Chesapeake Bay August Fishing Report: Bluefish, Mackerel, and More Biting Strong

Good morning anglers—Artificial Lure here with your Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, fishing report for Wednesday, August 27, 2025. We’re looking at a strong start to the day with **sunrise at 6:30 AM and sunset wrapping things up at 7:40 PM**. Tides are running active, with a high-tidal coefficient topping 87 and rising to 90 by midday, meaning stronger currents and plenty of water movement out there according to Tides4Fishing. Expect the first low tide at 4:42 AM, high at 11:05 AM, another low at 5:08 PM, and second high just after 11 PM per the latest from Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel tide tables. **Weather** is seasonably warm and stable this week—classic late-August on the Bay. Look for lighter winds early that could pick up into the afternoon, so plan your trip for best success around those high tides and calm hours. On the fish front, the bite’s firing on all cylinders. September is knocking but migratory species are still scattered around, keeping the action steady. According to On The Water, we’re seeing **bluefish, puppy drum (red drum juveniles), striped bass, and plenty of Spanish mackerel** from the mid-Bay right on down through the Virginia sections. Spanish mackerel are especially hot from the oceanfront up to the Bay Bridge Tunnel, and the bluefish have been blitzing bait along rips and around structure. **Spanish mackerel and bluefish** are smashing metal—grab a 1- to 1½-ounce G-Eye Jig Rain Minnow, Sting Silver, or 7/8- to 1¼-ounce Hogy Epoxy Jig in olive, silver, or green. Good old-fashioned spoons are always a winner when these pelagics chase peanut bunker and silversides. Stripers have been mixed in with the same schools, and you’ll also find puppy drum working shallow grass beds and channel edges. **Three- to four-inch paddletails or spinners—Perch Hounder and Z-Man MinnowZ on 3/16- to 1/4-ounce heads—are favorites for the local crowd**. Don’t sleep on natural bait, either: **fresh menhaden chunks and bloodworms** are pulling in catches for those targeting perch and drum near marshy shorelines. **White perch** are bunched up around shoreline rock piles and deeper docks, ideal for smaller spinners, gulp baits, and soft plastics. For fluke and spot, The Fisherman recommends bucktails tipped with squid or Gulp, especially near deeper docks and outflows. For the trophy hunters, late runs of **cobia are still hanging in the lower Bay**. Best tactics are trolling large red, orange, or purple tubes on planers, or sight-fishing by casting live eel or big soft plastics around the Middle Grounds and off Point Lookout down into Virginia waters. Don’t forget about bull red drum—big reds up to slot and over-slot are cruising these same grounds, especially around the Target Ship. **Hot spots to hit this week:** - **Poplar Island** just south of Annapolis for a trifecta of mackerel, bluefish, and stripers feeding on rain bait. - **Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel** pilings for bluefish, stripers, and late Spanish mackerel. - The **Middle Groun