The season many Maryland turkey hunters have been waiting for opens this Monday, April 19, one half hour before sunrise. For those who accompanied a young turkey hunter on yesterday’s statewide youth Spring gobbler turkey day, you may have had the chance to see or hear wild turkeys beginning their seasonal rites. April and May are beautiful times to be in the woods, bottomlands and field edges of Southern Maryland. Include the beauty of an early pre-dawn morning with the birds and creatures of the woods stirring for some rewarding experiences this Spring gobbler season. We never get over the initial excitement of hearing those first early morning gobbles from the tree tops. Hearing or seeing fly downs of birds leaving roost for feeding or Springtime courtship are an exciting experience, even if it doesn’t lead to a duel with a wary gobbler. This is the time of year when previous time spent in the turkey woods can pay off. Taking note of scratchings, dusting, droppings and strutting areas provides important hunting tips, both for specific hunting locations and knowing recently established travel patterns of gobblers.

The Maryland 2004 Spring gobbler season opens on April 19 and continues through May 24. Hunting hours are from one half hour before sunrise until 12:00 noon. Bag limits are one bearded turkey per day and one bearded turkey per season or if no turkey was harvested during the fall season, two bearded turkeys per season. Even though the youngsters have had their own special day to hunt gobblers on April 17, consider bringing them along for a hunt during the regular season as well. Information on hunting can be found at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) website, www.dnr.state.md.us . For information on public hunting land opportunities in Southern Maryland, call the Myrtle Grove Wildlife Management Area at (301) 743-5161.

                                                                                        Keep Safety a Priority

Hunting wild turkeys is an exciting and challenging sport. Their keen alertness includes hearing and vision unlike most of the creatures and birds in the wild. Success during the spring gobbler season requires hunters to optimize camouflage clothing and be completely still when calling, especially if a gobbler shows up in your field of vision or sounds off close by. It is this hunting stealth requirement which requires hunters to strongly consider several safety tips. Remember, if the turkeys can’t see you neither will other hunters who walk into the location you are hunting. If you suspect someone is approaching the area you are hunting in, call out in a clear voice and let them know where you are. Never stand up, wave your arms or move your legs, until or unless the person acknowledges they know you are there. Consider carrying some blaze-fluorescent orange cloth to tie around a harvested gobbler when you are leaving your hunting location. Another good idea is to carry a blaze orange hat and wear it when you are going to or leaving your hunting site.

                                                                                        Rock OnMaryland’s first 2004 Chesapeake Bay recreational striper season began Saturday, April 17 and continues through May 15. Another series of creel and possession limits joins the first season on May 16. The current creel limit is one striped bass (rockfish) 28" or larger per person per day. Striped bass may not be in possession while fishing between 12:00 midnight and 5:00 a.m. No Eels are permitted as bait during this first 2004 season. Fishing for stripers is restricted to the mainstem of the Chesapeake Bay from Brewerton Channel to the Maryland/Virginia Line, Tangier & Pocomoke Sounds. No Tributaries except the Lower Potomac River are areas where possession of striped bass is permitted during this first season . For information, call the Maryland DNR Fisheries Service at 1-800-688-3467.

The 2004 Potomac River Fisheries Commission (PRFC) recreational striped bass season began on April 17 and continues through May 15. Like the Maryland DNR season, the PRFC creel and possession limit for stripers will change on May 16. Current daily possession limit is one striped bass 28 inches or larger. PRFC waters are open for the first 2004 recreational striped bass season only in the Potomac River mainstem downstream of the Harry Nice (Route 301) Bridge. No live eels and no more than 2 hooks per rod and reel rig is permitted during this PRFC season. Information on the 2004 PRFC striper seasons can be obtained by calling, 1-800-266-3904.

Anglers and charterboat captains are following seasonal tactics and trolling for big post-spawn rockfish, as they leave the upper Chesapeake Bay or local tributaries. These big fish are hungry and on the move and most likely traveling as solitary fish. Still, if alert anglers happen on consistent signs of baitfish, working that area with your trolling baits can produce. Deep channel waters or the edges of them continue to be the best locations to look for big Spring striped bass. This time of year observations show that most of the big rockfish are traveling and feeding in the upper 20 feet of the water column. Over the past several years, we have noticed that as big fish signs are seen to move up from deeper depths into the upper 20 feet, we start to get hits or catch fish. Slow trolling is best for this time of year, with just enough speed to provide lure action the best tactic. Keeping trolling baits at shallower depths includes the use of "flat" lines which are lures with no added weight to the rig. These should be fished far back out of the boat wake. Outriggers or planer boards are useful in keeping lures fished near the surface away from boat turbulence or noise. Parachute rigs with multiple sassy shad "teaser" baits in chartreuse, white or yellow colors continue to be among the favored lures for trolling.. Large banjo-eye bucktails rigged in tandem are other favorites and ones we like to use as flat line rigs.