Jeremy Elmore’s quest to qualify began with an accidental catch, and ended in a small pond
Master Angler Jeremy Elmore. Photo courtesy of Jeremy Elmore, used with permission by Maryland DNR
Jeremy Elmore of Preston has earned a Master Angler Milestone Award under the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ FishMaryland program.
Elmore is the 14th Master Angler since the program began in 2019. The award recognizes recreational anglers who catch ten trophy-sized fish of different species in Maryland.
Elmore, 36, is a lifelong Maryland resident who lives on the Eastern Shore but fishes across Maryland.
“I started fishing at a young age and was introduced to it by my father,” Elmore said. “I grew up fishing near Baltimore and also down near Cape Charles, Va. on vacations. Needless to say, I was hooked. Fishing runs through my mind constantly and is literally my personality.”
Elmore caught his first qualifying fish “by accident” – he was casting to breaking striped bass near the mouth of the Choptank River and hooked a large Spanish mackerel. It was the largest he had seen in person, so he pulled his phone out and started researching trophy-size fish in Maryland. He saw that it met the minimum size for a FishMaryland certificate, and submitted his catch. Learning that ten different species of trophy size are needed for a Master Angler Award, he challenged himself to reach the milestone.
“It became almost an obsession and I would not stop until I got it,” Elmore said.
Elmore’s qualifying catches, in order, were:
- Spanish mackerel – 27 inches
- Chesapeake channa (northern snakehead) – 30 inches
- Sheepshead – 24 inches
- Striped bass – 48 inches
- Yellow perch -14 inches
- Carp – 31 inches
- Chain pickerel – 24.5 inches
- Cobia – 46 inches
- Red drum- 41.5 inches
- Largemouth bass – 21 inches
Elmore’s largest fish was a 48-inch striped bass. His final qualifying fish was a largemouth bass, which he caught in a pond from his wife’s grandfather’s tiny aluminum boat. Elmore said that meant a lot to his wife, because her grandfather’s lifelong passion was bass fishing from that very boat before he passed.
The hardest fish to catch was the one Elmore never got. He said he’s caught hundreds of crappie, but catching a 15-inch trophy-sized fish “has eluded me for now.”
Elmore will continue fishing for a variety of trophy-sized fish in Maryland. “I don’t plan on stopping at ten. There are many more species I plan to catch. I want to rack up as many as I can and see how far I can get. It has become a game to me and I’m thankful that the FishMaryland program was created,“ he said.
FishMaryland is Maryland’s recreational fishing award program and is a fun way to explore year-round recreational fishing and enjoy affordable, accessible, diverse, and high-quality fishing opportunities. More information on the Master Angler Milestone Award and the FishMaryland program is available on the program’s website.