Colonial Beach (Potomac River), and in the upper Bay from the Sassafras River down to the mouth of the Rhode River area. Due to the continued dry conditions, Bay salinities are running higher than normal throughout Maryland waters.
Expect average flows for most Maryland rivers and streams. Expect average clarity for most Maryland portions of the Bay and rivers. 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 on Monday and Tuesday because of the new moon on September 10-11.
As always, the best fishing areas could be further refined by intersecting them with underwater points, hard bottom, drop-offs, and large schools of baitfish.
For more detailed and up-to-date fishing conditions in your area of the Bay, be sure to check out Eyes on the Bay’s Click Before You Cast.
Upper Chesapeake Bay
Robert Greiner caught this large blue catfish in the lower Susquehanna River recently. Photo courtesy of Robert Greiner
The Conowingo Dam pool and the lower Susquehanna River continue to provide a variety of fishing opportunities this week. The cool waters coming from the dam have always attracted fish to the area. Striped bass are providing some action during the early morning and evening hours for those casting paddletails and topwater lures. Blue catfish and flathead catfish always provide action for those who fish for them.
Blue catfish and channel catfish, along with Chesapeake Channa, are providing good fishing in the region’s tidal rivers. The Bush, Gunpowder, and Patapsco have proven to be excellent places to catch large Chesapeake Channa. These rivers are providing an abundant food source for these invasive fish; time will tell if they deplete the resource as occurred in the lower Eastern Shore waters. Topwater chatterbaits and frogs are good lures to work over grass flats and paddletails in more open waters near the flats.
Anglers are finding striped bass in the upper bay in a variety of habitats. Water temperatures are steadily declining and are now at the 80-degree mark. Striped bass will begin to move more freely regarding venturing into shallower waters as water temperatures dip into the upper 70s. Casting topwater poppers along shorelines is one of the most exciting and fun ways to fish for striped bass. Casting paddletails will also work well.
Live-lining spot continues to be the most popular way to fish for striped bass this week along channel edges. Locating suspended fish on depth finders is a proven tactic and a couple of places to give a first look are Swann Point and the Love Point rocks.
Although elusive due to lower numbers, white perch can be found by working shoreline structure in the form of old piling fields, rocks and steep dropoffs. Casting small spinnerbaits, spin jigs and spinners is always a fun way to fish during the morning and evening hours. Fishing with grass shrimp with just enough weight to get down to the perch holding close to structure works well.
Middle Bay
Fishing for striped bass is beginning to look like a fall pattern. Anglers are reporting finding striped bass working over schools of bait. This kind of action is always a lot of fun, whether it is out in the Bay or near tidal rivers.
The Bay Bridge is holding striped bass this week, and anglers are drifting live spot, soft crab baits, and cut spot to the pier bases with good luck. Casting skirted soft plastic jigs to the piers bases is also productive this week. The best fishing opportunities are occurring during the early morning and late evening hours on a strong current flow.
Striped bass fishing opportunities are spread throughout the middle bay region this week. Live-lining spot along channel edges continues to be the most popular way to fish for them. The channel edges off Kent Island, Buoy 83 south to the False Channel and Thomas Point, Breezy Point, and Parkers Creek edges have been holding striped bass. Bluefish are certainly in the mix and red drum have a habit of showing up at times.
The shallow water striped bass fishery is offering some action, although it centers mostly in the early morning and late evening hours. As water temperatures decline the active fishing times will extend. There can hardly be anything more fun than casting poppers or skipping bugs over the shallow waters along bay shores and the lower tidal rivers.
The fall fishery at the mouth of the Choptank River and similar waters where baitfish will be exiting the tidal rivers is about a month away and water temperatures in the 60s but this can be a good time to go over gear: braided line in the 15-20 pound test range, some made-up fluorocarbon leaders, and a supply of jigs. Metal jigs can come in the form of Crippled Herrings, Sting silvers, and others, also soft plastic jigs with some chartreuse in them and placing skirts on them offers a larger profile to fish. A fast taper rod helps a lot in the jigging process.
Trolling is now mostly limited to bluefish since the Spanish mackerel are starting to make themselves scarce in the middle Bay. Surge tube lures pulled behind planers and inline weights is the best way to target them.
Fishing for white perch can be an elusive quest at times and fishing grass shrimp near deep water docks, piers, and structure tends to be the best way to target them. Casting small spinnerbaits and spin jigs along promising looking shoreline during the early morning and late evening hours is another option. Fishing for blue catfish is a viable option for anglers looking for some action. The blue catfish are holding in the channels from Denton down to the Dover Bridge.
Lower Bay
Anglers in the lower Bay are enjoying good fishing for striped bass in many locations. The lower Potomac and Patuxent rivers are proving to be excellent locations to cast jigs, and paddletails along channel edges and shallower waters near points and creek mouths. Live-lining spot along the deeper channel edges remains a popular tactic in the lower Potomac and Patuxent rivers and select sites in the Bay where fish can be spotted suspended off the bottom with depth finders.
There are still some Spanish mackerel, but what remains most likely will not stick around for long. Anglers are finding them below Cedar Point and the Middle Grounds by trolling Drone and gold Clark spoons behind planers. Bluefish are still in play and can be found most anywhere from the shallower waters to out in the bay channels. The HS Buoy and near the Target Ship have proven to be good locations to find them.
Stevie, Hannah and Cam Smith ham it up while dad holds up an 8-inch crab. Photo courtesy of The Smith Family
Catch-and-release fishing for large red drum is still active near Cedar Point, Point Lookout, the Target Ship area, and the Middle Grounds. They can be spotted attacking schools of bait or located by slicks and depth finders. Jigging with large soft plastics is the most popular way to fish for them.
Fishing for a mix of spot and croaker is about as good as it can get this week. The spot are large and many of the croakers exceed the minimum size of 9 inches. Anglers are also seeing small speckled trout, kingfish, and northern blowfish in the mix.
Blue Crabs
Recreational crabbers will most likely be talking about the late 2026 crabbing season for quite a while. Catches of large crabs up to 8 inches and full baskets are plenty to talk about. Most of the best catches have been coming from 8-12 feet of water. The 20-foot depths that were noted for the extra-large crabs seem to have declined for some reason. Crabbers also are scooping up swimmers, and doublers on the surface and dock pilings.
Timothy Smith caught and released this fine-looking largemouth bass at Loch Raven Reservoir recently. Photo courtesy of Timothy Smith
Anglers in the central region of the state have several reservoirs operated by Baltimore City for water supply – Liberty Reservoir, Prettyboy Reservoir, and Loch Raven Reservoir. Through agreements with the Maryland DNR, anglers are allowed to fish for a wide variety of fish species. More information about these reservoirs is available on the DNR website.
Atlantic Ocean and Coastal Bays
Fishing in the Ocean City area could hardly be better, and the summer crowds have dissipated, offering anglers plenty of room on the beaches, inshore waters and offshore waters.
Beach anglers are catching a mix of kingfish, spot and croakers in the surf while fishing with bloodworms or artificial bloodworm baits. Casting soft plastic jigs tipped with a strip of squid is a good way to keep busy and catch flounder.
At the Ocean City Inlet, anglers are catching sheepshead and tautog close to the jetty rocks while fishing with live sand fleas. Croakers can be caught in the inlet and the channels leading from the inlet. The East Channel has been an excellent place to fish for croaker and flounder. Anglers casting soft plastics or drifting cut bait at night are catching a few bluefish and mostly undersized striped bass.
Flounder fishing on the inshore and offshore wreck and reef sites has been extremely good with anglers catching limits of large flounder. Fishing for black sea bass has been off, but anglers are catching black sea bass and triggerfish at the wreck and reef sites.
September often is one of the best times of the year for white marlin catches and boats returning to port are flying numerous release flags from their outriggers this week. Deep drop anglers are bringing plenty of blueline and golden tilefish back to the docks.
“… when the lawyer is swallowed up with business and the statesman is preventing or contriving plots, then we sit on cowslip-banks, hear birds sing and possess ourselves in as much quietness as these silent silver streams.” – Izaak Walton 1653
Maryland Fishing Report is written and compiled by Keith Lockwood, fisheries biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
The Forecast Summary is written by Tidewater Ecosystem Assessment Director Tom Parham.
A reminder to all Maryland anglers, please participate in DNR’s Volunteer Angler Surveys. This allows citizen scientists to contribute valuable data to the monitoring and management of se
