Maryland Fishing Size Limits: Striped Bass, Trout, and Penalties

Maryland fishing size limits vary by species and by where you’re fishing. The headline numbers for 2026: striped bass must fall in a 19-to-24-inch slot in the Chesapeake Bay and a 28-to-31-inch slot in the Atlantic Ocean; summer flounder is 16 inches through May 31 and 17.5 inches from June 1 onward; black sea bass is 13 inches; largemouth and smallmouth bass are 12 inches statewide in nontidal waters; and trout, channel catfish, and invasive species carry no minimum length. Keep a fish outside its legal size and you can face fines up to $1,500 per fish for striped bass violations alone.

Striped Bass Slot Limits

Striped bass (rockfish) are the state’s most tightly regulated recreational species, and the rules are slot limits rather than simple minimums. A fish that’s too big is just as illegal as one that’s too small.

Chesapeake Bay

In the Bay for 2026, keeper striped bass must measure at least 19 inches and no more than 24 inches, with a one-fish daily limit per angler during open harvest periods.¹ Anything outside that window goes back.

Harvest is not open year-round. The 2026 Bay schedule:

January 1 through April 30: catch and release only
May 1 through July 31: harvest open
August 1 through 31: all targeting prohibited
September 1 through December 5: harvest open
December 6 through 31: catch and release only

The August closure is new. The DNR added it because hot late-summer water temperatures sharply increase release mortality even when fish are handled carefully.¹ The old spring trophy season, which used to allow one fish of 35 inches or more, no longer exists. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission imposed coastwide slot limits in 2023 and 2024 to address declining stocks, and Maryland’s current rules track that guidance.²

Atlantic Ocean and Coastal Bays

Ocean and coastal bay striped bass fishing stays open year-round with a tighter slot: a 28-inch minimum and 31-inch maximum, one fish per person per day.³ The higher floor reflects the larger average size of ocean-migrating fish and the ASMFC’s coastwide standard.

Summer Flounder

Summer flounder size changes in the middle of 2026. From January 1 through May 31, the recreational minimum is 16 inches. Starting June 1, it rises to 17.5 inches and holds there through December 31.⁴ A fish that was a legal keeper in late May can be undersized a week later.

The daily recreational limit is four fish per person year-round. Commercial hook-and-line fishers follow the same seasonal size limits; commercial operations using other gear types work to a 14-inch minimum.⁴

Black Sea Bass

Black sea bass must measure at least 13 inches, excluding the tail filament, to keep. The daily bag is 15 fish per person during open periods.⁵ Recreational harvest is closed from January 1 through May 14 in 2026, with open periods generally running mid-May through late September and again from mid-October through late December.⁶ Exact closing dates can shift year to year.

Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass

In nontidal waters, the statewide minimum for largemouth bass is 12 inches. The daily creel is five bass (largemouth and smallmouth combined), with a possession limit of ten.⁷

Some waters override that baseline. In designated slot-limit areas, you can still keep five bass per day, but only one may measure 15 inches or longer.⁸ Other waters are catch-and-release regardless of size. Check the rules for the specific body of water before you head out.

Trout

This one surprises visiting anglers: Maryland sets no statewide minimum size for trout. Under basic statewide regulations, you can keep any trout regardless of length, with a daily creel of two and a possession limit of four across all species.⁹

Put-and-Take Trout Fishing Areas allow more generous creels since those waters are stocked for harvest: five per day with a possession limit of ten.⁹ Delayed Harvest Areas require catch-and-release during certain months. Trophy Trout Management Areas set their own minimums. The Savage River tailwater, for instance, requires 18 inches for brown trout and 12 inches for brook trout, with no minimum for rainbow trout and a daily creel of two.¹⁰ A trout stamp is required in addition to your regular fishing license.

Channel Catfish

Channel catfish have no minimum size in Maryland. The daily creel in nontidal waters is five, with a possession limit of ten.⁷ Tidal waters have no possession limit.

Invasive Species Have No Size Limit

Northern snakehead, blue catfish, and flathead catfish are classified as invasive. There’s no minimum size, and the DNR asks anglers to kill any of these three species rather than releasing them. Transporting any of them alive to another body of water violates state law and carries fines up to $2,500. Live snakeheads are also federally regulated under the Lacey Act.¹¹

What a Size Violation Costs

General fishing violations carry a fine up to $1,000 for a first offense. A second violation within two years raises the ceiling to $2,000 and up to one year in jail.¹²

Striped bass violations stack additional penalties on top:

First offense: up to $1,500 per fish
Second offense within two years: up to $2,500 per fish plus license revocation for one to two years
Third offense within four years: up to $2,500 per fish plus revocation for two to five years

¹²

When the value of unlawful striped bass harvest exceeds $20,000, the offense becomes a misdemeanor carrying up to two years of imprisonment.¹² Three convictions on separate days within any three-year period is automatic grounds for license suspension.¹³ Maryland also participates in the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, so a suspension here can trigger reciprocal suspensions in other member states.¹⁴ Carry a measuring tape, and when a fish is close to the line, let it go.

1
Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Maryland Set to Adopt Changes to Chesapeake Bay Recreational Striped Bass Season
2
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Addendum II to Amendment 7 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass
3
Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Maryland’s 2026 Striped Bass Season Opens for Catch-and-Release Fishing in April
4
Maryland Department of Natural Resources. 2026 Summer Flounder Fishery Public Notice
5
eRegulations. Maryland Fishing – Atlantic Seasons, Sizes, and Limits
6
Maryland Department of Natural Resources. 2026 Recreational Black Sea Bass Fishery Public Notice
7
Legal Information Institute. Maryland Code Regulations 08.02.11.04 – Statewide General Regulations
8
Legal Information Institute. Maryland Code Regulations 08.02.11.03 – Special Fisheries Management Areas
9
Legal Information Institute. Maryland Code Regulations 08.02.11.01 – Trout Fishing and Management Areas
10
Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Savage River Tailwater Trophy Trout Fishing Area
11
Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Invasive Fish
12
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Natural Resources 4-1201 – Penalties
13
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Natural Resources 4-220
14
Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact