Largemouth Bass

By nature, largemouth bass are creatures that favor relatively shallow, almost sluggish waters heavy with vegetation or marked by stumps, bushes, fallen trees or root systems.Within the cover of these habitats, the adult bass is the hunter, virtually the top of the food chain -- unless one counts man, which has made the largemouth one of its most preferred targets.George Cochran, who finished third in the 1990 Bassmasters Classic and has qualified for the tournament each of the past 10 years, has some basic advice for making the hunt easier and more rewarding.

Scientists have found more intersex fish in Maryland, this time on the Eastern Shore, and their research suggests one possible source of the gender-bending condition could be the poultry manure that is widely used there to fertilize croplands. Six lakes and ponds on the Delmarva Peninsula sampled over the past two years have yielded male largemouth bass carrying eggs, according to University of Maryland scientists. Those are the first intersex fish reported there, though researchers found the condition several years ago in smallmouth bass in the Potomac and its tributaries, and recently found it in smallmouth bass in the Susquehanna.

HAVRE DE GRACE -- Almost 20 years ago, a state fisheries biologist requested federal money to study and improvelargemouth bass fishing. It took three years to get a management program in the Chesapeake estuary under way.Since 1977, Leon Fewlass and a handful of biologists and technicians have been part of a booming recreational fishery built almost from scratch."

He has been striped bass fishing off Brooklyn, N.Y., and largemouth bass fishing under a pier back home in Florida, but one of the places where Oriole Luke Scott remains a rookie is the Chesapeake Bay. That shortcoming will be remedied May 1, when the designated hitter-first baseman will fish the 27th annual Championship on the Chesapeake, the long-running contest sponsored by the Maryland Saltwater Sportfishermen's Association. On board with Scott will be the winner of a World Fishing Network contest and a friend.

Biologists from the state Department of Natural Resources offered a way yesterday to deal with an invasion of unwanted goldfish in a Columbia pond: bring in bigger fish. Three fisheries experts with a large net waded into the pond on Montgomery Run Road at the request of the county Department of Recreation and Parks, surveyed the aquatic life and suggested largemouth bass to take care of hundreds of non-native goldfish and several large koi that are disturbing the ecosystem of the pond.

Long before I lived in the Mid-Atlantic, I knew that the Big Gunpowder Falls was a Blue Ribbon trout stream surrounded by luscious woodlands and filled with sassy, almost wild brown trout. Once I arrived in Baltimore County, I was told that if I wanted to target my other favorite freshwater fish, the smallmouth bass, I needed to take a 40- to 50-minute drive either northeast or southwest to the Susquehanna or the Potomac rivers, both first-rate smallmouth fisheries. What no one told me before I moved here was that Central Maryland has smallmouth, one of the most prized warm water fly fishing targets, in just about every little trickle.

Scientists have found more intersex fish in Maryland, this time on the Eastern Shore, and their research suggests one possible source of the gender-bending condition could be the poultry manure that is widely used there to fertilize croplands. Six lakes and ponds on the Delmarva Peninsula sampled over the past two years have yielded male largemouth bass carrying eggs, according to University of Maryland scientists. Those are the first intersex fish reported there, though researchers found the condition several years ago in smallmouth bass in the Potomac and its tributaries, and recently found it in smallmouth bass in the Susquehanna.

One of the biggest black market fish cases in Maryland history -- becoming known as the Potomac River bass burglary -- was cracked with the help of tiny tracking devices hidden inside the fish.Prosecutors and investigators, who followed the trail of the bass from Toronto to Georgia, say the case involves the alleged sale of more than 40,000 pounds of largemouth bass caught in the Potomac from 1990 to 1993.Telltale tags three-eighths of an inch long, called passive integrated transponders, were placed under the skin of more than 3,000 wild largemouth bass in the Potomac as part of a Maryland Department of Natural Resources study to track their growth and movement.

RESIDENT GOOSE SEASONMaryland will hold a hunting season for resident Canada geese Sept. 7-15 this fall, with hunters allowed three geese daily and a limit of six.The areas open to hunting will be the 14 counties west of the Chesapeake Bay.In addition to normal licenses and stamps, hunters will be required to carry a free September Canada goose seasonpermit, which is currently available from Department of Natural Resources offices.Hunters will be required to keep a daily log of hunting activities and to mail that report to DNR by Sept.

Piney Run -- The supply of largemouth bass has decreased because of the colder temperatures, according to Jim Gronaw, while anglers have been able to get channel cats of 20 to 28 inches with chicken livers. Livers and cutbait are also working to catch striped bass. Prettyboy Reservoir -- Small and largemouth bass are still in staging areas, moving off those to feed for the winter, according to Joe Butta. The fish are moving over 20 to 30 feet of water and can be caught with plastics and crankbaits.

Sam Dutton of Baltimore writes: Saturday, I went with three friends to the Potomac above Hancock to go bass fishing. We waded in about four feet of water and had a blast. I caught about nine smallmouth and one of us caught 20, all from 7 a.m. to noon. All were catch and release. That area is loaded with bass. The Upper Potomac must be one of the best bass fishing areas in the country. We also find that river bass fishing is far superior to lake or pond bass fishing. The river bass put up a stronger fight and are lean and fit since they must fight the continuous current.

10 FOR THE ROAD Top spots to reel 'em in The top 10 places to go fishing with your family, according to cable TV's Sportsman Channel: 1. Clear Lake, Calif. (bass) 2. Sitka, Alaska (salmon, halibut) 3. Ecofina Creek, Fla. (catfish) 4. Lake Sinclair, Ga. (crawfish, crappie) 5. Guntersville Lake, Ala. (bass) 6. Venice, La. (red fish, trout) 7. Lake Ontario, N.Y. (salmon, lake trout) 8. Clinton Lake, Ill. (largemouth bass) 9. Cape Cod, Mass. (Atlantic striper) 10. Rogerson, Idaho (walleye, trout)

Piney Run -- The supply of largemouth bass has decreased because of the colder temperatures, according to Jim Gronaw, while anglers have been able to get channel cats of 20 to 28 inches with chicken livers. Livers and cutbait are also working to catch striped bass. Prettyboy Reservoir -- Small and largemouth bass are still in staging areas, moving off those to feed for the winter, according to Joe Butta. The fish are moving over 20 to 30 feet of water and can be caught with plastics and crankbaits.

A fish-farm operator and three watermen in Southern Maryland are to appear in court soon to answer federal charges that they illegally caught and sold $150,000 worth of wild largemouth bass that ended up in Asian markets and restaurants in North America.Largemouth bass are prized as a sport fish and are the focus of popular fishing tournaments throughout the region. Nearly all sales of the species are prohibited.Nine counts in the indictment by a federal grand jury in Baltimore this week involve alleged violations of the federal Lacey Act, which prohibits interstate trade in illegal wildlife.

A few years back I suffered a heart attack. When I was moved out of Carroll County General Hospital's superb cardiac intensive care unit and into a private room overlooking the Farm Museum Pond, my health improved and I discovered a great fishing spot.Early in the morning and late in the day I watched huge bass jumping out of the pond's water to nab bugs, frogs, etc.What I didn't see was a single person armed with a rod and reel through those late August and early September days. That changed a couple of weeks later when I got out of the hospital.