KIDS 15 & UNDER

FREE FISHING DERBY

Newtown Park in Pocomoke

Saturday, May 18

9:30 – 11:30am

Free lunch for each participant after fishing!

Pre-registration recommended at

  https://tinyurl.com/One-Day-Events

Free Fishing Days June 1-3, 2012 In Virginia

Gather the kids and grab your fishin' poles; free fishing days are here again! This year anyone in the Commonwealth can fish without a license June 1-3. The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) the agency which regulates freshwater fishing, would like to encourage Virginians to take advantage of this once a year opportunity to fish for free while spending some quality time with friends and family.

"You don't have to travel very far to find fantastic fishing anywhere in Virginia" according to Bob Duncan, Executive Director, VDGIF.

"Fishing is a great way to reconnect with nature, escape the stresses of modern life, and create lasting family memories. I hope everyone will give it a try."

No fishing license of any kind will be required for recreational rod and reel fishing during free fishing days, except for a special trout license in designated stocked trout waters. All fishing regulations, including size, season, catch limits and gear restrictions, will remain in effect.

Want to Fish After the First Weekend in June? Fishing in Virginia is a Bargain!

A Virginia saltwater fishing license costs only $17.50 a year for state residents, while annual freshwater fishing and trout licenses are merely $23.00 each for state residents. Those license fees support valuable fisheries work across the Commonwealth. The VDGIF also offers short term licenses—ideal for visitors—and a variety of combination licenses to benefit anglers.

To purchase a fishing license online – and for freshwater fishing regulations and information on Virginia lakes, rivers, boating access and more, visit http://www.huntfishva.com/.

 For size, season, and catch limits of saltwater species, please go to: http://www.mrc.virginia.gov/regulations/swrecfishingrules.shtm.

Not sure how to get started in fishing?

For free online fishing tips, visit the Department's YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/VDGIF and click on the "Fishing 101" series of instructional videos.

Here's A Fish Tale About the One That DIDN'T Get Away!

A Westover man made a record catch while fishing on the Pocomoke River on July 31.  20 year old Justin Kelly reeled in a 17 pound longnose gar that was 49 inches long.  The fish put up a fight, but when he saw how big it is, he went to the nearest Maryland Fishing Challenge award center.  The previous state record for a longnose gar – 16 pounds and exceeded the 36-inch minimum angler award size.  Kelly is now one of over 90 Maryland fishing record holders. 

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NEWS RELEASE:  A Westover man caught a 17 pound, 49 inch longnose gar on July 31, setting a new State record. Justin Kelly, 20, was fishing on the Pocomoke River near Pocomoke City when he made the record catch, using steel leaders and live bluegill for bait.

“When the fish got close, I thought we were going to need a bigger net,” Kelly said.

After a long fight, he finally pulled the fish aboard and noticed its exceptional size. Kelly then took his catch to the nearest Maryland Fishing Challenge award center.

The center measured and weighed the fish, then checked the Maryland Fishing Guide to find that it exceeded the 36-inch minimum angler award size and broke the previous State record of 16 pounds for longnose gar. DNR Biologist, Keith Lockwood soon joined Kelly to examine the fish and certify the rare catch.

The longnose gar’s ancestry dates back to among the most primitive of species. This brackish water fish features a long, cylindrical body with tough scales and rows of large, sharp teeth. Its bony mouth makes it difficult to catch.

Kelly is now one of Maryland’s more than 90 fishing record holders. He will also join Maryland’s other angler award winners on September 10 at the Maryland Fishing Challenge Grand Finale event during the 44th annual Maryland Seafood Festival at Sandy Point State Park. He is entered in the grand prize drawing for a chance to win a boat and trailer package from Bass Pro Shops and Tracker Boats, thousands of dollars in fishing gear and trips from Bill’s Outdoor Center or a tropical vacation from World Fishing Network.

Source; http://www.wgmd.com/?p=31838

VA To Enforce Fishing Registration Requirements

Associated Press

NEWPORT NEWS

The Virginia Marine Police will soon begin cracking down on fishermen who haven't registered with the Virginia Fisherman Identification Program.

Authorities will begin issuing citations after the Fourth of July weekend. Any adult who fishes in Virginia's saltwaters or for saltwater species in tidal waters is required to register.

Anyone who buys a Virginia saltwater fishing license is automatically registered. Anglers who fail to register could face a fine of up to $500.

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission says fewer than 28,000 people have registered this year. The National Marine Fisheries Service estimates 750,000 people a year fish in the state's saltwaters.

Registration is free at www.mrc.virginia.gov/FIP.

Source;  http://hamptonroads.com/2011/06/va-enforce-fishing-registration-requirements

Oil Spill Became Too Much For Boat Skipper

(June 24) -- Two weeks after he was hired by BP to help with the oil spill cleanup, William Allen Kruse killed himself.

The 55-year-old charter boat captain shot himself in the head Wednesday morning as he prepared to spend another day skimming oil off the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, clearing the spill that threatened to destroy his livelihood and community.
Kruse left no note, so it's impossible to know why he took his life. But those who knew him say the veteran fisherman and father of four was almost certainly the latest casualty in the gulf oil crisis, and a symbol of the spill's exacting human toll.

"There's not a doubt in my mind, the oil spill was the cause of this," Tom Ard, who fished alongside Kruse for 25 years, told AOL News this morning. "It was just too much for him."

In a phone interview, Ard, 39, the president of the Orange Beach Fishing Association, said Kruse was in his prime when he killed himself and had been enjoying taking his 13-year-old son out on his boat to teach him how to fish.
"He had everything going for him. He was at the top of his game," Ard said. "He was the kind of guy that made everyone smile, and he was one heck of a fisherman."

In Orange Beach, Ala., where Kruse ran a sport boat business for more than two decades, acquaintances of the man known as "Rookie" said he did not have any psychological problems. And many said he was no more devastated than anyone else in the community, which has been hit hard by the spill.

"He didn't show any signs he was going to do this that would have thrown up any red flags where you'd think you better keep an eye on him," Jason Bell, Kruse's co-captain, who knew him for a decade,told the Press-Register of Mobile, Ala.

"He wasn't any more aggravated with the whole situation than any of the rest of us," Bell said. "I hate to say it, but I'm surprised something like this hasn't already happened."

Bell said Kruse had planned on retiring soon. He declined comment this morning.

Ard described a community under a severe amount of stress that doesn't know what will become of businesses that have been in families for generations.

"This is something that you put your whole life and soul into. You've done it for 25 years. Just the thought of all that gone, when it's not your fault, you didn't do anything wrong ... that's a lot of stress," he said.

Ard is grateful to have been hired by BP to help in the cleanup efforts, but said the oil spill has threatened an entire way of life.

"The cleanup is all we've got right now. It's the only work here," he said.

The death of a second cleanup worker Wednesday was unrelated to the spill. The unnamed worker drowned in a swimming pool accident. But when Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen announced the deaths at a press conference Wednesday, they seemed to emphasize the human cost of the crisis anyway.

"On a more somber note,we had two deaths reported on people that were involved in this response earlier today," he said. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to their families. We know this is a devastating thing to happen."

A BP official told AOL News today the company extends its condolences to the families.

Until now, the psychological toll of the disaster has not been widely discussed, but experts say the oil spill could cause emotional and social devastation in communities along the gulf.

Ard said the emotional toll of the spill killed his friend. "It's been a ton of stress on all of us," he said. "I guess everybody handles stress differently. And I guess he went off the deep end."

The Washington Post noted that Dr. Howard Osofsky, a Louisiana State University psychiatrist, said he'd noticed "an increase in suspiciousness, arguing and domestic violence" among those affected by the spill.

In Kruse's case, the boat captain had asked his staff to help him prepare to go out on the water one more time when he apparently chose to take his life instead.

"He had just let his deckhands off the boat and sent them to get something," Baldwin County Coroner Rod Steade told the Press-Register. "He was going to meet them at the fuel dock. They heard a pop, and when the boat didn't come around, they went back and found him."

Bell remembered Kruse as a kind man. "Even in the wintertime when things got tough, if you needed a little extra cash, he was always like, 'Here, take it,'" he said.

The community where Kruse lived is in mourning. But Ard said the town would recover.

"We are a very resilient bunch. We've had to deal with hurricanes and fishing closures and everything. I truly believe we'll all be fine. This morning we all went up, and we got to work," he said.
www.aolnews.com

2 Year Old Catches 20 lb. Fish With Barbie Fishing Pole

ST. FRANCIS, Minn. - A muskie, a two-year-old girl and a Barbie fishing pole combined for the greatest fishing story of the 2010 Minnesota walleye opener.

2-year-old Ella was fishing with her grandparents at Round Lake near Randall, Minnesota on Saturday when she reeled in the big one. Ella, who comes from a long line of anglers, had never caught a fish until Saturday.

She caught her first fish at Round Lake not with the star plastic lure on the Barbie fishing pole, but with a hook and worm.

"Ella had her sunfish on and she's reeling it in," her mom, Carrie Haag, said. "Here comes this big muskie that went and ate her sunfish. So I grabbed the pole and yelled for grandpa David."

Grandpa grabbed a net and soon they landed a 30-inch muskie weighing in at a little under 20 lbs -- a fish bigger than the fisherman who caught it. The Barbie fishing pole survived it all and little Ella was so excited, she said the first thing that came to her mind -- "I caught a shark."

After snapping a photo, the family snapped the line and let the muskie go.

The state record muskie according to the Minnesota DNR is 54 lbs and 56 inches, caught in 1957. That's about 34 lbs more than Ella's catch.

Now Obama Wants to Ban Sport Fishing

More Hope and Change...
Here's Obama's latest assault on our rights-- He wants to ban sport fishing.
Obama may enjoy fishing but he won't let you.
The American Sportfishing Association reported:

A sweeping oceans and Great Lakes management policy document proposed by the Obama Administration will have a significant impact on the sportfishing industry, America’s saltwater anglers and the nation’s coastal communities. The draft policy, the Interim Report of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, issued on September 17, will govern federal Pacific and Atlantic Ocean waters and Great Lakes resource conservation and management and will coordinate these efforts among federal, state and local agencies. This past June, President Obama created the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, led by the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), to develop a draft national policy and implementation strategy for conserving and managing the United States ocean territory and the Great Lakes.

“In regards to recreational fishing specifically, it is a long-standing policy of the federal government to allow public access to public lands and waters for recreational purposes consistent with sound conservation including the nation’s wildlife refuges, national forests, and national parks and should be reflected in a national policy for the oceans and Great Lakes. In fact, the use of public resources by recreational anglers is essential to the conservation model used in this country for fish and wildlife management,” said ASA Ocean Resource Policy Director Patty Doerr.

Doerr further said, “As with any good federal policy decision, discussions about measures that may restrict public access to public resources must involve an open public process, have a solid scientific basis and incorporate specific guidelines on implementation and follow-up. We are very concerned about the abbreviated 90 day timeline which forced the Task Force to issue this policy document prematurely. The implications of such a policy are vast and nationwide. Therefore, the review process should be very deliberate and go well beyond the 30 days public review and comment period which started on September 17.” The Task Force's Interim Report is currently under a 30-day public review and comment period.

Since 1950, with the passage of the Sport Fish Restoration Act, anglers and the sportfishing industry have provided the bulk of funding for fisheries conservation and management in the United States through fishing license fees and the federal manufacturers excise tax on recreational fishing equipment. According to NOAA Fisheries, saltwater anglers contribute over $82 billion annually to the economy. Despite taking only three percent of the saltwater fish harvested each year, the recreational sector creates nearly half the jobs coming from domestic saltwater fisheries.

VIA