For summer flounder anglers, the season is just around the corner. This year, Chesapeake Bay and coastal anglers will be allowed to keep three fish with a minimum size of 18 inches, beginning April 16 and ending on Nov. 30. The new size is an inch shorter than last year. Earlier this year, Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Service biologists proposed three options, approved by regional regulators, and allowed the public to comment at hearings and by email. Each option had a three-fish creel, but varied by minimum size and season length and offered a different level of conservation. The public didn't strongly favor one proposal over another, so the Fisheries Service chose the option likely to give anglers the best opportunity for success. For the first time in several years, anglers stayed below the state's quota in 2010, catching 38,221 fish against an allocation of 75,00 fish. That, coupled with a coastwide quota increase tied to a flounder population rise, will allow Maryland to have a robust season, with a quota of 101,000 flounder. The commercial hook-and-line season also begins on April 16. State biologists are urging anglers to participate in the on-line volunteer survey to help strengthen the data collected about fishing effort. Anglers who join the survey will become eligible to win a rod and reel combo donated by All Tackle.com, a fishing tackle retailer with superstores in Annapolis, Ocean City. An angler who lands a flounder measuring 24 inches or longer and registers it at a state citation center is automatically entered and invited to the grand finale of the 2011 Maryland Fishing Challenge during the Maryland Seafood Festival at Sandy Point State Park on Sept.10. Details are on the Fishing Challenge website. http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/outdoors/blog/2011/03/state_sets_summer_flounder_reg.html ================================================ Fishing reduces stress and gives you a break from our modern world where everything is going a million miles per hour 73 Check & Clear 6 LOC: 38-54-14.60N / 097-14-09.07W |
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