Outdoors: Preseason trolling a hot issue

It strikes me as odd that I'm writing about preseason catch-and-release fishing with six weeks left in Maryland's 2009 rockfish season. Believe me, I'd rather talk wing shooting or fish catching. But trolling for stripers before the spring trophy season has become such a hot button topic, one potentially fraught with unintended consequences, it demands discussion.

You don't need to be entrenched in fisheries politics to read the tea leaves: Maryland is being watched. Some New England states still question our spring trophy season and a recent proposal to amend Maryland's coastal gill net quota is drawing attention. If left unchecked, this burgeoning trolling preseason could give the federal Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission another reason to look hard at Maryland's share of the rockfish catch. In a recent letter to The Washington Post, ASMFC Executive Director John O'Shea was none too subtle when he suggested Chesapeake anglers ought to "leave spawning fish alone."

Both charter boat operators and sport anglers who fish this pre-season use the same heavy gear deployed during the trophy season. The rec guys reportedly outnumber the pros, and though no one knows how many anglers take part, it's almost certain their numbers have grown each year. Arguably the polemic touchstone of this debate centers on an Internet post made by a sport angler boasting of multiple hookups while trolling more than a dozen rods through a pod of big rockfish. Trolling big bucktails in this manner is about as far from the spirit of catch-and-release 'sport' as you can get, in my opinion.

What about the Susquehanna Flats catch-and-release season you ask? It's worth pointing out the differences. The Flats fishery, entering its second decade, is a fly-and-light tackle game that's highly regulated and backed by two years of study. Despite the hype, most of the rockfish caught on the Flats are males weighing less than 10 pounds.

Last week, the state's Sport Fish Advisory Commission met jointly with its commercial counterpart, the Tidal Fish Advisory Commission, to take up the preseason trolling debate. Their goal was to provide the DNR Fisheries staff feedback on how best to control the effort. Given that inflamed opinions erupted at other fisheries meetings in recent years, Tuesday's show was downright placid. (Kudos to Jim Gracie of SFAC and TFAC's Brian Keehn, as well as DNR staffers, who led the proceedings.)

A key question is whether trolling in March adversely affects the Chesapeake spawners, estimated to account for at least 75 percent of the entire East Coast breeders. Those opposed to the practice say hooking a 30- or 40-pound striper at trolling speeds of 3 or 4 miles per hour, then scooping it out of the water to pass around for photos harms rockfish and/or interrupts their drive to spawn. That very well may be, but DNR's top biologists don't know of any studies to support or refute this claim. Supporters of the March fishery say no kill, no foul.

Three schools of thought have evolved about preseason trolling, and all were voiced at the meeting. They are: 1) No action required; 2) Institute some restrictions, and; 3) leave the rockfish alone entirely prior to the spring trophy season. Two who championed the latter category were charterboat captain Joey Sadler and sportsmen's lobbyist Bill Miles (speaking on his own behalf).

Freshman SFAC member Brandon White made a motion to restrict trolling from March 1st to the third Saturday in April. The proposal prohibits stinger hooks and bait as well as requiring the use of barbless hooks. The plan also calls for limiting the days an angler could troll - Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday would be open to fishing. (It's ironic that the controversial photos mentioned earlier were posted on White's popular Web site.) The sport fish commission endorsed the plan by a vote of 7-3, as did the TFAC, voting 9-2 with one abstention.

While the actions were well-intentioned, the process seemed rushed and the recommendation had two flaws. The bait restriction simply clouds the issue. In the spring, anglers soak herring and grass shrimp to catch catfish and white perch, thus by outlawing that tactic it could create unnecessary confusion for the Natural Resources Police.

Secondly, reducing angler effort without sound data isn't a good precedent, says Dave Sikorski, one of ten new members on the 12-person sport fish board. He voted against the proposal for that very reason. Sikorki added he'd wished the two groups had more thoroughly discussed the proposal before bringing it to a vote.

Afterward, Dave Smith of MSSA said while he supported several aspects of the proposal he disagrees with restricting fishing days without hard data to show trolling hurts the rockfish.

"Limiting (public fishing) access is problematic," Smith said. "Also, I wish there had been more discussion prior to the motion."

The third 'nay' vote was cast by Bill Goldsborough, though for different reasons. Via email he explained he opposed the motion "because I felt it was not the best we could do. My preference would have been to vote down that motion and consider another, stronger one." He may have been the closest to the mark.

If restricting the preseason trolling is truly about conserving big stripers, as many commissioners claim, half-measures won't cut it. The best way to accomplish that would be to prohibit trolling all together before the trophy season opens. And if we really want to get wild about protecting the big cows, why stop there? How about a coast-wide "striper time out," say from Feb. 1 thru April, in which there is no fishing for rockfish? And while we're at it, why not move back the Chesapeake spring fishery until the last weekend in April, or, dare I breathe it, May 1st? We give waterfowl, deer and other finfish a break, why not rock?

I can read the emails now, but seriously, who believes banning bait and allowing fishermen three days on the water passes for effective conservation strategy? If Marylanders want to show our conservation cards, sometimes, as they say in poker, you got to have the guts to go "all in."

OUTDOORS CALENDAR

Nov. 6. CCA Annapolis Chapter Dinner and Auction, 6 p.m., Annapolis Maritime Museum. Visit www.ccamd.org.

Nov. 6: Ducks Unlimited, Ft. Meade Chapter's Annual Bull & Oyster Roast; La Fontaine Blue, Glen Burnie, MD. Call Charles Brown at 410- 750-7263.

Nov. 13-15. 3rd Annual "Waterfowl Weekend For Combat Wounded Veterans." American Legion Jeff Davis Post 18, Centreville, MD. Call 410-758-3584 for tickets. Donations can be mailed to American Legion Jeff Davis Post #18, 2619 Centreville Rd. Centreville MD 21617 Attn: Waterfowl Weekend.

Nov. 21-22: MSSA's 17th Annual Fall Tournament. Total payout estimate at $47,000. Visit www.mssa.net.

Nov. 28: CCA Kent Narrows Chapter Banquet and Auction, 6 p.m., Kent Narrows Yacht Club. Visit www.ccamd.org.

Send outdoor calendar items to Chris Dollar via email at cdollar@cdollaroutdoors.com.