Artificial Lure here, bringing you the latest from the water for Monday, November 17th, 2025, covering Baltimore, D.C., and all around the upper Chesapeake Bay.

We’re rolling into the teeth of mid-November, and let me tell you, the striper bite is heating up with the chill. According to Virginia Saltwater Fishing Report, November is prime time for big migratory striped bass—schools are piling up along channel edges from the Bay Bridge south all the way to the mouth, with more and more reports of legal keepers showing up each day.

This morning’s **tides** around the Bay Bridge rolled in with high at 6:11AM, low right about 12:28PM, and another high set for 6:23PM this evening, based on Tide-Forecast.com. If you’re out before work, you’ll catch the tail end of that morning dump; evenings look promising on the incoming. **Sunrise was 6:45AM, sunset comes early at 4:53PM**—so if you want afterwork lines in, get to your spot fast.

**Weather** is blustery: National Weather Service says expect strong northwest winds 20-25 knots today, gusts up to 35 out on the main bay with waves running 2 to 3 feet and rougher out by the mouths of the rivers. There’s a small craft advisory in effect through at least this afternoon, so stay cautious if you’re running anything light. Bundle up—the air’s brisk, and a chance of rain rolls in late.

**Fish activity?** The bass are hungry and the bite’s solid at first and last light. Stripers up to 36 inches have been caught by trolling deep-divers and casting soft plastics near the pilings and dropoffs. On the artificial side, folks are banging catches with **1- to 2-ounce bucktails tipped with twister tails, 5-inch soft shads, and black and purple paddle tails**. Liveliners throwing fresh bunker are picking up cows in the channels. If live bait’s your game, **cut menhaden and eels** are the local picks, especially for the bigger linesides holding on the dropoff. Don’t sleep on topwater plugs at sunrise in the shallows—always an adrenaline shot if you hit the right school.

According to the latest Lower Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report, black sea bass and triggerfish have both been on fire around nearshore wrecks and reefs, especially when using small “trigger squares” of fresh cut bait on size 2 hooks. Up in the rivers, blue catfish are still heavy—The Fishing Wire says cut gizzard shad and chicken breast will keep the rods bouncing if you hit a deep hole.

**Recent catches** include good numbers of slot stripers, sea bass stacking up on hard structure, and a few late flounder around the mouths of the Patapsco and Severn. Snakehead action’s slowing but not done—reports from Fishing the DMV show a couple of 5 to 8-pounders landed this week on chatterbaits upriver in the grass.

**Best lures and baits** right now:
- For stripers: White and chartreuse soft plastics, big bucktails, and live eels
- For sea bass/triggerfish: Small fresh-cut baits, squid or clam strips
- For catfish: Cut shad or chicken
- For snakehead: Black chatterbaits and topwater frogs on sunny afternoons

**Hot spots this week:**
- **Baltimore Harbor dropoffs**—stripers on the edge chasing bunker
- **Sandy Point State Park**—early morning surf casters connecting on plastics on the outgoing
- **Bush River and lower Patapsco**—blue cats and holdover stripers building up in the deeper holes
- **Chesapeake Bay Bridge pilings**—double jig rigs and soft plastics producing all day on the turns

That’s the roundup for today. Thanks for tuning in—be sure to subscribe so you never miss a cast! 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