Cunner (bergall) in Ocean City, Maryland

Cunner are structure pests on Ocean City pilings that will steal your crab while you wait for tautog or scup. They are not small tog and not baby porgy, but they can be fun on light tackle when you know what you are catching.

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Editorial only. Cunner/bergall are common inshore; harvest rules, seasons, and size lines still belong to Maryland DNR (and your trip’s jurisdiction if you are not in Maryland waters). Do not treat this page as a permit or size chart. Official portals.

Inshore and structure fishing (general; Ocean City, Maryland area)
Scene-appropriate only—cunner live where barnacles, pilings, and small hooks meet.

Bergall vs tog vs scup

Shape and attitude: cunner are slim, pug-nosed structure fish—endless tappers on jigs, bits of clam, or hermit when you are “tog fishing light.” Compare against tautog and scup on a reference chart before you filet: wrong ID on a regulated species day is a bad kind of story.

Tactics

  • Small hooks, light drag, and fast hands when you are entertaining kids on “anything that pulls” days.
  • Sheepshead and blackfish trips can stack cunner in the pecking order; treat the day as sheepshead or tog first, cunner as honest comic relief.
Sheepshead — Ocean City, Maryland

Sheepshead

Barnacle structure, heavier tackle band.

Tautog (blackfish) — Ocean City, Maryland

Tautog (blackfish)

The cool-water drum you were aiming for.

Scup (porgy) — Ocean City, Maryland

Scup (porgy)

Wreck rails where pecks stack deep.

Charter directory — Ocean City, Maryland

Charter directory

When you want a coached piling day.

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