Maryland Trout Fishing: Streams, Stamps, Limits

Maryland manages its trout waters by type, not by stream, and the type decides whether you can keep a fish, what you can fish with and whether the stream is closed for stocking. This guide explains the types, how the license and trout stamp work and where Gunpowder Falls and the Savage River fit. All limits come from the 2026 Maryland Guide to Fishing and Crabbing and DNR’s trout pages, checked on the date shown in the rules snapshot.

The license and the stamp

You need a Maryland non-tidal fishing license and, if you are 16 or older, a trout stamp to catch or possess trout in non-tidal water. The 2026 fees are in the rules snapshot. The trout stamp is no longer included in the senior license.

The kinds of trout water

• Standard water: open all year with a limit of two trout a day and four in possession, and no minimum size. Brown and brook trout cannot be used as bait.
• Put-and-take areas: stocked streams and ponds where you may keep five trout a day (ten in possession), except brook trout, which must be released. They close for stocking: the guide’s definition is closed to all fishing from 10 p.m. on the first date to 6:30 a.m. on the second.
• Catch-and-return areas: you must release every trout and may not possess trout while fishing. Some are limited to artificial lures and flies, and some to artificial flies only. Barbed hooks and natural bait are not allowed.
• Trophy trout areas: in the Savage River tailwater, with a higher minimum size and artificial-only gear.
• Delayed harvest areas: seasonal rules that DNR lists by group, with barbed hooks prohibited.

DNR stocks roughly 240,000 adult trout a year in more than 100 waterbodies across 19 counties. It posts the stocked locations during the season and runs a recorded hotline at 800-688-3467. We could not confirm the 2027 closure dates, so check DNR before you plan a trip.

Gunpowder Falls

The Gunpowder has catch-and-return water below Prettyboy Reservoir Dam and put-and-take reaches farther downstream. The guide’s full description is in our Gunpowder Falls guide.

The Savage River

The Savage River tailwater in Garrett County is Maryland’s trophy trout water. The current rule is two trout a day, four in possession, with a 12-inch minimum for brook trout and an 18-inch minimum for brown trout, and artificial lures and flies only, with fly-only water in part of it. Treble hooks are prohibited and lures are limited to a single hook.

Catch-and-return waters by gear

The 2026 guide lists catch-and-return trout areas in three groups. In every one, all trout must be released immediately and barbed hooks are not allowed, and in most you may not possess trout while fishing. The groups differ by gear.

• Any artificial lure, including flies: the Patuxent River in Howard and Montgomery counties between the Route 97 and Route 27 crossings (plus Cabin Branch), Morgan Run in Carroll County, Paint Branch upstream of Fairland Road, Gunpowder Falls from Prettyboy Reservoir Dam to Bluemount Road, parts of the North Branch Potomac, the Youghiogheny River for four miles below the Deep Creek Lake tailrace to the Sang Run Bridge, and Little Hunting Creek inside Cunningham Falls State Park.
• Artificial flies only: Big Hunting Creek inside Cunningham Falls State Park and Catoctin Mountain Park (other than Owens Creek, Little Hunting Creek, Cunningham Falls Lake and Frank Bentz Pond), Beaver Creek in Washington County, and the Patuxent River below Brighton Dam to Mink Hollow Road. Fly-only means conventional fly tackle: fly rods, reels and line, with no spinning, spincast or casting reels.
• Release-only for any trout: the North Branch of the Potomac from the Westernport wastewater plant discharge downstream to the Route 956 bridge at Pinto.

Delayed harvest waters

Delayed harvest areas switch rules by season. In the Group I areas the guide names, which include Catoctin Creek, the Middle Patuxent River, Town Creek in Green Ridge State Forest and the South Branch of the Patapsco, you may keep trout from June 1 to September 30 (five a day, ten in possession, no tackle restrictions). From October 1 to May 31 you may not possess trout and must release them, and natural bait and scent are prohibited. DNR lists a second group of delayed harvest waters with a later end date, so check the guide for the stream you plan to fish.

Brook trout

Brook trout are Maryland’s only native trout, and DNR says they are a management and conservation priority that has been declining because of changing land use. DNR’s trout page says harvest of brook trout is prohibited in all water bodies east of Interstate 81, in all put-and-take areas and in the Upper Savage watershed. In a put-and-take area the brook trout limit is zero.

Rules that surprise people

• It is illegal to fish any stream or non-tidal water that contains trout between 10 p.m. and 5:30 a.m., except non-tidal impoundments of five acres or more.
• You may not cull trout, and you may not remove the head and tail of a trout, or of any fish with a size limit, while you are at the fishing location.
• DNR’s trout stocking page says the Albert Powell Trout Hatchery is closed to the public until further notice because of construction, expected to finish in the spring of 2028.

Where to check conditions

The Maryland guide lists the Youghiogheny white water release schedule, projected releases from Jennings Randolph Lake and the Savage River Dam, and USGS flow data. The numbers are in the rules snapshot on our Upper Potomac page. Check releases before you wade a tailwater.

Other put-and-take waters

The guide lists put-and-take areas by county, including streams and ponds in many counties, from Garrett and Allegany in the west to Wicomico on the Eastern Shore. We have not transcribed that list here. DNR’s stocked-locations table is the best way to find where fish were put in this week.

Tackle and technique

A light fly rod or a light spinning rod covers most Maryland trout water. Spinning anglers on catch-and-return water should use barbless hooks and small artificial lures. Fly anglers need conventional fly tackle in the fly-only areas, where spinning, spincast and casting reels are not allowed.

Safety and fish care

DNR suggests avoiding trout when water temperatures are above 68 degrees Fahrenheit, minimizing handling from 65 to 67 degrees and treating anything under 65 as ideal. Felt-soled waders and wading shoes are banned in Maryland.

Compared with Delaware

Delaware stocks its own trout streams each spring and has its own stamp and rules. See the Delaware trout guide to compare.