Big Mix of Fish in The Summer Heat
There is good news and bad news for bottom fishermen.
The good news: the river bottoms have a thick carpet of spot and croaker. The bad news is that the vast majority of the eager biting fish are very small. Charter captains are having to move often out of tiny croaker and spot doubling up their bottom rigs to find bigger fish. There are very decent sized spot, but competition with the undersized fish is frustrating.
Spot in Patuxent now!
White perch are in the creeks and rivers in good size and numbers. One has to pick the right time, tide, and daily heat to find them in a biting mood.
Spot caught on the Shea-D-Lady out of Solomons.
Puppy drum are very plentiful in the creeks and rivers. Slot reds (red drum 18 to 27 inches) are traveling about in active schools in the rivers and creeks. If you find the slot reds they will hit top water lures, popping cork lures, and jigs and spoons. Many times there are good-sized schools crashing the shallows feeding hard. Best locations are in the creeks and creek mouths off Cornfield Harbor in the Potomac, Smith Creek, the St. Mary's River, and its tributaries. Breton Bay has its share of slot reds individually mixed with big white perch.
Ken Lamb with a catch of white perch from a Patuxent Creek.
Rockfish season closes July 16 until August 1 in Maryland waters to protect them from heat exhaustion during catch and release. The Potomac closing is more extensive lasting from July 7 through August 20.
Bryan Yannayon leads the Tackle Box July perch contest with this 11 incher.
Cobia fishing is good for trollers, chummers, and sight casters. Most of the action is around Smith Point, but the fish are coming further north daily. Some catches just south of the Target Ship on the "lumps" were made by chummers with cut bait and live eels.
Tony Gotte found big bluefish below the Target Ship last Friday.
Big bluefish are playing hide and seek a mile below the Target Ship. The fish are not breaking the surface to feed on bait schools, so there are no splashes and feeding birds to give them away. Lucky anglers are spotting them on their electronics near the bottom and deploying surgical eel lures utilizing number two planers. Big in-line trolling weights work, too. Late word on Monday reported good catches of hefty blues at the Smith Point Line.
The blues took trolled yellow, surgical eel lures.
Spanish mackerel are in the lower bay near the mouth of the Rappahannock and headed this way.