Reel Chesapeake

09/20/2024

Heron had a nice view…

09/13/2024

Perch n pickerel party this morning, fishing off a beach/cove. Beautiful weather, coffee, and a few casts. Quick recap writeup at the site

09/11/2024

Seems the mid-Bay tribs are having a banner run of slot reds this year. It comes on the heels of a pretty good ‘23 season, too. What’s your go to lure to target them in the rivers?

09/09/2024

08/17/2024

More like first quarter moon rising, but still badass…good visuals this week on the water.

08/14/2024

Sunset cruise with the fam was a good one (plus a little fishing too) 🌅🎣

08/08/2024

Kiddos and kingfish! These abundant surf fish are relatively easy to catch once you pinpoint how far or near shore they’re moving about. A simple top/bottom rig tipped with bloodworm worked well. 3oz held position well but allowed us to still detect bites 🎣😎

08/05/2024

Sunrise, topwater, schoolies…blessed in the Bay region ☺️

07/26/2024

Happy weekend folks! Crabs feasts w/ fam and friends are rites of Chesapeake summers—learn the basics of blue crab biology, ecology, and how to catch, cook, and eat ’em (yes, even a youtube vid on pickin’) at reelchesapeake.com. New post = something fun to scroll while yer chillin’!

🔗’d in bio and stories
📸 (Thank you for the pickin’ recently!)

07/13/2024

Target species during the Chesapeake striper shutdown 7/16–31; what’s your pick? I offer a few ideas, how and where to target them, plus some useful mapping tools in the latest post at the site. 🎣

I fish, write, and have fun with it; check it out:
👉 reelchesapeake.com
🔗 in bio and stories

07/06/2024

Topwater rises early morning on a walking lure (Shimano coltsniper). Variables came together at dawn: new moon, flood tide, front, and cloud cover = feeding fish. Found them at a grassy point where the southeast wind was cutting perpendicular making for a very nice drift. In the Severn with my co-angler. Very comfortable before the sun burned the clouds off.

Wrote about the approach and catches at the website; linked in stories/bio. Have a great weekend! 🤙

07/04/2024

Love seeing SAV growing in spots that didn’t previously support it (last couple seasons)…this is close home on the Severn. Be careful out there tonight and this weekend; boat traffic will be nuts, wakes waking, and all that…

06/23/2024

Sunrise was a good one this morning!

06/22/2024

Microspin for micro fish. Tried a tiny trout lure at my practice spot and picked up little croakers that talked more than they fought. Fun, little things tho…

06/15/2024

Night moves…what’s yours? While topwater in the shallows is tried-n-true during dusk/night in the Chesapeake region, I recently tried swim-jigging under feeding fish, hoping for slightly larger specimens. It mighta, kinda paid off with fish up to 26” during recent trips.

Wrote about this week’s evening outings in the Severn River, Maryland, USA. Posted at the site and linked in bio ✒️🎣🌙

06/10/2024

Sunday sunset schoolies. When you find a school feeding heavily at the surface, you can throw just about anything at them. I happened to have 3/4oz jig with 5” paddletail; cast out and let it sink to the hit vs. ripping across the top. Fish from 17” to upper slot of 24”. Simple fun when the school shows itself! Thx to for getting us into the river for a quick run

06/07/2024

Perch are active and spinners catch them! 1/8oz marabou spinner saved my morning and caught good sized fish. After plan A for stripers didn’t pan out, I switched gears and found perch pinched between grass flats, drop-offs, and docks. The Colorado blade on this spinner flutters effortlessly and catches the attention of fish feeding on bait. Quality parts, quality made. Check out Sean’s lures: 🤙🎣😎

05/23/2024

Winter Dredge Survey results are in—317M estimated crabs in Chesapeake Bay watershed this year vs 323M last year. Fwiw, lowest count in last 10 yrs was 2022 w/ 227M; highest was 2019 w/ 594M. Since 1990–lowest was also 2022; highest was ’93 w/ 852M.

05/22/2024

I know everyone is gonna be bananas for Blue Angels in Naptown today (can’t wait!), but, man, the Tidal Basin D.C. was also a morning beauty! (Snapped from Jefferson Memorial facing Washington Monument during my son’s 3rd grade field trip 🙂)

05/19/2024

Fun afternoon playing in the rain, doing some creek fishing. Lil’ Pax was in pretty good shape. Decent flow, but actually cleaner than avg. Low turbidity, which surprised me. Just some little redbreast beauties; couldn’t find a smallie or snake bite. ☔️🎣

05/16/2024

Sunrise seekers awaken! Striper season opens today! I updated a beautifully-written (imo, lol) nod to rising early for stripers, along w/ reg intel. Remember, most of main stem of the Bay is open (limit one fish, 19–24”) and many smaller tribs remain catch/release only. Large spawning areas/rivers are still closed (Susky Flats; Chester; Choptank: Pax; Nanticoke; Tangier Sound).

Read “Sunrise Seekers Awaken” at reelchesapeake.com. 🔗’d in bio, stories, all that!

05/11/2024

Assateague Fish Camp ’24 begins tomorrow. Please wish our fam luck. May the fishing gods abide. We’ll either catch our targets, a special surprise, or jack s***! 😜🎣🌊