Morning Star Fish Report: September 2007

Fish Report 9/30/07

Limits of Flounder

Artificial Reef and The Great State of Maryland

Hi All,

Flounder continue to be the target species. I've tried focusing on sea bass with less than lukewarm results. Nick a few ~and they seem to be getting thicker on the sounder~ but derned if I can get a sustained bite.

Water temps are not unlike what you'd typically see in August and I sincerely hope that is why, on the eve of October, that we've not seen decent catches of sea bass. I anticipate that the water temperature will fall and trigger feeding. But when... Always darkest before dawn!

Being in the midst of the longest shot of flounder I've ever had shouldn't be too hard to take. It's not all bad.

Today's pool winner was 8 1/4 pounds, the largest this week. Most winners have been north of 6 pounds. We had several boat limits and were very close to that mark with a sold-out rail today.

If you enjoy catching flounder, we still have it going on!

Now for the soapbox...

There has been a major shift in the perception of the ecological benefits to be had from building artificial reefs in the Chesapeake Bay State. Seriously major.

What was "dumping trash" is now recognized as "deploying oyster substrate". Believe me, there's been a LOT of substrate going off the decks of barges the last few months in the Chesapeake. The Maryland Artificial Reef Initiative has brought together the donations of individuals, foundations, sport fishing groups ~ even State government, to fund the greatest reef building effort the region has yet seen.

It's fantastic. Were it to continue apace one can envision very real positive effects to water quality and fisheries.

But there's a shortfall. While the program is being monitored and pushed along by numerous federal and state agencies, especially the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, (DNR) there has yet to be any staff devoted solely to the project.

Trust this, Marty Gary is doing a great job, but he has many other responsibilities and needs help!

I sent queries to several states that have less waterfront than we do and found they have between 2 and 4 professionals devoted solely to constructing and monitoring their artificial reefs. For some projects that number rises to 12.

We already have exceptional cooperation between state and federal agencies that are onboard the project and that's crucial, but there needs to be an anchor, a well staffed office ~ with an answering machine because they're all out -shirtsleeves rolled up- working on reef.

Actually, I think there should be a complete shift within DNR to accommodate this. A name change to, say, Department Of Artificial Reef and then have a small office for woods, creeks and other less important stuff...

Probably not.

Still, the efforts of many grass roots organizations during the past few years are coming to fruition with this much grander project. To do it right will absolutely require several staff-persons. Doing it wrong may end up putting the whole project into a tailspin.

That would be a shame.

Think I'll write the Governor and tell him. Really.

Local Representatives too.

Over several centuries, commercial interests ~first in shipping, then in harvesting~ have left a huge void in the Chesapeake's ecology. The natural oyster reefs are gone. The only way they even might be restored is by artificial reef.

By my best estimate, we may have 15% of our natural 'live bottom' coral reefs remaining on the coast. Again, to restore that portion of the region's fisheries production can only be accomplished by artificial reef.

If you live in Maryland, or come here to vacation and enjoy our State's bay and ocean waters, having the State dedicate personnel to this project is important.

Tell 'em about it.

Governor Martin O`Malley http://www.governor.maryland.gov/mail/

At the Department of Natural Resources: Secretary John Griffin, Deputy Secretary Eric Schwaab, Director of Aquatic Resources Frank Dawson, and the Director of Fisheries, Howard King.

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/mailroom.asp

Voicing your opinion could tip the scales ~ make an artificial reef program a permanent part of MD DNR.

Regards,

Monty

Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservations 410 520 2076
www.morningstarfishing.com

posted by Monty # Sunday, September 30, 2007

Fish Report 9/30/07

Limits of Flounder

Artificial Reef and The Great State of Maryland

Hi All,

Flounder continue to be the target species. I've tried focusing on sea bass with less than lukewarm results. Nick a few ~and they seem to be getting thicker on the sounder~ but derned if I can get a sustained bite.

Water temps are not unlike what you'd typically see in August and I sincerely hope that is why, on the eve of October, that we've not seen decent catches of sea bass. I anticipate that the water temperature will fall and trigger feeding. But when... Always darkest before dawn!

Being in the midst of the longest shot of flounder I've ever had shouldn't be too hard to take. It's not all bad.

Today's pool winner was 8 1/4 pounds, the largest this week. Most winners have been north of 6 pounds. We had several boat limits and were very close to that mark with a sold-out rail today.

If you enjoy catching flounder, we still have it going on!

Now for the soapbox...

There has been a major shift in the perception of the ecological benefits to be had from building artificial reefs in the Chesapeake Bay State. Seriously major.

What was "dumping trash" is now recognized as "deploying oyster substrate". Believe me, there's been a LOT of substrate going off the decks of barges the last few months in the Chesapeake. The Maryland Artificial Reef Initiative has brought together the donations of individuals, foundations, sport fishing groups ~ even State government, to fund the greatest reef building effort the region has yet seen.

It's fantastic. Were it to continue apace one can envision very real positive effects to water quality and fisheries.

But there's a shortfall. While the program is being monitored and pushed along by numerous federal and state agencies, especially the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, (DNR) there has yet to be any staff devoted solely to the project.

Trust this, Marty Gary is doing a great job, but he has many other responsibilities and needs help!

I sent queries to several states that have less waterfront than we do and found they have between 2 and 4 professionals devoted solely to constructing and monitoring their artificial reefs. For some projects that number rises to 12.

We already have exceptional cooperation between state and federal agencies that are onboard the project and that's crucial, but there needs to be an anchor, a well staffed office ~ with an answering machine because they're all out -shirtsleeves rolled up- working on reef.

Actually, I think there should be complete shift within DNR to accommodate this. A name change to, say, Department Of Artificial Reef and then have a small office for woods, creeks and other less important stuff...

Probably not.

Still, the efforts of many grass roots organizations during the past few years are coming to fruition with this much grander project. To do it right will absolutely require several staff-persons. Doing it wrong may end up putting the whole project into a tailspin.

That would be a shame.

Think I'll write the Governor and tell him. Really.

Local Representatives too.

Over several centuries, commercial interests ~first in shipping, then in harvesting~ have left a huge void in the Chesapeake's ecology. The natural oyster reefs are gone. The only way they even might be restored is by artificial reef.

By my best estimate, we may have 15% of our natural 'live bottom' coral reefs remaining on the coast. Again, to restore that portion of the region's fisheries production can only be accomplished by artificial reef.

If you live in Maryland, or come here to vacation and enjoy our State's bay and ocean waters, having the State dedicate personnel to this project is important.

Tell 'em about it.

Governor Martin O`Malley

http://www.governor.maryland.gov/mail/

At the Department of Natural Resources: Secretary John Griffin, Deputy Secretary Eric Schwaab, Director of Aquatic Resources Frank Dawson, and the Director of Fisheries, Howard King.

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/mailroom.asp

Voicing your opinion could tip the scales ~ make artificial reef a permanent part of MD DNR.

Regards,

Monty

Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservations 410 520 2076
www.morningstarfishing.com

posted by Monty # Sunday, September 30, 2007

Fish Report 9/23/07

Weather & Slowly Coming Around

Hi All,

Earlier in the week we had a fantastic run of tool boxes, spare parts, soiled rags and worn-out scrub brushes.

It's the yachting life. Bad weather -just on the edge- not a hurricane or even a decent Nor'easter, but a slightly too heavy flow of northerly wind kept us in for 5 days. Rats.

Finally did get out on Thursday -eh, not so good. A little better sign of sea bass that day.

Friday and Saturday were just fine. Really nice fishing ~ a fall mix of croakers, pan sized blues, flounder and sea bass.

Nothing easy about it; we certainly weren't counting fish, except flounder ~ it isn't so tough to count to four! The croakers were better sized and numerous. Folks had all they wanted.

Sea bassing improved after the mini-blow. Read improved. I did not say 'turned on' or 'caught limits'.

Pretty much still flounder fishing -couple dandies up to 8 lbs.- with a shot of croakers on the way out or in. We are catching more cbass per cooler than we were getting on the whole boat a few weeks ago. That's a big improvement ~ though not what a dyed in the wool bass fisher would like! It's slowly coming around.

Wind? Ol' Man Murphy must have stayed up late putting Sunday's weather together.

Nary a bit of air ~ forecast 5 to 10N increasing to 10 to 15N in the late morning. Great crowd of regulars and a few youngsters, "Tie 'er loose, let's go!"

By five miles out I knew there was some addition needed to bring the forecast into focus. From flat calm seas were building fast -but not with that ominous steady increase that screams "go home." More like a "gee, the mates are going to have to keep a careful eye on the heads" kind of thing. Anchored. Nicking a precious few.

Then it came on, gusting close to 25.

Move inshore, see if we can catch a few croakers before pulling the plug on the day. Box enough to make a couple fish frys - OK bite.

Wind lays down.

Back offshore.

Wind picks up! What a pain in the anatomy... Died completely as we were pulling anchors ~ gorgeous ride home

Ended the day in good shape with croakers, sea bass & flounder.

And hope to keep doing so!

See you on the rail,

Monty

Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservations 410 520 2076
www.morningstarfishing.com

posted by Monty # Sunday, September 23, 2007

Fish Report 9/16/07

Limits of Flounder - Better Croakers

Windy Science & A Gun Reef

Hi All,

Still floundering about ~ Sea bass aren't in the picture.

No, I do not understand why the sea bass are AWOL.

All in all though, it strikes me that folks are pretty dogoned happy with flounder around the rail - and usually we get to go nick some hardheads too.

It makes a good day. Exceptional even, when it's right.

Until recently, the croakers haven't been very large, but we did have a shot of 14 to 17 inchers on Friday. Not huge, but certainly decent. Hope they stick around awhile. Couldn't get out Saturday or Sunday; no way to know if they're still here.

The flounder are mostly keepers with the odd jumbo and a few taggers. Pool winners are consistently north of 6 pounds. Usually better than 1/2 the boat has a limit, while twice more this week we limited the rail - boat limit.

Darn the bad luck, Tuesday we didn't catch a single fish. Didn't wet a line either ~ wet a camera though ~ different sort of fishing.

Readers of these missives know that for some time I've been trying to get this region's natural coral beds on the map as Essential Fish Habitat. (EFH)

I never would have thought that it would require the effort that it has.

I supposed that since corals are recognized world wide as EFH, simply pointing them out would unleash a torrent of scientific work and that various means of Protecting and Enhancing the EFH, as is explicitly called for in federal law, would ensue.

Yawn... thoughts not unlike the fairy tales I once read my daughter, I'm afraid.

Anyrate, I booked the boat out last Tuesday hoping to get new video of coral reef as well as start looking at areas where large tube worm colonies had, until recently, thrived. I asked a broad spectrum of the scientific/regulatory community to join me.

A very few did; glad to have them.

My first stop set the tone for the day. It's a small area that I've painted with the depth sounder a few times and was interested to see what's down there. Two anchor set -just like toggin' or a tight sea bass set- positioned precisely over the best of the marks. I'm lecturing while the camera is in free fall, telling my small audience how there's abundant corals if you know where to look.

Just like a kid shooting hoops ~ nothing but net!

Really ~ Just a net. A dogone lost trawl net. A very sanded in net. A not at all natural coral net. Sheesh.

Similar to goose-egging on the first fishing spot of a day ~ up anchors and beat feet to a new spot.

And the wind's picking up. The whole thing went south. Visibility poor, getting worse - waves increasing ~ actually washing jellies onto the aft deck...

But we anchored again and successfully viewed natural corals. Corals seven NM east of sea buoy. Not what I had in mind, but the best I could safely manage.

One fellow's spent 25 years in the thick of fisheries management for this region. Now he has seen corals. And rocks. Neither of which is supposed to exist on our seafloor.

40 - 50 - 60 years ago a skipper could find abundant sea bass using 'course and speed' navigation ~just a watch and a compass~ to find this area. Many did just that. That's why it's called the Bass Grounds.

There were even tournament winning white marlin caught there. Yup ~ 7 miles off the beach.

I think habitat loss is the biggest reason why a present day fisher using the same navigation technique, running course and speed, would surely find nothing.

Awful lot of work to be done to restore it. It'll start with mapping -charting- the rocky substrates.

Another approach to habitat restoration; artificial reef is the path of least resistance.

Recently the Millsboro Police Department donated a load of confiscated guns to the Reef Foundation. 'Course there's not much use in taking them off the street if they can be resold ~ they have to be destroyed. What a great way to keep these weapons out of the hands of those who hold little regard for society.

First the guns were rendered unusable, then they were welded by Mumford's Sheet Metal into a miniature "Texas Tower" sort of reef unit.

Other welded units made by Mumford's and Biazzio Giordano's high school welding classes have proven fantastic for spade & trigger fishing in high summer; I anticipate this one will too.

And, you know, Millsboro's a pretty small town ~ 'spect some of the larger metropolises could build a real Texas Tower with the weapons they confiscate in a year.

Sheesh, you could even have a reef tax on it. Tack it on to court costs ~ user pays in reverse!

Sounds like a plan...

Nick some pretty flounder then go catch hardheads. Makes another plan.

Regards,

Monty

Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservations 410 520 2076
www.morningstarfishing.com

posted by Monty # Sunday, September 16, 2007

Fish Report 9/9/07

Peak Flounder ~ Go away Gabrielle!

Hi All,

Thursday and Friday. Should'a been there. Nice.

Back to working for 'em on Saturday. Still, it really was awesome to see first time anglers bowed up on nice flatties ~ even keeper doubles.

The first limits were caught within 20 minutes both days; the whole boat in under two hours.

Not something to be counted on. I'd be inclined to call it a crescendo ~ the fishing increasingly better and then peaking.

Maybe not, maybe we'll see some more days like that... I wouldn't think so.

Certainly more decent fluking ahead though. Keep on splitting the day up with the croaker fishing which is up and down. Sea bass remain an occasional pleasant surprise ~ not many of them at all.

Before this 'grand finale' I had the pleasure of fishing with one of my winter tog regulars who I strongly suspect spends a great deal of time practicing his fluking. The bow to ourselves, Dennis and I, we had great fun nicking a few, dropping good fish, catching the odd skate and elusive conger eel.

Then it got serious.

A painter of flat work might own the same brushes, oils and canvas as an accomplished master, but the artistry may be many more years in the coming. Replicating, but with a self-created style, the skillfulness of color, stroke and style...

So too can there be artistry in the fishing.

He was fishing the NY/NJ Spro bucktail with teaser rig. Four different conventional rods with 4 slightly different rigs. Underhanded cast, twitch, jig, pause ~ small bounces~ hook set. Sweet.

It wasn't my turn that day, I just fished while watching the show. Caught 8 to his 18! Even though we worked 4 different spots, several customers goose egged on the flatties that day ~ others limited themselves out.

Also had the pleasure of seeing a skilled fisher get the right tools.

Given brushes suitable for barn painting, a great artist may never create a wonderful canvas. With the wrong tackle, the skilled fisher may not truly enjoy a day to it's fullest.

Trying to tell the subtle difference between a fluke taking the bait and the feel of simply dragging across structure can not be easily accomplished with heavy toggin' tackle nor a spinner more suitable for shallow water spot fishing.

A rod light in weight that carries some stiffness to the tip along with a small fast retrieve reel loaded with 20 to 30 pound micro-braid seems to get the job done best. I still like a rig that presents the bait above the bottom ~ unlike the bucktail rig that goes across it, but, in the right hands...

We'll keep trying the flounder. It'll be over before too long.

Regards,

Monty

Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservations 410 520 2076
www.morningstarfishing.com

posted by Monty # Sunday, September 09, 2007

Fish Report 9/2/07

NE Winds, Much Better Fishing and MARI

Hi All,

Although there's still precious few sea bass to be had; contrarian anglers were rewarded this week. At least the ones that had agreeable weather! Wednesday Capt. Tucker had the helm and stopped on a nice mess of croakers (aka hardheads) before going offshore.

Later that same morning my daughter and I thoroughly enjoyed a 1/2 day inshore shark trip with Capt. Mark Sampson on the Fish Finder. What a treat to have such a knowledgeable captain explain all things shark while bowing up at a steady pace. Catch, tag ~ release. Truly fun.

Thankfully, the croakers stayed right there for a few days. Many boats were able to show OC visitors good to great action on 'em.

Stopping on the way out and getting done in about an hour is a fine way to start a day. It's fishing as I'd like it.

Moving offshore from the croakers; the flounder fishing wasn't perfect for everyone, though I had several long time customers tell me it was the best they'd ever had.

So that's what we're doing. Or trying to! Saturday's switchy NE winds, rough but doable, made the croakers hard to find. Caught flounder and bass ~ couldn't hardly buy a hardhead. Sorted 'em out first thing the next morning though. Nice.

What is trying about targeting flatties a little later in the day is that they'll scarcely ever be as 'cooperative' as the croakers.

You can simply drop on the hardheads. A practiced angler may bow up more, but everyone else will catch too.

Not so with the flounder! You have to work 'em. A little luck won't hurt either.

Last week, despite numerous good fish in the boat, we had a very skilled fellow catch 7 skates and one fluke. On his next trip he dern near limited before I caught my first...

Yup, little luck doesn't hurt...

With the weather either! Forecasts of 10 to 15 NE (north east) are fairly common this time of year. It's impossible to call. The prettiest day this week had such a forecast and so to the roughest day we fished in August. Same exact forecast...

Getting the wind speed wrong is one thing. Happens. 10 to 15 turns out to be added together -25- or, far better, subtracted. What's sometimes the case is when it's 'switchy'. Instead of the wind holding a perfect compass point, it will shift 15/20 degrees either way. Makes a huge difference in sea height and period (how close together the waves are). 10 to 15 NE and switchy can be a very pleasant day, especially in the early fall when it's cooler breezes are welcomed. 15 to 20 that's really a gusty 25 and locked in at 60 degrees on the compass... Eh, gotta do maintenance sometime.

Gotta do meetings too. The Maryland Artificial Reef Initiative Committee (MARI) meet for the 3rd time last week. It's a group of active fishers and a variety of state and even federal employees. This year that program will eclipse all the reef that's been built before in the Chesapeake. Perhaps already has.

All Woodrow Wilson Bridge so far. Big dagoned bridge ~ still a lot left. It would be shortsighted, however, to think that is the sum of available materials.

This project is burning through some cash. You can not have tugboats, barges, cranes and scores of men working on the cheap! (Visiting the CCA website http://www.ccamd.org/MARI/MARI_home.htm is an easy way to donate to that effort! ~ http://www.ocreeffoundation.com/ for our local efforts focused on the Atlantic side)

Great news that came out of the last MARI meeting was a contribution of $417,000.00 for the monitoring component by the Board of Public Works. Deeply appreciated!

Artificial reef monitoring can be as simple as 'did the material get placed on site' and 'is it still there after hurricane X?' or as complex as 'carbon absorption per square meter'...

I have read every book, article and paper on artificial reef construction and monitoring that I've been able to find. Don't understand it all ~ keep plugging at it. I've been very fortunate as some of these obscure texts have been lent to me from the personal collections of those long in the business of reef building. It's almost exclusively marine. There's precious little in the literature that deals with large estuaries.

Some of it, a lot really, is transferable to work in the world's largest estuary. Especially useful is the knowledge from earlier Chesapeake reef constructions available from long-time users.

There's a terrific amount of interagency cooperation going on. Side scan sonar surveys of existing reef sites have strongly supported the anecdotal accounts I've heard.

This is the time -right now- to begin seriously cataloguing the new work and to go back and compile past efforts into something more usable. Overlay it on existing charts of historical oyster abundance so thought can be given to what can reasonably be restored. As time goes along, it's much easier to learn from mistakes/successes if they're written down.

Point is, here's a committee that meets once a month. A couple fellows from DNR work it into their busy schedules and get help from other agencies when crucial.

To do this right -to really use the tool of artificial reef in restoring the Chesapeake ~ both her fisheries and biofiltering capabilities- there's going to have to be full time personnel. An office full.

It's far more than an odd job.

When the book on estuarine artificial reef does get published, much of it will have come from work in the Chesapeake.

Hope it's a good read.

Hope the one on the mid-Atlantic's coral ecology comes out first!

Regards,

Monty

Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservations 410 520 2076
www.morningstarfishing.com

posted by Monty # Sunday, September 02, 2007

Morning Star Fish Report

Fish Report 9/30/07

Fish Report 9/30/07

Fish Report 9/23/07

Fish Report 9/16/07

Fish Report 9/9/07

Fish Report 9/2/07

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