Chesapeake Light Tackle

I mentioned in an earlier “How-To” article that I would write about interesting jigging situations when I encountered them.  We’re in the middle of some amazing summer fishing.  I’ve been chasing breakers over hard bottoms on both sides of the Bay.  This is a typical Chesapeake hot-weather pattern which will usually last and even intensify until fall.

The challenge presented by blitzing fish is not in finding the right lure.  Almost any lure will catch when fish are in a wild surface-feeding frenzy.  I’ve caught rock and blues with a bare hook using only a cut-off piece of a pink soda-straw for bait.  I know other fishermen who routinely use a church-key can-opener with attached hooks as a fishing lure for casting into breakers.  When working a blitz, the difficult part comes in getting larger fish, especially keeper-size stripers out of the schools. Read More!

Looks like we’re settled in to a pretty typical summer pattern of breaking fish over hard bottoms.  The action around the mouth of Eastern Bay has slowed somewhat, but there’s plenty of fish on the west side from Thomas Point Light all the way down Cove Point.  I haven’t seen any huge schools of fish yet, just roving bands of stripers and bluefish.  They’re up and down quickly, so you have to have a good eye and react quickly when you see birds close to the water.  Since bluefish will quickly devour soft plastics, I’m throwing mostly metal jigs but occasionally switching to some of the newer generation plastics that are resistant to being bitten off.   Read More!

Memorial Day Weekend marks the start of summer for many Chesapeake boaters, but it means a slow-down in fishing for those of us who have been out all along. All the boat traffic on the Bay can put the fish in hiding, but it’s a tough time of year no matter what. Many anglers blame the slow fishing on may worms. May worms, also called clam worms, live on the shell bottoms of the bay and swarm during late May. The reddish worms can be up to 5 inches long and develop small swimming fins to propel them up from the bottom when they mate during the dark of the moon. I guess they are a tasty treat for rockfish. Some fish you catch this time of year area actually yellow or red tinged because of all the may worm gorging. Read More!