The Species Collection — Chesapeake Fish Bios

Striped Bass

Morone saxatilis

2 min read Spring and fall

Channel edges, rips, and the Susquehanna Flats

White Perch

Morone americana

1 min read Spring run, then all summer

Tributary mouths, piers, and hard bottom

Blue Catfish

Ictalurus furcatus

2 min read Year-round

Tidal-fresh rivers, deep holes and channel bends

Northern Snakehead

Channa argus

1 min read Late spring through fall

Grass, pads, and shallow tidal-fresh creeks

Red Drum

Sciaenops ocellatus

1 min read Summer into fall

Lower Bay shoals, sand bars, and the inlets

Speckled Trout

Cynoscion nebulosus

1 min read Late summer and fall

Grass beds, marsh drains, and the lower Bay

Tautog

Tautoga onitis

1 min read Spring and late fall

Wrecks, rock piles, and bridge rubble

Largemouth Bass

Micropterus salmoides

1 min read Spring through fall

Tidal-fresh rivers, pads, docks, and grass

Bluefish

Pomatomus saltatrix

1 min read Summer

Open Bay, inlets, and the surf

Summer Flounder

Paralichthys dentatus

1 min read Late spring through summer

Sandy bottom near inlets and channel edges

Black Drum

Pogonias cromis

1 min read Late spring

Lower Bay shoals and shell bottom

Cobia

Rachycentron canadum

1 min read Summer

Lower Bay, around buoys and structure

Spanish Mackerel

Scomberomorus maculatus

1 min read Mid to late summer

Open Bay, warm clear water

Yellow Perch

Perca flavescens

1 min read Late winter into early spring

Upper tidal rivers and creeks

American Shad

Alosa sapidissima

1 min read Spring

Susquehanna and major tributaries

Blue Crab

Callinectes sapidus

2 min read Late spring through fall

Grass beds, shallows, and piers Bay-wide

Oyster Toadfish

Opsanus tau

1 min read Year-round

Oyster bottom, pilings, and rubble

Atlantic Menhaden

Brevoortia tyrannus

1 min read Spring through fall

Open Bay, in vast schools