What’s biting

45 of 50 species have at least one spot worth the trip today. Each one is scored against its own water-temperature range at every spot it’s fished.

Bay Icons

The fish that built the Chesapeake’s identity. Stripers run the spring and fall migrations; perch hold the shallows year-round.

Striped bassMorone saxatilis

126 of 159 spots worth the trip

Best now at Assateague Island, MD100

Bites in 50–72° water

White perchMorone americana

51 of 63 spots worth the trip

Best now at Sandy Point, MD100

Bites in 50–78° water

Panfish

Schooling species accessible to shore anglers. Yellow perch run the lower Susquehanna in late winter; crappie hold structure in most regional reservoirs.

Yellow perchPerca flavescens

31 of 69 spots worth the trip

Best now at Presque Isle, PA96

Bites in 45–70° water

CrappiePomoxis spp.

27 of 103 spots worth the trip

Best now at Lake Marion, SC98

Bites in 50–80° water

Inland Bass

Largemouth in the tidal grass and reservoirs; smallmouth in the cooler upper-Potomac and mountain rivers.

Largemouth bassMicropterus salmoides

46 of 139 spots worth the trip

Best now at Miami Beach Park, MD96

Bites in 55–85° water

Smallmouth bassMicropterus dolomieu

50 of 118 spots worth the trip

Best now at Potomac River, MD100

Bites in 55–78° water

Trout

Cold tailwaters and stocked freestone streams from the Gunpowder to the Catoctin to the Yough.

Brown troutSalmo trutta

27 of 64 spots worth the trip

Best now at Selkirk Shores, NY100

Bites in 45–68° water

Rainbow troutOncorhynchus mykiss

41 of 81 spots worth the trip

Best now at Bighorn River, MT100

Bites in 45–68° water

Brook troutSalvelinus fontinalis

6 of 10 spots worth the trip

Best now at North Branch Potomac River, MD92

Bites in 40–65° water

Salmon, Steelhead & Char

The coldwater migrants and deepwater char — Great Lakes chinook, coho, and steelhead staged off the tributaries, lake trout in the cold depths, and landlocked kokanee salmon trolled in the reservoirs of the Mountain West.

Chinook salmonOncorhynchus tshawytscha

8 of 29 spots worth the trip

Best now at Selkirk Shores, NY96

Bites in 42–58° water

Coho salmonOncorhynchus kisutch

8 of 20 spots worth the trip

Best now at Port Crescent, MI84

Bites in 44–58° water

SteelheadOncorhynchus mykiss

5 of 26 spots worth the trip

Best now at Trinity River, CA92

Bites in 40–55° water

Lake troutSalvelinus namaycush

5 of 18 spots worth the trip

Best now at Lake Champlain, NY90

Bites in 40–52° water

Kokanee salmonOncorhynchus nerka

1 of 9 spots worth the trip

Best now at Lake Coeur d’Alene, ID72

Bites in 45–59° water

Catfish

Blue cats are the largest inshore fishery on the East Coast right now; channels are everywhere and never go off.

Blue catfishIctalurus furcatus

37 of 54 spots worth the trip

Best now at Rocky Point Park, MD100

Bites in 55–85° water

Channel catfishIctalurus punctatus

29 of 123 spots worth the trip

Best now at Lake Norman, NC88

Bites in 60–85° water

Pike, Pickerel & Walleye

Toothy ambush predators. Walleye is the prized cool-water table fish from Deep Creek to the prairie reservoirs; northern pike and muskellunge are the big-water apex predators; chain pickerel range widely, including tidal MD tributaries and Eastern Shore millponds.

Chain pickerelEsox niger

8 of 18 spots worth the trip

Best now at Blackwater NWR, MD96

Bites in 45–80° water

WalleyeSander vitreus

33 of 81 spots worth the trip

Best now at Presque Isle, PA96

Bites in 50–72° water

Northern pikeEsox lucius

5 of 15 spots worth the trip

Best now at Presque Isle, PA96

Bites in 50–70° water

MuskellungeEsox masquinongy

18 of 22 spots worth the trip

Best now at Presque Isle, PA92

Bites in 55–78° water

Carp

Big, wary bottom feeders in nearly every warm lake and river. Sight-cast to them on the flats or soak bait European-style. Lightly regulated almost everywhere, but grass carp are protected in many states.

Common carpCyprinus carpio

46 of 147 spots worth the trip

Best now at Lake Norman, NC88

Bites in 52–86° water

Invasive

Established and expanding. Take everything you catch — there is no daily limit and no closed season.

Northern snakeheadChanna argus

9 of 10 spots worth the trip

Best now at Choptank River, MD84

Bites in 55–85° water

Coastal & Inshore

The inshore fishery along the surf, bays, and inlets — from the Mid-Atlantic striper-and-flounder run to the redfish and seatrout of the South.

BluefishPomatomus saltatrix

69 of 127 spots worth the trip

Best now at Sandy Hook, NJ98

Bites in 60–80° water

Summer flounderParalichthys dentatus

32 of 88 spots worth the trip

Best now at Kent Narrows, MD100

Bites in 58–75° water

Red drumSciaenops ocellatus

15 of 103 spots worth the trip

Best now at Venice, LA100

Bites in 65–85° water

Spotted seatroutCynoscion nebulosus

51 of 118 spots worth the trip

Best now at Venice, LA100

Bites in 60–85° water

Subtropical Inshore

The warm-water gamefish of Florida and the Gulf — cold-sensitive ambush predators around passes, bridges, and mangroves.

Common snookCentropomus undecimalis

1 of 22 spots worth the trip

Best now at Fort Myers Beach, FL83

Bites in 68–88° water

TarponMegalops atlanticus

1 of 27 spots worth the trip

Best now at Naples Beach, FL73

Bites in 74–90° water

Reef & Pelagic

Structure fish on jetties, piers, and reefs, plus pelagic visitors that ride the warm currents up each summer.

Spanish mackerelScomberomorus maculatus

0 of 4 spots worth the trip

Best now at Surfside Beach, SC59

Bites in 65–82° water

CobiaRachycentron canadum

0 of 4 spots worth the trip

Bites in 68–85° water

SheepsheadArchosargus probatocephalus

16 of 65 spots worth the trip

Best now at Cape Henlopen, DE90

Bites in 60–82° water

Atlantic spadefishChaetodipterus faber

0 of 1 spot worth the trip

Best now at Kiptopeke, VA17

Bites in 70–82° water

More Species

Additional target species we track in regions where coverage is newer — grouped here as more locations come online.

Cutthroat troutOncorhynchus clarkii

4 of 7 spots worth the trip

Best now at Green River below Flaming Gorge, UT80

Bites in 39–62° water

White bassMorone chrysops

2 of 15 spots worth the trip

Best now at Maumee River, OH76

Bites in 55–80° water

Black drumPogonias cromis

17 of 39 spots worth the trip

Best now at Venice, LA100

Bites in 55–85° water

Landlocked salmonSalmo salar

3 of 6 spots worth the trip

Best now at Sebago Lake, ME82

Bites in 38–60° water

Sockeye salmonOncorhynchus nerka

1 of 3 spots worth the trip

Best now at Kenai River, AK80

Bites in 40–60° water

Pacific halibutHippoglossus stenolepis

1 of 2 spots worth the trip

Best now at Sitka, AK71

Bites in 37–55° water

Arctic graylingThymallus arcticus

0 of 1 spot worth the trip

Best now at Kvichak River, AK27

Bites in 39–60° water

California halibutParalichthys californicus

5 of 25 spots worth the trip

Best now at Zuma Beach, CA92

Bites in 55–72° water

Barred surfperchAmphistichus argenteus

2 of 19 spots worth the trip

Best now at Avila Beach, CA83

Bites in 50–68° water

Southern flounderParalichthys lethostigma

14 of 44 spots worth the trip

Best now at Orange Beach, AL98

Bites in 58–82° water

Kelp bassParalabrax clathratus

2 of 7 spots worth the trip

Best now at Oceanside Beach, CA73

Bites in 60–74° water

Spotted bay bassParalabrax maculatofasciatus

0 of 4 spots worth the trip

Best now at Mission Bay, CA60

Bites in 62–80° water

Redtail surfperchAmphistichus rhodoterus

7 of 11 spots worth the trip

Best now at Ocean Shores, WA100

Bites in 48–62° water

White seabassAtractoscion nobilis

1 of 2 spots worth the trip

Best now at Monterey Bay, CA70

Bites in 58–72° water

RockfishSebastes spp.

2 of 15 spots worth the trip

Best now at Sitka, AK83

Bites in 45–58° water

LingcodOphiodon elongatus

2 of 13 spots worth the trip

Best now at Sitka, AK83

Bites in 45–58° water

Giant trevallyCaranx ignobilis

4 of 8 spots worth the trip

Best now at Mokuleia Beach Park, HI76

Bites in 72–84° water

BonefishAlbula glossodonta

4 of 8 spots worth the trip

Best now at Mokuleia Beach Park, HI76

Bites in 72–86° water