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Stripers? Yeah, Stripers!
O
kay folks, no big surprise, here—the first and biggest news story this month is the opening of Maryland’s spring trophy season. Chesapeake chaos begins April 15 and runs through May 15 in the main-stem Bay from Brewerton Channel to the Virginia line. The limit is one fish per person, per day of 35 inches and over. Our lawyers tell us we’d have to be insane to print “full regulations” here, since they’re constantly subject to change. However, we couldn’t resist tweaking the lawyers. So: FULL REGULATIONS. See Maryland’s online fishing regulations guide for all the details. Virginians have to wait for May 1 and should visit the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) online to get the full scoop. And in Delaware, it’s open all year except on spawning grounds April 1 through May 31. All the particulars can be found online at Delaware’s eRegulation guide. You may also click to fishtalkmag.com/fishing-regulations.
Oyster News
W
ith the Chesapeake Bay’s oyster population down more than 50 percent from historic levels… no wait, make that 90 percent. Ummm, hold on, 95 percent. No, no, it’s actually more than 98 percent down. Yes, with the Chesapeake Bay’s oyster population down more than 98 percent, it’s time to—what else—open up some of the Bay’s oyster sanctuaries to “rotational harvest.” Love him or hate him, at least (former) Governor Martin O’Malley managed to get 24 percent of the Bay’s oyster bars declared “sanctuaries free from harvest” (up from nine percent). Now Governor Larry Hogan, love him or hate him, is supporting the establishment of rotational harvest areas which would, according to the Baltimore Sun, result in a net effect “loss of 11 percent of oyster sanctuary.” This makes perfect sense to us anglers because we know how important oys-
T
##Do these belong in the water or on the half-shell? The answer is “both,” but we have quite a ways to go. Photo courtesy of US Army Corps of Engineers
ters are to the Bay. And heck, we have a whole 1.9 or 1.8 percent of them left, right? So, why not increase the harvest? If this makes as much sense to you as it does to us, for gosh sakes, send a letter to Governor Hogan. His popularity reflects the fact that he’s done a great job to date, and we’d hate to see a lack of enthusiasm
for protecting the Chesapeake’s oyster population tarnish his image. The address is 100 State Circle, Annapolis, MD 21401. Reach out to your local representative, too. The Maryland House voted this March (102 to 39) to keep the sanctuaries intact (at the time of this writing it has yet to hit the Senate).
Species Snapshot: Largemouth Bass
he MD DNR has released its annual review of largemouth bass populations in and around the state. Some highlights: the fish kill in the Gunpowder in late December has been blamed on the dinoflagellate Karlodinium, which can cause respiratory failure in fish. A specific reason for this winter algal bloom hasn’t been identified. Meanwhile, DNR population surveys (in the Northeast River, Susquehanna River, and Susquehanna Flats) produced below average numbers in the Upper Chesapeake but improvements in the Potomac River and stable populations on the Eastern Shore. 12 Premier Issue FishTalkMag.com
