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 charter

Rockvember
Rockvember
November 10, 2025
Fall fishing is in full swing! The Striped bass are schooled up and feeding for winter. Water temps are in the mid 50's. We had a bit of a warmup Friday night with air temps at 58 to start the day. Wind was a little more than we like but still doable. We left the dock with the intentions of trolling first then switching to jigging. Sure enough the birds were right where we left them last week. We dropped 4 rods in and started trolling. Birds were working but not hard and they were jumping around a lot. Once I marked fish I could see that they were deeper than previous trips. So we readjusted and deployed all 6 rods accordingly. It took about maybe an hour and we started getting hits. Usually this is fish hitting the teasers and not the hooks. But we kept at it and not long we had a fish on. Josh was up first and before he could get the fish halfway to the boat another rod goes off. Kyle jumps on and then a 3rd rod goes off. We boated all 3 fish. Beautiful fat fall keepers. Nice and healthy. In the box they went. We circled back and after a few passes another fish on. Thats 4 in the box and 1 more to go for a limit. A couple more passes and fish on. Before that fish gets to the boat another rod goes off. We boated them and that makes a limit with 1 to throw back. We made a couple more passes and managed 1 more throw back before the bite died. This time of year the fish may or may not feed for a long period. At that was the case. We stowed the trolling gear and went looking for a jigging bite. The wind was dying down perfectly. Its hard to jig on fish with 1 to 2 foot waves but it was dying out like predicted. We went to a reef that is old bridge decking and concrete rubble. There was a boat there and they were catching. After a few minutes they pulled up and left. We made several drifts and sure enough Josh hooks a Nice 26 1/2 inch Striper. Couple more drifts and several more Stripers and I notice commotion off the Starboard side about 100 yards. They are busting on the surface. With no birds around. We motor over as quiet as possible and everyone is hooking up. They didn't stay on the surface long as there was a boat that kept trolling by. But they did pop back up several times and we were able to get the them before they went down. We caught and released numerous healthy Stripers. Mostly over the 24 inch keeper size limit. After a while Josh hooked into something huge. It wasn't a striper that's for sure. We had to follow the fish so he didn't get spooled. It came near the surface a couple of times. With the fall water being so clear on the last time near the surface I was able to make out the color. It was copper, a big Bull Red. Unfortunately after a 15 minute battle he got it near the boat and it went straight down. It stayed there, then wrapped the reef and pulled the hook. These are some powerful beasts that is for sure. We got back at it and caught a few more Stripers before calling it a day and heading back in. The ride back in the water was almost glass smooth. Back at the dock we measured and weighed the fish. Then filleted and packaged them for their ride home. The smallest was just over 4 pounds with the biggest at just under 6lbs. They made for some nice dinner filets for the table. We still have dates available. This cold snap coming should fire them up even more. Big ocean run fish are on their way. We usually start seeing them within the next week give or take. Every year is a little different. The largest fish ever on my boat was a 46 1/2 inch Striper caught on Veterans Day. That was definitely the fish of a life time. You won't know if you don't go. So contact us to set to a trip. Till then Tight lines everyone. We are going to get back at for now.
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