Three Earn Master Angler Awards
Joshua Bernstein, left, Alex Gaillardo Perez, and George Cropper all achieved the Master Angler Milestone Award in May. (Maryland DNR photos)
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources recognized George Cropper of Princess Anne, Joshua Bernstein of Frederick, and Alex Gaillardo Perez of Millersville with Master Angler Milestone Awards under the FishMaryland program in May 2026.
These men respectively are the 31st, 32nd, and 33rd anglers to achieve the highest milestone in the FishMaryland program since its inception in 2019. The award recognizes recreational anglers who catch 10 trophy-sized fish of different species in Maryland.
FishMaryland is the state’s recreational fishing award program and a fun way to explore year-round recreational fishing and enjoy affordable, accessible, diverse, and high-quality fishing opportunities. Information on the Master Angler Milestone Award and the FishMaryland program, including the more than 60 award-eligible species, is available on the program’s website.
Mr. Cropper started fishing at age 6 with his father and credits his passion for fishing to the freshwater fishing trips they took together. Today, his favorite places to fish are Tangier Sound and the Wicomico, Manokin, and Annemessex rivers, as they are close to his home in Somerset County.
Mr. Bernstein considers himself a seasonal angler; he fishes for different species and uses varied methods depending on the season. He enjoys freshwater fishing, ice fishing at Deep Creek Lake in the winter, fishing the Chesapeake Bay, and offshore fishing during the summer months. One of his favorite adventures is fishing offshore on charter boats out of Ocean City, trolling for a variety of pelagic fish.
Mr. Perez’s love of fishing has directed him to his career as a fishing manager at an Annapolis fishing tackle store, and he jokes that sometimes he thinks he might be working for free, since he is always purchasing new fishing tackle. Perez grew up fishing with his dad and remembers catching his first fish when he was 5. It was a bluegill sunfish at Lake Waterford.
Read more about the qualifying catches here.
