Artificial Lure here with your Chesapeake Bay fishing report for October 28, 2025, covering Baltimore, Washington D.C., and the stretches of the Upper Bay all the way out toward the mouth.

We woke up to a classic fall morning—clear skies with sunrise at 7:27 AM and sunset lining up just after 6 PM. Air temps kicked off in the low 50s, and as of this morning, the wind’s got a bite to it, running out of the ENE at 13 mph, gusting up to 28. NOAA’s hoisted a Small Craft Advisory through 6 PM, so watch those gusts and choppy conditions if you’re venturing out, especially north of Pooles Island or across the main stem of the Bay.

For tidal junkies, the low was at 5:56 AM and we’re looking at a high tide just after lunch at 12:37 PM before dropping to the evening low around 7[8]. Best fishing will be on the moving water at either side of the high, so time those outgoing flows.

Fish-wise, this is what locals wait for: the migration has started. Spreaker’s Bay fishing update says the stripers—or rockfish as we call ‘em—are staging near the bridges and mixing with a hot speckled trout bite[1][7]. At night, boats working bridge shadows or channel edges are limiting out on keeper stripers, mostly on live eels, soft plastics, and bucktails tipped with Gulp. Tautog are taking over the rockpiles, with 6-man boat limits being reported from near the Bay Bridge and CBBT, especially on green crab and fiddler crab baits[7][9]. Red drum and puppy drum (the little ones) are showing up along channel drop-offs, but the real bigs are running the surf south of the Bridge Tunnel.

As for bait and lure—don’t overthink it. In the dark or low light hours, go heavy on the live eels, large paddletail swimbaits, or bucktails white or chartreuse. Daytime, shift to 4"–5" soft plastics, especially those in electric chicken, opening night, or classic white. For the specks and drums, MirrOlure MR17s have been getting steady hits along shorelines, and popping corks with Z-Man paddletails are a slam dunk on the flats. Anglers fishing chunked menhaden or peeler crab are catching the random black drum and tautog, but the stripers are zoned in on moving artificials and eels. On the surfside, fresh cut bunker and whole clam are top producers—if you’re soaking bait for big reds or black drum.

Hot spots today:
- **CBBT First Island and the pilings**—rockfish and tautog both chewing.
- **Sandy Point State Park**—has given up chunky schoolies and a handful of slot drum, especially on outgoing tide.
- **Key Bridge to Patapsco mouth**—boats reporting limits on rockfish before sunrise on eels and soft baits worked slow over structure.
- **Eastern Bay points**—steady trout and red drum action, especially drifting with the wind over grass beds early and late.

With these brisk northeast winds and the threat of more clouds moving in with that coastal low this week, expect things to only improve as temps drop—classic Bay fall fishing. Bring foul weather gear, stay safe around that wind chop, and keep a watch on the tides for best results.

Thanks for tuning in to this Chesapeake Bay fishing report—don’t forget to subscribe for more local fishing news and tips. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

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