Maryland Dock Tales: Eagles, Records and History

Dock Tales are researched stories from the waters in these guides. They are written by BCRods from published sources. They are not Adam’s stories and they are not first-person fishing experiences. Each tale gets its own page only when we can source it from more than one reliable place; stories we cannot confirm stay out until we can.

Tales you can read now

• Where Eagles Gather Below Conowingo Dam. More than 150 bald eagles were counted below the dam in 2023, feeding on fish the turbines bring up. Part of the Conowingo Dam guide.
• A 21.8-Pound Snakehead Below Conowingo. A bowfished Chesapeake channa set the Maryland record in June 2025.
• The Prison on the Point at Point Lookout. A Union hospital became a prison camp for Confederate soldiers in 1863, on the ground where anglers now fish.
• How the Gunpowder Became a Wild Trout River. A 1986 cold-water release turned a reservoir tailwater into a wild brown trout fishery. See the Gunpowder guide.
• From Stocked Rainbows to a Wild Trophy River. The lower Savage River has had no stocked trout since 1991, and a rule change is proposed.
• The Snakehead That Climbed Above Great Falls. A 2015 discovery showed the falls were not a barrier. See the Upper Potomac guide.
• The White Marlin Open: Ocean City’s Big Tournament. From 57 boats in 1974 to a $6.2 million prize in 2023.

Most of these rest on one or two sources, and each page says which. Check the caveats at the bottom of a tale before you rely on a figure.

Maryland state records

Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources keeps sport-fish state records by weight. The records below come from the 2026 Maryland Guide to Fishing and Crabbing and are a selection, not the full list. The guide notes that some species are not currently accepting new records because of regulations, and records change, so check DNR’s state records page for the current list.

Invasive species division

Species	Weight	Angler	Date	Where
Blue catfish	84.0 lb	Ed Jones	Aug 13, 2012	Near Fort Washington, Potomac River
Flathead catfish	57.0 lb	Joshua Dixon	Dec 27, 2020	Lapidum boat ramp, Susquehanna River
Chesapeake channa (northern snakehead)	21.8 lb	Matt Foreman	June 7, 2025	Susquehanna River

Chesapeake Bay division

Species	Weight	Angler	Date
Striped bass	67.5 lb	Devin Nolan	May 13, 1995
Black drum	103.5 lb	Robert Messik Jr.	Sept 23, 1973
Cobia	97.8 lb	John Scheifele	Sept 12, 1969
Summer flounder	15.0 lb	Kenneth Grimes	Oct 14, 1978
Smallmouth bass	6.0 lb	Charles Janes	July 23, 1979
Largemouth bass	11.2 lb	Justin Riley	Jan 26, 2008
Yellow perch	2.3 lb	Thomas Dembeck Jr.	Feb 7, 2025

Non-tidal division

Species	Weight	Angler	Date
Largemouth bass	11.4 lb	Colton Lambert	July 31, 2013
Smallmouth bass	8.3 lb	Gary Peters	Oct 4, 1974
Walleye	14.3 lb	John McCarley	May 16, 1998
Northern pike	24.8 lb	Shawn Jacobson	Oct 16, 1999
Muskellunge	33.0 lb	Kyle Mulleni	Mar 2, 2022
Brown trout	18.2 lb	Gary Kuhn	Aug 3, 2001
Brook trout	6.1 lb	Mike Fiorita Jr.	Apr 10, 1999

Atlantic coast division

Species	Weight	Angler	Date
Blue marlin	1,135.0 lb	Billy Gerlach	Aug 24, 2021
Summer flounder	17.0 lb	Anthony Vacari	Oct 3, 1974
Black drum	79.0 lb	Stanley Ilyes	Sept 7, 1985
Cobia	94.6 lb	Emma Zajdel	June 30, 2016
Bluefish	23.5 lb	Lillian Morris	Oct 30, 1974

The guide lists weights and dates but not where most records were caught. Where it names a place, we show it.

Where these fish live

The records connect to waters we cover: Conowingo Dam and the Susquehanna, Deep Creek Lake, the Upper Potomac and Ocean City. For the state’s other record fish and the full list, use DNR’s list.

Records belong to the people who caught the fish, and a few of the older ones come from before today’s rules. Where a record species is now closed or protected, DNR says it is not accepting new records for that species.

Corrections

If you see something wrong in these tales or records, the corrections email is on our how we research page. We will check it against the source and fix the page.