President’s Message

Thanks to all the members who have been giving us feedback regarding meetings and events. The Board was glad to see the strong interest shown in the Surf Fishing presentation by Shell E. Caris. Our next event will be the Surf Tournament (see below details). Barnegat Bay Day went very well.
The September Meeting will have three primary themes:
* Jay Mann presentation on local inshore fishing, netting bait & protecting our rights.
* Introduction and signups for Surf Fishing Tournament
* Announcing the October Membership Meeting (a new schedule item).

2001 VHFC Board Is Shaping Up

Response to my appeal at the August Meeting and in the August Newsletter was excellent. The good news is that we now have an almost full slate for the 2001 Board. I will be announcing the names of our new leadership within the next month. At this time, the only open slot for 2001 is the Second Vice President. The 2001 Second Vice President would be expected to rise to the President's role by 2003. We have a member who has accepted the role of 2001 First Vice President with the understanding he will become President in 2002. I will continue as president in 2001. More good news: we have a volunteer (lawyer) who will lead the effort to make our by-laws more useful and less confusing. We still need a few more volunteers who would help out with the hands-on tables at the 2001 meetings. Thanks to all who gave this serious consideration, whether you were able to volunteer or not.

Materazzi Reef

Village Harbour Fishing Club designated this year's donation to the Reef Program as a Memoriam to Ernie Materazzi. Seven reef balls have been placed at Garden State South. A plaque, including a letter and a photo of the reef being installed, will be presented to VHFC and, in turn, to Ernie's family. Bill Figley has assured me that Materazzi Reef will be included in the next publication of the chart book in 2002.

George Fruh's Weigh-In Report 9/01/00

Here are the year's standings as of September 1, 2000:

Blackfish	July 1	4 lb 3.2 oz	Walt Thomas
Bluefish	July 12	14 lb 4 oz	Paul Turi
Fluke	June 12	7 lb 6.7 oz	William Power
Sea Bass	May 27	3 lb 8 oz	George Schiavone
Striped Bass	May 21	29 lb 4 oz	Dick Vesper
Weakfish	June 9	6 lb 15 oz	Ed Cherry
Winter Flounder		1 lb 9 oz	George Fruh

Fish-of-the-Month Award

The August Fish-of-the-Month award goes to William Power member number 182,
with a 7 pound 6.7 ounce fluke caught on 27 August 2000.

The September Fish-of-the-Month is Sea Bass.

Raffle for 2000

The $5.00 raffle tickets are selling slowly. With 46 left and the average selling rate of 11 per meeting, we may not get to select a winner until July 2001. OUCH: We will set up the next raffle with less tickets to be sold so it will start and end in one year.

Fishing Story

(2nd provided by Anthony Pessolano)
On an earlier trip to the Wilmington Canyon we had one of the great experiences of offshore fishing. As is our habit, we set out our spread of artificials about 3 miles from the tip of the Wilmington, set the pilot on the proper course and sat down to a little breakfast.
The lines were not in the water for more than 5 or 6 minutes when one of them went off. I was surprised how quickly we had hooked up and casually reached to take the rod from the holder. As I held the rod it felt very strange, not like a tuna run at all. Although the line was racing from the reel there was very little pressure on the rod. In fact, my first thought was that something was wrong with the drag and I put a slight bit more pressure on the drag. That had no effect whatsoever.
Since my crew did not seem to be fully awake and in the "fishing mode", they were very slow to leave their breakfast and clear lines. Besides, I was pretty sure it was a small tuna and did not want to slow the troll in the hope we would get other hookups.
Then it happened!
Much to our shock the largest and most spectacular blue marlin went airborne across the transom! Boy did that wake everybody up! I would estimate the fish to be well over 600 pounds. As the crew scrambled to clear the lines and put forth the chase, the marlin was smoking my poor little 50 International. It was clear we were overmatched. In looking back I am not certain that marlin knew he was even hooked.
The big fella was headed right for the shelf and I knew once he got there it would become impossible to stop him. We gave chase and tried to put the brakes on him; but to no avail. A short while later we broke him off and, as if to snub his nose at us one more time, he once again made the most spectacular leap right behind my boat. And as if to prove he was better than me that day, I saw my turbo jet lure in his bill. I am pretty certain he shook that hook out shortly thereafter and was no worse for wear after his little tussle with us, which is more than I can say for my reel. But he did give me a very special memory nonetheless and helped remind us all that, out in the canyons, you just never know who is going to show up.

Surf Fishing Tournament

As we did during Great Bay Day and Barnegat Bay Day, during our Surf Fishing Tournament we will be learning and teaching one another how best to fish the surf. These events are free to all current members.

Click here for more on our Surf Fishing Tournament

Barnegat Bay Day

by Chairman Bill Logan

We had another good day of "fleet" fishing. Eleven boats participated in the fishing. The weather cooperated and plenty of fluke (and croaker) were caught. Thirteen members and three guests assembled for the lunch following the event. George Fruh weighed the fish and identified the following winners:

1st Prize ($100)	Art Piccolo	5.6 pounds
2nd Prize ($ 75)	Pete Figlia	4.1 pounds
3rd Prize ($ 50)	Don Longstreet	3.9 pounds

VHFC Website

The VHFC Website provides a combination of timely club information and other information relevant to recreational fishing in our area, as well as links to other websites which also provide information that can be useful to anglers.

For club members with access to the world wide web (AKA: The Internet) the VHFC Website can be used as a communications center for various club functions.

We have made many changes to the VHFC Website over the last few months. Ed Cherry and I have been updating old links and adding new material to the site to make it "Y2K-compliant."

The site consists of 10 major navigational buttons:

Meetings - provides information about upcoming club meetings and events
Weather -provides helpful links to weather info, including the local marine forecast
Loran - provides Loran coordinates to interesting fishing locations - reefs & wrecks
Tournaments - provides information about the club's fishing tournaments
Fishery Management - currently unpopulated - this is an area that needs more club participation
Newsletters - self explanatory
Fishing Regs - a table showing the latest NJ marine fishing regulations
Club Info - self explanatory
Legislature - links to the folks who have an impact on what our fishing regulations will be
Fishing Tips - links to other fishing sites

Each button links to additional information relevant to its name (a few still require some work)

Give it a chance, check it out, send us your suggestions and ideas... The e-mail address is easy to remember: "VHFCInfo@aol.com". Send us an e-mail click: VHFCInfo@aol.com

Remember, the VHFC pays dues to and supports the RFA and the JCAA and would urge our members to also support these two organizations. Both of these organizations are fighting for the rights of the recreational fisherman and to protect our environment.

Club Discounts

Several local merchants offer discounts on merchandise to club members.

Click here to view this year's VHFC Club Discounts

THE HARBOUR LIGHT

Upcoming Events