Herman Harke shows off a hefty rockfish he caught in the Chesapeake Bay. KEN PERROTTE Visit the Photo Place

Rockfish are big and plentiful

Ken Perrotte's outdoor column

Date published: 5/11/2006

W E ASSEMBLED a group for our traditional spring trophy rockfish (striped bass) trip in the Chesapeake Bay recently and had our usual successful outing with captain Ryan Rogers and his well-outfitted Midnight Sun boat.

Eighteen lines, most rigged with 80-pound-test Spiderwire line leaders, were in the water as we trolled Maryland waters just north of the mouth of the Potomac River. The umbrella rigs featuring white and yellow sassy shads and hefty bucktail jigs, set at varying depths and distances from the boat, must have given the appearance of a bountiful morning buffet to any big rockfish traversing the bay either to or from its spawning area.

We boated at least 14 fish on the trip, including several in the 31- to 33-inch range that were quickly returned to the water. The minimum length for keepers this year increased to 33 inches and the fish we released would have gone into the ice chest in year's past.

The increase worked out well for our group, though, as everyone ended up with keeper fish ranging from 36-42 inches. The filets looked great and tasted wonderful.

Rogers said recent news reports about bay rockfish being overwhelmed with mycobacteriosis have impacted the number of anglers charter boats are taking out this year.

Mycobacteriosis is a zoonotic disease that can affect all organs and tissue of the fish in the severest cases, In the worst cases, infected fish sometimes appear emaciated or have scar tissue or lesions on the skin.

The disease is also transmissible to humans and results in a treatable, arthritic-like condition known as "fish handler's disease." Maryland Department of Natural Resources estimates show as much as 60 percent of the fish have some level of the infection with 3- to 5-year-old fish showing the highest incidence.

The fish we caught were all likely between 8 and 11 years old. This is based on a chart developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that provides striped bass age estimates from length or weight measures.

We looked closely at each fish we caught and didn't see any outward evidence of infection on any of them. Rogers said our experience was representative of other parties he has taken out during this year's spring fishing season.

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Date published: 5/11/2006