Waterlands

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WeakfishShoulder season

Channel · Maryland

Penwood Channel

39.20°N · 76.46°W · Channel · Patapsco River including Baltimore Harbor

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Best score today · 2 AM · Weakfish

73/100Great
Now
531 PM EDT
Best window
4-8 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding1.0 ft ▲

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

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24-hour conditions

Monday, Oct 5 · 8 AM

Time8A
Score79Great
Tide1.0 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb0.4 kn · toward SW
Wind6 kn SSWgusts 12 · steady
Air temp66°Mild
WeatherOvercast100% cloud
Water70°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

Penwood Channel

Depth
15-30 ftSlope
Structure
Channel · Inner · Semi-exposedChannel · 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 Penwood Channel

Penwood Channel is a channel in Patapsco River including Baltimore Harbor, Maryland. Depth is 15-30 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads channel, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 17 species here; the best right now are scup, spot and summer flounder. It is peak season now for scup, spot, summer flounder and red drum, and shoulder season for weakfish, Atlantic croaker, black sea bass and spotted seatrout. Scup peak from June through October. Spot peak from August through October. Summer flounder peak from June through September.

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.
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.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • North Point

    Cape · 1.0 mi

    58
    Top: Little tunnyPeak season
    • Little tunny 58
    • Scup 55
    • Spot 52

    14 kt ENEH 4:35 PM · 1.2 ftL 10:24 PM · 0.8 ft

  • Old Road Bay

    Bay · 1.1 mi

    58
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 58
    • Spot 57
    • Spanish mackerel 54

    14 kt ENEH 4:35 PM · 1.2 ftL 10:24 PM · 0.8 ft

  • Sparrows Point Channel

    Channel · 1.3 mi

    58
    Top: ScupPeak season
    • Scup 58
    • Spot 58
    • Summer flounder 55

    14 kt ENEH 4:35 PM · 1.2 ftL 10:24 PM · 0.8 ft

  • North Shoal

    Bar · 1.0 mi

    56
    Top: Spanish mackerelPeak season
    • Spanish mackerel 56
    • Little tunny 55
    • Scup 55

    14 kt ENEH 4:35 PM · 1.2 ftL 10:24 PM · 0.8 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.