Maryland set to adopt Chesapeake striper season changes

Annapolis, Md. — The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is preparing to implement a shift in the season for recreational striped bass, or rockfish. The seasonal shift opens April to catch-and-release fishing and closes all of August to targeting striped bass.

These adjustments are intended to simplify existing regulations, while allowing more recreational fishing opportunities and protecting striped bass during the hot, final weeks of the summer.

The Maryland General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive, and Legislative Review recently approved DNR’s proposed regulation changes for the 2026 striped bass fishing season.

The new 2026 striped bass regulations were published in the Maryland Register on March 20, and they will become effective early April.

This timing will enable the return of April catch-and-release fishing for striped bass. DNR is implementing the seasonal shift to enable anglers to catch-and-release striped bass in April when water temperatures are cooler, while closing the month of August for striped bass fishing when hot water temperatures make striped bass more likely to be accidentally killed by hook-and-line fishermen.

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The 2026 recreational striped bass season in the Chesapeake Bay will be:

• Jan. 1–April 30: Catch and release

• May 1–July 31: Harvest

• Aug. 1–31: Closed

• Sept. 1–Dec. 5: Harvest

• Dec. 6–31: Catch and release

“The new regulations simplify the recreational and charter boat seasons, making them easier to find and read,” said Kate Charbonneau, DNR’s assistant secretary of aquatic resources.

“We are allowing for more access to recreational fishing opportunities without increasing mortality or total fish removed.”

The change has been under consideration for over a year and has been approved after extensive stakeholder engagement and consideration of thousands of public comments. Striped bass is one of the most popular recreational fisheries in Maryland.

Recreational fishing and boating generate an estimated $701.5 million in value added economic activity in the state in 2024, according to outdoor recreation statistics compiled by the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Striped bass are managed collectively on the East Coast, and state regulations must align with the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for the species.

In 2025, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Striped Bass Board approved Addendum III to Amendment 7 to the Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass, which allows Maryland to change its Chesapeake Bay recreational season baseline. Fisheries scientists developed the seasonal shift to ensure the changes would not result in additional striped bass mortalities.

When striped bass harvest is permitted, anglers may keep one striped bass per person, per day, with a minimum length of 19 inches and a maximum length of 24 inches.