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Maryland

Fishing

Fishing

FishMaryland

Recreational fishing offers opportunities for families and friends to spend quality time together, enjoying the abundant natural resources Maryland has to offer. FishMaryland is Maryland’s recreational fishing award program and is a fun way to explore year-round recreational fishing and enjoy Maryland’s affordable, accessible, diverse and high quality fishing opportunities.

Components:

  • Species Award (includes catch and release)—Any angler fishing legally in Maryland may catch and report a trophy sized fish by landing any of more than 60 eligible species in three categories at or above a certain minimum size. If you catch a fish that meets or exceeds the official award size, simply lay the fish on a tape measure and photograph so that the species and size can be verified (HMS species cannot be removed from the water unless being kept. A photograph in the water is acceptable as long as the species can be identified). Submit your catch through our online registration process. Once your catch is verified, you will receive your award certificate within 45 days.
  • Invasive Species Award—Recognizes anglers for reporting their harvest of certain eligible invasive fish species. “Invasive” describes a species that, when introduced into an ecosystem, aggressively establishes itself and has the potential to negatively impact native plants, animals, or habitat. Currently there are three invasive fish species which naturally reproduce or migrate into Maryland waters and are eligible for the Invasive Species Award: blue catfish, northern snakehead and flathead catfish. Fish must be kept to qualify.
  • Milestone Award—Milestone awards recognize those skillful anglers who catch multiple species, each milestone is marked with a certificate and a corresponding sticker. To qualify, anglers can only submit eligible catches caught from 2019 to present.

For information on FishMaryland, including rules and registration go to—dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries/pages/challenge/rules.aspx.

FishMaryland Minimum Sizes

Catch and Release Division*

American Shad*

24 inches

Blue Marlin*

any size

Blue Shark*

any size

Hammerhead Shark*

any size

Hickory Shad*

18 inches

Red Drum*

36 inches

Sailfish*

any size

Striped Bass*

40 inches

Swordfish*

any size

Thresher Shark*

any size

Tiger Shark*

any size

White Marlin*

any size

Nontidal Division

Bluegill

11 inches

Brook Trout

12 inches

Brown Trout

21 inches

Bullhead Catfish

15 inches

Carp

36 inches

Chain Pickerel

24 inches

Channel Catfish

30 inches

Crappie, Black

15 inches

Cutthroat Trout

20 inches

Largemouth Bass

21 inches

Muskellunge

40 inches

Northern Pike

38 inches

Pumpkinseed

10 inches

Rainbow Trout

20 inches

Redbreast Sunfish

8 inches

Redear Sunfish

11 inches

Rock Bass

10 inches

Smallmouth Bass

20 inches

Tiger Muskie

40 inches

Walleye

26 inches

White Catfish

20 inches

White Perch

13 inches

Yellow Perch

14 inches

Chesapeake Bay Division

Black Drum

48 inches

Blue Crab

8 inches

Bluefish

34 inches

Carp

30 inches

Chain Pickerel

24 inches

Channel Catfish

30 inches

Cobia

44 inches

Crappie, Black

15 inches

Croaker (Hardhead)

18 inches

Florida Pompano

17 inches

Longnose Gar

36 inches

Largemouth Bass

21 inches

Northern Whiting (Kingfish)

14 inches

Pumpkinseed

10 inches

Rock Bass

10 inches

Sheepshead

24 inches

Smallmouth Bass

20 inches

Spanish Mackerel

22 inches

Spot

12 inches

Spotted Seatrout

24 inches

Summer Flounder

24 inches

Tautog

24 inches

Walleye

26 inches

Weakfish

24 inches

White Catfish

20 inches

White Perch

13 inches


Yellow Perch

14 inches

Invasive Species Division

Blue Catfish**

40 inches

Flathead Catfish**

34 inches

Northern Snakehead**

30 inches

Atlantic Coast Division

Amberjack1

45 inches

Atlantic Cod

36 inches

Atlantic Spadefish

24 inches

Black Drum

48 inches

Black Sea Bass

20 inches

Bluefish

34 inches

Blueline Tilefish

25 inches

Cobia1

44 inches

Croaker (Hardhead)

18 inches

Dolphin Fish (Mahi-Mahi)1

45 inches

False Albacore1

24 inches

Florida Pompano1

17 inches

Golden Tilefish

35 inches

Grey Triggerfish

18 inches

King Mackerel1

40 inches

Northern Whiting (Kingfish)

14 inches

Sheepshead

20 inches

Snowy Grouper

31 inches

Spanish Mackerel

22 inches

Spot

12 inches

Spotted Seatrout

24 inches

Summer Flounder

24 inches

Swordfish2

47 inches

Tautog

24 inches

Tuna, Albacore (Longfin)3

36 inches

Tuna, Bigeye3

60 inches

Tuna, Blackfin3

30 inches

Tuna, Bluefin3

55 inches

Tuna, Yellowfin3

50 inches

Wahoo1

60 inches

Weakfish

24 inches

Winter Flounder

17 inches

State Records

Atlantic Coast Division

Albacore (longfin)

77.0 lbs.

Thomas "Tad" Bodmer

9/23/2022

Atlantic Cod

24.0 lbs.

Fred Brungart

5/31/2013

Atlantic Spadefish

11.4 lbs.

Noel Lohr

9/2/2004

Atlantic Tripletail

11.0 lbs.

Don Whittington

10/19/2019

Black Seabass

8.0 lbs.

Hayward Madison

6/1/1978

Bluefish

23.5 lbs.

Lillian Morris

10/30/1974

Cobia

94.6 lbs.

Emma Zajdel

6/30/2016

Dolphinfish

74.5 lbs.

Kristy Frashure

8/16/2019

Drum, Black

79.0 lbs.

Stanley Ilyes

9/7/1985

Drum, Red*

70.0 lbs.

Robert Light

9/24/1977

False Albacore

22.5 lbs.

Kevin Sheckells

6/25/1995

Florida Pompano

3.0 lbs.

Vacant

Flounder, Summer

17.0 lbs.

Anthony Vacari

10/3/1974

Flounder, Winter

5.1 lbs.

Kevin Twilley

6/23/2015

Gray Triggerfish

6.0 lbs.

Logan Liddick

9/25/2020

Great Barracuda

13.0 lbs.

Stephen Humphrey

10/06/2023

King Mackerel

47.0 lbs.

Gerald Kauffman

10/18/1985

Kingfish

2.5 lbs.

Grace Walker

10/1/1975

Marlin, Blue

1,135.0 lbs.

Billy Gerlach

8/24/2021

Marlin, White

135.0 lbs.

George Pierson

8/29/1980

Pompano Dolphinfish

2.0 lbs.

Chris Stafford

9/20/2023

Scup (Porgy)

6.2 lbs.

Pearl Hopple

7/4/1966

Shark, Black Tip

193.0 lbs.

Brian Zysk

8/4/1991

Shark, Blue

280.0 lbs.

Martin Waltman

9/13/1997

Shark, Dogfish, Smooth

18.0 lbs.

Fay Ganster

10/26/2022

Shark, Dogfish, Spiny

11.5 lbs.

Meyels Sampson

5/17/1993

Shark, Dusky*

469.0 lbs.

Jim Liberto

7/1/1982

Shark, Great White*

467.0 lbs.

Jack Holmes

6/11/1992

Shark, Hammerhead, Scalloped

266.5 lbs.

Scott Cusick

8/8/2012

Shark, Hammerhead, Smooth

375.0 lbs.

George Wilson Ford V

6/17/2004

Shark, Shortfin Mako*

876.0 lbs.

Jim Hughes

6/20/2009

Shark, Sand Tiger*

334.0 lbs.

Billy Leidner

9/8/1983

Shark, Sandbar*

235.0 lbs.

Mark Sampson

7/8/1983

Shark, Thresher

642.0 lbs.

Brent Applegit

6/19/2009

Shark, Tiger

1,210.0 lbs.

Grace Czerniak

7/9/1983

Sheepshead

18.0 lbs.

Robert Martin

9/22/2017

Snowy Grouper

66.0 lbs.

Gregory Benn

7/30/2012

Spotted Seatrout

13.0 lbs.

Jack Miller

8/21/1973

Striped Bass

57.2 lbs.

Gary Smith

5/6/2006

Swordfish

393 lbs.

Jeff Jacobs

9/23/2022

Tautog

28.8 lbs.

Kenneth Westerfeld

1/2/2015

Tilefish, Blueline

20.0 lbs.

Robert Purcell

9/12/2012

Tilefish, Golden

62.0 lbs.

Steve Doctor

10/22/2009

Tuna, Bigeye

375.5 lbs.

Cecil Browne

8/26/1977

Tuna, Blackfin

32.0 lbs.

Bob Zang

9/20/1998

Tuna, Bluefin

625.0 lbs.

James Daniels, IV

8/3/1975

Tuna, Yellowfin

236.5 lbs.

Mark Bennett

9/22/2002

Wahoo

131.0 lbs.

John Schaar

6/30/2014

Weakfish

16.0 lbs.

Donald Cannon

9/11/1976

White Hake

16.7 lbs.

Brian Gay

5/16/2019

White Perch

1.85 lbs.

Robert "Bob" Hudson

4/28/2022

Chesapeake Bay Division

Atlantic Spadefish

10.0 lbs.

Charlie Barron

7/15/2007

Bluefish

22.0 lbs.

Thomas R. Talbott

5/8/1991

Bluefish

22.0 lbs.

Ronald Raffo

5/31/1986

Bluefish

22.0 lbs.

John Davidson

10/18/1979

Carp

49.0 lbs.

Logan Kuhrman

6/4/2022

Catfish, Channel

29.6 lbs.

Kevin Kern

4/26/1997

Catfish, White

9.6 lbs.

Brian Dvorak

6/3/2018

Chain Pickerel

6.5 lbs.

James Grant

5/19/1965

Cobia

97.8 lbs.

John Scheifele

9/12/1969

Crappie

4.0 lbs.

Sid Stollings

3/30/2007

Croaker

6.5 lbs.

Russell Knapp

9/4/2006

Drum, Black

103.5 lbs.

Robert Messik Jr.

9/23/1973

Drum, Red*

74.4 lbs.

Earnest Hutchinson

5/15/1977

Florida Pompano

6.44 lbs.

Bobby Graves

9/17/2023

Flounder, Summer

15.0 lbs.

Kenneth Grimes

10/14/1978

Hickory Shad*

4.0 lbs.

John Schaeffer Jr.

7/23/1971

Largemouth Bass

11.2 lbs.

Justin Riley

1/26/2008

Longnose Gar

18.3 lbs.

Samson Matthews

3/2/2020

Norfolk Spot

2.0 lbs.

Parlett Moore

9/5/1978

Rock Bass

1.0 lb.

Timothy A. Adams

5/4/1997

Sheepshead

16.6 lbs.

Brian Summerlin

9/17/2023

Smallmouth Bass

6.0 lbs.

Charles Janes

7/23/1979

Spanish Mackerel

12.4 lbs.

Dean Mitchell

10/6/2007

Spotted Seatrout

16.4 lbs.

John Phillips

5/15/1977

Striped Bass

67.5 lbs.

Devin Nolan

5/13/1995

Tautog

9.0 lbs.

Gary Halbeisen

10/29/2005

Weakfish

16.5 lbs.

Wayne Lappe

5/8/1979

White (American) Shad*

8.1 lbs.

Vance Carter

5/3/1975

White Perch

2.6 lbs.

Sid Stollings

5/18/1979

Yellow Perch

2.2 lbs.

Niles Pethel

11/21/1979

Nontidal Division

Bluegill

3.4 lbs.

Sarah Brenneman

8/9/1998

Carp

47.5 lbs.

Wayne Longenecker

6/11/1997

Catfish, Bullhead

4.9 lbs.

Nick Palese

5/18/2019

Catfish, Channel

27.9 lbs.

Steven Trent Abell

7/5/2004

Catfish, White

7.0 lbs.

Vacant

Chain Pickerel

8.0 lbs.

Lee Haile III

1/2/2015

Crappie, Black

4.4 lbs.

Jason D. Morrison

5/30/2004

Fallfish

3.01 lbs.

Bryson Meyers

6/16/2023

Largemouth Bass

11.4 lbs.

Colton Lambert

7/31/2013

Muskellunge

33.0 lbs.

Kyle Mullenix

3/2/2022

Northern Pike

24.8 lbs.

Shawn Jacobson

10/16/1999

Redbreast Sunfish

0.8 lbs.

Vacant

Redear Sunfish

2.3 lbs.

Vittie Alkocius

6/4/1985

Rock Bass

1.5 lbs.

Earl Jenkins IV

3/22/2010

Smallmouth Bass

8.3 lbs.

Gary Peters

10/4/1974

Striped Bass

47.1 lbs.

Robert Bruce

9/14/2000

Tiger Muskellunge

29.3 lbs.

Kevin Conner

2/14/1997

Trout, Brook

6.1 lbs.

Mike Fiorita, Jr.

4/10/1999

Trout, Brown

18.2 lbs.

Gary Kuhn

8/3/2001

Trout, Cutthroat

7.6 lbs.

David G. Martin

5/20/2000

Trout, Rainbow

14.2 lbs.

Dave Schroyer

10/21/1987

Walleye

14.3 lbs.

John McCarley

5/16/1998

Warmouth

0.7 lbs.

Dezi Collins

6/11/2018

White Perch

1.9 lbs.

George Venker

4/7/2017

Yellow Perch

3.3 lbs.

Philip Deere IV

3/12/2006