President's Message
by Stephen Shechtel
 

Last week I went with a long time fishing friend to the Bahaman's. We had fished several MSSA tournaments together for years. Leaving from Miami aboard his sportfish at 8:00 AM, we crossed into the Gulf Stream less than 5 miles off the Fla coast in 3'-5' seas. Grand Bahama Island was 80 miles ahead. The first thing you notice is the water. Crystal clear and deep blue. Watching for birds and weed-lines, we fished and cruised to Port Lucaya Resort & Yacht Club (home of the Bahamas Billfish Tournament). By 5:00 PM we had cleared customs, washed down the boat, cleaned the catch, and retired to a café and bar to sample local drinks, conch, and fish. Port Lucaya is a small resort town that has a lively night life and caters to tourists and fisher-persons alike.

The next morning we left the dock at 8:00 AM. Within a mile from shore, the water is 1,000' deep. A few feet further offshore the depth drops to over 2,500'. After some searching, we found a school of dolphin. Barracuda were everywhere. If you did not pull in your catch fast enough, all you got to the boat was a head. I also went to the Old Bahama Bay Resort & Yacht Harbour and the Bootle Bay Fishing Lodge. Bootle Bay is a quaint lodge that would be perfect for a Chapter trip, although the ladies would prefer Lucaya because there was more to do, or Old Bahama Bay for its luxurious accommodations. Boats from the U.S.A. 23' to 80' were everywhere. You could fish the shallows for Bonefish, Redfish, or Snook on the north side. Marlin, Dolphin, Tuna were on the South and West side. Snapper were everywhere.

So why bring this up? I could not stop thinking about what a great trip this would be for our Chapter. No running 40+ miles offshore for fish. Crystal clear waters. No need to get up at 4:00 A.M. I also could also not stop thinking about the abysmal condition that our elected officials have allowed the Chesapeake Bay to deteriorate to. There the waters were teeming with fish. The shallows held multitudes of bait fish.


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Next Meeting

July 13th 2005:
Food service starts at 6:00
Meeting starts at 7:00

Alert: All meetings starting with the June 8th meeting will be held at the New Market Fire House.

Directions:
To get there take exit 62 off of
I-70 northbound on MD 75. Turn left at the stoplight and the fire house is on the left about 0.9 miles down the road. Turn left either before or after the fire house and go to the rear.

Speaker and Vendor:
Jimmy K the owner of Off the Hook Tackle will be the featured speaker and vendor. He is out of Virginia Beach and makes his own sea witch's, spreader bars and daisy chains. He will talk on offshore fishing and will do ballyhoo rigging - swimming, rigging, naked using springs, bands and wire.

www.offthehooktackle.com is the website and feel free to call him if you want him to bring something special at 757-236-2657.

(Note from Stephen Shechtel )

Our next meeting promises to be one of the best we have ever had. Jimmy K, owner of "OFF THE HOOK" tackle will be the featured speaker and vendor.

I spoke with Jim after I found out from Rob that he would be our speaker. He is bringing with him either Marty Hiatt of "WAHOO IN BOX" fame, or Raymond Rhodes (winner of Fred Barta Charity Tournament.

Please get the word out that this is the meeting to be at if you are ever going to go offshore.

Newsletter & Notices Online The MSSA Frederick Chapter Newsletter is available online at: http://www.mssafrederick.com Hard copys are available by special request. To get on the "mail to only list", contact the MSSA Secretary.
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Newsletter Items: for August are due July 22, 2005
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