Most chummers in the region will drop anchor upcurrent from the target zone along a channel edge or other dependable structure and set up a chum slick of ground menhaden. Menhaden is also the hook bait of choice, but there are times when stripers prefer razor clams, so it's best to have both baits on hand.

While it's important to fish with fresh bait, Captain McLain believes that frozen chum has a place in the arsenal as well. By using both fresh and frozen chum in combination, he feels he can cover more territory.

"Bait ground from frozen menhaden will float if it remains frozen," McLain said. "This can be good if it is used in combination with fresh unfrozen bait, or when there is a real weak tide. The frozen bait will get back farther from your boat, but will not get down deep over a steep drop­off."

McLain also cautions against giving large quantities of free food to the fish.

"Putting huge amounts of chum into the water seems like it ought to be the best way to draw more and bigger fish, but that is not necessarily true," McLain said. "If the fish can get their stomachs full way back behind the boat, they might just stop feeding. Also, your single baited hook is competing with all those chum particles, reducing the odds that the fish will take the bait."

Once fish have been attracted into the chum line, McLain recommends anglers dilute their chum with salt water, creating a soupy mixture.

"There is enough scent in the soup to keep the fish interested, but they don't get full," McLain said. "Add some of the ground meat every few minutes to tease them."

McLain stresses the importance of keeping the chum slick going constantly and keeping the bait moving to match the speed and rate of descent of the chum particles.

"Under normal conditions, it involves little or no weight added to the line," he said. "Usually, one or two small split shot is all that is needed. Hold the rod, and let line out slowly."

The popularity of live-lining with spot has grown in this region as anglers find that it usually produces a better grade of striped bass. Some anglers will use chum while live-lining, but doing so guarantees lots of bluefish and the accompanying bit-off baits.

The area's myriad structure is well suited for live-lining, and its rivers, creeks and bay shallows offer plenty of bait, including some that will be too big for live-line duties but just right for the frying pan. Preferred size for fishing is 3 to 5 inches, but larger ones shouldn't be ruled out, as they are likely to be taken by fewer but bigger stripers plus a few surprises.

By mid-August, jumbo-sized red drum, storing up calories before their migration to the ocean, sometimes take a liking to these offerings of live spot, providing anglers with some exciting catch-and-release action on light tackle. Some of the larger Spanish mackerel catches are taken by live-liners as well, including a Maryland state record of 12 1/4 pounds caught two years ago.

The occasional trophy fish notwithstanding, most of a live-liner's customers will be stripers measuring anywhere from 16 to 30 inches and bluefish weighing from 2 to 4 pounds, ideal sizes for a medium-light, fast-action spinning or baitcasting combo. J-hooks, treble hooks and circle hooks all have their supporters, but double live-bait hooks, available in many local tackle shops, have become increasingly popular. One hook is run through the top of the spot's back just behind the dorsal fin, with the other left bare for hooking game fish. Under normal conditions, no extra weight is required, but for strong tides and deeper fish, a split shot or two will usually suffice.