Fall Fishing Action Heats Up in Chesapeake Bay

This is Artificial Lure with your Chesapeake Bay fishing report for Friday, September 19, 2025. First light broke today right around 6:58 am, with sunset set for 7:22 pm. Skies are mostly clear but expect a light northeast breeze, keeping things pleasantly cool and signaling the start of that true fall fishing action. The tide is favorable for the morning bite. High water hit the docks at Little Creek around 6:29 am, with a slack low rolling in just before lunchtime at 12:48 pm. Another high will hit about 6:53 pm, making dusk prime time to pitch a line from piers or creek mouths. Moving water brings active fish, so plan your casts around those shifts. Recent catches in and near the lower Bay have been lively. Bluefish continue to run strong just south of the Target Ship and off the main channel. Reports from locals say you can troll up a good cooler-full with surgical tube lures and spoons. On inshore wrecks and reefs, flounder and sheepshead are on the chew—drop crab baits near structure for hefty sheepshead, and tip bucktail jigs with Gulp or squid strips for flounder. The late-summer run of Spanish mackerel is winding down, with fewer schools in the main channel compared to last week. Still, anglers drifting spoons and fast-moving metal jigs are picking off some stragglers mixed with bluefish. Striped bass have started to wake up with the cooler mornings. The go-to spots are shoreline structures, tidal creeks, and the Bay Bridge. Fish are holding tight to pier pilings and bridge bases, keyed in on bait schools during the flood tide. The best lures for stripers right now are topwater poppers, jerkbaits, soft-plastic paddletails, and jigs. Early mornings and late evenings are hot for casting artificials or livelining spot and eels—try Eastern Bay, Thomas Point, and the lower Choptank if you want a shot at bigger fish. White perch action remains solid in local rivers and around oyster bars. Double-dropper rigs baited with grass shrimp or peeler crab are sure bets, and Sabiki rigs are pulling double duty on boat and shore. Tip with bloodworm or shrimp for a few bonus bites. For bottom fisherfolk, blue catfish are plentiful at river mouths—big chunk baits or cut shad will get you hooked up, especially near the Susquehanna. "Chesapeake Channa" (snakeheads) are biting in upper tidal creeks—try weedless frogs and paddletails around duck blinds and grass beds for wild action. Hot spots for today: - **The Bay Bridge**: Work soft crab baits, spot, or eels at the pier bases on the incoming tide. - **Target Ship area**: Trolling the channel edges for bluefish blitzes; drop crab for sheepshead on nearby wrecks. - **Eastern Bay and Thomas Point**: Early and late casting for stripers and specks on moving tide. Best baits and lures for the current bite: - **For bluefish and mackerel**: Spoons, surgical tube rigs, shiny metal jigs. - **For flounder and sea bass**: Bucktail jigs tipped with Gulp or strips of squid. - **For stripers and specks**: Topwat