Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, 17-21 July: Dog Days!

And that's an understatement.  Air temps were in the low 90s, with water temps averaged around 89 degrees.  Winds were less than 10 knots, dropping to less than 5 by Tuesday.  We fished over several days with good friends Tom "Cos" Cosgrove, Bery Edmonston, John Hupp, and Mike Shina.  The fishing reports noted that the Stripers were scattered from the Bay Bridge all the way up north to Tolchester, about a 45-50 minute ride from the bridge.  The reports were accurate.  Over the span of three days we fished from the bridge all the way up.  Although we marked fish on the Simrad, we only caught "shorts," with Tom Cosgrove boating the only keeper for the trip.  High point of the trips was on Tuesday afternoon.  While we struck out at Tolchester, as we neared the Bay Bridge the gulls were everywhere, and schoolie Stripers were chasing Bay Anchovies to the surface.  We had enough time to play, tossing metal jigs and surface plugs, which the schoolies were only too happy to crush.  Not as much fun as boating keepers, but consistent action kind of took the sting off ... a bit.

We saw dolphins breaking the water at the bridge, and caught one Bluefish on Saturday, an indicator that the bay is pretty salty now.  Hopefully the snapper blues will be moving in soon, providing some excellent action on the fly rod.  Cooler weather is forecast for next week.  If the water also cools off a bit the bite will turn back on.  

Tight Lines,

Mikey D Fishing