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Maryland DNR Fishing Reports - May 14th, 2008
This information is provided as a public service of the
Maryland Department of Natural Resources. www.dnr.state.md.us
Overview by Keith Lockwood
It was quite a weekend for most of Maryland in the weather department. Rains on Friday and then a good old Northeaster on late Sunday dumped 5-inches of rain in many areas of Maryland and wiped up waves in the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay. Many boaters and water front communities seemed to be caught unaware until it was too late and stories of boats floating off boat lifts, broken dock lines and smashed or sunken boats were the topics of discussion on Monday. Currently many of the tidal rivers entering the Chesapeake are still at flood stage as is the Potomac River but thankfully not the Susquehanna. It seems most of the Susquehanna watershed was spared the heavy rains so in a sense the Chesapeake will be spared untold tonnage of choking sediment.
Fishermen looking to striped bass for their fishing pleasures will find new opportunities this Friday, May 16th as new regulations fall into place. Fishermen in the Susquehanna Flats Catch and Release area will be allowed to keep one 18” to 26” striped bass from May 16th until May 31st. Fishermen farther down the bay from a line drawn from the southern point of Hat-Miller Island to Tolchester to the Virginia border will now be able to keep two striped bass between 18” and 28” or one in that size category and one above 28” per day.
Fishermen in the upper bay will most likely be dealing will cloudier water conditions this weekend and may find chartreuse to be a good color to try while trolling. Most fishermen will continue to troll along the steeper edges of the shipping channel and around the Bay Bridge and the Dumping Grounds just north of the Bridge. A number of fishermen are starting to talk about chumming and no doubt a few will try it this weekend. Dan Johnson was fishing with friends just north of the Bay Bridge when he caught this fine looking striped bass recently.
Fishermen in the middle bay region will be out in force this weekend trolling for the last of the large striped bass moving through the region. They will be trolling the big stuff off of planer boards and flat lines but many will also be pulling medium sized bucktails and swim shads looking for those 18” to 28” slot fish. The Gum Thickets down to Buoy 83 and the western side of the shipping channel from Chesapeake Beach to the Gas Docks continue to be the places where most fishermen will look. Michael Cratty found this nice 41” striped bass off Breezy Point while fishing with his dad and was assisted by Greg Bivins doing the honors with the net.
The fishing has really been hoping this past week in the lower bay region and promises to offer more of the same this weekend. Many boats will be trolling a combination of large lures for large striped bass but also smaller offering for those 18” to 28” fish. Fishermen in the lower bay region have also been presented with the option of jigging with light tackle for their fish. Breaking striped bass are being reported off the Gas Docks down to Point Lookout and at the mouth of the Potomac chasing bait. Most of these fish range from 24” to 34” in size and are stacked up under bait. Jay Fleming celebrated the end of college final exams last week by heading out with a few college buddies and spending the afternoon thick in striped bass.
Lower Bay and Tangier Sound region fishermen continue to see more croaker pouring into the region. The best croaker fishing remains off the mouth of the Wicomico River as it enters the Potomac and to a lesser degree in the Tangier/Pocomoke Sound area. Flounder fishing in the Tangier Sound area has picked up this week and fishermen report good fishing along channel edges.
Freshwater anglers are finding good fishing in the western region of the state except for the upper Potomac River drainage; which is at flood stage due to heavy rains. This photo sent in by John Mullican of Dam 4 on the Potomac on Tuesday morning tells quite a story.
Fishermen in the central, southern and eastern regions of the state will also have to deal with high water in most of the tidal rivers but the level should dissipate by the weekend. Most lakes and ponds will also settle down by the end of the week. The largemouth bass have finished spawning in most areas of the state and have departed the shallow spawning areas. This is a very exciting time to fish for largemouth since the water is still cool enough to keep them active and they are feeding heavily.
Oceanside anglers will see water conditions improve later on this week as surf conditions calm down and winds diminish. Flounder fishing continues to be good in the back bay areas and fishermen are catching large striped bass in the surf as they head north along the beaches. Tautog fishing remains good at the wreck and artificial reef sites and sea bass fishing has improved in recent days.
The Maryland Fishing Challenge continues through this month and until September 1st. Fishermen are encouraged to register any fish they catch that meets the minimum size criteria at a Citation Center to be in the drawing for a number of prizes which include a new 4x4 Tundra pickup truck, a boat, motor and trailer outfit and thousands of dollars in prizes. Information concerning rules and where you can register your fish can be found at the following website link.
www.dnr.maryland.gov/fishingchallenge
About ninety in a hundred fancy themselves anglers. About one in a hundred is an angler. Col. Peter Hawker 1814
Anglers Encouraged To Participate In Annual Striped Bass Survey
Data from Anglers Helps Guide Striped Bass Management
Maryland Department of Natural Resources encourages anglers to get involved in striped bass management this spring by participating in the Maryland Fisheries Service’s annual striped bass volunteer angler survey.
“Data volunteered by recreational anglers provides crucial information about our state’s most popular fish, that would otherwise be unavailable to DNR,” said Tom O’Connell, Fisheries Service Director. “We greatly appreciate the efforts of participating anglers, as this information is used to guide management decisions to ensure a sustainably managed striped bass fishery.”
Data collected through DNR’s Striped Bass Volunteer Angler Survey is crucial in the estimation of total harvest, discards, and other important information such as sex ratios and age structure of the population. DNR uses the data when developing creel limits and overall strategy for striped bass management.
DNR’s Fisheries Service will conduct a telephone survey of randomly selected Bay Sport Fish License holders to estimate the number of anglers participating in the spring striped bass season. DNR Fisheries biologists will also visit popular public-access boat ramps and marinas to briefly interview recreational anglers and request permission to examine their catch.
Anglers may participate in the Striped Bass Volunteer Angler Survey by entering information about their catch on DNR’s website at
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/survey/sbsurveyintro.html Information and survey packets are also available by mail, through contacting Eric Durell at 1-877-620-8DNR, ext. 8308 or edurell@dnr.state.md.us.
Capt. Karl’s Upper Bay/Susquehanna Flats Fishing Report April 24th, 2008
Welcome Aboard! To my first fishing report for 2008. Again this year it seems that we will miss-out on spring and jump right into summer. The bass fishing is really getting hot. The eastern shore tributaries seem to be a little ahead of the flats area with the eastern shore tributaries water temps running a bit higher. We are finding good quality bass staging at the mouths of creeks as well as good numbers of buck bass moving deeper into the creeks. With the new moon the first week of May things should really get good!!!
We are slow rolling deps Mini-Bro 3/8 ounce chartreuse color and Dave’s Tournament Tackle ¼ ounce Bream colored spinnerbaits to locate the shallow fish on wood covered shorelines and the new flat sided ima Shaker (4 to 6 feet running) crankbait in the Plemmons color to locate and target the bass on points and in the creeks. On the slow bite days we are having good success using Webbs Baits 4 ½ inch hand poured worms rigged and fished shaky style in the My Mistake and Gunmetal/Brown Pearl color. The new Optimum Baits (Baby Line Thru) Swimbait is quickly becoming a go to bait for us particularly in the Hitch color; we are fishing it near old and emerging grass lines as well as channel edges and points.
The Susquehanna Flats Catch & Release striper/rockfish season has been up and down for us as I specialize in light tackle/artificial lures for these fish. Our best success has been up towards the northern boundary line in the river, near but below the Lapidum boat ramp. While the numbers of fish have not been there for us consistently the quality of fish has been good. We are using a variety of everything in the tackle box to coax these stripers to bite. The bite has been very disappointing this week but you can’t catch them if you are not out trying. Once the new moon gets here the first week of May with the water temps where they are now these stripers should start to travel back down and give us several days of good action.
Conservation Note: Many bass anglers have voiced their concerns about the numbers of commercial nets located in Swan Creek (10 to 12 nets) at any given time located on the shorelines out, recently and as of now during this critical spawning time frame and I share and personally am very concerned about this situation. Many anglers are not used to these nets being there and as they are fishing these shorelines and encountering them they are getting their motors caught in them and some even getting deep gel coat marks in their boats from them, be careful as you encounter these nets. I have been in contact with the Maryland (DNR) Department of Natural Resources concerning these nets and it seems as disturbing as this situation is (during the Largemouth Bass SPAWN) they are legal. I am researching and getting advice from the DNR on what can be done to help protect this valuable and critical largemouth bass spawning area in the future and as soon as a plan that will work to protect this valuable spawning area has been decided on, I will let you know. This will not be an easy thing to get done and will require the help of all bass fishermen in Maryland and surrounding states.
Water temperature: 63 degrees
Water clarity: 1 foot
Chris Shaw from Baltimore caught this 22" 4lb. 3 oz. Rainbow trout on the Little Gunpowder Falls. It was checked in @ Bowley's Bait & Tackle.
2008 Maryland Fishing Challenge featuring Diamond Jim
The 2008 Maryland Fishing Challenge runs from Saturday, April 12, through Monday, September 1. In the same manner as last year, any angler who catches a citation award qualifying fish will be eligible to win one of several grand prizes. Beginning in early June, anglers will also have the opportunity to win up to $25,000 in cash for the capture of Diamond Jim — a specially tagged striped bass that will be released — along with a number of imposters — at three major events this summer.
Returning for the fourth year as a sponsor is Boater’s World, which is offering up to $25,000 in cash awards for the capture of Diamond Jim and $500 gift certificates for the capture of imposters. Coming back for a third year are Central Atlantic Toyota and Bass Pro Shops, who are each donating the grand prizes, a Toyota Tundra 4x4 pick-up truck and a Tracker boat, motor and trailer, respectively. Bill’s Outdoor Center in Oakland, a sponsor since 2006, is providing $5,000 worth of various prizes and Smyth Jewelers is offering an extra incentive to catch “Diamond Jim” — a diamond worth $5,000.
“We are inspired by the success of the annual tournament and the excitement it generates across the board, from the most experienced angler to youngsters learning to cast,” said Fisheries Service Director Tom O’Connell. “Fishing in Maryland is for everyone and we hope this contest inspires residents and non-residents alike to get out and enjoy the experience.”
More than 60 species of fish are eligible for the grand prizes, including large and smallmouth bass, trout, walleye, musky and panfish in the freshwaters of Maryland; rockfish (striped bass), bluefish, drum, sea trout and perch in the Chesapeake Bay; and tuna, marlin, flounder, kingfish and sea bass on the oceanside. The contest runs through September 1. Grand prize winners will be randomly selected at a closing ceremony in mid-September. For the rules and tournament information visit www.dnr.maryland.gov/fishingchallenge
The Intrepid Angler on Tour - The Hells Canyon Sturgeon Enlightenment
by Brian Bartell - Executive Editor
For the better part of my life,
the mere mention of sturgeon would evoke memories of my father’s tales of behemoth monster shadows under his rowboat on a Wisconsin lake or the newspaper articles that have appeared in the Baltimore Sun every few years since I was a child detailing how some unknowing fisherman in the Chesapeake Bay landed one of the prehistoric beasts. So when the proposal to travel across the country to spend four days devoted to sturgeon fishing was pitched to me, I dismissed it without even thinking about a second thought. I told my brother, who had conjured up the borderline moronic idea, that I was better off hunting elk in my suburban Maryland backyard. I’d have a better chance of actually getting something, or so I thought.
Lucky for me, my brother (the oldest) was not to be deterred in his quest. He had lived a few hours from Hells Canyon for almost 30 years, and stories of five- and six-foot white sturgeon of the Snake River had taken hold of his imagination...MORE
To read the entire article or browse the Intrepid Angler Archives click HERE
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