Maryland Fishing

Maryland offers fishing as one of those things you don't want to miss!

If you want to fish in Ocean City you should consider  fishing from the inlet jetty, off the North end jetties using green crab and sand fleas. This is great bait for the tautog during the colder months and the Sheepshead during the warmer months. You can use artificial lures such as Gotcha plugs, bucktails and storm lures or fresh squid, mullet or shiners for bait to catch trout, flounder or bluefish.

There are also free public fishing areas inshore from the 2nd through 4th Street Bulkhead.  Try using minnows, shiners and squid for flounder, bluefish and small sea bass. Bloodworms work best for Norfolk Spot.

The Rt.50 bridge has proven to be an excellent place to catch flounder using frozen shiners, worms for small fish like spot, lures (great for night time fishing) use below the lights or squid for bluefish.  

Try the Ocean City Inlet for spot, kingfish

or whiting, sand-perch, croaker or hardhead, flounder, striped bass, and trout. You should consider using bloodworms, or squid for the smaller fish and using mullet strips to fish for flounder, bluefish, small sharks and trout and other larger fish.  If you plan on fishing from the Oceanic Pier at the end of Philadelphia Ave. near the inlet, try using shiners, squid or live minnows for flounder, bluefish and trout. 

Use bait such as bloodworms or night-crawlers for small fish like spot.  Lures work well at night.  The Rt. 50 Bridge is a very popular area for fishing all year. Live minnows for flounder and bluefish by day and lures under the bright lights at night for Striped Bass. 

If you want to fish from a boat and require a public ramp this is a suggested list to choose from:
1.  Gum Point Rd. (Off Rt. 589, West Ocean City)
2.  OC Commercial Harbor (12806 Sunset Ave, West Ocean City)
3.  87th St. (Bering Rd. Bayside, Ocean City

Are you thinking about chartering a boat and fishing offshore?  There are so many wonderful experiences when you join others under the tutelage of an experienced captain of a fishing vessel.  The folks at the docks are waiting to weigh and clean your catch.  That alone is amazing to watch.  There is little more enjoyable than eating your freshly caught fish.

Eagerly awaiting spring, fishermen face their favorite time of the year...Fishing Time.

If surf fishing is something you want to try, Ocean City offers 8 miles of fishing from the sand. During the summer, you may only fish from 6pm - 9am during the summer months. Assateague Island offers 14 miles of beach to fish and has a significantly different beach structure. If you have an OSV (On Sand Vehicle) you may apply for a permit and drive on the beach to find your fishing spot.

During the summer months, smaller fish such as kingfish or whiting, croaker and flounder can be caught from the surf.

In September, Red Drum or Channel Bass make their way by Assateague Island and are very fun to catch. The average Red Drum caught from the surf usually measures around 45 inches! They are extremely powerful and elusive fish. If you do catch one, they are protected and must be released unless they are between 18-27 inches.

There is, however, little known about the lifecycle of the Red Drum after the puppy drum stage (up to approximately three years).   Their migration habits for adult courtship and spawning still remain a puzzle.  The adults aggregate in large schools moving southward in the late fall for the winter and northward in the early spring for the summer.  They feed on shrimp, crabs, and other fish.  Experts think the fish can live approximately 60 years.   It is believed the spawning occurs in inlets and the young fish in and around Pamlico Sound. 

Their name Red Drum is due to the fact that the males make a loud distinct drumming sound by vibrating a muscle in their swim bladder to attract females.  I have to take this opportunity to show what Virgil Kilgore caught off of Assateague Island in the 70s.  You will have to guess at the weight, but it looks like this big one didn't get away.


       The Red Drum is related to spotted sea trout, weakfish, sea mullets, croaker, spot and black drum which also make drum sounds. Its color can range from a deep dark coppery color to almost silver, but they are most likely found to be reddish-bronze.  The Drum has a black spot on its tail also known as a false eye which could possibly attract predator fish to their tail instead of their head giving them a better chance of escape.  A Red Drum averages in weight from 30 to 40 pounds. 

A young Red Drum is also known as a Puppy Drum weighing approximately eight pounds and this is most likely the size you caught most often.  In 1984 a huge Red Drum was caught off Hatteras Island weighing 94 lbs 2 oz. Out of the 16 current world records 10 of these Drum were caught in North Carolina. 

From October through December, you can catch Striped Bass that are making their fall run south to warmer water. Stripers can be kept if they are over 28 inches and an anger is allowed two per day. You can catch a Striped Bass, or locally called "rockfish", from the surf using a standard fish finder rig with large circle hooks and fresh bunker for bait. Stripers usually range from 20" - 45" but have been caught up to 53" and over 57lbs. These huge migrating schools of Striped Bass will make a return trip north during the months of March through June.

Offshore fishing in Maryland is HUGE. There are hundreds of very nice boats that run up to 65 miles off the coast of Maryland in search of Bluefin Tuna, Yellowfin Tuna, Wahoo, White Marlin, Blue Marlin and Mako Sharks. The Ocean City fishing Center and The Sunset Marina are great places to start if you are interested in an offshore trip.

We receive a lot of confusing information today about what and how much we should eat to maintain a healthy diet.   However, much of the information is confusing, including information regarding the consumption of fish.  The first thing we should be aware of is that fish continues to represent an important factor in a balanced diet.  Thanks to the joint effort of the FDA and the EPA, we are given clear guidelines that will allow us to enjoy the health benefits while alerting us to the harmful effects of mercury.  Fish an important part of every person's balanced diet.  They are high in protein, low in saturated fat and contain nutrients that are necessary for proper development and growth; especially to pregnant women, nursing mothers, women that may become pregnant and young children.  The caution is to simply avoid fish that are higher in mercury.  You should be aware that the US food supply is one of the safest in the world.

Maryland DNR fish consumption advisory gives recommended maximum meals each year for Maryland Waters. It is advisable to check on the water quality conditions for the area that you intend to fish.

Fishing on the Chesapeake Bay

Maryland's recreational fishing requirements and rules are divided up into Tidal (Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries) and non-tidal (freshwater).   If you catch a tagged fish, it is important to report it.

The Chesapeake Bay offers a wealth of sport fishing opportunities.  Favorite Chesapeake Bay species include rockfish or more commonly known as striped bass.  Some fun facts are: The largest striped bass was 125 lb. female.  The oldest was 31-years-old. The Chesapeake Bay record is 67lbs 8 oz.  The average Chesapeake Bay six-year-old female bass produces 500,000 eggs while a 15-year-old can produce over 3,000,000 eggs.  Striped bass tagged in the Chesapeake Bay have been found in Canadian waters over 1,000 miles away.  Striped bass used to be so plentiful that they were used to fertilize fields.  Tagging fish is very important and sometimes there is a modest reward offered for information involving a tagged fish.

The next species is the bluefish with the largest being caught in 1903 measuring 3 ft, 9" and weighed in at 27 pounds.  The oldest bluefish caught was 12-years-old. The peak abundance of bluefish near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay occurs in April-July and again in October - November.  Bluefish are so voracious they will even kill prey they do not eat and have occasionally bitten human swimmers who were unfortunate enough to encounter a feeding
school. The largest Chesapeake Bay Black drum

was caught off Cape Charles in 1973 and weighed 111 pounds.  The drum family, Sciaenidae, is found in all temperate and tropical waters, comprises approximately 270 species, 14 of which are found in the Chesapeake Bay.  The maximum adult size is 5 1/2 feet long with a weight of 146 pounds.

The largest summer flounder ever caught measured four feet and weighed 30 lbs.  The oldest ever recorded was aged at 20 years.  In Maryland's portion of the Chesapeake Bay, the record for summer flounder weighed 15 pounds and was taken at Buoy #50. The spot's

Chesapeake Bay angling record in Maryland was caught in Tangier Sounds and weighed two pounds.  The largest spot ever recorded measured 14" long and the oldest was five years of age.

The Atlantic croakercaught by angling in the Chesapeake Bay was taken in 1980 and weighed 6.2 pounds.  The oldest croaker ever recorded was 8-years-old.  Due to different temperature conditions, northern populations of croaker spawn earlier in the season, reach maturity later, are larger in size, and live longer than southern populations.

There are Chesapeake Bay Charter fishing boats operating throughout the Maryland and Virginia regions of the Bay.  Taking a charter is a great choice to enjoy a good day of Chesapeake Bay fishing.  Charter captains know where the fish are and how to catch them.  They will provide the fishing tackle and bait and they'll ice down your catch for you.  There are Charter services that guarantee that if you don't catch a fish you don't have to pay. That's a fisherman's dream come true.  After returning many docks provide a cleaning service and you can plan your next fish dinner around the fish you just caught.