Baltimore Fishing Report

Amanda at Bowley’s Bait & Tackle said that last week, eelers, trollers, chummers and jiggers made sporadic catches of stripers on most of the popular upper bay haunts. The channel edge east of Pooles Island, Shallow and Man O’ War shoals have been several of the most consistently productive eeling locations. Man O’ War, 6 and 7-Foot knolls rank among the top trolling locations.
Chummers have been catching a high percentage of undersize fish on the eastern side from Tolchester south to Love Point. Returning anglers tell us that midweek catches have been much better, because on weekends anglers flock to the prime locations and the congestion spooks the fish.
White perch and catfish dominate the action in the local tidal rivers with bottom-fished bloodworms, earth worms and peelers working effectively. Last week, good catches of white perch and catfish were made on the hard bottoms just below Pooles Island.
According to Clyde’s Sport Shop, chumming and trolling has been equally effective. Chumming has been producing stripers at the mouth of the Severn River, Love, Tolly and Podickory points. Trollers have been landing stripers along the western channel edge from Six Foot Knoll south to Chesapeake Beach in depths from 20 to 48 feet of water, with the best catches being made at Thomas Point, directly out from Deale and the mouth of the West River on hoses, spoons and bucktails fished deep. Blues to 3 pounds are plentiful throughout the bay with the greatest concentrations south of the Bay Bridges. The breaking fish that randomly show themselves consist of tiny rock and blues. White perch dominate the bottom fishing action with bloodworms and peelers the best baits. There are still plenty rays around.
The folks at Tochterman’s reported that it’s seldom necessary to travel beyond the mouth of the harbor to catch enough stripers. Trollers have been connecting with stripers from Curtis Creek clear out to the mouth of the Patapsco River on almost any type of small bucktail and spoon. Over the weekend, there was a flurry of striper action directly out from Fort Howard. Perch fishing has been good at the Key Bridge and surrounding tributaries. Bottom fishermen fishing from the banks on the southern side of the harbor have been catching a mixed bag including legal stripers, medium size blues and an occasional legal flounder.