Tournament Anglers

Link to the Largemouth Bass Tag Poster pdf.

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:

Tournament Directors

Do I need a permit?

Tournament Permit Requirements

The permittee is required to:

ensure that supplies and equipment for tournament are in good working order
ensure that bags used to transport bass do not leak
ensure that largemouth bass are maintained in well-oxygenated conditions
ensure that bass are covered by water when transported by bag
ensure that bass are not held in a bag with water for longer than 5 minutes without a water exchange
ensure the legal disposal of dead black bass
ensure that results are reported by the date on the permit
ensure that all permit conditions specified on the permit are being followed.

Graphic link to the Bass Tournament Permit Request Form

Graphic Link to the Bass Tournament Reporting Form

Graphic Link to the page of Bass Tournament listings

Graphic link to map of Bass Release Locations

Five fisheries represent the majority of black bass tournament fishing in Maryland. Among them, fishing effort has remained steady on the Potomac River, decreased in the upper Chesapeake Bay and Deep Creek Lake, and increased on the Pocomoke River.

a graphic of a graph that shows that 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.

In 2024, approximately 50,000 angler-hours were spent on these five tournament fisheries, marking a decline from previous years. The majority of this effort occurred in the tidal freshwater of the Potomac River and the upper Chesapeake Bay.

a graphic of a graph representing information for tournament fisheries, approximately 40,000 angler-hours were spent fishing tournaments in 2024, a decrease from previous years

Catch rates improved on the Pocomoke River and Deep Creek Lake, declined on the Choptank River, and remained steady on the Potomac River and upper Chesapeake Bay.

a graphic of a graph showing better catch from upper Chesapeake Bay , Pocomoke River, and Deep Creek Lake. The Choptank River saw a decline and the Potomac remained consistent.<

a graphic of a table which details the findings in the graph

Maryland Department of Natural Resources

Tournament Anglers

Tournament Directors

Do I need a permit?

Tournament Permit Requirements

Five fisheries represent the majority of black bass tournament fishing in Maryland. Among them, fishing effort has remained steady on the Potomac River, decreased in the upper Chesapeake Bay and Deep Creek Lake, and increased on the Pocomoke River.

In 2024, approximately 50,000 angler-hours were spent on these five tournament fisheries, marking a decline from previous years. The majority of this effort occurred in the tidal freshwater of the Potomac River and the upper Chesapeake Bay.

Catch rates improved on the Pocomoke River and Deep Creek Lake, declined on the Choptank River, and remained steady on the Potomac River and upper Chesapeake Bay.

Tidal Black Bass

Tournament Anglers

Tournament Directors

Do I need a permit?​​

Tournament Permit Requirements

Five fisheries represent the majority of black bass tournament fishing in Maryland. Among them, fishing effort has remained steady on the Potomac River, decreased in the upper Chesapeake Bay and ​Deep Creek Lake, and increased on the Pocomoke River.

In 2024, approximately 50,000 angler-hours were spent on these five tournament fisheries, marking a decline from previous years. The majority of this effort occurred in the tidal freshwater of the Potomac River and the upper Chesapeake Bay.​

Catch rates improved on the Pocomoke River and Deep Creek Lake, declined on the Choptank River, and remained steady on the ​Potomac River and upper Chesapeake Bay.

​​​Tidal Black Bass

Do I need a permit?

Five fisheries represent the majority of black bass tournament fishing in Maryland. Among them, fishing effort has remained steady on the Potomac River, decreased in the upper Chesapeake Bay and Deep Creek Lake, and increased on the Pocomoke River.

In 2024, approximately 50,000 angler-hours were spent on these five tournament fisheries, marking a decline from previous years. The majority of this effort occurred in the tidal freshwater of the Potomac River and the upper Chesapeake Bay.

Catch rates improved on the Pocomoke River and Deep Creek Lake, declined on the Choptank River, and remained steady on the Potomac River and upper Chesapeake Bay.

Tidal Black Bass