From Ocean City, Taylor Bakke of Always Bent Fishing OC reported that the recent warm-ish weather has finally allowed some of the local boat launches and marinas to thaw out. They’re currently searching for backwater stripers, but most anglers in their area are getting out for tautog in the ocean when they can. The inshore waters are quiet, but with more mild weather on the way, Taylor’s confident they’ll find some stripers willing to chew. Check out their YouTube channel for fishing videos in the OC area, and visit their website for weekly fishing report updates during the busy season.
Sailing out of West Ocean City, Captain Monty Hawkins of Morning Star Fishing has been sailing for tautog with light crews when conditions have allowed them to get out. Keep an eye on their Facebook page and be sure to sign up for their email list to stay in the know for upcoming trips.
Anglers Sport Center Fishing Report – Annapolis, MD
The Anglers Sport Center fishing report is written by Anglers Fishing Manager & OTW Columnist, Alex Gallardo-Perez.
Local anglers have been traveling to western Maryland to do some ice fishing in some of the western lakes like Deep Creek, and they’re having some luck catching yellow perch and other panfish species. The weather has been unstable with high winds and temperatures rising over the past week, making the ice in the central Maryland area unsafe to fish on. Some open water creeks on the western side of the state were stocked with rainbow trout for the first wave of preseason trout stocking. For us in the bay, we are finally getting a break with heavy winds and cold temperatures, so in the next few days we should get an idea of where those migratory striped bass have moved to. Some anglers have been fishing the power plant at Calvert Cliffs with mild success, catching one or two striped bass in the 30- to 45-inch range.
Maryland DNR Fishing Report
Maryland DNR Fishing Report is written and compiled by Keith Lockwood, fisheries biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
The cold hand of winter may be loosening its icy grip on the Maryland landscape with warmer temperatures forecast this week. Fast-moving streams and creeks in the western region are providing excellent trout fishing opportunities.
The 2025 striped bass recreational and charter boat summer and fall fishery for the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries, including the Maryland tributaries of the Potomac River will run from May 16, 2025, through July 15, 2025, and August 1, 2025, through December 10, 2025. Minimum size for striped bass is 19 inches and the maximum size for striped bass is 24 inches.
New 2025 recreational fishing regulations for coastal anglers have been posted for several species on the Department’s public notices website, mostly unchanged from 2024.
Upper Bay
Although January has been tough on home heating bills, the cold weather may help set the stage for a good striped bass spawn this spring in the spawning tidal rivers. Time will tell but we have our fingers crossed that conditions will align. Recreational anglers and commercial watermen have been making sacrifices to help build the spawning stock size so this may be the start of a payoff.
The lower Susquehanna River will offer some fishing opportunities in the coming month, depending on ice and weather conditions. Blue catfish will be found holding in the deeper channels. The deep hole below the railroad bridge is always a good place to try. Gizzard shad or menhaden make good baits. Next month that same area is one of the first places to be able to fish for yellow perch. Dropper rigs with enough sinker to hold and baited with small minnows are a popular way to target the yellow perch.
Lower Bay
The Potomac and Nanticoke rivers will provide much of the focus for anglers in the next couple of weeks if the ice recedes and fishing for blue catfish can occur. The blue catfish will be found holding in the deeper channels and often the fishing can be quite good. The deep channel in front of Fort Washington is notorious for holding some of the largest blue catfish and several Maryland state records have been caught there. The channel areas near the mouth of the Marshyhope and Sharptown area is a good place to fish for blue catfish if conditions allow. Fresh gizzard shad or frozen menhaden make good baits and chumming with a chum pot filled with ground menhaden can help attract blue cats closer to your boat.
Freshwater
Ice conditions in most freshwater and tidal areas have made it tough for open water fishing this past month. Warmer weather is in the forecast so hopefully waters will begin to open up. Some of the favorite reservoirs in the central region are closed to fishing until March 15, they include Loch Raven, Liberty, Prettyboy and Piney Run. Triadelphia and Howard Duckett reservoirs are open to fishing when the ice recedes; ice fishing is prohibited in these locations.
Maryland DNR staff have been working hard at the trout hatcheries to keep ice from clogging the rearing raceways and working in the bitter cold. They report that the trout that were reserved from the normal fall trout stockings are growing out well and trout anglers fishing the put and take trout management waters should be pleased.
Following a public comment period, the Department has established changes to the areas managed for put-and-take trout fishing. These changes will maximize trout fishing opportunities for anglers and to reduce the complexity of regulations. You can read more about those updates here.
The pre-season stocking of trout has begun this month but because of ice conditions in many of the small streams and creeks, crews are stocking reservoirs and lakes first.
Anglers have been cautiously ice fishing on several western region lakes and reservoirs recently. Warmer weather is in the forecast and ice conditions may become unsafe rather quickly. Anyone fishing where there is ice needs to follow the Maryland Department of Natural Resources guidelines on ice dangers and safety, found on our Natural Resources Police website.
Anglers hoping to fish open waters will have their chance and some areas like the Upper Potomac and the North Branch of the Potomac can be fished.
As the ice breaks up in the upper sections of the tidal rivers, anglers will once again be able to target chain pickerel for some fun catch and release action. They can often be found holding close to sunken wood and fallen trees along shorelines. A variety of lures will work but single hooks make releasing fish easier on the fish and angler.
Blue catfish and channel catfish can be found hunkered down in the channels in the upper sections of the bay’s tidal rivers. The Potomac, Patuxent, lower Susquehanna, Chester, Choptank, and Nanticoke hold some of the greatest numbers of blue catfish but can be found to some degree in every tidal river feeding into the Chesapeake. Channel catfish and white catfish will also be found in every tidal river.
Atlantic Ocean and Coastal Bays
The biggest show in town is fishing for tautog. They can be found at the Ocean City Inlet and Route 50 Bridge area for shore bound anglers. The boats taking anglers out to the offshore wreck and reef sites are finding good numbers of tautog this month. In some cases, the tautog are reaching double digit sizes.
The 2025 tautog season will run from January 1 through May 15 with a limit of four fish per day per angler. From July 1 through October 31 the daily limit is two fish per day per angler. Beginning November 1 through December 31, the daily limit will again be four fish per day per angler. The minimum size for all seasons will be 16 inches.
New 2025 recreational fishing regulations for coastal anglers have been posted for several species on the Department’s public notices website, mostly unchanged from 2024.
Maryland DNR Fishing Report is written and compiled by Keith Lockwood, fisheries biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.