Little Choptank River and Taylors Island

The Little Choptank is a short, broad Dorchester County river that opens onto the Bay just south of the Choptank, with Taylors Island on its south side and the James Island stump fields and flats off its mouth. DNR's weekly report treats it as one of the middle Bay's shallow-water hot spots: stripers along the shorelines and stump fields at dawn and dusk from late spring to fall, spot and croaker on the hard bottom, and a growing summer mix of speckled trout, puppy drum and big red drum near the mouth.

When to fish

• Late March and April: the white perch spawning run.
• Late May and June: stripers in the shallows at the mouth and along the Taylors Island shoreline when the tide is running; the Bay shoreline opens in May and the river itself on June 1.
• Summer: speckled trout on the grass flats and stump fields and on drifted peeler or soft crab at the mouth and in Slaughter Creek; spot and croaker on hard bottom; bluefish on the channel edge offshore. Big red drum sometimes roam the area (catch and release). August is closed to striped bass fishing.
• September and October: shallow-water stripers near Taylors Island and in the river on topwater, crankbaits and paddletails; a few flounder on the James Island Flats.
• Late fall: stripers suspend along the steep channel edges as young menhaden ride the ebb tides out.

Where to fish

• The mouth of the river and the Taylors Island shoreline: shallow-water stripers, speckled trout and drum.
• The James Island stump fields and flats: casting for stripers and trout, bottom fishing for spot, croaker and flounder.
• Slaughter Creek: trout on drifted crab baits.
• The channel edges off the mouth: trolling in June and the late-fall striper bite.

How to fish it

• Shallows: poppers, walk-the-dog topwater lures, jerkbaits, crankbaits and paddletails early and late, especially on a moving tide.
• Speckled trout and drum: drift peeler or soft crab baits, or cast large soft plastic jigs.
• Bottom fishing: bloodworm for spot; grass shrimp, minnows or bloodworm for white perch; minnows, squid or scented soft baits for flounder.

Getting there

Dorchester County has public ramps at Taylors Island (on Slaughter Creek), Madison Bay and Ragged Point on Brooks Creek, which also has shore fishing; the county has historically charged no permit or launch fee. You need a Maryland Chesapeake Bay and Coastal Sport Fishing License.