Maryland Holding First Youth-Only Trout Fishing Day on March 23

Young angler with a trout, photo by Christopher Wike.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is offering the state’s first-ever Youth-Only Trout Fishing Day for children under 16 years of age on March 23, one week before opening day for all trout anglers.

“Trout fishing is a great way to introduce young people to the sport and our state’s natural beauty,”  said John Mullican, Maryland DNR’s director of freshwater fisheries and hatcheries. “We hope children across the state will take advantage of this day reserved just for them to enjoy stocked waterways that are typically still closed.”

On March 23, the state’s put-and-take trout areas under closure at that time will be open to youth from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. These will be stocked in advance. Fishing areas under closure are online and in the Maryland Guide to Fishing and Crabbing. Youth anglers may catch and keep up to two trout each, except brook trout, which must be released if caught. 

Anglers should note that not all locations are open or accessible during fishing hours, so they should confirm their local access point’s operating hours before attending.

The traditional trout opening day for anglers of all ages will occur on March 30, beginning at 6:30 a.m. 

Maryland’s coldwater hatcheries​ produce about 290,000 adult rainbow, golden rainbow, and brown trout annually to meet the demands of the put-and-take stocking program. The department stocks more than 100 waterbodies in 19 counties.