Striped bass fishing in Chesapeake Bay

In Chesapeake Bay, striped bass peak April–June and October–December and are around year-round, spawning in April–May, according to Fish Scouter's month-by-month season calendar. April: Spawning in the Choptank, Nanticoke, Patuxent, Potomac and the Upper Bay. Maryland's main bay is catch-and-release in April (2026 rules); the spawning reaches stay closed.

1. JanuaryAroundCatch-and-release only in Maryland's bay this time of year; resident fish around the warm-water discharges and deep channel edges. Virginia's ocean beyond three miles is federal water and closed to stripers.
2. FebruaryAroundColdest water of the year — tog, perch and released stripers. Tog on the lower-bay wrecks on calm days; white perch deep in the tributaries; slow jigs for stripers where it's legal to target them.
3. MarchArrivingPrespawn fish push up the bay. Maryland closes its spawning rivers and the Susquehanna Flats to all striper targeting March 1–May 31 — check the MD DNR maps.
4. AprilSpawningSpawning in the Choptank, Nanticoke, Patuxent, Potomac and the Upper Bay. Maryland's main bay is catch-and-release in April (2026 rules); the spawning reaches stay closed.
5. MaySpawningPost-spawn fish drop down the bay on the way to the ocean; Maryland harvest opens May 1 (2026: one fish, 19–24 inches). Trolling umbrella rigs and chunking the channel edges.
6. JunePeakResident schools on the lumps and channel edges — chum and chunk Love Point, the Bay Bridge pilings, the Diamonds; topwater at dawn on the rocky shorelines.
7. JulyAroundSpanish, cobia and specks in the grass; stripers at dawn. Troll Clark spoons fast for Spanish on the lower-bay rips; topwater specks at dawn in Mobjack and Tangier; sheepshead on the Bridge-Tunnel pilings.
8. AugustAroundMaryland closes ALL striper targeting in the bay and tidal tributaries August 1–31 (2026) to spare fish in hot water. Fish something else.
9. SeptemberArrivingBreaking fish return; bull reds and fall croakers. Stripers and blues busting bait under the birds — jig the schools. Jumbo croakers and spot on the channel edges before they leave.
10. OctoberPeakBreaking fish under the birds all over the middle bay; jig the schools, troll bucktails along the 20–30 ft edges.
11. NovemberPeakBest speck fishing of the year; stripers fatten on menhaden. Suspending baits and soft plastics for specks in the Piankatank, Lynnhaven and Elizabeth; troll and jig stripers on the channel edges; tog on the Bridge-Tunnel.
12. DecemberPeakThe big ocean fish return to the lower bay and the Bridge-Tunnel; Maryland goes back to catch-and-release from December 6 (2026).

The biggest estuary in the country: 200 miles of brackish bay fed by the Susquehanna, Potomac, Patuxent, Choptank, Nanticoke, Rappahannock and James, with oyster bars, channel edges and lumps in the main stem, marsh islands down Tangier Sound, and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel's pilings and islands at the mouth. Salinity climbs from fresh at the Flats to ocean at Cape Henry.

Fish Scouter charts 42 artificial reef, 36 reservoir, 9 lake spots in the The Chesapeake map area — the kinds striped bass hold on.

• Live eelsHooked through the lips on a 5/0 to 7/0 circle hook and sight-cast to a cobia or dropped to a cobia on a ray — the eel is the cobia bait.
• Menhaden (pogies)Nose-hooked on a circle hook and free-lined or slow-trolled; cut in chunks for the bottom.
• HerringCut-plug for salmon: head off at an angle, guts out, two hooks in tandem so it spins slow behind a flasher or a banana weight. Whole and live on a circle hook for stripers where the herring run.
• BloodwormsA piece threaded on a #2 to 2/0 hook on a hi-lo or fish-finder rig — the striper, spot, croaker and white perch bait of the Chesapeake and the surf.
• Sand eelsFree-lined or on a light jig head for stripers, fluke and bluefish; strips teased on a fluke rig.
• Minnows (fatheads, shiners)Hooked lightly through the lips or behind the dorsal on a #6 to #2 hook under a slip bobber for crappie, perch and walleye; a big golden shiner on a 2/0 to 4/0 for largemouth, pike and stripers.

• Leader10–20 lb fluorocarbon
• Hook#2–3/0
• Jig head1/8–1/2 oz
• Braid10–30 lb

Feeds in 42–80°F water, best at 50–68°F.

All about striped bass · The Chesapeake, the whole year