The fishing has heated up across the Chesapeake Bay region just as the weather has taken a turn toward autumn temperatures. Regionwide, anglers are finding large amounts of bait in the rivers, birds swirling above, and the striped bass bubbling all around as they feed heavily and fatten up before winter sets in. Stripers—belovedly called rockfish ’round these here parts—are all-in for the baitfish buffet that the Chesapeake provides during mid-fall. And though the fishing was a bit disappointing in the Severn River during the summer months (for me, at least), I can confidently say that the schoolies have now filled in the river to feed and are active. I found them consistently this week (as did several others reporting their catches). It’s unofficially some of the best fishing of the year—what we anglers know and love as Rocktober!
On back-to-back mornings this week, I took the boat into the Round Bay vicinity of the Severn River to search for schooling stripers. The action in the creeks had picked up recently with regard to baitfish activity, white perch, and, even, pickerel. So, the hunch is that stripers would start showing themselves at the creek mouths and points along the river stem to intercept some of this food source. That’s the pattern at this time of year.
But, it had been a pretty dismal summer for striped bass fishing. And with the striper year classes worsening within the past decade due to poor spawning, it’s been a bit of a question mark as to whether I’d see the numbers of fish that I’ve enjoyed catching the past five seasons. I certainly didn’t see the numbers of fish I’m used to in June. And August through September was piss poor as well.
Motoring into Round Bay on a Thursday morning, the tide had crested high and was about to start its outgoing cycle. We’re several days post full moon, which generally bodes for a smidge better fishing than the days leading up to full moon (according to my logs). I had a few fishing spots in mind and my tactics chosen. Simple stuff really. But the winds were rushing from the northeast, up to 20 knots at times, which would make things challenging.
The plan: try to catch a drift in the boat with the wind moving me north to south along a stretch of docks adjacent to a dropoff; cast a 1/2oz bucktail banana head jig around the deep ends of docks; then cast a Rapala X-Rap 10 into the shallower flats between docks. Repeat the pattern and cast as I located fish on the sidescan Humminbird. I used 6’6” medium fast-action rods and 2500 class reels spooled with 15# braid and 17# flouro leaders.
The wind was pushing me along my hopeful path, but more so toward the docks/shoreline, which put my trolling motor to the test. The good news is I managed to make some casts as I intended. With a heavy chop on the surface water, the fish were sitting deep and closer to the bottom along the dropoff in about 15 to 20 feet of water. I managed to cast the bucktail at one particular set of deep pilings at the end of a pier and pull up a two-foot (24”) striper. This was the exact class of fish I was hoping to find, and a great indication that good fish were moving into the river. I also caught a 17” fish before I had to call it quits due to high winds making it too difficult to hold position and continue fishing.
The next morning, I made a repeat visit to this same stretch. The winds had softened a bit, so I was able to thoroughly work the areas I wanted, the way I wanted. Overall, I had only one chase on the jerkbait. The pattern actually that worked—and one I’ve repeated season after season at this exact time of year—was, indeed, bucktailing the deeper water around the ends of the docks. I found a stack of good fish at one such dock and caught upwards of ten stripers on successive casts. Cast to the pilings, let the jig drop to bottom, and gently hop it back on the retrieve, or snap-jerk it at times for more erratic action. All fish caught were within the slot size of 19” to 24”—most at about 21” actually. All fish were released healthy.
With water temperatures continuing to nosedive (currently at 70F in Round Bay and falling), the fish activity should increase. If you’re able to be on the water at sunrise, you should be able to get a topwater bite at the many shallow sandbar points along the Severn River. After sunrise, the fish tend to congregate along the dropoffs, deepwater docks, and structure. My hope is to enjoy this quality fishing through the holiday season. Happy Rocktober!
See y’all on the water again, real soon!
