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Choptank River Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Choptank River: an Eastern Shore tidal river where Maryland's Chesapeake striped bass rules apply below the tidal line at Greensboro.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Flow
23 cfs
Air / High
62 / 63 F
Wind
NE 10 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 01491000, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Choptank River is in transition: bait on the move and predators following. The river is running 23 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 10 mph, steady pressure near 1026 hPa and a high of 63. Water sits around 64 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:38 AM-11:38 AM and 10:07 PM-12:07 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Striped bassExcellent

Spring and fall are the shoreline seasons: ODWC points to windblown points, riprap and dams during the May shad spawn and the pre-winter feed.

Tomorrow: Similar at 62 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Maryland requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $32.00 for residents, and salt water needs its own licence here. What a Maryland licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing striped bass here? Check the size and bag limits with MD DNR before you keep anything. The season dates for Maryland, read off the agency, are on the Maryland seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Choptank River near Greensboro.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 01491000.

21365023 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 78 years of October 23

At 23 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 01491000 (Choptank River near Greensboro) is at the 34th percentile for the date: normal. In half of the 78 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 34 cfs; the highest was 231 cfs and the lowest 8 cfs.

p10 13median 34p90 125

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 01491000; today’s reading is the latest instantaneous value. Classes follow the ones the USGS used on its WaterWatch maps (retired at the end of 2025): below 10th, much below normal; 10th–24th, below; 25th–75th, normal; 76th–90th, above; over 90th, much above.

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp62 F
High / Low63 / 45 F
WindNE 10-13 mph
Pressure1026.4 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain14% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:21 / 18:14
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (gauge)56 F USGS
Water temp (seasonal)~64 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Choptank River this week

The best day on Choptank River this week looks like Sunday Oct 25, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Sunday, Oct 25 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:38 AM-11:38 AM and 10:07 PM-12:07 AM
Minor period
3:60 AM-4:60 AM
Sun
07:21 to 18:14
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Partly cloudy, 13 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Choptank River: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Striped bass illustration

Striped bass

Best: spring and fall inland; on the coast, during the seasonal migrations

The largest of the temperate basses, a sea-run fish of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts that now also lives in reservoirs across much of the country after hatchery stocking. Inland, it follows schools of shad and herring through open water. Spring and fall are the shoreline seasons: ODWC points to windblown points, riprap and dams during the May shad spawn and the pre-winter feed.

When to come: the Choptank River calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Striped bass
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 64 F (estimated, not a reading).

4050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~64 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Choptank River today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Striped bass led the card at excellent. High of 65 F, wind to 12 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Striped bass led the card at excellent. High of 65 F, wind to 12 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Striped bass led the card at excellent. High of 70 F, wind to 13 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Maryland requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Maryland fishing license for tidal water (see DNR for license options). Chesapeake striped bass, 2026: 1 a day, 19-24 inches, Sept. 1-Dec. 5; catch and release only Dec. 6-31 (DNR, updated Sept. 16, 2026). Check DNR's tidal limits for other species and its crabbing rules before keeping crabs.

Access

Use Maryland DNR's public boating access listings for current ramps on the river.

About this water

A Chesapeake Bay tributary on Maryland's Eastern Shore, tidal below the MD 313 bypass at Greensboro; USGS gauge 01491000 is in the nontidal reach.

Fishing Choptank River: the full guide

Tidal water up to Greensboro

Maryland DNR draws the line between tidal and nontidal water on the Choptank at the MD Route 313 bypass on the outskirts of Greensboro, Caroline County; Chesapeake Bay tidal rules apply below it. The USGS gauge used on this page, Choptank River near Greensboro (01491000), sits in the nontidal headwaters, so it tracks freshwater coming down the river, not tide in the lower river.

Striped bass seasons in 2026

DNR's 2026 Chesapeake schedule allows 1 striped bass a day, 19 to 24 inches, from June 1 to July 31 and from September 1 to December 5; August was closed to all targeting, and from December 6 to 31 only catch and release is allowed. In the second half of May, the Choptank and its tributaries opened only downstream of a line from Holland Point to the west entrance of Chapel Creek, with spawning rivers otherwise off limits.

Common questions

Can I keep a striped bass on the Choptank in the fall?

Yes, from September 1 to December 5, 2026: 1 fish a day, 19 to 24 inches, under Maryland's Chesapeake rules.

Where does tidal water end?

At the MD Route 313 bypass on the outskirts of Greensboro, according to DNR's tidal-nontidal dividing lines.

Is fishing good at Choptank River right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Nanticoke River25 miChesapeake Bay (Annapolis)30 miKillens Pond36 miPatuxent River39 miTangier Sound44 miSilver Lake45 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 01491000 β€” Choptank River near Greensboro
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 19:30 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 38.6800, -76.0700 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 8, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 8, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.