To protect hickory shad from snagging during spring spawning runs, avid angler Wayne Blottenberger of Bel Air is proposing Department of Natural Resources regulation changes for shad fishing in parts of the Deer Creek. The proposal was made during a recent meeting of the Sport Fish Advisory Commission.
Blottenberger proposed the use of single-point hooks only (no doubles or trebles) and one hook only (no tandem or multi-rigs) for the area from Stafford Bridge up to the Wilson Dam above route 161. The fear is that in these shallow areas, fish are susceptible to snagging with multi-rigs or several-point hooks. The proposed regulation would affect fishermen from mid-March through mid-May only. It would allow fishermen the rest of the year to use lures or bait with treble/double hooks or tandem rigs.
Blottenberger has seen snagging in the area.
“I am sure that it is from ignorance or intentional,” he said of the violations.
There are several ways to think about this. This sounds like a good regulation, but would it not also be good for all of Deer Creek? Or for all of Maryland, since shad spawn in streams throughout the state?
Surely Deer Creek fishermen are not alone in accidentally or deliberately hooking fish at other than the front end. Shad populations are down, thus the state-wide catch-and-release-only stipulations for both American and hickory species. More protection to keep shadsurvival at the 99 percent rate of catch-and-release fishing would be good.
It does seem to replow current regulations. On page 5 of the Maryland 2007 Fishing Guide and under the “It Is Unlawful” listings (No. 7), it is unlawful “for a person to catch or attempt to catch fish other than by hook and line only, attached to a pole or rod, with line held in hand, attended in a manner that the fish voluntarily takes bait or lure in its mouth.” I know, I know ? but I didn?t write it.
Section 12 states that it is unlawful “to snag fish with hooks.” DNR biologist Marty Gary suggests that the proposed regulation would ramp things up a notch, since right now fishing with double/treble hooks or multi-rigs is not prohibited in these areas. Currently, Natural Resources Police officers would have to see evidence of repeated snagging to take action. With this proposal in effect, any use of a tandem/multi-rig or double/treble hook would be a violation.
“We have to articulate the fact that they [fishermen] are intentionally snagging fish,” Natural Resources Police Capt. Bob Davis said of current regulations, noting that anyone can accidentally snag a fish.
This rule, if enacted, would not be unlike regulations on circle hooks for catch-and-release striper Flats fishing, trout regulations for fly/lure/bait, time prohibitions on trout streams, and culling regulations. The next step in the process is a public forum during a new biannual DNR Scoping meeting scheduled for mid-May.
Stay tuned.
C. Boyd Pfeiffer is an internationally known sportsman and award-winning writer on fishing, hunting, and the outdoors, and is currently working on his 25th book. He can be reached at [email protected].
