Hey there, anglers! Artificial Lure here with your Chesapeake Bay fishing report for March 16, 2025. Let me tell ya, spring is definitely in the air and the fish are starting to wake up from their winter slumber.

First off, let's talk tides and weather. We've got a high tide at 8:42 AM and low tide at 3:15 PM. Sunrise is at 7:15 AM and sunset at 7:12 PM. Weather-wise, we're looking at partly cloudy skies with highs near 60°F and light winds out of the southwest - pretty decent conditions for getting out on the water.

Now for the good stuff - the fishing! Striped bass action is really starting to heat up as they move into shallower waters to feed. Anglers have been having luck jigging with soft plastics like 6-inch BKD's in white or chartreuse near channel edges and warm water discharges. Some nice 30-inch class fish have been caught and released around the Bay Bridge pilings and the Calvert Cliffs power plant.

White perch are also on the move, with good numbers being caught in the upper reaches of tributaries like the Patuxent and Choptank rivers. Small spinners, beetle spins, and grass shrimp have all been producing.

For you catfish enthusiasts, the blue cats are biting well in the deeper channels of the Potomac and Patuxent. Cut menhaden or gizzard shad on a fish finder rig is the ticket there.

As for hot spots, I'd recommend trying the warm water discharge at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant for stripers, or heading up to the Susquehanna Flats if you want a shot at some real trophy-sized rockfish. The Kent Narrows area has also been productive for a mix of stripers and white perch.

Lure-wise, can't go wrong with soft plastic jigs, suspending jerkbaits like the Rapala X-Rap, or good old bucktails tipped with a curly-tail grub for the stripers. For perch, small spinners and jigs in the 1/8 to 1/4 oz range are the way to go.

That's the scoop for now, folks. Remember to handle those stripers with care for catch and release, and as always, tight lines!