The Fishin' Times

President - Janet Messineo
Vice Presidents - Walter Lison, Paul Schultz
Treasurer - Joseph Uranker
Secretary - Bob Lane

Next surfcaster meeting: June 21, 7 pm VH Legion Hall, Bethel Wing.

MV After School Program, take a kid fishing: May 16th and 17th: After School Program fishing trip: Duarte's Pond 3pm to 5pm. Raindate: May 23rd

Projects completed in April:

Safe Haven Project: A solid handful of Surfcasters were able to participate in the April 17th kids fishing trip at Duarte's pond. Considering, it was a little early in the season, lo and behold, we actually caught a few catfish and trout. A good time for all. Thanks to Coop, Bob Lane, Arnie Ziemian, Walter Lison, new member Bill McConnell, and Larry Schaeffer who got the gear together for us

The Earth Day clean up: Another success! We filled a huge truck with beach debris. The organizers were so pleased with our group and said we had the best turn out and collected the most garbage of all the groups throughout the island. GOOD JOB SURFCASTERS!

Line Boxes:
The boxes are in at Eastville, County beach and Chappy. We have added the Bluefish and Striped Bass Regulations and soon will add the Scup, Black Sea bass and Fluke regs. We have discussed adding one at Tashmoo that Phil Cronin will maintain. I am still working on getting permission.

Montauk Surfcasters visit:
Bob Lane has been in touch with Willie Young. Willie and a few of the boyz will be coming up the week of May 24 thru the 30. They are interested in renting a house for the week. If you know anyone who has a house to rent at that time please contact Bob Lane at 508-693-5296.

April meeting:
The attendance at out last meeting in April was terrific! The group hashed around some great ideas for this year's agenda and it seems we will be able to accomplish them with the energy that these members are displaying. We decided not to have a May meeting. As anticipated the fish are here hot and heavy and the beaches are dominated with Surfcaster members doing what they do best, catching fish.

The first striper: Janet Messineo, April 23, 4:34pm
The first keeper: Charlie Barr, May 4, 7:20 am (29 ?")
The first bluefish: John Shillinger, May 4, 1:30pm. (9 1/2lbs)
Congratulations! Welcome to new members Bill McConnell and Don Sexton.

May agenda: May 12: Rod and Gun Club kids trout derby.

Summer picnic casting competetion: A committee was formed to work out details for the summer picnic casting compitition: Paul Schultz, Sandra Demel, Jeff Sayre, Bill McConnell

Circle hooks:
Gary Mirando wants to put together a flyer with instructions on releasing fish and using circle hooks.

Future Agenda:
Fishing Clinic for adults. The basics of surfcasting. (spin fishing only) Date: June 23rd. Raindate June 24th. Time: 9am to 12pm. Place: Big Bridge. Arnie Ziemian will be the contact person and will sign people up. We will need to know how many Surfcasters can commit so that we know how many people we can handle. We will do a press release with an interview with a few members to get this information out to the public. We will also talk about "what the Surfcasters do for the community annually".

The bench:
Walter Lison is still pursuing THE BENCH for Head of Lagoon Pond.

Next surfcaster meeting: June 21.

Dont forget to mark your calendar with the following meeting dates. All meetings start at 7pm at the VH Legion Hall, Bethel Wing. JUNE 21, NOV 8, DEC 6.

Around The Island

First Island Fish of 2001 Reported

Congratulations to the following MVSA members for the following fishing achievements: Janet Messineo - First striped bass under 28" on April 23. Charlie Barr - first striped bass over 28" on Friday May 4. John Schillinger - first bluefish on Friday May 4. We’re still anxiously waiting to hear if anyone gets a weakfish, and of course later in the season we’ll be looking for the first bonito and the first false albacore of our membership. Call or e-mail Bob Lane. 693-5296 or rane@fc.mv.k12.ma.us.

It’s blitz time! In case you’ve been in a coma the past weekend, try this to get out of it: go to south beach or almost anywhere on Chappy with a buc ktail, rubber shad, a tin squid, a swimmer or a surface plug. Tie one of them to your line, add water and retrieve. Repeat.

What’s On The Line?

MV After School Program: Take a Kid Fishing Wed & Thurs May 16 & 17 3 - 5 pm Duartes Pond, Lamberts Cove Road, WT.

MV Rod & Gun Club Trout Derby Sat May 12, 5-9 am Duartes Pond Lamberts Cove Road, WT.

No May MVSA Meeting!

MVSA June Meeting: Thursday June 21 at 7pm Tisbury Legion Hall Across from the Tisbury School.

MVSA Casting/Fishing Clinic: Sat June 23, 9-12 noon at Big Bridge. Ages 18 & up only. No Charge but participants must pre-register with Arnie Ziemian 627-3872.

MVSA Family & Friends Picnic: Sat July 14, Rain date Sun July 15. Time & Place TBA.

Online Special edition!!

New Massachusetts Recreational Saltwater Fishing Rules for 2001:
April 23, 2001 For striped bass, summer flounder (fluke), scup (porgy), black sea bass, weakfish, and white perch.

Over the past few months, DMF and the Marine Fisheries Commission have enacted some changes affecting recreational fishing. Most of these changes bring the Commonwealth into compliance with species-specific interstate management plans. Changes have been enacted relating to the harvest of striped bass, summer flounder (fluke), scup (porgy), black sea bass, weakfish, and white perch.

(1) Striped Bass: Minimum size lowered from 30 inches to 28 inches and "high grading" prohibited. The size limit was dropped to 28" and this is expected to remain in place through 2002. An updated stock assessment suggested fishery performance is within management plan guidelines. "High-grading" striped bass has been prohibited. High-grading is where smaller legal-sized fish previously captured and retained are then discarded in favor of another larger legal-sized fish. Recreational fishermen may not retain a legal-sized striped bass and release said fish in favor of another larger legal-sized striped bass captured subsequently. It is now prohibited to keep striped bass alive in the water by attaching a line or chain to the fish or by placing the fish in a live-well or holding car.

(2) Summer Flounder (fluke): As a result of a recent federal court decision, summer flounder commercial and recreational limits will be lowered for all states this season. For the Massachusetts recreational fishing sector, a reduction in harvest of 29% is required. To accomplish this DMF has enacted the following: minimum size limit of 16 1/2", bag limit of 7 fish and open season of May 25-September 5. These changes increase the size limit by one inch, decrease the bag limit by one fish and shorten the season by 40 days.

(3) Scup and Black Sea Bass: The interstate management plan requires states to constrain recreational harvest to rebuild the scup and black sea bass stocks. To address past year's increases in recreational harvest along the coast, all states must enact new restrictions to constrain harvest in 2001. For Massachusetts anglers this will mean lower scup possession limits and shortened seasons for both scup and black sea bass, but size limits (9" for scup, 12" for sea bass) will remain the same.

(a) Scup recreational possession limits: · For anglers fishing shore or private vessels, the daily possession limit will be 50 fish per angler and 100 per vessel. · For anglers fishing aboard party or charter vessels the daily possession limit will be 100 per angler during May and June, and reduced to 50 per angler beginning in July through the season end. (b) Black sea bass and scup closed seasons: For black sea bass, fishing will be prohibited prior to May 10; For scup, fishing will be prohibited after October 6 through the end of the year.

(4) Weakfish: A daily possession limit of 12 fish per angler has been enacted. Prior to this year, there was no daily limit. While it's unlikely that many fishermen would have opportunity to exceed a 12-fish daily bag while fishing Massachusetts waters, enactment of such a limit is consistent with the spirit and intent of weakfish recovery efforts. The 16" minimum size is unchanged.

(5) White Perch: A 25-fish bag limit and an 8" minimum size were enacted for the first time. White perch are found in salt ponds and estuaries, grow up to 15" and are a popular recreational species. These rules will be similar to those in other states where the harvest of white perch is regulated. These white perch limits apply only to coastal waters defined as waters within the rise and fall of the tide but not above any fishway, dam, or tidal bound established by the Department of Environmental Protection. Taking white perch in fresh water is not affected by this change. Contact DMF for details. Gloucester office: (978) 282-0308; Boston office (617) 626-1520; Pocasset office (508) 563-1779; Martha's Vineyard office (508) 693-4372.