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Home › Waters › Maryland › Tuckahoe Creek
Creek · Maryland Eastern Shore, Queen Anne's and Caroline counties, the Choptank headwater country at Tuckahoe State Park near Ruthsburg · Maryland

Tuckahoe Creek Fishing Guides

The main headwater creek of the Choptank on Maryland's Eastern Shore, gauged near Ruthsburg for flow, stage and turbidity, and one of the best small-water paddling and fishing runs in the region.

Whitewater dropping through a boulder-strewn Appalachian stream
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

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About the Tuckahoe Creek

Tuckahoe Creek is the principal headwater of the Choptank River and one of the defining small waters of Maryland’s Eastern Shore. It drains eighty-five square miles of Queen Anne’s and Caroline county farmland and woodland, running south through Tuckahoe State Park before joining the Choptank near Hillsboro. The creek is narrow, winding and heavily wooded, and it holds its own quiet character in a landscape otherwise dominated by open fields and the big tidal rivers.

The gauge near Ruthsburg reads discharge, stage and turbidity, which is a genuinely useful combination on a creek like this. Discharge tells you whether there is enough water to paddle the upper reaches without dragging. Turbidity is the reading that matters after rain, because the surrounding farmland sheds sediment quickly and a clearing trend is the signal to go. The creek also feels the tide in its lower reaches, so water level near the mouth is not purely a function of rainfall.

The fishing divides neatly. Above the park lake the creek is a freshwater run holding largemouth, pickerel, crappie and a good head of sunfish, best fished from a kayak or by wading the gravel shallows. Below, as it widens toward the Choptank, it takes on brackish character and the Eastern Shore tidal species arrive: white and yellow perch, catfish, striped bass working up on the tide in season, and hickory shad in spring.

Access is unusually good because Tuckahoe State Park protects a long stretch of the corridor, with a canoe launch, a lake, campground and marked water trail. Chain pickerel in the shallows and the spring yellow perch run are what bring most local anglers, and the paddling is worth the trip on its own.

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Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

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Posting to Tuckahoe Creek.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Flow alert

Tell me when the Tuckahoe Creek cfs

Now: 43.2 cfs, read 5:45 pm CDT, Sun Oct 18, 2026 (USGS 01491500, TUCKAHOE CREEK NEAR RUTHSBURG, MD).

We never use this address for anything else and never share it. See the privacy policy.

Access

Tuckahoe State Park - the park protecting the corridor, with a canoe launch, lake, camping and the best access.
Ruthsburg - the small crossroads community at the gauge, the nearest landmark on the creek.
Denton - the Caroline County seat on the Choptank, with services, tackle and river access.
Hillsboro - the village at the confluence with the Choptank, and a useful lower access point.
Easton - the regional town to the south, with full services, lodging and guides working the Choptank.
Choptank River - the larger tidal river the creek feeds, with developed ramps and striped bass fishing.
Adkins Arboretum - the preserve adjoining the state park, useful for orientation and trail access.

Seasons

Spring: the standout season, with the yellow perch run, hickory shad in the lower creek and good paddling flows.
Summer: low and warm with heavy tree cover, best for largemouth, pickerel and sunfish early and late in the day.
Fall: cooling water and clear conditions make this the most pleasant time to paddle and fish the creek.
Winter: cold and quiet, with pickerel the most reliable target and the Choptank a better bet in hard weather.

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Questions

What is the current flow on the Tuckahoe Creek?

As of Oct 18, 5:45 pm, the USGS gauge TUCKAHOE CREEK NEAR RUTHSBURG, MD reads 43 cfs. Conditions update every 15 minutes.

What species can you catch on the Tuckahoe Creek?

Anglers target American Eel, Black Crappie, Blue Catfish, Bluegill, Bullhead, Chain Pickerel, Channel Catfish, Common Carp, Hickory Shad, Largemouth Bass, Redbreast Sunfish, Redear Sunfish, Smallmouth Bass, Striped Bass, White Perch, Yellow Perch on the Tuckahoe Creek in Maryland.

Where can you access the Tuckahoe Creek?

Tuckahoe State Park - the park protecting the corridor, with a canoe launch, lake, camping and the best access. Ruthsburg - the small crossroads community at the gauge, the nearest landmark on the creek. Denton - the Caroline County seat on the Choptank, with services, tackle and river access. Hillsboro - the village at the confluence with the Choptank, and a useful lower access point. Easton - the regional town to the south, with full services, lodging and guides working the Choptank. Choptank River - the larger tidal river the creek feeds, with developed ramps and striped bass fishing. Adkin...

When is the best time to fish the Tuckahoe Creek?

Spring: the standout season, with the yellow perch run, hickory shad in the lower creek and good paddling flows. Summer: low and warm with heavy tree cover, best for largemouth, pickerel and sunfish early and late in the day. Fall: cooling water and clear conditions make this the most pleasant time to paddle and fish the creek. Winter: cold and quiet, with pickerel the most reliable target and the Choptank a better bet in hard weather.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Tuckahoe Creek?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Maryland agency site: https://dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries/Pages/regulations/index.aspx