The February meeting began at approximately 7:00 pm. The Club Leadership gave reports. Steve Mink reported on the recent financial audit of the Club performed by Chris Skrotsky. Her findings were that the record-keeping was in perfect order, the account was balanced, and the records were well maintained. We give a big shout out to George Maravelas for his great job on the club record-keeping.
Don Willis from Custom Marine Fabrication and Sports of New Bern was the guest speaker. Don spoke about the local fishing during this time of the year. He commented on how slow the fish catches are due to the cold waters. His fishing tip is to have a slow retrieve and to keep the bait on the bottom.
left: Don Willis from Custom Marine Fabrication and Sports of New Bern, right: The Ned Rig
Don's lure of choice is the Ned Rig. The Ned Rig uses a small plastic worm, similar to a crawfish, with a pan or flat lead head jig to enable the lure to sit on the head, and the other end floats off the bottom and waves with the water, attracting the fish. The Ned Rig technique was made popular by outdoor writer Ned Kehde. Don predicts that the next wave of fish to come into our waters would be largemouth bass, sunfish*, yellow perch, white perch, striped bass, crappie, catfish**, and shad. *Sunfish includes bluegill, redear, redbreast, pumpkinseed, flier, and warmouth. **Catfish may include white, blue, flathead, bullhead, and channel.
Don continued by sharing the benefits of the CCA and their upcoming banquet. The Coastal Conservation Association is our representative who fights for sustainable fisheries in our local waters. For those who want to learn more about the CCA and the battles they are fighting on our behalf, please take some time to view this excellent YouTube video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiBpoCvPX1w&t=870s
Harvey Pye added to the CCA presentation with information about the upcoming banquet. He shared that the FH Fishing Club has committed to a table of 8 seats at the banquet. The entire cost of the table is $850.00 for a seating of 8 (each seat/ticket cost is $106.25). The Club voted to contribute funds for approximately ½ of each seat/ticket cost, with the balance of each seat/ticket cost becoming the responsibility of the club member who attends the banquet. Harvey shared that in the past, the Club held a raffle for the tickets with the criteria that the winner had not participated in the banquet in previous years. This year, the opportunity to attend the banquet is open to all club members, whether or not the member has attended in the past. A drawing was held for four (of the eight) tickets during the February meeting. The winners will only pay $55.00 each and receive the benefit of the full valued ticket of $106.25. The full-value ticket at the banquet includes a great meal, open bar-free drinks, one full-year membership to the CCA, and an entry to a raffle to win prizes at the event.
The winners of the first four tickets were: Tim Welsh, Steve Mink, George Fitzgerald, and John McClain. The remaining four tickets will be raffled off at the March meeting, and the CCA banquet is on March 2. The winner of the 50/50 was Doug Benz.
The meeting closed with club members sharing fish catches and stories. Steve Mink showed a slideshow that included his catch of a 29 inch Black Drum that he landed while fishing with Don Yuska and Captain Lee Winkleman on the Top Gun Fishing Charter.
left: Black Drum Steve Mink caught with Captain Lee Winkleman on the Top Gun Fishing Charter. right: Don Yuska landed a 22 inch speckled trout and the trophy!
The Club held a fishing competition at Fairfield Inner Harbour on Wednesday, January 25th. The fishermen could use a boat, kayak or fish from the bulkhead. Trophy was awarded for the
largest fish caught to Don Yuska who landed a 22 inch speckled trout. The group had a BBQ following the tournament at the Cart Barn on Pelican Drive
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