Fifty-one striped bass are sporting the latest in outdoor apparel as they swim the waters of the Chesapeake Bay: thin, green plastic tags announcing that they are the money fish in the state's annual fishing contest, which begins at 5 a.m. today.
One of the fish, nicknamed Diamond Jim, is worth $10,000. The 50 others are worth $500 each.
"The Maryland Fishing Challenge" is in its fifth year, with Diamond Jim just one component of the event. Anglers also are encouraged to enter their catches of citation-size fish in more than 60 species - freshwater, tidal and saltwater - for a chance to win a boat, motor and trailer, a guided fishing trip or prizes worth $7,000.
"It's more than just a contest," said Marty Gary, a Department of Natural Resources fishery biologist who spearheads the event. "This is a way to promote fishing and maybe attract some lapsed and new anglers."
Well over 1,000 anglers entered fish in last year's contest. In September, several hundred people gathered at Sandy Point State Park outside Annapolis to watch Gov. Martin O'Malley help choose the winners for a grand prize drawing that included boats and a pickup truck.
This year, the event is more modest, and the agency had to dip into its budget to pay for some of the prizes.
"The economy has hurt our private sponsors," Gary said. "We were really just fighting to keep the contest alive this year."
On Thursday morning, six boats launched from sites on the Western Shore of the bay to catch, tag and release striped bass, the Maryland state fish also known as the rockfish. Bill Burton, the dean of Maryland outdoors writers who wrote for The Evening Sun for four decades, caught and released the first one, a glistening, portly fish with distinctive black racing stripes.
If no one catches Diamond Jim in June, a newly minted and tagged Diamond Jim worth $20,000 will be released off Fort McHenry for July. The amount will increase to $25,000 in August if Diamond Jim remains at large.
The contest runs through Labor Day. Visit the DNR Web site for full details.
Fifth waterman sentenced
The fifth of the Maryland watermen charged in the largest striped bass poaching case in Chesapeake Bay history was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court to 13 months in prison, fined $4,500 and ordered to pay $70,569 in restitution.
Keith Collins of Deale pleaded guilty in February to filing false reports with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to underreport the amount of striped bass he harvested from 2003 to 2007. He admitted that the estimated fair-market value of the fish was between $600,000 and $750,000.
So far, the sting operation conducted by state and federal officers has resulted in guilty pleas from 10 commercial fishermen and dealers in Maryland, Virginia and Washington and one wholesale company. Five other men and another dealer have been charged. Prosecutors say the investigation has led to sentences from U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte totaling 46 months in prison, $165,500 in fines, $284,819 in restitution and 13 months of home detention.
