Fishing Report
Chesapeake Bay (middle), VA
Summary: 5/8/25 - Anglers in the middle Bay are counting the days till striped bass season opens in the main stem on May 16. This is a good time to make sure all your gear is ready to go. Jigging and trolling along the channel edges will be popular and many will strike out to enjoy shallow water action by casting paddletails and topwater lures. Check DNR’s online striped bass season regulation map to confirm where you can fish. White perch are moving into the lower sections of the region’s tidal rivers and the Choptank is one of the premier white perch spawning rivers. The white perch are slowly making their way into their typical summer habitat. Fishing over oyster lumps with dropper rigs with shad darts, or soft plastics tied in and tipped with grass shrimp or pieces of bloodworm is a good tactic. Two-hook bottom rigs baited with grass shrimp or pieces of bloodworm will accomplish the same success. There is a mix of channel and blue catfish in every one of the region’s tidal rivers and they can provide fun fishing and good table fare. The Choptank River holds the greatest number of blue catfish at this time and other rivers will no doubt catch up in time. The Choptank blue catfish can be found from below the Dover Bridge area up to just above Denton. If you are fishing from a boat, setting up along channel edges is a good spot to try. The outside bends of the river where there are high banks in the Choptank, and the lower Tuckahoe is often a great place to anchor up and fish. A small chum pot hung close to the bottom will go a long way to leave a scent trail for them to follow up to your boat. Using a 5/0 circle hook on a sliding sinker rig with a float just large enough to lift the bait a bit off the bottom is a tried-and-true rig for blue catfish. The backwater creeks and rivers of Dorchester County are one of the best places to fish for Chesapeake Channa as May develops. The fish are in a pre-spawn mode of activity and are feeding aggressively, once June rolls around, they will begin to spawn, and it will be tough to get them to strike lures. White paddletails are one of the most effective lures to use, chatterbaits rigged with soft white plastics and soft- bodied frogs a close second in popularity.