Waterlands

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Atlantic croakerShoulder season

Bar · Maryland

Belvidere Shoal

39.09°N · 76.38°W · Bar · Chesapeake Bay from Pooles Island to Sandy Point MD

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Best score today · 4 PM · Atlantic croaker

69/100Great
Now
505 AM EDT
Best window
1-8 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Ebbing1.6 ft ▼

Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine

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14-day forecast

Best days to fish

Best: Mon · 80

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 5 AM · now

Time5ANOW
Score50Good
Tide1.6 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentFlood0.5 kn · toward N
Wind16 kn NEgusts 26 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.9 ft · 3 s
Air temp61°Mild
WeatherOvercast78% chance of rain
Water74°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

No rule for Atlantic croaker is on file here yet, so its status is unknown, not closed. Confirm limits with Maryland DNR before you keep a fish.

Always check with Maryland DNR ↗Fishing license ↗

Source: Maryland DNR · synced yesterday

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Atlantic croaker is best here

Shoulder season for Atlantic croaker · 1 more week at shoulder

Atlantic croaker season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Atlantic croaker · 1 more week at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Atlantic croaker in Maryland →

Spot profile

Belvidere Shoal

Depth
About 20 ftFlat bottom
Structure
Shoal · Inner · Semi-exposedShoal · flat bottom
Season
Shoulder seasonAtlantic croaker

NOAA NCEI DEM, sampled Sep 13 on a 3.4 m grid. Depths are feet below NAVD 88, not chart datum (MLLW), so they can differ from a chart by a few feet. Not for navigation.

About this spot

Fishing Belvidere Shoal

Belvidere Shoal is a bar in Chesapeake Bay from Pooles Island to Sandy Point MD, Maryland. Depth is about 20 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads shoal, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are spot, scup and little tunny. It is peak season now for spot, scup, little tunny and Spanish mackerel, and shoulder season for bluefish, Atlantic croaker, weakfish and black sea bass. Spot peak from August through October. Scup peak from June through October. Little tunny peak from September through October.

Tackle & technique

Atlantic croaker
Croaker feed on mud and sand bottom along channel edges, oyster bars, piers and deeper holes in bays and sounds, mostly in 5 to 30 feet of water. A two-hook bottom rig with small hooks and shrimp, bloodworm or squid catches them from piers, the surf and small boats. Fish the hours around high tide and into the evening.
Spot
Spot school over mud and sand in bays, tidal creeks and channels and around piers and bridges, generally in less than 25 feet of water. Fish a two-hook bottom rig with small hooks and bits of bloodworm or shrimp, and move until you find a school. In fall the biggest fish run out of the sounds past piers and inlets, and the bite can go all day.
Scup
Scup school over hard and mixed bottom, rock piles, mussel beds, piers and jetties, usually in 10 to 60 feet of water. Fish a high-low rig with small hooks and squid or clam strips on the bottom, and chum with clam to hold a school under the boat. If nothing bites within 15 minutes, move to the next piece of structure.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

View all on map →
  • Craighill Angle

    Channel · 2.5 mi

    71
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 71
    • Scup 68
    • Atlantic croaker 61

    12 kt NEL 11:13 AM · 0.7 ftH 4:42 PM · 1.3 ft

  • Craighill Channel

    Channel · 1.7 mi

    68
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 68
    • Scup 66
    • Atlantic croaker 59

    16 kt NEL 11:13 AM · 0.7 ftH 4:42 PM · 1.3 ft

  • Sixfoot Knoll

    Bar · 3.6 mi

    65
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 65
    • Scup 63
    • Bluefish 57

    12 kt NEL 11:13 AM · 0.7 ftH 4:42 PM · 1.3 ft

  • Mountain Point

    Cape · 3.6 mi

    59
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 59
    • Scup 57
    • Little tunny 50

    16 kt NEL 11:47 AM · 0.6 ftH 5:07 PM · 1.1 ft

Open in the tide map

Scores and forecasts are for planning only and can be wrong. Conditions on the water change fast; check the marine forecast before you go. Regulations change during the season, so confirm limits and closures with Maryland DNR before you keep a fish.