Despite worries about the health of Maryland's state fish, thousands of anglers flocked to the Chesapeake Bay yesterday for opening day of trophy rockfish season.

New restrictions this year pushed the minimum size of a keeper fish to 33 inches, up from 28 inches last year. But plenty of fish still found their way into boat coolers on what turned out to be a beautiful, warm day.

Down in Deale, Captain Frank Carver took out two parties, both of which caught their limit of one fish per angler.

And in Annapolis, the Boatyard Bar and Grill 5th Annual opening day Fishing Tournament signed up 135 boats with more than 650 anglers in a catch-and-release tournament decided by photographs.

Rockfish - the prize game fish in the bay - have been under intense scrutiny because of the disease mycobacteriosis, or fish handlers disease, which has affected the species for years.

Depending on the age of the fish, up to 60 percent carry the bacteria, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The Virginia Institute of Marine Science, which uses a different technique, puts the number at more than 70 percent.

Some charter boat captains reported to the DNR that people were canceling trips after those estimates made headlines last month.

That has not been the case with Capt. Carver.

"I have 150 trips booked so far and I have only had about two phone calls from people worried about it. And no one has canceled," said the skipper of Loosen Up, a 48-foot Carman built in 1998.

His morning run yesterday left the dock at 5:30 a.m. and returned with nine keepers by 8:30.

"We caught 30 fish but only had the nine trophy-sized," Capt. Carver said.

Ed Krause has been out on the Loosen Up for 15 years. He went on the second run of the day, which pulled away from the docks at Happy Harbour Inn in Deale a few minutes after 1 p.m.

"He catches fish," he said simply, of the captain's reputation.

He ought to. After mates Frank Carver, Sr, the captain's dad, John Allen Jackson and Bryan Schmitt had all the lines in the water, there were 32 poles standing at attention, bobbing with every wave.

All but two had umbrella rigs with six plastic lures trailed some three feet by a larger lure with a whopper hook.

Some of those rigs carried 22 ounces of weight to delve deep into the shipping channel along which the boat trolled at about 3 knots.

Three fish were landed in relatively short order, one a goodly 39.5 inch, 28 pounder.

But then nothing. Capt. Carver swapped reports with fellow skippers on the water. All reported slow going.

"They will come soon," said unofficially retired Capt. "Action" Jackson, 87, who has been fishing the waters up and down the bay since 1935 and rides along with Capt. Carver most days.

"I have been on every opening day for 37 years," he said. Before that he was taking fishing parties out, well before there was an official opening day.

After nearly an hour, another fish hit. 36 inches. Keeper.

Then another lull.

"They'll come," Capt. Jackson said as other captains on the radio sounded like they were ready to pack it in for the day.

A few minutes later ... bam, bam, bam ... three fish in five minutes, keepers all.

"Told you," Capt. Jackson said.

"Yep, all we needed was the tide to change, " his young protege, Capt. Carver said. "The tide is coming in now."

The slow period was explained as the slack period between high and low tides. Apparently, the fish don't hit nearly as well when the water is not moving.

Some worked hard for their catch when fish hit on two or three of the longest lines strung from the back of the boat. As one angler groaned and yelped as his arm muscles shuddered under the strain, Mr. Carver, Sr., dubbed, "Pappy" joked to ease the tension:

"We put the line out that far so the fish are legal by the time you reel them in," he said.

Eric D'Abadie, 43, of Manassas, Va. had to do it four times. Twice his lines broke under the pressure of a big fish. His third fish was too small, if you can call 31-inches small. On his fourth attempt, he ground his way through a tough fight to land a 34-incher.

News reports of the fish handlers disease did not stop him from signing on for yesterday's trip, where not one fish, even the ones thrown back, had the telltale red sores that have caused such a fuss.

"It just proves that these fish are not as bad as they are saying," he said. He said if the weather is good he will be out fishing next weekend, this time on his own boat.

By 6 p.m., the Loosen Up was headed for home.

In Annapolis, Boatyard Bar and Grill owner Dick Franyo said it was one of the best years yet for his tourney.

"We raised about $23,000," he said of the tourney, which had been threatened by both the rockfish health scare and the catch-and-release rules imposed by the Department of Natural Resources.

The rule change came from a DNR ban on rockfish tournaments until May 1.

"But we still wanted to have our tournament, we wanted to keep it on opening day," Mr. Franyo said in what is normally the parking lot of his Eastport bar. Yesterday it was transformed into an outdoor party, with a huge tent and band cranking out punchy, danceable rhythms.

Those entered showed up with photographs of their catches, laid out along the rulers measuring trophy worthiness.

The winner, Jim Brown of Centerville, caught a 44-inch behemoth on a Chartreuse sassy shad on an umbrella near Breezy Point.

He could not be found among the horde of partying fishermen, but Brian Sailer of Eastport was close at hand. He and his party of three caught 15 fish, ranging from 34 to 38 inches, he said.

"We set out at 6:45 a.m. and headed straight for Calvert Cliffs," he said. "I've done the tournament every year and this was the best. It was the prettiest day and we had the best results ever."

They even kept one.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

- No Jumps-

Published April 16, 2006, The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
Copyright © 2006 The Capital, Annapolis, Md.