still pond

[stratoskeith]

wondering if anyone did anthing in there last year ? i fished it 2 or 3 times last year and only caught 2 and had one blow up on my frog . i know there has been alot of discussion on here about the population being moved north due to tournament pressure but they couldnt have gotten all of them . 5 years ago i won a club tournament in still pond but since it has been tough . worton is another area that has not produced for me in recent years . just wondering if anyone has been fishing down there and if their results have been similar to mine or i just suck .

[RiverRatMD]

Keith - I with you 100%. I've fished SP and Worton 22 years or so and it's been very disappointing in recent years. Not saying they are completely void of fish - but Nothing, NOTHING even close to what it was (or should still be). Stillpond went from being a Jewel of the bay to CRAP! It would be SO EASY to reverse this -BUT it would take some planning with tournaments at weigh-in, tournament directors that give a damn, tournament fishermen that give a damn, and a release stategy to areas that need the fish. Will THAT happen - if it involves tournament directors spending money or the state chipping in - Unfortunately, I seriously doubt it.

[tdt91]

Still Pond still has plenty of big fish, trust me.

[RiverRatMD]

Still Pond still has plenty of big fish, trust me.

Did you fish it in the late 80's into the mid 90's-----Doesn't compare. I know there are fish in there, just NOT what it used to be - many of the fish have been "transplanted".

[BNOVO]

Keith - I with you 100%. I've fished SP and Worton 22 years or so and it's been very disappointing in recent years. Not saying they are completely void of fish - but Nothing, NOTHING even close to what it was (or should still be). Stillpond went from being a Jewel of the bay to CRAP! It would be SO EASY to reverse this -BUT it would take some planning with tournaments at weigh-in, tournament directors that give a damn, tournament fishermen that give a damn, and a release stategy to areas that need the fish. Will THAT happen - if it involves tournament directors spending money or the state chipping in - Unfortunately, I seriously doubt it.

perfectly said..........Middle River is the same scenario. What a wonderful stocking program they have up north.

[stratoskeith]

i use to really enjoy the wednesday night 3fers on middle river . we would slam em on frogs all night . almost everyone brought in limits and toads were weighed . 12 lb bags with 3 fish limits were always impressive . it is ashame what we are watching happen to our fishery . i love the flats and surrounding rivers but our bay is fishing smaller and smaller every year . makes it easy for the bigger tournament trails to come in and abuse our fish . just sucks !

[RiverRatMD]

I know what you're sayin'. I remember when, for example, Dundee Creek was a 30-40 fish a day fishery on a bad day. I also remember watching a period of 2 months when Northern tournament anglers came down and devastated the fishery by taking bag after bag after bag of 5 fish limits up to Tydings and Anchor tournaments. Then I heard them complaining that Dundee was used-up and not worth running to anymore to cash a check.....WHAT ABOUT THE POOR LOCAL GUYS HUH??? Same happened to Joppatowne in the mid 2000's (and continues for those that know where I'm talking about.) Same thing happened to parts of Bush River and certainly in Middle River, Worton and Stillpond.

The Upper Bay MD SQT is out of Dundee Creek on July 12th. I assume many of them will run to the flats & Sassafras so at least ONE tournament will release fish there. I know some of you know where some southern fish are during that time - so do I - shhhhhhhh! They won't last long if too many $$$ anglers find them. I wish we could hold a successful tourny trail out of Dundee, but I just don't see that happening.

[ozzman]

River rat put one together,(pick up team type) I am always up for tourn. out of Dundee.

[RiverRatMD]

River rat put one together,(pick up team type) I am always up for tourn. out of Dundee.

I certainly have everything needed to run a little series. You know, a pickup team type would be pretty interesting. If we could get 16-20 people or more interested....wth, i'd be game.

[ozzman]

I would be in and could most likely grab a few guys

[stratoskeith]

all the fish we catch ! we would have dundee re-stocked by july . lol . im in

[RiverRatMD]

I'm sure I could recruit some guys for sure. I don't see why we shouldn't at least start with one and go from there if there seems to be interest then we'll have some more.

In all reality, this idea is born on the BBC. I wonder if we should hold our first Upper Bay BBC rally out of Dundee Creek. It's a great facility for a rally with plenty of room. It might make more sense to hold it out of Tydings, but in the spirit of what we're trying to accomplish - Dundee creek would actually be perfect....any thoughts?

[tdt91]

One reason Dundee is not as goos as it used to be is grass. Dr. Love will tell you the same. Grass means everything because there really isn't any other cove. I'm sure other reasons play a part as well but the major one is grass.

[tdt91]

As far as holding tnxs out of Dundee goes. It's not a bad idea but we all know that the quarry would get hit hard and fish would be transfered. How well will they do without cover? I think only a small percentage would make the run to the flats to get em.

[RiverRatMD]

SO you're saying all the grass in Dundee is gone? I coulda swore i saw grass and baitfish in there just last year. You know, in light of what you just said, however, maybe we better call MBF and let them know that we shouldn't hold the July 12th Tournament at Dundee because of how poorly they are going to do without cover. Let's do the right thing and get it moved to the flats! I'm sure they wouldn't want all those bass released to Dundee without cover. C'mon Tom!

Seriously Tom. OBVIOUSLY grass is important to habitat and the entire food chain. And you're worried about the fish getting transfer'd from the Quarry to Dundee?? TOM - You do realize that Dundee and the Quarry are BOTH in the GUNPOWDER right???? So now you're worried about the fish being transfered? Within the same river???? Just a couple miles away? C'mon Tom!!!


We're talking about fish in ENTIRE RIVERS and ENTIRE CREEKS being transfered to COMPLETELY DIFFERENT AREAS of the Upper Chesapeake Bay that are 20+ miles away in a whole different river!! We're not talking about fish being transfered 3 miles down the same river. One tide cycle and that fish is right back where he was if he wanted to (again, in the same river). Oh, and I think Dr. Love would tell you the same

[tdt91]

No reason to get smart.

[RiverRatMD]

Trying to open your eyes Tom. Sorry if I was smart, but I just wanted you to see how silly some of the excuses are coming across. There IS a problem with OVER FISHING one River or creek and taking those fish to a completely different part of the bay. Over and over and over again and again. I watched a creek get fished out with my own eyes.

I witnessed one creek get completely devastated 3 years ago. It was full of 4 pound bass - it was incredible. Well, money anglers got wind of it. I watched as bag after bag of bass were taken out and away they went to Tydings and Anchor. Good bags: 18 - 22 pound bags. Not only the fish were taken, but these $$ anglers went ripping around tearing the crap out of the creek with the big motor running through grass and habitat without a care in the world. For what----$$$$$$$!!!! The fishing went to crap in there. I passed one money guy that just figured I was another one and he said "Looks like we got em all, this place is done - Man I made some money out of this place over the last couple weeks!!" They know what is going on but they don't care - They are making money off of it!

Just last year another creek system started getting hit by money anglers harder than I ever saw it get hit. If that happens again this year - that creek is going to die as well. And die with plenty of Grass and habitat. NOW- if the creel limit were 3 during certain times. If 15" was the limit. Maybe they would stand a chance. SOMETHING needs to be done because "status quo" is not working because nothing is being done.

I can read between the lines pretty well. It reads: DUE to Money making opportunities in bass fishing tournaments to a greedy few and certain corperations :
(1) we can not do anything, there is money to be made and we'll offer carefully worded excuses why it won't work
(2) We will say the Government is taking our rights (this works, and is a politicians favorite tool)
(3) Don't rock the boat - We would like those concerned about the fish and habitat to just stay quiet please, there is money to be made
(4) I know you think transplanting fish up north is crippling southern creeks and rivers, we know this, but we want to offer other excuses why these creeks and rivers are out of fish and we'd like you to just swallow it and hush.

Mr Tom, I respect you greatly! I truely do. But I am perhaps from a different generation and way of thinking that's all. I have heard everything we CAN'T DO. I want to talk about what we can do. If I ruffle feathers along the way, then I apologize in advance. I care about the chesapeake Bay that I have grown up on. Let's plant some grass. Let's properly stock some bass. Let's figure out a better release strategy. Let's heal the southern creeks and rivers. I am NOT anti-tournament. I am anti-abuse of our resourse. THERE IS A BETTER WAY - we should try and find it.

[tdt91]

BTW, I am no $ tnx angler.

[tdt91]

We could suggest to Dave Kilby or other large/often tnx holders that they have a 3 fish limit. A win is a win.

[scotty34]

I am all in favor of 3 fish limits. I have made to run from Gunpowder to furnace bay flats before and would have no problem moving some back to Gunpowder.
Straight out from the GP ramp was nice grass beds. Senica used to have nice grass also.
Scott