 |
|
Sponsored by: |
 |
|
Click here for
Exclusive Coupons
|
| |
|
Upcoming Events |
|
Mar 15
Fly Fishing Class
The Charleston Angler
Mar 18
Inshore Rigging Class
The Charleston Angler
Mar 20
Basic Fly Fishing
Haddrells Point Tackle
Mar 25
Offshore Leader-Making and Rigging Class
The Charleston Angler
April 1
Spring Redfishing Seminar
The Charleston Angler
April 8
Spring Cobia Fishing in the Broad River
The Charleston Angler
April 15
Fishing the Nearshore Artificial Reefs
The Charleston Angler
April 22
Fly Fishing for North Carolina Trout
The Charleston Angler
April 29
Offshore Fishing 101
The Charleston Angler
May 1
CCA East Cooper Banquet
May 2
Harry Hampton Marine Conservation Banquet and Auction
May 3
Marine Resources Division Open House
For More info,
see our website |
|
|
Trident Fishing Week
18 |
| |
|
Photo of the Week |
|
Click for larger view
Send
us your photos! |
|
| |
|
Recipe of the Week |
Scallops Alfredo
Ingredients:
12 ounces penne pasta
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
8 ounces sea scallops
8 ounces large shrimp, de-veined & peeled
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup butter
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
4 sprigs parsley
Directions:
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta
for 10 - 12 minutes. Drain well and leave in pot to
keep warm. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, add olive
oil, shrimp and scallops. Cover and cook for 5
minutes or until scallops are opaque and shrimp are
pink. When cooked, remove scallops and shrimp and
place on a side plate. In the same saucepan, bring
cream and butter just to boil. Reduce heat and stir
in Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add
scallops, shrimp and pasta; toss well to coat.
Transfer mixture to a large bowl and garnish with
parsley sprigs. |
|
More Recipes HERE |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
3.13.2008 Volume
IX Issue #10 |
|
|
This Week's Article |
Are We
Our Own Worst Enemies?
When you begin to talk about fish limits and
legislation emotions tend to run high and recreational anglers never
seem to be able to agree on what is right for limits and proper
conservation to assure the fish population will be there for future
generations of anglers. While it is encouraging seeing so many
anglers concerned and speaking out about what they feel is proper
stewardship of our resources, it is also equally disconcerting to
see these same anglers tear a fellow recreational fisherman down for
what they see as acting irresponsible. Many times a personal note to
an angler to help educate them about a certain species is bypassed
for an ugly comment or insult.
Click here to read this article |
|
|
 |
|
This Week's News
|
|
Coastal Conservation
Association announces 6th Annual “Celebrating Conservation Event”
The East Cooper Chapter of the Coastal Conservation
Association invites you to enjoy their 5th Annual “Celebrating
Conservation” Event Thursday, May 01, 2008, 6:00 p.m. at Alhambra
Hall in Mt. Pleasant. This event is open to all!
Social Hour will begin at 6:00 p.m. with food catered
by Charleston Bay Gourmet, followed by a Live Auction and Silent
Auction. Open bar is included. For inquiries concerning sponsorship
opportunities or attendance please contact Pete Loy 843-514-4846 or
John Gourdin at 843-214-1408 locally or the CCA State Office (803)
865-4164.
Tickets for the event, which include the annual CCA
Membership, are $50.00 for singles and $75.00 for Couples, Children
are welcome, under age 18 free.
CCA was founded in 1977 by a handful of anglers in
Texas frustrated at the demise of once-robust redfish populations at
the hands of commercial netters. CCA’s spirit of conservation and
stewardship started with the "Save the Redfish" campaign and soon
swept across the entire Gulf Coast. By 1985, Gulf-state chapters had
formed from Texas to Florida. The South Carolina Chapter was founded
in 1986 and was the first CCA chapter on the East Coast. By decade’s
end, state chapters were founded through the mid-Atlantic region,
and by the early 1990’s, development of the New England state
chapters was completed to address state, national and international
issues as a united Coastal Conservation Association. CCA's strength
is drawn from the tens of thousands of recreational saltwater
anglers who make up its membership. CCA's unmatched breadth and
depth of volunteer involvement has made it the largest marine
conservation group of its kind. Its grassroots network and unique
combination of membership, fundraising and advocacy have enacted
positive change on all levels of coastal marine conservation and
management.
Among notable achievements in its history, CCA
volunteers have helped establish game fish status for billfish and
redfish, enacted net bans in four states, and outlawed many
destructive gear types. CCA is also recognized by fisheries managers
as instrumental in the recovery of redfish, king mackerel, Spanish
mackerel, speckled trout, striped bass, Gulf grouper, and Atlantic
weakfish.
CCA South Carolina now consists of 11 chapters
including Ace Basin (Walterboro), Aiken County, Columbia, East
Cooper, Orangeburg, Pee Dee, Rock Hill, Sea Island (Charleston
Area), Upstate, Low Country (Beaufort), and Waccamaw.
For more information on Coastal Conservation
Association South Carolina please visit the website at
http://www.ccasouthcarolina.com/ . CCA is a registered 501(c)
(3) charity, 501(c) (3) organizations are considered public
charities and all donations to them are tax-exempt.
Cobia Fishery Success
Relies On DNR Research, Management, Regulations
Some anglers claim it's the best-tasting fish in
the ocean and a thrill to catch. It's also the focus of ongoing
research and management efforts by the S.C. Department of Natural
Resources (DNR) as a marine species of importance to the overall
coastal ecosystem as well as to anglers.
The fish is a side-striped saltwater fighter called cobia, and the
species has gained in popularity in recent years among South
Carolina's saltwater recreational angling community, particularly in
southern coastal counties. As the peak time of the year approaches
for pursuing cobia in the state's inshore waters, the DNR reminds
anglers of its work with the fish as well as the various regulations
currently in place designed to protect and conserve them.
As a coastal pelagic species, cobia exhibit unique behaviors during
spring and early summer months and can aggregate in large numbers in
some South Carolina estuaries, particularly in the coastal waters of
the Broad River, Port Royal and St Helena Sounds. Biologists with
DNR do not yet fully understand all of the complexities associated
with cobia population dynamics and why the species seems to inhabit
specific estuaries during the spring and early summer. However, DNR
continues to organize, support and conduct different
multi-disciplinary research projects, including stock enhancements,
monitoring assessments and tagging studies to better equip fisheries
managers and scientists with information to help understand this
species and make informed decisions.
Cobia have been a popular fish among saltwater
recreational anglers along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts for several
decades, and their size combined with their outstanding quality as a
food fish have given them marketability as a commercially sought
after species as well. "The combined qualities of being a real
energetic fighter and also highly desirable as table fare can work
against a fish like cobia, presenting special challenges related to
their management and long-term conservation," says Mel Bell,
director of the DNR's Office of Fisheries Management. In South
Carolina, cobia are taken in both offshore and nearshore waters as
well as inland marine waters. While the state records about four to
five thousand pounds of commercial cobia landings each year, the
bulk of which come from offshore waters, the vast majority of cobia
landed in South Carolina are taken through the private boat and
charterboat sectors of the recreational fishery.
"Combined growth in the number of saltwater
recreational anglers in the state with an increasing popularity of
cobia fishing, most notably in the inshore waters of Beaufort
County, have provided fisheries managers, conservationists and
concerned anglers with sufficient motivation to ensure that we have
a good understanding of the biology, life history and stock
condition of this species, in addition to a clear understanding of
the cobia fishery in place," said Bell. "All of this information is
critical in allowing us to make the best possible recommendations
and decisions we can regarding appropriate regulation of this
species. We want to make sure we have healthy cobia stocks and a
healthy, balanced cobia fishery well into the future."
At the DNR's Waddell Mariculture Center in Bluffton, biologists have
stocked many thousands of cobia into the Broad River, an effort that
allows biologists to monitor the species' migration and determine
the exact timing of their movements back into the estuary as it
relates to spawning behaviors. To date, about 60,000 cobia have been
tagged and released since the initiation of a tagging project for
this species in 1989, with 100 percent of those being released into
the Broad River. DNR scientist Mike Denson, who has designed much of
the research and ongoing projects related to cobia, said: "The
research will provide us with insight as to why cobia are moving
back into the estuaries-whether it is to spawn or feed-and why the
Port Royal and St. Helena Sound estuaries are of particular
importance to this species." The complex scope of the research will
also provide DNR with a structure of the overall population and how
fishing pressures in South Carolina may impact this structure.
Many types of fishing for cobia currently exist, including
recreational, commercial and charterboat efforts. From data obtained
by DNR surveys and data logs, most of the landings of cobia by
commercial anglers usually take place in federal waters off
Georgetown and Horry counties during the late spring and early
summer. Recreational data and charterboat data analyzed by DNR
indicate that the vast majority of landings of cobia occur during
the months of May and June in state waters off of Beaufort and
Jasper counties. Landings tallies are analyzed from logbooks and
trip tickets that charterboat captains, commercial anglers and
licensed wholesale dealers are required by law to submit through the
various permitting protocols. Importantly to note, in addition to
the informational resource that this reported information provides
to DNR fishery managers, these figures are also used by federal
fishery councils as part of a multi-step method for determining the
status of fish stocks, a benchmark for effectively crafting rules
and regulations governing the species.
Important regulations are in place to complement these research and
monitoring efforts and protect cobia from overfishing and
detrimental impacts on coastal stocks. Anglers are reminded of
federal and state recreational and commercial laws that specify the
taking of only two cobia per-angler per-day, with a 33-inch minimum
fork length size limit. An additional requirement states that cobia
must be landed with head and tail intact. The state laws in place
mirror the federal fishery regulations for this species, which were
implemented jointly in 1990 by the South Atlantic and Gulf Marine
Fisheries Commissions. Commercial sale of cobia in South Carolina is
limited to licensed commercial anglers only, and the daily legal
number of legal sized fish may be sold only to a licensed South
Carolina wholesale fisheries dealer. Individual anglers may sell
their recreational bag limit of two legal-sized cobia per-day, but
they must have a South Carolina commercial fishing license to do so,
and may only sell to a licensed wholesale dealer.
Fisheries managers and scientists with the DNR realize the
importance of Atlantic Coast cobia stocks, and are particularly
focused on gaining an improved understanding of their use of South
Carolina's coastal waters as either short-termed visitors or
long-term residents. "While overall cobia management is the
responsibility of the federal fishery councils, we want to make sure
that we are providing these fish with adequate, appropriate, and
complementary regulatory protection while they are passing through
and residing in our own state waters," said Bell. "At the moment we
are particularly focused on improving our understanding of just how
important this annual springtime aggregation of cobia in the waters
of Beaufort County may be to local and coast-wide cobia populations
in the long run." Since these fish are very predictable in their
behavior in inshore waters each year they are certainly susceptible
to heavy fishing pressure. However, if anglers will strictly obey
the current laws pertaining to the cobia fishery and apply a good
measure of their own self-discipline and sound conservation
practices, this will go a long ways towards ensuring there are
plenty of cobia available for years to come. If the state's
fisheries professionals determine that the current laws are
inadequate or ineffective in protecting cobia stocks, then other
more restrictive measures may be warranted in the future.
|
|
|
Tide Chart |
|
13 Thursday |
|
12:48AM LDT 5.8 H |
07:24AM LDT 0.2 L |
01:19PM LDT 4.6 H |
07:29PM LDT -0.1 L |
|
14 Friday |
|
01:54AM LDT 5.6 H |
08:29AM LDT 0.5 L |
02:27PM LDT 4.5 H |
08:35PM LDT 0.1 L |
|
15 Saturday |
|
03:05AM LDT 5.4 H |
09:38AM LDT 0.5 L |
03:39PM LDT 4.5 H |
09:45PM LDT 0.1 L |
|
16 Sunday |
|
04:17AM LDT 5.4 H |
10:43AM LDT 0.5 L |
04:48PM LDT 4.6 H |
10:52PM LDT 0.0 L |
|
|
For more
Tidal / Lunar info, Click here |
|
|
The Final Word |
The
fishing, much like the weather, is beginning to heat up. The
offshore waters are producing come really nice catches of
blackfin tuna, wahoo, and a few scattered dolphin. Veteran
offshore anglers look forward to those blooming azaleas each
year because they know the offshore fishing bite is turning
on. The bottom fishing has also been excellent over the past
several weeks providing some nice catches of snapper,
grouper, big black sea bass, and triggerfish.
Out over the reefs the sheepshead bite is really good
using live fiddlers and there are also some big bluefish
hanging around the reefs and the jetties. Inshore the trout
bite has turned back on and the redfish are coming out of
their winter slumber. There are also still some nice
sheepshead being caught inshore as well, if you do not have
the boat to take you to the reefs. Finding the right day to
go is critical this year as March is one of the windier
months we have. The fishing in the next 3-months is some of
the best you will experience anytime in the lowcountry. So
save those honey-do list for days that the wind is blowing
(there will still be plenty) and get out on the water.
Tight
lines…
Andy Pickett
CharlestonFishing.Com |
|
|
|
Copyright 2008 CharlestonFishing.Com, LLC. All rights reserved.
To unsubscribe, please click
here
|
