What’s biting

46 of 53 species have at least one spot worth the trip today. Each one is scored against its own water-temperature range at every spot it’s fished.

Bay Icons

The fish that built the Chesapeake’s identity. Stripers run the spring and fall migrations; perch hold the shallows year-round.

Striped bassMorone saxatilis

100 of 159 spots worth the trip

Best now at Elms Beach Park, MD100

Bites in 50–72° water

White perchMorone americana

50 of 63 spots worth the trip

Best now at Mariner Point Park, MD100

Bites in 50–78° water

Panfish

Schooling species accessible to shore anglers. Yellow perch run the lower Susquehanna in late winter; crappie hold structure in most regional reservoirs.

Yellow perchPerca flavescens

34 of 69 spots worth the trip

Best now at 31st Street Beach, IL100

Bites in 45–70° water

CrappiePomoxis spp.

50 of 103 spots worth the trip

Best now at Broken Bow Lake, OK100

Bites in 50–80° water

Inland Bass

Largemouth in the tidal grass and reservoirs; smallmouth in the cooler upper-Potomac and mountain rivers.

Largemouth bassMicropterus salmoides

63 of 139 spots worth the trip

Best now at Susquehanna Flats, MD96

Bites in 55–85° water

Smallmouth bassMicropterus dolomieu

51 of 118 spots worth the trip

Best now at Broken Bow Lake, OK94

Bites in 55–78° water

Trout

Cold tailwaters and stocked freestone streams from the Gunpowder to the Catoctin to the Yough.

Brown troutSalmo trutta

39 of 64 spots worth the trip

Best now at 31st Street Beach, IL100

Bites in 45–68° water

Rainbow troutOncorhynchus mykiss

40 of 85 spots worth the trip

Best now at Deschutes River, OR100

Bites in 45–68° water

Brook troutSalvelinus fontinalis

5 of 10 spots worth the trip

Best now at Au Sable River, MI90

Bites in 40–65° water

Salmon, Steelhead & Char

The coldwater migrants and deepwater char — Great Lakes chinook, coho, and steelhead staged off the tributaries, lake trout in the cold depths, and landlocked kokanee salmon trolled in the reservoirs of the Mountain West.

Chinook salmonOncorhynchus tshawytscha

9 of 40 spots worth the trip

Best now at Rogue River, OR100

Bites in 42–58° water

Coho salmonOncorhynchus kisutch

10 of 35 spots worth the trip

Best now at Marquette Park Beach, IN100

Bites in 44–58° water

Sockeye salmonOncorhynchus nerka

1 of 8 spots worth the trip

Best now at Kvichak River, AK75

Bites in 40–60° water

Pink salmonOncorhynchus gorbuscha

0 of 10 spots worth the trip

Best now at Whittier / Passage Canal, AK32

Bites in 42–60° water

Chum salmonOncorhynchus keta

0 of 8 spots worth the trip

Best now at Whittier / Passage Canal, AK32

Bites in 42–58° water

SteelheadOncorhynchus mykiss

16 of 31 spots worth the trip

Best now at Rogue River, OR100

Bites in 40–55° water

Dolly VardenSalvelinus malma

1 of 10 spots worth the trip

Best now at Kenai River, AK72

Bites in 38–58° water

Lake troutSalvelinus namaycush

6 of 18 spots worth the trip

Best now at Cayuga Lake, NY87

Bites in 40–52° water

Kokanee salmonOncorhynchus nerka

7 of 9 spots worth the trip

Best now at Dillon Reservoir, CO82

Bites in 45–59° water

Catfish

Blue cats are the largest inshore fishery on the East Coast right now; channels are everywhere and never go off.

Blue catfishIctalurus furcatus

31 of 54 spots worth the trip

Best now at Conowingo Dam Tailrace, MD96

Bites in 55–85° water

Channel catfishIctalurus punctatus

55 of 123 spots worth the trip

Best now at Conowingo Dam Tailrace, MD96

Bites in 60–85° water

Pike, Pickerel & Walleye

Toothy ambush predators. Walleye is the prized cool-water table fish from Deep Creek to the prairie reservoirs; northern pike and muskellunge are the big-water apex predators; chain pickerel range widely, including tidal MD tributaries and Eastern Shore millponds.

Chain pickerelEsox niger

4 of 18 spots worth the trip

Best now at Blackwater NWR, MD86

Bites in 45–80° water

WalleyeSander vitreus

63 of 81 spots worth the trip

Best now at Marquette Park Beach, IN100

Bites in 50–72° water

Northern pikeEsox lucius

6 of 15 spots worth the trip

Best now at Lake Oahe, SD82

Bites in 50–70° water

MuskellungeEsox masquinongy

0 of 22 spots worth the trip

Best now at Deep Creek Lake, MD61

Bites in 55–78° water

Carp

Big, wary bottom feeders in nearly every warm lake and river. Sight-cast to them on the flats or soak bait European-style. Lightly regulated almost everywhere, but grass carp are protected in many states.

Common carpCyprinus carpio

44 of 147 spots worth the trip

Best now at Conowingo Dam Tailrace, MD96

Bites in 52–86° water

Invasive

Established and expanding. Take everything you catch — there is no daily limit and no closed season.

Northern snakeheadChanna argus

3 of 10 spots worth the trip

Best now at Choptank River, MD74

Bites in 55–85° water

Coastal & Inshore

The inshore fishery along the surf, bays, and inlets — from the Mid-Atlantic striper-and-flounder run to the redfish and seatrout of the South.

BluefishPomatomus saltatrix

54 of 127 spots worth the trip

Best now at Elms Beach Park, MD100

Bites in 60–80° water

Summer flounderParalichthys dentatus

38 of 88 spots worth the trip

Best now at Hilton Pier Park, VA100

Bites in 58–75° water

Red drumSciaenops ocellatus

58 of 103 spots worth the trip

Best now at Mexico Beach, FL100

Bites in 65–85° water

Spotted seatroutCynoscion nebulosus

80 of 118 spots worth the trip

Best now at Calcasieu Lake, LA100

Bites in 60–85° water

Subtropical Inshore

The warm-water gamefish of Florida and the Gulf — cold-sensitive ambush predators around passes, bridges, and mangroves.

Common snookCentropomus undecimalis

19 of 22 spots worth the trip

Best now at Cocoa Beach, FL100

Bites in 68–88° water

TarponMegalops atlanticus

17 of 27 spots worth the trip

Best now at St. Pete Beach, FL100

Bites in 74–90° water

Reef & Pelagic

Structure fish on jetties, piers, and reefs, plus pelagic visitors that ride the warm currents up each summer.

Spanish mackerelScomberomorus maculatus

0 of 4 spots worth the trip

Best now at Surfside Beach, SC68

Bites in 65–82° water

CobiaRachycentron canadum

0 of 4 spots worth the trip

Bites in 68–85° water

SheepsheadArchosargus probatocephalus

48 of 65 spots worth the trip

Best now at Pensacola Beach, FL100

Bites in 60–82° water

Atlantic spadefishChaetodipterus faber

0 of 1 spot worth the trip

Best now at Kiptopeke, VA0

Bites in 70–82° water

More Species

Additional target species we track in regions where coverage is newer — grouped here as more locations come online.

Cutthroat troutOncorhynchus clarkii

7 of 7 spots worth the trip

Best now at Green River below Flaming Gorge, UT92

Bites in 39–62° water

White bassMorone chrysops

2 of 15 spots worth the trip

Best now at Maumee River, OH74

Bites in 55–80° water

Black drumPogonias cromis

28 of 39 spots worth the trip

Best now at Calcasieu Lake, LA100

Bites in 55–85° water

Landlocked salmonSalmo salar

2 of 6 spots worth the trip

Best now at Lake Champlain, VT85

Bites in 38–60° water

Pacific halibutHippoglossus stenolepis

1 of 5 spots worth the trip

Best now at Sitka, AK100

Bites in 37–55° water

Arctic graylingThymallus arcticus

1 of 6 spots worth the trip

Best now at Kvichak River, AK75

Bites in 39–60° water

California halibutParalichthys californicus

8 of 25 spots worth the trip

Best now at Santa Cruz Main Beach, CA100

Bites in 55–72° water

Barred surfperchAmphistichus argenteus

5 of 19 spots worth the trip

Best now at Santa Cruz Main Beach, CA94

Bites in 50–68° water

Southern flounderParalichthys lethostigma

13 of 44 spots worth the trip

Best now at Myrtle Beach, SC100

Bites in 58–82° water

Kelp bassParalabrax clathratus

1 of 7 spots worth the trip

Best now at Redondo Beach, CA92

Bites in 60–74° water

Spotted bay bassParalabrax maculatofasciatus

2 of 4 spots worth the trip

Best now at Newport Harbor, CA75

Bites in 62–80° water

Redtail surfperchAmphistichus rhodoterus

0 of 11 spots worth the trip

Best now at Gold Beach, OR58

Bites in 48–62° water

White seabassAtractoscion nobilis

1 of 2 spots worth the trip

Best now at Monterey Bay, CA100

Bites in 58–72° water

RockfishSebastes spp.

1 of 18 spots worth the trip

Best now at Sitka, AK88

Bites in 45–58° water

LingcodOphiodon elongatus

1 of 15 spots worth the trip

Best now at Sitka, AK88

Bites in 45–58° water

Giant trevallyCaranx ignobilis

3 of 8 spots worth the trip

Best now at Salt Pond Beach Park, HI100

Bites in 72–84° water

BonefishAlbula glossodonta

3 of 8 spots worth the trip

Best now at Salt Pond Beach Park, HI100

Bites in 72–86° water