Perch Fishing

Capt. Ed Darwin's first decision of the day was the hardest -- whether to run south from Mill Creek near Annapolis to fish for black drum off Poplar Island or to head north and go for white perch on the humps off Gibson Island and Bodkin Point."

Chesapeake Bay tributaries in the Baltimore area closed 20 years ago to protect the dwindling yellow perch population might soon be opened to recreational anglers under a blueprint being prepared by state natural resources officials. The proposal, more than 10 years in the making, is a series of mix-and-match options for anglers and commercial fishermen that covers season length, size of catch and which waterways should remain closed. The plan is in its final days of drafting, with representatives of the recreational and commercial communities weighing in. A public comment period begins next month.

**** EXCELLENT*** GOOD** FAIR* POORSalt water OCEANInshore *** -- Schools of small blues have been running the inlet Ocean City. Try about two hours before high tide and try minnows. Peeler crab on bucktails have been turning up some sea trout at slack tide on the south side of the inlet. Small blues, skate and kingfish being taken occasionally in the surf. Drifting minnows in the back bays has turned up sporadic keeper flounder, although there are many smaller fish in the area.Offshore *** -- Bluefish from 10 to 12 pounds are being taken along the 20-fathom line, and the first mako sharks of the season were checked in last week, a 307-pounder and a 225-pounder.

When it comes to consumer confidence in the Department of Natural Resources, Senate Bill 702 shows how far the agency has fallen. The Coastal Conservation Association Maryland is pushing legislation that would ban commercial yellow perch fishing in Chesapeake Bay tributaries from Jan. 1 to March 20 to protect spawning fish. Leadership of the group says after waiting eight years for DNR to do something to protect yellow perch, it had to take the lead. Ken Lewis, chairman of CCA's Government Relations Committee, acknowledges that it would rather let DNR do its job. "When it doesn't, we have no alternative but to turn to our elected representatives in the legislature," he says.

A few successive warm days early in March bring fishermen out to creeks and river heads on the East- ern Shore where yellow perch fishing is allowed. The trick is to figure where the perch will be moving and when.In a normal year, when water temperatures reach about 38 degrees, the yellow perch school in deep holes of Chesapeake tributaries and prepare for their spawning runs upstream.And even though this has not been a normal year, on Sunday we set out to the Shore in search of Perca flavescens with a handful of jig heads and one-inch grubs and a box of small spinners.

Yellow perch fishing has been as fickle as the weather this year, with sporadic activity during the warm spells and virtually no activity when the cold weather returns.But perhaps by next weekend, if the weather runs to more normal patterns this week, the yellow perch will begin running in concentrations to and from their spawning grounds near the heads of tidal tributaries.For several years, fishing for yellow perch has been a changing business, depending on which body of water was being fished.

PERCH FISHINGA week ago Tuesday, the yellow perch were scarce in the Hillsboro area of Tuckahoe Creek on the Eastern Shore. In the week and a half since, the moon has come full and the perch fishing has picked up.Reports from the Patuxent and Blackwater rivers also show the run of yellow perch gathering momentum.The best baits to use are grass shrimp or small minnows on small hooks beneath bobbers.Try getting your bait into deeper areas on the slacker edges of the current. The perch are headed upstream to spawn and will be following the path of least resistance.

The Woodpile settled to anchor on the edge of an oyster rock, where the water depth increased from 12 to 25 feet and the fish finder marked fish close to the bottom.The day was warm and calm, but the current was running well as the tide ebbed, and after a bloodworm was cut into 1-inch segments and the hooks of a double-bottom rig were baited, the fun began.Within seconds of sinker reaching bottom, a strike and a run that took a few yards of line off the light spinning reel, before the fish was brought to the boat and released.

WEEKEND FISHINGAlthough area rivers remain high and muddy and lakes and reservoirs are full, the warming weather and longer days have turned on fishing -- especially on the Eastern Shore.Red Bridges, at the head of the Choptank River, and Millington, at the head of the Chester River, have been producing white perch on grass shrimp or shad darts and small artificial grubs.In the Hillsboro section of the Tuckahoe, some yellow perch are mixed with white perch, as they are in the Choptank near Martinak State Park.

There weren't any long, tearful farewells -- just a few quips of "hasta luego" and the sage advice: "Don't get eaten."With such unceremonious send-offs, some 400 inch-long yellow perch darted away yesterday to hide from predators in the marshy headwaters of Indian Creek, a tributary of the Severn River.About 27 North County High School students released the fingerlings that their classes have raised this spring in hopes of helping restore the Severn's decimated yellow perch population.The raise-and-release project is part of a cooperative program between Anne Arundel County schools' Arlington Echo Outdoor Center and the state Department of Natural Resources.

We interrupt this column about the outdoors to bring you important news from the airless, sun-free world of Maryland politics. This time every year, with the legislative elves running around in Annapolis, there's always the opportunity for mischief to be made. Sometimes, the lawmakers give us a break or do something worthwhile. Sometimes, someone knocks some sense into them. This year is no different. In the latter category was the ill-conceived attempt by Del. Catherine E. Pugh to require passengers on pleasure boats, charter boats and water taxis to wear life jackets.

The locations Piney Run: Jim Gronaw at the park office says buzzbaits and plastic worms were the top lures at the recent bass tournament. Fish up to 4 pounds were caught. Catfishing has been good using chicken liver and cut bait. Prettyboy Reservoir: Duke Nohe of the Maryland Aquatic Resource Coalition recommends trolling a 1/2 -ounce spinner hook with a worm at 25 feet of water to catch white perch. For bass use pig and jigs, shiners and crayfish. Use poppers late in the day for topwater action.

Leaning over the edge of a motorboat on the Severn River yesterday, the four fisheries biologists grappled with the weight of their catch -- hundreds of shining perch squirming in a large, black net. Then, instead of rejoicing in the harvest, the men knelt silently by the flopping fish and began releasing them, dropping some over the boat's edge and throwing others over their shoulders into the water. The final count for the harvest: 64 yellow perch, 360 white perch and a smattering of catfish and pumpkinseed sunfish.

While Chesapeake Bay rockfish get much of the attention this time of year, fishing from Ocean City to Deep Creek Lake is improving as the weather struggles into fall and waters cool.At Ocean City, flounder catches continue to be excellent, with some of the largest flatfish of the year being caught from just above the Route 50 bridge to the inlet -- and the first of the large fall rockfish, to 42 inches, are being caught on live-lined spot at the inlet.Croaker and spot can be found from the inlet piers and jetties along with some tautog and plenty of snapper bluefish.

There weren't any long, tearful farewells -- just a few quips of "hasta luego" and the sage advice: "Don't get eaten."With such unceremonious send-offs, some 400 inch-long yellow perch darted away yesterday to hide from predators in the marshy headwaters of Indian Creek, a tributary of the Severn River.About 27 North County High School students released the fingerlings that their classes have raised this spring in hopes of helping restore the Severn's decimated yellow perch population.The raise-and-release project is part of a cooperative program between Anne Arundel County schools' Arlington Echo Outdoor Center and the state Department of Natural Resources.

The Woodpile settled to anchor on the edge of an oyster rock, where the water depth increased from 12 to 25 feet and the fish finder marked fish close to the bottom.The day was warm and calm, but the current was running well as the tide ebbed, and after a bloodworm was cut into 1-inch segments and the hooks of a double-bottom rig were baited, the fun began.Within seconds of sinker reaching bottom, a strike and a run that took a few yards of line off the light spinning reel, before the fish was brought to the boat and released.

Hugo Gemignani's idea just might have worked. Yellow perch are back in the Magothy River after nearly a decade.Five years ago, Gemignani, a biology professor at Anne Arundel Community College, tried placing fertilized yellow perch eggs in the headwaters of the river, near the Catherine Avenue bridge.Last fall, he caught several yellow perch in the river. This spring, a former student found perch egg cases, a sure sign that the fishhave matured there."Since it takes three years for perch to mature, it could be these are from the original fish," he said this week.