Catfish

HAVRE De GRACE -- Baltimore officials are shocked, shocked to discover that some of the city employees responsible for municipal housing inspections are themselves slumlords, owners of rental properties that don't measure up to the housing code.Nobody else is surprised at this news. It's assumed by most real-world people, whether they live in the city or outside it, that the Baltimore government is a swamp of ineptitude and petty corruption, and that its programs concerned with housing are probably the worst of all. New disclosures confirming this assumption are usually met with either a yawn or a sigh.

Two years ago, officials bubbled with piscatorial pride when Frederick County angler Ron Lewis set a state record with a 67.1-pound blue catfish caught on the Potomac River. "Mr. Lewis's historic catch illustrates Maryland's superb year-round fishing opportunities," said Department of Natural Resources Secretary John Griffin in a news release. With great fanfare, the enormous fish was relocated to a new home in the big tank at Bass Pro Shops at Arundel Mills, where it is still the biggest thing swimming around.

As "Catfish Capes," Frank Caples Jr. travels 50,000 miles every summer preparing fried catfish platters at festivals around the country. This year, the Minnesota entrepreneur plans to bring his 18-foot mobile kitchen to 40 events, including Baltimore's African American Heritage Festival, which takes place this weekend at Camden Yards. If you go The African American Heritage Festival takes place from 4 p.m.-10 p.m. Friday, noon-10 p.m. Saturday and noon-9 p.m. Sunday at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

The near-record amount of runoff that coursed down the Susquehanna River and into the Chesapeake Bay last spring has created the lowest salinity levels seen in the upper bay since 1985, when water monitoring stations were established. Gauges at the Conowingo Dam registered 5 trillion gallons of discharge during the three-month gusher that ended in May, enough to replace the water in the upper bay every 30 days, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The spring total is surpassed only by 1993, when 5.5 trillion gallons gushed from the river's mouth.

Don Wilson, a 16-year-old from Fort Washington, set a state record for blue catfish when he caught a 39-pound, 4-ouncer Wednesday.The fish was caught on Swan Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River, about halfway between the mouth of the creek and Fort Washington Park.The fish was checked in at Garys Market in Marbury. Department of Natural Resources freshwater fisheries biologist Tim Groves met Wilson at Grays, certified the weight and measured its length at 41.63 inches and girth at 25.75 inches.

SHOP, shop, drop. Shop, shop, drop. Run all day from Owings Mills mall to Arundel Mills mall, from Wal-Mart to Kmart. It's what we do, it's who we are this time of year. But somewhere in all this holiday-shopping frenzy we've got to take time to feed ourselves and our families. We can sleep in January, but we need nourishment right now. How else will we have the strength to buy an armload of Barbies, score a pile of NFL 2K2 games for Playstation and sort out one DVD/CD player with MP3 decoder from another?

One of the most popular species of fish in the nation has a face only its mother could love -- catfish. They're found in most freshwater lakes, rivers, streams and brackish water bays throughout the continental United States.In Harford County, large numbers can be found residing in Conowingo Lake, the Susquehanna River and throughout the upper reaches of Chesapeake Bay, especially in areas north and east of Pooles Island.Catfish are like cars. They come in a large variety of colors, sizes and models.

This simple fish dish comes from a new Weight Watchers cookbook that offers lean dinners in 20 minutes or less, and this recipe delivered. It also had the qualities that please my picky crowd at home: a pretty plain piece of fish, in this case, that one could dress up with a sauce or not. The catfish, on sale, also fit our budget. I was intrigued by the name, of course. The seasoning had a few of the elements of Old Bay Seasoning, including a dash of cayenne, which you can leave out if your kids are sensitive to spices.

IT WAS LIKE the good old days for Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Jim "Catfish" Hunter. He was in his element at Oriole Park at Camden Yards signing baseballs for fans. Only this time, rather than preparing to pitch, he was at the ballpark as the honorary chairman of the Sugar Ball, a benefit for the American Diabetes Association.Hunter, a diabetic, pitched the American League's first regular-season perfect game in 46 years on May 8, 1968. He left baseball in 1978, suffering from arm strain and diabetes, and retired to his farm in Hertford, N.C. Since then, he has traveled the country as a spokesman for Pharmecia & Upjohn.

Most pond owners are content to throw in a line now and then or maketheir ponds available to family and friends for fishing.But Franklin Koontz of Shiloh Road in Hampstead has turned his pond into a paying proposition, raising catfish, bluegills and hybrid striped bass for market.From 1968 to 1989, his pond was used simply for family recreational fishing. But then, upon his retirement from the Industrial Equipment Division of Westinghouse in Sykesville, Koontz decided to diversify from the beef cattle and Christmas trees that were the 116-acre farm's income producers.