SOUTHERN MARYLAND — Summer fishing continues to produce excellent action across Southern Maryland, with bluefish, stripers, spot, white perch and cobia providing anglers with plenty of opportunities across the Potomac River, Patuxent River and Chesapeake Bay.
Pier fishermen at the Point Lookout State Park Fishing Pier caught spot and bluefish in good numbers this week. Small spot are in the shallow water at the shore end of the pier. Anglers using bloodworms or lugworms catch these small spot and put them in a bucket filled with bay water. They use these whole or cut for bluefish at the end of the pier. Some reported that the bluefish were all sizes and were very plentiful. There were also big spot on the deep end of the pier.
Puppy drum are in the creeks and rivers. Please release those under 18 inches the minimum size. 
Ken Lamb with a catch of white perch this week from the Patuxent. 
Eric Packard found four speckled trout and some hefty rockfish mixed together in Cornfield Harbor eager to take cast lures in the shallows. 
Rockfish close to Point Lookout. 
Vince fishing with Craig Roberts found bluefish at Sharp’s Island light . 
Craig Roberts at Sharp’s Island light where plenty of bluefish kept him and friends busy this week. 
Hardhead (croaker) are making a comeback in the bay. Captain Bernie Shea is taking his parties to the mouth of the Patuxent and loading up on spot and hardhead. 
Plenty of spot in the Patuxent. 
Great numbers of largemouth bass await lure casters at St. Mary’s Lake. 
Bass are eager in the St. Mary’s Lake. You can catch them if you go. No excuses! 
Crappie!! 
Bluegill too! 
Bull red caught off the shore near Hog Point in the mouth of the Patuxent. Fish was caught by Mookie and released as is over the 27 inch maximum in Maryland.
Bluefish were caught in all Southern Maryland waters this week. Many of the bluefish are in the 4-to-8-pound range and can be caught trolling, casting, chumming or bottom fishing.
Spanish mackerel are coming, but the big schools of these fish are still in the lower Chesapeake Bay below Smith Point.
Stripers (striped bass, also known as rockfish) were active all week for lure casters and trollers. The best activity has been in the shallow water at daybreak. Lure casters found them mixed with some very large speckled trout in the mouth of the Potomac River. An experienced fisherman caught rockfish off the Navy Recreation Center Pier in the Patuxent River this week by jigging his lures on the bottom.
Cobia fishermen were successful sight casting, chumming with live eels and trolling with big surgical eels. The red eels seemed best, but they will hit a myriad of colors. The trollers have the advantage of catching big bluefish with the eels as they seek cobia. The cobia seem to surge on some days, and there are many caught. This can be followed by a drought for a day or two. Luckily, the bluefish bite all the time.
White perch fishing was good in the creeks and rivers for bottom fishermen and those casting small spinners. The first consistent catches started this week. Small puppy drum are now in the creeks.
Spot and croaker are in the Patuxent River most everywhere. Capt. Bernie Shea has found lots of big spot and keeper hardhead fishing out of Solomons all week. This is a very good run of bottom fish, and the fish will get bigger and more plentiful through September.
Summertime, and the fish are jumping!
Tackle Box is located at 22035 Three Notch Road, Lexington Park, Maryland 20653.
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