President's Message
by Rick Thompson
 

It's almost that time of year again. The tuna are piled up off of North Carolina, but very few boats are getting out because of the weather. The ones that do go are catching big blue fin and yellow fin up to 60lbs. Let's hope the rockfish will be ready to bite in our water, they have been catching them all winter in Va. Beach. Lots of big rockfish are being taken, the fishery is said to be in the best shape it has ever been in before. I have heard the biggest reason there is a shortage of crabs is because the rockfish are eating so many of them. Is this just another fish story or is possible. I guess we will find out after April 19th gets here. We have over 25 boats signed up for the rockfish tournament. There are only a few slips left so you better get your money to Rob before we run out. It may be to late already. We need to get everyone signed up who want to do the flounder tournament, give Dave a call if you plan to go. He will be a little late for our next meeting, so let him know ahead of time if you can. Tyler has set up a big time dinner for us at the firehall on Friday night. This year Du Paul's Catering is setting up the whole thing and also serving the food, so everyone will be able to enjoy the dinner. As always the club is eating a big part of the cost. This should be the best meal you ever ate for $5.00.

Hope to see you all on Wednesday night - Rick!

Fishing License
Make sure to purchase your fishing license for this year either individually or for the boat prior to fishing. The boat license is only good for 1 year, while your boat registration is for 2 years.

Next Meeting

April 09, 2008

Food Service: starts at 6:15 pm

Menu:
Fried chicken, potato salad, mac salad, roll, dessert, Iced-T & coffee.

Meeting: starts at 7:00 pm

Speaker:
We are pleased to welcome back Tommy Heacock of the "Foolish Pleasure" and one of the areas top charter boat captains who fishes the Middle bay area out of Deale, Md. Tommy has been fishing the middle bay area for over 30 years and has a tremendous amount of experience with trolling up some huge spawning Rockfish during the spring season. He will be speaking about spring trolling tactics, setting up your spread and he'll be giving us some of his some personal tips on where to fish. He'll be happy to answer any questions you may have regarding spring time trolling, will hang around for awhile and gladly pass out some advice. He runs a 42 foot fiberglass fully heated and air conditioned boat providing not only spring trolling, but bottom fishing and live lining spot for rockfish with the capability of carrying up to 20 people. He provides a luxurious boat with all accommodations at reasonable rates. Visit his website at:
foolishpleasurecharters.com
or call him at 410-804-8511.

Vendor:
We are having one of our favorite vendors for rockfishing supplies this month, so lets be sure to welcome back Georgie from Tyler's tackle in Chesapeake Beach. Georgie has a wide variety of his own tied quality lures, umbrella rigs, shad, rod and reel combos and everything from A to Z that we'll need for the spring rockfish season. Georgie brings to us many years of experience with bay tackle, topnotch supplies and a world of information about what to use to catch them big boys. He is located right in Chesapeake Beach at the end of Rt 260 right on your right at the corner.You can reach him at 410-257-6610 for any fishing items you may need, weather and what's biting. You everyone, Let's show Georgie our support. Pick up your supplies and lets get ready to fish.

Last Month's Raffle Winners:
none reported

50/50: none reprted

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 May are due April 21, 2008
Send to:

Up Coming Events

April 19: 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
June 20-22: MSSA Tunament at
Ocean City MD, Chincoteague &
Wachapreague

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.