Brian Buckman is all smiles with this northern pike that he caught and released recently. Photo courtesy of Brian Buckman
It was a cloudy and overcast Memorial Day Weekend, not ideal for the beach and picnics, but a great one for fishing. Anglers across Maryland enjoyed a variety of different fishing adventures.
Starting Monday June 1, fishing for striped bass will get a lot easier to understand when all waters of Maryland’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay and tidal rivers will open to striped bass fishing until July 31. A 19-inch to 24-inch slot will still be in effect, with a one fish per day limit for anglers.
There will be a full moon this week, the second this month designating it a blue moon. This will trigger the annual May worm swarms and fish will take full advantage of the nutritious feast. Spot have arrived in many portions of the Bay and anglers are reminded that they must use non-offset circle hooks when targeting striped bass with live bait or cut bait.
Forecast Summary: May 27 – June 2
As reported by the NOAA buoys, main Bay surface and river mouth water temperatures have dropped slightly to the upper 60s and will likely remain stable all week. Smaller rivers and streams temperatures are also holding at the upper 60s. However, smaller streams and downwind areas on a sunny day will warm faster and will often hold water temperatures in the low to mid 70s. With warming waters, bottom oxygen levels are starting to decrease. Currently there is adequate oxygen in most Bay bottom waters except near Quantico (Potomac River) and the Bay Bridge.
Expect average flows for most Maryland rivers and streams. Expect average clarity for most Maryland portions of the Bay and rivers. To see the latest water clarity conditions on NOAA satellite maps, check Eyes on the Bay Satellite Maps. There will be above average tidal currents all week as a result of the May 31 full moon. Expect horseshoe crabs to start appearing on local beaches with salinities above 6ppt for their spring spawning migration.
For more detailed and up-to-date fishing conditions in your area of the Bay, be sure to check out Eyes on the Bay’s Click Before You Cast.
Upper Chesapeake Bay
Craig Roberts caught this striped bass while casting bucktails at the Bay Bridge recently. Photo courtesy of Craig Roberts
The weekend rain brought about some increased flows at the Conowingo Dam this week and anglers are fishing at the dam pool for blue and flathead catfish with good results. The blue catfish action mixed with channel catfish continues down the Susquehanna and out into the upper Bay. All the region’s tidal rivers also hold populations of blue and channel catfish.
Overcast conditions often make for excellent fishing for striped bass, which anglers are reporting this week. Casting paddletails and soft plastic jigs near structure and jigging along channel edges is a very popular way to fish and obtain good results. Pooles Island, Hart-Miller Island, the Love Point rocks, the mouth of the Patapsco River, and Baltimore Harbor are all good places to fish with light tackle. Trolling umbrella rigs along the 30-foot channel edges has been a good way to search for striped bass when fish are spread out.
The season’s first spot are reported to be found off Sandy Point State Park and anglers are catching enough to do some live-lining for striped bass. White perch are being found at the west end of the Bay Bridge, at the mouth of the Magothy River, and the lower sections of the region’s tidal rivers.
Brennan and Jace Horton had fun fishing with their dad during a foggy and overcast weekend on the Bay. Photo by Nathan Horton
Fishing for striped bass at the Bay Bridge piers has been good this past week and should continue. Boats have been anchoring up-current of the bridge piers on the east side and drifting live spot and assorted baits back to the pier bases. Other anglers are positioning close to the piers and casting soft plastic jigs to the pier bases with good success.
Striped bass fishing is very good for light tackle anglers casting and jigging in many traditional locations in the middle Bay. Eastern Bay, Poplar Island, Thomas Point, and the mouth of the Choptank River are just a few locations where casting paddletails and soft plastic jigs is working well. The shallow waters are good places to cast paddletails and topwater lures. The deeper channel edges are the places to jig with soft plastics. The bluefish have made it to the middle bay region in the past week, so it might not be uncommon for some soft plastics to get chewed up.
Trolling along channel edges at about the 30-foot depth is another good way to target striped bass this week. The channel edges at Bloody Point, the Buoy 83 edge, and the False Channel are just a few of the good places to troll. Umbrella rigss with bucktail trailers have been popular. With the arrival of bluefish in the region, placing Drone spoons in a trolling spread might be a good idea. Spot are arriving in the region and anglers are already taking advantage of this little striper candy and live-lining at favorite locations.
White perch are slowly moving into their summer habitat locations at the mouths of tidal rivers and creeks near oyster reefs and structure in the form of docks, piers, and submerged structure. Bottom rigs baited with grass shrimp or pieces of bloodworm work well around deep structure. Casting spin jigs and various small lures along promising looking shoreline structure is a fun way to fish in the evenings with light tackle.
Lower Bay
This angler holds up a nice striped bass as the sun sets on the lower Chesapeake. Photo by Travis Long
Deeper waters along channel edges are being targeted by anglers jigging with soft plastic jigs or by trolling with umbrella rigs down along the 30-foot edges. It is a good idea to place a few Drone spoons behind inline weights for the bluefish that are in the region. The steep channel edge of the Potomac from St. Georges Island to Piney Point. The lower Patuxent and the eastern side of the bay from Buoy 76 to Buoy 72 are worth exploring.
Red and black drum are being found on the eastern side of the Bay from the Middle Grounds up past the Target Ship and Tangier Sound. Finding them on depth finders and dropping soft crab baits to them is the most popular way to fish. Red drum can also be caught by jigging with large soft plastics or trolling large spoons behind inline weights.
Spot have arrived in the lower Patuxent River, St. Marys River, near Hoopers Island, and Tangier Sound, and anglers will begin to live-line spot near traditional channel edges. Anglers must remember to use non-offset circle hooks whenever targeting striped bass with live or cut bait.
White perch are steadily moving into their typical summer habitats; some report the process seems a little slower than previous years. Bottom rigs baited with grass shrimp or pieces of bloodworm work well in deeper waters, casting spin jigs and small lures in shallower waters can provide a lot of fun fishing.
Blue Crabs
Many crabbers were out in force over the weekend during foggy and sometimes rainy weather, trying to provide crabs for a Memorial Day Weekend gathering. Most managed to put a catch together in all regions of the Bay. The recreational crabbers in the lower Eastern Shore seemed to do best and most reported 8-12 feet of water was the sweet spot for crabs.
Larry Henry sent in a picture of a 6-pound walleye he caught recently at Triadelphia Reservoir, a tribute to the Joseph Manning Warm Water Hatchery program. Photo by Larry Henry
Maryland’s spring trout stocking season is now complete. Stocking began in February and wrapped up on May 18. A total of 254,810 trout were stocked; 182,260 trout were stocked into open waters and 72,550 stocked under the closure period. Trout were stocked into 118 waterbodies, including 53 streams and rivers and 65 lakes and ponds. The next period of regular trout stocking will begin in October.
Due to warming water temperatures, some delayed harvest trout management waters (known as Group I) in the central and parts of the western region will open to trout harvest from June 1 to September 30. Other areas known as Group II, which are in the western region, will open to trout harvest from June 16 to September 30. This strategy allows anglers to enjoy catch-and-release during months when cold water temperatures provide good trout survival, and to be able to keep five trout per day when water temperatures become too warm for good trout survival. Check our trout fishing webpage for more information
To understand put-and-take trout angler preferences and success, the department conducted an online creel survey of trout anglers during the spring 2026 season. Thank you to the nearly 9,000 anglers who have participated in the survey, staff will be evaluating the survey results and preparing a report.
Many Maryland rivers and streams received some much-needed rainfall, which resulted in a bump in flows. The upper Potomac River levels at Paw Paw were gauged at four feet last Thursday and are predicted to be at 17 feet on May 28. The North Branch, which is higher in the watershed, only saw a three-foot gauge increase. River flows will decrease in the coming weeks.
The fish hatchery program supplements the smallmouth bass and walleye populations in the upper Potomac each year with fingerlings to help boost the recruitment of these valuable species. Walleye fingerlings are also stocked in selected rivers and reservoirs to offer anglers increased fishing opportunities.
The Triadelphia Reservoir will receive walleye fingerlings that measure about one inch or so. Fisheries biologist Ross Williams remarked that this program goes back as far as 1992. In a 2024 gill net survey at Triadelphia Reservoir, biologists surveyed 11 walleye that weighed between 3 pounds. and pounds. Walleye fingerlings are also stocked on a regular basis in the lower Susquehanna River, Rocky Gorge, Liberty and Savage reservoirs.
Anglers fishing for largemouth bass are enjoying great fishing opportunities this week. The bass are in a post-spawn feeding pattern and are feeding through the day due to cooler water temperatures and overcast skies. The intermediate waters outside of the shallow grass areas are a good place to target with spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, crankbaits and soft plastics. The shallower grass beds are a good place to target with topwater lures.
Chesapeake Channa, aka snakeheads, will also be found in the grass bed areas in tidal waters, and many are beginning to spawn. Noisey and disruptive topwater lures are a good choice to attract the attention of parent fish who may be protective of eggs or fry balls.
Fishing for chain pickerel always provides exciting fishing entertainment and they can be found on the outside edges of grass beds. Crappie can be found holding near structure this month. Various species of sunfish can be found roaming outside the shallower waters.
Blue catfish and channel catfish offer plenty of active fishing in the bay’s tidal rivers and flathead catfish in the upper Potomac are providing action. Blue and channel catfish will be attracted to cut baits and scented baits. The flathead catfish prefer live bait.
John Eberhard caught and released this striped bass at Assateague Island. Photo courtesy of John Eberhard
Surf anglers are enjoying good fishing off the beaches of Ocean City and Assateague Island. Anglers fishing with large cut baits are catching large striped bass, red drum and bluefish. Most of the striped bass measure over the maximum slot size of 31 inches, but provide exciting catch-and-release action, as do the large red drum. Black drum are being caught on sand fleas and clams.
At the Ocean City Inlet and Route 50 Bridge area, anglers are catching striped bass by casting soft plastic jigs and paddletails. A fair number of the striped bass being caught are falling within the 28-31 inch slot. Anglers drifting cut baits in the inlet during the evening hours are catching good numbers of striped bass. Flounder are moving through the inlet and there is catch and release fishing for tautog.
The back bay channels leading from the inlet are good places to drift for flounder, as they move through those channels and spread out throughout the back bay waters. Striped bass are being caught near the bridge piers of the Route 90 and Verrazzano bridges, by anglers casting soft plastic jigs and paddletails.
Fishing offshore at the wreck and reef for black sea bass has been very good with limit catches being common. Flounder and ling can be part of the mix for anglers. Farther offshore at the canyons, anglers are finding the first of the yellowfin tuna and dolphin and there have been reports of bluefin tuna moving through the canyon areas.
“There is only one theory about angling in which I have perfect confidence and that is that the two words, least appropriate to any statement about it, are the words ‘always’ and ‘never’ ”. Lord Grey of Fallodon, 1899
Maryland Fishing Report is written and compiled by Keith Lockwood, fisheries biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
The Forecast Summary is written by Tidewater Ecosystem Assessment Director Tom Parham.
A reminder to all Maryland anglers, please participate in DNR’s Volunteer Angler Surveys. This allows citizen scientists to contribute valuable data to the monitoring and management of several important fish species.
