Running at Chesapeake City, C&D Canal this month
Seasonal claims cite the guide that backs them.Blue Catfish
Fresh cut bait on heavy bottom rigs in the channel
Invasive — no limits; harvest is encouraged.
Chain Pickerel
Inline spinners and jerkbaits along wood and weed edges
64.4°F reading is above the 34–60°F feeding band — expect a slower bite.
Striped Bass
Topwater at first light over structure; jig the channel edges after sun-up
64.4°F reading sits inside the 45–70°F feeding band.
Seasons, slots and closures change — check MD DNR before targeting stripers.
The next three days
Today
2026-10-18- Sunrise
- 7:16 am
- Sunset
- 6:20 pm
- Moonrise
- 2:35 pm
- Moonset
- —
Tomorrow
2026-10-19- Sunrise
- 7:17 am
- Sunset
- 6:19 pm
- Moonrise
- 3:06 pm
- Moonset
- 12:09 am
- · Solunar minor — moonset.
- · Tide is moving (flood) through this window.
- · Forecast wind about 1 mph — comfortable water.
- · Solunar major — moon underfoot.
- · First light — low sun and feeding light.
- · Tide is moving (ebb) through this window.
- · Forecast wind about 5 mph — comfortable water.
- · Solunar minor — moonrise.
- · Tide is moving (flood) through this window.
- · Forecast wind about 9 mph — comfortable water.
- · Dusk — the evening feed.
- · Solunar major — moon overhead.
- · Tide is moving (ebb) through this window.
- · Forecast wind about 3 mph — comfortable water.
Tue Oct 20
2026-10-20- Sunrise
- 7:18 am
- Sunset
- 6:17 pm
- Moonrise
- 3:32 pm
- Moonset
- 1:12 am
- · Solunar minor — moonset.
- · Tide is moving (flood) through this window.
- · Forecast wind about 5 mph — comfortable water.
- · First light — low sun and feeding light.
- · Solunar major — moon underfoot.
- · Tide is moving (ebb) through this window.
- · Forecast wind about 8 mph — comfortable water.
- · Solunar minor — moonrise.
- · Tide is moving (flood) through this window.
- · Forecast wind about 8 mph — comfortable water.
- · Dusk — the evening feed.
- · Tide is moving (flood) through this window.
- · Forecast wind about 6 mph — comfortable water.
- · Solunar major — moon overhead.
- · Tide is moving (ebb) through this window.
- · Forecast wind about 5 mph — comfortable water.
Not in this forecast
Every factor had live data behind it for this forecast.
Live water temperature: 64.4°F — read from the gauge, never modelled.
How a window earns its score
Three layers, in order of certainty. Astronomy is arithmetic and never missing: sunrise, sunset, moon phase, moonrise and set, and the lunar transits. Dawn and dusk are feeding fact; the solunar majors and minors are a century of angling tradition, and we label them as the theory they are. Season comes from our own guides — every species claim on this page links to the article that backs it. Live readings — water temperature against the species’ feeding band, tide movement, forecast wind — join the score only when the gauge or the NWS actually answered.
Overlap is the whole game: first light landing on a solunar major with a moving tide is what a Prime morning is. The score is the receipt, not the promise — weather changes, and fish have not read the theory.
| Factor | Weight |
|---|---|
| First light / dusk | +25 |
| Solunar major (moon over/underfoot) | +30 |
| Solunar minor (moonrise / moonset) | +15 |
| Tide moving through the window | +10 |
| Light wind (≤12 mph) | +5 |
| Heavy wind (≥18 mph) | -15 |
| New or full moon | ×1.2 on lunar factors |
The lookout grades itself
0 stamped reports in the bookEvery catch and fishing report filed on this site is stamped with the conditions it happened under — the moon, the light, the solunar period, and what this page was rating that hour. The stamps accumulate into the one thing no forecast anywhere publishes: its own record. Descriptive, not causal — this is where the community’s catches actually landed, never proof the rating made the fish bite.
The book is open — 0 of 20 reports stamped so far.
We publish the percentages when there is enough in the log to mean something. Small-sample percentages are how honest data becomes a dishonest claim. File a report and the book fills.
Fished a window? Tell the fleet how it held up.
Field reports are how the lookout gets sharper — and how the next angler decides.