ANNAPOLIS, MD — A week into Maryland's reopened striper season, the Chesapeake Bay is finally living up to its springtime reputation. In the May 8, 2026 weekly fishing report from Anglers Annapolis, store staffers Adam and Tim walked customers through a bay that is shaking off a cold start and lighting up across both the Maryland and Delaware sides.
Maryland's catch-and-keep window for striped bass — known locally as rockfish — reopened on May 1 in designated areas of the bay. Anglers fishing the main stem of the Chesapeake south of the Patapsco River, excluding the creeks and tributaries, are allowed one fish a day between 19 and 24 inches. Tim told viewers the bridge bite has come on right on schedule.
"Always fish on the bridge. This time of year it gets pretty good usually," Tim said. "Get out there, fish soft crabs on pilings. You can jig for them pretty effectively. Fish shallow water baits like topwaters early in the morning on the shallower pilings, eastern and western side. As always, the rock piles always hold fish."
While the rivers themselves remain catch-and-release, Tim said the schoolie population is thick. Topwater spooks and paddletails worked over shallow rock piles, grass lines, docks and dock lights have all been producing. Adam echoed that the under-slot fish are everywhere.
"Those schoolies have really woken up throughout the bay," Adam said. "A lot of your shallow water structure is going to be alive with them. Throw a topwater, throw a paddle tail. Jig your deeper structure like the bridge. They're out there and they are pretty readily available for you guys to catch. They're feeding pretty hard."
The other big story in tidal water is the blue catfish run. Adam said reports are flooding in from the full length of the system, from Havre de Grace and the Susquehanna in the north to the Potomac in the south. He recommended high-low rigs or a fish-finder rig at deep holes and creek mouths, with one tactical tweak many bay anglers ignore.
"Something that a lot of people don't do, which I do recommend if you're in a boat, is throw out some chum," he said. "Throw out a chum bucket off the back of your boat, and throw your lines in that chum slick. Just make sure you're up current so that chum is going down and fish are coming to you. That can be really, really effective for loading the cooler with blue catfish."
Freshwater anglers are sitting in the sweet spot of the largemouth spawn, with smallmouth slightly ahead. Adam said the Susquehanna, Potomac and Monocacy are fishing well for post-spawn smallies on square-bill cranks and chatterbaits. Crappie and stocked trout are also live, with DNR's spring stocking schedule ongoing on the Patapsco, Middle Patuxent and Gunpowder.
Over on the Atlantic side, the surf is starting to populate. Black drum, slot-and-over stripers and the first flounder are showing up to sand fleas and Gulp swimming mullet, with kingfish — local sea mullet — landing this week and bluefish blitzes tracking up the coast from Virginia. Togs and flounder remain the back-bay staples around Ocean City.
"It's still a great time to get out there and fish the surf, especially if you're looking for some stripers," Tim said.