Fishing Report
Chesapeake Bay (middle), VA
Summary: 4/9/25 - The cold weather that we are experiencing currently has significantly lower water temperatures in the region’s tidal rivers and to a lesser degree the bay waters. Water temperatures in the upper Choptank dropped 5 degrees in the last 36 hours, it is hoped the recent striped bass spawn from last week can endure. The striped bass spawn kicked into high gear last week in the upper Choptank, Nanticoke, Patuxent, and Potomac rivers when water temperatures reached 61 degrees. The upper Bay spawning sites will soon follow, they are usually later due to cooler water temperatures coming from the Susquehanna and Elk rivers. The white perch are finishing up their spawning endeavors in the upper Choptank near Red Bridges this week, and they will be moving back down the river to be available to anglers from the Greensboro area to waters below Denton. Most anglers will be fishing with bottom rigs baited with pieces of bloodworms in deeper waters or casting dropper rigs of shad darts and small soft plastic jigs. The white perch will return to their summer habitats in the lower sections of the tidal rivers. There are reliable reports of some hickory shad action in the upper reaches of the Choptank this week, near Red Bridges. Casting small silver spoons and shad darts in tandem are a popular way to fish in the current breaks and pools. Unfortunately, there are a lot of sunken tree limbs and similar snags, so bring plenty of tackle. The tidal rivers of the middle Bay hold good populations of channel catfish along with some white catfish, providing plenty of fun fishing from shorelines or small boats. Blue catfish are becoming more prevalent in the region’s tidal rivers and the Choptank River holds the greatest numbers. The blue catfish population in the Choptank River is exploding with extremely large numbers of blue catfish less than 14 inches. At present blue catfish up to 30 pounds are being caught in the Choptank from the Dover Bridge area to Denton. Fresh cut bait of most any kind of fish works well, and many anglers have good luck with chicken parts and wild shrimp from a grocery store. The most popular rig is a 5/0 to 7/0 circle hook, rigged with a torpedo float and a sliding sinker fish finder type rig.