Croaker

COASTAL STRIPERSRockfish anglers in Maryland's coastal waters apparently could get a jump on the fishing season this fall if regulations proposed by the Department of Natural Resources are approved by the state legislature.Under the DNR proposals, the coastal season would be from July 15 to Nov. 30 for recreational fishermen, with a minimum size of 28 inches and no maximum length. The creel limit would be one fish per person per day.The season for recreational fishermen and charter boat fishermen in the Chesapeake Bay would not open until Oct. 1.A decision by the legislature is expected by Tuesday, and according to DNR's fisheries division, coastal fishermen would be able to start fishing immediately.

Ocean City saw its first puppy drum of the season last weekend, a 10-pounder taken by Richard Gorleski of Denton as he was drifting near the South Jettywith squid. Ocean City got quite a number of puppy drum last season, so this is a good sign of more to come.They normally are taken on cut mullet or sand fleas. Most of the time the anglers are either fishing for tautog at the jetties or bluefish in the surf when they catch these fish.Puppy drum feed on worms and crabs turned up by the waves.

The 65 striped bass tagged Diamond Jim proved as elusive this summer as William Donald Schaefer's manners, a winning Orioles season and Rush Limbaugh's Viagra prescription. But even though no one won $25,000 by catching a neon-green tagged rockfish during the "Maryland $1,000,000 Fishing Challenge," 135 anglers reeled in other tagged fish to qualify for the prize drawings at 10 a.m. Saturday at Annapolis City Dock. They will be playing for $1 million (winning odds 1 in 65), one of two pickup trucks, a motorboat and trailer and a bass boat and trailer.

SALT WATER OceanInshore -- very good -- The Ocean City Inlet, the Thoroughfare, Convention Center Channel surf have been producing flounder on squid and minnow combinations, but many are under the 14-inch minimum. The north jetty and the Route 50 bridge have turned up sea trout to weight pounds in the late evening on white bucktails and grubs. Kingfish, blowfish, sea trout, ocean perch and small sand sharks are being taken at the Ocean Pier and in the surf at North Ocean City and Assateague.

Last Saturday was a big day for offshore fishermen. We have not had many good offshore days because of windy weather. As soon as fishing gets good, the wind seems to blow, and the boats cannot get out to that "hot spot" again the next day. This was the case on Saturday because by Sunday the winds were gusting and the small craft warnings were posted once again.The party boat MoJo with angler Ted Liebau of Woodbine enjoyed some of this fantastic fishing in the Baltimore Canyon. The boat landed a 99-pound wahoo, released two white marlin and one blue marlin, and caught two tuna.

By midafternoon, the cloud cover had thickened and lowered. The breeze was building from the west-southwest and the day TC was turning uglier. But in the lee of Hacketts Point, hordes of bluefish were swarming near the surface, herding baitfish against the current, and there was time yet for a few more casts before the short run home upwind.The half-inch, silver Kastmaster spoon was making quick work of the 1- to 2-pound blues, with almost every cast bringing in a fish over a 20-minute period.

Wistful bugle notes and the dimming refrain of an echoing gun salute crowd the mind - when each in his own way on this ceremonial Memorial Day remembers courageous, assertive men from past encounters who went off to war ... and never came back. They were self-recruited, motivated by an intense desire to do what was right, leaving farms, villages, cities, factories, colleges and high schools. Hills, dales, riverbanks, mountainsides and prairies. Each contributed in an unselfish way and too often gave their life for freedoms held dear.

SALT WATER OceanInshore -- very good -- Bucktails and grubs fished from the north jetty at Ocean City after dark have turned up sea trout from 4 to 8 pounds, but the better fishing activity may be in the surf at Assateague and North Ocean City, where kingfish, sea trout, blowfish and flounder have been active. Bloodworms and squid strips have been the best baits along the beach. In the back bays, flounder fishing has been good, although under the new 14-inch minimum, keepers are not as numerous as they were last year.

Anglers in search of flounder are in luck this fall. They should be able to reel in nice catches before Oct. 10, the end of flounder season.Popular spots are the east channel between Third Street and the middle of the U.S. 50 bridge. On the incoming slacking tide, boaters, congregated around the drawbridge, brought in good-sized flounder. Live minnows and large frozen shiners are the ticket for success in the bay.The channel near the Convention Center is another good flounder location. Will Hall of Keenwick West took a 5-pounder in the channel off 28th Street on a bucktailed hook with a live minnow.

THIS JUST IN - the attempted rescue of a great horned owlet, as related by my faithful correspondent, retired state biologist W.R. "Nick" Carter 3rd. On a walk through the Eastern Shore woods that they had let grow up from a cornfield they bought 25 years ago, Carter and his wife heard the dogs barking up ahead. On the ground, infant ear tufts erect, hissing and clacking his beak like a string of ladyfinger firecrackers, was a young owl. Apparently flightless and standing only about as high as a football on a tee, he was dauntlessly holding the hounds at bay. A high wind had probably blown it from the nest.