President's Message
by Rick Thompson
 

Are you ready to Fish?
I know I sure am. The big Strippers have never stopped biting this winter in Va. Beach. I understand a few of our members have been taking advantage of that fishing with pretty good success. That's great winter time fishing when the weather cooperates.

The bluefin tuna bite in North Carolina has also been hot when you can get the right weather. Some of the boats have been catching 10 or more fish a trip weighing 60-80 lbs average with many over 130lbs.

I attended the MSSA Carroll County Maryland Chapter on Thursday night the 6th. Their speaker was Capt. Pete Dahlberg who is a light tackle specialist for big strippers at Calvert Cliffs Maryland hot water discharge in March. He does the Susquehanna Flats in April so I booked a trip with him for April. Crabby and I have tried this a couple of times with not much success. Fishing for big fish on light tackle is a part of our saltwater fishing that I would like to know more about and the flats offer us a great spot to fish. The success that Capt. Pete has had is quite impressive. Catching 30-40 lb Strippers on light spinning rods in is something that has to be a blast. When things are right he catches over 20 good size fish a day with his best days are over 100 fish. If any of you are in interested in more info go to fourseasonsguideservice.com

Our meeting will have the guys from Mid-Shore Electronics. We always learn a lot when they come talk to us, I'am sure this time will be as informative as always. Please make sure you stay on top of selling our cruise tickets, if you didn't get yours last month make sure you get them this month.

Hope to see you all on Wednesday night - Rick!

Next Meeting

March 12, 2008

Food Service: starts at 6:15 pm

Menu:
Hot beef, chicken noodle soup, fries, dessert, Iced-T & coffee.

Meeting: starts at 7:00 pm

Speaker:
This month we'll be kicking off our preparation for the upcoming fishing season with an educational presentation from Adam Morris & Frank Barringer from Mid Shore Electronics. They'll be talking about all new & exciting gizmos that should help us put more fish in the box. In the past they've always put together a great presentation that not only tells us about the new products that have hit the market but also educate us on how to efficiently use the all the electronics we already own & can't figure out. They'll be happy to answer any questions we may have about our existing electronics or any of the new items they sell. Mid Shore Electronic is located in Cambridge, MD just off Rt. 50 after the Choptank River Bridge. They sell all the fixin's for finding the fish, returning safely to harbor & have a full scale state of the art repair shop shop. Should be a super presentation.

Vendor:
Kicking off the upcoming trophy rockfish season, we have decided to get everyone jump started with getting their tackle boxes re-upped for the season. This month we are pleased to have JJ 's Tackle from Deale Maryland as our vendor. They have a huge variety of top quality lures, shad and just about anything we'll need to knock down them big boys this year. They can be viewed and all of their products can be seen on their website at jjtackle.com They typically prefer on-line ordering and will ship you order immediately. In addition, their website provides updated tackle, fishing reports and many pictures of the fish caught using their products. So let's give them a good ol' Frederick MSSA welcome.

Last Month's Raffle Winners:
Ken Caudill: Penn Rod
Harry Hoption: Fighting Belt
Ken Wheeler: Fish Off Glove
Tony Tolberg: Boat Soap
Fred Keen: Lures
Jays Betts: Weakfish Book

50/50: $63 Jim Bremmer

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.
Sign up to receive newsletters, notices & updates by email.

Newsletter Items: for April are due March 29, 2008
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Up Coming Events

March 15-16: Essex Middle River Flea Market- Commodore Hall
March 29-30: Solomon's Fishing Fair- Solomons Fire House
April 5: Frederick Shakedown
Cruise/Lunch Sandy Point State Park Contact Dave Griffin 240-527-9441
April 5: Opening Day Spring Rockfish

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

RENEW YOUR FISHING
LICENSES

2008 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 $50.00 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.