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Fishing rules·MD

Maryland fishing rules

License, gear, and the statewide limits DNR publishes for major species. Water-specific rules replace these numbers. Last checked October 2026.

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License

Who needs one
Individuals under 16 do not need a license to fish recreationally. Everyone else needs the license that matches the water. An annual nontidal license covers fresh water for 365 days from purchase. A Chesapeake Bay and Coastal Sport Fish License covers the Chesapeake Bay, its tributaries, and state waters of the Atlantic Ocean and coastal bays, also for 365 days from purchase. A trout stamp is required for anyone 16 or older to catch, attempt to catch, or possess trout from nontidal waters. The license page checked does not state how long a person must live in Maryland before buying a resident license.
Residents
The sport-fishing license page lists a resident annual nontidal license at $32 and a resident 7-day nontidal license at $16. The resident trout stamp is $20. The resident annual Chesapeake Bay and Coastal license is $15, and the resident 7-day coastal license is $6. A resident 65 or older, or who turns 65 in the calendar year, may buy a Resident Senior Consolidated License for $12, which covers nontidal and tidal fishing but no longer includes the trout stamp. Residents on active military duty with leave orders are among the people who do not need a tidal license.
Nonresidents
A nonresident annual nontidal license is at least $55 or the fee the angler’s home state charges a Maryland resident, whichever is greater. The nonresident trout stamp is $30. The nonresident annual Chesapeake Bay and Coastal license is $22.50, and the 7-day license is $12. A 3-day nontidal license is sold to nonresidents only, at the reciprocal fee the home state charges a Maryland resident. Anglers who are not required to hold a Bay and Coastal license and who fish the Chesapeake Bay or tidal Potomac still need a free Maryland saltwater angler registration in the cases listed on the license page, including passengers on a boat with a pleasure-boat decal and people fishing a designated tidal free-fishing area.
Free fishing days
Maryland’s free fishing days are the first two Saturdays in June and July 4. In 2026 those dates are June 6, June 13, and July 4. On a free fishing day a person may catch and possess finfish in tidal and nontidal waters without an angler’s license, a Chesapeake Bay sportfishing license, or a fishing stamp the state normally requires. All other fishing laws and regulations still apply. No license or registration is required that day.

Seasons and closures

  • Nontidal and tidal water

    Nontidal rules apply upstream of the tidal/nontidal dividing line for that river. Downstream of that line, Chesapeake or coastal rules apply, and the license changes with the line. Most nontidal species in the freshwater table are open year-round. Black bass possession is closed March 1 through June 15, with catch-and-release still allowed. Herring and shad are closed to harvest in nontidal water, with catch-and-release allowed. Trout streams that hold trout are closed to fishing from 10 p.m. to 5:30 a.m., except nontidal impoundments of 5 acres or more. A special-regulation water replaces the statewide creel or season.

  • Chesapeake striped bass in 2026

    The Baseline Season Adjustment took effect April 1, 2026. Outside the Susquehanna Flats, Lower Susquehanna, and Northeast River, harvest of one fish from 19 to 24 inches is open on the May dates and areas in the guide, statewide in the Bay from June 1 through July 31, and from September 1 through December 5. August 1 through August 31 is closed to targeting. January 1 through February 28 and December 6 through December 31 are catch-and-release only, and eels may not be used as bait in those closures and through May 15. Spawning rivers and the Upper Bay spawning area stay off limits on the spring dates the guide marks. Susquehanna Flats rules differ and are closed to targeting from April 1 through May 31 upstream of the Abbey Point to Worton Point line.

Legal gear

  • Hooks and barbless rules

    Nontidal hook-and-line, rod-and-reel, and hand-line fishing requires the angler to be in control of the gear. Snagging is not legal. Up to three lines may be used, with no more than two hook units per line. While ice fishing, five tip-ups or rods may be used. An ice hole may not measure more than 10 inches in any direction. Tidal waters also prohibit snagging and limit a line to two hook units. The tidal gear table does not set a three-line cap. In the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, chumming requires a non-offset circle hook, and live-lining requires a non-offset circle hook unless the bait is a minnow or another fish under 4 inches other than spot or white perch. From March 1 through May 15, Bay and tidal-tributary anglers must use barbless hooks while trolling and may not use stinger hooks. Special trout areas that prohibit barbed hooks replace the general rule on those waters.

  • Rods per angler

    The nontidal active-line limit is three, or five tip-ups or rods while ice fishing. Tidal jugs may be used only in Chesapeake tributaries, only from July 1 through February 28, and only up to 10 jugs with no more than two hooks and one line per jug. Jugs must be attended from sunset to sunrise and may not be used for largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, striped bass, sharks, snapping turtles, or threatened or endangered species. From March 1 through May 15, no more than six lines may be used while trolling for striped bass in the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries during the periods the 2026 compliance guide marks with that restriction. Sabiki rigs and mackerel trees are illegal in Maryland waters. An umbrella rig in tidal water may have no more than two hooks or two sets of hooks.

  • Nets

    Nontidal seines used for minnows and bait fish may have mesh no greater than 1/4 inch and may not exceed 6 feet by 4 feet. They may not be used within 50 feet of a dam or a river mouth and must be emptied on shore. Nets may not be baited. Except for landing nets, nets may not be used in a trout management area, and a nonresident may use only landing nets. Dip nets in nontidal water are limited to listed stretches of the Potomac, Monocacy, and Conococheague and to carp, catfish, northern snakehead, or suckers. Landing nets may be used only to land a fish caught another way. Tidal cast nets may not have a radius over 10 feet. Tidal seines for minnows and bait fish may be up to 50 feet by 5 feet with mesh no greater than 1/4 inch.

  • Snagging

    Snagging is not a legal recreational method in nontidal or tidal waters. In Deer Creek and Swan Creek in Harford County, fish may be taken only by hook and line held so the fish voluntarily takes the bait or lure in its mouth. Striped bass must be landed whole, and filleted striped bass may not be possessed on a boat in tidal waters.

  • Spearing and bow

    A bow, gig, spear, or spear gun in nontidal water must have a retrieval line, except a gig, which must be hand-propelled and have only three prongs. That gear may not be used for trout, walleye, striped bass or hybrids, northern pike, muskellunge or tiger muskie, largemouth or smallmouth bass, snapping turtles, or threatened or endangered species, and it is closed in trout management areas, state-controlled community ponds and lakes, and fishery management areas. The same species closures apply in tidal water, plus sharks and lobster. The September 16, 2026 bowfishing summary allows blue catfish, channel catfish, flathead catfish, Chesapeake channa, common carp, gizzard shad, goldfish, longnose gar, and sunfish, and it lists a 3-pronged gig. Projectile gear may not be used within 100 yards of a person, swimming area, diver flag, occupied duck blind, or another vessel unless those people give permission.

  • Bait and live transport

    Largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, striped bass and hybrids, muskellunge, tiger muskellunge, walleye, northern pike, pickerel, brown trout, and brook trout may not be used as bait. No more than 1 quart of cut bait may be possessed while fishing. Bait fish may not be taken from put-and-take areas or special trout management areas. Felt-soled or other porous waders and boots are illegal. Stocking any aquatic species requires a pond stocking permit, except baitfish on a hook. In the Susquehanna, Middle Potomac, Monocacy, and Upper Potomac basins, crayfish must have the head removed behind the eyes immediately, and egg-bearing females may not be possessed. Eels may not be used as bait with hook and line in the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries from December 6 through May 15 and from August 1 through August 31. It is illegal to buy or sell fish or crabs taken under a recreational license.

Bag and size limits

These are the statewide or default limits. A named lake, river, or marine area can replace every figure below.

  • Black bass

    In nontidal water, largemouth and smallmouth bass have a 12-inch minimum unless a special regulation differs. The open harvest season is June 16 through the last day of February. The creel is 5 a day and 10 in possession, combined. Catch-and-release is allowed at all times, including the March 1 through June 15 closure on possession. In the Chesapeake Bay and tidal tributaries, bass are open year-round, with a 15-inch minimum from March 1 through June 15 and a 12-inch minimum from June 16 through the last day of February, and a daily creel of 5 combined. A special-regulation impoundment replaces the nontidal default.

  • Trout

    Statewide nontidal trout of all species have no minimum, are open year-round, and have a creel of 2 a day and 4 in possession. Put-and-take areas and special trout management areas use different rules. The trout stocking page says put-and-take areas have a five-trout limit and spring closures that depend on location, and brook trout in the standard regulation it prints must be released. Trout may not be culled. A trout stamp is required in nontidal water for anglers 16 and older. Youth-only trout fishing day in Closure 1 areas is March 21, 2026, from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., with a creel of 2 trout per child under 16 and no brook trout. People 16 and older may not fish those areas that day.

  • Walleye, pike, and chain pickerel

    Nontidal walleye are 15 inches and 5 a day, with possession of 10, except the Potomac River and Deep Creek Lake rules printed in the freshwater table. Deep Creek Lake and the Youghiogheny River downstream of the Route 42 bridge are closed to walleye from March 1 through April 15. Deep Creek Lake also protects walleye from 18 to 21 inches. Northern pike are 30 inches, 2 a day and 4 in possession. Chain pickerel are 14 inches, 5 a day and 10 in possession in nontidal water. In the Chesapeake and tidal tributaries, chain pickerel are open May 1 through March 14 with a 14-inch minimum and 10 a day. Muskellunge and tiger muskie are 36 inches, 1 a day and 2 in possession.

  • Crappie, sunfish, and catfish

    Nontidal crappie have no minimum, 15 a day and 30 in possession. Sunfish, including bluegill and rock bass, are 15 a day and 30 in possession combined, with no minimum. Channel catfish are 5 a day and 10 in possession with no minimum. White perch have no nontidal minimum or creel. Yellow perch in nontidal rivers and streams are 9 inches, 5 a day and 10 in possession. In nontidal lakes and ponds they have no minimum, 10 a day and 20 in possession. The January 8, 2026 public notice set yellow perch at 5 a day in tidal waters and in nontidal streams and rivers. Chesapeake catfish have no minimum and no creel on the tidal table. Blue catfish are promoted with no size or season limit on the Atlantic summary page.

  • Striped bass

    Nontidal lakes and ponds: striped bass and hybrids are 18 inches, open year-round, 2 a day and only one over 30 inches, with possession of 4 and only one over 30 inches. It is illegal to keep striped bass or hybrids caught in nontidal streams and rivers. In the Chesapeake Bay and tidal tributaries, the rules effective April 1, 2026 allow one fish from 19 to 24 inches on the open harvest days, with catch-and-release from January 1 through February 28 and from December 6 through December 31, a no-targeting closure for all areas from August 1 through August 31, and area limits in March and May that are mapped in the compliance guide. The Atlantic Ocean, coastal bays, and their tributaries are a separate striped bass section and are not covered by the Bay season change.

Saltwater

Tidal Chesapeake Bay and coastal fishing use the Chesapeake Bay and Coastal Sport Fish License, not the nontidal license. The Bay and its tidal tributaries have one creel table. The Atlantic Ocean, coastal bays, and their tributaries have another. DNR’s regulations index points to those summaries and says the printed Code of Maryland Regulations is the enforceable text. Striped bass seasons in the Atlantic are not the Chesapeake baseline season.

  • Chesapeake bluefish are 8 inches, open year-round, 5 a person from shore or a private boat and 7 a person on a for-hire boat. The Atlantic table uses the same bluefish creel. The 2026 “new” note records an earlier shore or private-boat bag of 3 and a for-hire bag of 5 before that change.
  • Red drum in the Bay and on the Atlantic coast are an 18- to 26-inch slot and 3 a day. Spotted seatrout are 14 inches and 4 a day. Cobia are 43 inches total length, open June 15 through September 20, with 1 a person or up to 2 per vessel when two or more people are aboard, and catch-and-release is allowed September 21 through June 14.
  • Summer flounder are 16 inches from January 1 through May 31 and 17 1/2 inches from June 1 through December 31, with 4 a day, in both the Bay table and the Atlantic table. Black sea bass are 12 1/2 inches excluding the tail filament, 15 a day, from May 1 through December 31.
  • Yellow perch in the Chesapeake table are 9 inches and 5 a day. Weakfish are 13 inches and 1 a day. Alewife, blueback herring, American shad, hickory shad, and sturgeon are closed.
  • Circle hooks are required for striped bass in any tidal water when the bait is fish, crabs, worms, or processed bait. From March 1 through May 15, trolling in the Bay and its tidal tributaries requires barbless hooks and prohibits stinger hooks.

Sources