Memorandum of Understanding

Reel Report: Safety should be top priority this holiday weekend

It’s hard to believe the unofficial start of the summer season is already upon us. It sure doesn’t feel like it’s around the corner.

I’m not ready to stand knee-deep in freezing water with my teeth chattering on Saturday when the neighborhood pool opens. There’s not a chance my kids are going to miss the opening day; they’ve been counting down for weeks. Maybe I should be looking at wetsuits instead of bathing suits. If you’ve been by the farmer’s market lately, you’ll see that tomatoes and squash have been missing the sunshine too.

Memorial Day weekend is traditionally one of the busiest times of the entire year out on the water. The list of fun things to do with family and friends is endless, but safety should always be our top priority.

2015 was an especially dangerous year for boaters on Maryland’s waterways with 20 fatalities. Last year, 12 boaters lost their lives. The number one precaution boaters can take is having everyone onboard wear a life preserver.

A lifejacket can’t do its job properly if it’s stowed away and out of reach during a true emergency. The U.S. Coast Guard reports only about 10 percent of adults wear their lifejacket when underway. The statistics for children are better, thank goodness, with about 70 percent wearing them. But that number shouldn’t be less than 100 percent. The law requires children 13 and younger to wear a life preserver.

There’s no good reason not to wear one. Today’s life preservers aren’t bulky or awkward, and they allow a natural range of motion. You won’t even feel like you have one on since the newer ones don’t inflate until they come in contact with water.

More than three-quarters of all boating deaths could have been prevented if people had been wearing lifejackets. Make 2017 the year you wear a lifejacket every time you go out on the water.

Southern Maryland lakes and ponds — Anthony Hancock, assistant manager at Gilbert Run Park in Dentsville, relayed that park employees discovered two bass on separate occasions that had choked to death on large crappie they had swallowed, proving the old adage “big baits catch big bass.” Both crappie were alive in the bass’ throats and were released.

Warmer temperatures are needed to bring bluegill and redear sunfish back to the shallows.

Patuxent River — According to Ken Lamb of the Tackle Box in Lexington Park (301-863-8151), perch are behind schedule. Hopefully there will be some sunshine this weekend to warm things up. Croaker migration is underway and good numbers of this tasty fish should be making their way into our waters over the next month.

Town Creek Pier, which is located within the allowable fishing area for rockfish, opens this weekend.

On June 1, the boundary for rockfish changes again with the remainder of the Patuxent open for fishing. The creel limit is two per person, minimum 20 inches, with only one fish over 28 inches.

Potomac River — Life Outdoors Unlimited guide Kenny Penrod (240-478-9055) reports lots of bass biting in Mattawoman Creek, Belmont Bay and the Occoquan River. Penrod said the combination of milfoil and a weightless Case Magic Stik can’t be beat and recommends slowing down to catch the bigger ones.

Juniata and Susquehanna rivers (Pa.) — Fishing has been exceptional in the non-restricted sections of the rivers, according to LOU guide Jason Shay (717-507-4377). Fish are eager to take spinnerbaits, crankbaits and swimbaits in the current-fed zones near spawning areas.

Deep Creek Lake — Lake activity will kick into overdrive this weekend and traffic is steadily picking up with more floating docks going in the water every day.

LOU Guide Bret Winegardner (301-616-9889) reports rocky areas near the park are good places to target smallmouth while largemouth are favoring coves mid-lake and above, especially spots with new grass growth.

Lake Anna (Va.) — The bass spawn is over and fish are aggressively feeding, according to Carlos at High Point Marina (540-895-5249), with a great topwater bite in early morning and late evening. Midday, fish are chasing faster-moving baits like crankbaits and swimbaits on main and secondary points, deep structure and docks.

Stripers have settled from Sturgeon Creek up past the Splits to the next set of bridges and are mostly in the upper water column. The sporadic weather is keeping them scattered but soon they should be schooling up.

Chesapeake Bay — Lamb has some good news. Lots of striped bass in the 20- to 30-inch range are congregated in our local waters. Plenty can be found at Cedar Point on the lighthouse rocks and from Little Cove Point south to the PR Buoy for trollers who are heading out this weekend (Note: Smaller lures are in order).

Lamb is hoping the rockfish chummers are finding on the Middle Grounds mean they are going to stay local this summer instead of migrating to the north as they have the past few years. That would be a real treat since trophy rockfish season never really took off.

Atlantic Ocean — Larry Jock of the Coastal Fisherman reports the wind earlier this week made for tough conditions and cooler temperatures certainly didn’t help the matter.

Not much offshore fishing has been possible either. Persistent anglers are picking up stripers off Assateague Island. The bluefish bite has slowed considerably.

Tip of the week

Safety should be on every boater’s mind this weekend. While wearing a life preserver can prevent death from drowning, there’s another danger out on the water that people can avoid by following one simple rule.

Never allow any passengers to dangle their feet over the side of the boat while underway, and don’t let people ride on the bow, transom, gunwale, backs of seats or other spots where they could fall overboard.

Bow riding, or sitting on the edge of a moving boat, sounds like a fun idea, but it’s illegal for a good reason. Getting run over by a propeller can cause serious injury or death, so make sure passengers are in a safe seat when your vessel is underway.

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