ANNAPOLIS, Md. – October temperatures and hungry fish are setting the stage for fun fishing adventures. Families and friends are taking advantage of setting out to enjoy the outdoors from western Maryland to our coastal waters. Don’t miss this extraordinary time to enjoy fishing together.
Forecast Summary: October 2 – October 8:
As we roll into the first full week of “Rocktober,” expect moderate, sunny, calm weather to highlight our fishing conditions this week in Maryland’s waters. As reported from the NOAA buoys, shorter daylight periods and cooler day-time air temperatures have cooled main Bay surface water temperatures to the lower 70s, with rivers running slightly cooler. Maryland’s part of the Bay continues to run fresher than average.
In most places, expect areas with suitable amounts of oxygen – greater than 3 mg/liter – to extend down to at least depths of 35 feet. The improving oxygen and water temperature conditions will continue to provide anglers with more opportunities to catch fish in shallower waters (as well as breaking fish) and the traditional places deeper in the water column such as channel edges, underwater points, hard bottom, and drop-offs.
Expect average water clarity for most of the Maryland portion of the Bay. To see the latest water clarity conditions on NOAA satellite maps, check Eyes on the Bay Satellite Maps. Except for the Potomac River, expect average flows for the Susquehanna River and some other Maryland rivers and streams.
There will be above average tidal currents all week as a result of the upcoming new moon on October 2. Due to a low-pressure system parked off Maryland’s coast producing prolonged onshore winds, expect tides to be higher than normal for some of this week.
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
Anglers at the Conowingo Dam pool are enjoying good fishing for striped bass during the dam’s afternoon-evening power generation water releases. Long casts with medium surf rods and braided line are needed to get close to the turbine wash with soft plastic jigs and topwater lures. There is also some striped bass action occurring near the mouth of the Susquehanna along the channel edges and edges of the Susquehanna Flats during the morning and evening hours.
Striped bass fishing continues to be good at the mouth of the Patapsco River, the Pooles Island area and Fort McHenry. Live lining spot continues to be one of the most popular ways to fish for striped bass, but live lining eels and jigging are also popular.
The Love Point rocks are getting a lot of attention from anglers using spot for live-lining or jigging for striped bass. Anglers who are live-lining usually anchor up and drift their spot along the drop-offs around the rocks. Those jigging often drift by in the current and walk their soft plastic jigs along the bottom and across the current. Anglers are also reporting finding striped bass suspended near the channel edges at the mouth of the Chester River and Podickory Point.
Fishing for white perch is good this week in the tidal rivers and creeks of the upper Bay. Most anglers are casting small spinnerbaits and spin-jigs along the shorelines during the morning and evening hours with good results. Bottom fishing with grass shrimp, peeler crab or pieces of bloodworm on the various shoals and knolls out in the bay as well as deeper structure in the tidal rivers and creeks works well.
Blue catfish can be found in high numbers at the mouth of the Susquehanna River and every tidal river within the upper bay region. The Chester River is a very good place to find them from Chestertown to the Crumpton area. Fresh cut bait is one of the most popular baits, but chicken liver, chicken meat as well as cheese baits work well.
Middle Bay
Persistent high tides, about a foot or more above normal, continue this week due to a lingering low – so be on the lookout for floating debris. The shallow water fishery for striped bass, red drum, and speckled trout is the best show in town this week and in some areas the puppy drum are more numerous than the striped bass. Paddletails, poppers and Zara Spooks are three of the most popular lures being used by anglers. If puppy drum are on your preferred list, spinnerbaits and spin-jigs are candy to that species. The lower Choptank, Little Choptank, West and Rhode rivers are good places to fish. Around Poplar Island and Eastern Bay are also excellent places to fish. The best time to fish is during the morning and evening with moving tides.
Lower Bay
The abundance of large bluefish in the eastern side of the lower Bay continues to be a big draw for anglers looking for plenty of action. The large bluefish weigh as much as 10 pounds or more and about as fat as a bluefish can become. The best way to catch them is by trolling surgical tube lures behind planers along the main channel edge from Buoy 72, past the Target Ship and beyond. At times the bluefish can be found chasing bait on the surface, but anglers report boat traffic usually causes the bluefish to sound. Casting metal jigs into the breaking fish can provide some fun rod bending action if you’re lucky enough.
The shallow water fishery for a mix of puppy drum, striped bass and speckled trout is providing a lot of fun light tackle action in the shallows around the bay shorelines, the tidal rivers, Tangier Sound and Pocomoke Sound. Casting paddletails, topwater lures, spinnerbaits and spin-jigs are all popular lures to use. In some of the tidal cuts and creeks where there is a good current on the eastern side of the bay, drifting peeler crab and soft crab baits is a great way to target puppy drum and speckled trout.
Fishing for a mix of spot, croaker, kingfish, white perch, northern blowfish, and small sea bass is good this week in a variety of areas. The mouth of the Patuxent, Point Lookout, Tangier Sound, and Pocomoke Sound are excellent places to fish. Many of the spot and croaker tend to be small so there are a good percentage of throwbacks so bring plenty of bait. Pieces of bloodworm or bloodworm alternative baits work well for the spot and kingfish, peeler crab will work well for the croaker, white perch and blowfish.
Targeting white perch in the region’s tidal rivers and creeks is a great opportunity this week. Casting small jig-spins and spinnerbaits along the shorelines during the morning and evening hours offers plenty of fun light tackle action. Using grass shrimp or peeler crab for bait on a simple bottom rig around dock and bridge piers is a great tactic this time of the year.
Recreational crabbers are reporting that some of their best catches are coming from waters from 6-10 feet deep this week. Crabbing is good in the upper bay tidal rivers and even better in the middle and lower bay regions, where most crabbers can catch a full bushel per outing. Many crabbers are culling out crabs less than 6 inches, and there are still some light crabs around.
Deep Creek Lake continues to undergo subtle changes as the waters cool and the fishery begins to change. Largemouth and smallmouth bass are beginning to move more freely around the lake now that they do not have to hide from the oppressive summer sun and heat. The largemouth bass can now be found along the edges of deep grass beds and the smallmouth bass on deep rocky points. Walleye are beginning to come up from the deeper waters and can be found around the bridge pilings of the Route 219 and Glendale Road bridges. The Beckman’s and Holy Cross sections of the lake are also excellent places to look for walleyes as the lake’s waters cool.
The upper Potomac River water levels are up to about 9 feet and will be dropping as the week goes by, depending on where you are on the river. The best lures to use for smallmouth bass will most likely be tubes and jigs for smallmouth bass under 16 inches and soft craw jigs and topwater lures for the larger bass. Grass beds will begin to recede this month, and smallmouth bass will be feeding on crayfish that are leaving the grass beds and heading for deeper cover.
Largemouth bass are holding close to existing grass in all regions of the state as water temperatures cool and largemouth bass feel more comfortable to aggressively feed on baitfish and crayfish. Casting a mix of spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, soft craw jigs, and lipless crankbaits near the edges of grass beds and spatterdock fields. Flipping weighted wacky rigged stick worms and similar soft plastics down through grass mats is an excellent way to target largemouth bass lurking beneath.
Working soft-bodied frogs or buzzbaits over grass is an excellent option during the morning and evening hours. In tidal waters, Chesapeake Channa will often be part of the mix. They can be found in every tidal river and creek within the Chesapeake Bay system.
Atlantic Ocean and Coastal Bays
Anglers fishing continue to deal with easterly winds and small craft warnings this week. Surf anglers are having difficulty holding bottom while fishing for a mix of kingfish and spot. There are reports that a few large red drum are being caught and released, and bluefish are being caught on the same cut bait.
There is plenty of action in the Ocean City Inlet, where anglers are catching a mix of bluefish and striped bass by casting soft plastic jigs, Got-Cha lures and bucktails dressed with twister tails. Most of the striped bass fall below the minimum length of 28 inch but still provide plenty of fun catch and release action. Anglers are also having success by drifting cut bait in the evenings for bluefish. Tautog and sheepshead are being caught on sand fleas, and peeler crab near the south jetty, bridge piers and bulkheads.
The back bay waters continue to have clarity issues due to strong winds, but anglers are catching a few flounder in the channels leading towards the inlet. Anglers are catching the largest flounder on live spot and similar live baits as well as white and pink Gulp baits.
The black sea bass season is currently closed and reopens October 10, 2024, so until then, boats taking anglers out to the offshore wreck and reef sites are now focusing on targeting tautog and flounder when sea conditions allow. Anglers heading out to the canyons continue to find poor success when trolling for tuna but are experiencing a few white marlin releases. Most are deep dropping for blueline tilefish.
“No angler merely watches nature in a passive way. He enters into its very existence.” – John Bailey
Maryland Fishing Report is written and compiled by Keith Lockwood, fisheries biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
Click Before You Cast 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 several important fish species.
This report is now available on your Amazon Echo device — just ask Alexa to “open Maryland Fishing Report.”
