The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) 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.
On Wednesday, the Maryland General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive, and Legislative Review approved DNR’s proposed regulation changes for the 2026 striped bass fishing season. The new 2026 striped bass regulations are scheduled to be published in the Maryland Register on March 20, and they will become effective ten days later.
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—known as recreational dead discards—while fishing them.
The 2026 recreational striped bass season in the Chesapeake Bay will be:
- January 1–April 30: Catch and Release
- May 1–July 31: Harvest
- August 1–31: Closed
- September 1–December 5: Harvest
- December 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.
The change was not made without a bit of kerfuffle. Just a few days ago, a hold on the regulations was made by a com-friendly legislator, potentially holding off the change until it would have made no difference. At Maryland Matters, Rockfish regulations on hold at General Assembly committee
The pause was ordered Friday by Del. Sandy Rosenberg (D-Baltimore City), a co-chair of the AELR committee, at the request of committee member Del. Jay Jacobs (R-Upper Shore). Rosenberg said he hopes to make a decision about the regulation by Wednesday, when Jacobs is expected to meet with DNR to discuss the matter.
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Jacobs said he feels the regulations, which will also open a fishery when rockfish are swimming up the bay to spawn, deserve further discussion. He is requesting a hearing before the committee.
While one group of charter boat captains, such as the light tackle fishermen, support the regulations because they open an April fishery, another group opposes the regulations because of the August closure.
That second group was hit hard a few years ago, when the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, a multistate compact, determined that charters in the bay could only keep one fish per person — as opposed to two. “They are very, very concerned because they took a huge hit,” Jacobs said. Now, it’s compounded with this August closure, Jacobs said. “There was no negotiating some other term, like people could fish in the morning,” Jacobs said. “I think there’s other solutions without entirely shutting down the business for an entire month.”
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