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Landon Derbyshire, 13th FishMaryland Master Angler, holds a red drum caught and released near Crisfield on Sep 2, 2023. Photo by Chris Derbyshire, used with permission by Maryland DNR.
Congratulations to Landon Derbyshire of Eden, Maryland recently became became the 13th FishMaryland Master Angler and only the second youth angler to reach that milestone. He caught all the qualifying species of trophy fish before his sixteenth birthday.
Fishing for white perch in the upper bay and tidal rivers remains good this week. The mouth of the Susquehanna River and nearby tidal rivers are the best places to find a mix of blue catfish and channel catfish.
Anglers fishing at the Bay Bridge are finding improved fishing for striped bass on the eastern side of the bridge this week. Fishing for white perch is also good this week in many of the same areas that are holding striped bass and puppy drum.
Bluefish tend to be the main event this week in the lower Bay. Fishing for a mix of spot, croaker and kingfish has been excellent in the mouth of the Patuxent River, the Potomac River, and Tangier Sound.
Recreational crabbers report good crabbing in the upper Bay and excellent in the middle and lower Bay. This is no time of the year to put your crabbing gear away; the crabs are fat and large, crowds are down, and the weather is very comfortable.
Anglers at Deep Creek Lake are seeing waters cool down and there was even a rumor of a frost earlier this week. Cooling water temperatures seem to always shift the feeding activity of smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, walleye and northern pike into high gear. Largemouth bass are generally holding near where food and cover are this week, usually in 15 feet of water or less.
Surf anglers can find plenty of room on the beaches of Assateague to fish for a mix of kingfish, spot and the occasional croaker and blowfish. At the inlet, most fishing is focused on casting jigs for a mix of bluefish and striped bass near the jetty rocks, bridge piers and bulkheads. Flounder fishing in the back bay channels continues to be good. The anglers headed to the offshore wreck and reef sites are catching a mix of black sea bass, flounder and small dolphin. Get all the details here.
“I love fishing. I can think of no greater pleasure than to sit alone toward the evening by the water and watch a float.” – Anton Chekhov 1896
You can always tell a red drum by that little black spot on the tail. No other fish has that!