Showing posts with label Misc Comments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Misc Comments. Show all posts

Friday, August 27, 2010

Daydream Island

We all daydream of finding a beautiful island where we can forget all the hustle and bustle of our daily life. One where the weather is always perfect, the locals friendly and the water crystal clear. And if you are like us here at StingRay, you daydream about fishing. Big fish, plenty of fish.

Recently we returned from an eight-day trip to San Salvador, Bahamas and I can say I fell in love with the place. Not only did it meet all of my daydreaming expectations but also exceeded it in every aspect. Quiet, friendly, beautiful and with an abundance of fish…big fish!

Our quest started with an invitation from our own Captain Marvin. Marvin spent the summer chartering the Ms. T out of San Salvador and was having a great time catching big blue marlins on a daily basis (before he got a mild case of Ciguatera, but that is another story), and was ready to take the boat back to the States so we (John, William and my nephew Pete) figured that he needed company.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Wahoos Are Back

Reports of Wahoo catches continue to increase daily at our store with Guy Rettig reporting a Godzilla size hoo caught off Jupiter Inlet last Monday (see picture). It is exciting and welcomed news after a couple of slow months off our coast.

To get your share of the Wahoo boom, leave port early in the morning as these guys like to feed at sun-up and hide for the rest of the day. Although high speed trolling seems to be the latest craze, most of our customers report a leisurely troll speed under 9 knots. As for bait, they are striking trolled ballyhoo and any live bait. Trolled lures are more of our liking and as effective. Our Strike-Pro wood lures always do well and a number of our pre-rigged heavy head lures such as our jet Laser Knight or the Silver Bullet has been extremely successful. These are available pre-rigged with multi-strand cable (a must) or ‘naked’ for your own rigging.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Marlin University Guatemala

I had arrived from our week with Marlin University in Guatemala only to board a plane for the Orient to visit our vendors and manufacturers. Luckily the long flight is a perfect opportunity to catch up with my reading, answer emails and write this entry for my often neglected blog. After all, this year’s trip was a memorable experience and well worth a good entry.

My yearly trip with my friends from Marlin University (www.marlinuniversity.com) has become a ritual that I look forward to. It is always a great experience and an opportunity to spend time with some of the best in our sport. The ideas and inspiration for many of our products have come from late night discussion with fellow anglers and by observing the crew and captains that call the productive Pacific coast of Central America home.

This year’s StingRay group included staffers John Tobias and Walker Holcomb (a MU staffer), my son in law Mike Kress, his brother in law Orazio Nastase, my good friend and frequent partner in crime Alan Seidel, Reel Candy’s captain and friend Marvin Steiding and one of our favorite customers, Tony Oliva.

From the outside, Casa Vieja looks just like many other walled compounds down the road; non-descript guarded gates and very little indication that this is a place where our four day long adventure will begin. After a three hour ride from Guatemala City’s airport with a stopover in the colonial city of Antigua for a typical (and awesome) lunch, we are ready for action. Although reports from down the pacific’s central American coast are all the same; a slow bite since soon after the Chilean earthquake, we are all hoping for a return to earlier this year, when the average Marina Pez Vela boat was releasing in excess of 50 billfish a day.

The security gate swings open and our first impression of Casa Vieja soon changes. We find a half a dozen smiling senoritas waiting for us with cold ‘mojitos’. A warm greeting from Antonio, casa Vieja’s general manager, assures us this is no ordinary place. Soon we are ushered to the dining room to experience an excellent dinner, consisting of local fish, excellent steaks and an assortment of fruits. Our beginning to the first fantastic meal of many in the days to come. The comfortable rooms with quiet and excellent air conditioners, a ‘must’ in this hot country, and deliver a good night rest.

Next day, with our group divided, my half is assigned to the legendary ‘Finest Kind’, a 44’ Whitaker with a long history of winning tournaments and record catches. The Kind is captained by another legend, Captain Ron Hamlin. Although I have not met Ron, I feel like I know him from the stories I heard and read, always involving big game fishing, skills and a temper of great proportions.
Lucky for our group, friend and IGFA Hall of Famer Capt. Peter Wright is our instructor for the day. Peter is undoubtedly the best in the business. A wealth of knowledge and experience he shares willingly with all. We headed out of Marina Pez Vela and set course west. After an hour’s full speed run, Ron trims back and we are trolling. Five minutes later, Ron screams ‘left outrigger’. Marvin makes a run for the rod and skillfully feeds the ballyhoo, but fails to hook the first sail of the day. As we are in the middle of telling Marvin that captains not necessarily make good fishermen, the sail makes another pass and heads to the freshly deployed left rigger. This time Marvin executes his dropback perfectly and soon is fighting a beautiful Pacific sail. The first action packed day set the pace for a perfect week with 44 sails tagged and released for the week. We had several closed encounters with good sized blues as well during the week, but unfortunately they did not stick for the count.

In subsequent days we fished aboard the Release with Capt Nico Melendez, the Rum Line with Capt. Chris Sheeder and Intensity with Capt. Mike Sheeder.These meticulously maintained boats are awesome fishing machines and deliver every day under their crew’s skillful care.

Every day we arrived back at the Lodge tired but looking forward to the next day and each new day did not disappoint us. Great fishing action, great accommodations and world class food made our Casa Vieja experience one to remember.

If you are interested in joining us at a future Marlin University trip or other fishing outings, let us know by email or signing up for our newsletter.

Totals for our four days of fishing Guatemala: 92 raised, 76 bites, 44 sails released and 9 blues raised, 5 bites

www.casaviejalodge.com
www.marlinuniversity.com

below from left to right: 1: an early tag and release, 2: the boys and the crew of the 'Finest kind'. 3: release No.2, 4: The StingRay boys and MU's staff, 5: Mike sporting a 'cuban' and StingRay's fashionable cap, 6: Orazio showing off his unusual catch, a Mexican needlefish, 7: Peter doing what he does best..sharing his vast expertise.
[gallery link="file"]

Sunday, February 7, 2010

StingRay Fishing Outfitters Radio Advertisement

This week marked the beginning of our first local radio advertising campaign. WIRK, the area’s top country station and the BUZZ, its sister station is now broadcasting our 60-second commercial spot throughout the day. We are also sponsoring the hourly traffic report and Captain Marvin’s fishing report (Reel Candy Fishing). Marvin is reporting on action from Palm Beach to Saint Lucie every Friday and Saturday.

To hear Marvin’s Fishing Report, click here

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Our Pro Staff

We are fortunate to have some of the best in the business working with us.

WALKER HOLCOLM

I never met a person with such a diverse fishing background and experience. Professional tournament fishing has taken Walker all over the world and has crewed with the best in the business. As a result, he has accumulated an incredible amount of knowledge. Walker is consistently ranked in the top 10 of his profession.

In addition to being our resident expert, Walker is a regular Marlin magazine contributor, Marlin University instructor and a Rolex IGFA World Championship winner.

WILLIAM FERNANDEZ

Our fly-fishing and inshore guru, William honed his fishing skills as a pro in Yellowstone. Escaping the cold weather, he moved to Florida to work for ‘In The Bite’. An expert on local fishing at all levels, We share William’s time and expertise with the magazine.

For questions on fly fishing, inshore or our local waters, William is the person to call.

CAPT. CHARLES PERRY

Hailed as the best leaderman in the world today, Charles is our consultant and advisor. Charler’s experience is worthy of a best seller biography. His name is usually associated with the stars of our sports like World of Famers Capt. Peter Wright and Stuart Campbel. Charles is also an accomplished photographer.

Check out Charles new professional big game rod collection at our store and shows.

Monday, January 4, 2010

NEW YEAR, NEW STORE

2009 was an exciting year. Continuing growth during hard economic times, expansion and finally a move to our new offices left little time for fishing, something we will rectify in 2010.

Our Outfitter Store in Jupiter Florida represents our first step in our plans to expand our internet sales to include multi-store retailing. After many months of planning and construction, the store opened its doors November 1st and rapidly became a hit. Another confirmation that our mix of exciting products, quality and value sells well even during this down economy.

We learned a lot in the last few months. We learned that selling our products to a 'live' audience is less difficult than retailing over the internet. At our store the customer can 'touch and feel' the products and instantly recognize their value. In contrast, purchases over the internet requires a certain degree of faith that makes the process more difficult.

As we face this new year, you can expect us to continue our quest for great tackle at great prices. In 2009 we added over 300 new products and we plan on doubling our inventory in 2010. Look for new Omoto reels, Invicta premium fishing line, inshore lures and much more.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

100 POUNDS DOLPHIN?

Received this email and pictures from Charles Perry:


The story on this fish is that it was caught off of Jacksonville, NC by a Canaveral based tug traveling to South Carolina last week and trolling a line @ 9 kts.. These guys estimated it to be in the 100# range and didn't have the ice/capacity to keep it cold till they got to S.C., so they had to cut it up!!!! Little did they know that it was potentially the WORLD RECORD!!! It's nice to know that there's fish this size roaming our waters.100lbs-dolphin100lbs-dolphin-1

I LOVE THIS BUSINESS!

I love this business! Not only do I get to play with new toys all the time, but I also get to meet awesome people. And yes, occasionally we sell a few things to help keep us going.


 


Early on when I was planning what is today StingRay Tackle, I asked for feedback and advice from many people, some of them long time professionals like IGFA’s hall of famer Cpt. Peter Wright (a wealth of unselfish knowledge), wireman Cpt. Charles Perry and Master Rod Builder Neil Drumheller. These people contributed greatly to the creation of our company by sharing their years of experience in their respective areas of professional expertise.  In addition to that professional advice, I also sought (and continue to do so) the feedback from the weekend warriors.


 


A great way of getting feedback from the everyday anglers is to read the fishing blogs. I constantly check these blogs for comments on subjects of interest and that is how I met  Roddy  Brodie better known as Heavy-Hooksetter (HH) in the blogging community.


 


Roddy is an extraordinary angler. The pursuit of stripers using old and homemade plugs is more than a passion. It seems to be a religion. He is part of a group of people that are constantly discussing fishing tackle and are always willing to provide honest and critical feedback.  More important, Roddy and most of his friends are surf anglers in the northeast coast. A fishing style and area I know very little about but that has become our second largest market after Florida. As you can imagine, their feedback is ‘golden’.hh1


 


Roddy and his friends are helping us with the development of our new surf line of rods. We plan to name the rod series Heavy-Hooksetter in honor of a guy that has been instrumental in the creation and success of our company.


 


Heavy-Hooksetter surf rods will be available in three casting and three spinning models late this year. The prototypes look great and we believe that the product will be one that Roddy and his friends will be proud of.

2009 ICAST AND NEW PRODUCTS

ICAST turned out to be a tremendous show for us. We were busy all three days of the show handling dealer inquiries, meeting with press representatives and showing off our new products.

ICAST is our industry’s yearly showcase. It is where hundreds of manufacturers and distributors meet thousands of buyers from all over the world. For those of us that love fishing and the toys that go with it, it is the world’s largest and best-stocked toyshop!

We introduced a few new items at ICAST to a great reception by all. Here is a re-cap:

1. Indigo Bay Big Game Fly Rods: Designed by Neil Drumheller, our new Fly Fishing Big Game Rods drew a crowd and excellent reviews. These rods are for those chasing big tarpons, billfish and other sea monsters with flies. We introduced five models ranging from #8 to a big #15 stick. Priced at $ 129.99 with a travel case and three butt styles, experts that have seen and tested the rods agree that the Indigo Bays are superior to rods costing many times more. The Indigo Bay Fly Rods will go on-sale by mid-August on our website and in our store. They will also be available through our dealers.



2. DeLux Fishing Lines: We will be introducing a new name in fishing line to the US market. DeLux is an old and venerable supplier of OEM/Private Label fishing lines to the US and international market. Their products include braid, mono, and fluorocarbon lines. DeLux’s products are time-tested and priced competitive. Look for the DeLux product in early 2010.



3. Aqua Saltwater Spinner: We knew we had something with our Aqua spinner but underestimated the acceptance of the product. Available in three sizes, the Aqua is rapidly becoming our best seller.



4. Rubber Chicken/Weiyu Lures: Our lure range continues to increase with the introduction of the jigging series and over 40 new models and colors. Watch for these new products soon.

Our company continues to grow thanks to our customers and dealers. Our record of repeat customers is enviable and the feedback we received on our products and service is inspiring. Thank you for your support and encouragement.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Early Summer '09


“I blew out My flip-flop
Stepped on a pop-top
Cut my heel had to cruise on back home”


Fishing has been steady but predictable. In South Florida , we have seen our usual dolphins in the 14-25 lbs range, occasional kings, bonitos, etc. but not much to get excited about. Our recent trip to Spanish Cay turned out to be an adventure due to the perennial problems with our boat’s computers and the Suzuki triplets acting up. Add four days of bad weather and monsoon storm and it was one of those trips we could have skipped. But we did manage to catch a few fish.

Luckily, our friends in La Gomera (Canary Islands) are having a good season. Although a grander continues to evade them, CP sent us a couple of pictures of some good size blues from earlier in May. Richard and Tim had a couple of big fish on their first week there. They will be back in July for more action and CP will continue to fish the area with Jose Luis until August when he will join us at the WMO. By the way, Richard and Tim are fishing with all StingRay equipment and CP will be testing an all-new StingRay rod series later on this season. 

Big Blue exploding out of water














 Big Blue exploding out of water




One of Richard's blues



Cockpit Chaos and Tolimar 80 in action







Charles (CP) Handling a big blue







There is a lot of excitement here as we prepare to open our retail store and continue to increase our product line with some great items. We are looking at an exciting summer with the upcoming ICAST show, our WMO participation and then the grand opening in September. Make sure to stay in touch with us by subscribing to our newsletter.

Keep those pictures coming.......

Our friend and neighbor Chris from Palm Beach Gardens sent us a couple of very nice pictures of
kingfish caught on live bait. His crew caught these while ‘tuning up’ for the upcoming tournament season.
.






Chris and the Southeastern Freight Team




Chris holding another of his blues

Friday, May 8, 2009

SPRING-SUMMER FISHING 2009 part 1

[caption id="attachment_131" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="Dolphin Aerobatics"]Dolphin Aerobatics[/caption]

MAHI WEEKEND!

Saturday was a perfect Chamber of Commerce day. Cool and calm, the water was clear and visibility endless. Alan Seidel flew in from New York for the occasion and Doug and Richard also joined us.

The day started rather slow and we did not see action for the first part. We started our trolling pattern at the wrecks off the Lake Worth inlet but gave up rather quickly as traffic was quite heavy with tournament participants. Staying within the 3-mile range, we tried the always reliable Breakers area but we found ourselves in the middle of a boat show. Not that we are anti-social but we would rather have some elbow room while fishing. Finally we headed straight offshore.

[caption id="attachment_132" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="Alan and Richard"]Alan and Richard[/caption]

Mid day and after a missed strike, I asked Alan if he did not mind putting his ‘lucky rod’ out. He brought a lightweight four section caster with a 30 wt. barrel reel that he claims works all the time. John and Alan put it out with a 7” feather and we trolled at around 7 knots. Lucky indeed, within 10 minutes, a nice 23 lbs acrobatic cow hit the lure and put on a magnificent show. We could not have written the script better than how it turned out.

[caption id="attachment_133" align="alignleft" width="170" caption="Alan Seidel "]Alan Seidel [/caption]

We could see the bull hanging around the boat and we put out a number of choices ranging from bonito strips to feathers. But as by magic, a few boats showed up while we were busy with Alan’s fish and one of them hooked the bull in a trolling pass close to the boat. A little disappointing but that is how the game is played. A few minutes later, Richard landed another cow, this one weighted in at 17 lbs. Doug completed the weekend with another 17 lbs cow.

The reliable and tasty dolphins have finally arrived so summer must be around the corner. We are looking forward to another successful year of StingRay fishing.

[caption id="attachment_146" align="alignleft" width="170" caption="Doug Talbot"]Doug Talbot[/caption]

 SEND US YOUR PHOTOS
Send us your photos for posting and bragging rights. ANY TYPE OF FISHING..If you show one of our products we will reward you with a gift certificate. Send photos to ray@stingraytackle.com or use our file transfer site below.

[caption id="attachment_135" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="Tolimar Platinun 50"]Tolimar Platinun 50[/caption]

WITHOUT A DOUBT, THE BEST VALUE IN FISHING TACKLE

This picture is of a Tolimar 50 and a Cockpit Chaos rod. Visit our website to learn more about our innovative fishing tackle.

WWW.STINGRAYTACKLE.COM

Monday, April 27, 2009

OUR FRIENDS' MEMORABLE CATCHES

[caption id="attachment_115" align="alignleft" width="275" caption="North Platte trout"]trent-big-trout-s[/caption]

We have some new pictures to post. The first one from Trent Schemerhorn, our official Rod and Reel Pajama tester.  The picture is of a 42” brown trout from the North Platte in Casper Wyoming. Trent tells me that the real big one got away, so this smaller trout had to do for the picture.


 


 


Alan Seidel obtained his first StingRay rod and reel by winning an auction at the recent Wall Street Cares golf tournament. Alan  is one of those guys that dream about leaving the big city and heading down to a tropical island to run his own fishing camp (sort of a fishing Norman Paperman). Here are some of his trophy catches:


 






[caption id="attachment_118" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="This is one big striper"]This is one big striper[/caption]

 



[caption id="attachment_120" align="alignleft" width="275" caption="Nice Jack Crevalle"]Nice Jack Crevalle[/caption]




[caption id="attachment_122" align="alignleft" width="250" caption="A keepr tuna from a recent trip to Cabo"]A keepr tuna from a recent trip to Cabo[/caption]

 

We are now entering the prime spring fishing season and as you start bringing in your catch, remember to send us pictures featuring your StingRay product. We will send you gift certificates and other neat stuff but only if we can clearly see our product.

 

 

TAG A GIANT

bluefinin-1-s 


There use to be a time when the giant blue fin could be found in abundance and catches of 1,000 lbs + monsters were common. Today these great animals are in trouble. Overfished for its coveted flesh, experts warn that if the declining trend continues, the blue fin will never recover.


 


My friend Charles Perry called me from Hatteras last month to tell me about the spring blue fin run. Charles, who spends most of the year chasing granders off the Great Barrier and the Azores, was home between trips when the call came in from the Tag A Giant foundation. The blue fins were showing up in good numbers and it was time to go ‘tagging’.


 


Tagging consists of surgically implanting an electronic tag for tracking and recording the migratory patterns of these great fish. These tags are mini computers that can remain active for extended period. Each tag carries a $ 500- 1,000 reward for the finder.


 


The Tag a Giant Foundation is a non-profit, donation funded organization that focuses on scientific research necessary for the formulation of effective policies for conservation and management of the blue fin tuna... I encourage you to visit their website at www.tagagiant.com .


 


bluefinondeck-2-s


 drblockseamstress-2-s

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Winter Fishing 08/09, Part 3 February



SAVED BY OUR FRIENDS



 



Our fishing has been somewhat hampered by the unpredictable winter weather and our trip to Beijing to attend China Fish ’09. Fortunately, our friends and customers picked up our slack and sent in great pictures of their winter fishing together with some from last summer.



Our first contributor is Miguel Navarte from Miami. Miguel braved rough seas to cross over to Bimini recently. His adventure was rewarded by a great catch of Yellow Eye snappers. You can find these tasty fish in 400+ feet of water throughout the Caribbean and the Bahamas. Unfortunately, Miguel is not releasing the coordinates to his hot spot. You can see our Cockpit Chaos rod in use.






 



MIguel and friends in Bimini Yellow Eye Snappers


Vince Vinson from Atlanta sent us a picture of a 658 lbs. blue marlin caught off the coast of Guam last August. Vince was fishing for yellow fin when he ran into this beautiful blue. Her bill broke as she was wrestled into the 23’ center console boat.







Vince Vison's 658 lbs. Marlin


Our push the envelope submission goes to Steven Edgar from Sulphur, OK. I have seen pictures of Alligator Gars before but never realized how big these beasts can be. Steven definitely pushed the envelope by landing several of these monsters with our Ming CL-60 and CZH-60 reels. I am certain these reels are not designed for 100+ fish, but we are glad to see people pushing our products to the limit.




steven1




steven2



Miguel received a $ 20 gift certificate for featuring the Cockpit Chaos and a special $ 50 gift certificate to Steven for pushing the envelope. Please keep sending us your photos and make sure we can see our products to receive a gift certificate.


 


By the way, please consider buying a raffle ticket benefiting Relay For Life, The ticket is for a chance to win a custom rod by our master rodcrafter Neil Drumheller. The money goes in its entirety to a great cause and if you win, you will be amazed with the rod. Neil is without question one of the best custom rodbuilders around and his rods are works of art.



You can order your ticket by clicking here





 


Tight Lines





Ray



Thursday, February 19, 2009

New Caliente Inshore and Freshwater Pink Fishing Poles

We now have the new Caliente inshore fishing poles in stock. The original Caliente offshore fishing poles continue to be extremely successful and with this addition of four new inshore/freshwater models, we complete the product line of affordable, high quality and beautiful ladies’ hot pink fishing poles. Check them out by clicking here

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Incredible Day

 


It was an incredible day, for sure. One of those days when you do all the right things and find the life. It was an 85 mile run for us, and with $4-$5 a gallon gas we had to make it count. We ran out the night before at about midnight and started fishing at dawn about 70 miles out. By 3:00, we had limited out on dolphin and Wahoo, saw two white marlins, had a big blue eat one of our hooked Wahoo, and started passing up huge dolphin because we had caught so many. What a day!


The dolphin were not responding to trolled baits that day, so we used lived bait with light tackle and had a blast. Definitely my favorite way to catch Dolphin. Later in the morning we found some really good debris and limited out on Wahoo trolling by it with only three passes. After that, we caught a bunch of Wahoo on spinning tackle with jigs and poppers. The dolphin were so hot we took the hooks off our poppers and it did not matter how fast you reeled, you just couldn’t keep it away from them.


 


  




  • 19 dolphins, 9 of which were bulls in the 30-40lb. range. One with a hole in its' head from a possible earlier encounter with a Marlin or Sword Fish

  • 6 Wahoo in the box with an additional 10 or so caught and released.

  • Triple tail

  • 98 miles from the pass

  • 19 Hours on the water

  • 42 Hours with no sleep


Reggie Lawrence


Atlanta GA

Monday, December 29, 2008

New Community Website

Stripers and Anglers is a new online community site that we like. The site is not limited to the dedicated striper crowd as the name would imply. There are forums from cooking, political, sports, regional subjects and Bunker Joe’s Trading Hut, which as the name implies, is an online classified for garage flotsam and jetsam. Check it out. It is worth your visit and support.
www.stripersandanglers.com

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Winter Fishing 08/09


This great shot of an Atlantic sailfish attacking a trolling lure was sent in by my friend Joe Yeni of MarineMax in Stuart. Joe took this picture on his birthday last December 10th. Joe, it was that beautiful new Cabo 52 Express and those quiet MAN engines that did it. The boat is a sailfish (and chick) magnet without a doubt!



SOUTH FLORIDA SAILFISH ALLEY


The waters off Palm Beach north to the Treasure Coast are some




of the most productive Atlantic sailfish grounds at this time of the





year. The strip, not too far from shore and between 90 and 250 ft of





water is frequently called Sailfish Alley. For the looks of it, this





promises to be a banner season for sailfish in the region and I am


sure we will be posting many more sailfish shots this winter.


 


These beautiful fish can be finicky and unpredictable. The style of


choice for seasoned locals is to live bait with circle hooks on a free


line where there is a confirmed sailfish presence. When specifically


targeting sailfish, we prefer the local method as circle hooks dramatically


reduce fish mortality. Sailfishing is strictly a catch and release activity.


As Joe’s photograph proves, a motivated sailfish will go for a plastic


trolling lure just as well. Such by-catch is common when trolling for other


species that visit our sunny South Florida at this time of the year.




 


BTW. If you need a boat, Joe at MarineMax Stuart is the man!


 




LATE FALL STRIPERS








Jimmy Z from Rhode Island and one of those
big stripers the area is known for.  This one caught


on an Ming reel.


 

PHOTOS



Send us your photos for posting and bragging rights. If you show one of our products we will reward you with a gift certificate. Send photos to ray@stingraytackle.com or use our file trasnfer site below.

 


    




 

 


 


Sunday, November 9, 2008

LOOKING FOR CONTRIBUTORS


WRITERS


 




If you have some good fish stories, techniques, experiences etc that you want to share with our visitors, please send your articles and pictures to
ray@stingraytackle.com
.
We need your help making this blog a diverse and informative (entertaining?) destination. Contribute your article and pictures and we will send you gift certificates for StingRay products. How much? Well, it depends on how good your story or article is.



 


PHOTOS




 


Send us your fishing photos and we will post them in the new photo section of the blog. Show us a StingRay rod and you will get a gift certificate. Send photos to ray@stingraytackle.com or use our file transfer site below:


 




Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Nag's Head Committee Proposes Funding for Tournament Data Gathering

According to the Associated Press, a committee has recommended that revenue from saltwater fishing licenses go toward projects that include a data collection system and youth fishing programs.


The North Carolina Coastal Recreational Fishing License Advisory Committee has agreed that 12 of 19 programs requesting should get a grant. Its recommendation goes to the state Marine Fisheries Commission, which meets in November.

The advisory committee has collected about $7.9 million since the licenses were required as of Jan. 1, 2007. After deducting costs for other obligations and fisheries projects, the fund has about $4.3 million.


The North Carolina Coastal Recreational Fishing License Advisory Committee has determined that at least 12 of 19 requested programs should be funded from the nearly 8 million dollars in licensing fees collected since Jan. 1 2007.

One of the projects listed is a text messaging system for collecting catch and effort data on South Carolina King Mackerel tournament anglers.