Sharp shards of sunlight, like solar laser beams, careened off the low hanging clouds and bounced gently into the Wye River. Mini schools of juvenile menhaden, newly spawned this year, flipped and splashed feet, sometimes inches, from a floating dock. Undermined numbers of rockfish, less than a handful to be sure, and of lengths shorter than a football, crashed into the bunkers, sending them scurrying momentarily only to regroup. And the show went on; all the while my three-inch topwater plug was snubbed like Trump does civility and manners.
The summer flew by way too fast, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you, like me, didn’t get in all the fishing you wanted. But perhaps not. Perhaps you waxed the stripers that loaded up above the Bay bridges for much of the summer. Maybe you had mad success chucking lures to the big cobia that seemed to swim endlessly in the lower Bay. Or maybe this was the summer you landed your first billfish, raised it proudly as the GoPro or smartphone camera snapped you into fishing memory.
Melancholy aside, summer fishing is all but in our rearview mirrors. My buddy Ric Burnley nailed it when he emailed me, “Everyone looks forward to fall.” True that. It is by far my favorite time of year to chase gamefish that, in anticipation of much cooler water, put on the feed bag, and therefore smack lures hard. If past is prologue, we should expect excellent fishing on everything from tuna and red drum to stripers and perch. Here’s what PropTalk experts think is a good angling bet this month. Good fishing.
Oh yeah. Be sure to check out the U.S. Power Boat show running October 15-18 in Annapolis. Now in its 44th year, be sure to stop by the PropTalk booth (F5) to say hello.
Virginia
Captain Walt of Light Tackle Charters believes the next month we will begin to see the departure of most if not all speckled trout and redfish from the Chesapeake Bay.
“Some (fish) will still remain but not many. Striped bass fishing, however, will just begin to get ‘red hot’ in October and will only get better and better as the bay water cools,” he predicts. “We’ll catch them just as we have all summer on structure such as grass banks, points, jetties, submerged structures, and creeks. But we’ll also catch them pushing bait to the surface to feed on the bait along with the birds that will mark the action. All this on light tackle (12-15 LB Spin and 7-9 Wt Fly) which makes the battles much more fun as we feel every head shake and excite in the sound of drag turning on the reels.”
Captain Tyler Nonn of Tidewater Charters tells us he and his clients had a great summer, especially fishing for cobia. Now, he says, “As summer fades into the fall, Bay anglers wait in anticipation. October is one of our favorite months for the light tackle anglers. Cooling water temps drive fish to feed heavily, and the topwater, fly, and jig bite goes crazy.”
He suggests you look for rockfish on ledges at mouths of your favorite rivers, where he thinks there will be plenty of 22- to 26- inch rockfish with bigger stripers possible in the 30-inch class. “The seven-inch bone, bubble gum, and tinkermac (chartreuse) Hogy HDUV baits (are my) ‘go to’ lures for jig fishing,” he shares. “For the fly fisherman, three- to four-inch Closures and Deceivers in chartreuse and naturals colors (mimic anchovies and bunker) should be great producers,” he recommends. “Good luck and see you on the water.”
According to Virginia Beach’s favorite fishing scribe, Ric Burnley, October should see the end of white marlin fishing and the beginning of red drum fishing.
“Look for the last white ones off Oregon Inlet. Circle hook ballyhoo at the Triple Zeros is the ticket. Big red drum will return to the beaches. Red fish over 40 inches will invade the coast from Sandbridge to the Outer Banks,” he forecasts. “Look for the fish in the surf with a chunk of bunker or spot on a fishfinder rig with an eight-ounce pyramid sinker and an 8/0 circle hook. Fish the rig off a 12-foot surf rod called a heaver.”
Ric also thinks in coming weeks you may get a shot at the last of the cobia and the first of the red drum. “Look for big schools of drum moving across the surface of the water and cast a bucktail. Or, anchor up on a drop or bar and fish cut bait,” he says.
Sticking with the ocean, he knows autumn can also be a good time to encounter smoker king mackerel off Virginia Beach. “Slow troll live menhaden on a king rig or high-speed (six knots) troll Rapala plugs and Drone spoons,” he suggests to hook into one of these speed burners.
If inshore fishing is more your thing, he suggests you target the sheepshead, flounder, and spadefish that can hang around the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (CBBT) into October. “Expect school-sized (18 to 24-inches) striped bass in the CBBT pilings. Cast a four-inch swim shad with a medium action spinner or jig a two-ounce jig and soft plastic around the structure,” he suggests. “At night working the same lures in the bridge lights will produce the best action of striped bass.”
Want to try and catch some speckled trout and redfish? Ric says the fishing for these sporting fish should be at its best in the creeks and backwaters. “Work a 1/4 to 3/8 ounce jig and scented soft plastic over drops and around any structure to score reds and specks,” he says.
DelMarVa
If you plan to fish Delaware waters, here is Eric Burnley’s take on fishing opportunities this month: “The mid-September to mid-October time frame will see two of our favorite species move from the Delaware Bay to the ocean. Flounder will stage over reef sites eight, nine, and 10 in the ocean and Reef Site Eight in the Bay before moving to deeper water to spawn,” he says.
“The best of this fishing will be in late September; although big flounder are caught every November and December by anglers fishing for rockfish. Jigging with a bucktail tipped with a strip of squid or fish is a good way to connect with one of these fish. Live spot have been hard to come by, but if you can locate a supply, they attract the largest flatfish.”
Eric suggests if you’re after the year’s biggest croakers, which are also on the move in the fall, you should find them as they school up over natural hardbottom areas and reef sites. “One location that has proven itself over the years is the appropriately named Croaker Canyon found between one and two miles due east of the old Lifesaving Station south of Indian River Inlet,” he says. “Reef sites nine and 10 also offer attractive croaker habitat. Strips of squid, clam, pieces of crab and Gulp! or FishBites all bring croaker to the hook.”
Maryland Bay
Once fall kicks in,
Captain Harry Nield will switch out from bottom fishing for spot, kingfish, and croakers for targeting fall run stripers.
“October will be the start of the fall striper fishing for our area (Tangier Sound),” said the skipper of the charter boat Kingfish II. “We will start with live spot, then jigging, and finish up on the troll hunting for the magnums. The last couple of falls have been great on mid-grade fish, but the monsters have been tough to find. Maybe this year they will come up in force and stick around for a little while.” He’ll lead his clients to the rockfish in the sound as well as in the Bay’s main stem, from Point Lookout south past Smith Point.
In the middle to Upper Chesapeake, light tackle guide Richie Gaines predicts as the Bay water cools in October, the stripers will begin to move into the tributaries such as Eastern Bay and the Chester and Choptank rivers.
“They’ll set up on structures. Savvy anglers look for hard bottom areas, oyster bars, mussel beds, and rockpiles in eight to 15 feet of water,” he predicts. “Most of these places are shown on the charts if one takes the time to study them in detail.” He also suggests using topwater lures in shallow water, especially near where smaller tributaries enter such as creeks and outflows.
“High, outgoing tides are usually best for these areas,” he says. “As we move into late October, the larger fish will show, and they will chase peanut size menhaden three- to five-inches. Flats off of high current areas, rocky banks, and long points that meet the channel are high percentage areas at that time of the year.”
Captain Richie suggests looking for the season’s last bluefish and rockfish working bait under birds. “That’s always worth checking out. Anglers should not overlook a small bunch of birds hovering over the water,” he says. “Sometimes in October the fish don’t come all the way to the surface but the birds can see them three to eight feet below chasing the schools of bait.”
Captain Mark Galasso of Tuna the Tide Charters recommends looking for fishing to improve dramatically: “We should be working the shallows as the temperature drops. Breaking fish under birds usually show up in the Eastern Bay as well as the mouths of the rivers.” He says the departure of bluefish should be compensated in part by more and bigger white perch, and hopefully plenty of rock.
“Jigging and casting should get fired up. Spot will probably be history by mid October,” he says. “Some fishermen who are trolling will find fish with spoons and small bucktails. Love the Fall!”
by Capt. Chris D. Dollar