Mid Atlantic and Chesapeake Bay - Would love some upper bay Rock fishing advice........

I live in Nottingham, MD. I recently bought a 1986 Biddison 1800 Center Console that I am in the process of cleaning up and gettting ready for spring. I usally put out @ Dundee Creek Marina, but that was always with my 13' Whaler and was never able to get to the bay or places where I could find rockfish.

SO..........I did what any other father of 2 young boys that are hooked on fishing would do......I went and bought a bigger boat. :rofl:

I cant wait for spring, especially after all the record setting snow.

I will have a chartplotter/gps/ff on the new boat. I could really use some advice on where to go when this spring season rolls around. I dont mind exploring, but I dont want burn my own personal hole in the ozone either as I burn fuel to find the fish.

I am assuming trolling will be the way to go, but I would love to hear about some light tackle places to check out.

All help is appreciated.

"BEFORE" pic of rig is attached.

Thanks in advance.

Your in the Severna Park area?

Mid march till the first weekend of May. Check the DNR schedule. The Spring season to me is the Susquehanna Flats. Not sure if you are familiar with it. It is at the top of the bay, bottom of the Susquehanna, Havre deGrace, Perryville area.
You can fish in the river and down to Sandy Point (not THE Sandy Point by the Bay Bridge) across to Turkey Point. Check a map.
Go to the DNR site and do a search for catch and release spring season on the Flats.

Lots of anglers use Tydings Park ramp, that's why I don't use it. It can be VERY crowded. Striper fisherman and bass tournaments. There are other ramps around, check a map.
Also, remember it is called the Flats for a reason, study a map, run where others are running on your first few trips there until you get comfortable.

I have been going there for years and I use caution every time.
There are rocks just under the surface in the river, regardless of the tide.
Sometimes the river can have a very strong current and other times it can be like a lake.

No trolling, except maybe in the river, all light tackle, cast and retrieve (jigging) while drifting, mostly shallow water <10', in the grass, topwater also.
Medium action spinning and bait casting rods, 6'-7' rods, 12- 20 lb test, 1/4- 1 oz jig heads, 4", 6" and 10" Bass Assassins and BKD's, 4" sassy shads, mixture of swim baits, Topwater- Stillwater Smack-its, chuggers, spooks, # 15 Tonys. Everybody has their "Go to" baits.

There will be plenty of other boats there.
DO NOT RUN THROUGH THE AREAS BEING FISHED!!!!!!!!
Idle slowly around very wide, in a semi circle to get back on top of the drift to make another pass.

Google "Spring Striper fishing, Susquehanna Flats". There will be mega info.

PM me if you have any other questions.

Capt. Jeff

Your in the Severna Park area?

Mid march till the first weekend of May. Check the DNR schedule. The Spring season to me is the Susquehanna Flats. Not sure if you are familiar with it. It is at the top of the bay, bottom of the Susquehanna, Havre deGrace, Perryville area.
You can fish in the river and down to Sandy Point (not THE Sandy Point by the Bay Bridge) across to Turkey Point. Check a map.
Go to the DNR site and do a search for catch and release spring season on the Flats.

Lots of anglers use Tydings Park ramp, that's why I don't use it. It can be VERY crowded. Striper fisherman and bass tournaments. There are other ramps around, check a map.
Also, remember it is called the Flats for a reason, study a map, run where others are running on your first few trips there until you get comfortable.

I have been going there for years and I use caution every time.
There are rocks just under the surface in the river, regardless of the tide.

Sometimes the river can have a very strong current and other times it can be like a lake.

No trolling, except maybe in the river, all light tackle, cast and retrieve (jigging) while drifting, mostly shallow water <10', in the grass, topwater also.
Medium action spinning and bait casting rods, 6'-7' rods, 12- 20 lb test, 1/4- 1 oz jig heads, 4", 6" and 10" Bass Assassins and BKD's, 4" sassy shads, mixture of swim baits, Topwater- Stillwater Smack-its, chuggers, spooks, # 15 Tonys. Everybody has their "Go to" baits.

There will be plenty of other boats there.
DO NOT RUN THROUGH THE AREAS BEING FISHED!!!!!!!!
Idle slowly around very wide, in a semi circle to get back on top of the drift to make another pass.

Google "Spring Striper fishing, Susquehanna Flats". There will be mega info.

PM me if you have any other questions.

Capt. Jeff

Jeff,

Thanks a lot. I am not in Serverna Park. I live in Nottingham which is NE Baltimore county near Whitemarsh.

I am very familiar with the Susquehanna flats fishing, just have never been. I hear it is phenominal when the rockfish are thick! I will certainly look into it. I am hoping to have the boat ready by then, but with this weather we have been having, my timeline is getting off track.

Thanks for all the good info. I cant wait to get out there.

Bookmark this link....
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/fishingreport/chesapeake.asp
This is the link for the Chesapeake bay fishing report, which is updated once a week throughout the fishing season. It has really good, and accurate info on what is biting and where.
Here is an archived report from last year, once they start posting reports again it will look something like this....
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/fishingreport/fishingrptArchive/frarchives2009/042909chesapeake.asp

In the reports you will notice they have the bay broken down into three sections, and have a small map of each section. Click on that map and it will enlarge, it shows popular areas that are known to hold fish. Here's an example.....
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/fishingreport/upperbaymap.html

For spring, the Susquehanna flats are a good place for the northern section of the bay, just as 240 LTS said. Another good bet is to troll the outer edges of the tidal rivers, as the stripers are making their way out into the open bay from spawning in the rivers. You'll have to look at the DNR map to see the exact boundaries for open season areas vs catch & release areas.

In the later part of the season, stripers can be caught by jigging lures, chumming, and trolling smaller lures. Area's where you can find structure will hold fish this time of year. The Bay Bridge is a very good area.

I fish the lower bay, so i can't help you with pinpoint locations, but this should help you get started. I'll shoot you a PM with another suggestion too.

Thanks for the great info!

Some of it i knew about and simply forgot. Must be the snow.

Your in the Severna Park area?

Mid march till the first weekend of May. Check the DNR schedule. The Spring season to me is the Susquehanna Flats. Not sure if you are familiar with it. It is at the top of the bay, bottom of the Susquehanna, Havre deGrace, Perryville area.
You can fish in the river and down to Sandy Point (not THE Sandy Point by the Bay Bridge) across to Turkey Point. Check a map.
Go to the DNR site and do a search for catch and release spring season on the Flats.

Lots of anglers use Tydings Park ramp, that's why I don't use it. It can be VERY crowded. Striper fisherman and bass tournaments. There are other ramps around, check a map.
Also, remember it is called the Flats for a reason, study a map, run where others are running on your first few trips there until you get comfortable.

I have been going there for years and I use caution every time.
There are rocks just under the surface in the river, regardless of the tide.
Sometimes the river can have a very strong current and other times it can be like a lake.

No trolling, except maybe in the river, all light tackle, cast and retrieve (jigging) while drifting, mostly shallow water <10', in the grass, topwater also.
Medium action spinning and bait casting rods, 6'-7' rods, 12- 20 lb test, 1/4- 1 oz jig heads, 4", 6" and 10" Bass Assassins and BKD's, 4" sassy shads, mixture of swim baits, Topwater- Stillwater Smack-its, chuggers, spooks, # 15 Tonys. Everybody has their "Go to" baits.

There will be plenty of other boats there.
DO NOT RUN THROUGH THE AREAS BEING FISHED!!!!!!!!
Idle slowly around very wide, in a semi circle to get back on top of the drift to make another pass.

Google "Spring Striper fishing, Susquehanna Flats". There will be mega info.

PM me if you have any other questions.

Capt. Jeff

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