Excellent Striper fishing continues from the top to the bottom of the bay for those willing to look for them. Last Friday I fished in the “Hope For Hunter” tournament put together by my friend Jamie Clough. This Tournament was a fund raiser for his Granddaughter who is fighting her way thru some serious health issues. I was joined by Dan Kilroy, Brad Foxwell and his 10 year old son known as “Chesapeake Charlie”… Charlie is a pleasure to fish with and hung in there thru some slow periods and kept fishing all day. We all caught some nice Rockfish but nothing that would place. It was a tough bite on scattered fish all day. The fish wanted a slow falling jig with lots of “float time”… as the crew changed to lighter jigheads with more “Float Time” we all began to catch better. It’s a great thing to see a 10 year old kid jigging like an old pro… and catching!

This father and son team was jigging them all day!

Dan and I had a few as well…

Slow but steady catching until the afternoon when it turned on!

Health issues kept me off the water for a few days when I got well enough to fish again Dean Bowman, Gerald Eldreth and I launched at Chesapeake Beach looking for Rockfish. We could not find a good jig bite on Rockfish. We did find some nice Speckled Trout, 2 keeper Rockfish and a short Puppy Drum. This was the slowest day we’ve had in a while.

Another few days off the water and then Ange Harclerode, Rick Shimer and I returned to the Mid-Bay area again looking for Rockfish before they move too far south. We fished with local guide Carter Dudzinski in his 25′ C-Hawk. It took a little looking around but we found what we wanted in 40′ of water. These fish were down current and on the bottom from the small birds working in the area. The bigger fish were holding tight to the bottom and did not want anything moving very fast. Slow down your jigging cadence and add “float time” to get more strikes in this colder water. Fast catching this day!

Carter and I with one of the many doubles we had that day! Give Carter Dudzinski a call at LOCK DOWN CHARTERS 443-553-7874 to get in on some of this excellent fall fishing!

Rick Shimer had a jigging rod in his hand today also…

Ange Harclerode caught his share of big ones too!

Closer to home there are still Stripers in the Elk and Sassafras Rivers as well as the Susquehanna River and Flats. Again, Slow down… Repeat Slow Down… your presentation to catch these fish. These fish may only feed for a hour or two when the conditions are right and bait is present. When you can find these conditions the catching can be tremendous! This last week was very good! I hope to see you in the shop or on the water!