When the weather starts to warm, most Chesapeake Bay anglers have stored their umbrella rigs and stacked up their broomstick-sized tolling rods. The spring migration is long over and dreams of landing a trophy rockfish have faded. But don’t hang up those high hopes yet. There are still some nice fish around for anglers who are willing to downsize their gear and adjust their techniques.

After forty plus years of freshwater fishing on TVA lakes in the Southeast, I moved to Maryland last year with visions of catching big rockfish. Through years of fishing for landlocked stripers in the lakes of the Tennessee River system, I had refined my techniques and felt relatively confident in my fishing ability. Nevertheless, I was a complete novice on saltwater and knew nothing about fishing techniques for the Chesapeake Bay. Read More!