There is a reason we call the sport “fishing” and not “catching.” Sometimes we catch fish; sometimes we don?t.
The “don?t” part afflicted fishermen at Friday night?s Full Moon Frenzy Bass Fishing Tournament at Piney Run Lake in southern Carroll County. Yes, there was a winner of the $100 first prize and a trophy only a tad shorter than hockey?s Stanley Cup. Steve Townsend, a lake and tournament regular from Stevensville, Md., weighed in a 4.74-pound largemouth to take top honors. The big fish took a Hula Popper, with second- and third-place fish also hitting on top ? a buzzbait and top-water hard lure.
“It was painfully slow,” said park staffer Jim Gronaw of the fishing.
He lost his way verbally searching for a euphemism to explain the 6 p.m.-to-midnight fishing, in which he weighed in only five fish. The contest was a contrast to the same tournament last year when a 5.57-pound largemouth took first place with about 75 bass weighed in.
Early in the evening, a fisherman weighed in a 13.53-pound channel catfish, the second largest this year behind a 15.88-pound fish. Catfish can?t count in a bass tournament, but two other tournaments are “catfish only.”
This is a good lake, and much ? maybe all ? of the credit goes to park manager Loren Lustig and staff member Jim Gronaw. The 298-acre electric-motor-only lake has an assortment of species, including largemouth bass, a smattering of smallmouth bass, tiger musky, channel catfish, striped bass, bluegill, crappie, yellow perch, brown bullhead, carp, and some put-and-take spring/fall trout fishing that also feed the stripers and trigger a fall striper bite.
Currently, they have a series of 10 fishing tournaments, six of which are nighttime events. The Mutt and Jeff team of Lustig (6-foot-4) and Gronaw (5-foot-6) like to fish like fishermen, and it shows.
They have their own “big fish” program with citations for big fish and a “Hawg” patch for bigger fish. It is 18 inches for the largemouth bass citation and 20 inches for the patch, which Townsend got along with trophy and check for his 20-1/8-inch Friday weigh-in.
Obviously, Lustig and Gronaw have this fishing promotion thing figured out. After all, when you can get a guy from the Eastern Shore as a regular in a Carroll County lake tournament, you?re doing something right. You get the idea.
You can get a better idea by fishing the Piney Run Lake Fall Fishing Tournament on Oct. 7, from 6 a.m. to noon. It is multi-species with prizes for largemouth bass, stripers, catfish and largest legal tiger musky. Call the park for details at 410-795-5165 or 410-795-3274.
C. Boyd Pfeiffer is an internationally known sportsman and award-winning writer on fishing, hunting, and the outdoors, and he has more than 20 books to his credit. He can be reached at [email protected].
