Oh to be in St. Mary's now that September is Here!
Mackerel are flooding the bay and the trollers are getting their limits of fifteen fish per person most days that the weather allows.
Ken Lamb shows off a 12 inch perch caught Sunday on a Patuxent creek, rising tide, late afternoon on spinner bait.
Captain Bernie is into he mackerel too!
September 1 marks the beginning of the fall rockfish season in Maryland waters and lasts until December 5. The Potomac fall season began August 21 and goes to the end of the year, December 31. The slot is 19 to 24 inches, and creel limit is one per day.
Best Spanish mackerel run ever in Bay!!
The fishing has been so good that hardly anyone noticed the August rockfish moratorium. Spanish mackerel are everywhere. Bluefish, bull reds and cobia have all been surprisingly active and plentiful.
J D the Kelly D charter out of Solomons with mackerel catch.
The bigger bluefish (8 to 11 pounds) are hanging out below Hooper's Island Light in the ship's channel all the way to Smith's Point. Big blues and mackerel are in the Potomac in good numbers from Point Lookout to St. George Island.
Miss Susie catch last Sunday.
Cobia are being chummed up on the Middle Grounds and love live eels in the chum line. Smaller cobia are taking trolled surgical eel lures meant for blues.
The Miss Susie went mackerel trolling last Tuesday and a vast school of Bull Reds came up and took the entire set of six rods. There was lots of catch and release fishing on spinning gear once the decks were cleared of smashed tackle.
The bull reds can show up most anywhere and wreck mackerel rigs aimed at much smaller fish. They boil the water in a feeding frenzy and will take any lure cast in the midst of the break. Strong equipment and big jigs with large hooks (5/0 and bigger) are most successful.
Whiting are now in the mix with spot, croaker, perch and trout in the Patuxent. Captain Bernie Shea is loading the coolers daily.
Bottom fishing is excellent with spot, croaker, perch trout, and whiting all active.
Josh with a catch of perch this week using spinner baits in the Patuxent.
Shore fishermen are finding spot and croaker in the mouth of the Patuxent. The pier at Point Lookout has reported spot, hardhead, bluefish and even bull reds and cobia.
J D , Steve, and Neele with one of many Bull Reds the attacked their lures on the Kelly D.
Now that fall is approaching, we will have stripers more active as the water cools. The Patuxent will have rockfish in the shallows for lure casters at dawn and dusk on moving tides.
Puppy drum are in the creeks!
White perch are more numerous in the creeks and rivers. The little perch have shown up in numbers for lure casters as well as the lunkers that are solitary in the holes and structures in the shallows. There are puppy drum in the same locations often in the 12-to-15-inch range that hit like a ton of bricks. Favorite lures to throw are Beetle Spins, Perch Hounders, Mepps, and Betts Spins.
Spot are everywhere.
Fall is coming although it's going to be a hot week. But by Saturday we are going to have cooler temperatures and calm winds.
Trout doubled up!
Spot are everywhere.
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.