Challenging but worth the effort
Located in between Maryland’s Eastern Shore and Kent Island, and with convenient access to U.S. Route 50, Kent Narrows can be a challenging piece of water to fish. First, you will contend with heavy recreational and commercial traffic on the weekends, and some weekdays, as Kent Narrows is the only means of passing from Eastern Bay to the Chester River without having to round all of Kent Island to the west. Second, two bridges span the narrows, one a drawbridge with an 18-foot closed vertical clearance and a restricted opening schedule: 1 through Oct. 31 the draw opens on the hour and half-hour from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., the other a fixed span with a 65-foot fixed vertical clearance. Another factor to consider is the fact that a half-dozen busy marinas and a public launch ramp line the narrows adding to the activity.

The main challenge is the current. Tidal currents plow through the Narrows up to four times daily with extreme speeds approaching 4 knots in spring or fall tides, with a more tame daily average in the neighborhood of 2 knots on each tide change. You’ll need to be on your best watch here; both for other boats and to keep your own from coming in contact with the bridges or any of the numerous marina docks lining the shores here.

Kent Narrows is classic rockfish habitat.

Kent Narrows attracts rockfish for a variety of reasons and all the classic ingredients for good striper fishing can be found here: structure, current and lots of baitfish. With all the structure and current patterns present (both on the bottom, and near shore), all a predator fish needs to do is find a good hiding place and wait for its next meal to pass by with the changing tide; and plenty do just that.

The bridge pilings and marina docks provide shelter and hiding places for predator and prey, an environment where both can use the surroundings to their benefit. Figuring out where they hide and when is the trick, but we’ll let you in on a few “trade secrets” to ensure a successful outing on your part.

Fish the bottom.

During the summer season, the preferred rockfish bait is peeler crab fished in halves on a tandem or single bottom rig drifted along with the current or fished among the bridge pilings or land-based structure from an anchored boat (be sure to stay out of the main channel). Everyone has their favorite method of fishing peelers, but I usually tie them on a pre-made bottom rig with a 6-ouce weight (I’m always being told this is too heavy, but it works for me) and 1/0 or 2/0 (sometimes larger, depending on what size peelers are available) circle hooks with elastic bait thread. Some anglers use rubber bands instead, but I find the bait thread allows a better and more durable setup. Your best bet is to rig a dozen or so of these before your trip so you can continue fishing when the action is hot. I usually keep a dozen in the freezer rigged up to go at all times during the season. Eels, as always, are also popular bait, but can be difficult to fish properly in the aggressive current.

Other anglers fish the more common bottom baits such as bloodworms, grass shrimp and minnows, but I have found that you’ll catch an awful lot of smaller fish and mixed species such as trout, croaker and white perch this way. When I come to Kent Narrows I am after rockfish, so I prefer to fish peelers if I am fishing bait at all.

If you plan to drift the bottom for rockfish, the eastern side of the channel north of the bridges from green daybeacon “15” farther south can be very productive on either tide. I’ve also taken some larger fish on the west side of the channel, but the structure seems more inviting to the east. South of the bridges, I like to drift in the channel along the marina docks on the east side and along some of the shallower edges and drop offs. This is a good place to make use of your depth sounder or fish finder to spot not only fish, but also small drop offs and structure areas the chart may not show.

These are the best places to start out, but if the action is slow, try your luck a little farther south, in Prospect Bay, or in the seven- to 11-foot hole off of green daybeacon “9” to the north in the Chester River. When all else fails, wait for the tide to change. The fishing here can change that quickly.

Light tackle and structure is where the fun is.

My favorite method of fishing this piece of water is with a light spinning setup or (in my case) a 7-weight fly rod. Rockfish here (as in many parts of the Chesapeake) respond well to the classic lures and flies: silver Tony Acetta spoons dressed with chartreuse feathers (I usually keep them small: 1/2-ounce and bigger with a small lead leader), smaller chartreuse bucktails with grubs attached, Rooster Tails and Mepps spinners for slack water periods, and Rat-L-Traps or Chug Bugs for surface action during the evenings or slack water conditions. For the fly caster, Clouser minnows, deceivers and epoxy minnow patterns will keep the fly-rodders busy with fish (be sure to use a good-quality fast sinking fly line to match your rod weight).

Classic tiderips and current eddies are abound on the changing tides here, and the fish congregate wherever these water patterns work to their favor in feeding. Work the edges of the rips and pay attention to areas around structure, both on the bottom and near the shore.

On the south side of the bridges, just off the Kent Island Yacht Club, is a long breakwater designed to maintain channel depths in the Narrows. It is also an excellent hideout for legal to medium-sized stripers waiting for their next victim to pass by. On the north end of the breakwater is a nine- to 19-foot deep cut where the current is accelerated on each tide. On either side of this cut, in three-to six-foot depths over a hard bottom (keep an eye on your depth sounder), stripers and other predatory fish wait for unsuspecting baitfish to be swept by. On an outgoing tide, work your way carefully up to the west side of the wall where the chart indicates four-foot depths, and if you can, set an anchor on the north or south side of the cut. From here, you can fish the current rip.

If you have fished Indian River Inlet, the fishing in this spot is very similar: Stick with lighter bucktail patterns (with or without grub tail) and work your lure by casting up-tide then following the lure with the current giving the rod a quick lift every four or five seconds (everyone has their own bucktail “flick” method). The key is to keep up with the slack so you can feel the take, which can be very gentle at times (other times there’s no guesswork involved).

Other sections of the Narrows are lined with marina pilings, riprap and normal bottom structure. Be sure to drift past these areas and work your offering in as close as you can. I’ve crawled around the piers at several marinas in this area and the lee side of many of these pilings hold nice-size fish that are sometimes even visible from the dock, just under the surface. They position themselves right behind the piling and dash out when a baitfish (or your spoon or bucktail) temptingly pass by.

If you are good at the helm, many anglers enjoy really good fishing right in and amongst the piers and pilings at the two bridges. You can anchor off the main channel among the pilings and fish lures or bottom rigs right past the support piers, or some anglers make fast to the old drawbridge, though the DNR police will kindly remind you not to if they pass through the area, which they do with good frequency.

The fall season brings heavy schools of rockfish through the Narrows and this is when anglers can be very successful with a variety of jigs worked around the structure, especially the bridges. Also, come prepared with some surface lures for the evening hours as schooling stripers often work bait shoals along the surface in the fall, especially along the lighted marina piers. If you’re up for it, fishing the lighted areas of the marinas here at night can be some of the most exciting and productive fishing the Narrows has to offer.

Easy access.

For those anglers with trailerable boats, there is a public launch ramp at the west end of the Narrows (right off of U.S. Route 50) that is administered by Queen Anne’s County. Simply drop your boat in and you’re only a minute away from the action.

There are no groins or jetties supporting its continual function as a navigable waterway. Yes, there are certainly other natural inlets along the Eastern Shore such as those to the south, but they don’t get the amount of boat traffic as Chincoteague.

Chincoteague Inlet is located actually between Assateague Island and Wallops Island. Like most inlets in their natural state, it’s constantly changing and reforming seasonally, sometimes almost weekly, depending on storm activity. So what may be navigable water one season may not be the same the next.

Chincoteague Inlet has all the characteristics of any natural inlet with its rips, cuts and bars forming on the Assateague side. The Wallops Island side tends to hold slightly deeper water with rips located to the south just outside the actual inlet. A depth finder is invaluable for identifying bottom contours such as channel edges and adjacent flats.

Fishing around the inlet can be very good. Depending on seasons and species, the twice a day tidal flush will bring in bait, and warm or cooler water, all of which attract gamefish. In the late spring, fat croakers will often stage there for a short period of time before they commit to the back bays. Kingfish will hold in the sand bottoms, and snapper blues feed under birds in the inlet. Big sharks pass through in June to lay their pups in warm deep holes in tidal creeks.

During the hot summer months, flounder will hold or move just outside the inlet to escape escalating back bay water temperatures, and savvy anglers drifting live snappers or big strip baits can connect with good sized fish that find the cooler waters more comfortable. Big cobia can sometimes be seen patrolling along the outer buoys that line the inlet entrance. During the early fall, just out in front of the inlet, trout will school, getting ready for their annual push south.

One fishery that has gotten only limited attention is the great striper fishing that happens in and around the inlet in the late fall. There is a nice rip located on the edge of the Assateague “hook” where big stripers ambush baitfish getting beat up in the tidal changes.

Drifting live eels, spot or jigging bucktails can all produce fish. Or try trolling big spoons, swimming plugs and bucktails on the edges of the channels and near the flats outside the inlet.

All inlets are a gateway for migrating bait and gamefish, and Chincoteague is a natural funnel that can produce action almost year round. Get out and try fishing Chincoteague.