Outdoors: Experts lured to give record selection | Maryland Gazette (HometownGlenBurnie.com)

This past January Virginian Fred Barnes set a Virginia record for rockfish when he caught a 73-pounder of 52 inches just off the mouth of the Chesapeake. On Memorial Day weekend of 1995, Devin Nolan of Hampstead cranked in a 67½-pound striper for a Maryland record that still stands.

Our spring trophy season opens next month; the question is if you were a fishermen targeting breaking one or both records what would you toss over on early morning of April 19? I asked six fishermen known for big fish their choice - and their answers might help you in the decision for opening day.

Nolan, a middle-schooler when he smashed the existing record, was using a parachute of chartreuse with a Nick's Stix long soft plastic eel attached - and hooked his fish off Bloody Point long after it was assumed all the spawning fish had left the bay. Parachutes were relatively new then, and the catch gave them a shot in the arm. That year Nick's Stix of Dundalk went out of business.

Barnes was trolling a Mann's 30+ hard plastic plug at 5 knots when he latched onto his fish. Once quite popular hereabouts, that bait was slipping in popularity - and it's yet to be seen if the record catch can bring it back big time.

So what does my "panel" of six experts think. None mentioned either what Barnes or Nolan did their catching on.

Capt. George Prenant who fishes the charterboat Stormy Petrel out of Happy Harbor, Deale, said he would fish a white No. 21 Tony Accetta spoon on a 30-foot leader off an outrigger with the bait no more than 250 feet behind the boat. Where? "Out front," said George referring to the bay off Deale - a place also known as "Five Gallon Hill" because it's said to be close enough to Deale that it can be fished for a day with five gallons of fuel. You might know it as Poplar Island Gas Buoy.

Private boat fisherman Skip Zinck of Severn opts for trolling a 13/0 Crippled Alewive spoon weighted with only 2 or 4 ounces of lead. Or, perhaps a daisy chain with a 12-inch Sassy Shad at the end, possibly fished from a planing board. He wants to go big.

Capt. Ed Darwin who fishes the charterboat Becky-D out of Mill Creek, Annapolis, says his choice would be two 21 Tony spoon with no lead weight far behind the boat on two lines - and the same baits on four other lines, two with 6 ounces of lead and the other two with 10 ounces. Ed's had experience with a big fish, his boat caught and released a rockfish that was a potential world record 15 years ago at the Bay Bridge. He gave the measurements to the Department of Natural Resources and was told the fish would have weighed in the high 70's to low 80's.

Rick Warren of Warren's Bait Shop, Glen, Burnie, says he's an old timer, so he would fish tandem rig with bucktails with big glass eyes, one of 6 ounces with a 9-inch shad, all white and on the other leader (at the top) would have a 3 or 4-ounce bait of white with Sassy Shad added. Incidentally, Rick says the white perch run at the Marshyhope is hot.

Bud Hein of Fishbones, Pasadena, favors the largest of parachutes fished on a tandem or umbrella rig, two on each side of the boat fished deep at perhaps 35 feet down. He suggests the best colors be black heads with chartreuse. He would troll from Brewerton Channel to Bloody Point. Bud tells me white perch fishing at the Magothy's Beachwood Park is hot. Use grass shrimp.

Charlie Ebersberger at Angler's Sports Center opts for real big stuff; a 12-ounce or bigger MoJo on one leader and a Bunker spoon on the other of a tandem rig. The bunker spoon would be near the prop wash. Charlie also prefers 9- or 12-inch Sassy Shads. He say his son Mike and Dennis Doyle did well perch'n the upper Choptank on darts and Nungesser spoons. And get this, not a single citation yellow perch has been checked in at his shop this year.

He wasn't on our "panel" but popular light tackle guide Richie Gaines tells me he wouldn't hesitate to use a BKD for trophy season trolling. This bait was designed by Steve Seigel, a former lower bay charter skipper, who like Richie was on the Bass Assassin team, but upon retiring Bass Assassin refused to allow him to buy their baits for resale. So, he designed his own which is slimmer and he claims they are of more durable soft plastic - can last for 30 fish. He makes them at his home in Charlestown, West Virginia.

For an upstart he's doing quite well; his baits were the most popular while jigging was on when the sea-run stripers entered the Chesapeake last fall - and some fishermen use them for trolling though they were designed for jigging. Gaines says the action is very good when trolled, and the 10-incher would be ideal for big rockfish. At present it comes in 6-inch and 10-inch sizes with albino, purple glitter and chartreuse the favorite colors. An alewife color is also available.

Seigel says the BKDs when rigged like a ballyhoo have taken sailfish, marlin an tuna. He also has a jig head with wide gap hook of black nickel that is designed for jigging BKDs the biggest of which is an 8/0 of 2 ounces. We're going to be hearing much more about these baits. You can check them out at www.basskandydelights.com Phone 304-725-6633.

Incidentally, as for me on opening day I'm going with one of the late Bernie Michael's big Bullet Head bucktails of chartreuse with white hairs and 9-inch Sassy Shad of white on a tandem rig. The other bait at the top will be the squid shaped bucktail made by Rick Warren, the smallest of the two he makes. I'm tempted to use an extra large surgical hose with a colorful skirt at the nose.

OUTDOORS CALENDAR

Today: Celebrating Lefty - A Lifetime of Conservation honoring author/fly fisherman Lefty Kreh, Boatyard Bar and Grill, only 80 tickets will be sold at $500 each. Silent auctions, dinner, open bar. Also appearing Flip Pallot, Capt. Bob Bartlett, Bob Popovics, Sam Talarico, Bob Hutchinson, D.L. Goddard and Joe Evans. For reservations call 410-280-8770.

March 22: Three Rivers Sportsmens Club's second annual trap shoot beginning at 9 at Prince Georges Trap & Skeet Center, 10400 Good Luck Road, Glen Dale. Call Curtis Cruise, 410-336-8448.

March 29-30: Fifteenth annual MSSA Fishing Fair, 8 to 3, Solomons Fire Hall. Admission $2. Go to www.mssasmc.com.

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Send outdoors news to Bill Burton, PO Box 430,Pasadena, MD 21123-0430; fax to 410-360-2427, or e-mail burtonoutdoors@yahoo.com. Please include your phone number in ALL communications.