Potomac Blue Cat Fishing

[ronaultmtd]

The pollution levels are slowly getting better, but I expect all that progress will go away beginning January 20th...For decades municipalities dumped sewage both treated,but many times untreated into the rivers that feed into the Chesapeake Bay...Heavy industrial waste and chemicals were routinely poured into the bay...Save the Bay, CCA and other sportsman supported organizations have lobbied, sued and kept the pressure on lawmakers and regulators...

[yakscientist]

For the most part, I would say the consumption guidelines should be followed, but know that they are worst case scenario i.e. cooking the fish with skin on, frying (seals in more PCBs and contaminants), etc. The common practice of filleting, and not eating the skin, will help you avoid mercury and to some extend PCBs, but I believe PCBs are most often concentrated in the tissue, which is impossible to avoid obviously. PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) are the by-product of textile production, fuel refinement, plastic production, etc. and their usage was actually outlawed decades ago. They linger in sediments for a very long time however, and they bioaccumulate, meaning that they might be relatively low in a small fish, but once a larger fish eats 10-20 of those small fish in a week, over the course of its lifetime, it accumulates a ton of PCBs in its tissue/fat. So it's best to eat smaller fish in general, or fish at lower ends of the foodchain (sunfish, sardines, anchovies, etc.) if possible. There is also something to be said about PCBs and other contaminants in chicken, beef, etc. since you don't know where the food comes from that they ingest (grain grown in high contaminant loaded sediments), so in essence, you really can only control your intake of the fish you catch. I try to keep fish from areas that I deem to be "safe," but being an env scientist, I realize that many areas are only supposed to be safe, until you actually investigate them. Blue catfish in general tend to be safer to eat than similarly size white or channel cats, because of their faster growth rates, and feeding habits, they feed farther off the sediment, on fish in the middle of the water column (farther from direct PCB loaded sediment). I know brown bullheads tend to be the worst catfish you can consume, and indeed we see the most tumors, growths, deformities on them, from most of our sampling sites (though I don't think I can tell you the river(s) I'm referring too). Again, a lot of work goes into consumption advisories, but realize the data come from fish which tend to be very mobile, and the data are from points in time, and a fish swimming in the same spot a day later may for whatever reason, be drastically different as far as contaminant load. Ron, I feel the same way regarding Jan 20, though our governor does seem to be relatively environmentally conscious, certainly more so than the incoming administration. I don't want to get political, but I bet you and I could talk at length about the subject. Sorry for the long post, but I'm passionate about my work, and about my hobbies (kayak fishing/eating fish).

[Franzel08]

So I am a no go for this Sunday as well. I was just informed (my wife said she has already told me) that we have a birthday party Sunday...right in the middle of the day. I am still game for the 27th and 28th. Sorry about the late information.

[supfisher01]

So I am a no go for this Sunday as well. I was just informed (my wife said she has already told me) that we have a birthday party Sunday...right in the middle of the day. I am still game for the 27th and 28th. Sorry about the late information.

No worries. I'll keep an eye on the weather when it gets closer to those dates (Fri 27th and Sat 28th unless you meant Sat and sun?). Weather permitting, I will still be going out on Sun the 22nd so if anything changes or anyone else would like to join, you're more than welcome.

[Franzel08]

I definitely meant Saturday and Sunday! Good catch...

[supfisher01]

I definitely meant Saturday and Sunday! Good catch...

Ok, sounds good.

[Franzel08]

Since my son's birthday is this Saturday, I know it will be 60 degrees and no wind! Funny how the weather always looks great when you absolutely can't fish! Yakscientist, what is your background? I only ask because my background is chemistry. Funny how a lot of engineers and science majors flock to fishing and kayaking.

[yakscientist]

Since my son's birthday is this Saturday, I know it will be 60 degrees and no wind! Funny how the weather always looks great when you absolutely can't fish! Yakscientist, what is your background? I only ask because my background is chemistry. Funny how a lot of engineers and science majors flock to fishing and kayaking.

I'm an environmental scientist, and I agree about the fishing/kayaking and outdoors in general. A lot of the people I work with love the outdoors, and this naturally led itself to them pursuing a career in the not so lucrative, but certainly fun, field of environmental science. I think I might be the only active kayak fisherman in the office, but many others like to fish either from shore or powerboat. I think while working to improve the state of our environment, we also simultaneously like to enjoy it as well. Chemistry has always been interesting to me, though I can honestly say that organic chemistry was the hardest C I've ever earned.

[Franzel08]

I was in pharmaceutical testing for a little over 10 years before switching to the bio-pharma industry. I have never done the environmental industry, but i've heard some pretty gross sampling stories!

[Franzel08]

I am targeting next Saturday (28th) to go to Mattawoman. If you're interested let me know. I figure worse case scenario (horrible weather) we can reschedule.

[Franzel08]

Hey Ron,

Where do you generally launch from at Mattawoman? I have only fished there once and we were targeting largemouth and snakehead. Thanks for the info!

[mchottie]

Saturday looks like high of 54, no rain and the better option. Sunday shows high of 52, 70% chance of precip.

[ronaultmtd]

Slavins launch is located at the end of the road- take last street on left before you enter the US Naval facility at Indian Head

[AintMisBehavin]

I am targeting next Saturday (28th) to go to Mattawoman. If you're interested let me know. I figure worse case scenario (horrible weather) we can reschedule.

What time are you looking at going out?


Just another day in the sun...

[Franzel08]

Target meeting time would be 10am. I think it will take close to 2 hours for me to get down that South. Thank you Ron for the information.