This is Artificial Lure with your Chesapeake Bay fishing report for the Baltimore–Washington corridor.
We’re sitting in a classic late‑December pattern: cold air, water temps mostly in the low to mid‑40s, and a stiff south to southwest breeze. The National Weather Service marine forecast for the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake and tidal Potomac is calling for south winds around 15 knots today, easing a bit tonight, with waves 1 to 2 feet on the open Bay. That’s fishable, but it’ll be bumpy in the middle; small boats should tuck in along the western shore, creeks, and rivers.
Sunrise around the upper Bay is right about 7:20 a.m., with sunset just before 4:50 p.m., so your prime moving‑water windows are those first and last couple hours of light. NOAA’s tide station at Chesapeake City shows an early‑morning low just after midnight, a solid high around 7 a.m., another low early afternoon, and an evening high near 7 p.m. That gives you a nice incoming push through mid‑morning and again late day — perfect for working structure and channel edges.
According to the latest Maryland Department of Natural Resources fishing report, the striped bass season is now closed for harvest in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay, but catch‑and‑release is still on the table, and the tidal Potomac downstream into Virginia waters remains open for keeping fish through the end of the month. FishTalk Magazine’s most recent Bay update notes a scattered but steady pattern of winter stripers, with the more reliable bite coming in deeper water near channel drops and on warm, calm days when birds briefly pin bait.
Up this way, most of the catching this week has been:
- Schoolie stripers and a few mid‑20‑inch fish released in the lower Patapsco and down around the Bay Bridge pilings.
- Good numbers of blue catfish in the upper Bay rivers — Patapsco, Patuxent, and especially the tidal Potomac — with some real shovel‑heads in the 20‑ to 40‑pound class coming from deeper holes.
- A mix of yellow perch and crappie starting to chew in the upper tidal rivers and reservoirs as the water stabilizes in the 40s.
Lure wise, think small and slow. Locals are leaning on:
- 1/2‑ to 1‑ounce jigheads with 4‑ to 5‑inch soft plastics in olive, white, and chartreuse for stripers on channel edges and bridge pilings.
- 1‑ to 2‑ounce bucktail jigs or simple fish‑finder rigs with cut gizzard shad, menhaden, or chicken breast for blue cats in 20–40 feet.
- For perch and crappie in the creeks, tiny one‑sixteenth‑ounce marabou or tube jigs tipped with grass shrimp, minnows, or red worms under a float.
If you’re a bait‑and‑wait angler, fresh cut bait is king right now. Cut shad, bunker, or even fresh chicken soaked in a stinkier dip is putting up numbers of blue cats and the occasional channel cat. Bloodworms and grass shrimp are still your best bet for perch and odds‑and‑ends white perch that are hanging in deeper holes.
Couple of hot spots to circle on the map:
- **Key Bridge / Patapsco Mouth:** Duck out of the worst of the wind by tucking along the lee shoreline and vertical‑jigging plastics or metal around the bridge pilings and nearby channel edges. There’ve been decent marks of schoolie stripers and some chunky blue cats mixed in on the bottom.
- **Tidal Potomac – Fort Washington to Indian Head:** Classic winter catfish stretch. Anchor just above the deeper bends, put out a spread of cut bait, and let those big blues come to you. On calmer days, you can also slow‑troll or vertically jig plastics on the main channel drops for stripers where the season is still open on the Virginia side.
Dress for it like you’re staying all day: good bibs, windproof layers, and dry gloves. The bite is there, but you’ve got to move slow, watch your electronics, and fish with some patience. Short windows, sharp drops, and deliberate presentations are the name of the game.
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