Artificial Lure bringing you the Chesapeake Bay, Baltimore, and D.C. area fishing report for Friday, October 24th, 2025.

We woke to a crisp 47 degrees with light winds over Middle River, warming under sunny autumn skies. Expect clear and cool throughout the day, barely a cloud, with a high near 62. Today’s sunrise was at 7:21AM, and you’ll want to get in those casts before sunset at 6:14PM. Tidal action for Baltimore-area waters sets the tone: low tide this morning at 6:48AM, high at 12:18PM, and ebbing again towards 7:43PM. That midday tide swing should light the bite up for a solid midday session according to Tide-Forecast.com.

Let’s talk fishing—the main story is still striped bass. Maryland DNR notes the schoolies are thick but you’ll need to work for the bigger ones, especially with the winds we’ve seen. Anglers have been finding success all along Pooles Island, Hart-Miller, and the Love Point rocks, as well as tucked away spots within Baltimore Harbor. Up by the Susquehanna and into upper bay tribs, you’ll find plenty of blue catfish and some lingering flatheads at the channel mouths—fresh cut bait is ticket for those monsters.

Jigging under the Bay Bridge or around prominent rock piles has still been producing keeper stripers. Early and late, try casting topwater poppers and paddletails near structure—especially if you find birds working or bait bunched up on the moving tide. As FishTalk Magazine highlighted, don’t be shy with your retrieve—fish are still active in shallows, so crank those jigs, keep your rod moving, and be ready when a rockfish slams it.

For lures, parachute jigs and Mojos in white or chartreuse are the trolling standards right now, especially rigged tandem or on umbrellas trailing six-inch shads. Surgical hoses in red or green have drawn some bonus hits, so keep one in the spread. If jigging, soft plastics like BKDs or Z-Mans on one ounce heads are dialing up fish. Some locals are still sneaking out with live eels or spot for live-lining around deep bridge structure, and that’s still putting a few bigger fish over the rail. For perch fans, try bloodworms or grass shrimp on hard bottom outside the river mouths and deeper reefs.

Other notable bites—white perch are pushing out of the rivers onto main bay shoals. Catfish action is ripping in the upper river stretches, especially as water temps slip into the upper 50s. If you want something different, try the sunny sides of creeks and marinas for crappie—live minnows under a slip bobber are a solid bet as fish begin to school near structure.

A couple hotspots worth hitting: the channel edge at Swan Point has been producing early; also, the mouth of the Patapsco River continues to show life, both for stripers and some big catfish, especially on the outgoing.

Bait-wise, bloodworms are killer for perch and small stripers. Catfish want fresh-cut bunker or gizzard shad. For rockfish, soft plastics, bucktails, or live eels all produce—just match to the conditions.

Wind won’t be much until the afternoon, but keep ears sharp for small craft advisories—marine forecasts are flagging some breeze later today, so play it safe, especially if you’re planning to run outside the rivers.

That wraps up today’s scoop. Thanks for tuning in—make sure to subscribe for updates before you hit the water. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn

This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI