Maryland anglers are enjoying a wide range of fishing opportunities this week. Striped bass anglers are having a good week in all regions of the Chesapeake Bays, freshwater anglers are finding a variety of fish, and the fishing action at Ocean City is pleasing vacationers and locals.
This weekend marks the first day of summer and the longest day of the year – Sunday, June 21. More daylight hours and warmer temperatures can be great for outdoor recreation, but it’s important to protect our natural resources so we can enjoy them for many summers to come.
The Striped Bass Summer Fishing Advisory Forecast is an awareness campaign ?????aimed to reduce striped bass mortality from catch-and-release fishing in hot weather.??
The Department of Natural Resources will monitor temperature forecasts and issue a general recommendation for each day of the coming week.
Forecast Summary: June 17 – June 23
Main Bay surface and river mouth water temperatures have risen slightly to the mid to upper 70s and will likely continue to rise all week. This time of year, bottom waters provide cooler conditions for striped bass than surface waters. Smaller rivers and streams temperatures have also risen to the upper 70s. With warming waters, bottom oxygen levels are starting to decrease. Currently there is adequate oxygen in most Bay bottom waters except from near Quantico to Colonial Beach (Potomac River) and the Swan Point down to the Bay Bridge area.
Expect below 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 Saturday through Tuesday as a result of the new moon on Monday, June 15.
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
At the Conowingo Dam pool anglers are making long casts to reach the turbine wash and the striped bass that hold below it. In the morning and evening hours, casting topwater lures and paddletails has proven to be successful. Casting cut bait can work also with good results for striped bass and a mix of blue catfish and flathead catfish. In the lower Susquehanna anglers are finding striped bass along the edges of the grass flats during the early morning and late evening hours. Poppers and paddletails have been popular lures to use.
Despite many of the larger female blue catfish being in a spawning mode, fishing has been good at the mouth of the Susquehanna and Elk rivers. The upper Bay and all of its tidal rivers also hold populations of blue catfish.
Fishing for striped bass has been good this month in the upper Bay. Live-lining spot is taking center stage, now that spot are readily available. The 30-foot outside edge of Swan Point is reported to be an excellent location to live-line spot as is the area close to Pooles Island and the Love Point rocks. These areas are also good places to jig with soft plastic jigs. Anywhere striped bass can be spotted suspended off the bottom near structure or along channel edges is always a good place to live line spot or jig.
Spot are being found on the shallow west side of the Bay Bridge, Podickory Point, the mouth of the Magothy River, and in the Chester River near Hail Point. At times white perch and small croaker can be in the mix. Anglers are reporting that fishing for white perch in the tidal rivers and creeks of the upper Bay tend to be fair to poor currently.
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.
Anglers report fair to good fishing for white perch in the tidal rivers and creeks within the middle Bay. Most anglers are targeting deep water docks and piers, submerged structure in the form of rocks, and oyster reefs with bottom rigs baited with grass shrimp, peeler crab, or pieces of bloodworms. During the morning and evening casting spin-jigs, small spinnerbaits, and spinners is a fun way to target larger white perch along promising looking shorelines.
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. The outside channel edges from Buoy 68 north past the Southwest and Northwest Middle Grounds up to Buoy 72 have been good places to troll and jig in the past week.
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.
Blue Crabs
Recreational crabbers are experiencing fair to good catches in the middle and lower Bay regions this week. Some of the best catches are coming from the southern region on the eastern side of the Bay. Better crabs are reported in 10-12 feet of water and smaller crabs in the waters less than 8 feet.
Freshwater Fishing
Anglers at Deep Creek Lake are finding smallmouth bass and largemouth bass slipping into a traditional summer pattern of behavior. During the early morning hours, they can be found on main lake points and grass edges. As the sun gets higher in the sky they are moving to find shade under floating docks, fallen treetops and submerged stumps. Bluegills can be found near docks and trout deep along the dam face.
Trout fishing in the Group II Delayed Harvest areas has been good this week after they opened on June 15. Sections of the North Branch of the Potomac, the Casselman and the Youghiogheny are open to trout harvest. Anglers are advised that only specific sections are open and to be familiar with which sections are open to harvest. The DNR website or page 25 of the Maryland Fishing and Crabbing Guide contains the specific information trout anglers will need to fish these areas.
The upper Potomac continues to be running low and clear this week. Long casts and light lines are a must. Smallmouth bass fishing is good for those casting crawfish crankbaits and topwater lures during the early morning hours. Smallmouth and walleye that are holding deep can be targeted with ring worms, paddletails and tubes.
Water levels are low in the central region reservoirs, but fishing continues to be good for a variety of fish. The best fishing opportunities for largemouth bass and smallmouth bass are occurring during the early morning and late evening hours near grass beds and shoreline structure. Spinnerbaits, paddletails, poppers, and soft plastics are all good choices.
Largemouth bass are moving to a summer pattern of behavior where they feed mostly at night and low light conditions and seek cool shade during the day. Targeting floating grass mats during the day with wacky rigged stick worms or soft plastics or flipping them under docks and fallen treetops or working them near deep structure is a good tactic. Topwater lures are a good choice when working grass beds during the morning and evening hours. Chesapeake Channa (snakeheads) are holding in the grass beds of the tidal rivers and can be targeted with frogs, buzzbaits or chatterbaits.
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.
“There is nothing clinical about fishing…there is nothing about it that can be viewed in a clinical vacuum. Everything – as in everything else– relates to everything else; and the deeper one goes, the nearer the quick of life one draws.” – Brian Clarke, 1975
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