May 13, 2008
Outdoors
A fish story from hatch to catch
Article tools
E-mail
Print
Single page
Reprints- Post comment
- Text size:
Albert Powell raised a big, fat rainbow trout.
Charlie Gougeon put that fish in the Little Gunpowder River.
Chris Shaw reeled it in.
His dad, Robert, enjoyed a nice trout dinner.
How's that for chain of custody?
It's not often in telling the story of a noteworthy catch - and I've passed along a bunch to you - that one can say with a great degree of certainty how a specific fish arrived at the end of a particular hook and then to a single plate.
So, indulge me this one time. Because this is not only a story of how Shaw acquired his bragging rights, but also a story of the extraordinary work done by the biologists and field staff at the Maryland Fisheries Service.
Albert Powell is the name of one of the state's fish hatcheries. Built in Hagerstown more than a half century ago and named for a Maryland hatchery director, Powell has been the nursery for millions of trout that have been released in state rivers and streams to the delight of anglers of all ages.
The state buys trout eggs from private suppliers and trucks them to Powell, where they are placed in trays, hatched and nurtured until they are large enough to live in "the general population," as a prison warden might say.
The fingerlings are transferred to outdoor raceways, concrete troughs filled with aerated water from a spring, where they do their growing up. Hatchery staff feed the fish and ensure the water is clean.
Some fingerlings are relocated to Maryland waters to augment the local trout population. Other little fish spend their formative months at the Unicorn hatchery on the Eastern Shore or the Cedarville hatchery in Prince George's County.
But each spring, about 340,000 brown and rainbow trout of legal size are loaded into stocking trucks and hauled to the favorite fishing holes of anglers for the "put and take" season. (The state "puts" fish in and anglers "take" them home, as opposed to catch and release. The program is paid for when freshwater anglers buy $5 trout stamps for their licenses.)
About 10 percent of the fish - holdovers, they're called - continue to be cared for until they reach "Moby" size. At 4 pounds, 3 ounces and 22 inches in length, Shaw's fish was a holdover.
It was only the second time the Baltimore angler had fished that section of the Little Gunpowder. He showed up on the morning of April 26 at 4:30 and sat for an hour in his car above the river as drizzle misted his windows until it was legal to fish.
His work buddy, Rob Shuey, quickly caught six trout, which got Shaw grumbling to himself about the unfairness of it all. As the rain picked up, Shaw ducked under the bridge and cast his power bait to a dark hole.
Just like that, the line snapped tight and Shaw had himself a trophy.
"The hardest part was netting him," Shaw said. "I'm real clumsy, so I grabbed the net and ran up the bank because I didn't want to drop him in the water and lose him."
Shuey snapped photos, then the two men took the trout to Bowley's Bait and Tackle to be certified. Wanting to share the wealth, Shaw decided to give half his catch to his father, Robert, who taught him how to fish.
Problem: "I never filleted a trout before," said Shaw, 33. "So I went on YouTube."
Copyright © 2008, The Baltimore Sun
|
  Maryland WildlifeImages of wildlife found in the state • Bay & Environment section |
|
• Outdoors calendar • Reader photos |  |
• Candus Thomson • Discussion forum |
 | From Virginia to Maine, find the best places to ski in our new guide. |
Popular stories
- Candidates take a licking, keep on ticking
- Cleveland's Cabrera turns rare triple play
- Coach gets 6 1/2 years for gun at game
- Big swings for Jones
- Two men left wounded after separate city shootings
Outdoors talk forumRecent topics: |
Online resources
Download desktop wallpaper created from Sun sports photos> Orioles > 1983 World Series > Ravens > More > Sports photo galleries > Sports blogs > Sports contests > Submit sports feedback Sports Direct newsletter - Subscribe Sign up for our breaking sports alerts and weekly e-newsletter |
Going deepSun sports special reports and in-depth coverage |
|
 |
> 1983 O's > Recruiting Tavon Austin > Football: The tie that binds > Orioles > Baltimore Colts > Going deep: Other sports |