Maryland Department of Natural Resources

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Tournament Anglers

Photo of a largemouth bass tournament angler holding up 2 largemouth bass fish. NOTICE
​The marina at the Shad Landing area of Pocomoke River State Park is scheduled for renovation with construction tentatively scheduled to begin in January 2025 and extend through 2025. Access to the Pocomoke River from the Shad Landing area of Pocomoke River State Park will be unavailable during this time.
Welcome to our Tournament Angler page. The Chesapeake Bay watershed is home to many tournaments throughout the year, with most occurring between April and November. Some tournaments are large scale productions, such as the Bassmaster Open. Some are less large but still incredibly fun to watch or participate in.

We participate in a cooperative effort with our tournament anglers to keep healthy stocks of fish. In addition to the catch-and-release practices of most tournaments, handling techniques of fish have greatly improved and resulted in many more fish surviving now than twenty years ago.

Read these documents for information on:



​​Protect Your Waters Graphic ​
​​Black Bass Conservation Fund
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Tournament Directors

Do I need a permit?​​

Tournament Permit Requirements

The permittee is required to:
  1. ensure that supplies and equipment for tournament are in good working order
  2. ensure that bags used to transport bass do not leak
  3. ensure that largemouth bass are maintained in well-oxygenated conditions
  4. ensure that bass are covered by water when transported by bag
  5. ensure that bass are not held in a bag with water for longer than 5 minutes without a water exchange
  6. ensure the legal disposal of dead black bass
  7. ensure that results are reported by the date on the permit
  8. ensure that all permit conditions specified on the permit are being followed.
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Five fisheries accounted for most black bass tournament fishing in Maryland.  Of these, the percentage of fishing effort has increased on Potomac River and decreased for the upper Chesapeake Bay and Deep Creek Lake.


For the five top black bass tournament fisheries, approximately 60,000 angler-hours were spent fishing tournaments, mostly in tidal freshwater of Potomac River and the upper Chesapeake Bay.


Better catch from tidal freshwater of Potomac River and about the same for other fisheries. Looks like a tougher 2023 in Deep Creek Lake than previous years.



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