Tag Archives: Potomac River
Maryland Catfish Trail hopes to control invasive species
It’s early afternoon on a comfortable Sunday when Keith Bradfield and his brother Ray pull up to the Smallwood State Park dock after a long day of fishing. And they’ve been successful. Very successful. The Fairfax, Va., resident pulls up the lid of the cooler to reveal it stuffed with invasive blue catfish up to about 30 pounds each. Bradfield, who shows an image of his sonar lit up like a Christmas tree signifying the invasive species, said he looks for the fish in the deepest holes of the river, “but they’re pretty much everywhere.” And the blue catfish’s population has become such a problem that the state recently initiated a Maryland Catfish Trail where anglers can target fellow invasive flathead catfish and snakeheads in an attempt to help lower their numbers. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:39
How Fisheries Contributed To The Independence Of The United States
Every Fourth of July, on the United States’ favorite cookout holiday, millions of Americans grill corn and barbecue hot dogs in celebration of the country’s independence. However, burgers and potato salad aren’t exactly representative of the way the Founding Fathers dined as they conspired to liberate the colonies from British rule. Thomas Jefferson adored French food, James Madison enjoyed ice cream, and George Washington loved seafood – especially American shad. While lore closely associates George Washington with a cherry tree, he was actually an avid fisherman. He enjoyed deep-sea fishing and devised his own tackle box. During his presidency, he would even use fishing trips to resolve disputes among cabinet members. 2 pages >click to read<18:01
Dutch Baldwin sets snakehead record at 18.42 pounds
Over the past four years spent as a commercial boat fisherman, Dutch Baldwin has spent four or five nights per week on the water. Last weekend, though, brought a night that made history, when Baldwin caught a Maryland-record 18.42-pound northern snakehead. Baldwin and his fishing partner, Franklin Shotwell, were just about to head in for the evening when they made a detour toward an area where they usually find catfish. They turned their lights on, and Shotwell spotted a snakehead on Baldwin’s side of the boat. Baldwin used his compound bow to hit the fish near Marshall Hall on the Maryland side of the Potomac River. “We have a quota that we need to sell, so we go out and do what we can,” Baldwin said. “If we get more, we have more. We keep it, or we give it away.” Read the story here 15:01
Bull shark caught in the Potomac
A bull shark was caught last week in the Potomac River in a commercial fisherman’s net. Robert T. Brown, president of the Maryland Watermen’s Association, and his family members pulled the 8-foot shark out of a pound net Thursday evening in the river off Medley’s Neck, south of Leonardtown, near the mouth of Breton Bay. He said he knew the shark was in the net on Wednesday evening, but the tide was running too strong to try to pull it out that day. Bull sharks have “always been here for years and years,” Brown said. “I caught a big one 12 or 14 years,,, Read the rest here 12:14
Will Potomac oysters make comeback?
“Last year at this time, we had about 250 bushels [caught], primarily around St. George’s Island in the lower river,” said Kirby Carpenter, executive secretary of the Potomac River Fisheries Commission in Colonial Beach. This year, there’s been a tenfold increase to around 2,500 bushels.Read more here
