SOUTHERN MARYLAND — Spanish mackerel have arrived in the Chesapeake Bay in big numbers. The fish are scattered up and down the Ship’s Channel as far north as Chesapeake Beach.
The most successful areas are from Hooper’s Island Light to buoy 72. There are Spanish mackerel and bluefish mixed on the Chinese Muds near the mouth of the Patuxent River.
The blues can suddenly appear in all sizes. In addition, there are schools of bull reds that can come into the trolled lines and take every lure in the water, causing lots of havoc and fun.
Bluegill are aggressive at St. Mary’s Lake. 
Eric Packard and bass from this week. 
Lonnie Windsor with a largemouth bass from a local pond caught last Monday. 
Rodney Cooper leads the August catfish contest at The Tackle Box with this 40 in her. 
It is a good as it gets right now! 
Miss Susie is running out of Solomons now and catching mackerel and bluefish. 
Big spot are in the Patuxent from boat or shoreline. 
Mackerel are plentiful in the ship’s channel. 
Captain Bernie Shea is catching Spanish mackerel!
If they stay around long enough, which is rare, you can hook up a bull red on a cast spinning lure. The reds can have 1,000 fish in a fast-moving school.
We are hoping these conditions last well into September.
Spot are everywhere and getting bigger daily. They are at Ragged Point in the Potomac River and at St. George Island. There are good-sized croaker in the Potomac mixed with the spot.
The Patuxent has spot from Drum Point and the Three Legged to Benedict. Bring plenty of bait and a big cooler with lots of ice.
There are lots of croaker in our waters, but they have been playing hide and seek. They showed up south of Ragged Point in the Potomac last week, and good catches were reported.
Rockfish And Red Drum Regulations
The striped bass, or rockfish, season is closed until Sept. 1 in Maryland waters. The Potomac is closed until Aug. 21.
There has been a change in the red drum regulations. The slot is now 18 to 26 inches, and the bag limit is now three per day.
Even though the regulations allow more take-home fish, they are not that helpful, as most redfish we catch are 10 to 15 inches, which is not big enough, or 35 to 50 inches, which is way too big.
If the slot were moved to 14 to 25 inches, we would be better off. The state of Georgia allows five fish per day in a 14- to 23-inch slot.
The big fish would make a fine trophy for a mount, but the food value is minimal. Perhaps a tag system, for a fee, to keep one trophy red drum a season could be possible.
Cutlass Fish And Blue Catfish
Cutlass fish are schooled up in various locations. They take most any lure but are partial to shiny spoons and jigs.
The cutlass fish were schooled up near Drum Point recently, breaking long enough to attract seagulls diving for scraps.
Blue catfish are plentiful in the northern reaches of the Potomac and Patuxent rivers, beginning at Benedict in the Patuxent and Cobb Island in the Potomac.
Tackle Box is located at 22035 Three Notch Road, Lexington Park, Maryland 20653.
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