Updates
We had a record number at the Chapter's Spring Rockfish Tournament, 33 boats & well over 100 people. We hope everyone enjoyed the beautiful weather (Thanks to Dave for the prediction) & our new location in Solomons at the
Comfort inn Beacon Marina. We already have plans to stay there next year & due to overwhelming demand we will reserve 25 rooms & 25 boats slips in December. Be prepared to sign up at the January meeting. A big thank you goes out to Todd & Kim for coordinating the food
for the picnic. We had plenty of food & no one left hungry, in fact many people had seconds & thirds. The pork BBQ, BBQ chicken, potato salad & cole slaw were all delicious & we even had free beer, iced tea & lemonade. Everyone had a great time. Below were the
winners from the picnic. Everyone had a great time. Below were the winners from the picnic. Spring Tournament Picnic Raffle 50/50 Winner for $200- Mike Beans. Penn 330GTI w/ Mariner Rod Spooled with 30lb Ande - Fillipe (Tom Musser's Recruit & Foremost Authority on Fish Identification)
The awards for the Spring Tournament will be done at the June meeting. We will be giving away $3,350 so make sure you attend. Thanks to everyone for supporting the Frederick Chapter. You are the reason we are the best organized & active chapter in the MSSA.
Frederick Results
1st Place Matt Lacey 40 3/4" $925
2nd Place Tom Musser 40" $555
3rd Place John Travers 39 7/8" $370
4th Place Chris Bynaker 39 3/4" Tyler Tackle Gift Certificate
Calcutta:
Tom Musser 40" worth $1,500,
It pays to get into the Calcutta.
The chapter had numerous winners in the main MSSA tournament. We will have a list in the next newsletter.
The MSSA Tunament
is right around the corner. Ken Wheeler will have all the information at the June meeting. You can sign up at Wachapreague on June 24 at the cookout & captains meeting. Boaters World will be there & they have all kinds of offshore
door prizes just like the Spring Tournament. If you cannot attend see Rob or Ken so they can pick up your Captain's Package for you. Remember to get your HMS permit &everyone on the boat must be an MSSA member - they can sign up on June 24th as well. The Frederick Chapter will
have a bunch of boats fishing out of Chincoteague & Captain Bob's has been dredged so we will not have any issues. They are a weigh station for the event as well. We will have a $50 calcutta for the largest tuna in the chapter.
Offshore Anglers
Don't forget to get your HMS Permit (Highly Migratory Species) formally the Tuna Permit. It's $22 for the boat and you can print it online at nmfspermits.com or call at 888-872-8862.
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Chincoteague Island, VA
Fishing Report by Charlie Koski
The Frederick Chapter MSSA Flounder Tourney had good weather & a few fish were caught. The water temps on Friday hit near 67 degrees in Cockle Creek. Water was cloudy from the winds earlier in the week but again fish were caught. It was
good to see all the flounder pounders from the chapter again! I would like to thank Paul Spalding for taking Colleen & I on his boat the Fishaholic on Fri & Sat. I managed one throw back but top angler on our vessel was Tom Waller, he caught all the fish we entered. He
is one lucky angler or maybe it had something to do with his experience as an Eastern Shore flounder pounder. We hope the flounder fishing will get even better through May & June. There were nice fish checked in at Capt Bob's from other non-MSSA folks, a 7.5 lber & 6.5
lber. So keep on coming down & enjoy the fishing for the season.
There have been several changes on VA Trophy Fish Citations. Release citations for Stripers, spadefish, tautog, red drum, tarpon & amberjack minimum length increased while wahoo, dolphin & sheepshead had their weights increased. Cobia & Black drum had both minimums
increased. All species will be eligible for release citations, just take a picture of the fish next to a ruler & submit it with a citation application. To check the changes out make sure to talk to you local tackle shops in VA or visit the VMRC website for more info, www.mrc.state.va.us.
On to the Bluefin fiasco. A meeting was held in OC & the attendees found out that NMFS is not yet privy to the recreational bluefin tuna catch numbers from the 2003 season so they cannot tell us what the 2004 quota is going to be; therefore, there is no way to set the season
or bag limits yet. NMFS has very accurate numbers from Maryland & North Carolina because they both have state-run bluefin tagging programs Ocean City anglers landed 2,247 bluefins in 2003 but data from the rest of the states must come from call-in reporting, dockside interviews
and telephone surveys. NMFS contracts private companies & pays them many thousands of dollars to get this catch data. Unfortunately, the data is not in & guess what, the season is closing in fast. I'd say the good old XYZ Company (or whatever their name is) has failed miserably
in their duties. So for now, we can only be patient & wait for NMFS to publish the new seasons & bag limits. Hopefully the limits will be similar to what we had last year (one bluefin per person, up to six per boat) but I don't think it's going to work that way. NMFS has
already indicated that the little bit of data they do have suggests that anglers went over the quota last year. That would indicate tighter restrictions this season. (Continued in the Third Column, this page).
The Scholarship Foundation
needs a volunteer so if you are interested call the office for details at 410-255-5535.
MSSA Lifetime Memberships
are available for $500, payable in four installments; and, you will receive an MSSA Captain's jacket, MSSA license plate and a print suitable for framing.
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Upcoming Events
Overnight Bay Trip
July 24-25 2004 Solomons Island Contact Bill Johnson
Tournaments
15th Annual MSSA Tunament
June 25-27 2004
Chapter Tuna Tournament
July 17-18 2004 at Chincoteague
Contact Ken Wheeler
DelMar Offshore Tournament
August 20-22 2004 Chincoteague, OC, Wachapreague. Chunking is allowed.
Crabby's Fishin' Fever
If interested in tuna at Oregon Inlet, call Crabby for details at 301-253-9806
Frederick Chapter Yearbook
Wayne Smith, our photographer, requests photos of member's boats. His email is:
or bring to next meeting. A book of all of the chapter rigs will be on display at the meetings. This way we can put a name with a boat.
For fish pictures, complete a Fishing Album Submittal Form & attach picture of fish
& submit to Wayne Smith. Forms available at meetings & the website.
Chincoteague Island Fishing Report by Captain Charlie Koski
(Continued):
The best guess right now is that we might be handed a 1 bluefin per person up to 4/boat limit & a season that runs from mid-June to mid-July. NMFS tells us they'll publish the new regulations ASAP. However, considering the way they've done it in the past. There mutual feeling
is that we won't be hearing much more from them until sometime in late May or June. For more on this visit this website. delmarvanow.com
Rock fishing is good I hear on the Bay. Makes my mouth water, been along time since I've been striper fishing in the Bay! I was out on the head-boat Morning Star yesterday & got 4 Sea Bass & 2 throw back tog. I was working for NOAA fisheries as an observer for the
MRFSS interview process & was able to fish a little bit. It was the 4th time I have ridden to observe & interview. The first 2 times I limited out on Tautog. The 3rd time Colleen went along & she caught her 1st tog & 4 nice Sea Bass (aka as Long tail Flounder per
Capt. Monty Hawkins). If you ever want to stock the freezer with Sea Bass look him up in OC. He only takes 25 people ($75.00) & last Sept. when I went I limited out in 2 hours & had Sea Bass up to 5#. I fished on Paul Spauldings boat for the flounder tourney here and we
came in sixth place with four flounder, Tom Waller caught every darn fish. Flounder are not here in numbers yet.We're still hoping they will show up better in May when the water arms and clears up.
Fishing Tips:
Real Chesapeake Bay NOAA weather reports (toll free)
Call: 866-247-6787
Clydes Sport Shop has 24 hr. Bay Fishing Report at 410-247-FISH
For more information on the bay:
www.thebayguide.com
www.tidalfish.com
www.saltwatertides.com
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