Maryland and Chesapeake Bay Fishing Report
Captain Jamie Clough of Eastern Shore Light Tackle Charters said that last week’s storm and high winds whipped up the bay and dirtied up the water a bit, and that had a slightly negative impact on the topwater striped bass bite. According to the skipper, striper fishing remains good, but they’re not catching at the same fast-paced rate as they were prior to the storm. They are still finding bass in shallow water by casting spooks tight to structure and around the banks, but the bass have been far more responsive to rapidly retrieved plugs for some reason. It hasn’t been lock and load fishing, but Capt. Jamie and Capt. Mike have both had some very good days this week. With water temperatures getting much warmer, it won’t be long before they are into a mix of bluefish and red drum. Capt. Jamie thinks it is still a little early for red drum in his area, but this time last year he was already into 5- to 10-pound blues, so he’s hopeful they will fill in soon.
Taylor Bakke of Always Bent Fishing OC had just returned from a trip to the Bay in search of speckled trout and red drum after a slow, but successful mission last week. Bakke said his group caught a few small trout and they spotted plenty of reds and gar in shallow, but getting the fish to eat proved very difficult. Aside from a slight increase in speckled trout and red drum numbers in the marshes of the Bay, Bakke said most of the local fishing remained status quo this week. There’s still a good flounder bite in the backwaters of Ocean City, and sea bass fishing is holding up nicely on the inshore wrecks where anglers are also picking up some nice flounder (fluke). Sheepshead, he added, are chewing in the inlet and on small pieces of structure nearby, and the action just continues to get better. Bluefish and striped bass are still around, too; the bass are mostly slot-size and under, and the bite has been best in the early morning before sunrise and after dark. Offshore, water temperatures are slowly climbing and that has brought in bluefin to the mid-shore lumps, but there are still no signs of yellowfin. Mahi, he said, are kicking around in the canyons and there are some hanging a little further in on the pots.
Captain Monty Hawkins of Morning Star Fishing out of West Ocean City reported up and down action this week on the sea bass grounds—hot one day, mediocre the next, and then the bite rebounds. The weekend started off on a high note with an excellent bite on Friday that brought steady action throughout the day for just about everyone on board. There were loads of shorts and plenty of keepers, with quite a few large in the mix. Of course, a couple of fluke came over the rail as well, including one nice keeper. Saturday was a different story; the fishing was rather slow, with high hook catching 9 keepers and the largest fluke of the day, but the sea bass bite picked up on their final stop (which came an hour later than the skipper planned to be out). On Sunday, anglers aboard the Morning Star put together a nice catch of sea bass thanks to Captain Monty, who did quite a bit of extra moving and resetting to keep everyone’s rods bent. They even stayed out a bit longer again to box a few more keepers so the whole group would have a good haul of meat for the dinner table. Back out there on Tuesday after some maintenance at the dock, the fish were biting but northeast winds made for a few challenging drops and a handful of tangles. Conditions aside, the Tuesday crew still managed to put enough sea bass and fluke on ice for dinner. And on Wednesday, the sea bass showed out and anglers on board experienced what the captain called “our best bite in a while.” That said, fluke were largely out of the picture—a few throwbacks were all they saw come over the rail. There has been some nice variety on the reefs and mostly stable sea bassing for the past week, so call 443-235-5577 to reserve your spot on the Morning Star rail and head to their website for more trip information.
Anglers Sport Center Fishing Report – Annapolis, MD
Written by Anglers Fishing Manager & OTW Columnist, Alex Gallardo-Perez.
Most anglers are still finding striped bass feeding at sunrise and sunset, and some are catching in high-current areas around deeper water. Eastern Bay is still the hot spot for early morning topwater action, Kent Narrows has produced fish once the sun is up high and the tide is moving, and the Patapsco River has some fish holding around the mouth of the river near the Seven Foot Knoll.
Perch fishing is improving with more fish being caught on small inline spinners around shoreline structure. And spot are becoming more abundant with anglers finding good numbers of them around the oyster reefs.
Bluefish are the name of the game down south from Solomons to the Virginia state line, where most anglers are trolling spoons under planers to find the schools.
Maryland DNR Fishing Report
Maryland DNR Fishing Report is written and compiled by Keith Lockwood, fisheries biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Read the full DNR report here.
Middle Bay
The Bay Bridge continues to be a draw for anglers this week. Boats are setting up on running tides on the east side of the bridge near the 30-foot drop-off, drifting live spot and other baits back to the pier bases for striped bass. Other anglers are enjoying good success by casting soft plastic jigs up close to various bridge pier bases. On the west side of the bridge in the shallower waters anglers are finding spot, croaker, and white perch.
Live-lining spot has become very popular along several channel edges this week. There have been some positive reports from the channel edge off Kent Island from the Brick House Bar area (above Kentmorr Marina), south to Bloody Point. A few boats are trolling with umbrella rigs, but live-lining is the most popular way to fish for striped bass. Jigging is a close second. The action picks up again along the edge from Buoy 84A south to Stone Rock, the Clay Banks, and the False Channel. The Kent Narrows area should not be overlooked when live-lining spot or jigging for striped bass. Spotting suspended striped bass on depth finders is a key to success. Bluefish are part of the mix this week. Thomas Point is a good spot to check on the western shore. Warming water temperatures require careful release techniques to ensure fish survival.
Shallow-water fishing for striped bass along Bay shores and in the lower sections of the region’s tidal rivers continues to be good, although anglers will begin to see a higher percentage of smaller striped bass. Water temperatures are still in the upper 70s and the best fishing opportunities will be early in the morning and late in the evening as water temperatures warm. Poppers and skipping bugs are the most fun, but paddletails and jerkbaits work well also. Shoreline structure and prominent points all point the way to finding striped bass. Speckled trout are showing up now and then, and cownose rays can really muddy the shallows up.
Lower Bay
The higher salinity values in the lower Bay may urge Spanish mackerel and cobia to arrive a little earlier and stay longer. Clearer water and saltier water are a result of the current drought in Maryland. The 2026 Maryland cobia season opened on June 15. The minimum size is 43 inches total length, one cobia per day per angler and 2 cobia per vessel with 2 or more anglers onboard. The minimum length for Spanish mackerel is 14 inches with a creel limit of 15 fish per day. The bluefish daily limit is five fish.
Anglers are enjoying good fishing for striped bass this week in a variety of locations and water depths. As waters in the lower Bay push past the mid 70s, anglers will see the larger slot size striped bass in deeper and cooler waters during the day. Slot-size striped bass can be found in shallower waters during the early morning and late evening hours.
The waters of the lower Potomac and Patuxent rivers are good places to live-line spot or jig along channel edges. The 30-foot depth in these areas tend to be one of the best depths to fish. Channel edges in many other locations can offer good fishing for striped bass, it may just take a little exploring with depth finders. Some of the artificial reef sites are also worth checking with depth finders.
The early morning and late evening hours offer good striped bass fishing in some of the shallower waters of the Bay and tidal rivers. The St. Marys River, Cedar Point, Tangier Sound and the cuts through Hoopers Island are good places to cast paddletails, soft plastic jigs, and poppers. Speckled trout can be part of the mix this week.
Trolling can be an option for anglers. Umbrella rigs are still popular as are tandem rigged bucktails and swim shads. Anglers are now placing Drone spoons in their trolling spreads now that bluefish can be found in the lower bay and there is the possibility of Spanish mackerel.
A mix of spot and croaker can be found in a variety of locations in the lower Bay this week. The Cobb Island area, the mouth of the Wicomico and St. Marys rivers, and Cornfield Harbor in the lower Potomac are good places to look for them. The mouth of the Patuxent is a popular location to catch them as is Tangier Sound and the mouth of the Honga River. Most of the croaker tend to measure a little short of the required 9-inch minimum. White perch can be mixed in at times.
Large red drum are providing some exciting catch and release action this week. The areas around the Target Ship and Point Lookout are being reported as good places to jig, troll or to drop soft crab baits to fish when spotted by slicks, cloudy water or marks on a depth finder. Cobia are anticipated to be roaming the same areas this week.
Atlantic Ocean and Coastal Bays
Surf anglers are enjoying catches of kingfish and a mix of flounder, blowfish, and bluefish this week. Bloodworms and artificial bloodworm baits are good choices for the kingfish; squid works well for the flounder and blowfish. Bluefish are being caught on cut mullet or finger mullet.
At the inlet and Route 50 Bridge area, striped bass are being caught during the morning and evening hours near jetty rocks, bridge piers and dock piers. Casting soft plastic jigs and paddletails are popular lures. At night anglers are catching striped bass and bluefish by drifting cut bait. Sheepshead are being caught near the jetty rocks and bulkheads on sand fleas.
Flounder fishing has been good in the channels leading from the inlet and some channel areas farther inside the back bay areas. In front of the airport is reported to be a good spot to drift for flounder. Striped bass are still entertaining anglers during the early morning and late evening hours at the Verrazzano and Route 90 bridge piers. Casting soft plastic jigs and paddletails are popular choices for lures.
Fishing for black sea bass remains good at the offshore wreck and reef sites. Flounder can be found at the same sites and on shoals and lumps outside the inlet. At the canyon areas, the first white marlin release was reported, and some yellowfin tuna and golden tilefish were brought to the docks.
Maryland DNR Fishing Report is written and compiled by Keith Lockwood, fisheries biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Read the full DNR report here.