Archive for 2010
Public hearing for Draft Addendum II to Amendment 6 for striped bass
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010The turnout was a bit disappointing, only 20 people showed (not including council members) if you count the one media outlet that was there to cover the meeting. About half gave public comment. The major groups in attendance were the The Recreational Fishing Alliance, Jersey Coast Anglers Association, Hi-Mar Striper Club, Manasquan Fishing Club, Bay Head Shores Fishing Club and the Newark Bait & Flycasting Club. If I missed anyone I am sorry…going by memory.
Some very good feedback and suggestions were made for changes to the addendum in regards to the reference point changes. All that gave comment were against Issue I, any increase in commercial quota and in favor of Issue II, the reference point change.
Basically the reference point change is a good thing. It will allow the council to take immediate action if for three years in a row there is recruitment failure. ‘Under this option, recruitment failure would be defined as a value that is below 75% of all values in a fixed time series appropriate to each juvenile abundance index.’
For NJ the council decided to drop the data for 1980-1985. The reason being they were really just learning where the fish were after spawning and what they thought was extremely poor recruitment was really their inability to find the juvenile fish and figuring out methods and means to do the young of the year survey in the Delaware.
With dropping these few years of the data set it is basically lowering the juvenile abundance index (JAI). In doing so what was once thought to be fair or good recruitment years for 2002 and 2006 now fall below the index value of 0.89 and qualify as recruitment failures. Which at the end of the day means that we have a lower threshold and the council will be quicker to act on protecting the stock if recruitment failure does occur.
Public written comment is being accpeted until October 1, 2010.
This is the link to Draft Addendum II to Amemendment VI
Info on submitting public comment is below, you can either e-mail, call, fax or mail public comment.
Email: nmeserve@asmfc.org
Phone: 202-289-6400
Fax: 202-289-6051
Mail: Nichola Meserve
Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission
1444 ‘Eye’ Street, NW, 6th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20005
River fluking is hot!
Sunday, July 11th, 2010Left the dock early to fish the river before the boat traffic picked up. When my buddy showed up with two friends we decided to give outside a shot. Swell wasn’t too bad, confused sea on top of it made for an interesting drift that just proved way to fast in 45′ of water so we headed back in.
It was like fishing in an aquarium just before feeding time. You had a fish on within seconds of the bait hitting the bottom. The lettuce was at a minimum but the only problem was most were shorts.
Coolest part was the water was so clean that in even 12′ of water you could see the bottom, your bait swimming along then either it would disappear of you would see it take off in a different direction if the fluke grabbed the tail of the bait. Tried shooting some video of it but it didn’t come out well. It was really wild to watch 3 or 4 fluke come up off the bottom to all chase the same bait.
Ended the day when the boat traffic picked up with a couple keepers to 21″ and was back at the dock and cleaned up by 10 am.
Independence Day Flukin’
Sunday, July 4th, 2010My buddy Mark and I decided to stay inside since all the reports we heard during the week were much better from Manasquan and Shark Rivers than from reefs. I checked the current tables and the current looked OK despite it being the ebb and me personally preferring the flood to fish the Squan.
We shoved off at ten to five to get setup at sunrise and beat the boat traffic. Got through the canal and despite no moon and very little wind the current was racing and not as anticipated. We gave it a shot near Clark’s, in the Old Channel between Clark’s and Garden State, Hoffman’s, the doggy beach and the inlet itself. No matter where we went it was a challenge to slow the boat down to be able to get a proper presentation. Not to mention the salad was the worst I have ever seen. OK…insert vegetarian jokes here!
On the plus side so far there were only three boats that had past us so far. With the poor conditions inside we decided to at least try outside and worst case go wreck fishing. Got out front to birds working, not sure what was chasing the bait up but we immediately got into a garbage fish blitz! It was skate after sea robin after miniature dogfish…with short fluke mixed in when you could get your bait to the bottom. We did manage sea robins to just under 2 lbs but didn’t weigh any in for the tournament. Did manage to pull one keeper off the Manasquan Wreck before the current went slack and the drift died.
Moved off to the Sea Girt Reef hoping for better drift conditions and there was a little more breeze and a drift. Again had non-stop action with birds, skates and short fluke. We also had some short and keeper sea bass mixed in and picked up another keeper off the reef before the drift died there.
Headed in a bout noon. By then there were finally people on the beaches and some boats out. We were both surprised at the amount of boat traffic. It didn’t really pickup till between 10 and 11 and even when we headed in the canal was busy but it sure didn’t seem like a holiday weekend. Not that I am complaining but it sure didn’t seem like that many were out, certainly not like AAA said there would be a huge increase in vacationers driving to closer destinations to home.
Anyway all in all a great day on the water till we hit the railroad bridge on the way in and we realized how hot it really was out. Ended the day with a nice 3lb sea bass, two fluke 19 and 20 inches, about 50 shorts (many 17-17.75″), one with almost a completely brown belly (will post a pic of it shortly) and probably a hundred sea robins, skates and dogfish combined. Although there were only a handful of doggies. And it was really nice to fish all day with the light outfits and 3/4 to 1.5 ounce bucktails even out on the reef.
Mako Mania 2010
Saturday, June 26th, 2010Got down Friday morning to get the boat ready, pickup bait, ice and rig the rods. Had to change wheels on Tommy’s boat for better performance with a full load of fuel and had to scramble to find bushings for the new ones but got it done. Headed over to the Captain’s Meeting…good seeing you again Joe (Freedom). Always good talking to Pete Grimblas and Anthony Mauro. Didn’t win any door prizes or the 50/50 so we figured we were saving our luck for fishing.
Left the dock at 4:30 and headed over to check out. Caught the darn train bridge…thought we would miss the first train but caught it. The checkout was much more organized and civil than years past when boats were circling to check out and racing out from the monument.
Broke the inlet set our course for our spot some 50 plus nautical and had a very uneventful ride out. Didn’t see much life on the ride out and the water was pretty warm the whole ride out and didn’t start dropping in temp till we were almost 45 off. Ride out took a little over 2 hours 30 minutes but was a nice ride out compared to the last two years.
Got the slick setup and rods out and before we got the last rod out had our first bite. First fish, mako, and released about a 100 pounder. Got reset and about 20-30 minutes later we get our second run off. It played with the bait for a while. Then hit another rod, fought the fish for a few minutes, get it near the boat and another small mako released. Get reset again, change all the baits out to what had the first two fish, bonita fillet and squid and reset all the rods.
Had a couple of run offs and a stripped bait. Then we get a double header, drop one and hook one for our third fish. I’m on the rod and get the fish to the boat and it is another small mako about 50-60 pounds. Released that fish, reset the rods and then it was quiet for a little while. We put a time limit on moving back up our slick and we get another run off that never came tight.
We moved back up the slick, about 45 minutes later we get another run off that quickly went slack. Then as we are getting ready to call it a day we get a real good run off. Get the other lines cleared, fight the fish for a little bit and nice dusky comes up. Released that one and got cleaned up and headed in.
We never found the fish we were looking for but had good action with several run offs, three makos to the boat, one pulled hook near the boat and a dusky.
We never found the cooler water but there was tons of life out there. Turtles, bait, birds. The guys a little further off in the Toms and Hudson were picking YFT and eyeballs but were covered up in bluefish and it was tough getting through them to the tuna. On the ride in the water ranged from 74 to 77! It looks to be shaping up for a good inshore tuna season.
On the ride in we heard from a friend of ours from down our dock that was racing in with a nice fish to weigh. They ended up hanging a nice fat 232 to put them in 3rd in Mako Fever and 4th in Mako Mania at the end of Saturday. We wish Brian and the crew of the Bella Mia the best of luck in maintaining their position through today.
First keeper fluke of 2010!
Saturday, June 5th, 2010
Broke the inlet shortly after 5 and starting working bunker, wouldn’t call it pods…they stretched pretty much from the inlet all the way south to Ortley/Lavalette. Some of them were thicker than others but unfortunately they were all happy bunker and swimming for their lives. Talked to Tuna Kahuna, Bri-Time, Loanfish and a couple others and everyone seemed to be doing the same…stocking up on crab bait.
Once I got a 10 gallon bucket of bunker I headed off to the Axel Carlson for sea bass and fluke. My first drift I put a nice 24″, 4 lb 12 oz fish in the box. As I was motoring back to the beginning of the drift a buddy a few slips down from me is anchoring up right on my MOB mark from where that fish was caught. I circled him a couple times, busted his stones and moved off to another piece. Only had short sea bass, cod and fluke after that.
Decided to look at a couple other wrecks but there wasn’t much life on the sonar so I didn’t bother stopping. Despite the wind against the tide in the river I decided to give it a shot. The kelp was pretty bad but if you kept your rig clean there were tons of fish there. Weeded through the shorts and put a 19 incher in the box before a boat anchored up right in the path of all who were drifting. Called it a day and headed in.
Had 52 degree water when I broke the inlet along the beach that warmed to 54/55 when I left bassing for bottom fishing. On the reef the surface was a bit warmer and was up to 60.3 at one point. After my buddy got back from wreck fishing they had a cooler full of sea bass and cod, 8 keeper cod I think he said with at least that many more shorts. They also had released a dozen or so keeper blackfish and countless short sea bass but no fluke for them while on the hook.
Weekend bass roundup
Sunday, May 16th, 2010
Flew solo on Saturday up to Asbury to check out the bunker bite. Got there at 5:45 and missed it! Couldn’t believe two buddies with four man limits were headed home already after getting their limit and releasing dozens of fish. I knew with the new moon it would be an early bite but that was ridiculous. After getting bunch of bunker in the boat and only having two run offs and no real action I pushed North to get on the troll. I trolled stretch 30 plugs after a buddy called me over to a bite they had on shad rigs. Started trolling 100′ to the East of them and the plug wasn’t in the water 5 minutes and had a 42″ bass in the boat. Put the plug back in and was putting water and ice in the fish box and rod goes off again, a 35″ fish. Same thing for the next few passes on a South to North troll, each pass another fish. Ended up releasing a 44″ and 33″ fish.
Sunday we decided to go back to the scene of the crime from the day before. Debated on running South but turned left out of the inlet. Again arriving up at Asbury about 5:30 there was no bunker to be found from there up to the Cedars. Got up on the troll and then got a call from BillyT to come back South a little and use white #4 Maja’s. Put a 16 pounder in the boat right away but then it was quiet. Trolled all over Monmouth Beach, Long Branch, Asbury, the Rocks, the Cedars and ended up getting an 8lb blue. Heard from Bri-Time that the bite was off Ortley when we were in the canal but at that point decided to just keep heading for the barn.
Despite the ASA and Bahrs tournaments on Saturday the Northern waters were not that crowded. Sure wish i was in the ASA tourney since the 42″ and 44″ fish would have been good for second place. Also on Saturday I was quite shocked at a very large and prestigious charter boat that came right through the fleet of boats live lining picking up five lines from three boats, three lines had fish on. They came so close to the boats fishing zig zagging through the fleet I could have underhanded a bunker to someone in the cockpit. I guess when you get that big you only care about yourself and $$$.
All in all it was a great two days on the water. It is funny how I usually do so much better solo than when I have four guys on the boat.
Meeting Today Results in longer Black Sea Bass Season
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010Meeting Today Results in longer Black Sea Bass Season
Recreational Fishing Alliance
Contact: Jim Hutchinson, Jr. / 888-564-6732
For Immediate Release
May 4, 2010
BLACK SEA BASS SEASON TO DOUBLE IN LENGTH ASMFC Votes to Increase Fishing Days - The Recreational Fishing Alliance Legal Defense Continues
In a vote supported by all member states of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Management Board today, states will now have the option to liberalize the 2010 black sea bass season in state waters by an additional 90 days. The proposed new season will run from May 22 through October 11, with an additional open period of November 1 through December 31. The proposal would keep the size and bag limit the same of 12-1/2 inches and 25 fish per angler.
“The Recreational Fishing Alliance representatives have worked tirelessly on the 2010 black sea bass season since last summer, when drastic cuts to fishing days were first proposed,” said Capt. Adam Nowalsky, chairman of the Recreational Fishing Alliance’s New Jersey chapter (The Recreational Fishing Alliance-NJ). Nowalsky attended the ASMFC meetings this week in North Carolina longside fellow The Recreational Fishing Alliance-NJ board member and United Boatmen representative Capt. Tony Bogan, and said perseverance has been the key to seeing the sea bass opportunities open up again for recreational anglers along the Mid-Atlantic coast. “In December, we were faced with a 60-day season for 2010, and now we are closing in on a near 200-day season,” Nowalsky added.
The increase in fishing days became possible after the recent release of 2009 black sea bass landings. Projected 2009 landings had been mandating a 44% reduction in landings for 2010, but the updated data showed that only a 21% reduction was needed, allowing for the liberalization. For the new regulation to go into effect, individual states will have to implement the new proposal, but given the unanimous support of the states for the motion, implementation is expected.
The Recreational Fishing Alliance representatives have attended and advocated at every ASMFC and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council meeting impacting the recreational black sea bass fishery since last August to ensure that the recreational sector is treated fairly by regulators and has the best opportunity possible to enjoy this healthy fishery. “When our state Marine Fisheries Council meets again back home at the Atlantic County Library in Galloway on May 13th at 4 p.m., this sea bass season increase should be on the agenda,” said Nowalsky. “This is good news for all our coastal states from Massachusetts down through North Carolina, everyone who enjoys this healthy and robust sea bass fishery,” he said.
NOAA Fisheries released a proposed rule last week that specified an opening date of May 22 for the fishery in federal waters with no firm end date for 2010; NOAA Fisheries did not oppose the ASMFC proposal today. When NOAA Fisheries abruptly closed the recreational sea bass fishery last October without any opportunity for public comment, the The Recreational Fishing Alliance immediately began working on a legal challenge to fight the closure. The The Recreational Fishing Alliance, United Boatmen and a coalition of industry allies (the “Plaintiffs”) filed suit on November 4, 2009 in New Jersey Federal Court arguing that the sea bass closure should be declared unlawful and set aside for being arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and otherwise not in accordance with law pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act.
The Plaintiffs also allege that NOAA Fisheries violated numerous provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act for closing a recreational fishery in reliance upon the fatally flawed Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey (MRFSS) and for failing to adequately assess the impacts of the Emergency Rule on small business entities such as party and charter boats and bait and tackle shops.
“The emergency closure of the recreational sea bass fishery was unprecedented for a fishery that is not ‘overfished’ and where ‘overfishing is not occurring’,” said Jim Donofrio, The Recreational Fishing Alliance Executive Director. “This case is about more than just sea bass; it’s about taking a stand against a federal agency abusing its power and hurting individuals and small business owners. If NMFS gets away with using MRFSS data to shut down the sea bass fishery this time it will be tough to stop them from doing it in other fisheries.” Donofrio said that a legal win with this case would help set a precedent for anglers to ensure that NOAA couldn’t make similar closures in other regions in the future.
On January 22, NMFS filed the Administrative Record for the case, submitting all the documents the Court will consider in making its decision. “We carefully reviewed the Administrative Record to determine whether further documents existed that should have been, but were not, submitted by the government,” said Herb Moore, Jr., The Recreational Fishing Alliance co-counsel on the case. “Surprisingly, we discovered that NMFS failed to submit the minutes of the December 2008 meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, which is the meeting where the 2009 sea bass measures were debated and voted on only to be preempted roughly ten months later by the emergency closure,” Moore said.
According to the The Recreational Fishing Alliance’s legal team, the government would not consent to adding these materials to the Administrative Record so they filed a motion to supplement the record on April 23 which they expect will be decided sometime after May 17. “Thirty days after we have a decision on this motion to supplement, we will go ahead and file a motion for summary judgment and expect NMFS to file a cross motion for summary judgment after that,” Moore said, adding “We expect this case will ultimately be decided on these cross motions for summary judgment.”
As of May 4, 2010, $26,470.27 has been deposited into the The Recreational Fishing Alliance Legal Defense Fund for ongoing efforts to challenge NOAA Fisheries’ decision to close the black sea bass fishery. “Tackle shops, party and charter boat captains, fishing clubs and captains organizations and hundreds of individual anglers have contributed to our campaign to ensure that NOAA Fisheries never does this again,” said The Recreational Fishing Alliance Managing Director, Jim Hutchinson, Jr. “This battle to reopen our sea bass fishery and the ongoing legal challenge to protect anglers against future arbitrary closures has been all grassroots so far, but I’m hoping that some of our friends from the national tackle industry who rely on a healthy sea bass fishery will contribute to the angler efforts to keep our folks fishing,” Hutchinson added.
Learn more about the The Recreational Fishing Alliance and the The Recreational Fishing Alliance Legal Defense Fund at www.joinrfa.org
5/1 & 2 - Lots of work, few fish…
Monday, May 3rd, 2010Headed to the rocks both Sat and Sun. Saturday got up there early but it did not matter what I did I could not keep anything on the hook. Didn’t matter if it was a spoon, plug, jig, heck even a Rapala plug with three treble hooks and I was dropping fish. Also had a knot failure near the boat, was the closest I came to boating a fish, about a 15 lb bass…if anyone catches a bass with a chartreuse Rapala in it, can I have the plug back?
Sunday I was going to stay close to home due to the forecast. Broke the inlet a little later than planned as my crew never showed. Worked some blues near the inlet for a little while and felt better that I was able to keep something hooked. Then worked spoons South off Bay Head and again was hooking up and dropping fish. Even changed out the hooks the spoons, guess I have new rod syndrome.
Got some calls on the radio and phone to head up North again. Conditions were no where near predicted with just a 2′ swell with a little chop on it. So I picked up and ran up to the rocks but got there at the end of the bite and only picked up more blues.
Both days it great seeing fish boiling on the surface taking baits. It is a shame so many have to drive right through them and break them up. Seems like the lack of courtesy and boat handling is getting worse the more that obtain their captain’s license…oh I mean boating safety certificate.
The amount of spearing around this spring is amazing. Hopefully that is going to lead to a great fluking season as it did back in 2007.
I was amazed at the difference in the ride of the boat after having more work done on the wheels again this winter. Despite the conditions on Sunday I was able to cruise with a following sea at a comfortable 26 knots with no pounding on the way in with the swell and chop on the front quarter at 22 knots passing every other boat but the Fish Monger and the 36′ Bertram across the creek from us on the way home.
First bass of 2010!
Sunday, April 18th, 2010
First bass of 2010 hit the deck today! We were going to only run a few miles but when we heard and saw the fleet racing to the Sea Girt Reef area we decided to just make the run North and fish somewhat by ourselves. There were reports of big fish outside the 3 mile line and many paid the price for going after them. Sever boats were stooped, boarded and fined including a party boat.
Anyway back to the good stuff. Got up off Monmouth Beach quickly, started putting the spoons out and 200 yards behind us the birds came out of no where. Picked up and ran to them and it was fish on as soon as the jigs and plastics hit the water. As soon as it started it ended as the fleet started racing in. Then they popped up again a little way off. We then pod hopped for a little while with fish on each drift. Silver was the hot color today for jigs.
After a few drifts we switched over to bait and continued to boat fish on each drift. We had 5 in the box to 16 plus pounds by 9:30-10 and went up on the troll to cover ground. We had a few knockdowns but nothing came tight.
I hope this is a sign of good things to come in 2010 with a great bite weeks earlier than normal.
Another flounder limit!
Saturday, April 3rd, 2010
Had to wait out the fog, it was really bad till about 2-3 pm. It was amazing how many boats were out blind and on plane or going as fast as they were and in no wake zones today.
I got some things done on the boat in the mean time. I put the sink back in, hooked up the hoses, filled the domestic water tank, put some more tackle away, rearranged gear and tried the 3M non-skid cleaner on the deck. This stuff worked really well. Finally a non-skid cleaner that works without a lot of effort and claims to be safe for fiberglass and gel coat.
Anyway, finally about 3:30 we shoved off to give it a shot. Since Mike was done with working on his boat he decided to go on a boat ride with Tommy and me. When we got setup the surface current was flying with the howling SE wind but the bottom wasn’t too fast. Had 51 degree water and fish on within minutes of the chum bags hitting the bottom.
We ended up boating our three man limit with only one short and several missed fish in about 2 hours.
Tell NOAA how you feel about catch shares
Friday, April 2nd, 2010Catch Share Public Comment Period Ends April 10, 2010. Tell NOAA how you feel before its too late! There are only about 150 comments on there!
Please Fill it out it is easy all you have to say is “I am against catch shares!”
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/domes_fish/catchshare/comments/
Black Sea Bass, Summer Flounder and Weakfish Regulation Changes
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010March 31, 2010
New regulations for the recreational and commercial harvest of black sea bass, summer flounder, and weakfish became effective in New Jersey on March 25, 2010. New Jersey’s adoption of the regulations was necessary to remain in compliance with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC) Interstate Fishery Management Plans (FMP) for these species.
The regulation changes include a reduction in the recreational black sea bass season, a minor change in the summer flounder recreational season and a recreational and commercial possession limit reduction for weakfish.
At its February 2010 meeting, the ASMFC’s Summer Flounder, Scup and Black Sea Bass Board approved a reduction in the coastwide black sea bass recreational season due to significant overages in the 2009 coastwide recreational black sea bass harvest quota. To assure recreational landings do not exceed the established 2010 coastwide recreational quota, the ASMFC established a coastwide black sea bass season of May 22 through September 12, which is now in effect in New Jersey. The recreational black sea bass possession limit and minimum size remain at 25 fish per day and 12.5 inches.
The same ASMFC Board approved the NJ Marine Fisheries Council recommendation to change the New Jersey summer flounder recreational season to May 29 through September 6, which includes both Memorial Day and Labor Day. The 2009 season was May 23 through September 4. The recreational possession limit and minimum size remain at 6 fish per day and 18 inches.
The ASMFC’s Weakfish Management Board (Board) implemented stock-wide management measures to reduce the recreational and commercial weakfish possession limit due to a determination that the Atlantic Coast weakfish stock is currently depleted and at the lowest population level since estimates have been recorded (1981-2008). The Board implemented stock-wide management measures to promote stock rebuilding, which result in a recreational possession limit of one (1) fish per angler per day. The former New Jersey recreational possession limit was six fish per angler per day.
The new commercial weakfish regulations reduce the daily possession limit to 100 pounds during the open commercial season and establish a minimum size of 13 inches for all gear types at all times. During the closed commercial weakfish season, the possession limit has also been reduced to100 pounds and may only be kept if it does not exceed 50 percent, by weight, of the total weight of all species landed and sold.
http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/news/2010/marreg_changes.htm
10-12 degreee drop in water temp…
Saturday, March 27th, 2010Left the dock later than I planned but was in no rush, especially with the chill in the air. Plans got derailed a bit early on when a call came out over the radio about someone in the water in the canal.
Got setup in the spot we caught on Thursday…I was very skeptical due to the drop in water temps. I thought my transducers were wrong but when I double checked with the thermal gun-I was shocked. Temps were down to 35.3.
I waited out the change in tide, figured since the action was very slow to none I would straighten out the pilothouse and put away a crate of tackle I brought down. Once I was done with that I worked the rods for a little while, had two nibbles, and the slime and salad started to pick up.
Water temps rose to a balmy 37 on the beginning of the outgoing and with no increase in action I decided to head in and get some work done on the boat. Water temps at 4 PM at the slip only rose a bit more to 39.1.
This weekend should be a whole lot better with the warmer weather returning again.
First report of 2010!
Thursday, March 25th, 2010
The Admiral let me have the day off today. First I was headed to a few bait and tackle shops in hopes of adding to the list of participating weigh stations for the BFH Year Long Tournament. I was able to add Fisherman’s Supply, Co. to the list for the Manasquan Inlet members.
Then we headed out with Tommy about 11 this morning for a couple hours. We had about a dozen fish and kept our two man limit. Water temps were 48.x to 51.2. Biggest was a little over 14″ @ 1.63 lb. We were back at the dock and cleaned up by 1:30 pm. Only burned .7 gallons…priceless!
AC Boat Show cancelled?
Monday, February 8th, 2010Yes it was, for Saturday at least. The snow that fell Friday into Saturday was enough for show promoters to cancel the show just 10 minutes before it was to open on Saturday. Vendors and patrons that had traveled from all over NJ and from out of state were furious.
The local media claimed there was about 24 inches of snow that fell upon Atlantic City by Saturday morning. I walked from the hotel to the AC Convention Center through some virgin snow and never found any that was even close to coming up to my knees. Not sure where the weathermen on the news were getting their information from but it was not from downtown Atlantic City. I estimate there was 10″ of the white stuff at best at 9:30 am.
The roads were actually pretty clear, most were plowed and were showing 75% or more blacktop. Despite what seemed like only a few inches it crippled the town all day. The outlets, the Pier at Caesar’s and a 24 hour Dunkin Donuts that I tried to stop at were all closed for the entire day.
Some of the casinos had very few tables open claiming they had no staff due to the store. Some of the more upscale casinos we later found out made special arrangements reserving almost a thousand rooms for staff to come in on Friday and stay the weekend to ensure that everything remained open and running smoothly for their guests. We wish that was the case where we stayed…all but one restaurant was open and it was impossible to get a seat a table game all day.
Even when we left on Sunday we could hardly believe how everyone was reacting and what the media making such a fuss about. There still was not 24″ of snow in AC to be found anywhere except where someone shoveled or plowed. We were even more amazed as we pulled into the driveway and saw out grass peeking through the snow…guess you really can’t depend on anything the weatherman says-they were predicting 6-10″ for our area…again 2″ at best was on the ground.
Fishermen to March on D.C. - “United We Fish”
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010There is a ‘Fishermen to March on Washington’ rally, ‘United We Fish’ on February 24th. The rally is to demonstrate against the unintended negative impacts of the Magnuson Stevens Conservation and Management Act (MSA) and to get congressional support for Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr.’s (D-NJ) Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act (The Flexibility Bill) amending the Magnuson Stevens Conservation and Management Act (MSA). The Magnuson Stevens Conservation and Management Act (MSA) was made law in January of 2007. There are buses available for the ride down to Washington. To find out more information about the buses, check out some of the organizers of the rally’s web sites: Save the Summer Flounder, RFA, CCGF, United Boatmen of New York, United Boatmen of New Jersey, New York Sportfishing Federation, Maryland Saltwater Sportfishermen’s Association and the Fishing Rights Alliance.
RFA Press Release on Fisherman to March on Washington
RFA Press Release on The Flexibility in Rebuilding American Fisheries Act
Barnegat Fishin’ Hole Custom Tackle
Saturday, January 30th, 2010We are pleased to announce the launch of our custom and hard to find tackle line. Currently we offer butterfly jigs, assist hooks and Kevlar assist cord.
I have always taken great pride in creating jigs and rigs myself that not only looked good but continually catch fish. I have been told numerous times that I should sell the tackle that I’ve been making for myself and friends. After a few years of hearing it over and over I have decided to offer some of my creations for sale here.
The butterfly jigs are all hand poured, individually dipped in powder paint and then baked at 3oo degrees for forty-five minutes to harden the finish. Butter fly jigs are offered in six colors and five sizes from 2 to 9 ounces.
Assist hooks start with heavy duty, 4x strong Gamakatsu live bait hooks which are then hand tied with Tuf-Line Kevlar assist cord in 200, 300, 500 or 700 pound test (depending on the size of the hook). We offer four sizes of hook in 5/0, 7/0, 9/0 and 11/0 with three leash lengths-short, medium and long.
We are also thrilled to announce that we are stocking Tuf-Line Kevlar Assist Cord. Available in 200, 300, 500 and 700 pound test we offer handy packs of 10 or 25 feet or 100 and 300 foot spools.
Keep checking back as we will be adding more products that we use every season like our custom shark rigs which will feature Lindgren-Pitman circle hooks, 2′ of 49 strand cable, premium ball bearing swivels and 530 pound Momoi Extra Hard wind-on leaders.
Spring is coming and so is more content
Friday, January 29th, 2010Many of you know I have been busy with taking over administration of Barnegat Fishin’ Hole from Larry. For those that don’t, it has been consuming much of my free time but well worth it.
The site continues to grow, members continue to contribute real information and many learn something or take something useful away almost every day. Thank you to everyone who has supported me in this transition and to the sponsors that have renewed for 2010.
We have also moved the hosting of my blog to a new server and will be moving Barnegat Fishin’ Hole to it as well. I am hoping that a much more reliable and faster server as well as the greater capacity of the new server will allow for more free time and not the constant routine of putting out fires.
Once the dust settles I will begin blogging again about the boat and my fishing efforts. In between I will try and update my past fishing adventures as best I can.
Thanks,
Joe