Nanticoke River and Marshyhope Creek

The Nanticoke River winds from the Delaware line past Sharptown and Vienna to Tangier Sound. Its upper reaches and the Marshyhope Creek, which joins it near Sharptown, are best known for blue catfish, spring yellow and white perch runs, crappie, tidal largemouth bass and snakeheads. Near the mouth, the river holds spot, croaker, stripers and big schools of white perch. It's also a striped bass spawning river.

When to fish

• February and March: yellow perch stage in deep pockets below the spawning areas, then run into the upper Marshyhope in March. The tidal yellow perch limit was cut for 2026. Blue catfish hold in the deep channels.
• April: white perch and crappie in the Marshyhope and upper river. Striped bass spawn here, and the river is closed to all striped bass fishing from March through May.
• Summer: bass (best on the ebb or early flood), snakeheads in the grass and cover, and blue catfish; spot and croaker at the mouth.
• Fall: bass in the cooler, clearer Marshyhope; stripers and schooled white perch at the mouth in November; blue catfish around Sharptown.
• Winter: blue catfish in the deep channel near Sharptown and the mouth of the Marshyhope.

Where to fish

• The channel around Sharptown and the mouth of the Marshyhope: blue catfish most of the year.
• Marshyhope Creek up to Federalsburg: perch, crappie, bass and snakeheads; at high tide paddlers can slip into forested side creeks.
• The mouth of the river, down toward Tangier Sound: spot, croaker, white perch and fall stripers.
• From shore: the license-free Sharptown town pier and Federalsburg's municipal park (register first).

How to fish it

• Blue catfish: a sliding-sinker rig with a circle hook and cut gizzard shad, menhaden or white perch, anchored in the channel. A chum pot of ground menhaden helps in winter.
• Perch and crappie: small jig heads tipped with grass shrimp, bloodworm or minnow; minnows or marabou jigs under a slip bobber near fallen trees for crappie; bottom rigs in deeper water.
• Bass: small spinnerbaits, soft craw jigs and 4-inch plastic worms; spinners and topwater lures near fallen trees and in coves. Bass have a larger minimum size in tidal water until mid-June.
• Snakeheads: fish the grass and cover along the banks. It's illegal to keep a snakehead alive.
• Mouth of the river: bottom rigs with bloodworm for spot, croaker and white perch; jig stripers you find on the depth finder.

Getting there

Sharptown's Cherry Beach Park has a ramp and pier, with the license-free town pier off Ferry Street. The Town of Vienna has a ramp, Caroline County's Federalsburg Park and Marina on Marshyhope Creek has a ramp and piers (no county permit needed), and Wicomico County's Nanticoke Harbor ramp is near the mouth. Marshyhope Creek is tidal up to Faulkner Branch. You need a Maryland Chesapeake Bay and Coastal Sport Fishing License outside the license-free areas, and Delaware rules apply above the state line.