Maryland's Proposed Catch & Return Program

[Sam]

Maryland is planning to start a "Catch and Return" program where we have to immediately release the bass back into the water, not putting in our wells or harvesting it for dinner.

The areas are on the Potomac River include the Piscataway, Upper Mattawoman and Chicamusen Creeks.

The upper Chesapeake Bay areas are the Lower Susquehanna River, Furnace Bay and Lloyds Creek.

You can call Joseph W. Love, Ph.D., Tidal Bass Program Manager, 410.260.8257 or email him if you have questions or input, joseph.love@maryland.gov

The program is to keep the bass in their home streams so that they can continue to have strong spawning seasons.

If this program proves to be successful, it may spread to other areas in the Potomac, including the Virginia side, plus lakes and rivers throughout the country.

What bothers me is if you are fishing a legal area where you can keep the bass in your live well and you motor through or stray into these catch and release areas, are you now in violation of the regulation? These areas will, of course, be off-limits to tournament anglers. However, we do run all over the place, especially the Mattawoman Creek, during Potomac tournaments.

Anglers fishing the upper Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River are asked to view the Proposed Catch and Return Areas for Largemouth Bass in Tidal Waters and read the February 8, 201 release. I think I may be able to PR or email a copy of the data sheet so let me know if you want a copy. I will try to post the data sheet below but don't be surprised if it does not show up.

So what say you? Would you be in favor of such a regulation on your favorite lake or river?

Your comments and input are most welcome on the Forum and you may want to share them with Dr. Love, too.

 

 

 

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is considering setting aside large portions of the Potomac River and upper Chesapeake Bay as “catch and immediate return” for largemouth and smallmouth bass. This would significantly impact tournament fishing in the region.

Do you support the proposal or think it would be counterproductive? Let your opinion be known.

Contact Joseph W. Love, Tidal Bass Program Manager, at joseph.love@maryland.gov by March 10.

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More Info: http://dnr2.maryland.gov/…/Write-up-Catch-and-Return-Area.p…

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[BrianinMD]

Of the items which they have proposed this is actually the best of the group. The Mattawoman area will mess up a lot of tourney anglers though. Will it help, who knows, this is still not addressing the big issue which is the loss of grass.

The son of a certain person against tournament fishing just received a promotion at the regulatory agency so things may get tougher.

[Cheeseburger Eddie]

The Maryland DNR does not have the resources to maintain the fisheries That's the problem. This state is ran by a bunch of inept politicians who quite frankly don't know what they are doing. The state of Maryland collects an absurd amount of taxes but has little to show for it. Just look at Baltimore and the cesspool that it continues to be. Why not allocate a little more to the DNR instead?

VADNR Budget: $941,284,442 

MD DNR: $251,011,701

[Glenn]

Guys, I need to remind you once again that political comments will not be tolerated here.  It's the quickest way to get a thread shut down.

Fair warning.

[Nitrofreak]

I don't get the chance to fish the Potomac as much as I would like, however, I can not find the results of any study compiled to bring about such a proposal, what other options are being considered or available for consideration?

[Cheeseburger Eddie]

I apologize for the negative political comment. However, I genuinely believe the problem is lack of DNR maintenance which is rooted in lack of appropriated funding. Since the funding comes for the states budget I will just say it's the state of Maryland letting down the anglers. I think MD DNR should look to Texas DNR and see how their program is managed because they have excellent fisheries. 

[zdunham]

I don't think that "political" comment was in any way divisive or problem-starting. It's pretty obvious to any angler that it is the truth if you look at the numbers. 

The biggest issues for the Susquehanna/Chesapeake come from my home state of Pennsylvania, though. They have done little to nothing to fix the pollution problems in the Susquehanna River. Catch, livewell, and then release tournaments have little to nothing to do with any fish decline in the bay. Also, it isn't just smallmouth and largemouth populations that have declined, it is many other species that aren't involved in tournament fishing. Sounds to me like they are just tired of tons of big tournaments and instead of fixing the problem they found a scapegoat. The northern states have archaic ideas when it comes to fish management (including my home state).

[Cheeseburger Eddie]

I live in Anne Arundel County MD which has over 500 miles of shoreline but not 1 public boat ramp. You want to fish in the severn river? Better bring $25 to pay the launch fee.  Want to fish in one of our reservoirs? No problem, be sure you take off your gas engine and pay the $60 permit fee and don't forget to buy your non tidal fishing license. Want the fish the Potomac? Sure but not pass the bridge or you need to buy a DC license and also have your MD tidal fishing license. It's almost like they don't want us to fish....

[Nitrofreak]

29 minutes ago, Cheeseburger Eddie said:

I live in Anne Arundel County MD which has over 500 miles of shoreline but not 1 public boat ramp. You want to fish in the severn river? Better bring $25 to pay the launch fee.  Want to fish in one of our reservoirs? No problem, be sure you take off your gas engine and pay the $60 permit fee and don't forget to buy your non tidal fishing license. Want the fish the Potomac? Sure but not pass the bridge or you need to buy a DC license and also have your MD tidal fishing license. It's almost like they don't want us to fish....

I'm glad I live in Va. That sounds terrible.