Article by Dale Timmons
Got word last week of the passing of another member of the resort fishing community, Capt. Scott Waltemeyer. I first met “Scottie” when he was working on the “Robin’s Nest” many years ago, and he has worked the cockpit and helm of several other notable Ocean City vessels since then. Boats like the “Waterdog” and the “Pumpin’ Hard” come to mind. One of the highlights of his career came in 2004, when he was in the cockpit of the “Reel Toy” during the White Marlin Open. The boat won the blue marlin division that year with an 895-pound slob, the second largest blue ever caught in the tournament. It was one of the few times I ever saw Scottie really smile. I think the overused term “colorful” could apply to Scottie, who had a dry sense of humor, though he could be a little surly at times. I always got along fine with him, however, and he had a reputation as an excellent fisherman, which I think is how he would like to be remembered. To borrow a phrase, Scottie just didn’t suffer fools lightly. I guess you could say Scottie was his own worst enemy, but he was another unique piece of our little fishing world, and it won’t be the same without him. I hope he rests in piece, with a cold cocktail, a fresh pack of cigarettes and a big blue one coming into the baits now and then…
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The minimum size for flounder in Maryland coastal bays is 18 inches, with 18.5 in Delaware and 19 in Virginia. So why are so many of us still using little tiny hooks for flounder fishing? I think the mindset came in the seventies, or maybe the early eighties, whenever the first Kahle, or widegap, hooks made their way over from England (or so I’ve heard, at least). Somehow we got it in our heads that we had to use a #2, #1 or #1/0 Kahle hook for flounder. Perhaps because there were no size limits, or very few, at least. A summer flounder, however, has a fairly large mouth, and they can be very aggressive feeders. An 18-inch flounder can engulf a relatively large bait, with a big hook included. I have caught 15-inch flounder in the surf on an 8/0 hook with a big chunk of mullet meant for red drum. When I was a boy, I remember going through my grandfather’s old tackle box, and the flounder rigs consisted of large double spinner blades with big red beads above huge long shanked Pacific Bass or O’Shaughnessy hooks. They weren’t fishing for little flounder in the 1940s, even though they could keep all they could catch. Nowadays, small hooks will only get you more gut hooked small flounder that swallow the hook, and how many of them will survive? On my Assateague Tackle flounder rigs, I normally use a 3/0 Kahle hook, the exception being on my Delmarva Double rig, which uses 2/0 Octopus hooks, though I may even change it to 3/0 hooks. The rigs I tie for my own use will have a 3/0 or even a 4/0, and if I am flounder fishing down around the Bridge-Tunnel, I may even go to a 5/0 wide gap. If I am fishing live bait such as spot or finger mullet, I normally use a 4/0 stainless wide gap or a 4/0 Gami octopus circle hook. A friend of mine who is an excellent flounder fisherman actually prefers a 5/0 stainless steel wide gap hook, even when fishing the local coastal bays. You won’t catch as many throwbacks with larger hooks, but you won’t lose as many big fish when you hang one on a larger hook, either. If part of the reason we have such large minimums is to protect the smaller fish, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me to gut hook them with small hooks and throw them back to die…something to think about…
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I ran across a discussion on the Internet concerning a bill now before Congress that would redefine the meaning of “waters of the United States.” Senate bill 787, introduced by Senator Russ Feingold, would essentially change the definition by dropping “navigable waters” and include “all waters subject to the ebb and flow of the tide, the territorial seas, and all interstate and intrastate waters and their tributaries, including lakes, rivers, streams (including intermittent streams), mudflats, sandflats, wetlands, sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, playa lakes, natural ponds, and all impoundments of the foregoing, to the fullest extent that these waters, or activities affecting these waters, are subject to the legislative power of Congress under the Constitution.”. In other words, even if you owned a farm pond on your private property it would instantly become the property of the federal government, even though you would still have to pay taxes on it. The states would lose jurisdiction over inshore waters as well, the way I read it, and who knows what kind of a jurisdictional mess this would create when it comes to fisheries and fisheries laws enforcement. If you want to see more, go to YouTube and look for “The Great Water Heist.” This bill is a bad one, and I encourage you to let your senators know that it shouldn’t pass…
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There has been a recent “tempest in a teapot” because one enterprising young licensed charter captain has been ferrying anglers over to the south Ocean City inlet jetty, where he drops them off and they walk out on the rocks and fish for tautog. The captain in question has talked with both state and federal officials, I understand, and he is breaking no laws. I promised myself I wouldn’t even get into this subject since he is a friend of mine, but I have one question—would there even be a discussion and such an uproar if the fishermen in question were white folks and not Asian Americans…?
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That almost sounded liberal. Need to be careful, or I’ll ruin my reputation as being just to the right of Atilla the Hun. Anyway, I have to take a little more space to congratulate another friend of mine, Allen Sklar, who took a 50-inch, 45-pound striper from the Assateague Island surf last week. Allen is on the beach most days by daybreak, and he puts in a lot of hours, with a lot of fishless days that no one hears about, so I am glad his persistence paid off for him with yet another beautiful fish…
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Also want to congratulate Rolfe Gudelsky of the Ocean City Fishing Center and his new bride Iona on their recent wedding. Rolfe was breathing a little hard and looking a little abstract in the weeks leading up to the event, but I’m sure he made out fine, and I wish them many years of happiness…
Contact Dale Timmons at [email protected] or call 410-629-1191.
