Butterfish in Ocean City, Maryland
Butterfish are deep, laterally compressed fish on wreck and hard-bottom drifts near Ocean City. This page covers when they show, how to handle soft fillets, and the management rules that apply to this midwater bycatch.
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Editorial only. Recreational and commercial rules for butterfish are not a vibe check—read Maryland DNR and federal Mid-Atlantic references for the current year, especially if your day overlaps commercial gear or quota discussions you do not understand. NWS/NOAA, official portals.
Peprilus on the line
Butterfish (Peprilus triacanthus in the common Atlantic read) is a stromateid with a soft mouth, a habit of nipping, and a place in mixed-bag drifts with scup and black sea bass on some wrecks. Treat each fish as its own min-size and possession line at the stringer, not a “bucket species.”
Small hooks, fast ice
- Downsized baits and thin fluorocarbon when the bite is peck; circle hooks in bait fisheries where the rules require it.
- Spoilage: plan to eat or process quickly—butterfish earn the name in the sun on a hot deck.
