KEEP FISHERMEN FISHING!!!!
by Robin
http://www.fishnet-usa.com/KFF_Release1.pdf
U.S. Coastal Fishermen to Rally in DC on March 21, 2012.
KFF organizers unite to fix Federal Fisheries Law. Signed into law in 1976, the Magnuson Steven Fisheries Conservation & Management Act has been transformed from its original intent, to conserve our nation's fisher and support our nation's fishermen, into a weapon employed by a handful of megafoundations and anti-fishing ENGOs they support to drive fishermen off the water.
On Feb 24, 2010, United We Fish brought 5,000 recreational, commercial and party/charter vessel owners and folks together in Washington. More than 2 dozen members of the Senate and the House of Representatives took time out from their busy schedule to address the crowd.
The Mar 21 rally wants to unite everyone again under one common message: fair access to the seas.
Most U.S. fisheries are in better shape biologically than they’ve been for a generation or more. In fact, last year NOAA fisheries scientists announced that 84% of U.S. fish stocks studied for fishing activity were not experiencing overfishing as of 2010. However, despite the heavy sacrifices on the part of coastal fishermen, the same federal agency in charge of managing
the resource has been using a broken law to mete out broken promises upon these constituents to ratchet down regulations as fisheries continue to rebuild.
In December 2011, the House Natural Resources Committee held a hearing in which several pieces of legislation to reform Magnuson were heard and debated, providing ample evidence that coastal communities are suffering from the weight of over burdensome regulation due to the rigid statutory definitions written into the federal fisheries law.
For information on how you can get involved in the national rally to help Keep Fishermen Fishing, call 888-564-6732. For more information on the rally as it becomes available, including bus sign-up information and details from the 2010 rally, visit www.keepfishermenfishing.com.
You can also stay up to date with developments via “Keep Fishermen Fishing” on Facebook
and can follow developments on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/FishMarchDC2012.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
PICNIK & PURPLE PORGIES
by Robin
My favorite online photo editing program is shutting down in April. I really loved how I could make purple fish with them. I will need to start saving for the real Photoshop program or something like it.
No more purple porgies. My pictures are going to be so boring!
On the bright side, I made some killer Kingfish dip with a side slap of Kingfish that a friend gave us.
High tide will be hitting early-mid-morning on Wed through Friday. I am trying to get my other fishing lady friends to hit the beaches with me & the kids. I need to fill the freezer with some Pompano while they're in town. Not to mention, it will be 79 degrees out!! Hello?? Spring Break hit in January.
Happy Fishing everyone!
by Robin
My favorite online photo editing program is shutting down in April. I really loved how I could make purple fish with them. I will need to start saving for the real Photoshop program or something like it.
No more purple porgies. My pictures are going to be so boring!
On the bright side, I made some killer Kingfish dip with a side slap of Kingfish that a friend gave us.
High tide will be hitting early-mid-morning on Wed through Friday. I am trying to get my other fishing lady friends to hit the beaches with me & the kids. I need to fill the freezer with some Pompano while they're in town. Not to mention, it will be 79 degrees out!! Hello?? Spring Break hit in January.
Happy Fishing everyone!
Saturday, January 14, 2012
KINGFISH!
by Robin
Jack got a text last night from a coworker who caught extra Kingfish meat. He wanted to know if we wanted a piece to smoke. Are ya kiddin' me?? Of course!
So, it will be here in a couple hours. Not sure when we will smoke it but it will make into some nice tubs of dip.
By the way, the winds have picked up the seas again so we will not be fishing this weekend. That's ok. I need a break, especially after loading 20 tubs of manure from a horse farm over to our garden.
Happy Fishing,
Robin
by Robin
Jack got a text last night from a coworker who caught extra Kingfish meat. He wanted to know if we wanted a piece to smoke. Are ya kiddin' me?? Of course!
So, it will be here in a couple hours. Not sure when we will smoke it but it will make into some nice tubs of dip.
By the way, the winds have picked up the seas again so we will not be fishing this weekend. That's ok. I need a break, especially after loading 20 tubs of manure from a horse farm over to our garden.
Happy Fishing,
Robin
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
1/9/12 No KINGFISH, but some PORGYS
by Robin
We decided that we wouldn't get up pre-dawn to fish due to the full moon, interferring with the early morning bite. It was a decent way to start the morning. An hour extra sleep makes me a happy fisherwoman. Left the driveway at 7:30 and through the port by 8:30. Loaded up with pinfish on Buoy 5. Headed over to 8A reef to slow troll for Kingfish. I mean, dead slow. Barely bumped in gear, slow. We wouldn't want to drown the little guys.
I knew that last Saturday, they were not there on 8A and on Sunday, they were at Pelican Flats, but we did not want to go that far south. We had a plan to do some bottom fishing for porgys in the afternoon after limiting out on Kings in 30 minutes in the morning. HA! - NOT!
An hour goes by and we got nothing on a "barely" troll with live bait off the back. Jack switches up to a faster troll with a rigged & skirted, weighted ballyhoo. Another 30 minutes, nothing. I suggested that he troll away from 8A, towards our porgy "hole". Jack took my advice and we did that. I stayed on the bow, looking for any signs of fish life. Twice, I saw something break the surface & make big splashes. We trolled through that area and still nothing. I found a nice "hump" while trolling & marked it. We pulled in the lines & tried to go back and bottom drop on it. Didn't have much success with that, or possibly, we weren't very patient with refinding it, either.
Knowing we were only 4 miles from the destination, we agreed that it was better to just move onto the known area. Once we got there, somebody else was fishing very close-by. It didn't seem to bother either of us, or the drifts (which were kicking!). They had their spot and we fished ours.
At first, Jack pulled up a spade fish, then a juvenile red snapper. Both were released, in great condition. I was frustrated because I knew there were fish there, tapping my bait, but I wasn't able to hook-up. Jack helped me a little with my technique and then I hit my stride.
Because there are so many closures at this time of year, our goal is to find the smaller reef fish that we are allowed & bring them home. It's plan B compared to the Kings, but it makes for a good panfish dinner.
These guys are called Vermillion Snapper, or as the locals say, Beeliners. This was my first catch and he's a fat one. But, they're closed from Nov to Mar 31st, so he goes back to grow & spawn some more. However, I will be back in April to claim a few for the dinnerplate. They are extremely tasty, as most of the snapper family fish are.
Here is the Vermillion's cousin, the Red Snapper. Red Snapper have been closed for 2 years now. They have been considered overfished, but that is highly contested & debatable amongst fishermen. Let's not go there today. Even with circle hooks, this guy managed to inhale the hook too far to take the time to mess with. They don't like being kept out of the water for too long, so Jack is cutting the line to send him back down ASAP. He was a happy guy. The hook will rust quickly & fall out.
As the hours passed, the type of fish we caught seemed to change. We went from red to spotted! We call these chocolate chip porgies but they're officially known as Whitebone Porgy. Fun-fighting and yet, they're not too much of a challenge either. It's perfect for me since those bigger ones wear me out. The meat is exceptional! So, we kept all 5 of them, that we caught.
This is one of my porgies. Pretty nice size one. I was very thankful that we didn't spend our day weeding through any black sea bass, which are also closed right now. Down by Pelican Flats, you can't get away from them and it is irritating to spend all your energy bringing them up & sending them back down.
Probably, close to 2pm, the bite changed again. Whatever this monster was, he would take my pole and bend it down. I could not turn it towards the boat. Twice, he bit my hook in half!
He even took Jack for a ride during one of the drifts, but Jack was fortunate to get his hook back in one piece. After I took this picture, below, I swapped to a heavier hook and don't you know, the fish never did try again. He either had a sore mouth or knew I was better prepared for him.
The ride back in was beautiful. Flat seas. Warm 79 degree day. Clouds giving me many opportunities for playing with my camera. It was a good time to reflect on the day. Jack did an awesome job of setting us back on the spot every drift, which wasn't very easy. The current was fast and so we only had 1 opportunity to catch something as we passed by the underwater castle. Jack nailed it every set up. Thank you babe!
The last few minutes before entering the port, we got a gorgeous display of God's handiwork. Gorgeous!! I like the orange-pink skies normally, but it was hard not to love the blue/gold one on Monday night.
God Bless & Happy Fishing,
Robin
by Robin
We decided that we wouldn't get up pre-dawn to fish due to the full moon, interferring with the early morning bite. It was a decent way to start the morning. An hour extra sleep makes me a happy fisherwoman. Left the driveway at 7:30 and through the port by 8:30. Loaded up with pinfish on Buoy 5. Headed over to 8A reef to slow troll for Kingfish. I mean, dead slow. Barely bumped in gear, slow. We wouldn't want to drown the little guys.
I knew that last Saturday, they were not there on 8A and on Sunday, they were at Pelican Flats, but we did not want to go that far south. We had a plan to do some bottom fishing for porgys in the afternoon after limiting out on Kings in 30 minutes in the morning. HA! - NOT!
An hour goes by and we got nothing on a "barely" troll with live bait off the back. Jack switches up to a faster troll with a rigged & skirted, weighted ballyhoo. Another 30 minutes, nothing. I suggested that he troll away from 8A, towards our porgy "hole". Jack took my advice and we did that. I stayed on the bow, looking for any signs of fish life. Twice, I saw something break the surface & make big splashes. We trolled through that area and still nothing. I found a nice "hump" while trolling & marked it. We pulled in the lines & tried to go back and bottom drop on it. Didn't have much success with that, or possibly, we weren't very patient with refinding it, either.
Knowing we were only 4 miles from the destination, we agreed that it was better to just move onto the known area. Once we got there, somebody else was fishing very close-by. It didn't seem to bother either of us, or the drifts (which were kicking!). They had their spot and we fished ours.
At first, Jack pulled up a spade fish, then a juvenile red snapper. Both were released, in great condition. I was frustrated because I knew there were fish there, tapping my bait, but I wasn't able to hook-up. Jack helped me a little with my technique and then I hit my stride.
Because there are so many closures at this time of year, our goal is to find the smaller reef fish that we are allowed & bring them home. It's plan B compared to the Kings, but it makes for a good panfish dinner.
These guys are called Vermillion Snapper, or as the locals say, Beeliners. This was my first catch and he's a fat one. But, they're closed from Nov to Mar 31st, so he goes back to grow & spawn some more. However, I will be back in April to claim a few for the dinnerplate. They are extremely tasty, as most of the snapper family fish are.
Here is the Vermillion's cousin, the Red Snapper. Red Snapper have been closed for 2 years now. They have been considered overfished, but that is highly contested & debatable amongst fishermen. Let's not go there today. Even with circle hooks, this guy managed to inhale the hook too far to take the time to mess with. They don't like being kept out of the water for too long, so Jack is cutting the line to send him back down ASAP. He was a happy guy. The hook will rust quickly & fall out.
As the hours passed, the type of fish we caught seemed to change. We went from red to spotted! We call these chocolate chip porgies but they're officially known as Whitebone Porgy. Fun-fighting and yet, they're not too much of a challenge either. It's perfect for me since those bigger ones wear me out. The meat is exceptional! So, we kept all 5 of them, that we caught.
This is one of my porgies. Pretty nice size one. I was very thankful that we didn't spend our day weeding through any black sea bass, which are also closed right now. Down by Pelican Flats, you can't get away from them and it is irritating to spend all your energy bringing them up & sending them back down.
Probably, close to 2pm, the bite changed again. Whatever this monster was, he would take my pole and bend it down. I could not turn it towards the boat. Twice, he bit my hook in half!
He even took Jack for a ride during one of the drifts, but Jack was fortunate to get his hook back in one piece. After I took this picture, below, I swapped to a heavier hook and don't you know, the fish never did try again. He either had a sore mouth or knew I was better prepared for him.
The ride back in was beautiful. Flat seas. Warm 79 degree day. Clouds giving me many opportunities for playing with my camera. It was a good time to reflect on the day. Jack did an awesome job of setting us back on the spot every drift, which wasn't very easy. The current was fast and so we only had 1 opportunity to catch something as we passed by the underwater castle. Jack nailed it every set up. Thank you babe!
The last few minutes before entering the port, we got a gorgeous display of God's handiwork. Gorgeous!! I like the orange-pink skies normally, but it was hard not to love the blue/gold one on Monday night.
God Bless & Happy Fishing,
Robin
Monday, January 02, 2012
Lures & Flys (or is that flies?)
by Robin
Seas are going up to the 12 ft range and gale force winds expected to show up at midnight. Yuck! The good news is that we may have low seas again next weekend. Cross your fingers, eyes, toes and make your puppies say their prayers!
In the meantime, Jack bought some more lead & circle hooks today. He was tying little "flys" (or is that flies?) on the backside of them so we could go catch a bunch more trigger & porgy next time out.
He also discovered a nasty smell in his lure bag. Somebody (that would be me) left some squid on a jig and it sat for close to 72 hrs, in the lure bag, and was quite ripe! Massive cleanout ensued. Jack cleaned his lures while he was also cleaning the bag & lure boxes. Good task to do in the winter while we're in-between those cold fronts.
My glow-in-the dark jig on the left was the culprit for the BIG STINK!
God bless & stay indoors! Florida is going to be near freezing temps this week.
Robin
by Robin
Seas are going up to the 12 ft range and gale force winds expected to show up at midnight. Yuck! The good news is that we may have low seas again next weekend. Cross your fingers, eyes, toes and make your puppies say their prayers!
In the meantime, Jack bought some more lead & circle hooks today. He was tying little "flys" (or is that flies?) on the backside of them so we could go catch a bunch more trigger & porgy next time out.
He also discovered a nasty smell in his lure bag. Somebody (that would be me) left some squid on a jig and it sat for close to 72 hrs, in the lure bag, and was quite ripe! Massive cleanout ensued. Jack cleaned his lures while he was also cleaning the bag & lure boxes. Good task to do in the winter while we're in-between those cold fronts.
My glow-in-the dark jig on the left was the culprit for the BIG STINK!
God bless & stay indoors! Florida is going to be near freezing temps this week.
Robin
Sunday, January 01, 2012
NYE Fishing trip
with Mike & Helen
by Robin
First, I have to thank our lovely hosts for the gift of the all-expense paid fishing trip aboard their sportfishing boat. It was their anniversary gift to us. Thank you! That was so sweet of you to treat us like that. (Jack and I have been married for 19 yrs!)
This is a photographic timeline of the majority of our day. I didn't even come close to capturing the hundreds of fish that were caught & toss back into the ocean. We spent the morning in rough seas, so my focus was staying on my feet and not rolling over the side of the boat. ha ha. I was also busy catching a lot of fish once I decided to cut my losses with my favorite jig and go to hook & dead bait.
Enjoy these pics.
Bizarre glitch when uploading. Won't go away. Sorry.
Ran through a pod of 50+ dolphin. So much fun to be surrounded by dolphin!
I'm not certain this was the first stop or two. We were having trouble holding the boat over the fishing spots because the current & wind were ripping hard.
Red Snapper, Vermillion Snapper & Black Sea bass are under closures. All fish were released unharmed to repopulate the ocean. Helen had a HUGE Vermillion at one point. Wish I had a pic to prove it.
Jack's trigger was 17" when I measured it at home. Biggest one of the day.
This was Mike's monster black sea bass (although there were so many).
We were waiting to pull into the parking slip.
Jack was not very patient with me wanting to capture a cooler shot. By the time I got back on the boat, half the fish were gone already. So, this is what was left for Mike & Helen to take home. That was Helen's nice trigger. We also had a mess o' Chocolate Chip Porgys.
This was Jack's trigger, fried up and on the plate by 6:35. So delicious! And fresh!
I'll add stories through the week, as time permits. I just had some free time tonight to work on the pictures part of it.
We're about to have a massive cold front & gale force winds tomorrow night. However, it is possible that the seas will lay back down by next weekend. Only time will tell.
Happy Fishing (& catching for many of you who caught your grouper before the season closure)
Robin
with Mike & Helen
by Robin
First, I have to thank our lovely hosts for the gift of the all-expense paid fishing trip aboard their sportfishing boat. It was their anniversary gift to us. Thank you! That was so sweet of you to treat us like that. (Jack and I have been married for 19 yrs!)
This is a photographic timeline of the majority of our day. I didn't even come close to capturing the hundreds of fish that were caught & toss back into the ocean. We spent the morning in rough seas, so my focus was staying on my feet and not rolling over the side of the boat. ha ha. I was also busy catching a lot of fish once I decided to cut my losses with my favorite jig and go to hook & dead bait.
Enjoy these pics.
Bizarre glitch when uploading. Won't go away. Sorry.
Ran through a pod of 50+ dolphin. So much fun to be surrounded by dolphin!
I'm not certain this was the first stop or two. We were having trouble holding the boat over the fishing spots because the current & wind were ripping hard.
Red Snapper, Vermillion Snapper & Black Sea bass are under closures. All fish were released unharmed to repopulate the ocean. Helen had a HUGE Vermillion at one point. Wish I had a pic to prove it.
Jack's trigger was 17" when I measured it at home. Biggest one of the day.
This was Mike's monster black sea bass (although there were so many).
We were waiting to pull into the parking slip.
Jack was not very patient with me wanting to capture a cooler shot. By the time I got back on the boat, half the fish were gone already. So, this is what was left for Mike & Helen to take home. That was Helen's nice trigger. We also had a mess o' Chocolate Chip Porgys.
This was Jack's trigger, fried up and on the plate by 6:35. So delicious! And fresh!
I'll add stories through the week, as time permits. I just had some free time tonight to work on the pictures part of it.
We're about to have a massive cold front & gale force winds tomorrow night. However, it is possible that the seas will lay back down by next weekend. Only time will tell.
Happy Fishing (& catching for many of you who caught your grouper before the season closure)
Robin
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