Nice stripers Have Shown Up in the Middle Chesapeake Bay (w/Pics)

[Tom Hughes]

Nice stripers Have Shown Up in the Middle Chesapeake Bay

We wanted to fish the outgoing tide when the current was moving the swiftest south of the Bay Bridge on the western shore in the Middle Chesapeake Bay. We did and it paid off big time.

Doug Schopman and I launched at Sandy Point State Park this weekend and started searching structures for active stripers.
We moved down the western shore and located plenty of baitfish on the 30 to 35 foot line. Nothing was under or around the bait so we headed for the southeast.

When we arrived we couldn’t locate any baitfish on the inside so we move out to R “84”.
There were 3 boats chumming just outside this buoy and there was baitfish around everywhere. No stripers were showing up on the sonar so we did do 1 drift. We ended up hooking a few 9” menhaden and that’s a good thing.

We decided it was time to cross back over the Bay and fish the western shore. The screen lit up on the 30-foot line first with a lot of baitfish and then with some stripers.

We both were using light spinning equipment and catching went on for about 2 hours. The fish were healthy and fat with the majority being in the 24” range. Doug landed the largest striper, which was 28”. The largest striper was caught on a Bass Kandy Delight colored with a Spike-It Marker.

The largest striper being caught on a 6” Bass Kandy Delightcolored with Spike-It Marker.

Fishing Tip: Where tributaries enter the Chesapeake Bay are excellent locations to look for active stripers (rockfish) and other saltwater species when the current is moving the swiftest at that location.

Seminars:
06/13/12-NEW: ‘Understanding Productive Locations to Catch Striped Bass in the Middle Chesapeake Bay’-CCA NOVA- Grace Presbyterian Church, 2381 Cedar Lane, Vienna, VA from 7:00 to 9:00. No charge - Open to the Public.

06/19/12-NEW:‘Catching Rockfish Without Birds’-MSSA-Essex/Middle River Chapter-Commodore Hall, 1909 Old Eastern Ave. in Essex, MD. The meeting will start at 7:30 PM. No charge-Open to the Public.

[one fish]

wtg tom. thx for rpt/pics.

i was at 84 sunday afternoon and got nothing (plenty, plenty of bait there).
arlington was around towers on sat (i think) and didn't do anything.

gotta be in right place at right time. wtg.

[jaksprat]

Thanks for the report and helpful hints.

Jack

[catman]

Great report, Tom.
I ended up do'n what we talked about Monday. I pay to ship, they pay to return.
I'll try and make the meeting tonight but can't promise.

[Timbo]

Thanks for the report Tom. See you soon.

[Hillbilly Boater]

Tom, Very nice report.

[CPRfishing]

We thought they were stripers too, they're actually large schools of cownose rays. we went out on sunday and saw endless amounts of rays schooling on the surface. we probably spotted about 3,000 total that day. try not to hook them on light tackle or you're absolutely screwed haha. we also saw a few chasing 10" menhaden and had 2 nice 35"+ stripers following bunker that we had accidently snagged while jigging. great report though!