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Showing posts with label north carolina. Show all posts
Showing posts with label north carolina. Show all posts
Guess Who's Not Going To Get A Tip....
UPDATE - According to the PilotOnline.com, the team was disqualified.
Forget being a good law abiding citizen and all that...forgetting to buy your fishing license could cost you big time...
The Charlotte Observer reports that one angler might be out almost a million dollars because a mate on his boat failed to buy the North Carolina Recreational Salt Water Fishing License.
A record-setting blue marlin that would have won almost $1 million in last week's Big Rock was on the verge of disqualification today as tournament officials investigated whether one of the boat's hired crewmen failed to purchase a license.
Andy Thomasson, hauled in the record-setting 883-pound blue marlin aboard the Hatteras-based Citation last Monday, the first day of the week long tournament. He waited all week for a bigger fish to be caught. None was, and the Citation claimed $912,825 in prize money.
But there was no presentation during Saturday's awards banquet and Sunday morning, the Big Rock released this cryptic statement: "The Big Rock board of directors withheld presentation of blue marlin prize money until an alleged rules violation by the top team has been totally researched and a decision made regarding this alleged violation."
News: Skinny Dipping and Economic Impact
Fred Bonner of Garnernews.net of Garner, NC writes about the perils of popularity for public places:
The Chattooga remained one of our favorite trout streams until that fateful year when Hollywood came to this section of the South. When the movie Deliverance was filmed on the Chattooga, it changed everything.
In addition to a pretty cool skinny dipping story he also brings up some important stats about the impact of recreational angling on the economy:
Resident mountain trout anglers’ total trip expenditures were $83.5 million; nonresident mountain trout anglers’ total trip expenditures were $23.3 million. Resident mountain troutanglers’ total equipment expenditures were $36.9 million.
The Chattooga remained one of our favorite trout streams until that fateful year when Hollywood came to this section of the South. When the movie Deliverance was filmed on the Chattooga, it changed everything.
In addition to a pretty cool skinny dipping story he also brings up some important stats about the impact of recreational angling on the economy:
Resident mountain trout anglers’ total trip expenditures were $83.5 million; nonresident mountain trout anglers’ total trip expenditures were $23.3 million. Resident mountain troutanglers’ total equipment expenditures were $36.9 million.
Orvis Charlotte Warehouse Sale - March 13th - 15th
The Orvis Warehouse Sale is in Charlotte, NC this weekend at the Metrolina Trade Show Expo. Typically this show is a fly fishing bargain hunter's paradise deals at up to 75% off. The Charlotte sale has an excellent selection of waders, rods, and bin after bin packed with terminal tackle and fly tying material. They also have major quantities of non fishing related outdoorsy type merchandise.
Parking and admission are free. Follow this link for directions. Look for the FlyfishMagazine staff to be on hand and up to our elbows in gear.
Steep trails and peace of mind
This past weekend I had a severe need to get on the water. The work week had been filled with change and future promises of hard decisions to be made. When Paisley emailed me saying that he could visit an area delayed harvest stream for a few hours the next day, I got my "kitchen pass" from the wife and jumped at the chance.
The weather was supposed to be rainy and reports indicated that the river we would be fishing had been heavily poached, so the chance of it holding fish was slim. The rain was a plus and the poached out status of the water was not nearly enough to dissuade me. I needed the focus that fly fishing requires. I was also in no state of mind to wield a camera, so even though we brought one, I decided to leave it back in the car.
Paisley and I met before daylight and after we consolidated our gear into his Suzuki fish wagon, made our way to the river. A first glance into some likely holes revealed no easy to spot fish. Fishing our way up the river proved our theory that the water had indeed been heavily poached. After failing to even see a single fish, much less catch one, we decided that delayed harvest fishing was useless and made a turn up a tiny feeder stream marked with a sign denoting it as wild trout waters. Jeff made the statement that since NC regulations allow anglers to keep four fish per day in the wild waters and since the delayed harvest water was empty, the poachers had probably cleaned out the wild stream as well. We could only hope that the tiny water with tough access had been enough to keep people away and the trout fishing intact.
The tiny stream was strewn with large boulders and worked its way as stair steps up the side of a steep mountain. Recent warm conditions had us watching our step as we both knew that the area is well reported to have a large population of Timber Rattlers and Copperheads. I remarked to Jeff that it was just cold enough for the rattlers not to be able to warn us if we got too close. He said that there way more Copperheads than Rattlers in the area anyway.
The river turned out to be beautiful. We worked our way over house sized boulders and around dead fall timber, fishing tiny pockets of water all the way. Many casts were made while peering out from behind rocks while casting at eye level with the pool above you. Jeff managed to pick up a six inch brookie out of one of the pools but most of the tiny pockets seemed not to hold fish.
The next step up the mountainside revealed an unusually large pool flanked by giant rocks on either side and with a fallen tree in its dead center. I waited below as Jeff crept into position to make what amounted to a blind cast around the boulder. Jeff made several casts with no reaction so I crept up the side of the rock to the right of the pocket and eased my head up over the rim so as to allow a sight line in the pool. Immediately I spied two 14-15 inch brook trout cruising the pool shoulder to shoulder. Keep in mind that a 15 inch brookie in a NC wild trout stream is about the same as a thirty inch Alaskan rainbow only much more rare. I flipped my nymph into the pool only to have the trout rise and eat my indicator (yes, I was fishing a strike indicator - this was supposed to be an easy stock trout trip). On my second cast the other trout in the pair did the same thing this time coming out of the water to try to swallow the tiny rubber indicator whole. I looked at Jeff just in time to see him get a strike and break his tippet on the set. You normally only get one or two shots at the same native trout so, having missed ours, we moved on up the river. We paused at the head of the pool and Jeff managed to pick up another trout from the whitewater. We climbed higher with some resolve to come back and visit the dead tree pool on our way back to the vehicle.
The tiny gorge was spectacular and both Jeff and I regretted the decision to leave the cameras behind. It seemed that every time we climbed up to another level, the river became more clear and the boulders more massive. However, we both agreed that even guys with fishing websites deserve some time "off the grid". We managed to fish our way up as high as we dared without the aid of ropes. On our way back down to the car I switched to a small dry fly and after getting the rust off of my hook set, managed to catch one of those gem like brook trout. Jeff was able to pick up another fish or two as well.
We left the stream and stopped off for lunch before heading our separate ways. As I drove the hour and a half back home, the thoughts of work and work issues slowly crept back into my head as if only to remind me of why fly fishing is such good therapy.
The weather was supposed to be rainy and reports indicated that the river we would be fishing had been heavily poached, so the chance of it holding fish was slim. The rain was a plus and the poached out status of the water was not nearly enough to dissuade me. I needed the focus that fly fishing requires. I was also in no state of mind to wield a camera, so even though we brought one, I decided to leave it back in the car.
Paisley and I met before daylight and after we consolidated our gear into his Suzuki fish wagon, made our way to the river. A first glance into some likely holes revealed no easy to spot fish. Fishing our way up the river proved our theory that the water had indeed been heavily poached. After failing to even see a single fish, much less catch one, we decided that delayed harvest fishing was useless and made a turn up a tiny feeder stream marked with a sign denoting it as wild trout waters. Jeff made the statement that since NC regulations allow anglers to keep four fish per day in the wild waters and since the delayed harvest water was empty, the poachers had probably cleaned out the wild stream as well. We could only hope that the tiny water with tough access had been enough to keep people away and the trout fishing intact.
The tiny stream was strewn with large boulders and worked its way as stair steps up the side of a steep mountain. Recent warm conditions had us watching our step as we both knew that the area is well reported to have a large population of Timber Rattlers and Copperheads. I remarked to Jeff that it was just cold enough for the rattlers not to be able to warn us if we got too close. He said that there way more Copperheads than Rattlers in the area anyway.
The river turned out to be beautiful. We worked our way over house sized boulders and around dead fall timber, fishing tiny pockets of water all the way. Many casts were made while peering out from behind rocks while casting at eye level with the pool above you. Jeff managed to pick up a six inch brookie out of one of the pools but most of the tiny pockets seemed not to hold fish.
The next step up the mountainside revealed an unusually large pool flanked by giant rocks on either side and with a fallen tree in its dead center. I waited below as Jeff crept into position to make what amounted to a blind cast around the boulder. Jeff made several casts with no reaction so I crept up the side of the rock to the right of the pocket and eased my head up over the rim so as to allow a sight line in the pool. Immediately I spied two 14-15 inch brook trout cruising the pool shoulder to shoulder. Keep in mind that a 15 inch brookie in a NC wild trout stream is about the same as a thirty inch Alaskan rainbow only much more rare. I flipped my nymph into the pool only to have the trout rise and eat my indicator (yes, I was fishing a strike indicator - this was supposed to be an easy stock trout trip). On my second cast the other trout in the pair did the same thing this time coming out of the water to try to swallow the tiny rubber indicator whole. I looked at Jeff just in time to see him get a strike and break his tippet on the set. You normally only get one or two shots at the same native trout so, having missed ours, we moved on up the river. We paused at the head of the pool and Jeff managed to pick up another trout from the whitewater. We climbed higher with some resolve to come back and visit the dead tree pool on our way back to the vehicle.
The tiny gorge was spectacular and both Jeff and I regretted the decision to leave the cameras behind. It seemed that every time we climbed up to another level, the river became more clear and the boulders more massive. However, we both agreed that even guys with fishing websites deserve some time "off the grid". We managed to fish our way up as high as we dared without the aid of ropes. On our way back down to the car I switched to a small dry fly and after getting the rust off of my hook set, managed to catch one of those gem like brook trout. Jeff was able to pick up another fish or two as well.
We left the stream and stopped off for lunch before heading our separate ways. As I drove the hour and a half back home, the thoughts of work and work issues slowly crept back into my head as if only to remind me of why fly fishing is such good therapy.
The Fly Fishing Show hits Charlotte this Weekend
This is your reminder that The Fly Fishing Show will be rolling into our home town this Friday at 10 AM. The show will be at the Charlotte Merchandise Mart and will run through Saturday evening. This year's show is looking to be a good one with the pre-show chatter indicating more bargains than ever on gear and trips. The FlyfishMagazine.com crew will be on site for both days (as well as attending the many after parties) so be sure to look for us if you plan to attend.
FlyfishMagazine.com contributor, Capt. Paul Rose, will be giving seminars both Friday and Saturday about tips for catching Carp on the fly. Captain Gordon Churchill, our very own Redfish guru, will be on site Saturday and will be signing autographs and accepting adoration from the fly fishing masses. As for me, I will be wandering around, conducting interviews with pretty much anyone who will take the time to talk to me, as well as bestowing prizes from the corporate swag vault to the show attendees that we feel best exemplify the age old practice of wearing fishing gear to a fishing show. If you dare show up wearing your waders and vest you just might get a prize (albeit a small one).
Carolina Saltwater Fish Catch Improves
The Charlotte Observer is reporting that a decline in commercial fishing has led to better catch rates for recreational anglers.
For recreational anglers, however, 2007 was a productive year. They averaged 4.997 fish per trip, based on surveys by the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries. That's the best year since 1994, when they averaged 5.155 fish. The average results from dividing the number of trips into fish caught (those kept plus those released).
The real winner is the sporting angler who targets the not so elusive "Bluegill of the Sea" otherwise known as Spot.
The 2007 fish-per-trip average was skewed upward by catches of spot, the bluegills of the ocean. Doug Mumford, who manages recreational fishing surveys for the division, said spot accounted for 16percent of total fish. Nonetheless, he said, “we're seeing improved catches on a lot of species.” The harvest of spot hit more than 5million fish during three of the past four years, highest in 13 years.
NC Magazine Cuts Staff
Even North Carolina Magazines are feeling the effects of the slow economic times. The Raleigh News and Observer reports that North Carolina Sportsman Magazine is cutting back.
"It's the turn in the economy," said Ty Conti, publisher of the magazine. "The magazine is selling less advertising, just like any other publication. We're just reducing our force right now."
"Boat dealers, which are our staple, if they're not selling boats, they're not buying ads," Conti said.
Check out the current issue North Carolina Sportsman here.
The time has come
The Facebook cause page has been a great way to get people all in the same virtual space. Now it is time to start doing something.
This is an easy way to get started. Our new Governor, Bev Perdue has stated that she would be interested in talking about making the red drum a gamefish in NC. We need to start holding her to this. To that effect we need to begin with an email campaign. If everybody who receives this message sends her something stating that we want red drum to be made into a gamefish to stop targeting and sale of them by gill netters and others it will be a giant step in the right direction. We also need to message our local legislators. If you live out of state mention that NC is not a place you will choose to spend your hard earned dollars on vacation if something is not done.
Contact Governor Perdue at governor.office@nc.gov
If enough of us step up to get this started, it may actually happen.
Thanks,
Gordon
If enough of us step up to get this started, it may actually happen.
Thanks,
Gordon