Morning Star Fish Report

Fish Report 1/31/07

Sanity Check ~ Going Fishing

Hi All,

Been jammed up with maintenance - the kind you have to fold yourself up and squeeze into the small places on a boat.

Much better to get it done - keep things in good shape.

Still work to do, but, if you don't mind the linoleum floor and trim missing, we are going fishing. A Saturday even!

2/3/07 We'll get underway at 7 and return at 3(ish). 16 folks sells out the boat. Crabs provided. No heat! Dress in layers...

With just a touch of luck we'll see some more of that CO2 enriched El Nino winter that I was really coming to like a few weeks back, but, for now, just Saturday.

The forecast is, at present, for a diminishing West wind. May have to fish tight to the beach. That's OK with Toggin' though. The water temp has fallen 6 degrees since our last trip, but at 46, it's still well within the zone. That trip was good in the morning, dead into early afternoon and then came on great in the end.

The minimum number of passengers for this trip is Zero. I'll tie her lose myself if I have too!

The spring sea bass season wasn't exactly the best last year; beat sitting on the bank though. Hard to say what kind of spring run we'll get this year. Anyway, the reservation 'book' is open from May 1st to November 30th. If you want to lock in some dates/spots it's near a slam dunk to get what you want now.

MARI, the Maryland Artificial Reef Initiative, keeps rolling along. It's a great thing to see MD get back into reef construction. I think reefs in the Bay will come to be seen as a key player in her restoration. And, it is called the Maryland Artificial Reef Initiative... Hopefully they'll remember their coastal kin.

When I first mentioned the Initiative, a fellow wrote and told me if I really supported the idea I would have included a link. Drats, he saw right through me!

http://www.ccamd.org/MARI/MARI_home.htm Every dime donated will make it more likely that this program gets legs. Make it happen! (It's a secure site now)

Meanwhile, back in West Ocean City Harbor, the Ocean City Reef Foundation has recently sunk 3 barge loads of heavy concrete rubble and a 55 foot steel boat. Quietly - no fanfare - just steadily putting good material in position. There's a fifty foot boat and another barge load of concrete in the immediate future. It's a program that works. And, since I really believe in this one, I'll include the link the first time! http://www.ocreeffoundation.com/main.html

Might just go set up on some of those reefs this weekend...

Cheers!

Monty

Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservations 410 520 2076
www.morningstarfishing.com

posted by Monty # Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Fish Report 1/9/07

Going Toggin' and M.A.R.I.

Hi All,

Can't stand it no more ~ gotta go fishin!

Tog trip on 1/11 7am to 3pm 16 head sells out. Green crabs provided. Calm but cold is the forecast. 5 fish at 14 inches is the law (and boy does that need work!)

We've been painting - finish paint - even got a coat of non-skid on the deck. Can't recall ever having temps to do that in January before; had to take advantage of it.

Lots of other maintenance ~ some left to do still. You never get 'done' with a boat; lucky to shrink the list before it grows more!

Perhaps many of you are already dialed into MARI - the Maryland Artificial Reef Initiative. How nice to see Maryland getting back into this!

Focused on the remains of the old Woodrow Wilson Bridge, the project has gathered a tremendous amount of financial support in just a few weeks.

A short video was presented in Annapolis today of some existing artificial reefs in the Chesapeake. Very familiar. Life - lots of life!

It is my sincere hope that this project gets legs. The collapse of one of the world's largest estuaries can, I believe, be corrected in large part by reef construction. Yes, there are numerous other factors - hundreds. Fact is though, the natural mechanism that once strained -filtered- the bays waters about twice a week is missing. Artificial reef is the only way to ever have a shot at recreating that capacity in our lifetimes.

And a few folks dropped some serious coin to start the ball rolling. Good stuff.

While I strongly urge you to continue to support the Ocean City Reef Foundation -same problems, bigger scale- I know for a fact that many despised the old WWBridge. For $25 you can buy a little payback -sink a ton- just go to the CCA MD website. It's all set up.

Whether it's Bay or Ocean, you can't renew fisheries without rebuilding the habitat.

We'll go see how some of it's doing off the coast...

Regards,

Monty

Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservations 410 520 2076
www.morningstarfishing.com

posted by Monty # Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Morning Star Fish Report

Fish Report 1/31/07

Fish Report 1/9/07

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