Anglers

Like every veteran fisherman, Jim Motsko has a classic story about the big one that got away.It was 1987 and Mr. Motsko had never won anything in the White Marlin Open, Ocean City's mammoth billfishing tournament he had founded 13 years earlier.On the last day of the five-day event, he was fishing aboard a 27-foot boat -- small for the billfish tournament -- captained by Chuck Willis, when he hooked a white marlin."As it jumped up," he remembers, "I looked at it and tought, 'That's a winner.

With the lure of making as much as $100,000 in prize money, nearly 4,000 anglers in some 650 boats are expected to descend on the Chesapeake Bay next weekend for what is billed as "the largest rockfish tournament in the world. " According to Dave Smith, executive director of the Maryland Saltwater Sportfishing Association, there are "over 50 ways to win. " First place in the main draw is worth a guaranteed $15,000. The big money is made in what MSSA bills as a "tournament within a tournament.

By next spring, anglers will likely cast their lines into the Susquehanna River from a $4 million fishing wharf now under construction near Conowingo Dam. Exelon Power, the utility company that operates the Conowingo Hydroelectric Station on the river, has launched construction of an expansive walkway with wide steps leading to the beach at the base of the dam. The area has long been a favorite fishing spot, especially when the shad run in the spring....

Boaters, anglers and anyone bold enough to swim in Baltimore's troubled harbor will soon be able to get timely information about whether they're risking an upset stomach or infection from splashing in water fouled with sewage leaks and other pollution. Starting this month, the Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper, Tina Meyers, plans to post results online every other week from regular sampling cruises she's making to check conditions in the Inner Harbor and the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River.

State officials say all Maryland recreational anglers must register with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration before fishing in 2010. The requirement is part of a federal initiative to help ensure the long-term sustainability of America's fisheries. Although the survey is focused on saltwater species, some ocean fish travel between salt and fresh waters, so anyone fishing in the Chesapeake Bay, its tributaries and coastal waters must register. Anglers must provide their name, birth date, address, telephone number and the regions they plan to fish.

For more than 56,000 Maryland anglers, there's nothing so sweet or more of a harbinger of spring than the growl of the big trucks filled with trout. In good weather and bad, state fisheries tank trucks load up with thousands of trout raised at hatcheries and drop them off in waterways from Western Maryland to the Eastern Shore: iridescent speckled rainbows; dusky, glistening brown trout; and a sunflower-yellow variety that makes the surrounding water glitter. "I left with 2,200 [fish]

Now I know how those White House party crashers felt. I received an e-mail Wednesday addressed to "Dear Chesapeake Bay colleague," inviting me to listen in on a "special briefing for the watermen and recreational fishing communities on a new federal strategy for protecting and restoring the Chesapeake Bay watershed." Earlier in the day, the Obama administration announced a "we really mean it this time" plan to restore the bay that involves tons of federal tough love and forces the six states in the watershed to break a sweat on enacting and enforcing stricter pollution and development laws.

Sometimes, you get your wish. Saturday was that day for the Barnes family of Upper Marlboro. Like hundreds of families before them, they learned about the magic of the Wish-A-Fish Foundation, which brings together recreational anglers and special needs children, or those fighting a cruel illness, for a free day of fishing on theChesapeake Bay. Saturday couldn't have been prettier, a rare break in the steam bath of July. The fish? They cooperated for the nearly two dozen families at this year's event.

Pardon Dee Tochterman if she doesn't have time for more than a quick hello. She has worms to wash. Thousands of them. Every day from spring to late fall, Tochterman is the head worm wrangler at T.G. Tochterman & Sons, the 94-year-old tackle shop on Eastern Avenue. Her specialty is bloodworms, the nasty critters from the mud flats of Maine and Canada that squirt blood and bite. Anglers love them. But the fish of the Chesapeake Bay — stripers, spot and croaker — love them even more.

With the lure of making as much as $100,000 in prize money, nearly 4,000 anglers in some 650 boats are expected to descend on the Chesapeake Bay next weekend for what is billed as "the largest rockfish tournament in the world. " According to Dave Smith, executive director of the Maryland Saltwater Sportfishing Association, there are "over 50 ways to win. " First place in the main draw is worth a guaranteed $15,000. The big money is made in what MSSA bills as a "tournament within a tournament.

If we're serious about getting the invasive snakeheads under control before they eat all the other fish in the Chesapeake watershed, then let me suggest that we get serious about the bounty. Those $200 gift certificates from a major outdoors retailer are nice, but there are only three of them, and those who catch a snakehead have to enter a drawing to win them, and the drawing isn't until November. That's not much of an incentive. Let's engage in some bigger thinking about this.

Snakeheads, which were illegally introduced into the Potomac River as far back as 2004, will continue to have a price on their nasty-looking heads. For the second straight year, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources will be offering prize money as part of a yearlong contest to kill the predators. The top prize is a $200 gift card from Bass Pro Shops. Other prizes include a Maryland State Passport that gives anglers and others free entry to state parks and boat launches as well as discounted boat rentals.

Anglers and watermen are at odds, again, this time over fishing license fees.  With the Maryland Department of Natural Resources facing a looming deficit in funds for overseeing both recreational and commercial fishing, anglers are pushing a bill that would require the state to cover 90 percent of its costs for managing each fishery with license fees from the people engaged in that activity. They testified before the House Environmental Matters Committee in support of HB1173 , while watermen argued that the issue needs more study.

Shawn Kimbro will speak to the Coastal Conservation Association Maryland's newly revived Annapolis chapter Tuesday at the Boatyard Bar & Grill. He'll be discussing cold-water jigging as well as Careful Catch Maryland, a program started collectively by the CCA and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation on the best way to release fish after catching them. Kimbro will also talk about his self-published book, "Chesapeake Light Tackle – an introduction to light tackle fishing on the Chesapeake Bay. " The Baltimore Sun spoke to Kimbro last week about light-tackle fishing, the Careful Catch Maryland program and his book.

The fish are biting offshore in Ocean City as the resort launches the 38th Annual White Marlin Open today at Harbour Island Marina at 14th Street and the bay. The tournament draws anglers from all over the world to fish for white marlin, blue marlin, tuna, dolphin, wahoo and shark. Last year, some 2,000 entered the competition, winning more than $2 million in prize money. The catch included a 97.5-pound white marlin that took first place and won Brian Roberts, of Berlin, a check for a cool $856,506.

Sometimes, you get your wish. Saturday was that day for the Barnes family of Upper Marlboro. Like hundreds of families before them, they learned about the magic of the Wish-A-Fish Foundation, which brings together recreational anglers and special needs children, or those fighting a cruel illness, for a free day of fishing on theChesapeake Bay. Saturday couldn't have been prettier, a rare break in the steam bath of July. The fish? They cooperated for the nearly two dozen families at this year's event.

March 27 usually is heralded by Harford County's recreational anglers as a day when all symptoms of cabin fever disappear.It's traditionally the first day of trout season, a time when Rocks State Park is invaded by thousands of avid fishermen from throughout Maryland and southern Pennsylvania.A little more than 10 years ago, parking restrictions were imposed at Rocks, where several roadside pull-offs were barricaded with logs and boulders. Park personnel claimed anglers parking at unpaved sites were causing serious environmental damage by compacting the soil or causing erosion.

Despite strong winds and rough water the first few days of this fall's striped bass (rockfish) season, middle bay-area anglers have been reeling with joy. From one end of the Chesapeake to the other, an empty-handed rockfish angler is a rare find.Ray Bowman of Laurel managed to pull a 31 1/2 -inch rockfish from the popular Choptank Fishing Pier."I was over that way Saturday, but didn't fish because the pier and the river below were too crowded," he said. "Then, Sunday afternoon while watching the football game, it occurred to me that if I drove back over there late in the day it would probably be empty."

Nine recreational anglers from out of state were charged with fishing for striped bass in protected waters during a weekend sting operation in the Choptank River south of Denton, just one week before the start of Maryland's spring season. Working on tips from the public, Natural Resources Police officers shot video of the alleged poachers fishing on known spawning grounds and intercepted them as they returned to shore at Ganeys Wharf. Police say one angler caught 20 striped bass.

Joseph Barry of Baltimore writes: As I am sure you are aware, there is a new requirement that all anglers on boats be registered with NOAA. But I am baffled by the wording of the new regulation in the Department of Natural Resources fishing guide. In one line it says that all anglers on a licensed boat need to be registered. I don't like it, but rules are rules. Then, the regulation states that all guests on a licensed boat need to be registered. I called DNR and asked them why the regulation uses both angler and guest.