Scoping meeting for summer flounder, black sea bass and scup

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and the Mid-Atlantic Marine Fishery Management Council will hold scoping meetings along the East Coast from Feb. 13 to March 3. The subject of these meetings will be new regulations for summer flounder, black sea bass and scup/porgies. If you fish for any of these species, it is important that you attend the meeting from 6 to 7 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 19, at the DNREC Auditorium, 89 Kings Highway, Dover. I agree, this is a lousy time for anyone who has a real job and why we could not have something more sensible like 6 to 8 p.m., I don’t know, but that’s what it is. You can also make your feelings known by sending comments by email to jbeaty@mafmc.org or online at http://www.mafmc.org/comments/sfsbsb-allocation-amendment. For those who prefer snail mail, send your comments to Dr. Christopher Moore, Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council, 800 North State St., Suite 201, Dover, DE 19901.

The proposed regulations for summer flounder are the biggest problem facing local anglers. The idea to institute a slot limit of 17 to 21 or 22 inches would all but stop most people from fishing for flounder. It would end the very popular flounder tournaments like the Joe Morris Canal Tournament and the Flounder Pounder Tournament.

If you look at the summer flounder population distribution along the East Coast, you will soon see that the largest flounder are found from New Jersey north. My friend Sunny Crowell caught a 10-pound summer flounder at Site 10, and that was the largest flounder caught in Delaware during the 2019 season. Flounder over six pounds are rare. The slot limit is supposed to save the large, breeding females, which is a good idea, but how many would they save in Delaware at the cost of destroying the recreational fishing industry?

What I have never been able to convince most fisheries managers is that people go fishing with the hope of catching the big one. The vast majority never do, but if you take away the hope, you take away the main reason they go fishing. Bean counters who don’t fish seem to have it in their heads that people go fishing to communicate with nature, spend time with their families or other non-consumptive reasons. While this is a part of the fishing experience, if there is no chance of catching and keeping a big flounder, the vast majority will take the family to a park. No need for a boat, motor, trailer, fuel, truck, fishing rods, reels, bait, lures or any of the countless other equipment we use to pursue flounder.

Delaware recreational fishermen have a very poor record when it comes to attending public hearings. This meeting is important and the time frame is terrible, but I hope as many fishermen as possible will show up, and those who can’t will send a comment by March 17.

Outdoorsman Marketplace

The Millville Volunteer Fire Company will hold its second annual Outdoorsman Marketplace from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 11, at the fire hall. The cost for a ticket is $5, and with each admission you will receive a door prize ticket. Door prizes include items donated by local merchants.

There will be a separate gun raffle sponsored by Hocker’s G&E. Eight guns will be given away during the show, and the winners must be able to pass a background check.

Vendors include all types of hunting and fishing companies, and the ladies auxiliary will be selling breakfast and lunch. All profits from the show will go toward the fire company’s building fund.

Fishing report

Tog have been the name of the game since sea bass season closed. Both charter and head boats have been catching them, although not in the numbers they would like. Green or white legger crabs have been the top baits.

Boats running from Ocean City, Md., are getting tog, and a few have made the run offshore and found the swordfish still waiting. The weather has been the limiting factor for both fisheries.

Hook ‘em and Cook ‘em did share a photo of a three-pound speckled trout caught by Tom Cheeseman last week. Just another reminder that global warming is changing the fishing in Delaware.

The last report I had on big rockfish was off Maryland. A check with my son Ric in Virginia Beach revealed they haven’t arrived there. The huge rockfish are still taking eels off Cape Charles. This is now a catch-and-release fishery.

Finally, the head boats out of Brielle and Belmar, N.J., are now fishing for tog, ling, cod and pollock. The tog boats are not running long trips, while the cod and pollock boats will be running farther.