Maryland report: Bay stripers on the channel edges, blue cats everywhere and tautog limit set to rise

Maryland DNR's weekly fishing report for Oct. 28, written by Keith Lockwood, says main Chesapeake Bay water temperatures have dropped into the low 60s and the smaller tidal rivers are in the low to mid 50s. Salinity is running high because of the drought.

In the upper Bay, striped bass are being caught on paddletails and by jigging channel edges near Baltimore Harbor and the mouths of the Gunpowder, Bush, Chester, Magothy and Susquehanna rivers. The Conowingo Dam pool area is holding blue catfish and stripers, and flathead catfish are taking live bait. In the middle Bay, anglers are fishing the Bay Bridge piers with live spot and cut bait, and blue catfish are biting in the Choptank from below Dover Bridge up to Denton.

Lower Bay anglers are working topwater lures and paddletails for stripers on the Potomac, St. Marys and Patuxent rivers and around Hoopers Island and Tangier Sound. The report also reminds anglers that daylight saving time ends Nov. 1. Blue catfish fishing in the tidal Potomac, Patuxent and Nanticoke is described as excellent.

In freshwater, fall trout stocking wraps up this week, and the smallmouth bass bite on the upper Potomac is excellent, with walleye starting to join in. On the coast, tautog are biting at the Ocean City Inlet and the Route 50 bridge. The tautog limit goes from two to four fish on Nov. 1. Sea bass and porgies are on the offshore wrecks, and boats running farther out are finding swordfish, dolphin and tilefish.

Photo: Dan Megahan with a large blue catfish caught in the Sassafras River. Credit: Photo courtesy of Dan Megahan, via Maryland DNR.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: Maryland DNR — Maryland Fishing Report – October 28 (Oct. 28, 2026).