Maryland is a one-species state as far as season searches go, and that species is the blue crab. The Chesapeake window is fixed, it is long, and the detail that catches people out is not the date at all: the minimum size steps up in the middle of the season.
Every season we have verified in Maryland
One block per rule, because a single species can be on two calendars in the same state depending on the water. The band under each heading is the legal season; the row under it is what our own data says the fish are doing.
Crab — Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries
The size step on July 15 is the rule most casual crabbers miss: a crab that was legal on Sunday is undersized on Wednesday. Gear hours are limited in the tributaries — half an hour after sunrise to sunset in April and from October to December 15, half an hour before sunrise to sunset from May to September — but handlines and dip nets may be worked around the clock.
- Size
- Male hard crabs 5" from April 1 to July 14, then 5¼" from July 15 to December 15. Peelers 3¼" then 3½". Soft crabs 3½" all season.
- Limit
- Without a licence, 2 dozen male hard crabs or 1 dozen peelers and soft crabs combined. With a licence, 1 bushel or 6 dozen male hard crabs plus 2 dozen peelers or softs.
Crab Season in Maryland: the full rules, the sizes and why this state is different →
Crab — Atlantic coastal bays
The coastal bays run sixteen days longer than the Chesapeake and the sizes do not step the same way. If you crab on both sides of the state, they are two different rulebooks.
- Size
- Hard crabs 5", soft crabs 3½", peelers 3¼" to July 14 and 3½" after. No minimum size on mature females.
- Limit
- One bushel per person, two bushels per boat, or 6 dozen and 12 dozen respectively if you are not measuring by the bushel.
Read on 2026-09-14 from Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Read in the eRegulations edition of the official Maryland fishing and crabbing guide, the designated publisher for MD DNR. Legal dates were read on the agency’s own page on the date shown beside each entry. Seasons change: the agency link is always the last word.
What the water is doing while the season is open
This is the part an agency page will not tell you. The temperature row above is the seasonal curve we use for the 6 of 13 Maryland waters we track on a mid atlantic profile, and it is why an opening date and a fishable date are not the same thing. A season that opens while the water is still in the forties is a legal invitation, not a biological one: the fish are there, they are just not eating on your schedule yet. Cross the legal band against the activity row before you book the day off.
Where to fish it
We publish a daily report for 13 Maryland waters, each with live flow or tide and today's conditions.
- Potomac River — St. Mary's County
- Ocean City — Worcester County
- Chesapeake Bay (Annapolis) — Anne Arundel County
- Deep Creek Lake — Garrett County
- Patuxent River — Prince Georges County
- Gunpowder River — Baltimore County
- Susquehanna Flats — Cecil County
- Assateague — Worcester County
- Loch Raven Reservoir — Baltimore County
- Liberty Reservoir — Baltimore County
The licence is a separate question
An open season is not permission to fish. Maryland requires a licence from age 16, and residents pay from $32.00 against $55.00 for visitors. What a Maryland licence costs and where to buy it →
Questions
When does fishing season open in Maryland?
It depends on the species: crab april 1 to december 15; crab april 1 to december 31. Every date on this page was read off MD DNR on 2026-09-14.
Do I need a licence to fish in Maryland?
Yes. Maryland requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $32.00 for residents. A season being open is not permission to fish: the licence is separate and so are the size and bag limits.
Are these Maryland dates going to change?
Some of them, and the page says which. Dates written as a rule in the regulations are calculated here for 2026, so they follow the rule rather than going stale. Dates the agency sets each year are shown as exactly that, with no calendar band, because inventing one would be worse than leaving it empty.