Shallow-Water Fishing in the Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay surf fishing

Fishing the shallow water of the Chesapeake Bay can be divided into two distinct categories: freshwater fishing in the upper Bay north of Baltimore and saltwater game fishing in the lower Bay. One item that connects the two is tidal movement.

How Tides Work

Low tide on a mud flat

Once you've decided where you're going to fish you'll need nautical charts and a tide table. Nautical charts will mark the location of oyster reefs, grass beds, shoals, artificial reefs, shipwrecks and rock formations. The charts also show deep-water access areas. The structure attracts little fish because it offers safety. The deep-water access is the route big fish take to dine on the little fish.

The tide changes roughly every six hours. That means if high tide arrives at noon, for example, low tide will be around 6 p.m. In the upper Bay, the difference between high and low tide is less than 2 feet. On Virginia's Eastern Shore, the difference can be 5 to 7 feet.

The freshwater portion of the bay is typical river fishing. You're looking for shallow-water structure where largemouth and smallmouth bass can lounge until it's feeding time. Look for points and bars at the mouths of the numerous tributaries.

Panfish such as bluegills and sunfish are going to be closer to the shoreline. Crappies and perch will be in deeper water. Try different depths and structure until you find what you're after.

Rising Tide

Paddle tail used for speckled trout

Rising tide, or flood tide, gives foraging game fish access to shallow-water baitfish such as bay anchovies and silversides. It also allows fish to root around for young blue crabs, clams, mollusks, shrimp and a variety of worms. Among the forage feeders are red drum, flounder, speckled trout, croakers, spot, and gray trout (weakfish).

Two-hook bottom rigs baited with strips of squid or pieces of bloodworm will bring in a load of croakers and spot. The same rig baited with live bull minnows is a flounder favorite.

Bucktail jigs dressed with curly-tail grubs or paddle tails work best for gray trout and speckled trout. Tie the bucktail directly to your line. Both species shy away from swivels and steel leaders.

Falling Tide

Striped bass lure

Ambush feeders go into action when the tide is falling. They find vantage points around bridge pilings, piers, docks, and buoys and ambush whatever looks good to them.

Striped bass, the silver king of the Chesapeake Bay, is the most well-known. Stripers, or rockfish, are structure-oriented. They don't like open water and prefer hiding places from which they can ambush the unsuspecting. When stripers are feeding, they can easily be caught by casting bucktails, crankbaits, and surface poppers. An array of plastic bodies developed just for striped bass are available. You don't have to shop for gaudy colors. White or black will do just fine.

Crankbaits such as Cisco Kid, Rapala, Rat-L-Trap, and MirrOlure have been Chesapeake Bay favorites. Use a stop-and-go retrieve that imitates a distressed baitfish. The late afternoon or early evening tide is the most productive.

Big Game Fish

Live eels are used for cobia.

Black drum, red drum and cobia give small boaters and surf fishermen a chance to catch a true saltwater game fish. Cobia enter the bay around Memorial Day and make straight for western Bay haunts such as Bluefish Rock and York Spit. Their search for blue crabs will take them well into the shallows around the mouth of the York River.

In June, the fish disappear for a couple of weeks. They return to the eastern side of the Bay and are caught at Latimer Shoal, Middle Ground Shoal and buoy markers.

Cobia fishing can be messy work. Live eels have become the bait of choice. A chum slick--a block of frozen, ground fish that is put overboard to leach into the water--is used to attract cobia to the baits. Cobia weighing more than 50 pounds are not uncommon. Red drum and black drum are caught with chunks of cut bait such as spot or menhaden fished on fish-finder rigs. A fish-finder rig allows the sinker to slide freely on the line above the hook. When the sinker hits bottom, let out more line so the bait is not on the bottom. All three can be caught in water as shallow as 4 feet, usually along the edge of shoals and flats.

Places to Fish

Small boat

If you want to fish from your own boat, there are dozens of public launching ramps and marinas in Virginia and Maryland that have access to the Chesapeake Bay.

Most of the state parks allow surf or shore fishing. There also are some public beaches and municipal areas where you can fish. You should have no trouble finding a charter boat or a guide. It can be a great education in how and where to catch anything from upper bay smallmouth bass to the huge striped bass that visit the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel every fall.

Resources

• Bay Dreaming: Charter and Guide Services
• Chesapeake Bay Program
• Tidal Fish: Bay Fishing