Maryland and Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report
Sailing out of West Ocean City, Captain Monty Hawkins of Morning Star Fishing will be running sea bass trips beginning today, May 15. He is sold out tomorrow the 16th, but reservations are currently available for dates until June 1. The bag limit is 15 sea bass per day at a minimum size of 13 inches per Maryland DNR regulations. Call 443-235-5577 anytime from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. to reserve your spot along the rail of the Morning Star.
From Ocean City, Taylor Bakke of Always Bent Fishing OC reported that the big migratory striper bite continues to be on fire as they move up the coast. The flounder bite, he said, has also been lights out this week with the best action coming for angler jigging with Gulp. While fishing for speckled trout in the coastal bays this week, Bakke said shad were running thick and his son, Linde, wound up catching his new personal best flounder on a speck lure, which was a nice surprise. There are still quality stripers being caught from the beaches, bridges and piers; his friend landed a 38 incher from the pier while fishing after dark earlier this week.
Anglers Sport Center Fishing Report – Annapolis, MD
The Anglers Sport Center fishing report is written by Anglers Fishing Manager & OTW Columnist, Alex Gallardo-Perez.
Striped bass season opens up this Friday for our early summer season with the same regulations as last year—1 fish between 19 and 24 inches per person. Remember that during the first 15 days, you are only allowed to keep them if you caught them in the main stem of the Chesapeake Bay, not in the rivers or creeks that feed in to the bay. The rivers will remain closed until June 1st.
Some of the best early summer areas to target striped bass are the Bay Bridge pilings, The Hill at the mouth of Eastern Bay, Hacketts Point, and Thomas Point. Most anglers will be using live spot around hard structure like the bridge pilings or rock piles around the lighthouses, or jigging soft plastics over suspended fish around channel edges or submerged structure like mussel beds. Spot and small croakers are around our area as well, mixed in with a few catfish. Some anglers are traveling down to the Virginia Beach area to target the first waves of big bull reds showing up at the mouth of the Chesapeake.
Maryland DNR Fishing Report
Maryland DNR Fishing Report is written and compiled by Keith Lockwood, fisheries biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
Upper Bay
Catch-and-release fishing for hickory shad in the lower Susquehanna is slowing down, as warm water temperatures have caused them to spawn and begin heading down the bay and back to the ocean. Chesapeake Channa are piling up at the Conowingo Dam pool and casting paddletails and a variety of other lures is a good way to get in on the action.
Chesapeake Channa are in a very active feeding mode this month and anglers are enjoying good fishing opportunities in the tidal rivers and creeks of the upper Bay. They can often be found holding close to grass beds and various types of structure. Check the Maryland DNR calendar for Snakes on the Dundee, a Chesapeake Channa fishing tournament scheduled June 7 at Gunpowder Falls State Park. Tournaments like these can provide fun fishing opportunities and educational information for anglers.
This Friday, May 16, the first segment of the 2025 striped bass season will begin. DNR’s striped bass regulation map shows what areas are open, are catch & release only, or closed to striped bass fishing throughout the year. To help upper bay anglers better understand the boundaries May 16-31, we will include them here:
Chesapeake Bay downstream from a line drawn from the south corner of Hart-Miller Island Dike to the end of MD Route 21 at Tolchester and south to the Maryland/Virginia state line, excluding all bays, sounds, tributaries, creeks and rivers. EXCEPT: Tangier Sound and Pocomoke Sound; Chester River and its tributaries downstream of a line drawn from Hail Point to Long Point to Ferry Point; Patuxent River and its tributaries downstream of a line drawn from Point Patience to the west point of land at the entrance of Little Kingston Creek; and Choptank River and its tributaries downstream of a line drawn from Holland Point to a point of land at the west entrance of Chapel Creek are open.
Striped bass anglers are urged to report their catches and fish they release on our Volunteer Angler Survey. The information from anglers is very important to the striped bass program biologists working to protect the fishery.
Middle Bay
Striped bass anglers will be gearing up for the opening day of the 2025 striped bass season this coming Friday, May 16. Anglers need to be aware that these areas will remain closed for the next couple of weeks: Tangier Sound and Pocomoke Sound; Chester River and its tributaries downstream of a line drawn from Hail Point to Long Point to Ferry Point; Patuxent River and its tributaries downstream of a line drawn from Point Patience to the west point of land at the entrance of Little Kingston Creek; and Choptank River and its tributaries downstream of a line drawn from Holland Point to a point of land at the west entrance of Chapel Creek are open.
Trolling along main channel edges with umbrella rigs behind heavy inline weights will be a popular way to fish; most will be using medium-sized bucktails dressed with soft plastics. Tandem rigged bucktails and swimshads will also be popular and will not need an excessive amount of weight. Light tackle jigging will be popular along channel edges and where concentrations of striped bass can be found suspended. The rocks at Poplar Island, the Naval Academy and similar areas will be good places to cast paddletails and topwater lures during the morning and evening hours.
Lower Bay
This coming Friday, May 16, it all begins for striped bass anglers to get out on the Bay and enjoy what they love to fish for. The slot size remains 19 inches to 24 inches with a creel limit of one fish per day per angler in the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay. The Patuxent River and its tributaries downstream of a line drawn from Point Patience to the west point of land at the entrance of Little Kingston Creek, Pocomoke Sound, and Tangier Sound will remain closed till June 1. The Potomac River will be open to striped bass fishing from May 16 through July 6, with a 19-24 inch slot, one fish per day limit. Virginia waters open on May 16 through June 15, with a 20-28 inch slot size, one fish per day limit. If chumming or fishing with bait for striped bass is on your schedule, remember non-offset circle hooks are required, and the use of eels is prohibited.
Black drum are being caught on the Eastern Shore side of the Bay in Tangier and Pocomoke sounds and near the Target ship. Soft crab baits lowered to drum that are located by depth finders is the most popular way to fish for them. Large red drum are expected soon along the eastern side of the Bay and anglers are catching the vanguard of the speckled trout arriving in the region’s shallower waters.
Atlantic Ocean and Coastal Bays
Surf anglers are catching large northward migrating striped bass along the beaches of Assateague. Most of the striped bass being caught must be released because they exceed the slot size of 34 inches, but they are providing many the catch of a lifetime. Clearnose skates are pesky bait stealers so bring plenty of bait. Anglers are using sand fleas in hopes of targeting black drum, but others are using cut menhaden or mullet to target the striped bass and bluefish. Anglers using small baits of bloodworms or artificial bloodworm baits are catching the first kingfish of the season.
At the Ocean City Inlet, anglers are catching a mix of bluefish and striped bass by casting soft plastic jigs, bucktails and Got-Cha type lures. Most of the striped bass are coming up a little short of the minimum 28 inches but are providing plenty of fun catch-and-release fishing. Tautog are in residence at the jetty rocks, bulkheads and bridge piers. The tautog season in Maryland closes May 16 and will not reopen until July 1, with a limit of two tautog per day until October 31. Sand fleas have been the preferred bait, and the change of the tide usually offers the best tautog fishing success.
The warm waters of the coastal bays are drawing flounder in from the ocean and anglers are enjoying good to excellent flounder fishing in the channels leading from the inlet. There are many throwbacks being reported but most anglers can put good catches of flounder exceeding the 16-inch minimum. On June 1, the minimum length for flounder will bump up to 17.5 inches and the catch limit will remain four flounder per person.
Anglers continue to enjoy good fishing for striped bass near the bridge piers of the Route 90 and Verrazzano bridges. The best action is occurring during the early morning and late evening hours. Casting paddletails is the most popular way to fish near the bridge piers and nearby marsh edges.
Anglers fishing the offshore wreck and reef sites are eagerly anticipating the opening of the Maryland black sea bass season which opens today and extends through September 30. The daily limit is 15 sea bass per day at a minimum of 13 inches each. On this unique day of May 15, anglers will also be able to add tautog to their catch, on the last day of that season. The tautog season closes May 16 and will not reopen until July 1 through October 31 with a daily limit of two fish per day at 16 inches each.
Maryland DNR Fishing Report is written and compiled by Keith Lockwood, fisheries biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.