Kent Island Fishing Piers (Matapeake and Romancoke)

Queen Anne's County's two public fishing piers on Kent Island give shore anglers some of the best access to open Bay water in Maryland. Matapeake, just south of the Bay Bridge on the island's western shore, has a 650-foot pier and a wide boat ramp; Romancoke, at the island's southern tip, reaches into Eastern Bay and has a kayak launch. DNR has long pointed shore anglers to Matapeake for spring bait fishing, and its access list credits the piers with stripers, bluefish, spot, croaker, flounder, black and red drum, white perch and more.

When to fish

• Spring: big blue catfish and bait-fishing for stripers from the Matapeake pier.
• Summer: a mixed bag of spot, croaker, white perch and the odd bluefish or flounder.
• Late fall and winter: white perch leave the rivers and school in the deep water off Matapeake, a boat fishery from November into winter.

Where to fish

• The end of the Matapeake pier: it reaches out over open Bay water.
• Romancoke pier: on Eastern Bay at the south end of Kent Island.
• The deep channel off Matapeake: late-fall and winter white perch schools (by boat).
• Terrapin Nature Park: free county shoreline access near the bridge.

How to fish it

From the pier, DNR's spring advice is a bottom rig with fresh cut menhaden or bloodworm. For white perch off Matapeake in the fall, use dropper rigs with small jigs or hooks baited with grass shrimp or bloodworm, fished near the bottom once you've found a school on the depth finder.

Getting there

Matapeake is on Kent Island's Bay shore just south of the Bay Bridge, and Romancoke is at the island's southern tip. Queen Anne's County requires a vehicle permit to launch at Matapeake and sells a separate pier permit on site; Romancoke needs a county permit for all vehicles. Terrapin Nature Park, closer to the bridge, has free access. You need a Maryland Chesapeake Bay and Coastal Sport Fishing License.