Fabulous Fishing Continues
Mackerel are flooding the bay and the trollers are getting their limits of fifteen fish per person most days that the weather allows.
Mackerel and bluefish; it's as good as it gets.
Captain Greg on the Miss Susie with a daily catch out of Solomons.
Mackerel are flooding the bay and the trollers are getting their limits of fifteen fish per person most days that the weather allows. This massive mackerel run should continue into October. The fish can be fussy on lure color on any given day, but most of the time they will hit anything flashy. Drone, Clark, and Hardhead Customs all work. The fish can be cast to when schools are concentrated. They are fun on light tackle, making a terrific first run. The fish are working their way north so anglers out of the Patuxent can find them on the Chinese Muds and on the edge on the eastern side of the bay on the drop off between buoys 77 and 76. The ship's channel from the PR to Smith Point is loaded.
Eric with trout at Point Lookout from his kayak Monday at noon August 24.
Catfish are biting in Mallows Bay in the Potomac. It's all you want.
Bluefish are everywhere, but the big schools of larger fish are ranging from the Targets south to Smith Point. Small Cobia are in the mix hitting trolled surgical eel lures.
Bottom fishing is excellent.
Croaker and spot mixed in Patuxent from Captain Bernie's charter.
Bottom fishing is excellent with spot and croaker very plentiful in the Patuxent and Potomac. The croaker are available from the shoreline in surprising numbers. Surfcasters in the Fishing Point Hollow area reported catching their limit of 25 per person. The key is using bloodworm pieces for bait. They are expensive, but if you can limit out on hardhead with a dozen worms and get plenty of spot to boot, it is worth it.
Croaker two at the time in the mouth of the Patuxent.
Croaker and spot mix.
There are trout and bluefish in the Cornfield Harbor area of Point Lookout. Lure casters are catching some impressive trout there along with blues and rockfish. The Potomac is open for rockfish now; the Maryland bay and tributaries open on September 1.
Red drum can surprise the trollers anytime.
White perch catches are improving with the cooling water temperatures. There are puppy drum also, but not as many as previous seasons. The drum are gradually recovering from the massive winter kill in the late fall of 2024 when a freak cold front came in and caught them too far north in their migration. The kill extended all the way down to South Carolina and Georgia.
St. Mary's Lake has largemouth bass taking all manner of lures, all the time!
Crappie at St. Mary's Lake are biting.
Cobia and bull redfish are in the bay and can show up most anywhere.
Captain Gary from Marcia II Charters (301 904 3670): "I often think that the kids of today will be our outdoors folks of the future."
The views expressed in this Fishing Report are those of Ken Lamb and do not necessarily represent the views of Visit St. Mary's MD, its employees or board of directors. This report is for informational purposes only and details on MD fishing regulations can be found in the Maryland Guide to Fishing and Crabbing.