Evening star., 1958-07-01

mostly IN the VlnlclLy OF 1
times the big fellows are on the
Hill, the Wild Grounds. in the
mouth Of Eastern Bay or south
of Poplar Island. Lately the
fishing has tapered off and how
long it will continue is any
body's guess.
Under Maryland, law no
rockfiSh larger than is pounds
may be kept. Since a rockflsh
in taking a live eel often swal-
lows it far down his gullet. re-
moving the hook and releasing
it with life enough to survive
sometimes is a problem.
That problem presented it.
self on a recent trip across the
bay and was solved by an old
but very neat trick. Since.
many good sportsmen may not
know it, wen describe it later.
Old Argument Arises
At the same time. a familiar
argument arose. Why should
there be a size limit? Many
otherwise law-abiding sports
men call 1t the silliest on the
books and obey 1t with great
reluctance. They say that
the reproductive capacity Of a
rockfish declines when 1t
reaches that size.
For expert advice we con-
suited DR.. A., j. Cronin. direc-
tor of Maryland's Chesapeake
Biological Laboratory at Solo
mons Island. Or. Cronin said
that only a partial study has
been made by his laboratory
and made it clear the biolo-
gists wish to take no stand.
However. the study made by
Drs. Richard E. Tiller and Her
bert jackson indicated that big
rockfish do continue to re-
produce. In fact. they produce
the same number of eggs per
pound as smaller fish.
Thus. a 30-pound rock would
produce as many eggs as three
l0-pounders. There is some un-
certainty, however. DR.. Cronin
added, as to whether they
spawn every year. For this and
other reasons, the laboratory
wants to do further research.
Accompany Roxie Nieman
Our fishing trip was out Of
Deale aboard Capt. Roxie ME-
mans sturdy old Suzette. We
assembled soon after dawn. be-
cause the bay had been kicking
up in the afternoon and Roxie
suggested an early start.
Aboard were Waldo ]. Tastet.
president of Fries Beall &
Sharp, Frank Clements. his sales
manager, Paul Haas of Hyatts-
vile and Capt. George H. Robi-
son of the Metropolitan Police.
All the wind we had that day
was in the early morning.
Whitecaps were curling as we
headed for the Eastern Shore
with a plentiful supply of live
eels 10 to is inches long in a
wire-covered box.
It was still rough when We
reached the Wild Grounds and
rugged up to begin drifting,
Most of us used spinning gear
varying from light to heavy.
The eels are hooked directly
through the eye on 30 to.
40 hooks and usually allowed
to seek their own depth.
Sometimes. however, a small
sinker is used and a bobber
attached to drift the bait and
line well away from the boat.
80 Boats on Scene
There must have been 80 or
more boats on the scene, scat
tered or in clusters all over the
Bloody Point area. Fishing was
slow and we could see no ac-
tivity anywhere as the hours
went on and the northwest
wind shifted to a mere whisper
of a breeze from the south.
No one could ask for more
pleasant a day. but-~no fish.
We tried every spot and finally
moved in close to Poplar Island
to rig separate rods for hard
head using pieces Of frozen
shrimp as bait. AL this pro-
duced was one indignant toad
Ash.
Gradually. the other boats
gave up and We were left alone