ANNAPOLIS – Graduations and school dismissals are setting our younger anglers free to spend more time outdoors. Be sure to carve out time for some fishing adventures in Maryland’s varied waters. 

Maryland will host the third of three license-free fishing days July 4. During a free fishing day, a person may catch and possess finfish in the tidal and nontidal waters of Maryland for recreational purposes without an angler’s license, Chesapeake Bay sportfishing license or any fishing stamp normally required by the Department of Natural Resources. All other fishing laws and regulations will apply on those days. Ask a neighbor or friend who doesn’t fish to join you and pick up this great pastime.

Middle Bay

Striped bass fishing in the main portion of the middle Bay is still slow this week. Anglers are trolling the shipping channel edges without much luck, and others report having a tough time finding fish on depth finders to set up for jigging. Soft plastic jigs are the most popular lures, and shades of chartreuse and lime tend to be a favorite. The breakwater at the west side of Poplar Island is producing some striped bass for those casting topwater lures and paddletails early in the morning. There is some good news from the tidal rivers where there is good shallow water fishing.

Thomas Point is often a stop for anglers but we’re not hearing a whole lot of success there. A few striped bass are being picked up by the persistent. A few people have tried setting up on the outside edge and either chumming or chunking, using spot for live-lining. Spot are beginning to show up at the entrance to Whitehall Bay, out in front of Chesapeake Beach and inside Black Walnut Point. If you can put some spot in a live well and can locate suspended striped bass along a channel edge, this is one of the best options for catching them. 

Anglers are finding white perch mixed in with the spot but also finding good numbers of spot in the tidal rivers and creeks. Oyster reefs, deepwater docks and piers are good places to find them; grass shrimp or pieces of bloodworm on a bottom rig or small jig head work well. In the evenings, the white perch will venture into shallower waters near prominent points and submerged breakwaters. Casting small spinners, spinnerbaits and jigs is a fun way to catch them on light tackle.

Lower Bay

Striped bass are being caught in a variety of ways in the lower Bay. Anglers are trolling, jigging, live-lining and fishing with soft crab baits. Trolling tandem rigged bucktails dressed with shads or curly-tails, umbrella rigs and small spoons all work. Striped bass are being found suspended close to the bottom in deep water along the channel edges and heavy inline weights will be needed to reach them.

There are plenty of blue catfish to entertain anglers in the tidal Potomac, Patuxent, Nanticoke and Wicomico rivers this week. Most any kind of fresh cut bait, chicken liver, wild shrimp or a variety of scented baits will work well. Northern snakeheads are beginning to enter their spawning phase and are showing little interest in lures at times. 

Bluefish are being caught in the lower Bay this week as an incidental catch when trolling live-lining, jigging or drifting soft crab baits. As June rolls along we will see more of them. Large red drum are filtering in this week on the eastern side of the Bay from the Middle Grounds past the Target Ship. Black drum can also be found in the same areas.

Crabbing

Recreational crabbers are finding better opportunities this week in the middle and lower Bay. The best crabbing tends to be farther up the creeks and rivers, perhaps due to the lack of rain; salinity values are elevated in the tidal creeks and rivers. Most crabbers are catching a half-bushel or more per outing and they also report razor clams are outperforming chicken necks on trotlines and collapsible crab traps. Catches are somewhat lower in the upper Bay tidal creeks and rivers.

Freshwater Fishing

Fishing for largemouth bass is excellent this week in the ponds, reservoirs and tidal waters throughout Maryland. The largemouth bass are beginning to shift to their typical summer mode of feeding from early evening to late morning, and these hours will constrict as water temperature and daylight hours increase. Targeting the shallower waters with topwater lures in the early morning and late evening will offer a lot of exciting topwater action with poppers, frogs and buzzbaits. As the sun rises in the sky, largemouth bass will seek shade under thick mats of grass, overhanging brush, deep shaded structure, lily pad and spatterdock fields. Wacky rigged stick worms are a great bait to use in these situations. 

Fishing for northern snakeheads is beginning to slow down in some areas as the snakeheads begin their spawning phase. It can be tough to get them to strike a lure during this time, which will last much of June. Blue catfish are also spawning but they seem to keep their appetite and are providing plenty of good fishing in the tidal rivers throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Ocean and Coastal Bays

The Ocean City area has been hampered by strong northeast winds creating some difficult fishing conditions offshore, along the beaches and in the coastal bays. Kingfish have arrived along the beaches and can be caught on bloodworms or artificial bloodworm baits. A mix of striped bass and bluefish are being caught on large cut baits along the beaches of Assateague Island. Inshore sharks are also being caught and anglers are reminded that sharks need to be released in the water and should not be dragged up on the beach for pictures.  Remember, if you don’t know, let it go. To learn more about shark identification there is an awesome shark ID guide on the NOAA Fisheries website. Maryland regulations require in-water release of any shark that is not being kept; corrodible circle hooks are required except when fishing with artificial flies or lures, and you must possess at least one device capable of quickly cutting either the leader or the hook.

At the inlet and Route 50 Bridge area, a mix of striped bass and bluefish are being caught by anglers casting soft plastic jigs or Got-Cha type lures along the jetty rocks, bulkheads and bridge piers. Drifting cut baits is also a viable option for anglers. The throwback ratio on striped bass is high but most anglers can catch one striped bass in the 28-inch to 31-inch size range. 

Maryland Fishing Report is written and compiled by Keith Lockwood, fisheries biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.