Early Fall Fishing Forecast for Chesapeake Bay & Baltimore-Washington

This is Artificial Lure with your Chesapeake Bay and Baltimore/Washington angler’s report for Friday, September 26th, 2025.

We’ve had classic early fall weather this week: mornings in the low 60s, afternoons climbing into the mid-70s, and a mild westerly breeze pushing bait into the creeks and rivers. Water temps across the upper and middle Bay are in the upper 60s to low 70s. Today’s sunrise was at 6:54AM, and you’ll want to grab those last casts before sunset at 6:54PM. The moon’s just past quarter, rising midday—solid conditions for extended bite windows.

Tidal movement is promising for strong action, especially in the late morning and just after lunch. Low tide hit just before 8AM and the afternoon high rolls in around 2:10PM for much of the central Bay, including popular spots like the Key, Craighill, and Love Point sectors, per Tide-Forecast.com. If you can work the hours before and after those highs, you’ll maximize your shot at big fish.

The main talk around the docks has been the early surge of migratory stripers pushing up with the peanut bunker, and thick schools of white perch are hanging along piers and structure. Several crews out from Sandy Point and under the Bay Bridge have reported steady action on keeper rockfish from 19 to 26 inches—early birds are drifting live spot or tossing topwater poppers at dawn for the most excitement. A couple of boats fishing soft plastics like BKDs and Z-Mans on ½-ounce jigheads have scored well, especially on outgoing tides.

Blues, mostly in that 1-3 lb range, are blitzing on local rain bait—find surface commotion near channel edges or at Podickory Point and you’re in business. Evenings have brought scattered reports of puppy drum (redfish up to about 22 inches) south of the bridge, mixed in with snapper blues and the last of the summer catfish chew.

Over in the creeks—Severn, Magothy, and Patapsco—white perch have been plentiful, and anglers tossing small spinners and grass shrimp under floats are filling buckets. A few fat spotted sea trout (specks) came from deeper sod banks in the Chester and mouth of the Corsica this week, with MirrOlure suspending twitch baits and mud minnows getting the nod.

Bait choice: live spot or bunker for rockfish, cut peeler crab for reds and cats, bloodworms or grass shrimp for perch. For artificial action, pack 5-inch paddle tails in chartreuse or white, shallow-diving jerkbaits, and trusty topwater poppers like the Heddon Super Spook. If the water’s busting with fry, downsize to small paddle tails or metal jigs—especially if those schoolie blues are picky.

Top hot spots: try the pilings and rock piles around the Bay Bridge early, and drift shallow over Love Point proper at daybreak. In the city, the piers and outflows near Fort McHenry have seen both perch and keeper stripers on the outgoing. Don’t overlook Tolly Point or the mouth of Eastern Bay if you’re after variety—the bait’s thick and so are the fish.

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