Weather (Click Here)
Before you hit the trails or set up camp, make sure to take a second glance at the weather for this weekend!
Today's Moon Phase according to NASA (Click Here)
Waxing Crescent: "As the Moon moves eastward away from the Sun in the sky, we see a bit more of the sunlit side of the Moon each night. A few days after new Moon, we see a thin crescent in the western evening sky. The crescent Moon waxes, or appears to grow fatter, each night."
Maryland Fishing Report - September 22nd, Composed by Lyndsie Pratt of Anglers Sports Center (Click Here)
Rockfish: There is a great rockfish bite in a variety of areas of the bay right now! There is a good bite north of the bridge from Love Point up to Pooles Island where anglers have been trolling, live lining or fishing with live eels. If you are trolling, umbrellas are particularly effective this time of year. The top water bite is really picking up around all of the shallow points in the bay. Try Hackett Point, Thomas Point, Bloody Point and Poplar Island. Points inside the rivers have also been picking up, and that bite is only going to continue to get better! Topwater is best in the early morning and late evening. Later in the day try throwing jerk baits of small paddletails on light jig heads.
Bluefish: Blue fish are all over the bay, even north of the bay bridge. Look for schools of them breaking and cast metal jigs into them. Try both a quick steady retrieve and vertical jigging, as they have been hitting on both and it varies by day. Most of the bluefish in our Annapolis area are on the smaller side, but as you head south towards Chesapeake Beach and Solomons they have been caught up to 20 inches! You can also catch them trolling small spoons on #1 or #2 planers.
Spanish Mackerel: Mackerel are a bit more spread out than bluefish, but there are still plenty of them in our area as far north as Thomas Point, with a few scattered reports even further north. When you see breaking bluefish, keep an eye out for mackerel jumping out of the schools of fish. Cast to them with metal jigs using a very fast retrieve. If you see mackerel but can’t get them to bite by casting, or if you see them but they are moving too fast to cast to, get out the #1 and #2 planers with small spoons and troll 7-9 knots! Trolling also works well when you do not see breaking fish but suspect that they are in the area. You can really cover a lot of ground looking for them when traveling at those higher speeds!
White Perch: While there are definitely still white perch being caught in shallow water in the rivers using spinners such as perch pounders, there are a lot of reports of those fish moving into their fall pattern of deeper water. There’s been a great bite at Hackett Point and in the mouths of the rivers. Soft crab is still working very well as are Chesapeake Sabiki rigs tipped with fish bites.
Spot: Spot are still everywhere in the main bay, especially around the bay bridge. As our Combos for Kids group discovered this week, they are very easy and fun to catch using soft crab or fish bites! Just lightly bounce a bottom rig or Chesapeake Sabiki rig off the bottom in deeper water around that structure!
Cobia: The cobia bite seems to have slowed down, but now that the season is closed, it could be due to the fact that less people are targeting them. We have still heard some reports of people catching and releasing cobia in the area of Solomon’s Island. They are mostly being caught trolling large hoses on #2 or #3 size planers.
Redfish: The bull red bite that was going on in the middle bay has slowed down, and they are definitely more spread out, rather than schooled up like they were earlier in the month. However, they are still sporadic reports of them being caught as far north as Eastern Bay. This time of year, they are often a by-catch for people who are targeting rockfish in shallower water using paddletails. There is also always still the change of spotting one on your side scan, so keep those heavier rods rigged with 1.5 oz jig heads and 7-8 inch paddletails on your boat!
This Weekend's Tide Predictions (Click Here)
Keep an eye on this weekend’s tide schedule. These are the predicted tides for the Western Shore of the Chesapeake from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
Wednesday 9/28:
Low tide starting at 1:39 a.m. and again at 1:12 p.m.
High tide starting at 7:11 a.m. and again at 7:56 p.m.
Sunrise: 6:59 a.m.
Sunset: 6:53 p.m.
Thursday 9/29:
Low tide starting at 2:38 p.m. and again at 1:44 p.m.
High tide starting at 7:52 a.m. and again at 8:42 p.m.
Sunrise: 7:00 a.m.
Sunset: 6:52 p.m.
Friday 9/30:
Low tide starting at 3:42 a.m. and again at 2:22 p.m.
High tide starting at 8:39 a.m. and again at 9:32 p.m.
Sunrise: 7:01 a.m.
Sunset: 6:50 p.m.
Saturday 9/1:
Low tide starting at 4:50 p.m. and again at 3:07 p.m.
High tide starting at 9:31 a.m. and again at 10:27 p.m.
Sunrise: 7:02 a.m.
Sunset: 6:49 p.m.
Sunday 9/2:
Low tide at 5:59 a.m. and again at 4:04 p.m.
High tide starting at 10:31 a.m. and again at 11:28 p.m.
Sunrise: 7:03 a.m.
Sunset: 6:47 p.m.
Animal Cams (Click Here)
This week tune in to see the West End Bald Eagle Cam located at the west end of the Catalina Islands.
Beach Cam
Take a look at whats going on at your favorite East Coast beaches right now.