by Capt. Billy Pipkin
Don’t sweat it… be chill and go fishing!
August on the middle Chesapeake Bay is a combination of sweat and strategy.
At times, the heat is thick enough to cut with a knife, as water temperatures climb into the mid-80s. To the untrained eye, the midsummer doldrums have set in. But if you talk to a seasoned charter captain, a waterman slipping out on the river at 5 a.m. or the weekend warriors launching from the local creeks, they will tell you a different story.
August isn’t dead—it’s just a shift in the clock. The fish are here, they are hungry and they are playing by summer rules.
To fill a cooler this month, you need to understand the rhythm of the Chesapeake Bay. The blazing afternoon sun drives bait and predators alike into the oxygen rich deep water of dropoffs and channels or to the sanctuary of shade-providing structure. Whether you are running a 25-foot center console out into the open chop or paddling a kayak through the skinny marsh guts, August offers some of the most exciting, fast-paced action of the entire year.
Fish the shallows
For the angler who loves the quiet thrill of skinny-water fishing, the morning light is your most valuable asset. By 9 a.m., the shallow-water bite slows down, but those first three hours after dawn can be an exciting time.
The lower rivers and surrounding tributaries currently hold a respectable class of speckled trout mixed with puppy drum. The key to finding them is identifying healthy submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV), particularly widgeon grass and eelgrass. These grass beds act as natural air conditioners and all-you-can-eat buffets, holding blue crabs, mud minnows and grass shrimp.
Before the sun rises high on the water, tie on a walk-the-dog topwater plug like a Zara Spook or a Heddon Super Spook Jr. Work it with a steady, rhythmic twitch along the edges of the grass.
Did you know that speckled trout are visual predators with specialized yellow-pigmented retinas? This adaptation gives them incredible contrast-vision in brackish, stained water, making chartreuse, purple, pink and bone-colored lures deadly choices in the early light.
Once the sun gets high, the trout drop into the deeper pockets. Your midday pivot is to switch to a 3- 4-inch paddle tail on a 1/8-ounce jig head suspended three feet under a high-visibility popping cork. The sharp “chugging” sound of the cork mimics a feeding predator, drawing the trout up out of the grass.
Across the Northern Neck, between the Rappahannock to the Potomac rivers, the focus shifts to a mix of schooling bluefish and scrappy panfish. If you are looking for a relaxing afternoon with the family, the tidal docks and oyster rocks are teeming with white perch and spot. For pure, nostalgic bottom-fishing, drop a two-hook bottom rig weighted with a sinker directly next to shaded dock pilings.
Trolling and sight casting
If you crave the big water, the main stem of the bay is a highway of adrenaline in August. The migration of southern visitors is in full swing along the contour lines adjacent to the shipping lanes.
From the mouth of the Potomac down past Reedville to Windmill Point, the Spanish mackerel fishing is as hot as the weather. These sleek, silver sprinters are shadowing massive schools of bay anchovies and sometimes young menhaden (peanut bunker).
Look for gulls and terns picking on the surface. Sometimes only a handful of birds will lead you to a school of feeding fish. When mackerel push bait to the surface, the water dances as if it is experiencing a light rain.
Drag a spread of small, silver #0 or #1 Clark spoons behind #1 or #2 sea planers. The planers dig into the water, taking your lures down into the strike zone without the need for heavy lead weights. Connect the planer to the spoon using a generous 20-foot leader of 30-pound fluorocarbon line. Speed is your primary tool. Spanish mackerel can swim at bursts of nearly 30 miles per hour. To trigger a reactionary strike, you must troll a rapid 6+ knots. If you slow down below 5 knots, you will stop catching mackerel and start catching Taylor bluefish.
For true heavyweight action, bull red drum and cobia share the title of “Kings of August.” The drum can be found feeding on the same food source as mackerel and bluefish. They are often hooked with the same small spoons! When a mix of drum are suspected, loosen your drags to lessen the stress when they crash your line.
Cobia, an intense powerful, brown, shark-like fish, loves structure, heat and humidity.
On calm, cloudless days, sight-casting from an elevated tuna tower or cabin roof is the ultimate rush. Cobia love to bask in the upper solar layer of the water column to warm their muscles. Look for dark shapes cruising near the surface, often hitched to the backs of large southern stingrays or hovering around the shadow of channel buoys.
From daylight to dusk, from big water to small, August offers options sure to please all.
Stay hydrated and enjoy every day. Until next time…Fair winds.
Capt Billy Pipkin owns and operates Capt Billy’s Charters and Ingram Bay Marina in Wicomico Church, 804-580-7292. www.captbillyscharters.com.
