The CCA Banquet held on March 2
Left to right: John McClain wins a custom rod, reel combo, and miscellaneous gear. Tim Welch and Bill Zimmerman win Diawa Tackle case. John McClain won a Zmann case with lures and fishing pliers. Clock wise, Kevin Heydel and wife Linda, George Fitzgerald, John McClain, Don and Carol Yuska, and Paula Mink. John Carroll won a Life jacket and boat anchor. CCA table number 1 members.
The meeting started on time at 7:00 pm.
The club Leadership gave General Reports.
Hope For The Warriors
John McClain spoke about Hope For The Warriors program. John made connections to get the ball rolling, and we now have a date for the fishing trip with service members. We are scheduled to go on Captain Stacy on May 18. The boat departs at 7:00 am and docks at 1:00 pm. Afterward, we will meet at Shepard of the City Lutheran Church at Atlantic Beach for dinner catered by Fat Fellas. The cost for fishing and dinner is $50.00 for the members that assist the veterans.
NC Marine Fisheries Commission concerning Trout fishing regulations
Don Willis from Custom Marine and Stuart Creighton, Committee Chairman of Fisheries of CCA-NC, were special guests of the night to speak about a proposal made by Doug Cross from the NC Marine Fisheries Commission concerning Trout fishing regulations for the near future.
The primary concerns are:
Proposed (60/40) split with trout, meaning recreational can catch 60% and commercial catch 40%. Historical splits of (85/15) in favor of the public sector should remain.
It is said that 10% of the fish caught and released by recreational fishermen die because of mishandling when released. This number will be removed from the Total Allowable Catch (TAC).
The “catch and quit” component is unconstitutional. What does this mean? When TAC has been determined to have been reached, results can be no fishing at all in many of the intercoastal waters.
These are the most concerning points in the Cross Proposal. Specks are our most important fishery, and we must keep our access to them while ensuring they remain strong and viable.
After the presentation by Stuart and Don, we held the 50/50 Raffle and the CCA Banquet ticket raffle. The winner of the 50/50 was Harvey Pye. The four winners of the CCA Banquet tickets were Jeff Wood, Kevin Heydel, John Carroll, and Bill Zimmerman.
The CCA Banquet
The CCA Banquet was held on March 2, the day after our general meeting. The banquet was a lot of fun and laughs, and John McClain won an excellent fishing rod combo and a bunch of lures and bobbers.
Bill Zimmerman and Tim Welch went halves on a book of raffle tickets and won a nice Diawa soft bag tackle box. I want to know how they are going to share it. The best was John Carroll, who tried to win a boat or a kayak. John didn't win the boat or kayak, but he won an anchor and a life jacket. John was a great sport about it. Now, he needs to work on the boat part.
Mentoring Class
Art Thinguldstad briefly reported on his recent mentoring class at Pelican Park by the boat launch. Art spoke about the ins and outs of having a boat. The attendees went out onto the grass, and Art gave several demonstrations on how to throw a cast net. Art did a great job, throwing a four and a 6-foot net, then took on a nine or 10-foot catch. Art did a commendable job with that one as well.
Left to right: Art showing how to throw a cast net. Group shot of Art’s Mentoring class.
Kayak Fishing
Next, Harvey Pye gave a demonstration about kayaking. Harvey brought his kayak to show us all the cool features, and Harvey spent much of his time talking about safety while kayaking. There will be planned kayak trips coming up soon.
left to right: Harvey Pye gave a demonstration about kayaking. Catching fish at Martin Marietta Park trip.
Martin Marietta Park trip
Next, we spoke about the Martin Marietta Park trip. Jim Spatharos and his brother caught 11 nice Bass and one Pickerel. It was a lovely day at the park, and I would encourage anyone to take a nice day trip there. The park has trails for hiking and riding bicycles. The club collected $20.00 from participants for the general fund. Jim Spatharos won the fishing challenge with the most and largest fish caught, and Jim was gracious enough to donate his winnings back to the general fund.
Boy’s and Girl’s Cub fishing trip
The Boy’s and Girl’s Cub fishing trip has been postponed due to work schedules at the school. I’ll update you at the next meeting.
There is a meeting at Custom Marine on Wednesday, March 15, to discuss the Doug Cross Proposal and what actions must be taken.
I want to thank the Stewards for doing a great job and for their volunteerism for the first quarter.
This next quarter I have Steve Zdanowitz, Alan Harrop, and Dan Dudley to be stewards. Thanks for stepping up.
If you want to continue your membership, please have your dues paid up by the April meeting.
We are looking for members with some website management experience or a willingness to learn. We would like to have at least three volunteers to take this on so it would not be a burden on any one person. Without volunteers, we can't run a club.