The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is looking into the possibility of making some practical exceptions to its requirement that circle hooks be used with natural baits for striper fishing in order to reduce angling mortality. The states of Maine and Massachusetts were given two year windows to study the effect of using the tube and worm trolling technique .

That method is very popular in New England, and I’ve never heard of a striper swallowing the long tube after hitting the worm on the hook. Using a cirle hook on the tube would be very inefficient in that situation. Surprisingly. New Hampshire and New York voted against that proposal at the recent ASMFC virtual meeting. However, there was a unanimous vote to establish a committee to study the specifics of the circle hook rule. For instance, the natural bait definition means pork rind can’t be used on jigs which are rarely swallowed in any case. The same applies to the use of eelskins and rigged eels. Then there’s the question of incidental striper catches by anglers using bait for other species with J hooks.

Thursday’s forecast is for north winds about 10 knots with light snow and two-foot seas.

A break in winter weather has opened the possibility of blackfishing tomorrow.

The forecast is for northwest 10-15 knot winds which diminish to just 5-10 in the afternoon with 2-3-foot seas.

The Ocean Explorer intends to sail from Belmar, and the Mimi VI has set up a limited trip at 6:30 from Point Pleasant. The Mimi VI trip costs $120 and includes whitelegger crabs for bait. That boat will also sail Friday through Sunday at 6:30 for $90 with only green crabs included. Call 732 370-8019 for reservations.

After becoming another victim of the pandemic, the N.J. Governor’s Cup Surf Fishing Tournament is coming back in 2021 on Sunday, May 23 at Island Beach State Park.

Ric Gross of Point Pleasant got a rare Florida fishing thrill catching a wahoo while sailing aboard Deja Vu from Pompano Beach to 400-foot depths off Deerfield Beach.

Tuesday starts with light south winds before gusting to 20 knots. Snow in the morning may change to rain in the afternoon.

Anglers can help themselves and a good cause by googling IGFA Auction and bidding on some great fishing tackle and trips before the 6:30 p.m. deadline on Feb, 13.

The Ocean Explorer from Belmar sailed for jumbo blackfish yesterday, but the wind blew even harder than expected and the seas got too rough as only a pool winner by Howard and a few ling were caught before an early return. The only life was in deeper waters. They’ll be searching for better weather to make the next attempt.

Monday’s forecast is for northwest winds at 10-15 knots with gusts to 20 before diminishing to 5-10 knots in the afternoon.

It was a shock last week when I heard that Jeff Demint had passed away on Jan. 31.Jeff was the director of the American Littoral Society fish tagging program at Sandy Hook and a youngish-looking 54. A graduate of Christian Brothers Academy, he started out as a union ironworker before ending up with his dream job as an angler and conservationist of working with the ALS. Jeff converted files of tagging cards into computerized information that was especially helpful to NMFS, ASMFC and MAFMC in the early days of fishery management I was an active participant in the ALS tagging program from the beginning, and often fished with Jeff on tagging trips as his efforts led to great increases in tagging and scientific knowledge which will be a lasting testimony to a life well spent even if much too short.

Sunday’s forecast is for east winds at 15-20 knots with rain and show before going west in the afternoon.

The following release updates  striped bass management planning:

Atlantic Striped Bass Board Approves Draft Amendment 7 PID for Public Comment

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board approved for public comment the Public Information Document (PID) for Draft Amendment 7 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Atlantic Striped Bass. As the first step in the amendment process, the PID seeks input from stakeholders and those interested in striped bass about changes observed in the fishery/resource and potential management measures.

The last time a new plan amendment to the Atlantic Striped Bass FMP was adopted was in 2003 (Amendment 6). Since then, the status and understanding of the striped bass stock and fishery has changed considerably which raises concern that the current management program no longer reflects current fishery needs and priorities. The results of the 2018 Benchmark Stock Assessment in particular led the Board to discuss a number of prominent issues facing striped bass management. Consequently, the Board initiated the development of Amendment 7 in August 2020.

The purpose of the PID is to solicit stakeholder input on prioritizing the importance of each topic for continued development and potential inclusion in the Draft Amendment. The PID considers the following management topics: (1) fishery goals and objectives; (2) biological reference points; (3) management triggers; (4) stock rebuilding targets and schedule; (5) regional management; (6) management program equivalency (conservation equivalency); (7) recreational release mortality; (8) recreational accountability; (9) coastal commercial quota allocation; and (10) other issues raised in public comments.

Stakeholders are encouraged to provide input on the PID either by attending state public hearings or providing written comment. It is anticipated that states from Maine through North Carolina will be conducting public hearings, likely in a virtual format, in March and April 2021. A subsequent press release will provide the details of those hearings. The Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board will meet at the Commission’s 2021 Spring Meeting in May to consider public comment and provide direction to staff for items to be included in Draft Amendment 7.

The PID is available at http://www.asmfc.org/files/PublicInput/StripedBassAm7PID_PublicComment_Feb2021.pdf or via the Commission’s website, www.asmfc.org, under Public Input. Public comment will be accepted until 5 PM (EST) on April 9, 2021 and should be forwarded to Emilie Franke, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, 1050 N. Highland St, Suite 200A-N, Arlington, VA 22201; 703.842.0741 (FAX) or at comments@asmfc.org (Subject line: Striped Bass PID). For more information, please contact Emilie Franke, Fishery Management Plan Coordinator, at efranke@asmfc.org or 703.842.0740.

The IGFA 37th International Auction has added new items as it heads to a conclusion on Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m. Go to their web site to take a look and bid on some real bargains.

The maritime forecast is for west winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 30. However, with the west direction, the Ocean Explorer from Belmar is planning to sail Saturday for jumbo blackfish.                            

                        

The Ocean Explorer from Belmar had a great catch of big blackfish from relatively inshore waters last Wednesday and couldn’t wait to get out there again. Saturday was rough, and poor results didn’t discourage an all-star cast on Sunday when conditions were perfect on a flat calm ocean. Unfortunately, the results were the same. Only a few shorts plus some ling were caught, and the speculation is that the bottom water may have become too cold. As a result, whenever the weather is right, the Ocean Explorer will be trying in the usual mid-winter 120-foot depths. At this point they’re looking at Saturday and Sunday.

The forecast is for northwest winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 30 tomorrow morning along with a chance of rain.

The Hudson River Fisherman’s Association has postponed their ice fishing derby to Feb. 20 due to lakes covered with two feet of snow.

It’s not surprising that the present Abu Garcia doesn’t know about the original Garcia Corporation’s part in saving what was left of America’s marine resources after foreign fleets drove one species after another to levels so low that it wasn’t worth fishing for them any longer.

The devastation was so bad by the 1970s that party boats in the northeast could hardly catch any cod, haddock. mackerel, ling and whiting after huge trawlers filled their factory ships for processing. Since nothing was being done about that, I called a meeting of party and charter boat captains, conservationists and fishing club leaders that was held aboard the Palace II at Hoboken. We decided to form an organization called the Emergency Committee to Save America’s Marine Resources. As executive director of the all-volunteer group I called on Rep. Norman Lent (R-NY), and he introduced a 200-mile fisheries limit bill which we quickly gathered cosponsors for.

The path forward looked impossible as both the State and Defense departments didn’t want to “rock the boat” even though the greatest damage was by the Soviet Union and their Iron Curtain allies fishing as close as 12 miles offshore. Yet. I thought we could develop a massive letter writing campaign to Congress and create an overwhelming show of public support. Taking TV reporters offshore to view the huge fleets helped garner that public support within a few years. I was director of field testing for Garcia at the time and President Tom Lenk allowed us to use the office at Englewood Cliffs as our office along with the company postage. Membership grew, and our support in Congress escalated quickly. What had seemed like an impossible dream became reality in just a few years when President Ford signed The Magnuson Fishery Conservation & Management Act to go into effect on March 1, 1977.

Lenk had allowed me to take whatever time I needed in that effort, and continued that stance when I was appointed to the original Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council.

A small craft advisory is up through Thursday afternoon. Northwest winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 25 are forecast for the morning, though they diminish to 10-15 in the afternoon.

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The Mitchell factory in the French Alps pumped out millions of spinning reels, but the executives weren’t experienced anglers as they had only small trout in streams to fish for. When they decided to compete with Penn in the star drag reel business, they came up with a big improvement. The side plates had been made with a material that would crack if the reel dropped on a hard surface. Mitchell used Delrin. which was virtually unbreakable. I was excited when getting one, and went out to Montauk to use it on a party boat.

Only small fish were biting, but a problem surfaced right away as I could hardly reel since all the screws were popping out. It turned out that Delrin wouldn’t retain screws in use, and the entire inventory had to get a shot of Locktite, I wrote to Garcia president Tom Lenk to point out the lack of field testing — and he asked to come aboard to become director of field testing. While working there I met my wife Kathy, who was an executive secretary in the Teaneck, N.J. office.

Tomorrow I’ll discuss Garcia’s involvement in the fight for the 200 mile limit.

A small craft advisory continues tonight, but the morning forecast is for northwest 15-20 knots before decreasing to 10-15 in the afternoon.

Saturday’s blog featured a release about100 years of Abu Garcia. Obviously, I wasn’t there there all that time — but my relatively early involvement was a significant part of my life.

As a youngster crazy about fishing, I thought it would be great to work in the fishing tackle business or to earn a living writing about the sport in magazines or a newspaper. There was no apparent path to do so, but as it turned out that’s exactly what eventually happened though there were some twists of fate involved.

After graduating from Naval Officers Candidate School at Newport R.I in 1959, I was assigned to a destroyer (John R. Pierce DD -753) and served for a year as First Lt. on that WW II rust bucket before receiving a change in orders to the U.S. Naval Station in Trinidad, West Indies — where I could fish every night from empty piers. I also bought a 20-foot skiff cut from a single tree which was powered by a 12 HP West Bend outboard with which I fished the Caribbean Sea despite having no radio and only a pair of oars in case anything went wrong.

When my tour of duty was up (after an extension in the Berlin Crisis), I returned to N.Y. with a taste for adventure — and no desire to commute to a desk job as my father had done. Therefore, I applied to the C.I.A.

I took the test in Washington and looked for a job to hold me over before finding out if I was accepted. I saw a sales position advertised in the Sunday N.Y. Times for a man with a car who was interested in fishing. That sounded just right, especially when it turned out that the ad was placed by the manufacturers rep for Garcia. That was the only time such an ad had been placed in a newspaper since jobs in the trade usually were passed on to family members or relatives.

Traveling along the coast to visit tackle shops put me in a position to learn much more about fishing, particularly in New England where I became a fishing partner of the great plug innovator, Stan Gibbs and many other top anglers while catching striped bass larger than I’d ever dreamed of.

When the C.I.A. called, I decided to stick with my dream job which actually also paid better. I later found out the delay in acceptance was due to a security check though I already had final top secret clearance from the Navy as the War Plans Officer in Trinidad. If it wasn’t for that delay I would have been a “spook” instead of an outdoor writer!

Tom Lenk was the visionary president of Garcia who turned a small Spanish importing firm into the the giant of the fishing tackle business by introducing mass merchandising techniques into what had been a small store business by introducing Mitchell spinning reels to the public and bringing the price of getting into that relatively new to Americans method of fishing into the range most anglers.

I’ll conclude about those early days of Garcia tomorrow.

The storm warning continues through late tonight with northeast gusts to 55 knots before dropping to north 20-25 with gusts to 30 along with likely snow in the morning.