Welcome to our Chesapeake Bay Fishing Home Page
The Chesapeake Bay Watershed is the largest estuary in North America. It covers more than 64,000 square miles encompassing parts of six states — Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. The bay is a popular tourism destination for fishing, boating, hitting the beaches or just relaxing and taking in the beautiful scenery.
This is a unique area because it attracts fish that are normally known for being found down south from the Carolinas and into Florida as well as fish that are common in the north Atlantic. You will find plenty of fishing charters available whether you plan on going inshore or offshore. Some of the popular fish to catch in the bay are striped bass, bluefish, drum, sea trout and flounder. Offshore, anglers target many fish such as marlin, tuna, sailfish, wahoo, snapper, grouper, sharks and more.
The Fish of Chesapeake Bay
Learn more about the different fish and how to catch them on our Fish of Chesapeake Bay page.
Chesapeake Bay Fishing Calendar
Take a look at our Chesapeake Bay Fishing Calendar to see the average temperatures by month and what species are throughout the different fishing seasons.
Chesapeake Bay Boat Launches
Take a look at our Chesapeake Bay Boat Launches page to find a place to get your boat on the water.
Chesapeake Bay Inshore Fishing
Chesapeake Bay is home to the largest inshore fishing area in the country. There are so many places you can fish here without needing a huge boat, however, because the bay is so large, it can get quite rough even though, it is protected well from the Atlantic Ocean. Inshore, striped bass are the most popular sport fish targeted in this area. However, there are plenty of other fish you can catch inshore here. Anglers target bluefish, sea bass, sea trout, flounder and sharks too. It’s a tremendous inshore fishery.
Learn more on our Chesapeake Bay Inshore Fishing page.
Chesapeake Bay Nearshore Fishing
The nearshore reefs and wrecks outside of Chesapeake Bay are home to a variety of fish. Anglers may find striped bass, bluefish, sharks, sea bass and other species too. When the striped bass are in thick, you may find some boats targeting these fish nearshore in this area.
Chesapeake Bay Deep Sea / Offshore Fishing
Fish the bay area’s beaches, fishing piers and bridges for some awesome shore fishing opportunities. Striped bass are the most popular fish that are targeted here from the surf and the piers, however, you can also catch a variety of other fish such as bluefish, whiting, an occasional trout or even flounder. During the peak of the striped bass migration, the fishing can be awesome from the surf in this area.
Learn more on our Chesapeake Bay Deep Sea Fishing page.
Chesapeake Bay Shore Fishing
You will find the species of fish that are known to be found on the northern Atlantic coast as well as some of the species of fish that are known for being along the Atlantic coast on the southern states and through Florida. This gives anglers so many options to target so many different types of fish offshore. Some of the popular fish that anglers target are marlin, tuna, sailfish, wahoo, snapper, grouper, sharks and more.
Learn about the best spots to fish here from shore.
