Chesapeake Bay Fish
Atlantic Croaker
Atlantic Croaker or “hardhead” are popular saltwater fish common along the mid atlantic USA coast. They are known to have wild population flucuations. The fish get their names because of the “croaking” noise the make when removed from the water. Croakers are hard fighters and prolific feeders. They are caught on a variety of baits and lures.
Flounder
Chesapeake Bay summer flounder are primarily found around channel edges, drop offs. Flounder are not born with both eyes on one side. During growth, the “bottom” eye migrates to the upward-facing side of its body. This allows the flounder to lie on one side, burying in the sand where it can ambush its prey. Flounder in the Chesapeake feed on a variety of small fish, crabs shrimp and other crustaceans.
Spot
Spot are fun to catch and a great fish for anglers of all ages. Anglers use standard 2 hook rigs, using small hooks and small pieces of bait. Popular baits include bloodworms, shrimp, clam and a synthetic product called “Fish Bites” hat works very well.
Larger fish for the table are best caught with the standard 2 hook rig, but sometimes fishermen in need of bait also use a sabiki rig to catch large numbers of small spot. The rig has multiple hooks, adorned to resemble small shrimp. Most anglers will tip the hooks with tiny bits of bloodworm, although the sabiki rigs will catch fish even unbaited. Sabiki rigs seem to work best if slowly
jigged near fishing piers or other pilings.
Spot are a great fish to catch on fishing piers. The Virginia Beach fishing pier, Saxis pier, Sea Gull fishing pier, Cape Charles fishing pier, Crisfield Pier, Choptank Pier and other Chesapeake Bay piers are all good places to fish for spot.
Black Sea Bass
Black sea bass are found sporadically in the bay, mostly around structures such as artificial reefs or oyster beds. Sea bass are excellent table fare. The meat is firm, white and delicious, served fried, grilled, baked or broiled. Sea bass are easily skinned and filleted. They are best fresh and do not freeze well.
Tautog
Tautog are another Chesapeake Bay fish, although less known by novice anglers as these fish tend to be very secretive and hard to locate. Tautog are structure seeking fish, normally living in reefs, shipwrecks and in habitat such as mussel beds or deep water oyster beds.
Tautog are excellent table fare. These fish are very slippery! It is best to rinse them thoroughly and lay them out on a rough surface. A sharp fillet knife is needed to cut around the outline of the fish, making the front cut behind the head and pectoral fin. Then the skin can easily be peeled off by using pliers and peeling from the head to tail.
Once the skin is off the fish can be filleted normally. There are a few rib bones which can be cut out after filleting. The meat is firm, white and mild flavored. Rinse the fillets and immediately store on ice or refrigerate them. Tautog is delicious fried, baked or grilled.
White Perch
White perch are small but tenacious fish that are common in parts of the bay and its rivers. The fish are caught with small baits such as grass shrimp or bloodworms, or by casting artificial lures or flies. They are sometimes found together with yellow perch.
Yellow Perch
Yellow Perch are found in most rivers that feed the Chesapeake Bay. They are prolific fish and very adaptable. Perch fishing is fun filled and in some cases anglers gather in great numbers in the early spring when yellow perch school up before spawning.
Yellow perch are caught all season and are also caught ice fishing in the winter. They feed on small fish, insects, worms and crustaceans. Anglers use bait including minnows, grass shrimp, nightcrawlers or grubs or fish with a variety of small artificial jigs and lures.
Anadromous Species
Several species of fish commonly found in the Chesapeake Bay are anadromous; they spend most of their life at sea, before migrating through the bay and into rivers or shallow areas to spawn.
Striped Bass
Striped bass, also known as “rockfish” is the most well known anadromous fish found in the Chesapeake Bay. The major nursery for Atlantic striped bass stocks is the Chesapeake Bay. Young fish feed and grow in shallow estuaries until they are large enough to leave the bay. As adults, they live along the coast from New England to the Carolinas. According to scientists, the majority of the entire Atlantic Coast striped bass population returns to the Chesapeake Bay to spawn.
Cooks have a variety of favorites for cooking rockfish. Whole fillets of school sized fish or steaks of larger fish are delicious fried. Other choices for cooking striped bass include grilling, broiling, fish cakes and more. For top quality striped bass or “rockfish” as table fare, it’s important to take care of the fish prior to cooking. The fish should be chilled on ice and laid out flat until cleaned. Once the fish is home, it can be rinsed thoroughly and filleted.
Several cleaning methods exist and each angler learns their favorite style. The fish can be scaled and the skin left on, filleted and then skinned or the skin can be cut around the perimeter of the fish and pulled off with pliers. The skin-on version is nice when baking or grilling smaller fish. Skinning the fish before filleting has some advantages, the most important being speed.
Filleting the fish and then cutting the skin off removes the most dark meat and leaves the highest quality portion, although some fish is lost in the process.
American Shad
The American shad is another famous anadromous species that visits the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Historically, shad gathered in great numbers in the spring, spawning in rivers and creeks of the Chesapeake Bay system.
According to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, American shad reached all-time lows during the first two decades of the 21st century. Declining populations of Chesapeake Bay American shad were identified in the Susquehanna and James rivers. Studies indicate low but stable levels of American shad in the Chesapeake Bay, the Rappahannock River, and other areas.
The species is also known as white shad, Atlantic shad or “poor man’s salmon.” They are sometimes found with hickory shad which are similar in appearance. Historically, American shad were famous for their delicious meat and roe.
American Shad are beautifully colored and extremely tough fighters, known for their ability to run and make spectacular jumps. Most recreational fishing for American shad occurs in the spring, when adult fish enter rivers to spawn. Anglers fish for them using small flies, jigs, shad darts, spoons, sabiki rigs or other lures. Most Atlantic fisheries allow catch and release fishing only
Hickory Shad
Hickory shad are smaller than American shad. Another identifying feature of this species is its lower jaw which juts out further than the upper jaw. Hickory shad are silver with amber highlights. They have spots on the shoulder which are duskier and more obscure than American shad.
River Herring
Similar to shad, river herring are seasonal visitors to the Chesapeake Bay. The term “river herring” is a collective name for 2 similar species of anadromous fish; alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis).
Alewife and blueback herring are relatively small anadromous fish that spend their adult lives at sea. Both species return to creeks and rivers of the Chesapeake to spawn during Spring.
Alewives are iridescent gray green or violet shade above, fading down their sides to a silver underbelly. They usually have a distinct dusky spot just behind the upper margin of their gill cover. Adult alewives average 10-11″ in length.
The name alewife is a reference to the large belly of the fish, which reminded New England fishermen of barmaids or “alehouse wives”. Alewives are also known as branch herring, sawbelly, freshwater herring, grayback, bigeye or spring herring.
The blueback herring tends to have a dark blue back and smaller eye than the alewife. The species spends the greater part of its life in salt water, returning to Chesapeake Bay creeks only to spawn. It usually spawns later in the spring than the alewife, when water temperatures are a bit warmer.
Fish of the Creeks and Rivers of the Chesapeake Watershed
