Southern Maryland anglers are wading through a summer defined by abundance in some species and stubbornness in others, according to this week’s fishing report from Ken Lamb of the St. Mary’s Tacklebox — with spot practically impossible to avoid and croaker suddenly harder to pin down.
Spot are thick throughout the region right now, showing up in the Potomac and Patuxent rivers, area creeks and coves, and open bay water alike. That abundance is a mixed blessing: while plenty of anglers are happy to reel them in, the small, bait-stealing fish have become a persistent nuisance for those specifically chasing croaker, also known locally as hardhead, which have separated from the spot bite this week. Charter captains working the Patuxent reported limiting out on spot with ease while croaker proved elusive. Shore anglers fishing Cedar Point in the evening and overnight hours fared slightly better, landing a croaker roughly every fifth cast — some up to 10 inches — while spot kept biting steadily in between.
White perch have been finicky, largely refusing cast spinners except during the low-light windows around dawn and dusk. Anglers tipping their lures with a small piece of bloodworm have had more luck, though that bait draws its own share of spot, which will readily strip a hook or occasionally strike the lure itself. Lure casters found more consistent perch action in Breton Bay near Abell’s Wharf at sunset last Sunday.
Bluefish are active in both the bay and area rivers. Larger blues are showing on the Middle Grounds and near buoy 72 in the bay, where trolled surgical eels and spoons — fished behind planers or with in-line weights — have produced when the fish are schooled up, though catches remain inconsistent day to day. Smaller blues are feeding on spot in the rivers, giving shore anglers using cut bait a reliable option, and occasional schools have been passing by Point Lookout Pier, briefly turning on everyone fishing there when they arrive.
Cobia and large bull redfish remain scattered around the bay below the Target Ship, on the Mud Leads, the Middle Grounds and near Smith Point. Cornfield Harbor saw a particularly heavy push of bull redfish last week, with pound-net operators reporting they struggled to release the volume of fish that exceeded their legal limits. Alewife, also known as bunker, are schooling in good numbers in the bay this year, a forage base that has helped keep bluefish, redfish and cobia well fed and active. Speckled trout have been quiet, with little to report this week.
Regulatory changes are also shaping what anglers can target this month. Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay striped bass season closes entirely for the month of August — including catch-and-release fishing — under a revised schedule the Department of Natural Resources adopted for 2026. The shift consolidates what had previously been a fragmented set of closures into a single monthlong shutdown timed to periods of high water temperature, when striped bass are more likely to die even after being carefully released. DNR is encouraging anglers to target other species during the closure, including invasive blue catfish and northern snakehead, neither of which carries a bag or size limit.
The Potomac River operates under a separate set of rules managed jointly by Maryland and Virginia through the Potomac River Fisheries Commission. That fishery reopens Aug. 21 after its own summer closure, allowing anglers to keep one striped bass per day measuring between 19 and 24 inches, the same slot limit used elsewhere in the bay during open seasons.
The Chesapeake Bay’s main-stem August closure marks the first time DNR has consolidated the summer shutdown into a single continuous month; in prior years, the bay saw separate closures in the spring and mid-summer with additional restrictions layered on top in specific tributaries. State fisheries officials say the change was developed with input from more than a thousand public comments and is intended to protect younger, resident striped bass during the period when warm water makes catch-and-release fishing riskiest for the fish, even when anglers handle them carefully.
Crabbing, meanwhile, needs no regulatory caveat: crabs are running thick, fast and large across the region this week, giving Southern Maryland’s other signature summer catch a strong showing even as the fish bite stays mixed.
