{"id":46276,"date":"2025-11-26T14:10:35","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T19:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=46276"},"modified":"2025-12-01T08:30:30","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T13:30:30","slug":"maryland-adds-two-new-master-anglers-to-growing-recognition-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2025\/11\/26\/maryland-adds-two-new-master-anglers-to-growing-recognition-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland Adds Two New Master Anglers to Growing Recognition Program"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reisterstown and Forest Hill anglers complete 10-species milestone<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\"FishMaryland<\/a>The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has recognized Darwin Hayward of Reisterstown and Vincent Tucciarella of Forest Hill for catching 10 different species of trophy-size fish to earn the FishMaryland Master Angler milestone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These two anglers bring the total number of Master Anglers in the program, now in its sixth year, to 28.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

FishMaryland is Maryland\u2019s recreational fishing award program, which promotes year-round recreational fishing and affordable, accessible, diverse, and high-quality fishing opportunities. More information on the Master Angler Milestone Award and the FishMaryland program is available on the <\/span>program\u2019s website.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Darwin Hayward<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Man

Master Angler Darwin Hayward<\/p><\/div>\n

Hayward began fishing five to 10 years ago. He was following an angler\u2019s Facebook page about fishing in the lower Susquehanna River, and after exchanging comments, the angler invited him to try fishing. It was a life-changing experience for Hayward.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He enjoys saltwater fishing the most, especially fishing for tuna and other offshore species.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hayward is passionate about fishing for muskellunge, also known as muskie, in the upper Potomac River. He only targets muskie when the water is cold, and always uses catch-and-release best practices. He finds fishing for muskie the most challenging fishing he does.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His most surprising catch was a 24.25-inch brown trout that he landed in the upper Potomac while fishing for muskie. That catch earned him his first FishMaryland species award.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hayward said he was proud of the first award and that it inspired him to pursue another. He has all his awards framed and hanging on his wall.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you receive your first certificate and you realize there is a goal of Master Angler status, it gives you something to push for,\u201d said Hayward. \u201cStay focused and stay at it, no matter if you get discouraged at times.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He now shares his best fishing experiences with his family, who often join him on his outings. Hayward believes fishing should always be about having fun.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hayward\u2019s qualifying catches, in order, were:<\/span><\/p>\n

Brown trout \u2013 24.25 inches<\/span><\/p>\n

Blue catfish \u2013 40.25 inches<\/span><\/p>\n

Striped bass \u2013 45 inches<\/span><\/p>\n

Chesapeake Channa (northern snakehead) \u2013 30 inches<\/span><\/p>\n

Muskellunge \u2013 41 inches<\/span><\/p>\n

Largemouth bass \u2013 21 inches<\/span><\/p>\n

Hickory shad \u2013 18 inches<\/span><\/p>\n

Sand tiger shark \u2013 83 inches<\/span><\/p>\n

Bluefin tuna \u2013 69 inches<\/span><\/p>\n

Blueline tilefish \u2013 26.5 inches<\/span><\/p>\n

Vincent Tucciarella<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Man

Master Angler Vincent Tucciarella<\/p><\/div>\n

Tucciarella\u2019s earliest fishing memories are pond fishing in Harford County with his father when he was about 5 years old. His father died when he was 7, and several years later, he found his father\u2019s old tackle box. From that moment on he had \u201cfishing fever.\u201d Tucciarella and his friends rode their bikes to local creeks and ponds to fish.<\/span><\/p>\n

When he was 18 or 19, a friend’s father introduced him to fishing for northern pike and chain pickerel at Loch Raven Reservoir in Baltimore County. Those species quickly became two of his favorites. Tucciarella said muskie fishing is on his bucket list.<\/span><\/p>\n

His favorite type of fishing now is kayaking out at sunrise to fish for striped bass with topwater lures in the lower Susquehanna River.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tucciarella said his most challenging but rewarding catch was the fish that completed his Master Angler milestone, an 8.125-inch redbreast sunfish. He said that catching sunfish at Winter\u2019s Run, a small creek near his home, reminds him of fishing in his youth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tucciarella\u2019s teenage son, Luca, was the <\/span>16th Master Angler award winner<\/span><\/a> and the one who encouraged him to pursue the milestone. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLuca drives me to go,\u201d Tucciarella said, adding that his son now hopes to reach the milestone of 20 award fish. <\/span>Luca is also friends with fellow <\/span>Master Angler Nate Choinski<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tucciarealla’s qualifying catches, in order, were:<\/span><\/p>\n

Blue catfish \u2013 41 inches<\/span><\/p>\n

Chain pickerel \u2013 26 inches<\/span><\/p>\n

Largemouth bass \u2013 21.25 inches<\/span><\/p>\n

Chesapeake Channa (northern snakehead) \u2013 30 inches<\/span><\/p>\n

Bullhead catfish \u2013 15.25 inches<\/span><\/p>\n

Hickory shad \u2013 18.5 inches<\/span><\/p>\n

White perch \u2013 13 inches<\/span><\/p>\n

Yellow perch \u2013 14.5 inches<\/span><\/p>\n

Smallmouth bass \u2013 20.5 inches<\/span><\/p>\n

Redbreast sunfish \u2013 8.125 inches<\/span><\/p>\n

Fishing license, tackle, boat, and marine fuel purchases fund DNR\u2019s fish conservation work. Fishing licenses can be <\/span>purchased online through <\/span><\/a>MD Outdoors<\/span><\/a> or in person at <\/span>license agent locations<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reisterstown and Forest Hill anglers complete 10-species milestone The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has recognized Darwin Hayward of Reisterstown and Vincent Tucciarella of Forest Hill for catching 10 different species of trophy-size fish to earn the FishMaryland Master Angler milestone.\u00a0 These two anglers bring the total number of Master Anglers in the program, now  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[957,11],"tags":[5429,5430,4314],"class_list":["post-46276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","category-fisheries","tag-fishmaryland","tag-master-angler","tag-sportfishing"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46276"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46295,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46276\/revisions\/46295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}