Mackerel Heaven
Spanish mackerel have arrived in the bay in big numbers.
Mackerel are plentiful in the ships channel.
Captain Bernie Shea is catching Spanish mackerel!
Spanish mackerel have arrived in the bay in big numbers. The fish are scattered up and down the Ship's Channel as far north as Chesapeake Beach. The most successful areas are from Hooper's Island Light to buoy 72. There are Spanish and bluefish mixed on the Chinese Muds near the mouth of the Patuxent. The blues can suddenly appear in all sizes. In addition, there are schools of bull reds that can come into the trolled lines and take every lure in the water causing lots of havoc and fun. If they stay around long enough (rare), you can hook up a bull red on a cast spinning lure. The reds can have 1000 fish in a fast-moving school. We are hoping that these conditions last well into September.
Big spot are in the Patuxent from boat or shoreline.
Spot are everywhere and getting bigger daily. They are at Ragged Point in the Potomac, and at St. George Island. There are good sized croaker in the Potomac mixed with the spot. The Patuxent has spot from Drum Point and the Three Legged to Benedict. Bring plenty of bait and a big cooler with lots of ice.
Miss Susie is running out of Solomons now and catching mackerel and bluefish.
Bluefish on the southern shore of St. Mary's County caught with Captain Gary Sacks, Marica II Charter Fishing
There are lots of croaker in our waters, but they have been playing hide and seek. They showed up south of Ragged Point in the Potomac last week and good catches were reported.
Lonnie Windsor with a largemouth bass from a local pond caught last Monday.
The striped bass (rockfish) season is out until September 1 in Maryland waters. The Potomac is closed until August 21.
It is a good as it gets right now!
There has been a change in the red drum regulations. The slot is now 18 inches to 26 inches and the bag limit is now three per day. Even though the regulations allow more take home fish, they are not that helpful as most redfish we catch are 10 to 15 inches (not big enough) or 35 to 50 inches (way too big). If the slot were to be moved to 14 to 25 inches we would be better off; the state of Georgia allows 5 fish per day in a 14 to 23 inch slot. The big fish would make a fine trophy for a mount, but the food value is minimal. Perhaps a tag system for a fee to keep one trophy red drum a season could be possible.
Eric Packard and bass from this week.
Bluegill are aggressive at St. Mary's Lake.
Cutlass fish are schooled up in various locations. They take most any lure, but are partial to shiny spoons and jigs. The cutlasses were schooled up near Drum Point recently, breaking long enough to attract seagulls diving for scraps.
Rodney Cooper leads the August catfish contest at The Tackle Box with this 40 incher.
Blue catfish are plentiful in northern reaches of the Potomac and Patuxent beginning at Benedict in the Patuxent and Cobb Island in the Potomac.
August 8th, 2026: Historical St Mary's River tour from Captain Gary Sacks with Jan Orr and the Pennsylvania Hasan Family at the Maryland Dove