Summer time on the Chesapeak Bay.
July 27, 2024 Bellevue 8 photos
Spanish Mackerel
Spanish Mackerel
Bluefish
Bluefish
Perch (White)
Perch (White)
Redfish
Redfish
Perch (Silver)
Perch (Silver)

Trip Summary

Man has it been hot! We have had a little break this past week with temps in the 80s and low humidity. A lot is happening fishing wise. Bottom fishing we are seeing a lot spot, perch and croaker. Some big spot have started showing up. We have had 2 weekends back to back were we have seen a perch over 11 inches. Perch are very tasty for fish tacos and just breaded and fried. Bluefish and Spanish mackerel are knocking at our door. With this hot weather coming on again I think we might see more of them showing up. We had a slot keeper red drum! Nikki caught her first red drum and is hooked on them. Keepers have to be between 18 and 27 inches. Well folks you’ll know when you hook one because they pull hard. I have also gotten reports of large Red drum breaking on the surface feeding. When I say large I mean 40 inches or bigger. I haven’t been near them when it’s happened but I have very good intel that they haven’t been far from us. Rockfish season opens back on Aug1. So we will also be targeting them at times. August is upon us and the kids will be back to school soon so book a trip before summer is gone. Get those kids on the water and let us show them a good time. Bottom fishing is great for kids because it keeps them engaged constantly and you never know those XL red drum might start busting bait on the surface in front of you. I hope so because I always have rods ready for that kind of thing. We have also been saving the sea turtles 1 ballon at a time. Folks please don’t release balloons into the air. When they get in the water turtles try to feed on them and it will kill them. I always remove them from the water when I can.
Richard Phippin
Bellevue, Maryland, United States
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Other reports from this captain

Mid Summer and Hot
Mid Summer and Hot
July 12, 2025
The weather has been hot and this weekend so was the fishing! Roberto joined me for a full day fishing trip this past Saturday. We started out bottom fishing for spot. We have been catching some really nice big spot. They did not disappoint this day either. We used a mix of blood worms and fish bites in blood worm flavor. We bailed spot for 2 hrs some 2 at a time. Michele the fisher girl even got a 12 1/4 white perch. That’s huge! Roberto also got a 22 inch channel catfish. Nice perfect diner size! After the tide died out the bite slowed way down. We had a few small spot that we kept to live line for Rockfish. So off we went. Our first stop was an old light house ruins. It’s a perfect spot for Rockfish but they aren’t always there. Unfortunately they have tails that they like to use to swim around. They love to make you work for them. We put out 2 lines with live spot and the wait began. We dropped the bottom rigs over also just see to if anything else was willing to bite. This spot can be good for catfish sometimes also. Me being impatient and not 1 willing to wait for the fish to decide to bite I pulled out a rod with a top water lure. The wind was perfect causing the boat to lay stern to the rocks on anchor. I had my doubts they were there. They usually bite pretty quick when using live spot if the current is moving and it was. First cast as I worked the lure past the corner I had a blow up. Then another and then another. He just didn’t take it. I cast back and on the 2nd blowup he came tight. I handed the rod off to Michele who fought the fish just like I instructed and she was reward with a nice 22 inch Striped Bass. Next cast bam fish on I handed the rod to Roberto and he had a fat 18 1/2 incher. Back he went as the size limit is 1 fish per person 19-24 inches. I asked who wanted to learn how to do it. Michele was first up. I showed her how to work the lure and she was getting multiple blow ups but they just wouldn’t come tight. She got tired so I asked who else wants to try Roberto was up next. It didn’t take long and he was hooking up constantly. The ladies and his nephew didn’t want to cast so he would hand the rod off to someone when he hooked up. After 2 hours of non stop action they had their 6 fish limit. With many many throw backs over the 24 inch mark. The biggest was a 28 1/4 incher. With a limit finished and time to spare we went back and bottom fished some catching more spot and white perch. We ended the trip with them taking home a lot of fish. They had 92 spot all over 8 inches 12 white perch, 1 catfish, and 6 rockfish! The have enough fish for quite some time. Rockfish season close on the 15th and reopens on Aug1. Will be targeting bottom fish during that time. Then pick back up hopefully where we left off with Rockfish . Summer is going fast so book a trip before it’s to late.
Continue reading
Mid Summer and Hot
Mid Summer and Hot
July 12, 2025
The weather has been hot and this weekend so was the fishing! Roberto joined me for a full day fishing trip this past Saturday. We started out bottom fishing for spot. We have been catching some really nice big spot. They did not disappoint this day either. We used a mix of blood worms and fish bites in blood worm flavor. We bailed spot for 2 hrs some 2 at a time. Michele the fisher girl even got a 12 1/4 white perch. That’s huge! Roberto also got a 22 inch channel catfish. Nice perfect diner size! After the tide died out the bite slowed way down. We had a few small spot that we kept to live line for Rockfish. So off we went. Our first stop was an old light house ruins. It’s a perfect spot for Rockfish but they aren’t always there. Unfortunately they have tails that they like to use to swim around. They love to make you work for them. We put out 2 lines with live spot and the wait began. We dropped the bottom rigs over also just see to if anything else was willing to bite. This spot can be good for catfish sometimes also. Me being impatient and not 1 willing to wait for the fish to decide to bite I pulled out a rod with a top water lure. The wind was perfect causing the boat to lay stern to the rocks on anchor. I had my doubts they were there. They usually bite pretty quick when using live spot if the current is moving and it was. First cast as I worked the lure past the corner I had a blow up. Then another and then another. He just didn’t take it. I cast back and on the 2nd blowup he came tight. I handed the rod off to Michele who fought the fish just like I instructed and she was reward with a nice 22 inch Striped Bass. Next cast bam fish on I handed the rod to Roberto and he had a fat 18 1/2 incher. Back he went as the size limit is 1 fish per person 19-24 inches. I asked who wanted to learn how to do it. Michele was first up. I showed her how to work the lure and she was getting multiple blow ups but they just wouldn’t come tight. She got tired so I asked who else wants to try Roberto was up next. It didn’t take long and he was hooking up constantly. The ladies and his nephew didn’t want to cast so he would hand the rod off to someone when he hooked up. After 2 hours of non stop action they had their 6 fish limit. With many many throw backs over the 24 inch mark. The biggest was a 28 1/4 incher. With a limit finished and time to spare we went back and bottom fished some catching more spot and white perch. We ended the trip with them taking home a lot of fish. They had 92 spot all over 8 inches 12 white perch, 1 catfish, and 6 rockfish! The have enough fish for quite some time. Rockfish season close on the 15th and reopens on Aug1. Will be targeting bottom fish during that time. Then pick back up hopefully where we left off with Rockfish . Summer is going fast so book a trip before it’s to late.
Continue reading