Article by Dale Timmons
The flowers are blooming, the fish are moving, the wind is blowing and this is the first issue of the Coastal Fisherman, so it must be spring! Welcome once again to our effort to entertain and edify for the next several months. Publisher Larry Jock has a few new twists for you this season, including an entirely new and revamped web site that will include videos featuring new products, delicious recipes, dockside interviews and live tournament coverage. The site should be up by the first of June, and I really think it will add to your total fishing experience. Meanwhile, I hope you had a good winter and you’ve had a chance to get out and catch a few fish this spring. About all I have done so far is a little flounder fishing. Don’t get me started on that. I will say that the whole flounder situation is absurd, and I can’t believe we have let ourselves get into this convoluted mess. I understand the state of New York is suing NMFS over the flounder quotas and limits, etc., and I sure hope they prevail. Shame some of the other northeast and mid-Atlantic states didn’t join in the fight. Anyway, even though the weather has been less than ideal, there have been a few black drum caught in the Assateague surf, along with some decent stripers (the big girls should really begin to move this week), and by the time you read this bluefish may have joined the festivities, though I think we need a few more degrees of water temperature for the choppers. There have also been scattered kingfish and blowtoads, which is always a good sign. Hickory shad should also be showing in the inlets soon, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few nice weakfish (gray trout) around the inlet jetties. So let the games begin, and enjoy the time. As a good friend of mine, the late Scorchy Tawes, used to say, there are only 120 days until Labor Day…
* * *
You may have read in one of the local papers about the recent death of a gentleman named Charles Schulze. Mr. Schulze, a D.C. area attorney, died a hero at the age of 73 when he swam to the rescue of two young boys caught in a rip current in Pompano Beach, FL. He managed to get the boys back in close enough for other rescuers to get them to shore, but the effort cost him his life when he suffered an apparent heart attack. I spoke to a friend of his, Dr. Scott Ulery, who told me that Charlie was one of the few anglers who had fished in the first White Marlin Open in 1974 and every Open since then without missing a single tournament. He owned a residence on Bayshore Drive in Ocean City and most recently fished with his friend, Dr. Fasil Mohamed, affectionately known as “Mo,” on his “Doc’s Toy” out of Sunset Marina. According to Dr. Ulery, Dr. Mohamed is now the only one left of the original six who fished together in that first tournament. My sincere condolences go to the family and friends of Mr. Schulze…
* * *
Ocean City lost another of its longtime fishing community members over the winter with the passing of Charles Elliott. Mr. Elliott, with his late wife Doris, owned and operated Elliott’s Sports Marina for many years. A familiar figure in his straw hat and shirts with the sleeves cut out, Charles made a lot of friends among the Baltimore and Pennsylvania area flounder fishermen who used to spend time in West Ocean City. Mr. Elliott was also an avid surf fisherman, and he was one of the founders and a past president of the Assateague Mobile Sportfishermen’s Association (A.M.S.A.). He often traveled to Ocracoke, NC, as well as Portsmouth Island, NC and as far as Padre Island, TX to fish the beaches. He was also a long time member of the Ocean City Volunteer Fire Co. and a director of the Bank of Ocean City. Another piece of Ocean City history has passed, and he will be missed…
* * *
The Ocean City Marlin Club held one of their monthly dinners last weekend in honor of two “old timers” on the local fishing scene, Capt. Darrell Nottingham and Capt. Mac Simpson. Capt. Darrell, also known as “Big Dad”, has been an Ocean City fixture running party boats such as the “Mariner” and the “Angler” for many years. I remember him coming to our house in the late fifties to study with my father for his Captain’s license exam when I was about 10 or 12, and it is a privilege to call him a friend. Capt. Mac Simpson, a former Marlin Club president, ran offshore boats from Maryland to Florida for many years, primarily in pursuit of white marlin. He is also an avid inshore angler, however, especially when it comes to red drum, and I don’t think I’ve ever met a more fanatical drum fisherman. I have fished the beach with Mac many times, and when drum season rolls around he still goes harder than many much younger men. Of course, Mac may be best known for his profusion of stories, which are both entertaining and informative, especially the first time around…as they say, they broke the mold when they made Capt. Mac. I wish both of these gentlemen many more good years…
* * *
One of the stories making the rounds on the internet fishing sites recently is a proposal by the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) to create individual fishing quotas (IFQs) for the recreational fishing community, much the same as is done with some commercial fisheries. The proposal was originally put forth in relation to the red snapper fishery in the Gulf of Mexico. The idea is to issue individual, non-reusable tags for red snapper that would add up to the total allowable catch. What is sticking in a lot of craws is that under the proposal the tags would be issued for public auction every year, so if you wanted to legally catch a snapper you would have to bid for a tag or tags. The CCA said, “bidders could be individuals states or organizations.” This proposal hasn’t fared too well with a lot of anglers, including the RFA (Recreational Fishing Alliance), who fear it would take the average angler out of the equation and leave the best fishing to the rich. I must say I have to agree it could set a dangerous precedent. I can see a logical progression with the bureaucrats where you might have to bid to buy a tag for every flounder, or striper, or sea bass, or whatever you want to fish for. No thanks. This is a bad idea. I have belonged to the CCA for many years. When they started the idea was to protect drum and speckled trout from exploitation (remember the blackened redfish craze?), and many of the originators seemed to be just a bunch of guys who wanted to fish and protect the resource for their grandchildren. I am hoping that is still the case, but sometimes I have to wonder if I am wasting my money…
* * *
Contact Dale Timmons at [email protected] or call 410-629-1191.
