Evening star., 1928-09-24

%HE river around washington
| again is muddy after a briel
I. ~ period of clear water. Once
: again the bass anglers Will nave
! to wait for the water to clear
before casting for their favorite f1sn, the
! large and small mouth varieties.
The reports from salt water nsnng
grounds also are not any TOO encouras-
| ing. Rock and trout and taylors are
| in those waters in large numbers, buC'
apparentIy. not for the rod ana reel
ANGLERS. the purse meters getting these
fish and filling their boats with them
every time school is sighted.
A week ago the writer fished on
Herring Bay and the purse net boats
were to be seen in every direction.
Fortunately or unfortunately, no schools
of fish were sighted by the rod ana
reel anglers or the purse meters, put
if they had been, 1t is a safe pet ina.
the anglers would have been surrounded
bv the purse nets. To be caught In one
of the purse nets is not pleasant
feeling. and this column speaks Irom
experience. The purse METERS nate 10
he denriyed of their prey, it is their
living. and while no real harm may
hefail those so "enmeshed" in their
nets. it is difficult to tell just what
would happen if one of the anglers
boats in their endeavor to get on the
outside of their nets would get the
net caught in the propeller and tear
big hole in It,
It is very discouraging to the anglers
who visit the bay to see these purse
netters on all sides They are out on
the bay by daybreak and remain until
dark. They have eyes ike cats
and can see school OF fish breaKlng
at great distances and once scnool
is sighted and surrounded by their nets
they certainly get their snare ana the
anglers too.
Unless the activities of the CONNER
cial fishermen using the purse nets Is
curtailed to some extent by the next
MarylNnd Legislature. local anglers Will
look to other grounds for their sport;
thus depriving many boatmen ano
others of a source of revenue obtained
from catering to the wants OF anglers.
And directly or indirectly such action
on the part of anglers Will af1ect num-
landers. because the anglers are mostly
motorists who buy gas and oil, pay a
good, but fair price for their boats and
frequently order meals and lodging.
The anglers as a whole are fair
minded. they are willing to see the
purse METERS get their share of the
Ash. but they are not willing to return
home practically empty handed from
the bay time after time with the purse
netters getting all the fish. Swepson
Earle. Maryland conservation commits
sioner, is fully aware of the conditions
existing in Chesapeake Bay and is go
ing to do his best to have some remed-
ial legislation passed at the next ses-
0f q
he can't do it by himself Only by
overwhelming demand by the anglers
of the District of Columbia. Virginia
and Maryland can this be accom-
plished Every angler who visits the
bay should take time to write letter
to Commissioner Earle or to some men,
bers of the Legislature, not asking, but
demanding that some action be taken
to curtail these purse meters. The
opinion of this column is that too
strict curtailment of their activities
will meet defeat, but surely some legis-
lation can be passed to prevent them
operating all over the bay and even in
some of the rivers, the Patuxent River
at Solomons Island in particular.
These netters catch many more fish
than they can handle an6 consequently
thousands of them are allowed to spoil
and are thrown away. During the last
two weeks reports have reached this
column that these netters have brought
ashore around Galesville SO many fish
that the ice plant at that place could
not handle them
The different States have bass laws
limiting the anglers to a certain num-
ber in each days fishing. Why can't
the purse METERS be limited to a GER
tain number of pounds day and not
allow eight, nine. ten and more tons
of these game fish to be taken In
days haul. thousands of them never
reaching the market because the oper-
ators are not properly equipped to
handle such large haul. The fish on
the bottom of such large catch are