High school student earns 20th Maryland Master Angler award

Annapolis, Md. — Nathan Choinski, of Churchville, has earned a Master Angler Milestone Award under the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ FishMaryland program.

Choinski is the 20th Master Angler since the program began in 2019. The award recognizes recreational anglers who catch 10 trophy-sized fish of different species in Maryland.

Choinski started fishing during the COVID pandemic after his friends urged him to fish with them, and they also told him about the Master Angler program. The group was fishing a small pond and worked on catching award-sized bluegill sunfish and pumpkinseed sunfish.

As Choinski fished more, his dad started taking him and his friends fishing at other locations. The lower Susquehanna River and the Conowingo Dam pool became his favorite location, and he caught many of his award fish there.

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He likes casting paddletails and other lures to catch striped bass, smallmouth bass, walleyes, Chesapeake Channa (snakeheads) and blue catfish in those locations. He also caught one small flathead catfish there.

When he started fishing, Choinski was not yet 16 years old and could fish legally without a license. He is now in 10th grade and bought his first fishing license in March 2025.

An award-winning striped bass is the favorite fish he has caught; it gave him a long fight before he could bring it in.

Choinski’s qualifying catches, in order, were: pumpkinseed – 10.2 inches; bluegill – 11.1 inches; hickory shad – 18.1 inches; striped bass – 43 inches; smallmouth bass – 20 inches; Chesapeake Channa (northern snakehead) – 31 inches; blue catfish – 40.5 inches; crappie – 15 inches; largemouth bass – 21 inches; bullhead catfish – 15 inches.

“The thing I like most about fishing in Maryland is the diversity of all the different species that you can catch from the mountains of Garrett County to the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean,” said Choinski.

FishMaryland is Maryland’s recreational fishing award program and is a fun way to explore year-round recreational fishing and enjoy affordable, accessible, diverse, and high-quality fishing opportunities.