Fall Approaches
Spanish mackerel were available all week in the main stem of the bay from Cove Point south to Smith Point.
Schools of fish were moving about feeding on bay anchovies, breaking, and attracting birds and trollers. Those using planers and small shiny spoons were loading up every day. The warm water is now in the low 80's, and the saltier water due to drought has made the conditions ideal for mackerel. The Spanish are now getting bigger with many in the 22-to-24-inch range.
Larry Burdette with catch from Potomac Creek using tiny spinner baits. That perch is 13 1/4 inches!
Plenty of spot for all as demonstrated by a happy guy on Capt. Bernie Shea's Charter Boat.
Bluefish are mixed with the Spanish and they are mostly small in the 12-to-15-inch range, although there were some schools of hefty blues in the three-pound category discovered in the Buoy 72A area.
There are still cobia and red drum taking trolled surgical eels in scattered areas in the lower bay. Charter captains who fish daily have a pretty good handle on where to find them. Novices are pretty much gonna get skunked.
Cody Radebaugh used a Perch Hounder and caught this 11 1/2 inch white perch from a Potomac Creek.
Rockfish and catfish will become more plentiful as the weather cools. Catfish love cut alewife; rockfish hit surface plugs at daybreak in the shallows of creek mouths and around structure.
Surf fishermen in the mouth of the Patuxent have found keeper redfish, nice perch, spot, and even a flounder and cutlass fish or two.
Spot are still stacked up in the rivers and bay waiting to be caught. Perch fishing is excellent.
Spanish mackerel are getting bigger!
Capt. Bernie is getting his share of mackerel.