Best Fishing Times in Maryland This Week

Maryland's fishing year runs through Chesapeake Bay, from yellow perch spawning runs in late February and April striped bass to bluefish May through October and fall white perch. Within any day, the first and last hour of light are the surest bite, best of all when a solunar window lands on them.

The table above shows the next 7 days for Solomons, Ocean City and Oakland, with each day's major and minor periods, sunrise and sunset, and a rating from Fair to Best. For your own spot, enter a ZIP on the best fishing times page.

In Chesapeake Bay, adult yellow perch move up the tributaries to spawn from late February, and as late as April in Deep Creek Lake. That is from Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

In April the main stem of the Bay is open to catch and release fishing for striped bass, while spawning tributaries are closed to harvest. That is from Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

The Maryland fishing license page has what a resident and nonresident license costs and where to buy one, read from the state's own regulations.

On the coast, often as much as the moon windows. The Maryland tide charts page has high and low tide for every station, so you can line a moving tide up with a window here.

The solunar windows are the old angler's rule, and the studies are mixed. Dawn and dusk are the reliable part: fish feed in low light. So each day here is rated on the moon phase and on whether a moon window meets sunrise or sunset, with the weather as a smaller nudge.

Each town's card above rates today Fair, Good, Great or Best. The rating adds up the moon phase, whether a moon window meets sunrise or sunset, and the National Weather Service forecast for that town: pressure, fronts, wind, rain, cloud and thunder. A Fair day still has its dawn and dusk.