Anglers fishing in Maryland waters who enjoy targeting yellow perch during the spring run may remember that this past spring, there was a period of confusion as the Natural Resources Police (NRP) began enforcing hook use restrictions on fishing for perch with minnow. We’ve all fished for yellow perch with minnow on shad darts and bottom rigs forever and it’s never been a problem before, but for whatever reason the NRP saw fit to issue warnings to many anglers who weren’t using circle hooks — which of course the vast majority of anglers were not.

yellow perch fishing with minnow
Casting shad darts with minnow is an extremely popular way of fishing for yellow perch, but became problematic under NRP's new cirle hook regulation enforcement last spring.

Circle hook regs were initiated to protect striped bass and the intent was to not to affect perch anglers, so naturally, this change caused plenty of angst and caught plenty of people by surprise. And now, the DNR has responded. Three new options for regulation changes are on the table for recreational anglers to consider and provide feedback on.

Option 1 would exclude the use of “minnow” (as defined by species) from circle hook regulations and allow using regular hooks when fishing minnow. Option 2 would exclude the requirement to use a circle hook when the baitfish is under a certain size (3 or 4 inches has been suggested), except when spot or white perch are being used. And Option 3 would allow for the use of J-hooks based on season, with either Js or circles allowed from February 1 through March 31.

You can learn more about the details regarding each option (such as which species are considered “minnow”), as well as the benefits and downsides to each option, at the DNR Gear – Hooks for Live-Lining Scoping Page. We at FishTalk aren’t going to take a specific stand on which of these options is “best” as any of them will more or less alleviate the issue for perch anglers, though we do want to point out that perch fishing does continue into April in many areas and Option 3 may be the least desirable for some anglers in some areas. We also want to point out that it’s great the DNR has listened to anglers and is taking action to resolve the issue. You can provide your feedback and support or opposition for any of these options at the Possible Changes for Hook Use While Live-Lining Comment Form. Note that we’ve already done so, and the virtual form is very fast, simple, and easy to use.

Thanks anglers, for paying attention and giving your feedback!