Waterlands

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WeakfishShoulder season

Channel · Maryland

Ferry Bar Channel

39.26°N · 76.60°W · Channel · Patapsco River including Baltimore Harbor

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 4 AM · Weakfish

76/100Great
Now
451 AM EDT
Best window
3-8 AMEbb tide
Tide now
High1.8 ft

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

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24-hour conditions

Sunday, Sep 27 · 6 PM

Time6P
Score74Great
Tide1.5 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood0.7 kn · toward NW
Wind8 kn NNEgusts 20 · steady
Air temp63°Mild
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water72°FPersisted

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

IN EFFECT NOW

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

Source: Maryland DNR · synced today

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Weakfish is best here

Shoulder season for Weakfish · 1 more week at shoulder

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

Weakfish in Maryland

Spot profile

Ferry Bar Channel

Depth
5-20 ftSlope
Structure
Channel · Inner · ProtectedChannel · slope
Season
Shoulder seasonWeakfish

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 Ferry Bar Channel

Ferry Bar Channel is a channel in Patapsco River including Baltimore Harbor, Maryland. Depth is 5-20 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads channel, inner water and protected.

Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are spot, Atlantic croaker and red drum. It is peak season now for spot, red drum, scup and sheepshead, and shoulder season for Atlantic croaker, spotted seatrout, striped bass and weakfish. Spot peak from August through October. Atlantic croaker peak from June through August. Red drum peak in May and from September through October.

Tackle & technique

Weakfish
Weakfish hold along channel edges, grass beds, oyster bars and bridge shadows in bays and sounds, usually in 5 to 40 feet of water, and feed hardest at dawn, dusk and after dark. Swim soft plastics or bucktails slowly near the bottom, or drift peeler crab and bloodworms. They have soft mouths, so keep the drag light and the pressure steady.
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.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Ferry Bar Channel

    Channel · 0.9 mi

    73
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 73
    • Atlantic croaker 67
    • Red drum 63

    4 kt WL 8:05 AM · 0.9 ftH 12:13 PM · 1.1 ft

  • Winans Cove

    Bay · 0.4 mi

    72
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 72
    • Atlantic croaker 63
    • Red drum 63

    4 kt WL 8:05 AM · 0.9 ftH 12:13 PM · 1.1 ft

  • Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 69
    • Red drum 61
    • Atlantic croaker 60

    4 kt WL 8:05 AM · 0.9 ftH 12:13 PM · 1.1 ft

  • Whetstone Point

    Cape · 0.9 mi

    67
    Top: SpotPeak season
    • Spot 67
    • Atlantic croaker 58
    • Red drum 58

    4 kt WL 8:05 AM · 0.9 ftH 12:13 PM · 1.1 ft

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.