Article by Dale Timmons
Those of you who read my stuff year after year have probably read this before, but bear with me, because it is that time of year when I get quite a few questions about “all those little red worms” that appear in the bay and are seen swimming on or near the surface. Last week they appeared again, so here’s what I know. In 2004, Keith Lockwood, of the Maryland DNR Fisheries Service, sent me some information about these worms, which are often called “May worms” or “clam worms.” Officially, they are one of the “polychaete” worms, of which Nereis succinea is the most common. In the Chesapeake Bay, they swarm during spawning in the month of May during the dark of the moon, but it is usually at least June and mostly mid to late July before we see them in any numbers in the coastal bays. I suspect the water temperature must reach a certain point and coincide with the dark of the moon before the worms come out of the mud to spawn. They can grow as large as five inches, but are usually 2-3 inches, and Keith told me they “basically are very similar to the bloodworms that come from Maine and are sold for bait here in tackle shops.” Keith added that “This time of year the worms undergo a metamorphosis to become a special sexual form called ‘heteronereises’. They will swarm in a mating frenzy for several nights, mate, release their eggs and sperm and then die. As these worms swim about, they present quite a treat to any fish that happen to be about. They are attracted to light, so if you can get out on a dock with a light on it, you’re in for a show.” Al Wesche, a DNR biologist who retired several years ago, once told me that flounder especially like to eat the worms, as do stripers. Keith adds that there is a similar species of worm in the Florida Keys called the Palo worm that does the same thing this time of year, and he says tarpon also love to eat them, which makes the big fish especially susceptible to a long, reddish orange fly…
A few weeks back I quoted an e-mail from Joe O’Hara of Ocean Pines to federal officials who run the Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistical Survey (MRFSS), which is partly the basis for many of the size and creel limits under which we operate. Joe’s letter then was about flounder numbers and how exaggerated they are, especially in the state of Maryland. Last week he sent me a copy of another e-mail to MRFSS officials in which he took them to task about the estimated number of “shore landings”. I don’t have room to quote the whole e-mail, but part of it concerned surf fishing statistics, which I will repeat. It would be humorous if it was not so pathetic.
“…The estimated number of surf fishing trips in July and August of 2007 was 103,588 [According to the MRFSS: my note]. Surf fishing in Worcester County is primarily a spring and fall activity. Surf fishing in Ocean City is restricted to early morning before the people arrive on the beach or after everyone leaves in the evening. I walk on the boardwalk most mornings. In the last 20 trips, I observed a total of 5 people fishing. If we use a generous estimate of 100 per day, Ocean City surf fishing trips would be 6,200 for July and August. Most surf fishing occurs on Assateague Island. This is a large area, but the problem is parking. A few people park at the guarded beach areas and fish north and south of the swimmers. There is an off-road vehicle route, which requires a permit. The maximum number of vehicles permitted at any one time is 145. The campsites have parking. There are a total of 454 ocean side campsites in the Maryland State Park and the National Seashore. If we make the unlikely assumption that one person from each campsite fishes each day, and that the off-road vehicle area is at capacity with two anglers per vehicle and add 60 anglers for the guarded beach areas, the total would be 804 per day. The total for Ocean City and Assateague Island for July and August would be 56,048. This worse case scenario is 54 percent of the MRFSS estimate. One fifth of the worse case trips is closer to reality. We lucked out on the landing estimate. One summer flounder was landed at the Oceanic Pier. This pier is in the inlet, but the interviewer coded it as ocean. The result was 3,543 summer flounder surf fishing landings.”
Like I said, it’s humorous in an ironic sort of way, but sad just the same. This example of the inflated numbers coming from the MRFSS survey is what we are up against over and over again. Joe never received an answer to his first e-mail. This time, at least, he did receive a note from Steve Murawski at NOAA, which stated that they “have been working diligently on a response to your earlier e-mail.” No, I’m not making this up, folks…
Have to congratulate angler Chris Toner and Capt. Mark Sampson of the “Fish Finder” for their recent Atlantic Coast division Maryland state record 72-pound cobia (weight was changed late last week). The irony is that just the week before Mark and I were talking, the subject of cobia came up and he said he hadn’t seen any yet. For years, the state didn’t keep separate Atlantic coast records for cobia, and I’m confident the record will grow, especially if anglers begin to target them on shoals such as Fenwick, Isle of Wight, Great Gull or around wrecks or other structure. We always fished for them down at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel with cut bait on the bottom. Usually bunker. We put a chum pot on the bottom and “chunked” occasionally. We fished either a three-way swivel rig or a fish finder rig with 5/0 to 8/0 beak style j-hooks or comparable circle hooks. Cobia also like a live bait (Mark’s hit a live spot) such as eels, mullet, small bluefish, croakers, spot or bunker. Cobia will often come up to the surface near the boat, and it’s a good idea to keep a rod rigged with no weight so you can flip a live bait to the fish if one does appear. They will also take lures, and down south a brightly colored bucktail jig in something like chartreuse, usually with a plastic twister trailer, is favored for sight casting to cobia, though they will also hit spoons or large plugs, even surface poppers. Cobia put up a good fight, and they are excellent eating fish. They can also be dangerous if you put one in a boat that is too green. Most anglers gaff them, but often a large net works better, and some folks keep a wet towel handy to throw over their eyes. This technique works well to calm them down…
Contact Dale Timmons at [email protected] or call 410-629-1191.
