BASS FISHINGBass Fishing Sports Blog

RALEIGH — The General Assembly is moving forward with a proposal by the Coastal Conservation Association that would make red drum, spotted sea trout, and striped bass off-limits to commercial fisherman and thus, fisherman say, the majority of the public.

Commercial fishermen say these are not the first fish to be taken off the market and they won’t be the last. If the CCA has its way, they say, commercial fishing would stop to exist in North Carolina and in most of the United States.

House bill 353 — the Game Fish bill — appeared to be dead in the water last summer, but it resurfaced last week in a new study committee called the Marine Fisheries Committee. Rep. Darrell McCormick, R-Yadkin, heads the study committee. Among other things, the committee is charged with assessing the economic impact of redesignating the three fish as game fish.

McCormick has estimated the new designation would increase economic activity in the state by billions of dollars. He and the CCA say the three species of fish are worth much more to the state recreationally than they are commercially. That’s because of tourism, as McCormick told Carolina Journal last summer:

“The dock value of one red drum is about $1.50 a pound,” he said. “Its value to our state, as a recreational fish, is $300 a pound.”

McCormick derived that number by dividing the total amount an average vacationer spends on a fishing trip by the number of fish he is allowed to catch on that trip. He says North Carolina’s fish attract tourists from all over the country, especially the Northeast.

“Those guys come down and bring $2,000, $3,000, $6,000, and they stay for a week and go fishing,” McCormick said. “They go to the restaurants. they stay at the hotel. they buy a boat. they spend a few hundred bucks in the tackle shop. they buy bait. then they go out one day with a guide or on a charter boat.”

In the Marine Fisheries Committee meeting Jan. 5, Sen. Don East, R-Surry, took issue with McCormick’s economics.

“How can we put a number on the economic impact of recreational fishing?” East questioned. “If I drive from Pilot Mountain to the coast and I take my own rod and reel with me, I pack my lunch, I don’t buy anything and sleep in my car, the economic impact is nothing.”

McCormick argued that even if East drove from Pilot Mountain and took his own groceries, “he bought those groceries in North Carolina at the Food Lion in King, and stopped in Burlington and filled up with gas, and stopped in Neuse Sporting Goods and picked up hooks and bait, and he had to buy a truck in Mount Airy, and he insured that truck probably in Mount Airy or Elkin. so you can’t get there without traveling through North Carolina and spending a dollar along the way.”

East further argued that if you’re going to use all of those multipliers to assess the economic impact of recreational fishing, you should also use them for commercial fishing.

“Do you place a value on all those jobs that come along with the commercial fishing industry?” East questioned. “The fish houses that have 25 or 30 people processing shrimp or other fish? do you put a value on the fact that those jobs are feeding the family?”

‘It’s not all about money’

Fisherman Ernie Foster said the legislators were missing the point. Fish are a public resource that anyone should be allowed to catch, not just those who are going to produce the most taxable dollars for the state.

Foster makes his living as a recreational fishing guide, but comes from a long line of commercial fishermen on Hatteras Island. He enjoys fishing for fun, but believes fishing for food and for a living is more important. since only 3 percent of North Carolinians have the means to catch their own fish, the other 97 percent rely on commercial fishermen to catch their dinner for them, he said.

Foster and several other commercial fishermen drove from the Outer Banks — some driving more than four hours —to attend the meeting in Raleigh. so did members of the North Carolina Coastal Conservation Association.

Foster said most CCA members are genuinely concerned about the environment and about preserving the fish for all. but he characterizes the leadership of the group as wealthy and politically connected sportsmen, who want to keep the fish all for themselves.

McCormick and the CCA have argued that the three species they want to designate as game fish have very small value to commercial fishermen.

The three fish make up only 2.6 percent of the commercial fishermen’s aggregate catch, said Louis Daniel, executive director of the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries. “There are only about 87 fishermen who landed more than $2,000 worth of those fish in the last couple of years.”

The reason the species represent such a small part of the average commercial fisherman’s income, said Foster, is that the state and federal government already have placed strict limits on the number they are allowed to catch.

There are federal limitations on how many striped bass they can catch, and state limitations on red drum, he said. Commercial fishermen can catch only a certain number of red drum incidentally. they cannot target them. after catching their limit of incidentals, any additional ones must be thrown back, dead or alive.

Foster said recreational fishermen already catch 80 percent of the red drum, spotted trout, and striped bass that are allowed to be caught in North Carolina. “They want to catch 100 percent.”

Commercial fisherman Jonathan Robinson took issue with that. “Those resources belong to the public,” he said. “They’re not just exclusively for the rich, who can afford boats and trips to the coast. Commercial fishing is a channel that provides access to these resources for all the citizens — for the blacks in the cities and the poor working people in farm towns in North Carolina.”

Commercial fisherman Chris McCaffity of Morehead City echoed his sentiment. “I recently had a disabled veteran thank me for defending his freedom to eat the fish he once caught himself,” McCaffity said.

Over the course of its next three meetings, the Marine Fisheries Committee also will be studying the impact of eliminating trawl boat fishing in North Carolina.

Foster said that would mean the end of shrimping in North Carolina, which he estimates makes up nearly a quarter of the state’s commercial fishing industry. it also would eliminate much of the state’s flounder fishing. “It would wipe out all of the fishing communities on the west side of Pamilico Sound,” he said.

McCaffity is scheduled to speak at the next meeting of the Marine Fisheries Committee at 1 p.m. Feb. 2 on the third floor of the state legislative building. There was no public comment period at the first meeting.

Sara Burrows is an associate editor of Carolina Journal.

Clear Lake bass fishermen are finding that it’s either live jumbo minnows or the Alabama Rig that’s catching fish and even these aren’t a guarantee of success. Overall the fishing continues to stay in the typical winter pattern, which means fishermen need to take it slow and have a lot of patience.

What is surprising are the number of bass being caught on swimbaits rigged on the Alabama Rig. in fact, most of the fishermen are using this type of setup exclusively. The fishermen are also concentrating in the deeper water in the south end of the lake. Earlier this week a fisherman reported catching 20 bass, topped by a couple of 6-pounders while casting the Alabama Rig near Monitor Point and at Dollar Island. He said when he retrieved the Rig there would be two or three bass following it right up to the boat. Fishermen are reminded that legally only three lures with hooks can be attached to the Alabama Rig. all other lures must be hookless.

A number of fishermen are wondering which brand of the Alabama Rig they should buy. There are dozens on the market and new types are being manufactured daily. A lot of fishermen prefer the three-branch rig over the five-branch setup. in fact, some fishermen, including myself, are making their own. I like the two-branch rig and made mine for less than a dollar each. I used a striped bass trolling spreader and modified it by attaching two swivels with clasps. The wire in the spreaders is the same type that is used in making spinnerbaits. Instead of attaching the expensive swimbaits you can use Flukes or curly-tailed grubs. in fact, you can even use small crankbaits. in other words, let your imagination guide you.

As expected the fishermen using live minnows are having the most success. An average day using minnows should produce 10-15 bass. The best action has been in the deeper water in the south end of the lake. Areas such as Konocti Bay, Jago Point and the rockpiles around Rattlesnake Island have been honest to excellent for the minnow dunkers. Bass are also being caught along the Nice-Lucerne shoreline. in the Lakeport area, the best action has been in the deeper water off Rocky Point and the rock ledge near the Pit stop. The action at Rodman Slough has slowed considerably. one problem in the Lakeport area is the dropping lake level. at the outer edges of some of the docks there is less than 2 feet of water and very few fish.

The catfish action continues to be slow but a few are being caught by persistent anglers. Shag Rock and Henderson Point are giving up a few catfish for those using jumbo minnows or nightcrawlers. Rodman Slough has been dead. Tom Wheeler of Gut Bucket Guide Service guided Doug Kulick of Reno on Wednesday and they caught a pair of 10-pounders off Shag Rock using cut bait.

There was a report of a few nice-sized crappie being caught off the docks in Nice but overall it has been slow. There is no bluegill action to speak of.

Trout fishermen are still waiting for the Department of Fish and Game to stock Upper Blue Lake. That won’t happen until after the New Year. Bass fishing has been ranging from honest to excellent with very little pressure.

There have been reports of a few striped bass being caught at Lake Mendocino. Jumbo minnows have been the top bait. Bass action, both largemouth and smallmouth, has been excellent with practically no fishing pressure.

The recent county requirement that all resident boat owners must take and pass a written test before being issued a quagga mussel sticker hasn’t set too well with many boaters. actually the 12-question test is pretty much a no-brainer and the best part is you can take it as many times as you need. in other words, no one should leave the screening station without a sticker. The purpose of the test is not to deny anyone a sticker but to make boaters aware of the danger of mussels getting into the lake.

Fishing restrictions named the Marine Life Protection Act began Jan. 1 along our California coastline.

The underwater parks are meant to improve and increase the fish stocks of the designated habitats. there are two preserves in the South Bay and 350 square miles of state waters from Santa Barbara, south to the Mexican border.

The controversial Forbidden Zones are meant to keep all fishermen from wetting a line inside the boundaries of these zones.

Catalina Island’s West End will be shut down, meaning the loss of at least three major white seabass fishing spots. some of the designated Forbidden Zones on the front side of Catalina are Bird Rock, Long Point and Lovers Cove. The Catalina back side zones include the well-known Farnsworth Bank and Catalina Harbor.

If you are caught wetting your line in any of these Forbidden Zones, you are classified as a poacher.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2012 enforcement is up to the discretion of the wardens. I wish the wardens Pleased new Year and good luck, there’s no way they can cover all the Forbidden Zones.

Whales: The landings in Southern California are gearing up for the annual whale watching trips, as more whales are being seen by fishermen this year than normal. At one point last week, more than 168 finback and gray whales had been seen. Normally this time of the year, only 20 to 30 whales have been identified.

The gray whales are the most prevalent, but other whales seen were finbacks, humpbacks and orca or killer whales.

Don Ashley of Pierpoint Landing said the blue whales which were hanging around our area in late fall and early winter have completely disappeared.

Ashley prefers to call the whale-watching trip a sealife adventure that’s filled with different sea birds, dolphins, seals and sharks. The krill that was so abundant for the whales is gone, but it has no effect on the gray whales’ adventure to Mexican waters and back again.

Pierpoint Landing will be kicking off its Sea Life Adventures on Saturday, Jan. 14 with two trips planned. each trip is 2<MD+,%30,%55,%70>1/<MD-,%0,%55,%70>2 to 3 hours. Prices are $25 for adults and $15 for juniors and seniors. Phone: 562-983-9300

Local saltwater: The bad news is that the Southern rockfish season is now closed until March 1. other fish not classified “rockfish” are still open-season fish. You can keep the following: sculpin, sand bass, calico bass and halibut. This rockfish closure creates a bad situation for the sportboat fleet that depends solely on rockfish fishing trips to stay alive in the sportfishing business.

Another major problem is the local “magic market squid” has completely dried up. Live squid is truly the finest of all live baits available for fishermen in the wintertime and can be the savior to most fishing trips. But for the last few months, the squid have been simple to catch. It’s going to be very tough fishing without the magic bait.

There is still plenty of squid at the islands if you want to catch it yourself, especially for the white seabass fishing. White seabass are always around Catalina, and their favorite bait is fresh squid – not necessarily live but certainly “fresh dead.” there are many tales passed around about anglers hooking up a nice white seabass on dead squid.

Halibut: Dana Wharf Sportfishing offers special tournament halibut fishing trips on Fridays, when the sportboats drift exclusively in the Dana Point area for the flatties. Advanced reservations are vital if you choose to go.

The latest trip found three halibut to 12 pounds to go along with a pick on sculpin and bass that was incidental to the halibut.

In the derby, the top 25 anglers catching halibut until April 30 will fish off for prizes on May 6. The list changes constantly as anglers catch halibut to replace those currently on the list. The current leader is Scotty Buchart with a fish of 25.8 pounds. Phone: 949-496-5794

Hunting: Duck hunting has been honest according to Western Outdoor News. The white geese are holding to about 4,500 in the Imperial Valley, and Westmorland is holding about 30,000 ducks and geese.

My son Cal shot at his duck club at the top of the Salton Sea and got limits, but the limits were composed of small ducks and spoonies.

It looks like the best hunting came from the Kern National Refuge, where one day last week 160 hunters bagged 694 ducks for a 4.5 per game average.

On the Cibola Lower Colorado River, more Canadian Geese have arrived. To date, more than 6,000 geese have arrived in the valley. The migration should end on the next full moon.

Fresh water: Pay to Fish Irvine Lake has a tournament on the calendar called Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The lake is doing a special plant of trophy trout as an added incentive. The tournament will be the weekend of Jan. 14-16. The big trout payout will have 10 payoffs. first place is $875. The entry fee is $10.

The Eastern Sierra is producing some of the finest fishing of the area. The fishable places that are normally filled with snow in December are experiencing a warm dry winter and excellent fishing.

It may be hard to believe, but once upon a time, Nintendo didn’t consider Samus Aran one of their premier characters. After Metroid‘s release on the NES back in 1987, it took a full four years before Metroid II: Return of Samus was released. Another mark of the franchise’s second-class status was that it wasn’t released for Nintendo’s cutting edge Super NES or the aging NES, but as a black-and-white Game Boy game.

But, Return of Samus contained all the great Metroid action that fans of the NES original loved and it paved the way for Super Metroid, the Prime series, and the all the rest of Samus’s adventures. And now you can download it on your 3DS.

Here’s what else Nintendo has planned for this week’s Nintendo Download:

Battle of the Elements (DSiWare) - Get ready to travel around the world facing the most powerful characters in intense battles of elements, where you’ll need to reckon as fast as you go your stylus in order to earn the victory.

Come On! Heroes (DSiWare) – This action game tests your reactions. the “Lovely Heiress” is being held for ransom. mr. King announces that anyone who brings back his daughter will receive a great reward.

Huge Bass Arcade (WiiWare) – big Bass Arcade is loaded with fishing action. Catch a boatload of fish and take a shot at the World Record Bass. Compete in Challenges and Tournaments, or Free Fish any lake at your own pace.

More information on all of these titles can be found within the Nintendo Download Weekly Newsletter.

[This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Gamasutra and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource GamesPress.]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Minneapolis, MN, November 18th, 2011 – BigBass Arcade from Huge John Games will release November 24th, 2011 onthe WiiWare™ service for 500 Wii Points™. Huge BassArcade follows in the footsteps of previous best-selling fishinggames developed by Huge John Games, including Huge Bass Arcade forthe Nintendo DSi™, Zebco 3D Pro, FLW Professional BassTournament, USA Bass, and Trophy Bass 2007 for PC andXBOX. 

Huge Bass Arcade puts the fun and excitement back into fishinggames. Huge John Games utilized its 17 years of developing fishingvideo games to make thrilling life-like fish behaviors,spectacular visuals and second-to-none fishing action evident fromthe first cast. use the Wii Remote™ and Nunchuk™ as avirtual rod and reel to cast, reel, and control the fish fightingaction.

Packed with features, Huge Bass Arcade includes 5 fish species, 4different lakes, 9 lures, 5 multi-lake tournaments, 20 challenges,free fishing, and a deep variety of fish size, weight and behavior.Reel in Largemouth Bass, Muskie, Northern Pike, Bluegill, andCrappie. High scores are tracked for every event on your quest forthe World Record Bass. 

With a proven track record of success Huge John Games isconfident Huge Bass Arcade for the WiiWare service is the perfectplatform for taking the passion of fishing to a new level throughunparalleled arcade action.  The number one objective Huge JohnGames had for making this game was to catch the Huge Bass and lotsof them! We have created a game that’s fantastic fun andenjoyable for everyone.

Our Huge Bass Arcade titles, first on Nintendo DSiWare  andnow on WiiWare are my favorite fishing games we’ve developed.” KenPatterson, President of Huge John Games said. “Huge Bass Arcadeappeals to fishing enthusiasts and video game players by capturingthe adrenaline rush of fish fighting action in an arcade stylegame! “

Huge Bass Arcade is rated “E” and will be availablefor download from the WiiWare service for 500 Wii Points.  Besure to check out the game on November 24th, 2011, it belongs inyour Wii tackle box.

For more information including the Huge Bass Arcade trailer andscreen shots visit bigjohngames.com/games/huge-bass-arcade-wiiware

About Huge John Games

Huge John Games is an independently owned video game developmentstudio located in Edina, Minnesota. Its team of game designers,engineers, artists, and animators are dedicated to developing greatgames for all audiences. Over the years, the Huge John Games staffhas partnered with leaders in the game publishing industry toproduce numerous successful video entertainment products. Huge JohnGames is proud to be an authorized developer for the NintendoDS™, Nintendo 3DS™, and Wii™ systems.

About Digital Clay Studios

Digital Clay Studios is casual games publisher and businessdevelopment

resource working with developers and IP partners to develop,distribute,

and license products to retail, online and alternative channelsworldwide.

Want to know more about Huge John Games?  Check out theirwebsite at bigjohngames.com. 

Insurance companies, landlords and even Stanford Housing agree on a fundamental security measure for housing on campus: Strangers should not be allowed to enter. To realistically enforce this policy, the system that allows students to open their residence hall doors for visitors should be improved.

The DoorKing system is what currently lets students admit visitors into a building. The system conveniently allows residents to unlock their residence hall door when visitors call them by a phone located near the residence entrance.

But, only landline phone numbers can be programmed into DoorKing, and over 30 percent of students at Stanford lack landlines. This percentage is steadily increasing as cell phones, are becoming the norm for communication.

A frequent request from students is to enter their local cell phone number into DoorKing. When Residental Assistants had a conversation with Gene Awakuni, vice provost for Student Affairs, in the fall of 2003, they asked him if the DoorKing system could be changed to allow students to open their residence hall door without having to connect through the landline phone service.

In response, Awakuni said, “Student Housing staff has met with the Door King vendor about the capabilities for the upgraded software package that will be installed for fall 2004. new technology will allow for a certain number of local area codes to be programmed into the system so that visitors can call a resident’s cell phone (as long as it is within the designated area codes).”

But, this plotted reform never materialized. One possible reason for this could be Residential Computing’s reluctance to create more incentive for students to forgo a subscription to a landline in their rooms.

In a Daily article published earlier this year (“Landlines losing out to cell phones,” Oct.1, 2004), Ethan Rikleen, Residential Computing Network and Systems administrator, mentioned that as fewer and fewer people get landline phone service from ITSS, it collects less and less money to cover the network infrastructure cost. as a result of fewer people subscribing to landlines, the costs for having a landline connection went up this year.

Rikleen said that 60 percent of the in-room fee goes to Networking Systems at ITSS, which manages the residential network in partnership with residential computing. If landlines stopped to exist on campus and cell phones became the norm, Networking Systems and ITSS would lose a great deal of revenue.

But, we hope Student Housing is not linking essential services to outdated technologies — in this case, the landline. Loss of revenue for Networking Systems and ITSS would not be a justifiable reason for a delay in the implementation of the upgraded DoorKing system that would allow cell phones to let in visitors.

Some students are even willing to pay for this expanded DoorKing functionality. In fact, a small fraction of students keep their landlines simply for access to DoorKing. If Networking Systems and ITSS charged students for linking their cell phones to the DoorKing system, they could probably generate more revenue than they are with the current system. This situation would be win-win for both students and the University, as students would have improved access to a valuable security service and the University could upgrade their outdated DoorKing system while making more money on a service students need.

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• Originally published July 21, 2011 at midnight, updated July 21, 2011 at midnight

Last year, I wrote about the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program, which conducts meticulous research and ranks the best and worst seafood choices. the ratings take into account the population of the fish or shellfish, sustainability of the fishing practices and the potential for contaminants, such as mercury.

Seafood Watch produces a handful of regional consumer guides to seafood, which are updated twice a year. the latest updates came out just this month. Seafood is divided into three categories: best Choices (green), good Alternatives (yellow) and Avoid (red).

The biggest changes for the Southeast regional guide is that Gulf of Mexico red and black grouper went from the red to the yellow category, so they are now considered good alternatives.

U.S. farmed catfish and crawfish remain among the most sustainable choices, along with dungeness and stone crab, Pacific halibut, farmed clams, mussels, scallops and oysters, wild Alaska salmon, farmed or wild striped bass and U.S. troll or pole-caught albacore, skipjack, bigeye and yellowfin tuna. Spanish and king mackerel and wild striped bass also made the rank of “best” though they both have consumption advisories because of mercury or other contaminants.

The “Excellent Alternatives” and “Avoid” categories did not see much change. good alternatives still include wild oysters, scallops and clams, king and snow crab, U.S./Maine lobster, U.S. mahi mahi, U.S. or Canadian shrimp and U.S. swordfish. Chilean sea bass, orange roughy, Atlantic grouper, Atlantic flatfish (halibut, flounder, sole), imported mahi mahi, farmed or Atlantic salmon, imported shrimp, Asian farmed tilapia, canned bluefin tuna and all sharks and skates should be avoided.

Seafood Watch has made available free apps for Android and iPhones. They are well-designed and simple to navigate, allowing the user to scroll through the categories, or search for a particular item. in addition, you can “like” Seafood Watch on Facebook and find recipes and valuable information on sustainable seafood.

When it comes to seafood, sustainability focuses on the manner in which the fish or shellfish are caught. Fishing with a pole causes no bycatch, which are fish or other animals caught unintentionally. Trawl nets and longlines typically result in large amounts of bycatch, so these are not considered sustainable fishing practices, and the fish caught using these methods are relegated to the red Avoid category.

Slow-growing, long-lived species, such as tuna, sharks and swordfish, are susceptible to mercury contamination. These fish are at the top of the food chain and retain the mercury from all the smaller fish they eat through a process called biomagnification. Mercury levels in some of these fish can be quite high, so to check on the status of your favorite fish visit the Environmental Defense Fund website at edf.org/seafoodhealth. Pregnant women need to be particularly vigilant about choosing fish that are not at risk for high mercury content.

To download the apps or peruse the guide online, go to montereybayaquarium.org and click Seafood Watch.

Meridith Byrd is a marine biologist and invites readers to contact her at .

By Wayne Hooper July 12, 2011 2:00 AM

As the boating season takes center stage, a few simple rules, suggestions and common sense will keep you out of harm’s way.

As stupid as it seems, most boaters don’t realize — or have forgotten — that you need to have a throw cushion in your boat. for some reason, many boaters leave it on the backseat of their vehicle, don’t buy one because everyone has a personal flotation device (PFD) or just forget to bring it. that is a good way to get a ticket.

Buy a weather radio. These are inexpensive, about the size of your cell phone and will pick up all storm warnings for your area. If that isn’t something you can afford or don’t reckon you’ll need, then download the weather app on your cell phone.

Also, place the telephone numbers of the Marine Patrol, warden service, a towing company or a local police station in your phone. This may save your life, or at least your day on the water.

When help arrives, be polite and thank them for helping you out. Don’t curse them for being late or make stupid remarks like, “Where were you, out for coffee and donuts?”

A quick, right tale. two fellow fishermen had a breakdown while fishing a bass tournament on Lake Winnipesaukee a few years back. They called the Marine Patrol and waited. It took quite a while for the patrol to get there and, when they did, one of the guys started mouthing off to the officer.

The officer was polite and clarified that it was a busy day on the lake and many boats had run out of fuel, broke down or crashed. still, the fisherman wouldn’t let up, making more stupid remarks and whining that they were in a bass tournament and were losing time.

The Marine Patrol hooked them up and started towing them back towards the ramp, where they had packed their truck. all the while the whiner was still berating them. after a few minutes, the tow boat slowed and then stopped. the officer unhooked their boat and said, “Have a nice day.” the whiny fisherman hollered, “Hey, our boat ramp is a few more miles up the lake from here.” the officer answered, “The rule is we only have to tow you to the nearest ramp. Now we’re going for coffee and donuts.”

Have a map of the water you’re on and know how to read it. yes, I know you graduated from a boating course, but map reading wasn’t part of the course when I took it last year. It really is simple to locate your start position and destination.

What are all those red dots or markers? They are locations of hazard areas such as rocks, shallow areas and even no-wake zones. Stay clear of these areas or slow down and approach with caution. What are those milk bottles doing bobbing on the lake? Normally, plastic milk bottles are warning you of a rock(s) in a cove or near a dock. They are place there by the camp owner to warn friends and relatives to beware.

There are hundreds of markings on a lake map, but if you use caution and stay away from the red areas, eventually you’ll learn the lake and will be able to zip around safely.

You cannot travel on plane within 150 yards of the shoreline in New Hampshire and within 200 yards in Maine. This is to help prevent shoreline erosion, and to stop the boats that are docked or tied to the camps owners from being rocked and causing damage.

Jet skis must follow the same rules. I could write all day on the frustrations caused by the inconsiderate jet ski operators. for example, it is illegal to spin around in circles causing wakes. It is illegal to drive behind boats and jump their wakes, and it is illegal to speed down a shoreline or through a no-wake area, which they do all the time.

Anyway, pay attention — and have a nice day on the water.

From BoatUS: Here are six refueling safety tips:

• Always remove passengers from the boat, and let them return only after refueling is complete and the engine is restarted;
• Engine should be turned off; do not operate any electrical switches, including the ignition;
• Keep all doors, ports and hatches closed, and only open them when refueling is complete;
• To prevent unintentional sparking, hold hose nozzle firmly against fuel fill (and not a rod holder, water tank fill or holding tank, which happens more often than you reckon). Also, don’t overfill;
• after refueling, ensure engine compartment blower runs for at least four minutes. This may delay others waiting to fill up, but it’s worth the wait;
• A quick sniff test takes only a few seconds and is the most effective method for detecting fuel leaks. Always open the engine bay hatch (if boat is equipped) and smell the bilge area, as well as any closed compartments or interior spaces.

For more information on safe refueling, check out the BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and clean Water’s online boating safety course study guide at BoatUS.com/foundation/refuel.

Wayne Hooper is a member of the New England Outdoor Writers Association and a lifelong Seacoast resident. he can be reached at sports@seacoastonline.com.

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May 06, 2011 12:00 AM Most Read·Most Emailed

This is the first Catchin’ Anything fishing report of the season with a reminder that you need to obtain a Mass. Recreational Saltwater Fishing Permit (license) to fish saltwater this year. The license is $10 for both residents and nonresidents. last year, recreational saltwater anglers were required to register with the federal program at NOAA, but starting this year, you need to purchase the $10 state license and are not required to register with NOAA.

The federal registry is still required of residents of states without their own licensing system and costs $15 this year.

You need the state license to fish recreationally for finfish in Massachusetts marine waters, including up to the first upstream bridge in rivers and streams that flow to the ocean. you don’t need the license if you hold a saltwater fishing permit from a state with a reciprocity agreement with Mass. So far, states with such agreements are New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

No license is required of those under 16 years of age, disabled persons, or those fishing on permitted for-hire vessels. So, if you fish exclusively aboard licensed for-hire vessels such as charter boats or head boats (party boats), you don’t need to buy the license. People ages 60 and older must obtain the license but it’s free for those individuals. there is no permit available for a private fishing vessel or any type of family permit that covers multiple family members.

If you are finfishing exclusively in federal waters and possess an HMS (Highly Migratory Species) permit, you do not need the Mass. license as long as you do not land any fish in Massachusetts.

If you retain fish and bring them back into Mass. state waters, or you fish in state waters, then you will need the license.

The Mass. license allows you to fish in Mass. and federal waters as well as land your fish in Massachusetts. it also allows you to fish in those states with reciprocity agreements. however, if you fish for tuna, billfish, swordfish, and/or sharks you will need the federal HMS permit.

Mass. recreational saltwater licenses expire each year on December 31 and must be renewed annually. to obtain a license online, go to mass.gov/marinefisheries and click on “recreational saltwater permit.” there is a small fee charged for the use of a credit card. you also may download an application for free and mail it in. Licenses are available over the counter at MarineFisheries offices. The South Shore office is located at the Quest Building in New Bedford at 1213 purchase St. (3rd floor) and is selling licenses from 9 a.m.—3 p.m. Mon. through Fri.

In saltwater, the water’s still cold, but there are some schoolies being caught in most of the area rivers from Westport to Wareham, with a few scattered fish in the Cape Cod Canal. Small surface poppers, leadhead jigs with rubber shad bodies or curlytails work well. The fish will also hit on swimming minnow imitations like Rebels and Rapalas. there are a few keepers mixed in with the schoolies, but very few. bigger fish should start biting once the water warms up.

Bottom fishermen are boating some tautog at the usual spots in the Bay, with the rockpiles on Cleveland’s Ledge being some of the more productive areas. Shore fishermen are picking up a few along the rocky areas, docks and jetties. some of the better spots have been The Narrows in Wareham, the Brightman St. Bridge in Fall River and the Stone Bridge in Tiverton, but not much action at Gooseberry in Westport yet. they should be up in the Weweantic River too.

Squid are starting to come in with some around Goat Island in RI and a few being caught at night off the Padanaram Bridge in Dartmouth.

In freshwater, largemouth bass are beginning to bite and John’s Bait and Tackle reported that seven-year old Nolan Santos of Acushnet weighed-in a 5-pound, 13-ounce largemouth he caught at Glenn Charlie Pond in West Wareham on a tube lure. The fish qualified for a state pin in the junior division of the Mass. Sportfishing Awards Program. Never Home Bait and Tackle reported that Jeno Terrcita of New Bedford weighed-in a 7-pound, 8-ounce largemouth he caught at Mary’s Pond.

Marc Folco is the outdoor writer for The Standard-Times. Contact him at

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