The Lure Fish Can't Refuse

I'm wondering about the original balsa floating Rapala.  Do you use them much and which size is your favorite? My first one was a #7 in gold/black. My first memorable day bass fishing (other than my very first bass) was using this lure and killing them casting into the shallows with an ultralite rod. This was in the mid seventies.

a few years later, I met up with an old friend from school, and he was using a longer, 3 treble hook silver/black..size 11 think but it could have been a 13. He looped the the line around the front hook so it would turn on it's side when he twitched it. I was impressed with the quanity and size of the bass he was catching that day. He said it was the only lure he used, and for some time after that it was about the only lure I used as well.

Now I don't use them as often, sometimes I never tie one on during an outing, although I always have some with me. I still have a special feeling for this lure, and will always remember fish I've caught with them. For those of you too young to remember, there was a look or life magazine article about this lure back in the 60s, titled "the lure fish can't refuse. My uncle was the first person I knew who used one, and he killed them on our local lake and I was really impressed, and saved my money and purchased my #7 gold/black which I still have 40 some years later. Back then, we used pre-rigged plastic worms during the day, jitterbugs late evenings, and Rapalas. If we wanted to try for the "king of freshwater", the northern pike we would tie on a Mepps. Well, this was my first exposure to bass fishing which I still have fond memories of.

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Michigan to hold free <b>fishing</b> weekend June 9-10

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan is throwing open its lakes, rivers and streams to free fishing for one weekend next month.

The Department of Natural Resources is holding its annual free fishing weekend on June 9 and 10. Residents and nonresidents of the state will be able to fish without a license, although other fishing regulations will apply.

DNR officials say that Michigan's 3,000 miles of Great Lakes shoreline, 36,000 miles of rivers and 11,000 inland lakes make it a natural place for anglers. Director Rodney Stokes says the state has "some of the finest freshwater fishing in the world."

The state has offered the free fishing weekend annually since 1986.

More information on activities and events is available online at www.michigan.gov/freefishing.

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Walleye pro Takasaki says Lake Erie is a great walleye lake, and destined to <b>...</b>

D'Arcy Egan, The Plain DealerPro walleye angler Ted Takasaki has a net full of Lake Erie walleye while on a pre-tournament scouting trip for the National Guard FLW Walleye Tour tournament event that wraps up today with a weigh-in in Port Clinton.

 CATAWBA ISLAND

 Pro walleye angler Ted Takasaki fishes for a living, favoring the waters where trophy walleye can be caught. Lake Erie may be in a down cycle right now, but it is still one of his favorite fishing holes.

 "Lake Erie is the best in the Midwest," said Takasaki, 54, of Sioux Falls, S.D., as he guided his boat over the wide, open waters of Western Lake Erie on Tuesday afternoon, preparing for the National Guard FLW Walleye Tour tournament here. "The really big walleye we're used to catching are a little harder to find right now. In three or four years, the 3- to 6-pound walleye we've been consistently hooking today will grow to be the new batch of 10-pounders.

 "Lake Erie is still an awesome fishery, and it will only get better."

 Takasaki knows big walleye. He set the one-day record for a tournament limit of five walleye, weighing a 53.2-pound catch in a Professional Walleye Trail spring tournament on Lake Erie in 2002. Takasaki also painfully remembers he didn't win the tournament. Tommy Skarlis of Waukon, Ia. did, with 15 walleye over three days weighing 138.28 pounds.

 "No tournament lead is safe on Lake Erie," Takasaki said, with a wry grin. "Even this year."

 Takasaki won the Professional Walleye Trail Championship in 1998, and captured an FLW event on the Mississippi River at Red Wing, Minn., in 2009. His name is almost always close to the top of the leader board. These days he's especially dangerous in tournament action because he has simplified his life, focusing on fishing after more than a decade as president of the Lindy Little Joe fishing tackle company in Brainerd, Minn.

 "Fishing is now my primary occupation," said Takasaki, a member of the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame. "In the winter, I work with my sponsors, appear at outdoor shows, appear on television fishing shows and go ice fishing a lot. When the tournament season rolls around, I go fishing."

 Lake Erie has changed quite a bit over the past two decades, said Takasaki.

 "Trolling techniques are important now because the water is so much clearer than in 1991, when I fished my first Lake Erie tournament, and the schools of walleye are more scattered," he said. "It's critical to use planer boards to cover more water and to take the lures away from the sight and sound of the boat. Lure colors are more subtle, with lots of purples and pinks instead of the hot colors, or the blue-silver and black-silver lures that had worked for years."

 Trying to solve this week's walleye puzzle was the reason Ed Piekutowski of Moorhead, Minn. was aboard with us for the day of fishing. A regular in the co-angler division of the FLW tournaments, Piekutowski was handy at putting out lures and reeling in walleye, and allowed us to troll with six fishing rods instead of just four, the limit for two fishermen.

 This week's FLW tournament has attracted a large field of 244 fishermen in the pro and co-angler divisions because of the lure of Lake Erie's trophy walleye.
"Fishermen around the country have a good idea of what Lake Erie is all about," said Takasaki. "The guys all want to come here to experience the fantastic fishing and, hopefully, land the biggest walleye of their careers."

 Lake Erie isn't always fun and games.

 "Lake Erie is a huge lake, and the weather often comes into play," Takasaki said. "When the wind blows, this can be a very tough place to fish. There's always a chance we'll be sidelined for a day or two by bad weather."

 Not this year. While the big waters were bumpy at times this week, the weather forecast for today's final FLW Walleye Tour round is sunny and pleasant, with a southerly breeze almost guaranteeing heavy limits of walleye at today's weigh-in at the Walmart store in Port Clinton. The parade of walleye to the scales begins at 4 p.m.

Precision trolling is a key to Takasaki's walleye success

D'Arcy Egan, The Plain DealerPro walleye angler Ted Takasaki is perched on the back deck of his fishing boat, controlling the outboard trolling motor with one hand and the bow-mounted electric motor via a remote control with the other hand. The combination provides precision trolling speeds and direction, keys to Takasaki's walleye fishing success. 

 Ted Takasaki has been one of the most consistent professional walleye anglers in America. His secret is to fish with precision, using space-age tools to his advantage.

 "A good GPS (global positioning system) is a must," Takasaki said. "It guides me to the locations where I've been catching walleye, or where I think the bite will be good. The unit tells me how fast I'm trolling, even at very slow speeds. When a walleye bites, I can mark that hot spot by recording the waypoint on my GPS so I can return to it, and troll over it again at the exact speed and with the same lure that worked before."

 A sophisticated sonar unit is needed to pinpoint at exactly what depth the walleye are swimming below the boat.

 To fine tune a slow trolling speed, Takasaki combines a bow-mounted electric motor and 10-horsepower gasoline-powered outboard, located on the transom next to his 250-horsepower outboard. The electric motor provides both speed and direction. It is designed to stay on a designated course, but its direction can also be controlled from anywhere on the boat with a hand-held remote.

 Choosing Lake Erie trolling lures is an art form. Some days, walleye prefer spinners combined with nightcrawlers. On other days a minnow-style diving plug will catch more walleye or bigger fish.

 Takasaki's five keys to walleye success, in order of importance, are:

 Location: You've first got to find the schools of big walleye in order to catch them. Depth: Walleye can be found close to the lake bottom, suspended just under the surface, or anywhere in between. The closer to the surface they are, the more likely they'll be feeding.  Speed: Walleye are notoriously finicky, often ignoring a lure swimming just a little too slow or slightly too fast.

4.   Lure Action: Brands or models of lures perform differently. You've got to experiment to let the walleye tell you their lure preference that day.

5.  Lure Color: There's a reason Takasaki has hundreds of lures packed into a myriad of boxes on his boat. There's often a lure or two that can't be beat on any given day of fishing.

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Outdoors Report for the Week of May 13

By Lee Tolliver
The Virginian-Pilot
© May 12, 2012

The Virginia Saltwater Fishing Tournament has announced its newest Master and Expert anglers from the 2011 fishing year.

Eleven anglers earned Master Level I status for registering 25 citations since the program began in 1996. Anglers must have a minimum of five species each year and a maximum of one per species per year.

The new Masters are: Stephen Grimes of Hampton, Bob Lee of Portsmouth, Jody Linthicum of Poquoson, Kevin Whaley of Norfolk, Michael Gray of Midlothian, Mark Ashton of Chesapeake, Susan Smith of Virginia Beach, Randy Price of Norfolk, Dave Wineman of Suffolk, George Jones of Virginia Beach and Stephen Martin of Williamsburg.

Two anglers earned Level II status for reaching the 50 citation mark. They are:

Brandon Bartlett of Yorktown and David Barnhart of Virginia Beach. Jamal Esfanhani of Virginia Beach reached Level III with 75 citations.

Rob Collins of Norfolk reached 100 citations to make Level IV.

To become an Expert, anglers must register at least six citations of different species in a one-year span. Anglers can earn Expert as many years as they want.

The 2011 Experts are: Jamal Esfahani, Julie Ball, David Barnhart, David Cohn, Beth Synowiec, George Jones, Nathan Walker, Neal Taylor and Roger Burnley, all of Virginia Beach; Jody Linthicum and Charles Southall, of Poquoson; Ken Neill of Seaford; Brandon Bartlett, Rick Wineman and David Jenkins of Yorktown; Dave Wineman of Suffolk; Wally Veal and Wes Blow of Newport News; Rob Collins and Jeremy Raynal of Norfolk; and Stephen Martin of Williamsburg. Esfanhani registered the most species of any angler in 2011 with 12 – seven captures and five releases. Ball was second with 11 – two captures and nine releases.

PUBLIC HEARING

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission will hold a public hearing May 22 to discuss potential changes to several fisheries rules.

Changes to tautog limits will be the most important aspect to the recreational angling community.

Current regulations include a closed season from April 16 through Sept. 23, a 3-fish limit and 16-inch minimum size. The proposed change is to open the season on Aug. 1 and increase the bag limit to four fish for the remainder of 2012.

Comments can be sent to Rob O’Reilly, VMRC Fisheries Management Division, 2600 Washington Ave., Newport News, Va., 23607.

The public hearing on May 22 will begin at noon in the VMRC’s fourth floor board room located at 2600 Washington Ave., in Newport News.

FAWN TIME

This is the time of year when doe give birth to their young – known as fawns.

Many times after birth, the mother will leave her fawn alone for extended periods of time while see feeds to maintain her strength while feeding her young.

They also spend time away from their babies to keep predators away from the fawns.

Unfortunately, many people see the fawn alone and think it has been abandoned. Animal wildlife groups receive dozens of fawns every year.

More often than not, the fawn has not been abandoned and is nearby. This type of activity takes place usually through the end of July.

Game department officials annual urge the public to leave the fawn along and give it a wide berth, and resist the urge to “rescue” the animal.

CHARITY BASSIN’

The 11th annual Steve Gambill Cancer Classic freshwater fishing tournament will be held June 10 out of West Landing Marina in southern Virginia Beach on the banks of the North Landing River.

There are divisions for largemouth bass only, and open for bass, crappie and catfish combined weight. Registration for each is $25 for adults and $15 for juniors.

Fishing is from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., followed by a weigh-in, awards ceremony and cookout.

For more information, contact Chris Vitovich at cvitovich@daparak.com or go to: www.cancerclassic.org

MORE BASSIN’

The bass clubs of Virginia Region Seven will hold a Wounded Warrior Bass Fishing tournament on June 3 out of Munden Point Park in southern Virginia Beach.

The tournament will pair 50 Wounded Warrior participants with 50 local largemouth bass fishermen in a tournament, followed by a picnic, music, prizes and family activities.

Region Seven officials are looking for sponsorships to help with the event.

For more information, call Randy Trout at 757-320-7465.

BLUEWATER SEASON OPENER

The mid-Atlantic billfish tournament season gets under way May 15-19 with the 18th annual Hatteras Village Offshore Open out of Hatteras Village.

The event also is the first in the seven-tournament series known as the North Carolina Governor’s Cup Saltwater Fishing Tournament. The HVOO is one of only two Cup events held along the northern portion of the coast. The Pirate’s Cove Billfish Tournament in August is the other, and the final event in the Cup series.

The HVOO has grown from 25 boats and a $3,000 prize to 64 boats and $144,000 total purse.

Fishing in the HVOO is any three of the four days. There are several entry levels which determine prize money.

Teams will be able to weigh fish at several North Carolina inlets – Oregon, Hatteras, Ocracoke, or Beaufort. State certified scales will be located at Pirate’s Cove Marina, Hatteras Harbor Marina and Big Rock Landing in Morehead City.

Tournament festivities will take place at the Hatteras Village Civic Center.

For more information, go to www.hvoo.org

RESULTS

From the Flounder Bowl held out of the Peninsula: 1. Paige II with Capt. Craig Paige, 25.23 total pounds, $11,000; 2. Healthy Grin, 21.28; 3. High Point, 19.82.  

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Pegs aplenty on busy stretch of Shepway shoreline

TWO local sea angling clubs clashed in a turf war on the Shepway shoreline when Seabrook Sea Angling Association pegged a section of beach behind competitors already fishing the Fountain Sea Angling Club rover, writes Alan Yates.

It is normal practice those pegging events peg around anglers already fishing on the beach.

In the event the dispute was settled amicably and both clubs went on to catch plenty of fish.

The Fountain event was won by Hythe angler John Wells, who was fishing at Sandgate beach, close to the rocks, where he landed 16 dogfish for 8.472kg.

Those fishing nearby featured in the top places and all the winners came from the Sandgate beach stretch. Second was Sam Warne with 7.034kg and third Michael Warne with 8.808kg.

The Seabrook SAA event was won by the club's new competition secretary John Smith, from Ashford, who landed nine fish for 6.35lb. The club operate a catch-and-release policy for dogfish that are awarded 1lb and returned. Other local clubs should also look at this idea to save the senseless slaughter of dogfish that are unwanted by anglers. Second was Dorian Partridge, of Seabrook, with 5.25lb and third Cliff Sharpe, of Hythe, with 5.10lb.

The heaviest fish was a whiting of 0.6lb for Partridge and the most fish was 18 for Cliff Sharp.

THE big bass continue to show at Dungeness with a 12lb 12oz specimen landed by visiting angler Andrew Rock, who travelled from Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire, to fish Kent's famous sea-angling hotspot. The fish was landed on a large frozen sand eel and was officially weighed at Seagull Tackle by Tony Hills.

Martin Walter Sea Angling Club held their 2011 annual presentation at the Stripes Club with 37 trophies won by members. The big winner was Folkestone angler Rowan Lee, who won 12 trophies including those for the biggest eel, pollack, over-50s, late night rover, Away Cup, Pier Cup and Willis Memorial Cup.

SEA angling competitions coming up include a Dover Sea Angling Association Saturday Series event this weekend. Pre-book with Saul Page on 07971 172427.

Other major events coming up include the Kent Classic Open at Herne Bay on May 20, fishing 10am until 3pm. Call 01227 362127 for details.

FRESHWATER results include the latest Cinque Ports Angling Society match fished in the Royal Military Canal. Winner was Neil West, of Hythe, with two large bream in his net totalling 3.30kg

ASHFORD Angling Society held their first match of the season on their match lake at Surrenden. Winner was Bob Murphy who weighed in a net of chub, barbel, skimmer bream and roach for 15lb 13oz

JAMES PEARCE caught a massive 28lb 6oz mirror carp at Sholden near Deal.

IF you have caught a big fish, won a match, freshwater or sea, why not let us know about it. Contact Alan Yates on 01303 250017, 07790 132656 or e-mail alankyates@aol.com.

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<b>Fishing</b> for trout information

Lyne Water Trout released by Shaun Robertson who worked at the Tweed Foundation Fish Conservation Centre.

Published on Friday 11 May 2012 07:14

ANGLERS in the Borders are being urged to take part in a new online recording project in an effort to help finally unravel the mystery of what is happening with brown trout populations in the Tweed catchment.

The Scottish Fisheries Co-ordination Centre (SFCC) is an association of fisheries trusts, district salmon fishery boards, the Scottish Government and others involved in the management of the country’s freshwater fisheries.

Its Angling Diary is designed to overcome the problems of paper angling diaries and logbooks by making a single online document (www.anglingdiary.org.uk).

It is free to use and anglers can record information on it, which they can choose to keep private or share as a valuable angling and biological community resource.

Fisheries biologists such as those at the Tweed Foundation are excited at the prospect of, for the first time, having a reliable supply of continuous angling data to help discover more about brown trout populations in the Borders.

Among them are Tweed Foundation senior biologist Dr Ron Campbell and his colleague, Kenny Galt – who is in the unique position of being Scotland’s only full-time trout and grayling biologist.

Until now the foundation’s only real window on how trout numbers have fared over the generations has been the patchy historical competition records of angling clubs and associations.

“Occasionally, you get a good series when someone’s kept a series of records well and you can see the effect changes in regulations have on catches,” said Ron. “But without records, it’s all just anecdotal. That’s where the national online angling diary scheme – which foundation assistant biologist James Hunt has been involved in helping set up – comes in.

“The advantage from our point of view is that if anglers opt to share their information, we get to see the data. Salmon fisheries have to keep records by law, so there’s lots of records for that because it is a commercial business. But that’s not the case for brown trout and there’s just a black hole as far as data is concerned.”

Dr Campbell says recent surveys of trout spawning grounds have shown them, with a few odd exceptions, all to be “stuffed” with trout fry. “The thing is we don’t know if these are going to be brown trout or sea trout.

“That’s the biggest puzzle. We hear all these complaints from anglers on the one hand [about trout fishing being much poorer than it was], but all these burns are stuffed with trout fry on the other hand. So what’s the story? That’s our main focus.”

He hopes the advent of new techniques enabling the chemical composition of trout fry to be determined will help solve this riddle. “We’re doing the chemical analysis for Napier University and are looking for funding at moment to start mapping the Tweed catchment on a large scale. So instead of just saying there’s all these trout fry, we can start to find out whether they are sea or brown trout.”

While fishing techniques and even the reasons for angling have changed over the years, so has life in the river. As part of his role, Kenny recently repeated a fly life survey carried out by Edinburgh University in 1974.

Although the data is not finalised, he says it is fairly obvious fly life has changed and that those changes will have led to other changes in the river.

“ It is most likely due to temperature changes because the river’s getting warmer. And if fly life is changing, who knows in what ways the fish are changing. Changes in the natural environment mean those things living in it change too.

“Trout have always been so common that people have taken them for granted. But trout is the fish that needs the most research work done on it, and yet is probably the one which has had the least done.”

Today

Light rain

Temperature: 4 C to 10 C

Wind Speed: 33 mph

Wind direction: South west

Tomorrow

Thunderstorm

Temperature: 4 C to 12 C

Wind Speed: 22 mph

Wind direction: South west

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Tiny fish: Castleberry's Jordan Creek is full of native treasure

A tiny spotted bass, a few months old, is a perfect miniature of its parents. Ken Weathers, an Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries biologist, spent three days sampling creeks around Evergreen as part of a study of the health of the state's waterways. The group caught two dozen species of fish in a two hours in Jordan Creek, which is a few feet across. This bass was one of the largest. (Press-Register/Ben Raines)

CASTLEBERRY, Alabama -- While most anglers would bemoan a day spent catching nothing but tiny fish, the group fishing in a tributary of Murder Creek was ebullient.

Never mind that the biggest fish of the day was a spotted bass not quite three inches long.

The day was dedicated to finding out what lived in Jordan Creek, a task carried out by a team of biologists armed with dip nets, a seine, and an electric fish shocking machine toted in a backpack.

Wearing rubber waders to guard against the jolt delivered by the electroshock machine, which temporarily stuns the fish, the scientists catalogued two dozen species living in a 600-foot stretch of the creek.

There were pirate perch and longear sunfish, a half-dozen kinds of shiners -- including black tailed, black tipped, and longnose -- and a seemingly endless variety of jewel-colored darters.

The darters -- streamlined fish that live in fast-moving riffles -- ranged from the flamboyant speckled darter, which sports alternating bands of turquoise and orange along its flanks, to the bland but rare Choctawhatchee darter, which is the color of sand.

The diversity in these waters mirrors that seen across the rest of Alabama, which has more species of freshwater fish, turtles, snails, mussels and crayfish than any other state.

But that diversity is under siege from a growing list of threats, including subdivisions, logging, industrial pollution, increasing population and agriculture.

Hence the Jordan Creek expedition, more formally known as an index of biotic integrity.

Essentially, the scientists are checking the health of the state’s streams by recording what lives in them, including fish, crawfish, mussels, snails and turtles. The scientists catch fish in 30 locations along each stream, 10 riffle habitats, 10 slow runs, and 10 deeper pools. Then they run the shocking machine along the edges of the creek banks for 250 feet, scooping everything that floats up.

This speckled darter, about an inch and a half long, was one of two dozen species caught in Jordan Creek on Tuesday. Alabama has more species of freshwater fish than any other state, with 345 species. The darters are among the most diverse groups in the state. Some, like this orange and turquoise specimen, glitter like jewels in the water. (Press-Register/Ben Raines)

Most of the fish survive the shocking and capture with no apparent harm.

“Based on the samples, we can determine the biological condition of the stream, whether it is good, fair, poor or excellent,” said Pat O’Neil, director of the ecosystems investigation program for the Geological Survey of Alabama. “It’s a way of boiling down the complex ideas of species presence and abundance, and other factors.”

Streams that end up listed as poor in the ranking system are typically threatened by heavy loads of sediment or agricultural fertilizers flowing into them. Often, the streamside vegetation has been removed, either during logging or farming activities.

For the streams labeled poor, the state plans to focus resources on restoring the habitat, including, in some cases, restocking some of the tiny native species.

O’Neil, like all fish scientists, marvels at the unparalleled diversity in Alabama’s waterways. He said it stems in part from the fact that Alabama simply has more water per square mile of land than any other state.

“Combine that with all the diverse geology and diverse aquatic habitats we have and it leads to diverse fauna,” O’Neil said.

Just as important, O’Neil said, is the fact that Alabama escaped the ravages of the glaciers that scraped across most of what is now the U.S. during the last ice age.

“When you have stable environments that have escaped sea level change and the glaciers, then, with time, we’re talking millions of years, evolution can proceed forward at pretty rapid rates and you get a lot of speciation,” O’Neil said. “That’s what happened in Alabama, particularly in the Mobile River basin. That area has been that way for 200 million years.”

Often, the distinction between some of the state’s hundreds of fish species can be as small as “a speck, or a fleck of color, or a little line” that shows up on one species, but not another, he said.

Wading through the clear streams around Castleberry and Evergreen, most of which feed into Murder Creek, is to step into a world most people in the state never encounter. Dense vegetation overhangs the banks. Limestone outcroppings pockmarked with fist-size holes and riddled with fossils rise up from pebbled stream bottoms.

Ken Weathers and Pat O'Neil handle a seine net in Jordan Creek, scooping up fish stunned by the electroshock machine on the back of Rob Andress. Jennifer Pritchett, in the center of the picture, scoops up any fish that try to slip past the net. The team of biologists caught two dozen species of fish in the creek, which would be a stunning number of species in any other state. Alabama has more species of freshwater fish, mussels, turtles, snails and crayfish than all other states. (Press-Register/Ben Raines)

Hundreds of snails carpet the algae growing in the fast and shallow riffles, and half-dollar sized turtles sun on logs poking up from the water in the slow runs. In nearby Hunter Creek, which is about three feet wide, the scientists found an old alligator snapping turtle shell large enough for a child to bathe in.

Three teams worked the Murder Creek watershed this week, including scientists from the Geological Survey, the state division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. A total of 25 locations were sampled.

Surprisingly, many of the streams had been invaded by a small clam native to Asia. But for the most part, the waters were rich in native species, including hogchokers, a flounder, and American eels, which journey hundreds of miles, from tiny inland streams to the open ocean, to spawn.

At the end of the day, O’Neil said that Jordan Creek, where the group sampled Tuesday afternoon, was in pretty good shape.

“I would rate this site as fair to good. There were some unique habitats even in this little stream,” O’Neil said. “We’re seeing a lot of that. We have a lot of good, healthy waters.” 

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Women's "fishing University" opens doors

If you go

For those who missed the recent “Ladies, Let’s Go Fishing!” seminar in Dania Beach, two more are slated in 2012: May?18-20 in Stuart; and Nov.?9-11 in Islamorada. Call 954-475-9068 or go to ladiesletsgofishing.com.

Sue Fields Tolliver wants a hobby to de-stress from graduate school at Nova Southeastern University. Belinda Martin would like to go trolling offshore aboard her 23-foot boat in the Turks & Caicos Islands. Kathryn Feanny of Fort Lauderdale wants to spend more quality time with her husband.

The three women were among 50 who attended a recent “Ladies, Let’s Go Fishing!” weekend saltwater seminar in Dania Beach. The seminar series, now in its 16th year, is the brainchild of Fort Lauderdale marketing executive Betty Bauman. Billed as the women’s “fishing university;” and the “no-yelling” school of fishing, it has drawn about 6,000 women of all ages who want to learn more about sport fishing in a friendly, noncompetitive environment.

“We get a lot of people who never fished before,” Bauman said. “They need somebody to open the door and give them a helping hand.”

The recent Dania seminar was a three-day affair with a welcome party, a day full of lectures, demonstrations and hands-on skill stations, followed by a half-day fishing adventure.

Students learned basics from captain Lee Lavery — such as the differences between conventional and spinning gear; various effective baits; and why a five-gallon bucket is a vital piece of equipment to carry on a boat.

“You never want to go fishing without a bucket,” Lavery said. “If you need to tinkle, use the bucket. Buckets are 12 inches across; you can measure your yellowtail across the bucket — and it carries a lot of things.”

The women learned about the addictive powers of inshore fishing from part-time captain Lou Volpe.

“I am warning you ladies that you are sliding down a slippery slope,” Volpe said, half-joking. “A lot of family occasions were missed by me because it was good weather for fishing. Fly-fishing is another drug. I’m trying to limit my crazy.”

And captain Tony DiGuilian told the women — after explaining elementary offshore trolling tactics: “Get as much information as you can from events like this. Start with one thing and get pretty good at it before you go on to the next thing. There’s very little luck in fishing. The people who really work at it are the most successful at it. You can be just as good or better than men. Women compete in tournaments all around the world and beat the men’s butts on a consistent basis.”

After lunch and a fishing fashion show, the women divided into smaller groups and visited skill stations where they used various hand-held devices for releasing fish alive; rigged bally hoo for trolling; threw a cast net to catch live bait; learned how to cast spinning and fly rods; tied several kinds of fishing knots; practiced gaffing a fish using a floating grapefruit; and learned how to back a boat on a trailer safely down a ramp, and how to drive and dock the boat.

Tolliver was glad to learn the difference between circle hooks — which hook a fish in the corner of the mouth — and j-hooks, which can injure fish from becoming stuck in their throats or gills. The knowledge is important for releasing unwanted or undersized fish unharmed.

“I plan to go to the piers and Lake Okeechobee,” the doctoral student in trauma psychology said. “I need activities that are de-stressing to me, and I love fishing.”

Tolliver said she grew up fishing in freshwater, but she didn’t learn much because her mother baited her hook, tied knots and handled the fish.

“All I did was reel it in,” she said.

Tolliver said her husband isn’t interested in fishing, but “I think if I’m bringing home eating fish, he will want to come.”

The women looked to be making good progress at the skill stations.

With some instruction from Chuck Baldwin, Martin successfully gaffed a grapefruit bobbing in the canal outside I.T Parker Community Center where the seminar was held.

“I thought it would be a lot harder than it actually was for the first time,” Martin said.

An organizer of fishing tournaments in the Turks & Caicos Islands, Martin says she frequently gets invited on offshore big-game trolling trips.

“The guys like to take me, but they won’t teach me fishing,” she said. “We go out and everything is done. They’ve already chosen the lures and the bait.”

Bauman doesn’t expect women to emerge from her seminars as angling experts. But she hopes they build confidence and become more effective fishing team members.

“When they’re done with us, they’re more confident, going to a tackle shop and saying, ‘I’d like to buy this lure to catch a mackerel,’?” Bauman said. “If the lady can do a bit more and is part of the team, tying on her own hooks, she gets more respect.”

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At the latest ‘Ladies, Let’s Go Fishing’ seminar in Dania Beach, 50 women learned about angling in a friendly environment. 1336885243

Team Sanya got here Saturday and will rejoin the race after missing two legs and undergoing repairs in Georgia. 1336885243

Last year, Tropically Impaired won the Showdown Crown by gaining the most points in the three-tournament series comprised of the Saltwater Shootout, Saltwater Slam and Saltwater Showdown. 1336885242

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Vermont&#39;s <b>fishing</b> lore hooks visitors

If the Baseball Hall of Fame belongs in Cooperstown, N.Y., and the Horse Racing Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., then perhaps it is justice that brings the American Museum of Fly Fishing to Manchester, Vt.

The Orvis Co. originated in Manchester in 1856, and it is recognized as having been instrumental in promoting fly fishing in the United States and making it a widely popular recreational activity, as well as contributing greatly to the study and refinement of the pastime.

The museum was founded in 1968 with the mission to "promote an understanding of and appreciation for the history, traditions and practitioners of the sport of fly fishing."

Having compiled a collection of artifacts numbering in the tens of thousands dating back five centuries, and the world's largest collection of publications on fishing topics, the museum is the only one specializing in fishing that has been accredited by the American Association of Museums.

Now in its third location in Manchester, the museum is housed in a renovated early 19th-century farmhouse. Adjacent to Orvis's flagship store and fly-fishing school, it is a worthwhile voyage for seasoned anglers and beginners alike. It takes no more than half a day to cover the museum thoroughly, so a visit fits nicely within a variety of Manchester-area itineraries.

The coming of fishing season every spring may be heralded as a grand tradition in male bonding, but the sport has seen enormous contributions from women as well. The current exhibit, A Graceful Rise: Women in Fly Fishing Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, pays tribute to the key roles women have played. The exhibit runs through the end of 2012.

Women's importance in the sport rises to the level of legendary in the person of Dame Juliana Berners, a nun believed by some to be the author of the 15th-century publication The Treatyse of Fysshynge with an Angle, the earliest-known printed fishing guide. Berners's existence remains unconfirmed, and is doubted by most scholars. Yet the myth of a fly-fishing nun spreading the word about angling will forever be part of the sport's lore.

More locally and recently, Mary Orvis Marbury gained acclaim by managing the fly-tying operations for her family's company in the late 1800s. Cornelia (Fly Rod) Crosby from Phillips, Maine, began fishing her local waters as a young girl in the 1800s, and become expert enough to earn herself a syndicated column, Fly Rod's Notebook.

Joan Salvato Wulff is an alltime leader in fishing competitions, who once defeated an all-male field in a National Fisherman's Distance Casting event. She won titles for both deep sea and freshwater fishing in the 1960s and 1970s.

The patterning of fishing flies is in itself a craft that has historically been practised by women, and some have gained great renown for their talent. Winifred Ferdon (Winnie) Dette, from Roscoe, N.Y., in the Catskills became one of the most famous flytiers in the United States.

On the British side of the Atlantic, Megan Boyd became so exalted for her mastery that the American Fly Fisher magazine referred to her fly patterns as "the Tiffanies of the 20th century." The handicraft of both Dette and Boyd is showcased, along with that of several other accomplished female flypattern creators.

Sculptures and paintings inspired by fly fishing are also included. Sculptor Debbie Elmer is the creator of Unsung Pioneers: Discovering the Early Women of Fly Fishing, a project honouring prominent women in flyfishing history. A painted plaster sculpture of Winnie Dette from that collection is featured in the exhibit. Several works by Diane Michelin, a Canadian watercolour artist specializing in fly fishing themes, are on display.

Some major female celebrities have been accomplished anglers. A blow-up of a March 1942 Life magazine cover features Hollywood star Ginger Rogers, clad in jeans and fishing gear. The photo was taken at Rogers's Oregon ranch along the Rogue River, where she spent much of her time fishing after her acting days. Television and film actress Heather Thomas can be found casting off a fishing boat in Jackson Hole in one of the exhibit's photos.

The Garner L. Grant Library within the museum contains more than 7,000 volumes. Among the highlights is the angling collection of Esquire magazine co-founder Arthur Gingrich. The library is open to members and to re searchers. A complete collec tion of the museum's quar terly publication, American Fly Fisher, dating back to 1974, is available for review by the general public, and copies of all issues are for sale at the museum gift shop.

The Orvis flagship store next door features fishing and other outdoor gear, as well as a vast array of other gear, including clothing, stuffed animals, pet products and gift items.

The fly-fishing school offers novices two-part lessons that start on the indoor-outdoor trout pond at the store and conclude on a boat on Equinox Pond several kilometres away. More advanced instruction is also available.

Those looking for alternate outdoor activities will find plenty to do in and around Manchester year-round. The town is a gateway for Bromley and Stratton ski areas as well as Vermont's mountain walkway, the Long Trail.

It's also no stranger to bargain shoppers; factory outlets range from The Gap to Polo Ralph Lauren, and include Crabtree & Evelyn and Yankee Candle. There also are many independent stores worth checking out, including Northshire Bookstore, Magic Sleigh Christmas shop and Mother Myrick's Confectionary.

The American Museum of Fly Fishing, 4101 Main St., Manchester, Vt. 802-362-3300; amff.com. Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, closed major holidays. Museum admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children ages 5 to 14, or $10 for a family.

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<b>Fishing</b> the waters around MacDill Air Force Base

By Terry Tomalin, Times Outdoors-Fitness Editor
Terry TomalinTampa Bay Times In Print: Friday, May 11, 2012

TAMPA — Dave Walker acted like a kid on Christmas morning.

"I couldn't sleep at all last night," said the 45-year-old fishing guide. "This is all I could think about."

Walker, born and raised in Tampa, fished the waters off MacDill Air Force Base as a boy and young man. But that changed on Sept. 11, 2001. "They basically shut it down," he said. "I've been waiting more than a decade to get back in."

The waters surrounding one of the busiest Air Force bases in the United States are nothing special. Like most areas of Tampa Bay, you will find mangroves, sea grass and the occasional oyster bar. One thing, however, you won't see is people. The fish on these shallow flats seldom encounter watercraft, except for the occasional research vessel or military patrol boat.

"I've talked to guides who have participated in some of the research over the years," Walker said. "When I asked about the fishing, they say it was so good you don't want to know."

But on April 28 and 29, MacDill, which is home to U.S. Central Command's headquarters, opened the restricted area to anglers for two days of fishing. Fishermen had to apply for a special permit, undergo a security check and then pick one day to fish.

Walker selected Saturday and a midafternoon high tide. When he arrived at the fishing area, there was a long line of deeper-draft, bay boats sitting about a mile from land.

But Walker had borrowed a friend's shallow-running skiff. The "technical" flats boat was designed for fly fishermen and could run in less than a foot of water. So he was able to hug the shoreline and actually "sightfish" to individual trout, redfish and snook.

"This is unbelievable," he said after catching an inshore slam (redfish, trout and snook) in less than an hour. "It is like these fish have never seen a hook before."

The fish definitely were not as wary as those in the more traveled areas of the bay. In fact, on several occasions, redfish swam within a few feet of the boat and still hit the live scaled sardines he used as bait.

Limited-entry fishing is nothing new. For decades, operators of private, freshwater trout streams have allowed small numbers of anglers to fish under strict regulations for rainbow, brown and brook trout. But because most saltwater fishing takes place in public, navigable waterways, the concept hasn't worked in the world's bays and oceans.

In June 2004, scientists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Research Institute in St. Petersburg began a two-year study to compare the distribution and abundance of sport fish in two areas of Tampa Bay, the public waters off Weedon Island and the restricted waters off MacDill Air Force Base.

MacDill's shoreline has been tightly regulated since 1947, but after the coordinated terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the area became off limits to recreational boaters and fishermen. Over the years, limited access was granted on special occasions, primarily to guides working with state and federal researchers, but for the most part, the 4-mile stretch of shoreline remained free of fishing pressure.

The state study, which involved "sampling" both red drum and common snook with nets and hook and line, showed the Weedon Island and MacDill areas to be strikingly similar. Weedon Island had "slightly higher abundance" of redfish and snook, but the guides who fished MacDill tended to have a higher "catch-per-unit-effort," which in layman's terms meant they caught more fish.

The scientists concluded what every fisherman who ever waited in line at a boat ramp already knew, "the lack of boat traffic and other fishing pressures within MacDill may actually improve the catchability of sport fish."

The study, which was funded by a cooperative research grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, reached other interesting conclusions. For example, the snook caught at Weedon Island tended to be larger than those caught roughly 4 miles away at MacDill. The redfish, however, were the same size.

The researchers tagged 3,000 fish, 200 of which were eventually recaptured. Most of the fish that were caught again were not more than a mile from their original tagging location. Red drum, however, tended to travel farther than snook, with several specimens recaptured more than 25 miles from where they were first encountered.

According to a MacDill spokesman, 85 boats participated in two days of fishing in what the state officials said was essentially a "marine protected area." Base officials said they may hold additional "open fishing" weekends once or twice a year, but no date has been set for the next possible event.

According to a statement from the Air Force media relations department: "This takes a great deal of security planning to make happen and it is very manpower intensive on the day of the event. Operational and mission requirements will frame the decisions as to when to open waters again."

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New <b>fishing</b> and hunting pamphlets require study

Two new pamphlets require angler and hunter study. The new Sport Fishing Rules pamphlet became effective May 1, and will continue to be the angling guide through April 30, 2013.

Columbia River Sockeye:

A healthy forecast of sockeye bound for the upper Columbia River is expected to provide a number of sockeye angling opportunities in the Columbia River upstream of Pasco.

The sockeye forecast is interesting. The season dates vary, but from Priest Rapids Dam up to Chief Joseph Dam the minimum size is 12 inches with a limit of six chinook and six sockeye. Up to three adult chinook may be retained of which only one may be a wild adult chinook.

The season dates begin on July 1 and continues through Oct. 15, but the dates vary on different sections of the river, so consult the pamphlet for the section you wish to fish. From July 1 through Aug. 31 anglers may fish with two rods if they have purchased a two-pole endorsement. The endorsement cost is $14.80 this year, down from $24.50 last year.

General freshwater rules:

Some state freshwater rules include: Hook and line angling only. Barbed or barbless hooks may be used, and a hook may be single-point, double or treble, but not more than one line with up to three hooks per angler may be used.

Single-point barbless hooks are required in areas designated as fly fishing only or selective gear rules. All fishing gear must be kept in immediate control and may not be left unattended while fishing.

Rod holders may be used, but the rod must be easily removed without delay; rod may be left in holder while playing the fish.

A club or dip net may be used to assist landing a legal fish taken by legal gear. A gaff hook may not be used.

It's unlawful to possess a fish taken from freshwater that was not hooked inside the mouth or on the head. The head is defined as any portion forward of the rear margin of the gill plate.

This is a generous rule. Many states require the fish to be caught with the hook in the mouth.

Where use of bait is prohibited or where lures or flies are used voluntarily, game fish may be caught and released until the daily limit is retained. If any fish has swallowed the hook or is hooked in the gill, eye or tongue, it should be kept if legal to do so.

It is unlawful to chum or broadcast any substance to attract game fish. However, this rule has exceptions, such as Banks Lake where chumming is permitted.

Hunting pamphlet

The 2012 Washington Big Game Hunting Seasons and Regulations pamphlet is now available and ready for study. This pamphlet is effective from April 1 through March 31 of next year.

Hunters first need to realize the deadline to submit special permit applications is May 18, just one week from tomorrow.  These applications can be submitted as an individual or as a group. I have been using the Fish and Wildlife's website to apply for our group of four hunt partners during the past several years. This is an easy and quick procedure.

There are several categories for each species. Including eight separate types of hunts for deer, seven for elk, six for moose four for sheep. The dates of the hunt and number of permits regulate the desire to apply to a specific area.

The quality deer hunts, for example, offer two hunts for Game Management Unit 290, which is designated the desert unit. If drawn, the hunter can shoot any buck.

There are two hunts involved in the modern firearm section. The first takes place from Oct. 27 through Nov. 4 and 17 permits will be awarded. The second is Nov. 17 through 25 and involves five hunts.

My thinking has me hunting my favorite area during the modern firearm general deer season Oct. 13 through 21. If I don't connect, I will hunt whichever desert hunt if drawn.

Another category is titled second deer, with a big change from last year. If drawn, the hunter will need to cough up $68 for the second tag, as opposed to $26. A Fish and Wildlife spokesman relayed the reason for the increase is about making money for the department and payment for a quality hunt or for getting another deer.

This is a shame. Yes, I know the budget has been cut, but these tags are supposedly to help control the deer herds. Too bad these tags couldn't be given to youth for another hunting opportunity.

Other tag increases include moose, bighorn sheep and goat from $122 to $332. It will be interesting to find out if hunters will stay away from these drawings because of the increase in prices.

Acquire both of the new pamphlets. Study them in order to assure you are legal when participating in the sports of hunting and fishing.

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Jeffrey L. Frischkorn: Moon-struck fishes put damper on Florida <b>fishing</b> trip

Published: Friday, May 11, 2012

By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com
@FieldKorn

MELBOURNE, Fla. — It would appear that even fishes can become moon struck.

At least those fishes that live in Florida's Indian River, which really isn't a river at all. Not in the sense of what we typically think about when it comes to such things as creeks, streams, tributaries and rivers.

The Indian River is a 121-mile-long knife blade of brackish water that has peeled away a slice of the east coast of Florida's mainland.

Scientific folk call it an "estuarine."

The Indian River's salinity typically goes up and down according to how much freshwater washes into the system.

And Indian River fishing guides like Terry Lamielle have to take the river's salinity into account when they prepare for a day on the water. Just as they do by assessing the phase status of the moon.

Alas, on May 5 not only was the moon full, it also was at its closest approach to Earth of the year. With a clear, moonlit sky, the Indian River's fishes no doubt had fed much of the night and likely weren't much in the mood for breakfast.

"It's been an epic year for sea trout fishing," Lamielle said. "But that full moon last night could have hurt things."

It had, too, with the first stop being void of sea trout activity.

The next angling port-of-call was at "Honest John's Canal," a mangrove-encrusted sea of small islands; the spawn made from the dregs of muck dredged up decades ago in order to construct Florida's share of the 3,000-mile-long Intercoastal Waterway. Continued...

This waterway is a trench gouged out of the shallow Indian River so vessels can navigate without running aground on mud flats.

"It's nice and quiet back here," Lamielle said in an almost church-like whisper. "Maybe the fishing's not as good as it once was, but it's still my favorite place to fish."

That favoritism goes back to the latter part of the 1960s, when Lamielle's parents uprooted him from their Canton home and transplanted him to east-central Florida.

"This is where I became a fishing guide," Lamielle gushed as the fishing boat entered the labyrinth of small but heavily forested islands.

Lamielle handed off a spinning outfit rigged with braided line, a stout leader of monofiliment and properly saddled with a wooden top-water bait similar in appearance to a Heddon Torpedo.

For my father-in-law, Lamille pressed into service another spinning outfit and one equipped with a banana-shaped jig body and a soft plastic imitation shrimp.

The object, Lamielle said, was to cast the baits as close as possible to the snag of mangrove roots. The roots of one tree interlock with those of another to produce a chain-link fence of wood into which bait fish flee for security.

Also occupying space within the mangrove root system are snook, sea trout, flounder and even tarpon, which use the web from which to launch their attacks.

After an hour of rifling my top-water popping plug toward the edge of the mangroves, I had not attracted even so much as a follow from a fish.

Meanwhile, my father-in-law had enticed a small skillet-size flounder to strike. That fish was lost just as Lamielle leaned over the boat's gunwale to hoist aboard the fish. Continued...

Swapping out the top-water lure for a shrimp-jig combination of my own, I rebooted my casting toward the mangroves.

As Lamielle coaxed his fishing platform through the integrate network of islands we would cast to the most promising points of angling interest. Pointing toward one overhanging tree Lamielle instructed me to cast my artificial lure to near the base of the mangrove tree. A few short jerks of the rod allowed the imitation shrimp to bounce life-like along the Indian River's mucky bottom.

In short order, I felt a not-so-timid response from a fish that made a good account of itself. All in spite of the fact that it was so flattened as to lead one to believe it was road kill.

It wasn't, of course. Instead it was a flounder, an oval-shaped, dark-colored fish with its two bug-eyes resting above.

However, that was the final fish of the morning. In spite of several more stops within the maze of mangrove islands we could find no more willing biters.

By late morning, the peppery-hot Florida sun had squelched the angling. Our fishing day was at an end.

I surely would have liked to have caught some legal-sized sea trout. I understand that when prepared properly that sea trout make for exceptional eating.

Maybe, but I will say this, Atlantic flounder isn't bad either. On that score I can now speak with both experience and authority.

For information about fishing with Lamielle, contact him at zaracrazy@aol.com, or call him at 321-725-7255 or 321-537-5347. The web site for his "Easy Days" guide service is at http://www.landbigfish.com.

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Woods &amp; Waters: Birds, butterflies and flying things active

Have you been hearing a lot of really loud racket lately — especially in the early morning? The woodpeckers in my woods have been hammering away on the loudest percussive instruments that they can find for the last month or so.

As with all birds, springtime is the mating season for woodpeckers as well. And in an effort to lay claim to their respective territories, males look for surfaces that will resonate their messages to steer clear — loud and clear. Those surfaces can include anything from metal roofs and gutters to roadside traffic signs. In my case, it’s the plywood backing on my posted signs.

I have found and photographed these birds staking their territorial claims in woodpecker Morse Code on many occasions by following the sounds. First one will hammer away and then another responds on the opposite side of my property. It seems that they have chosen my boundaries to represent theirs but they are taking a toll on my posted signs in the process.

Butterfly Invasion

My woods are also loaded with Red Admiral butterflies this year. So is my windshield. After a trip to Elmira and back one day last week, I could hardly see through the glass by the time I arrived home. And the last thing that I wanted to do on the road was turn on the washers and wipers — especially while driving into the sun.

News sources are describing a butterfly invasion in the Northeast and southern Canada, which is being blamed on the early warm weather this year. The burst is supposed to be a combination of a larger emergence of this native species and waves of migrants moving in from southern states.

All I know is that the stains on my windshield are the same color as dandelions, which is one of the blooms that the butterflies have been drawing their nectar from.

Fishing News

The fishing season for many popular warmwater sport fish, including walleye, northern pike, pickerel and tiger muskellunge opened last Saturday. This includes catch and release fishing for black bass (largemouth and smallmouth bass) in many waters across the state and the special trophy black bass season on Lake Erie, where anglers may keep one 20-inch or longer fish per day.

Check the current New York State Freshwater Fishing Regulations Guide to make sure that the waters you want to fish are open to catch and release angling. Muskellunge fishing season and the regular harvest season for black bass both open on the third Saturday in June (June 16).

And don’t forget, you can still hunt for a tom turkey up until noon and then fish for a lunker in the afternoon for the rest of the month—unless you’ve already bagged your birds. In that case, you can simply fish all day.

Have you been hearing a lot of really loud racket lately — especially in the early morning? The woodpeckers in my woods have been hammering away on the loudest percussive instruments that they can find for the last month or so.

As with all birds, springtime is the mating season for woodpeckers as well. And in an effort to lay claim to their respective territories, males look for surfaces that will resonate their messages to steer clear — loud and clear. Those surfaces can include anything from metal roofs and gutters to roadside traffic signs. In my case, it’s the plywood backing on my posted signs.

I have found and photographed these birds staking their territorial claims in woodpecker Morse Code on many occasions by following the sounds. First one will hammer away and then another responds on the opposite side of my property. It seems that they have chosen my boundaries to represent theirs but they are taking a toll on my posted signs in the process.

Butterfly Invasion

My woods are also loaded with Red Admiral butterflies this year. So is my windshield. After a trip to Elmira and back one day last week, I could hardly see through the glass by the time I arrived home. And the last thing that I wanted to do on the road was turn on the washers and wipers — especially while driving into the sun.

News sources are describing a butterfly invasion in the Northeast and southern Canada, which is being blamed on the early warm weather this year. The burst is supposed to be a combination of a larger emergence of this native species and waves of migrants moving in from southern states.

All I know is that the stains on my windshield are the same color as dandelions, which is one of the blooms that the butterflies have been drawing their nectar from.

Fishing News

The fishing season for many popular warmwater sport fish, including walleye, northern pike, pickerel and tiger muskellunge opened last Saturday. This includes catch and release fishing for black bass (largemouth and smallmouth bass) in many waters across the state and the special trophy black bass season on Lake Erie, where anglers may keep one 20-inch or longer fish per day.

Check the current New York State Freshwater Fishing Regulations Guide to make sure that the waters you want to fish are open to catch and release angling. Muskellunge fishing season and the regular harvest season for black bass both open on the third Saturday in June (June 16).

And don’t forget, you can still hunt for a tom turkey up until noon and then fish for a lunker in the afternoon for the rest of the month—unless you’ve already bagged your birds. In that case, you can simply fish all day.

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<b>Fishing</b> Column: <b>Fishermen</b> of tomorrow graduate with honors

Last Saturday was Graduation Day for both the Stamford and the Shelton Connecticut Aquatic Resources Education (CARE) programs.

To celebrate, the two classes joined up and celebrated with a fishing trip to Great Hollow Lake in Monroe.

And what a day they had! One observer said that in total the students must have caught and released more than 100 fish.

Dick Emmons of the Stamford CARE team and James Mastronni of the Shelton Recreation Service teamed up with the assistance of the Monroe Recreation and Parks Department to sponsor a great day of fishing.

And, best of all, the weatherman accommodated the group with a relatively nice day.

The Royster Family was out in full force. Juliet, 11, Justin, 8, Ginger, also 8, and Alec 6, were there with Linda and Richard Valente. The kids all attended the CARE class in Stamford and loved it.

Juliet said that the best part was learning fish identification. Justin rated learning how to tie knots at the best part of the class. They showed what they learned by catching lots bluegills and sunfish.

K.T. Murphy student Genesis Caman, 10, found the class interesting and `loved learning about the fish'. Genesis caught four sunfish and a brown trout.

John Armstrong, his son John, Jr., and their kids were there. Rogers School student Megan Armstrong, 8, caught some sunfish and a trout and McKenzie Lewis, 7, a student at Roxbury School, landed a sunfish.

One of the busiest anglers was Jordan Edmonds of Beacon Falls. The 10-year-old fishing expert caught a 14.5-inch tiger trout and a largemouth bass.

"This is fun. I am having a great time," said Edmonds.

Fishing nearby was Ainnay, 4, and Naveah, 7, Bogilo of Bridgeport. Ainnay caught a perch and a largemouth bass and Naveah caught a bass and a brown trout.

With them was Ski and Kim Alvarado. Ski caught a 16-inch brown trout and a Kim caught a rainbow trout.

Nathan Links, 10, and his brother, Oren, 8, of Stamford had a good day fishing. Nathan caught three sunfish and Oren caught one.

Also from Stamford was the Bilenker family. While their dad, Josh, watched, Evan, 4, Justin, 8, and Dean, 10, displayed the skills they learned at the CARE class. They all caught lots of sunfish.

The Marcus family was also there. Led by their dad, Ben, was Ava, 5, Lila, 3, and Mateo 1, Ava, attends the Sara Walker Preschool in Stamford.

St. Cecilia School in Stamford was represented by Jacob Lefort. The 10-year-old student caught a rainbow trout and a sunfish.

"It was fun," said Jacob as he showed off his catch.

Toquam School student Craig Ottaviano, 8, landed a largemouth bass and a pair of sunfish.

Sean Lee, 8, caught some nice sunfish. Sean is a student at Hart School.

Marielena Gustavo brought Antonio Arteta to the lake for some action. The 4-year-old from Stamford caught a nice sunfish.

Julia Vargas, 5, a student at Putnam School, was fishing with her parents, Olga and Luis Vargas. When asked if this was her first time fishing Juliana made it clear that she is an experienced angler and has been fishing before.

David Delibro, 5, and his brother, Daniel, 3, of Trumbull were there with their dad Ron and his friend Josie Prubhon. The brothers teamed up to catch a 16-inch brown trout.

Gonzalo Gupte, age 10, and his sister, Nima, 7, were fishing with Kate Corman, 7, as mom, Maria watched. Gonzalo attends North Mianus School and Nima and Kate go to North Street School. The highlight of their day was when they poked at a turtle swimming by.

Representing Booth Hill School in Shelton was the Rivera family. Cristina, 10, and Daniel, 8, each did real well as their mom, Monica Rivera, watched. Christina caught five sunfish and Daniel landed a 13-inch pickerel.

Also from Shelton were Eric and Abby Gurski. Abby, 5, caught a sunfish and Eric, 9, caught a nice 16-inch brown trout.

Stephanie Croffy, 18 and her brother, Austin, 11, from Oxford, each caught some sunnies.

Michelle Spinel and her mom, Mary, had an exciting day. Mary caught a 9-inch bluegill and a 6-inch turtle while Michelle caught a pretty pumpkinseed and a bluegill.

Instructor Joe Scordato demonstrated his fishing skill for the kids. He caught a pair of rainbow trout, as some of the students watched. Nearby was Min Wang of Glenbrook who caught a catfish.

Assisting Emmons and Mastronni were CARE instructors and anglers from all over. They included Kevin Maher, Bob Gosi, Mike McNamara, Kate Kotlic, Scott Criscuolo and Tom Parlapiano from the Kellogg Environmental Center in Derby, Lynn Emmons, Jan Darula, Nancy Bono, Joe Scordado and Ross Ogden.

Bait for the event was provided by Pete's Place Bait and Tackle in Stamford, the Stamford CARE Team and the Shelton Recreation Service.

q

Did you know that every trout released into Great Hollow Lake was given a name before it was released?

According to DEEP employee Mary Anne Kozikowski, who works at the Burlington Trout Hatchery and is a CARE instructor, she personally named each fish while they were still at the upstate hatchery.

Whenever one of the young anglers would reel in a fish, Kozikowski would run over to assist the child. Once the fish was safe and ready to be released, she would say goodbye to each one by name. There was Harry, Bobby, Hilda, Zaszu, Pearl and more.

I am still amazed that not only could Kozikowski remember all of her finned friends names she could actually recognize each one. Surprisingly, she did not kiss any of the fish good bye though she did wish them good luck in the future.

q

The biggest fish of the week was a 44-pound striped bass caught by Jason Vlicky. Jason boated the cow while fishing off Hempstead Harbor. He used a chunk of bunker for bait. Later in the week he caught a 20-pounder using a diamond jig at 11B.

Capt Rick Dayhuff caught a 34-inch striper while fishing at Can 13. He was using a Sluggo lure.

George DiScala III caught several striped bass last week including a 36-incher off Greenwich last week. He was drifting bunker chunks.

Scott Denice and Billy Wilder took some time off from behind the counter at Fish Tails Bait and Tackle to troll for striped bass off Eaton's Neck. Using an umbrella rig, they caught and leased 30 stripers weighing up to 25 pounds. The next day Billy fished with John Bunton at Eaton's Neck. They trolled up 22 linesiders weighing up to 20 pounds.

Michael Manchiano fished off of Stamford last week and pulled in three stripers including one that measured 35 inches. Michael was using bunker chunks for bait.

Guidoni Vasquez reeled in a nice 40-inch cow while fishing off Southfield Point. The big fish was taken using a chunk of mackerel.

Fred Bonilla and his buddy, Hector, fished off Greenwich and Stamford for striper last week. Freddy reeled in a 29-incher and Hector caught a 30-incher. Both anglers were using mackerel chunks for bait.

The infamous "Angler X" has reappeared and has been working the water off Greenwich. Last week he went out twice and tallied a total of four keeper bass. His largest fish measured 35 inches and was taken on a mackerel chunk.

You would think that with a name like Rodney Bass you would be out bass fishing but instead freshwater angling was the choice last week. While fishing at the East Branch Reservoir in Westchester, Rodney caught a nice 3-pound walleye. He was using a crank bait lure.

Martin Armstrong is a member of the Fisheries Advisory Council, a lifetime member of Trout Unlimited and part of the Outdoors Writers Association

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A really big fish story - record carp caught in Shrewsbury

Somewhere on the murky bottom of Lake Quinsigamond could lurk a monster feeding on whatever comes its way.

Until then, Shrewsbury’s Shane Felch will have to settle for the carp state record and continue the search for an even larger fish to legally shoot with his crossbow.

Yes, Felch captured it with a shot from his crossbow.

Felch’s latest fish story begins with a motorcycle accident several years ago, one that saw him recover but left him with lingering neck problems. An avid hunter and angler, the construction worker was unable after the crash to fully draw the string on a standard bow.

But the state’s Division of Fisheries and Wildlife offers a solution: If a doctor signs a form attesting to a permanent disability interfering with normal long bow use, residents can apply for special crossbow permits.

With a permit and other standard licenses, hunters can use a crossbow to both hunt in season and fish for certain species. State law allows carp, suckers and American eels to be taken with spears, bow and arrows, or lines and hooks.

Felch lives on Lake Quinsigamond’s shore, and learned about crossbow fishing after spotting a practitioner motoring by his backyard one night. After asking some questions and poking around the Internet, he bought the equipment and secured the permit.

“I just thought it was kind of a cool idea,” he said, during a recent visit to the town’s Oak Island boat ramp. “Just a little something different.”

He only began crossbow fishing within the past year — standing on the bow platform of his 14-foot flat-bottom boat and scanning nighttime waters illuminated by gas generator-powered spotlights. Early trips failed to yield any carp bigger than the 28-pounder he had landed the traditional way at an area pond.

But on a calm, clear night several weeks ago, Felch and two friends left his dock and hugged the lake’s shoreline with their electric trolling motor. When a large, skittish carp glowed fluorescent in the lights and darted across the bow about 15 feet away, he pulled the trigger and released a barbed arrow.

The arrow’s line remained slack, possibly indicating a miss. But as the line suddenly tightened, Felch handed the crossbow to one of his friends and held on tight as the pierced fish dragged the small boat, until Felch could eventually pull the carp in close. While he struggled to get the massive fish out of the water and over the gunwale, he couldn’t gauge the exact weight.

Somewhere on the murky bottom of Lake Quinsigamond could lurk a monster feeding on whatever comes its way.

Until then, Shrewsbury’s Shane Felch will have to settle for the carp state record and continue the search for an even larger fish to legally shoot with his crossbow.

Yes, Felch captured it with a shot from his crossbow.

Felch’s latest fish story begins with a motorcycle accident several years ago, one that saw him recover but left him with lingering neck problems. An avid hunter and angler, the construction worker was unable after the crash to fully draw the string on a standard bow.

But the state’s Division of Fisheries and Wildlife offers a solution: If a doctor signs a form attesting to a permanent disability interfering with normal long bow use, residents can apply for special crossbow permits.

With a permit and other standard licenses, hunters can use a crossbow to both hunt in season and fish for certain species. State law allows carp, suckers and American eels to be taken with spears, bow and arrows, or lines and hooks.

Felch lives on Lake Quinsigamond’s shore, and learned about crossbow fishing after spotting a practitioner motoring by his backyard one night. After asking some questions and poking around the Internet, he bought the equipment and secured the permit.

“I just thought it was kind of a cool idea,” he said, during a recent visit to the town’s Oak Island boat ramp. “Just a little something different.”

He only began crossbow fishing within the past year — standing on the bow platform of his 14-foot flat-bottom boat and scanning nighttime waters illuminated by gas generator-powered spotlights. Early trips failed to yield any carp bigger than the 28-pounder he had landed the traditional way at an area pond.

But on a calm, clear night several weeks ago, Felch and two friends left his dock and hugged the lake’s shoreline with their electric trolling motor. When a large, skittish carp glowed fluorescent in the lights and darted across the bow about 15 feet away, he pulled the trigger and released a barbed arrow.

The arrow’s line remained slack, possibly indicating a miss. But as the line suddenly tightened, Felch handed the crossbow to one of his friends and held on tight as the pierced fish dragged the small boat, until Felch could eventually pull the carp in close. While he struggled to get the massive fish out of the water and over the gunwale, he couldn’t gauge the exact weight.

That came the next day, when he and one of his friends took the carp from its iced spot on the porch and hauled it in a trash bag to MassWildlife headquarters in Westborough — the official weigh station for those wishing to pursue records and participate in the yearly state fishing awards program.

As news rippled through the offices, staff came rushing to witness the scale’s verdict: 46 pounds, 5 ounces, or a little over two pounds more than the previous state-record carp, caught in 1993 from the Connecticut River. Felch’s carp was also the heaviest freshwater fish of any species ever officially recorded in Massachusetts, and had a 28-inch girth.

“I think it was a shock to everybody,” said fisheries biologist Richard Hartley, who runs the state’s Sportfishing Awards program but had to settle for hearing about the visit afterward. “It’s not exaggerating to say it’s a once-in-a-lifetime fish.”

An often-overlooked sportfish and an opportunistic bottom-feeder, the common carp can live up to 20 years in the wild. But the top carp caught each year in Massachusetts usually weighs in at 30 pounds or so, Hartley said, calling the new record “insane” and a “big, fat cow.”

Of the nearly 900 carp claims filed since the sportfishing program’s inception in 1963, only 11 were taken with a traditional bow and arrow. None mentioned a crossbow, though 5,300 permits now exist.

“It’s incredibly rare,” Hartley said.

Trying to spot a giant fish rather than tossing out a line and hook is more akin to hunting, Felch said, and provides a different sort of boat-based thrill.

But some fishing blogs have leveled criticism, claiming the same fish had already been caught and released and that the state carp record should be broken down by equipment.

For one thing, anglers are less likely to lose giant carp with stronger, thicker line, which line-wary fish are more likely to spot when it sits in the water but not when it shoots down from above.

Crossbow fishing still takes skill, though, Felch argues. The water refracts the fish’s image — if the carp are even spotted amid the bubbles and stirred-up mud. No stranger to a bow, he estimates only 10 percent of his shots have been successful.

“It’s not like you just go out and shoot it,” Felch said, still enjoying his record. “I’ve been fishing and hunting a long time.”

In Wisconsin, the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame and Museum will not accept bow-fishing claims — with the record for Felch’s “mirror” variety of carp at 47 pounds. But Hartley and his office don’t have a problem with how the fishing is done as long as it’s legal, reporting a positive community response to the Shrewsbury news.

When he came to the Westborough office, Hartley told the staff he has seen even bigger carp and told the staff he would be back, with a 50-pounder, maybe even a 60- or 70-pound specimen. He ended up giving his catch to a friend-of-a-friend, an Albanian native who reportedly ate it.

Reports of even larger fish just around the bend are common at weigh-ins, Hartley said, but he acknowledged a truly monstrous common carp is possible. One state’s natural resources department cites a 83-pounder caught in Romania.

“I’ll get a bigger one,” Felch said. “I know I will.”

But his favored spots, as any angler knows, remain a closely guarded secret.

(Michael Morton can be reached at 508-626-4338 or mmorton@wickedlocal.com.)

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After early ice-out, Minn. water temperatures near seasonal norms for Saturday <b>...</b>

GRAND FORKS, N.D. — Anglers can talk about the early spring, ideal water temperatures and whether the fish have recovered from spawning, but the opening day of walleye season in Minnesota always comes down to getting out there and learning firsthand what the fish are doing.

That's Duane Peterson's approach, at least. And as a recent inductee into the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame along with his brother, John, the co-founder of Bemidji's Northland Fishing Tackle Co. knows what he's talking about when it comes to walleyes and opening day.

The 2012 version of Minnesota's grand outdoors tradition gets under way Saturday.

"One thing about this fishing game is we can predict this and that and speculate what's going to happen," Peterson said. "I'm going to play it like I do every other opening day of walleye season. I will go to the best areas I know as a result of past experience and tradition, sample what's happening and adjust accordingly based on what my first few hours tell us.

"That's the beauty of opening day — we find out when we get there, and we adjust accordingly."

Pick a lake or river in Minnesota, and this year probably set a record for early ice-out. That had fishing prognosticators thinking walleye opener 2012 would be more like early June, which often serves up some of the easiest, if not the best fishing of the year.

Lawmakers in the Minnesota Legislature even went so far as to propose moving the season up a week. The measure died, and Mother Nature intervened with a mostly cool April that now has water temperatures closer to seasonal norms. Come opening day, anglers likely can expect water temperatures in the mid-50-degree range.

"I think it's going to be a pretty darn normal opener," said Henry Drewes, regional fisheries supervisor for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in Bemidji. "It's not going to be like June 1 fishing, which some people were thinking. It will be more like mid-May, which is pretty good."

Drewes said walleyes, which typically spawn in 46- to 50-degree water, should have finished spawning most everywhere across the state this week. That means many walleyes likely will have recovered and backed out of the rivers where they spawn and returned to lakes where they spend most of the year.

"There's a nice size distribution on Red," Drewes said. "The abundance is high, there's lots of fish under 17 inches and lots from 17 to 22 inches. So, if fishermen are willing to spread out from the mouth of the (Tamarack) river, they should have no trouble catching legal fish and some fun-size larger fish."

As a result, Drewes said, the DNR didn't implement springtime closures on rivers such as the Tamarack, which flows into Upper Red Lake, and the Mississippi River.

"That doesn't mean rivers won't be good, but they won't have the excessive harvest that would necessitate closures," Drewes said. "We're going to avert those situations, which is good news."

Drewes said he expects large northern Minnesota lakes such as Lake of the Woods, Upper Red, Leech and Winnibigoshish all to be good bets for opening day. A recent spring survey on the Tamarack River produced numbers of 16- to 22-inch walleyes, Drewes said, along with occasional larger fish.

"There's a nice size distribution on Red," Drewes said. "The abundance is high, there's lots of fish under 17 inches and lots from 17 to 22 inches. So, if fishermen are willing to spread out from the mouth of the (Tamarack) river, they should have no trouble catching legal fish and some fun-size larger fish."

Opening day regulations on Upper Red require anglers to release all walleyes from 17 inches to 26 inches, and there's a four-fish limit. The DNR eases the size restrictions in mid-June.

Drewes said smaller lakes across northwest Minnesota also will be good options opening day. Lakes with particularly high walleye abundance, he said, include Lake Bemidji and all of the downstream lakes in the Mississippi River chain along with Otter Tail Lake closer to Fergus Falls, Minn.

"Otter Tail is just off the charts right now," Drewes said of its walleye abundance.

While current areas near river mouths might not be the walleye magnets they are some openers, they'll still be worth a try opening day. According to longtime fishing guide Brian Brosdahl of Max, Minn., anglers should explore other places if areas with current don't produce walleyes.

"Don't overlook shoreline-connected points that have shallows, rocks and weed growth," Brosdahl said. "That new generation of weeds is going to be hiding baitfish, and the walleyes are going to be in there."

He said many anglers make the mistake of fishing too deep on opening day. This spring, though, the fluctuation in both air and water temperatures likely means there's no wrong depth, he said.

"I think it's going to be a great opener," Brosdahl said. "I think we're going to find aggressive fish and not-aggressive fish. Go explore, don't just fish the classic spots. You're going to have a lot of fish all to yourself."

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<b>Freshwater Fishing</b> Kicks into High Gear on May 5 with the Opening of the <b>...</b>

ALBANY, NY (05/03/2012)(readMedia)-- The fishing season for many popular warmwater sportfish, including walleye, northern pike, pickerel and tiger muskellunge, opens Saturday, May 5 and with this, most of New York's sportfish seasons will be open, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens announced today. This includes catch and release fishing for black bass (largemouth and smallmouth bass) in many waters across the state and the special trophy black bass season on Lake Erie where anglers can take one 20-inch or longer fish per day.

Bass anglers should check the New York State Freshwater Fishing Regulations Guide (www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7917.html) to ensure that the water they desire to fish is open to catch and release angling. Muskellunge fishing season and the regular (harvest) season for black bass open on the 3rd Saturday in June (June 16).

"New York provides exceptional warmwater fishing opportunities," said Commissioner Martens. "In fact, the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society recently ranked three of New York's lakes in the top 14 on their list of the 100 best bass lakes in the country. We hope all anglers find the time to enjoy these outstanding fishing opportunities in 2012 and encourage them to share their experience by introducing someone new to the sport."

Walleye are very popular springtime targets, and fishing opportunities now exist in more than 100 waters throughout the state. As part of ongoing management and research programs, DEC has stocked 56 waters with walleye fry or fingerlings over the last five years in almost all regions of the state. Spring also provides outstanding fishing opportunities for yellow perch, sunfish and crappie. These species are common throughout the state and provide easy fishing for even novice anglers. A popular sportfish in southern and Midwestern states, channel catfish also flourish in many of New York's larger lakes and rivers, provide a very tasty meal, and are state underutilized by anglers. Tips and locations for catching big channel catfish are available online at www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/77432.html. A complete listing of 2012 warmwater fishing hotspots recommended by DEC biologists can be found on the DEC website.

DEC will continue a number of bass studies in 2012. These studies include an effort to assess black bass populations statewide, the investigation of black bass movements following bass tournaments on Lake Champlain and a tournament monitoring program on Oneida Lake. Participation from bass anglers will be requested for both tournament studies.

Use Baitfish Wisely

Anglers using fish for bait are reminded to be careful with how these fish are used and disposed of. Careless use of baitfish is one of the primary means by which non-native species and fish diseases are spread from water to water. Unused baitfish should be discarded in an appropriate location on dry land. A "Green List" of commercially available baitfish species that are approved for use in New York State has now been established in regulation. In most cases, these fish must also be certified as disease free. Personal collection and use of baitfish other than those on the "Green List" is permitted, but only on the water from which they were collected, and they may not be transported overland by motorized vehicle except within one of three defined overland transportation corridors. Please review the baitfish regulations webpage for details at www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/47282.html.

Preventing Invasive Species and Fish Diseases

Anglers are also reminded to be sure to dry or disinfect their fishing and boating equipment, including waders and boots, before entering a new body of water. This is the only way to prevent the spread of potentially damaging invasive plant and animal species (didymo and zebra mussels) and fish diseases (Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia and whirling disease). Methods to clean and disinfect fishing gear can be found on the DEC website at www.dec.ny.gov/animals/50121.html.

License requirements

Anglers 16 years of age and older must have a New York State fishing license available on line at www.dec.ny.gov/permits/6101.html or by calling 1-86-NY-DECALS. Fishing licenses can also be purchased from the 1,500 license issuing agents located throughout the state (town and county clerks, some major discount stores and many tackle and sporting goods stores). By law, every dollar spent on a fishing license helps fund programs conducted by the Division of Fish, Wildlife and Marine Resources, including the fish stocking program.

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Storms throw up some massive <b>bass</b>

SOME big bass have been reported from Dungeness in recent weeks, following the storms with the beach and surf around the Lifeboat station inside the Point area the hotspot, although the fish are mostly between 1lb and 3lb there have been several doubles reported.

This week Brian Lee, who describes himself as old and comes from "Old" Rye hooked and landed a 14lb 6oz specimen from the Point. He was fishing with old black lugworm on an old three hook flapper rig (size 2 hooks).

Other venues have continued to produce mainly dogfish, although the odd small smoothhound is starting to appear.

In the latest Folkestone Sea Angling Association pier competition the deeper water at the end of the pier was favourite and so two low pegs were best in the swap over at half time contest.

Winner was Folkestone's Ray Coyne, with 6.500kg, Ray also included one of the few dabs landed and won the flatfish pool with 140grams. Second was Matt Perry, of Folkestone, with a similar catch of 6.150kg and third, Phil Tanner with 6.110kg.

Just the odd dogfish separated competitors in the top six with the biggest dogfish going to Hythe's John Wells, who got an 840 grams specimen.

The next Folkestone SAA competition is a pier event on May 10. Meet at pier steps for 6.15pm.

Other sea angling results include the Dungeness Sea Anglers competition fished at Pirate Springs, Littlestone, with Steve Field of Lydd winning with a bass and rockling for 860 grams. Second was Mike Burke with two whiting for 320 grams, the rest of the competitors (13) blanked.

Freshwater news includes the Ashford Angling Society's first match of the new season, which takes place at Surrenden Match Lake on Sunday. The event is open to all club members. Draw at 8am, fishing 9am until 3.30pm. Entrance fee is £2 and there is a £5 optional pool.

The Folkestone and Shepway Angling Club are fishing their Thursday night leagues at Radnor Park every Thursday through the summer. Fishing is members only, meet at the shelter for a 6pm draw fishing 7pm until 10pm. The club have suspended their Sunday events because they have no one to run them, although potential volunteers contact Cindy Richards on 07745644369 or cindyr1412@gmail.com

The latest Kent Sports casting event at Tilmanstone saw Steve Lewis of Deal breaking the club's 150g record with a cast of 255.44m.The next casting event will be held on May 27.

Sea angling coming up include the Whitstable Sea Angling Association Spring Open on Sunday fishing from 11am until 4pm. Book in at the club HQ from 9am.

IF you have caught a big fish, won a match, freshwater or sea, contact Alan Yates on 01303 250017, 07790 132656 or e-mail alankyates@aol.com.

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<b>Fishing</b>: Many stars of sea

Why go to Broadway when you can go to Broad Channel? The latter is just one of the Jamaica Bay areas where our favorite saltwater stars are raising the curtain on the season.

Long Island Sound waters are attracting migrations, too, with westward bound porgies out near Bayville and Oyster Bay, stripers still flowing in from the Hudson River and blues coming up from the South. Huntington’s James Joseph II is now into regular fluking schedules: days starting at 7 a.m. and evenings at 4:30 p.m.

New York State’s fluke and porgy seasons opened May 1, joining the tail end of what has been one of the better flounder seasons but is already slowing down towards its end-of-May closing. However, City Islanders Frank Williams Sr. and Frank Williams Jr. recently were still able to show off at Jack's Bait and Tackle with their two-flounder daily limits from local piers.

So now anglers have six major species to scout for: Bluefish, flounder, fluke, ling, porgies and striped bass.

New Jersey anglers can also get in on fluking Saturday, with their daily allowance of five fish measuring at least 171/2 inches. That’s compared to New York’s fluke regulations that specify four fish at 191/2 inches.

The Sheepshead Bay Jet has been cruising in 30-foot waters off the Rockaways for porgies that are often in the nice-sized weight of two to three pounds. When porgies get picky, Capt. Chuck Patterson turns to fluking.

Sheepshead Bay’s Golden Sunshine is all spiffed up and ready to launch her two half-day fluking trips as of this morning.

Capt. Robert Sapanara on his Brooklyn VI is has been giving custormers lots of action on stripers and blues, on both daily and weekend nights. The skipper said that last weekend he returned with a hundred-plus qualified stripers. And he reported that the six- to 10-pound bluefish are so abundant that often anglers just relax with some catch-and-release fun.

Meanwhile, the Capt. Al out of Point Lookout continues to enjoy the super plentiful supply of ling. Customers are hauling them in from Ambrose waters at depths of 90 to 110 feet. In fact, last weekend Lam and Carmen Gong from Clifton, N.J. were high hookers, boasting between them a tally of 87 ling and their limit of stripers up to 24 pounds. Friday and Saturday nights the Capt. Al switches to stripers and blues.

Not to be overlooked: As of Saturday freshwater fishing also kicks into high gear with the season opening for warm-water sportfish. That means going for species like walleye , northern pike, pickerel and tiger muskellunge.

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