Tim Simpson from Towboat U.S. was the speaker who provided input on how to avoid seeing him on the water. He often responds to boats with electrical issues and pointed that out as a general weakness on boats. One solid recommendation was to scout out the inlet the day before a tournament so you don’t have an unpleasant experience early in the morning when water may be hard to read.
The club held a seminar on each member’s favorite Spanish mackerel fishing tips and techniques. Members brought in favorite rigs and lures, including member designed saltwater flies, and talked about how they used them.
In June, we had a graduate student, who discussed his research aboard a ship following that infamous 2010 oil well leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Ben McGlaughon, a native of Jacksonville, and a UNC-Chapel Hill graduate, is one of those young people we don't read about in the daily police blotter. After graduating, a few years back, Ben worked for a while at a zoo in West Palm Beach. Great hands on experience, he has said, for his future.
That future took him to the Gulf last year, as samples were taken of plankton, large, smaller, and miniscule, to see what effect the oil spill was having. The results of the study are not available, as yet, as they are still being analyzed. That study was part of his grad work at East Carolina University. A bit of good news, and timely, too. There have been NO signs that oil infected spanish mackerel have made their way up the Atlantic seaboard. Spanish macks travel a long ways, and it's common knowledge that the tasty finny creatures, common in the Gulf of Mexico, are found off North Carolina. Ben promises to keep us up to date on the studies, as the results are made available to him.
Some good information from Scott Strickland, an enforcement officer with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, at the July meeting of the OBSFC. Commonly referred to as Wildlife Officers or Game Wardens, men and women like Strickland have a variety of duties involving boating safety, along with enforcing various fishing and game laws. Many are not aware, but Wildlife Officers are State Lawmen, and can enforce ANY laws in the State of North Carolina.
Strickland hit on various aspects of boating safety and regulations he enforces. North Carolina, along with the U.S. Coast Guard, is devoting a great deal of effort into reducing boating accidents and deaths resulting from accidents. At the top of the list is Operating While Imparied, the on-water equivalent of Driving While Impaired. The laws are similar. A note here: there is no law against having open containers of beer on board, and a boat operator can actually consume a beer, but not enough to impair his operation.
Scott also discussed other areas of safe boating, all in an effort he said, to make boating and fishing outings much safer.
Ok. So you catch fish, right? Now what? The obvious answer is to eat them! And, most of us do enjoy a tasty seafood dish. And, if it's with fresh fish we've caught, it just makes the trip that much more enjoyable. We have a chef for the August meeting. He's Jess.Hawkins, and he teaches visitors to the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores how to make their seafood "special". A meeting that you won't want to miss.
Looking to be a better, safer fishing person?
