Gudgeon Fishing � Ever hear of it?

Type: Chesapeake
Region:
Location: Upper Choptank River

I learned about a piece of Maryland�s fishing history today. It began with a trip to Red Bridges located on the Upper Choptank River in Greensboro, MD last evening. As I parked the car, my kids quickly exited and ran down to the river. Before I could get down to the river myself, I heard them talking about fish they were seeing. My first thought was that perhaps the hickory shad arrived, but that was not the case. What my kids were seeing were hundreds of silvery minnows (see attached photo) which were congregated below the small fish blockage. If you watch the attached video closely, you can see the silvery minnows as they attempt to swim over the fish blockage. As I shared my experience with our fisheries biologists this morning, Don Cosden and Jim Uphoff, informed me that way back (1940-50s) locals fished for what was called gudgeon � silvery minnows and spottail shiners as they congregated in Maryland rivers each spring. The attached 1940s photo is of fishermen fishing for gudgeon on the Patapsco River. I am told that fishermen would keep and eat the gudgeon � likely fried or pickled. We managed to catch two on a shad dart while fishing for white perch that we returned to the water. We did catch one white perch. Hope you find this Angler�s Log interesting, and would enjoy hearing from any of you that use to go gudgeon fishing. If so, send me an email at [email protected] or post your story on our Angler�s Log.

Here is a fact sheet of the silvery minnow I found online through the Massachusetts Division of fisheries & Wildlife.

Ted Corcoran replies: I grew up on the Bird River in Harewood Park. Gudgeon fishing is alive and well in the Big and Little Gunpowder Rivers. We have an annual Gudgeon fishing trip every year. They are very good eating deep fried.

Reply from another angler - I just wanted to let you know that I think your posts on the Angler�s Log are fantastic. In fact I think that I am going to take my kids to Red Bridges and attempt to catch some herring and shad. I am also going to attempt to find that little spot you describe east of Goldsboro�looks like a great spot to take the kids. Thanks again for such informative posts. Keep�em coming.