From the President:Dear Members and Friends - I hope all of you are getting into the swing of things this Spring - Below you will find two of our recent Chapter fishing trips reported on. These trips provide an excellent opportunity to learn more advanced fishing skills, have fun with your fellow anglers, and CATCH FISH.
If you are not getting my e-mails that announce these trips, please call me so I can add your address to the list.
On June 19th, Captain Brady Bounds will be hosting our Chapter Fishing Trip from Solomons Maryland - Please let us know if you are interested - these trips sell out fast.
I look forward to seeing many of you at our June 10th meeting, as we have Captain Sonney Forrest as our guest speaker.
Rob
Monthly Chapter Meetings:
Location: Our Chapter Meetings are held on the second Wednesday of the month at the Grace Presbyterian Church inn Vienna from 7:00 to 9:00. Thanks again to chapter member Mark Stempler, a member of the congregation for providing the meeting place.
Meeting Dates: June 10, Sept. 9, Oct. 14
Directions: The Church is located on Cedar Lane in Vienna, south of Tyson's Corner. From Gallows Road, turn west onto Cedar Lane, go .3 miles, the church will be on your left. Park in the rear, enter the rear door.
The May Meeting Report:John Page Williams, from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation gave us an update on the "2008 State of the Bay", and it isn't pretty. John lives on the Severn, and spends a lot of time on the water as a scientist and fisherman, so his presentation was very hands-on. For example - At one point he showed us changes in oxygen and water temperature data he collected over several days in the Severn River near his house, and what this looked like on his fish finder. Fish were locating in the higher oxygen water, and you could see the separate layers on the fishfinder. For fishermen this means find the oxygen, find the fish. I was surprised to find that wind and rainfall can change the oxygen mix overnight.
John is a great presenter; he sparked a lot of animated conversation and follow up questions from our members, including from John Bellow who has devoted an enormous amount of time and energy to this subject. The discussion was only limited by the allowable time for the meeting, so John Page Williams has agreed to return later this year to continue the discussion. We will keep you informed!
June 10 Chapter Meeting:
Sonney Forrest will talk about light tackle fishing in the middle bay near Solomons' Island where he is located. Sonney is famous on the bay, best known as the captain of the Fin Finder, a large charter boat that specialized in trolling for Rockfish out of Solomons. Sonny has started a new charter service known as Reel Relief Charters, fishing in a new way - "Light tackle, smaller boat, and lots more fun!"We are very pleased to have Sonney visit with us; he is a very entertaining speaker and a great fisherman. Don't miss it! You can visit his website at http://www.captainsonney.com/ and see his new boat.
Report on the Chapter Charter Fishing Trips:
George Lenard has been doing a great job of coordinating these trips! Here are a few reports from the happy fisherman who went.
Walleye Pete Trip - May 30th out of Solomons Island.
Here's the report from George, with a few pictures, including a speckled trout! That's Pete with his thumb in the stripers mouth.
Chapter Members on board were Art Reynolds, Rich DiGiovanna and George Lenard, (Specialized Baits). The plan for the day was to hit Cedar Point first thing, than cross the Bay and work our way south along the Honga River from the lower Hooper Island bridge to the islands below the Hooper Strait.
At Cedar Point we worked the rock piles for a few minutes but didn't get a hit. Captain Pete was determined to find us fish at the Point and his persistence paid off as we worked our way along the Cedar Point Rip, and found scattered schools of stripers. Most of the action was jugging but occasionally the schools would surface and the action would be on the top.
Most of the stripers were in the 18" to 22" range with a couple slightly larger. Included in our catch at the rip was a lone 14" croaker that hit a 2 oz. Chartreuse Li'l Bunker worked along the bottom.
After about an hour at Cedar Point we headed to Hooper Island. Captain Pete found us a nice school of stripers at the northern end of the bridge. We had an outoing tide and on numerous drifts we had doubles on. Dirty water in the Honga and some wind made the fishing tough as we worked our way south, but by the end of the trip we probably caught 20 to 25 fish each.
Rich Di Giovanna one of our more recent chapter members seemed to have the hot stick for the trip. Rich is determined to figure out the light tackle game and from the pictures, looks to be well on his way. The striper in the picture smashed a top water plug at the Cedar Point rips, and the 20" speckled trout hit a li'l Jimmy bucktail at the Hooper Island bridge.
Sonney Forest trip out of Solomon's May 4, 2009
Tom Welch (in the vest) sent these photos and an e-mail. He said that this is the best trip he has ever had on Fish Finder!! Remember, Sonney will be speaking at our June 10 meeting.
Events of interest around the area:
CCA Maryland Rockfish Tournament:
CCA MD Kent Narrows Chapter is holding a Fly and Light Tackle Striper Tournament on Saturday June 6, 2009.
Entry Fee: $35 per Angler
Free Beer and Eats: 3:00 - 6:00 PM at the "Jetty Beachside" at Kent Narrows.
Must be a CCA member to enter.
Several members of the CCA Northern Va Chapter will attend and defend our honor.
Check it out at http://www.ccamd.org/chapters/MD06/CCA-KItourn2009.pdf.
Saltwater Fishing Regulations:
2009 Virginia Fishing Regulations:
http://www.mrc.virginia.gov/regulations/swrecfishingrrules.shtm
2009 Maryland Fishing Regulations:
http://www.dnr.md.gov/fisheries/pdfs/2009MSFG.pdf
wait 30 seconds for download, then go to page 32 for Saltwater Regulations.
From the Editor:
See you at the June Meeting with Sonney Forrest.
Contact me at richredler@verizon.net with comments and information for the newsletter.
