* For catch and release tips Click Here.

* For Real-time water information at selected points in the bay Click Here.

* For Real-time Conowingo Dam information Click Here.

If you submitted a photo and don't see your picture in the regular report please look in the photo gallery that we run this time year. Click here for this week's gallery!

All Bay Regions:

The recent warm weather brought out a number of fishermen out onto the waters of the Chesapeake to try out their trolling equipment. Many were experimenting with newly acquired planner boards and rigs to shake out the bugs before the Opening Day of the spring trophy striped bass season. With plenty of elbow room to experiment with their new gear; many found an unexpected surprise in the form of large striped bass willing to take large parachutes that were dressed with sassy shads. Fishermen reported marking scattered bait along the edges of the shipping channel and most of the striped bass caught came off lines trolled at depths approximately 25’ to 35’ below the surface. Water temperatures in the bay are running just below the 40-degree mark on the surface. Fishermen reported that the fish they caught and released were fat and healthy and many appeared to be males.

Continued warm days will begin to bring more fishermen out onto the bay to try their hand at a little catch and release fishing. The Susquehanna Flats Catch and Release season is officially open and a few die-hards tried some bait fishing there recently with bloodworms and cut bait and came up with a few small school-sized striped bass for their troubles. The warm water outfall at the Calvert Cliffs Power Plant will be on the mind of fishermen this week if warm weather prevails. Drifting in the boiling discharge and jigging with butterfly jigs, bucktails dressed with a sassy shad or curly tail or soft plastic jigs will be the ticket to this annual event.

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Click here for information concerning harmful algae blooms

Click here to view recent bay satellite images at mddnr.chesapeakebay.net/NASAimagery/EyesInTheSky.cfm

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The link below has some very valuable information for Chesapeake Bay Anglers. DNR's "Eyes on the Bay" website has data coming in from remote sensing stations in the Chesapeake Bay and tributaries. It is well worth checking this out. Click on the map below.

The Fisheries Service is pleased to have you visit. We want to make this site as user friendly as possible, if you have any suggestions, please mail them to Paul Genovese.