2/6/12

Remember how good the codfishing was last year? Well, this ain’t last year. Codfishing
isn’t for me. I’m too much into being warm, but it’s easy to get an idea of what is going
on just by counting cars in the parking lots. The carpetbagger boats have been here for a
while now, but I don’t know if any of them have fished more than a day or two. The
Viking has been getting one boat out maybe three days or so a week, but that has been
about it.

I guess the water is too warm or something. During the first half of January the boats
were still catching porgies and seabass and either sneaking them home or throwing them
back to float away until a seagull ate them. Now they are catching some cod, but also an
awful lot of doggies.

It looks like the DEC giveth and the DEC taketh away, at least for bottom fish. It looks
like we are going to be getting to eat a few more fluke this year. I don’t know that it is
down in ink yet, but it looks like the minimum size will be dropped to 19.5” from 20.5”.
On the other side of the ledger, and this has been written in ink and carved in stone, the
blackfish season has been shortened by 70 days and now runs from October 8 to
December 4, and the minimum size limit has been increased by 2 inches to 16 inches total
length. The possession limit of four fish per day remains unchanged.

All you guys who have to renew your captains ticket should be aware that you no longer
need a TWIC card unless you need to have access to a secure area. For a new license you
will have to get a TWIC card as part of the process to prove that you are not an axe
murderer. Check it out at
http://www.uscg.mil/nmc/marpers/pag/...icy_letter.pdf

I might have an occasional report, but don’t expect weekly reports until sometime in May
when things start to get more active.

Of course if you still want to fish, but don’t want to be cold while doing it, think about
Central America. Fishing is great right now and you can sweat while you do it. Check it
out at www.tropicalfishing.com