Spotted seatrout fishing in Chesapeake Bay

In Chesapeake Bay, spotted seatrout peak May–November and are around year-round, spawning in May–June, according to Fish Scouter's month-by-month season calendar. August: Specks in the grass at Mobjack, Lynnhaven and Tangier Sound; topwater at dawn.

1. JanuaryAroundSpecks hold in the Elizabeth River's warm water and the deep creek bends; slow suspending baits.
2. FebruaryAroundColdest water of the year — tog, perch and released stripers. Tog on the lower-bay wrecks on calm days; white perch deep in the tributaries; slow jigs for stripers where it's legal to target them.
3. MarchAroundWhite perch run up the rivers; spawning stripers move in. Shad darts and grass shrimp in the tidal rivers for the perch run. Maryland's spawning rivers and the Susquehanna Flats close to striper targeting March 1 — know the maps.
4. AprilArrivingVirginia closed recreational speckled trout April 1–June 30, 2026 after cold-stun kills — check VMRC before you target them.
5. MaySpawning
6. JuneSpawning
7. JulyPeakSpanish, cobia and specks in the grass; stripers at dawn. Troll Clark spoons fast for Spanish on the lower-bay rips; topwater specks at dawn in Mobjack and Tangier; sheepshead on the Bridge-Tunnel pilings.
8. AugustPeakSpecks in the grass at Mobjack, Lynnhaven and Tangier Sound; topwater at dawn.
9. SeptemberPeakBreaking fish return; bull reds and fall croakers. Stripers and blues busting bait under the birds — jig the schools. Jumbo croakers and spot on the channel edges before they leave.
10. OctoberPeakThe fall bay: birds working everywhere, the speck bite starts. Jig and topwater the breaking stripers; drift the lower-bay grass and creeks for specks and puppy drum; the yellowbelly spot run off the piers.
11. NovemberPeakThe fall speck bite — the Piankatank, the Lynnhaven, the Elizabeth — is the best fishing of the year.
12. DecemberAroundBig ocean stripers back at the mouth; tog and winter specks. Trophy migrants return to the lower bay and the Bridge-Tunnel (Maryland catch-and-release from December 6 in 2026); tog on the Bridge-Tunnel; specks in the Elizabeth River.

The biggest estuary in the country: 200 miles of brackish bay fed by the Susquehanna, Potomac, Patuxent, Choptank, Nanticoke, Rappahannock and James, with oyster bars, channel edges and lumps in the main stem, marsh islands down Tangier Sound, and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel's pilings and islands at the mouth. Salinity climbs from fresh at the Flats to ocean at Cape Henry.

• Live shrimpUnder a popping cork or free-lined, hooked under the horn on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook; on a jig head for the bottom. The universal inshore bait.
• Pilchards (whitebait)Free-lined or under a cork, hooked through the nose on a #1 to 2/0 circle hook. The one bait that catches everything inshore.
• PigfishFree-lined or under a cork on a 2/0 circle hook for gator trout; on the bottom for grouper.
• PinfishHooked through the back ahead of the dorsal on a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook; the small ones free-lined, the big ones on a fish-finder rig.
• CroakersHooked through the back on a 2/0 to 3/0 circle hook, free-lined or on a Carolina rig — big trout and redfish can't leave them alone.

• Leader15–25 lb fluorocarbon
• Hook#1–1/0
• Jig head1/8–1/4 oz
• Braid10–15 lb

Feeds in 54–86°F water, best at 62–78°F.

All about spotted seatrout · The Chesapeake, the whole year