Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report: Stripers, Perch, and More on the Bite

Artificial Lure here, bringing you today’s fishing report for Sunday, September 21st, 2025, covering the Chesapeake Bay and the waters in and around Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

First, let’s talk **tides**. In the upper Bay (near Baltimore), we saw low tide this morning at about 5:10 AM and high tide peaked around 10:28 AM. Low tide returns this evening at 5:33 PM, with another high rolling in at 10:44 PM. Over on the lower Eastern Shore, like Chance, Maryland, the first high tide hit at 1:50 AM, low tide at 8:25 AM, with the afternoon high at 2:11 PM and low falling at 8:45 PM. Plan your outings around those moving water periods—fish love an active tide, especially near sunrise at 6:51 AM and sunset at 7:02 PM, both great bite windows according to Tide-Forecast.com.

**Weather** is looking mild and fair. Light east winds around 5 knots this afternoon, picking up to 5–10 knots later tonight—perfect for both kayak and bay boat anglers. The National Weather Service says to keep an eye out for patchy fog early, but sunny skies should rule the day.

Moving to the **bite:** The rockfish (striped bass) bite continues to be strong. Anglers working the pilings of the Bay Bridge and along deeper edges near Poplar Island are reporting limits in the mornings and evenings. Topwater fans are catching nice schoolies at first light using trusty walk-the-dog lures—think Zara Spooks and Heddon Super Spooks. During mid-tide swings, soft plastics like 5-inch BKDs and Z-Man paddletails on half-ounce jigheads are putting keepers in the cooler. If you’re soaking bait, live spot or fresh menhaden (bunker) chunks remain the go-to choices.

There’s also been solid action on **white perch** in the Eastern Bay creeks—bloodworms and grass shrimp under floats are getting dinner-sized fish. Some reports this week from the Severn and Magothy Rivers have included steady catches of small blue catfish and channel cats, especially at night on chicken liver and cut eel. Flounder are tougher to target in the bay proper, but the Tangier Sound and Point Lookout areas have still yielded a few keepers to patient anglers drifting Gulp! Swimming Mullets on fluke rigs.

On the bait front, soft crabs are still producing for sheepshead around bridge pilings and riprap, especially on the western shore near the Key Bridge. The Pea Patch and Love Point areas are seeing good numbers of schoolie stripers hitting white bucktails and chartreuse jigheads, especially during strong outgoing tides.

**Hot spots** today? For sure, the mouth of the Patapsco River is firing, especially for stripers and panfish in the morning. Over by Thomas Point and the Hacketts Bar area, reports from local marina chatter are solid on both perch and schoolie rockfish. Want a challenge? Try the drop-offs around Swan Point or the lumps near Podickory Point—drifting or anchoring at moving tide changes should reward your efforts.

A note for those targeting Spanish mackerel—NOAA Fisheries reports the commercial mackerel season in federal waters is closed, but occasionally a few will still wander inshore, so trolling small spoons remains worth a try if you want an oddball catch to brag about.

That’s the latest scoop from the upper and middle Chesapeake, Baltimore, and D.C. region. Thanks for tuning in to your local fishing report with Artificial Lure! Don’t forget to subscribe so you’re always dialed into what’s biting and where.

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