THE HARBOUR LIGHT

The Official Newsletter of the
Village Harbour Fishing Club

PO Box 1026
Manahawkin, NJ 08050

VOLUME # 101 ISSUE # 5 October2001

E-mail Address: VHFCInfo@aol.com

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October Calendar

Friday Oct. 7: Board Meeting
8:00 pm: at the Community Center

Friday Oct 14: Monthly Membership Meeting at the Stafford Community Center on Mill Creek Rd.

	7:15 pm: Come early and help with setup.
	7:30 pm: Club Business including:

	September Fish of the Month Award
	50/50
	A Look to VHFC for 2002

	Hands-on surf rig making (materials provided)
	Examples of equipment needed (bring and show your favorite stuff)
	Final Planning for our Surf Fishing Event; led by Steve Cook

Saturday Oct. 20: Surf Fishing Tournament

President’s Message

First, I must extend my deepest sympathies to all who were touched by the tragic events of 11 September, 2001.
The VHFC Board decided the 2001 donation to the NJ Reef Program would be accompanied by a request that this years reef be named: "September 11, 2001". Our 2001 donation of $250.00 and the designated name were accepted by the Reef Program.
Ray Williams convinced the Board that most non-members think VHFC is made up of member cliques. He suggested an aggressive program to tell people on LBI and the mainland what kind of club we are. Several new members have told me about their surprise at the excellent level of friendship and fishing info shared at our meetings and fishing events. Ray has joined the Board with the role of implementing his proposal.
The Board agreed we should add some new features to the Newsletter. In this issue you will find jokes, a recipe and a "For Sale" item plus the usual columns. If you have anything you want to share or see in a Newsletter, send to to: Newsletter, c/o VHFC. PO Box 1026, Manahawkin, NJ 08050 or e-mail to.
Finally, this is my last Newsletter as President of VHFC. I want to thank all of you who helped and supported our club's activities for the past two years. A list of the names of all those who helped me get the job done is too long to put in this column.

VHFC Reef Fishing Event by Dave Sikorski

   We had a great day for our reef-fishing event. The winds were less than 5 knots and the seas were less than one foot when we got out there. We started drifting around the reef site, picking up sea bass here and there, including some occasional doubleheaders.
   Within 15 minutes of fishing, TJ Miller reported spotting a Mahi Mahi, but could not get it to chase his lure. Through out the day, several schools of Bonito or False Albacore were seen swimming around the reef site, breaking the surface. But unfortunately, no one was able to hook up with any of these speedsters to confirm their identity.
   Dan, John and Steve marked a spot where they picked up some sea bass with a buoy, and then drifted over the same spot several times, picking up fish every time they passed the marker.
   After fishing the reef site for a while, and the winds started to pick up, a few of our boats moved inside the 3 mile limit to see if we could pick up a few fluke to go with our sea bass. That's when Mark and Dave picked up their nice Fluke. After catching his Fluke, Mark reported sighting a 7 foot shark swimming near his boat. The Millers also reported sighting a very large shark, shortly thereafter.
   That day was the first time Mark Kraljevich had ever taken his boat out into the ocean. He ended up catching "the biggest Fluke I ever caught", as he put it, and won the prize for biggest Fluke! Not a bad introduction to ocean fishing. With 1st prize for Fluke and 2nd prize for Sea Bass, Mark was awarded a total of $125.00 in prizes for the day.

Prize winners of The Reef Fishing Event:
Sea Bass

1st Prize: Dan Di Gregorio 3 lb. 8 oz.

2nd Prize: Mark Kraljevich 1 lb. 12 oz.

Fluke

1st Prize: Mark Kraljevich 3 lb. 14 oz.

2nd Prize: Dave Sikorski 2 lb. 7 oz.

Junior member, T.J. Miller, had this to say: "I would just like to say that the Reef Day was fabulous. Everything was planed perfect and worked out perfect. I thought a lot of fish were caught even though the fluke regs were in affect. I personally think everyone had a good time.

Editor's note:
1. Thanks to Tom Miller who was so pleased with the club that he sweetened the prize pot with a donation of $150.00.
2. Not only did Dan Di Gregorio win 1st prize for Sea Bass, that same fish is the September Fish-Of-The-Month and, to date, the Sea Bass of the year.

September Fish of the Month: Sea Bass

Hearty congratulations to Dan DiGregorio who caught and weighed in a 3 lb. 8 0z. Sea Bass during our Reef Fishing Event on September 8th.

Remaining Fish of the Month:

October & November- Striped Bass

Fish of the Year Weigh-ins (As of 07/31/01) reported by George Fruh

The only change from last month's fish of the year report is in the Sea Bass category.

Winter Flounder	(4/9)	2.04 lbs.	Marcy Roshelli
Blackfish	(5/8)	13 lb. 0 oz.	Barry Gabler.
Weakfish	(5/18)	9 lb. 4 oz.	John Kleban
Bluefish	(7/11)	13 lb.12 oz.	Paul Galasso
Fluke	(8/18)	8 lb. 4 oz.	Charlie Kochka
Sea Bass	(9/8)	3 lb. 6 oz.	Dan DiGregorio Jr.
Striped Bass	(5/20)	15 lb. 2 oz.	Basil Dubroski

Two 2001 Junior Member weigh-ins were recorded.

Weakfish	(6/26)	2 lb. 0 oz.	TJ Miller
Bluefish	(7/13)	9 lb. 2 oz.	TJ Miller

Reminder: The 2001 Fish-of-the-Year weigh-ins do not close until December 31.

Weakfish Story by Paul Turi

In August I had some relatives vacationing on LBI for a couple weeks and they wanted to go weakfishing. I obtained some grass shrimp for chum and took them over to a spot that I had regularly been catching weakfish. It was terrible out. The wind was blowing hard out of the northeast and I was having trouble getting my anchor to hold. I was just about getting frustrated when I heard Ed Cherry give me a call on the radio. Ed advised that where he was the weakfish were thick and biting like crazy. We pulled the anchor in and headed over to where Ed was. Again, I attempted to anchor up and just couldn't get it to hold so I just threw the anchor out and dragged it behind the boat while I chummed. Sure enough, the weakfish were all over the place. For about an hour and a half we hauled in weakfish after weakfish on shad darts and jigs. We had over 40 fish and they were all keepers. Of course, all but a few fish were released to fight another day. And as if someone turned off a faucet they were gone. For whatever reason, they stopped biting and left the area. It was one of the better weakfishing days I had all summer. It was amazing, we were sitting there catching fish after fish and we kept hearing on the radio how bad the fishing was that morning. And we kept seeing boat after boat pass by us on their way to the inlet to either go offshore or fish areas south of us. Little did they know the terrific fishing they were passing by. Oh, did I happen to mention where we were? Well, come to the next general membership meeting on October 12th and find out.

JCAA Dinner Dance by Paul Turi

The Jersey Coast Anglers Association will be hosting their annual Sports-Person-of-the-Year dinner dance at the Crystal Point Yacht Club on October 28th from 4:30 to 8:30 PM. This year's honoree will be Gary Caputi. Guest speaker will be Senator Jon Corzine. This is your opportunity to meet the senator and let him know your feelings on fishery issues in the State of New Jersey. Tickets are $55 per person or $500 for a table of ten. If any VHFC member is interested in attending, they can get tickets by calling Paul Turi at (609) 597-3193.

WEAKFISH RECIPE submitted by Steve Cook

INGREDIENTS

	4 to 5 pound weakfish, cleaned
	1 medium-sized onion, chopped
	Juice of one fresh lemon
	Salt and pepper to taste
	2 tablespoons melted butter
	Sprigs of parsley
	4 tablespoons mayonnaise
	Dried dill

COOKING

Preheat oven to 500 degrees
Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper and lemon juice, inside and out
Spread mayonnaise on fish and place fish in greased baking dish
Combine onion, chopped parsley and melted butter
Put mixture in cavity of fish. Sprinkle top of fish with dill,
Reduce oven heat to 400 degrees and bake for from 30 to 50 minutes or until fish is done with tested with fork.

Serves four.

MENHADEN BILL UPDATE by Paul Turi

The Assembly passed the Menhaden Bill (S2252/A3512). The legislature went on recess for the summer and fall. JCAA has received a commitment that if the Senate Environmental Committee meets they will hear the bill. In the meantime, if you have not written a letter to your senator to support the bill, do so. Write your senators and ask for them to vote yes on the legislation and to work for a vote on the bill before the election. We will keep you posted on the progress of this very important bill.

Senator's names and addresses are available at the JCAA web site at www.jcaa.org.

Fishing Jokes

We all can use a little humor after the last month's happenings. Steve Cook provided us with a web site for fishing jokes. These three jokes were selected from the joke web site at http://www.funs.co.uk/jokes/f2.html.

A man went into a bait and tackle shop and asked if he could get a new fly rod & reel for his 9 year old son. The salesman casually replied; " I'm sorry sir but we don't do trades".
What sits on the bottom of the ocean and shivers? A nervous wreck.
What did the mommy sardine say to the baby sardine when they saw a huge submarine?
Don't worry dear, its only a tin of people.

There are more jokes on a site (I think its in England) at: http://www.scatty.com/.

Boat for Sale submitted by Paul Turi

Paul Turi is selling the Viper, a 1991 25' Stratos widebody (9'10" beam) W/A cuddy, w/twin 150 hp counter-rotating Evinrudes, sleeps two, stand-up head, Shakespeare VHF, Raytheon Loran, Sitex FF, Rupp outriggers, 204 Gal., Shore power, built-in battery charger, Hardtop with rocket launchers, full set of canvas.
Service records available. Boat and motors in excellent shape. Professionally maintained by Jim Shockley of Shockley Marine. Asking $24,900. Call Paul at (609)597-3193

Club Discounts

	Several local merchants offer discounts on merchandise to VHFC club members.
	Click here to view this year's VHFC Club Discounts

GOD BLESS AMERICA