Evening star., 1954-11-10

U1OQMl VA pAAC -
Miles River. found the fish boil
ing in small groups over an area
a half mile across, and took 80
home with them. Several were
in the roaster class, but only
one big fish was caught and
that on the dummy line. A
couple of days earlier, Capt.
Klein out of Deale, Md, with
party including Vic Gauzza, Jr.,
came back from The Hill with
81 rockfish, some 40 odd OF
which ran better than 10 pounds.
Capt. Harry Manifold said 1t
was just about the finest catch
of rockfish ever brought into
his dock.
In our opinion, the rockfish
have pretty we'll fattened against
the cold water days ahead. They
have entered the period OF the
year when, as the water coolS
down. they feed spasmodically,
taking a day or two, and some
times as long as three days to
digest their food before they
again go on feeding spree. II
you happen to hit a school which
is on the feed, you catch plenty
of them. Most of the fish taken
last week were caught on small
bucktails with pork rind at
tached, Stimulating the small
alewives which have been num-
erous in the bay this fall, and
fished deep. Even hooks as small
as 10 and 30 are not too samll.
Right now, the rockf1sh seem
to dislike the big bucktails.
+ \
While the Shenandoah and
Potomac Rivers were in fair
shape last week end. barring
more rain they should improve
each day. The Potomac is a little
high, and in both streams anglers
are bothered with floating leaves
and trash. Apparently no big
fish were taken, although some
were raised, or lightly hooked on
live bait. Pond fishing has been
very poor except for those using
live bait. The large-mouths IN
the ponds which your scribe
fished Saturday and Sunday
certainly humbled us. We failed
to raise single fish on artificial
bait. Heavy frosts each night
and somewhat roilly waters from
recent rains no doubt worked
against us However, with few
fair days in a row, they should
be more cooperative.
X Il X X
The annual trolling party of
the Washington Chapter Of the
Izaak Walton League will be held
Sunday, November 81, at Deale,
Md. The boats will leave from
Harry Manifold's dock at 8 am,
or shortly thereafter. Fishing
win continue until sundown.
Anglers are limited to four to
each boat and the cost per
angler is $40. AS this event is
usually oversubscribed, now is a
good chance to contact Fred
O'Rourke at Atlas Sports Store,
927 D street NV, Metropolitan
8-2437. Although the fee is pay
able in advance. in case the
weather turns out unfavorable
in the eyes of the committee, it
will be refunded.
A few days ago we reported
that the ducks had not yet ar
rived in any quantity on the
Susquehanna Flats. Our. son,
Bill, jr., who was home this
week end, corrected that in q
hurry. He says that since last
week end they have been pour
ing In. and when he and some
brother officers made q brief
survey just after midweek, lit
orally thousands of canvasbacks
were in evidence. One huge raft
hof ducks, so it was reported to
him by an experienced gunner,
must have contained more than
10000. Sounds all right to us.
We saw a lot Of native black
duck along with some mallards
on the upper Potomac last Sum
day when we drove over to take
d look. Good luck to all Of you
who open the season ut noon
Elr;daw