Effectiveness of Voluntary Catch and Release Angling

Type: Nontidal
Region: Western
Location: Upper Potomac River

The upper Potomac River is home to Maryland�s only muskie fishery, which is largely regulated by voluntary catch and release. Anglers have acquired an appreciation for the long hours and specialized equipment muskie fishing requires and have elected to release these fish to be caught again! Department biologists monitor recapture rates, movement, and growth of this species with an ongoing tagging program that began in the late 1990�s. Successful anglers find the background information of these marked fish to be particularly interesting, as some fish tell quite the story.

A testament to the effectiveness of catch and release angling and the tagging program was shared with the Freshwater Fisheries Program recently. In November 2017, a very large an impressive muskie approaching state record size was angled, tagged, and released; this fish became identified as Tag#2671 (Picture 1). Fifteen months later Tag#2671 was recaptured (Picture 2) by another dedicated muskie angler and was quite possibly a candidate for the state record . The angler decided to release this fish instead of risking potential lethal transportation to a certified scale.

A special thanks to both anglers for sharing their stories and the resource!

Additional information regarding Maryland muskie can be found on our new website dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries/Pages/recreational/Muskie.aspx