President's Message
by Rick Thompson
 

What a great way to start off the New Year! Our dinner- dance was the best celebration we have ever had together as a group. I feel that everyone who was there had a very memorable time. The food was superb and plentiful, we gave away gift cards to 14 members and guest and the music and laughter went on until 11:00. If you missed it, be sure your there next year. We gave Rob Pellicot a much deserved award of a beautiful Rockfish mount created by our very talented member Tim Young. We all need to thank Rob for his hard work and dedication to this club. We need more members to get involved and help make this club even better and more fun than it already is.

We will be giving away another premium cruise with ocean view from Carnival Lines as our one and only fund raiser this year. Tickets will be ready for our February meeting on the 13th. Please get involved and help sell as many tickets as you can. This fundraiser is what makes it possible for us to do so many things for our members throughout the year. We spent over $2,000 on the dinner, we spent $1,000 for gifts for our fighting men in Iraq at Christmas, we spent over $2,000 on dinners and prizes for our fishing tournaments, we spent $500 to buy concrete rubble to build reefs in the bay and the list goes on. This can only continue and improve with the help of all the members not just a few. We have another great selection of speakers lined up for our meetings again this year thanks to the efforts of Ed Sussa and other board members.

Our Spring Tournaments are set up so make sure you get signed up at the next meeting. Rooms and boat slips are not plentiful this year so sign up early. There are 20 some boats already signed up for the King Mac trip in October. These trips are a great time for all, so try to get out and fish as much as you can with us. You guys are a great bunch to fish with, I have meet a lot good people in this club and made a lot of new friends.

I have learned so much about saltwater fishing since becoming part of this club, it is a real pleasure to be associated you all. Let's make 2008 the best year of fishing together we have ever had! Good luck fishing, be safe on the water, only keep what you can eat, use circle hooks whenever you can and thanks for your support.

Next Meeting

February 13, 2008

Food Service: starts at 6:15 pm

Menu:
Chili, grilled cheese, chips, dessert, Iced-T & coffee.

Meeting: starts at 7:00 pm

Speaker:
We are please to have two speakers this month for our meeting.

Our first speaker will be Rick Long who has invented a unique glove that really helps with handling any fish when trying to remove the hook. It is especially helpful with those BIG trophy rockfish in the spring, preventing injury from the gill plate and the sharp dorsal fins. Rick designed these gloves himself and manufactures them for sale to fisherman around the world. He will demonstrate his product and speak about the benefits of using his glove to make handling any fish much easier.

Our second speaker will be Gilbert Derry from GD Marine Performance Inc. located at 4618a Wedgewood Boulevard in Frederick, Maryland. Gilbert offers a full service repair facility and is a local parts supplier for all boats. He will be speaking and educating us about prepping our boats for the summer. Gilbert will give us some insight and tips about inboard and outboard motors, as well as, making sure our trailers are safe. He will be happy to answer any questions we may have regarding maintaining our boats and their safety.

Vendor:
Rick Long will be selling his Fish Off glove. Also, any member who wishes to bring items for sale may do so. This is an open invitation to our members each month.

Last Month's Raffle Winners:
not reported

50/50: not reported

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 March are due February 29, 2008
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Up Coming Events

Feb 1-3: MSSA Convention, Ocean City, Md. (Contact MSSA office 410-255-5535
Feb 09: Annapolis Fishing Expo - Elks Lodge #622 right off Rt 2
Feb 09: Tri State Flea Market
Feb 09: Atlantic City Boat Show.
Feb 14-17: Washington Boat Show - DC Convention Center
Feb 15-17: Ocean City Boat Show- OC Convention Center
Feb 16-17: Pasadena Flea Market - Earleigh Heights Fire House
Feb 23: Dorchester County Flea Market- American Legion Post 91 Cambridge
March 15-16: Essex Middle River Flea Market- Commodore Hall
March 29-30: Solomon's Fishing Fair- Solomons Fire House

Tournaments:
May 2-4: MSSA Spring Rockfish Tournament.
May 16-18: Chapter Flounder Tournament, Chincoteague, contact Dave Griffin 240-527-9441

Kids and Fishing:
Have you taken a child fishing lately? Did you know that every Frederick Chapter Tournament has a child's division? Did you know that there are special prizes reserved for children? If you took a child fishing, take a picture of the trophy & get a copy to us for publication. Ed Sousa is working on a children's fishing classic. Please see Ed if you have any ideas for the event.

RENEW YOUR FISHING
LICENSES

2007 NMFS Migratory Species Permit: OFFSHORE:
All migratory species permits expire in May. Remember to purchase your 2007 permit. The "permit shop" can be found at:
www.hmspermits.gov or
www.nmfspermits.com
Permits for 2008 cost $28.00.

State of Maryland:
All DNR Maryland permits expire on 12/08. You may purchase online at wildlifelicense.com/md/
Resident License: $9.00 allows a Maryland resident to fish in the Chesapeake Bay and it's tributaries from January 1 through December 31. Consolidated Bay Sport Boat License is $40.00 and allows everyone on board your boat to fish.

Attention Members
Got stuff to sell? Bring it to the meeting as we have a tables that you can use at every meeting. Feel free to bring your stuff anytime and it's free to our members.