The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has announced that they’re moving forward with initiating a new “baseline” striped bass season for 2026. You may remember that a few weeks back we asked FishTalk readers to weigh in on this prospect for new rockfish regs for Maryland in 2026, and the DNR received over 1,000 comments. Now, they’ve submitted the proposed regulatory change to the Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive, and Legislative Review. Assuming no legislative hiccups, what’s that mean for 2026?

  • January 1 through April 30 will be open for catch and release.
  • May 1 through July 31 will be open for catch and release and harvesting legal fish under the existing size and bag limit (one fish per day per person in the 19” to 24” slot).
  • August 1 through 31 will be entirely closed to fishing for striped bass.
  • September 1 through December 5 will be open for catch and release and harvesting legal fish under the existing size and bag limit.
  • December 6 through 31 will be open for catch and release.
a kid with a striped bass caught in chesapeake bay
More days to go fishing for rockfish?? WOOHOO!

We do lose a few total days of harvest under the new baseline, however, the closure is shifted to August when release mortality is highest. And recreational anglers gain a lot of catch and release days - a full month - in the spring when mortality is very, very low. Plus, it means we'd get to begin harvesting two weeks earlier than last year. According to the DNR this “maintains or potentially reduces overall fishing mortality,” and “shifts conservation focus on the younger, more vulnerable resident population through extended summer closure in August.”

On balance, we think this is a good move that expands our overall access to the fishery—especially during the spring. By the time the month of August rolls around there are often other targets in most of the Bay, and many of us aren't too thrilled about fishing for striped bass anyway, knowing that many of the fish we throw back will likely end up dying. In fact, it's tough to reasonably argue against this month of closure no matter your viewpoint. (Unless you're one of the few people out there who still claims there are more rockfish in the Bay than ever... in which case we guess you must just be WAY better at finding fish than the rest of us).

For more information see the DNR bulletin on the Recreational Striped Bass Season Adjustment.