The Best Things In Life Used To Be Free, Almost?

It used to be that you could fish anywhere as long as you had a pole, a line, a hook and a worm.  That has changed over the years and now there is a fee for everything.  Did you know that you now have to have a salt water fishing license?

That’s right. Last year (2011) you were suppose to get a Federal Permit to fish in all United States ocean waters. Who knew?  This year (2012) you need to get a Recreational Saltwater Fishing Permit in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut which all have reciprocal agreements.   If you fish in Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, or Virginia, please be aware there are  new state fishing license and registration requirements. Please check with these states before registering with NOAA. If you meet these state requirements, you are automatically registered with NOAA.

The cost of the Massachusetts Saltwater Fishing Permit is only $10.00. For those over 60 the permit is free but you may have to pay a processing charge on the internet.   However, after registering you have to fill out a survey that asks several fishing related questions but also asks how much does a license mean to you and would you be willing to pay more.  Some anglers are then selected by random to give up their license for the year in return for a gift check ranging from $10 to $500.   The full article appeared in the Boston Globe (Friday, 3-2-12)    http://articles.boston.com/2012-03-02/business/31114730_1_recreational-saltwater-fishing-fishing-industry-anglers

For us Romeos who have gone on a deep sea fishing trip there may be some extra fees.  The Boat owner will now have to get a “For Hirer Fishing Permit” that covers his passengers. The passengers will be covered by the boat permit. However, you know that the cost will be passed along.

Although you can a get a Freshwater and Hunting License at your local Town Hall, you can only get the Saltwater License online, by phone or at selected Marine Fisheries Offices.  Go to the Mass. Website below to get further details.  You can also get further info about the Federal Permit at the NOAA website below.

Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries – Mass. Permit (Includes Federal Registry)

http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dmf/recreationalfishing/rec_permits.htm

National Registry – NOAA Fishery Service – Federal Permit

https://www.countmyfish.noaa.gov/register/

Comments Always Welcome … markryan82@comcast.net

Fishing - One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
As Doctor Suess use to say, its fun when you know how to fish and a good book certainly helps.

Well it is time to take out the old fishing pole and try catching the big one that always gets away. Even if you are rusty or haven’t tried fishing, it sure is a relaxing endeavor. All you need is a fishing pole, some hooks, and some bait to start. You drop the baited hook in the water and tug on the line a few times to attract the fish.

Most fishermen will catch a fish and then gently take it off the hook and throw it back to swim away. The fish soon recovers and you have not depleted the fish population from the local pond. This is called “Catch and Release”. Other fishermen will catch fish that are big enough and take them home to eat. In most local freshwater ponds you can catch sunfish, bass, pickerel or trout.

The Mass. Dept of Fisheries does stock most ponds and lakes with a yearly supply of fish that they have grown in local hatcheries. Normally they might dump a thousand fish or more into one pond. The cost of maintaining local ponds and lakes with fish is supported by the purchase of fishing licenses.

If you are the least bit interested, I have listed some information below that might get you started. Also, fishing is a great activity to share with your children, grandchildren or just a friend. There is nothing like spending the day out in the woods near a pond and enjoying the quiet outdoors.

*******************************

As I was reading the Sunday Boston Globe today (May 9, 2010), the title of a book caught my eye. It was written by a Biology teacher from Billerica, MA along with his son. The drawings and photos in the book are from those actually caught by the authors.

Although I noticed the book title because I like fishing, I also noticed it because a friend told me about it recently. One of my Romeo friends, Joe Loducca, knows the author and mentioned the book as well as some good fishing spots near Townsend, MA. You can see the news article and the book title below.

New Freshwater Fish Identification Book
Boston Globe,May 9,2010, page C6, Books, Shelf Life, “Guide to Northeast Fish”,
By David A. Patterson, Billerica Biology Teacher, (Friend of Joe Loducca)
http://www.boston.com/yourtown/newton/articles/2010/05/09/shelf_life/

Local Fishing Derby (Check your local papers for local fishing Derbies)
Wilmington, MA, (June 5, 2010), 9 AM to 12 Noon at Silver Lake , Town Beach, No License Needed for this one day of fishing, Take the Kids, A life long hobby enjoyed by all. All you need is a line, a hook and some bait. Residence and Non-residence welcome.

Learn to Fish
Volunteers from the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife will present an Angler Education Program sponsored by the Wilmington Recreation Dept. at Silver Lake, Town Beach on Thursday, My 13, 5-7 PM. Parents and children are encouraged to team up. The class is free for residence and non-residence. Pre-registration is necessary. Call the Recreation Department at 978-658-4270

Some Fish That I Caught
You can see some photos of a few fish that I caught at Silver Lake, last year with my grandchildren. I caught a few Pumpkin Seed Sunfish. They are identified with the black spot on their gill cover with a red spot on the end and squiggly vertical dark lines across their body. I also caught a juvenile Largemouth Bass recognized by the dark line down the center, the mouth and the fins. See photos of fish at the link ……. http://picasaweb.google.com/markryan312/FishingAtSilverLake81908

Mass Fishing License
Now that I am a senior citizen, I can get my fishing license at a reduced rate ($16.25 for the year, January to December). A rate chart for hunting and fishing licenses can be found at the state web site …………… http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/recreation/licensing/license_fees.htm

Local Fishing Ponds in Massachusetts
You can also find depth maps for local ponds that help you decide where to fish, identification photos and links to other relate sites at the site ……. http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/habitat/maps/ponds/pond_maps_nd.htm

Other Fish Identification Web Sites
http://www.identicards.com/allaboutfreshwaterfish/
and http://www.landbigfish.com/fish/default.cfm

Romeo Fishing Trip

Some of the Romeo gang (Retired Old Men Eating Out) decided to go deep sea fishing a few weeks ago and asked Paul Girard to find some possible fishing charters out of Gloucester, MA. Paul has had great success planning other trips and suggested the Sandy B Fishing Charters. You can see the web site at the link …… http://www.captbluefin.com/index.htm Paul emailed the info and five Romeos signed up to take the trip: Paul Girard, Jim Terlizzi, Joe Pignatiello, Joe Lapiana and Mark Ryan.

We booked the trip for September 15, 2009 and we all met at Solomon Dock in Gloucester. This would be a 4 hour trip from 8 AM to Noon. We all had high hopes of catching a ton of fish and I brought a cooler and some bags to “lug” home the heavy load.
If you have ever been fishing, you know that there are good and bad days where you catch more than you can use or nothing at all. With great anticipation, I told some of my family and neighbors about the trip and even promised them some. After, we would have a big “Fish Fry”. You can see photos of the trip at the link ….
http://picasaweb.google.com/markryan312/FishTrip91509#

It was a beautiful day with blue skies and a few wispy clouds. We met the boat near the Heritage Maritime Museum and Solomon Dock at 7:45AM and were soon on our way out of Gloucester Harbor. There was already activity in the harbor with fishing boats, a rowing team and the Coast Guard moving out. Along the way we observed the shore line with all the beautiful homes, some hotels and Hammond Castle. We also saw the Twin Lighthouses, lobster buoys, sea gulls and cormorants.

We first stopped about a ¼ mile off of Hammond Castle around a small rocky island and cast our lines with herring bait near the rocks. After 30 minutes and no bites we moved on to deeper water. The captain navigated out between the buoys to an area about 80 feet deep. Although there was no sign of fish on the electronic fish finder, we again cast out our baited lines. With no bites we moved to another location and dropped anchor. The boat swung around into the current as the anchor grabbed the bottom. Again we had no luck and decided to pull up anchor and try some trolling as the bout moved along at about 5 mph.

The mate, Paul Gaddis, changed rods and attached big lures to the fishing lines to get ready for trolling. Only two fishing rigs could be used at a time while we trolled, so there would be no tangling of lines and less confusion. As we trolled the lines out, we threw out some chum over the stern to attract any fish in our wake. Chum is just a soupy mix of chopped up fish bait.

At about 11 AM one pole bent over and Joe Lapiana started to work the catch by pulling up and then reeling in. At the same time the other rod caught another fish and Mark Ryan worked that rod. Within a few minutes we had both caught a Blue Fish. The captain helped net the fish and brought them on board. The mate unhooked the Blues and put them both in a catch box. Both fish measured about 10 pounds and about 30 inch in length. At least we caught something. There are good days and bad days. Although fishing does take experience and boat captain know how, the fish are not always in the spots that you are looking.

Although we continued trolling, we got no further bites and decided to head in. On the way in, the mate Paul put on rubber pants and filleted the fish. Like an expert, he cut off the head and tail and sliced some fillets off each side of the fish. He also removed some of the dark red arteries that ran down along the fish sides. Paul then put a few fillets in several plastic bags so we could all take some home.

We tied up at the dock about 12:15 PM and said good bye and thanked the captain and mate for a relatively good day. Being hungry, we decided to stop for lunch at the Causeway Restaurant on Rte. 133. The food was great, the placed packed and the company terrific. Life Is Good!

Take Me Fishing, Please ?

One of the joys of summer is to go fishing with the grand - children. I know that they often go with their father but I wanted to share in the excitement and pass on some tips that I learned as a boy. So I went to Walmart’s and bought some mini-fishing poles and other gear.

Since I have three grandchildren, I made up three fishing sets (pole, hooks, bobbers, small plastic accessory case) and put them in a gallon zip lock bag. I tied a rope on each bag so the children could carry it over their shoulder.

I made a date with them to go on a practice fishing trip and learn how to use all the fishing gear. Early one Saturday morning, we went to Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield, MA and practiced casting the lines; first to a target on the grass and then into the water. I also showed them how to tie the hooks on the line and set the lead weight and bobber at the correct distance above the hook.

I then baited the hooks for each child with a piece of worm (night crawlers) and off they casted into the great lake, hoping to catch the big one. Every 5 minutes I baited another hook or helped untangle a fishing line caught on a nearby tree or across another person’s line. After about two hours, we were out of bait and went across the street for a well deserved hot chocolate and a donut. That was quite a workout for papa but fun for the kids.

The next Saturday was the Fishing Derby in Wilmington, MA at Silver Lake. It is held annually on the first Saturday in June to attract new anglers to this life-long sport. This is also a free fishing day for all age groups (no fishing license required). We arrived at 9:00 AM sharp and registered. Youngsters lined the banks of Silver Lake and also fished off the new L-shaped fishing pier.

I decided to just let the children fish and help them as needed. After getting everyone ready, they fished off the pier and casted their lines into the water trying to stay away from another angler only 5 feet away on each side. After a few casts the two older girls caught their first fish, a sunfish of course. The youngest boy-grandchild was only 6 years old at the time and more interested in playing down at the water’s edge rather than catch fish. His interest in fishing lasted about 2 minutes.

Since that time, a few years have past and we have fished in different lakes, ponds and rivers and the children’s interest in fishing has grown. On a trailer camping trip to New Hampshire, the children caught baby brook trout in a local stream. With their father, they caught sunfish at Edgewater Pond in Wakefield. Recently, we went to Harold Parker State Park in North Andover, MA and caught some sunfish and a juvenile- smallmouth bass at Field Pond. You can Google all these ponds to get exact locations.

Last Tuesday, I decided to go fishing at Silver Lake in Wilmington, MA by myself. That way I could take my time, relax and not have to untangle lines. I got there about 3:00PM and had the lake to myself. Not another fisherman in sight, at that time. I baited my hook and threw the first cast. A few nibbles on the bobber but no fish. I tried another spot further out from the pier and found a school of sunfish that went crazy for the bait worm (night crawlers). I caught a few Pumpkin Seed Sunfish. They are identified with the black spot on their gill cover with a red spot on the end and squiggly vertical dark lines across their body. See photos of fish at the link ……. http://picasaweb.google.com/markryan312/FishingAtSilverLake81908

Later, I made a cast closer to shore near the weeds and got a good bite. The fish took the line and swam around tugging. I reeled it up quickly to the pier and unhooked the fish while I took a quick photo. I then gently threw the fish back. If you “catch and release” the fish gently, it will recover quickly back to normal. The fish was a juvenile largemouth bass recognized by the dark line down the center, the mouth and the fins.

Now that I am a senior citizen, I can get my fishing license at a reduced rate ($16.25 for the year, January to December). A rate chart for hunting and fishing licenses can be found at the state web site …………… http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/recreation/licensing/license_fees.htm

You can also find depth maps for local ponds that help you decide where to fish, identification photos and links to other related sites at the link ……. http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/habitat/maps/ponds/pond_maps_nd.htm

Other fish identification web sites are …….. http://www.identicards.com/allaboutfreshwaterfish/ and http://www.landbigfish.com/fish/default.cfm