The Compleat Angler:

Saltwater Slam, March 26th at The Double Tree Hotel In Norwalk, CT

We will be co-hosting the first annual Saltwater Slam fishing show & seminar series.

The Saltwater Slam will include a full day of seminars on Fly (including Lou Tabory), Light Tackle, Jigging & Tube and Worm fishing techniques in the Northeast and a Mini Show that will include Raymarine, Shimano, Lunker City Fishing Specialties, Sage & St. Croix to name a few.

Charter Captains from New England, including Capt. John McMurray and Capt. Tom Pitasi will be conducting in-depth seminars designed to allow the average fisherman to successfully fish the areas covered on their own.  This will be a information rich environment.

To view our list of expert lecturers click here.

Spend a day with the Guides, Fishing industry Pros and Fishing Insiders from New England.

• In Depth Seminars
• Access to Vendors
  
• See and Test All the Latest Salt Water Gear
  
• Learn From Pro Guides
• Raffle and Door Prizes
  

Three ways to particpate:

$50 : Full Program Includes access to all Seminars and Vendors.

$10: Mini Show Vendor Area Only.

Doors open @ 8am

Seminars start @ 9am

The Autumn run is around the corner for the opening act we have hard tails (the edible kind) making there way into LI sound.  Rumors abound this time of year.  “I saw albies busting off Fairfield!”  Not likely. False Albacore won’t show up this way until mid- September.

But in the mean time, we’ve been hearing reliable reports of Bonito (yummy) from the Vineyard, Block Island and the north shore of Long Island.

Choppah blues are also creeping around The Race and on the reefs.  Big Stipahs are being caught in southern Maine, NH, and the outer beaches of  The Cape.

This time of year we become a bunch of secretive freaks.  Disinformation abounds on web forums and at shop counters.  Cryptic messages are scrawled on sticky notes. Fly tiers are woodshedding,  trying to come up with some magic bullet fly to slay little tunoids.  And striper junkies are plotting ways to take off work and concocting lies to tell wives and girlfriends.

Good luck with all that.

See you all at the Double Tree in Norwalk CT.  Doors open at 7pm.  We’ll give stuff away during intermission and you can head down to 1020 Post afterward for drinks.

Alex Taylor Photography

After a bunch of fruitless outings we finally hooked up.  Stripping streamer meat on sinking lines through high water at the tail out of February.  A lot of work went into this fish: Lots o’ nymphing (yuk), walking, casting and lost rigs

Last week I took a ride through the wilds of Connecticut. Lots of  little black stones,  midges and what appeared to be caddis fluttering about– but not one rising fish.

A good recon mission.

MARCH 27, 2010      TIME 10:00 AM TO 4:00 PM

******ADMISSION IS FREE******

Where:  WALLINGFORD ROD & GUN CLUB

411 N. Branford Rd.,  WALLINGFORD, CT.

(Go to www.wallingfordrodandgunclub.org for directions)

FLY FISHING & TYING ACTIVITIES

Presentation by Jim Plante “Nymphing Clinic Overview” including Techiniques, Leaders, Tippet, Indicators, Rods, Flies and Behavior. You don’t want to miss this presentation.  Jim is an experienced guide on the Housatonic River.

Slide Show Presentation by Paul Dinice “Fly Fishing Cape Cod”

TYING CLASSES & DEMONSTRATIONS

CASTING DEMONSTRATIONS & LESSONS! (weather permitting)

FREE TYING CLASSES AND DEMONSTRATIONS !

TYING MATERIALS PROVIDED FREE !

TIE YOUR FIRST SALT OR FRESH WATER FLY !

TIE THAT FLY PATTERN YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO LEARN !

SOME OF THE BEST TYERS AND FISHERMEN IN THE STATE WILL BE IN ATTENDANCE TO ANSWER ANY ?’S YOU MIGHT HAVE !

For more info call Paul Dinice at 203 305-3850 or email at pdinice@snet.net .

Bring your old gear to sell and swap !

VENDORS, GUIDES & OTHER FLY FISHING CLUBS

It is known that striped bass are worth many times more per pound taken recreationally then commercially – even when released – and that the recreational fishery in MA produces almost 20 times as many full time equivalent jobs.  Stripers Forever members and lobbyists have constantly been making these and many other points to legislators during the last year and a half.  No comments, though, are as important as those of you the constituents of these legislators, or you the person who comes to MA from away in order to fish for striped bass. There are many more of us associated with the recreational fishery, and we represent many times more the number of legislators than do the commercial striped bass fishermen.  There is no reason why we should suffer “the tyranny of the few”.

We are asking you at this important time to contact or recontact every member of the Committee as well as your own legislator. Remember, a letter sent by postal mail is best, but an e-mail is far better than no comment at all.  Phone calls to their offices are also great.

This link http://www.mass.gov/legis/ will bring you to a website that has complete information about how to contact any legislator in MA by mail, e-mail or phone.  Representative Matt Patrick Rep.MatthewPatrick@hou.state.ma.us,  the prime sponsor of H796 has asked to be copied on your e-mails or letters so that he can further strengthen our case with other MA legislators.

Here is a sample letter that you can send.  Writing something in your own words, though, is even better.

Dear Representative or Senator…

I urge you to vote for H796 a bill that would designate striped bass as a game fish in Massachusetts state waters.  Here is why:

• Professional studies show that recreational fishing for striped bass provides many times more economic activity and jobs than does the commercial fishery.
• Striped bass, after a population collapse in the 1980s, are again in trouble.  The commercial fishery wrongly focuses on the prime breeding age female fish.
• Recreational striped bass fishing has made Cape Cod and the Islands a prime destination for traveling fishermen.  Many guides are employed by this fishery.
• Massachusetts would join Maine, NH, and CT as New England states that have protected striped bass from commercial exploitation.
• Striped bass are an important recreation for me personally, and the quality of that fishing is deteriorating.
• Striped bass migrate to Massachusetts  from Chesapeake Bay, and are known to be heavily contaminated with mercury, PCBs, and a flesh-eating disease called mycobacteriosis.  The Environmental Defense Fund says that no one should consume these fish.  People buying these fish assume that the government has tested them and they are safe.  This is not true.

Fishing for striped bass is an important recreation for me and the quality of it is slipping away rapidly.  I urge you to vote for H796 and make striped bass a game fish today.

Sincerely;

For additional information this link will take you to a letter posted on the SF website that Representative Matt Patrick recently sent to members of the Massachusetts legislature commenting on the committee hearing and the importance of passing H796.  You may want to read it before finalizing your comments to legislators.