Severn River and Annapolis (Hacketts to Tolly Point)

The Severn River flows past the Naval Academy and downtown Annapolis into the Bay, and the few miles of water around its mouth hold some of the western shore's most dependable fishing. DNR's weekly report keeps coming back to the same spots: the rocks in front of the Naval Academy for shallow-water stripers, the 30-foot channel edge outside Hacketts Bar to the north for trolling and live-lining, Whitehall Bay and Tolly Point for summer spot and croaker, and the river mouth itself in fall, when young menhaden stream out on the ebb tide.

When to fish

• Early spring: channel and blue catfish in the deep channels of the upper Severn, and some yellow perch. The Severn and Severn Run just below the Route 3 bridge are closed to all fishing from February through April to protect spawning perch.
• May: the main-Bay striper season opens with trolling along the Hacketts Bar edge south to Tolly Bar; casters work the Naval Academy rocks at dawn and dusk.
• June and July: live-lining spot on the Hacketts edge; spot, croaker and white perch at Whitehall Bay and Tolly Point. In midsummer low oxygen settles into the deep water along this shore. August is closed to striped bass fishing.
• September and October: stripers along the Academy shoreline and river shorelines, jigging and casting into breaking fish (watch for gulls and slicks), with small bluefish mixed in.
• November: stripers stack on the channel edges at the mouth of the Severn and off Hacketts; white perch settle on deep oyster bars near the mouth.

Where to fish

• The rocks in front of the Naval Academy: shallow-water casting in spring and fall.
• The 30-foot outside edge at Hacketts Bar, south toward Tolly Bar: trolling, chumming, live-lining and jigging.
• The entrance to Whitehall Bay and the hard bottom off Tolly Point: spot, croaker and white perch in about 15 feet.
• The mouth of the Severn: late-fall stripers on the channel edges and white perch on oyster bars.
• The Route 450 bridge and Jonas Green Park pier: shore fishing for white perch, spot and the odd striper.

How to fish it

• Shallows: poppers, paddletails, jerkbaits, twitchbaits, small spinnerbaits and spin jigs at first and last light.
• Channel edges: locate suspended fish, then live-line spot or jig soft plastics; troll umbrella rigs and tandem bucktails or swimshads in May and late fall.
• Bottom fishing: bloodworm for spot; grass shrimp, peeler crab or bloodworm for white perch and croaker, or grass shrimp fished close to deepwater docks.
• Hooks: non-offset circle hooks when live-lining or chumming for stripers.

Getting there

The old Route 450 bridge across the Severn is a license-free fishing area (register for free first), and Anne Arundel County's Jonas Green Park next to it has a 288-foot fishing pier and a sandy beach for cartop boats. The city's Truxtun Park ramp on Spa Creek (two ramps, open sunrise to sunset) sells daily and annual permits; the city warns of occasional stray electrical current in the water around the docks, so don't swim there. The Tucker Street ramp on Weems Creek was closed for rebuilding through September 2026. Elsewhere you need a Maryland Chesapeake Bay and Coastal Sport Fishing License.