The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1924-05-17


land will be made. into islands.
=, What effect Will the present
gushing water have upon fish life, .
has been asked. Naturally some Of
the tribes swept down stream will
find difficulty battling. the swift
waters of the upper river to rC-
gain their old homesteads and will
take up new domiciles.
During the last high water great
numbers of snall-mouthed bass
came down with the onrush and
when the river reached normalcy
1t was discovered that they had
taken up headquarters in the vicin-
T ity of Little Falls.
Dip meters and anglers that
might well be termed ''rotters'
feaped harvest among the half
starved and confused gamesters.
The attention of the unlawful
slaughter was taken up with sew.
eral of Washington's true sports
men, who in turn had preparations
under way with the Virginia and
District authorities when the pres.
ent flood started on its way last
week.
Let us hope that before these
Z heIlish performers against fish life
- can again start on their fiendish
8 work, that some unforeseen force
may be brought into play to stOp
. forever the DnspOrtsm1anllke meth.
fl cd Of destroying the ''NObIest
Roman OF them all, the small.
! n1Outhed bass.
Af1nfhAfs NyS0lo aR
nsh laws has been brought to the
attention of this column. Since the
closing of the game season on
March 81, hundreds Of bass and
crappie have been taken from the
waters that surround Potomac
Park. The office of the park
guards was made aware of the
TACT sometime ago, by one of the
officers of the Potomac Anglers
Association, but the taking Of
gamesters continues.
1t does seem crime that some
thing cannot be done to step such
Would-be anglers from capturing
gamesters from their spawning beds
during the Districts altogether too
/ short closed season, that happens
Il from March 81 to May 80. AZ it
is. game fish are getting scarcer
each year and if such tactics are
allowed to continue it will only be
q question of time before one Of
Washington's most popular fishing
grounds will be depleted Of fighting
fish.
True, l will admit, that the arm
OF the law has more important
duties to perform than to look
after such minor details as the TAX.
NfnO nf fish nf IA =.
q law and some means of enforcing
II should be put into effect.
1t has been suggested that the
sp0rtsmen petition the Commits
eiOners to appoint game wardens
q Tor the District to work on a
commission basis. Personally /
90 not think that is q good plan.
The wardens would be too over.
Jealous to make arrests, to get
their share of the fines, as has
been proven In several States
where this methcd was tried out.
As a substitute. l would say that
The wardens should be paid a
stipulated amount or. better still,
serve without pay. Sort of a
strange statement you will think as
sentence. But stranger yet, when
4 tell you that 1 know Of over
twenty true sportsmen who would
gladly give part of their time,
without compensation, to see the
Nnsportsmanlike methods now being
practiced brought to stop.
sSucil men as / have in mind
7 would not be in the field to make
records for the number Of arrests,
but to caution and give advice to
The eT1'ing that they may become
Z true and on the level sportsmen.
Possibly after reading the above
you may have some suggestion to
offer for the betterment Of angling.
If such be the case, do not hold
back but drop a letter to this
/, column; it may be the means of
placing Washington on the topmost
Eung of the fishing ladder.
Due to the flood water carp in
great numbers have taken to the
6teel rant, Boiling Field and
AIlacOstia. Armed with pitch.
forks, bats, sticks and poles, resi-.
dents Of these localities nave slain
the leather-bacIIs by the hum
dreds during the week. Some Of
the fish taken weighed as high ms
twenty pounds.
Perch fishing and herring snaR
ging have seen their best days and
1t Is doubtful IL their return will
be registered again this season
Just before The big water reached
this vicinity anglers were having
their best luck Of the season with
these two tribes and 1t looked al
though some records would go by
the board, but the mad onrush put
stop ITO all speculations.
When the river finally reaches
its channel bed and settles back
for a fishable spell it would not
be at. all surprising to find the
fighting rock fish on their annual
spawning trip One OF the favored
spots to expect this fighter IL in
the broken waters between Key
bridge and Little Falls.
! y; With the Potomac In an upset
condition the route of the angler
leads to saltwater. Few catches
of any size were made by over
the weekend angling parties, but
during the week some encouraging
news has come from the Chesa
peake METERS that the return oil
the hardheads has been noted.
4 Unusual accommodation for
! all-night fishing enthusiasts are