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FISHING GUIDE · OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND
Ocean City, Maryland Fishing Guide
Ocean City gives you everything from bridge and jetty fishing to a 50-plus-mile run to the canyons. Inside, anglers catch flounder, striped bass, bluefish, tautog and sheepshead around the inlet, the Route 50 bridge and the back bays. Offshore boats fish reefs and wrecks for sea bass and flounder and troll the canyons for white marlin, tuna and mahi.
📍 Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic coast. The Ocean City Inlet is the one passage between the back bays (Assawoman, Isle of Wight and Sinepuxent bays) and the ocean. Boats run from West Ocean City and in-town marinas such as Sunset Marina, the Ocean City Fishing Center and Bahia Marina. The Route 50 bridge crosses the bay near the inlet, and Assateague Island lies to the south.
📅 Maryland Fishing Calendar — best months, closed seasons, bait & rigs →
Map: spots, ramps and marinas
★ Fishing hot spot · ● Boat ramp · ● Marina · ▭ Protected area (solid red = no fishing, dashed = fishing with rules)
Open the full Delaware & New Jersey map →
Quick facts
- Ocean City calls itself the 'White Marlin Capital of the World.'
- The White Marlin Open started in 1974 with 57 boats and $20,000 in prizes; the 53rd tournament ran August 3-8, 2026, with weigh-ins at Harbour Island Marina.
- Poor Man's Canyon is about 53 nautical miles from the Ocean City Inlet, the closest of the canyons; Baltimore and Washington canyons are also in day-trip range.
- The Frank R. Lautenberg Deep-Sea Coral Protection Area (over 38,000 square miles off the Mid-Atlantic) bans most bottom-tending commercial gear, but the rule does not apply to recreational fishing.
- Striped bass may not be fished for or kept in federal waters (3 to 200 miles offshore).
What you can catch
- White marlin
The town's signature fish; caught trolling the canyons in summer, with the White Marlin Open each August. - Yellowfin and bigeye tuna
Canyon targets; yellowfin are the most common canyon tuna, bigeye fewer but bigger. - Mahi-mahi (dolphin)
Canyons and midshore lumps in summer; look near lobster-pot buoys and floating debris. - Summer flounder (fluke)
Back bay channels, inlet, surf and ocean reefs; many shorts in the bays. - Striped bass
Inlet, jetties and the Route 50 bridge, best at night; most fish fall outside the 28-31 inch slot. - Black sea bass
Ocean reefs and wrecks; squid works well. - Tautog and sheepshead
Inlet jetty rocks, bulkheads and bridge piers; sand fleas for sheepshead. - Golden and blueline tilefish
Deep-drop fishing at the canyon edges; some goldens over 40 pounds.
Month by month
| January | Winter fishing; striped bass and tautog (4 fish) open in the ocean and coastal bays. |
|---|---|
| February | Winter fishing; striped bass and tautog open. |
| March | Striped bass and tautog open; flounder minimum 16 inches. |
| April | Big striped bass on soft plastics at the Route 50 bridge (late April 2026). |
| May | Black sea bass open from May 1. Tautog becomes catch-and-release only May 16. Flounder still 16 inches. |
| June | Flounder minimum rises to 17.5 inches June 1. Bluefin, mahi and tilefish offshore; first white marlin reported in June 2026. Stripers and blues at night at the bridges. |
| July | Tautog harvest reopens July 1 (2 fish). Summer billfish, tuna and mahi offshore; flounder inside. |
| August | White Marlin Open (August 3-8 in 2026). Canyon trolling for marlin and tuna. |
| September | White and blue marlin, bigeye, mahi and tilefish offshore; triggerfish, sheepshead and flounder at the inlet; kingfish and spot in the Assateague surf. |
| October | Fall run: strong jetty and wreck fishing as migrating fish move through. |
| November | Tautog limit back to 4 fish Nov 1; jetty and wreck fishing. |
| December | Striped bass, tautog, flounder and sea bass still open through Dec 31. |
Tips
- You need a Maryland tidal-water fishing license (or the free registration if you fish from a boat with a Pleasure Boat Decal); under 16 are exempt.
- Fish the Route 50 bridge at night under the lights for stripers and bluefish.
- For back bay flounder, drift the deeper channels from the inlet and in front of the airport.
- When fishing bait for striped bass, use non-offset circle hooks; treble hooks are not allowed, and using striped bass as bait is illegal in 2026.
- For tuna, billfish and sharks get a federal HMS permit; for blueline or golden tilefish get the federal private tilefish vessel permit and report each trip within 24 hours.
Rules and license
Maryland DNR Fishing and Boating Services; NOAA Fisheries (federal waters and highly migratory species); Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council · Official rules page ↗
- Maryland license or free registration required for tidal waters, age 16 and older (including at Assateague); check Maryland DNR for which one you need.
- Striped bass 2026 (Atlantic Ocean, coastal bays and tributaries): open all year, 1 fish per day, 28 to 31 inches; circle hooks with bait; no striped bass in federal waters.
- Summer flounder 2026: open all year, 4 fish; 16 inches Jan-May, 17.5 inches June-Dec.
- Black sea bass 2026: May 1 - Dec 31, 15 fish, 12.5 inches (not counting the tail filament).
- Tautog: 16 inches; 4 fish Jan 1 - May 15, catch-and-release only May 16 - June 30, 2 fish July 1 - Oct 31, 4 fish Nov 1 - Dec 31.
- Bluefish 2026: 8-inch minimum; 5 per person (7 on for-hire boats).
- Bluefin tuna (federal): HMS permit required. From June 1, 2026, private boats may keep 2 bluefin 27 to under 73 inches per day, only 1 of them 47 to under 73 inches (charter 3, headboat 6). NOAA can change this in season, so check before you go.
- Sharks (federal): HMS permit with shark endorsement. Shortfin mako, sandbar, dusky, sand tiger, white and other prohibited sharks must be released. Most other open sharks have a 54-inch fork length minimum; hammerheads 78 inches.
Rules change. Always check the official page before you fish.
Boat ramps and marinas
The map above shows 29 boat ramps and 3 marinas from OpenStreetMap. Tap any dot for directions.
- Assawoman Day Area
- Bay Forest Marina
- Boat ramp near Bayville Gut
- Boat ramp near Beach Cove
- Boat ramp near Edgar Prong
- Boat ramp near Indian River Bay
- Boat ramp near Miller Creek
- Boat ramp near Pasture Point Cove
- Boat ramp near Tubbs Cove
- Harbor View Marina
- Mulberry Landing Boat Ramp
- Strawberry Landing
- White Horse Park Boat Launch
Sources
- https://dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries/Pages/regulations/index.aspx
- https://dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries/pages/regulations/changes.aspx
- https://dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries/Documents/Public_Notices/PubNotStripedBassATLCoastRec_Effective1-1-2026.pdf
- https://dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries/Documents/Public_Notices/PubNotSummerFlounder_Effective%201-1-2026.pdf
- https://www.eregulations.com/maryland/fishing/atlantic-seasons-sizes-limits
- https://www.eregulations.com/maryland/fishing/striped-bass
- https://www.whitemarlinopen.com/
- https://www.sportfishingmag.com/sponsored-post/jetties-to-canyons-ocean-city-marylands-multi-layered-fishery/
- https://fishandhuntmaryland.com/articles/tuna-fishing-canyons
- https://www.fishtalkmag.com/fishing-report/coastal-mid-atlantic-fishing-report-june-2026
- https://onthewater.com/fishing-reports/2026/09/maryland-and-chesapeake-bay-fishing-report-september-3-2026
- https://fishinoc.com/huge-stripers-from-the-route-50-bridge/
- https://www.ecomagazine.com/news/policy/mid-atlantic-deep-sea-coral-protection-area-announced
- https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/action/retention-limit-adjustment-atlantic-bluefin-tuna-angling-category-fishery-2
- https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/atlantic-highly-migratory-species/recreational-atlantic-shark-fishery-statuses-minimum-sizes-and
Checked October 2026. BigJoe does not invent facts: every number on this page comes from the sources listed above.