One of the best seasonal fishing times is underway across the Chesapeake Bay watershed. September is a transition time when summer water temperatures prevail and later give way to cooler ones. A variety of species throughout Maryland and Virginia Bay and tributary waters includes spot, flounder, bluefish, Spanish Mackerel and striped bass (aka rockfish). Surface feeding blues, mackerel and rockfish can provide exciting top water excitement and chumming with ground menhaden is another viable option for rockfish. It’s a time of year when having more than one fishing rod and reel ready for action is a sound strategy. Bottom fishing might seem like the thing to be doing and before you know it, there are breaking fish chasing bait and boiling the water. Having trolling rods rigged with planners and spoons or being able to switch gears and cast top water plugs or jigs into the frenzied fishing fray is the best way to be. Keep your tackle rigged and ready for the rest of this month and into October when the action could get even better.

     Rockfish ranging from the legal minimum size of 18 inches on up to 24 inches will be chasing shiners on the surface across Chesapeake Bay waters, in Maryland and Potomac River Fisheries Commission (PRFC) waters. Those rockfish are sub-legal (less than 18 inches) and should be returned as quickly and gently as possible. Consider using a wet, cloth glove or soft towel to handle the fish or a “de-hooker” which keeps you from having to handle them at all. Many of the fish safely returned could be next year’s class of keeper striped bass. If you happen onto a school of feeding rockfish which don’t have bluefish mixed in, small bucktails are among our favorite lures for casting. Feeding stripers will hit spoons, but bucktails can be of extra benefit when you want to switch over to casting. Stay outside of a feeding school so the fish don’t get spooked and you may have some action and fun worth remembering. 

     Sharp toothed bluefish will be with us right through September and into as least part of October Ranging in sizes from a pound to some near five pounds, these finned fighters can damage or cut through monofilament leader. Trolling and casting with monofilament leader is still our choice but we check lines often for nicks and cuts from the blue’s teeth. Using monofilament leader in sizes from 30 to 50 pound test help, but even these higher tests lines can be damaged. Check them often and remove sections of damaged line as required.

     Among our favorite lures for bluefish trolling are small diameter surgical tube lures. These are good options this time of year, right through October. In addition to the length of surgical tube lures preventing blue’s teeth from coming in contact with the leader-line, they can also be the seasonal bait of choice. Colors of surgical tube lures come in a wide variety including orange, red, white, green and yellow and include fluorescent coatings.

     For fishing information in Maryland waters, call the Natural Resources Fisheries Service at 1-800-688-3467 (FINS) or visit their website at, www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/regulations. 

     Virginia’s Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) 2004 recreational striped bass season reopens October 4 and continues through December 31. For information on their striper season and other Commonwealth fisheries, call the Virginia Marine Resources Commission at (757) 247-2200 or visit their website at www.mrc.state.va.us 

     The 2004 recreational striped bass season for PRFC waters continues through December 31. PRFC waters are open to recreational striped bass fishing from down river of the Route I-95 Woodrow Wilson Bridge to the end of PRFC waters at Smith Point, Virginia. The daily creel is two fish per person per day from 18 to 28 inches. One of these fish in possession can be over 28 inches. Call the PRFC at 800-266-3904 or visit their website at www.prfc.state.va.us 

     September is also hunting time for some of us and could include an outdoor concert under an evening sky. For more on this and when and where you may want to get your “knees in the trees”, visit the Chesapeake Style “Tidewater & Timber” website at http://www.chesapeakestyle.com/tidewater/sep04.html

© 2004 Steve & Chelly Scala All Rights Reserved