Thanks to the recent dedicated work of Sam Hart and Chris Kennedy of TTOR and Don Scarpone and Ron Domurat of the Martha's Vineyard Surfcaster's Association, good news from the Prez and the Trustees can be provided as in the notes below. Please follow all rules and guidelines, and report those who don't. 

"September 9, 2019

 

Dear Martha’s Vineyard Surfcaster’s Association Member and Derby Entrant, 

 

Below please find the notice from The Trustees of Reservations (TTOR) regarding permitted OSV travel along the bayside trail to and from Chappaquiddick during the upcoming Derby.

 

As many of you are aware, the trail along the ocean side on Norton Point is badly eroded beginning at a point approximately two miles beyond the guard shack. Travel along the front beach is not possible. This agreement was the result of a recent meeting between MVSA members and the Trustees’ Island office and reflects our continuing efforts to balance safe access with beach integrity and regulatory compliance under the MA Endangered Species Act which we must follow.

 

All OSV operators should be aware that the trail along Katama Bay is subject to flooding during periods of high tide. Travel along the trail should not be attempted in the four hour period starting two hours before until two hours after high tide in Edgartown. OSV operators who attempt to travel during that window run the risk of driving through water and should a problem arise help will not be available from the Trustees.     

 

As Derby anglers please respect the Trustees wishes regarding fencing and roped off areas as any abuse of that trust could result in the loss of whatever limited travel privileges are available to us. Ropes are not to be cut and stakes are not to be moved.  

 

Thank you, 

Don Scarpone, President"

 

      

"September 9, 2019

 

Access for Over Sand Vehicles (OSV) to Chappaquiddick to and from Norton Point will be allowed on Friday, September 13^th - Sunday, October 19^thfor the duration of the MV Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby. Access will be limited to the Katama Bay side of Norton Point at or near low tide only. Please note that use of the bayside trail on Norton Point will be limited during high tides due to portions of the trail being flooded so do pay close attention to the tides. 

 

The Trustees greatly value their relationship and partnership with our local fishing and hunting communities and we look to you for help in ensuring that derby participants adhere to all beach regulations and, in particular, confine OSV travel to the fenced-off travel corridors provided. Failure to stay within the approved corridors may impact the health and resilience of the beach system itself and is likely to cause destruction of state-listed endangered species and plants, which would constitute a prosecutable offense under the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act. The MV Surfcasters Association and The Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby Committee have agreed to encourage responsible beach use among their membership. The Trustees reserve the right to close any or all sections of the beach if regulations are not observed.

 

Our Mission is to “preserve, for public use and enjoyment, properties of exceptional scenic, historic, and ecological value in Massachusetts." The coastal properties we own or manage on Martha’s Vineyard are stunning examples of places where public enjoyment, natural beauty, and ecological values coincide.

 

We wish tight lines to Derby participants – but please, fish responsibly. Observe all rules, posted and un-posted, for beach use. Confine your travel to designated corridors and encourage others to do likewise.The Vineyard’s beaches are a resource for everyone – and that means all are responsible for keeping them healthy."

 

Please direct any comments or suggestions to Don Scarpone: 

 

donaldscarpone@yahoo.com

We recently received this e-mail from the owner of the Windmill house on Chappy. (08/27/19)

“Yesterday, I was delivering supplies to the house, Dave one of my guys was an hour ahead. He ran into one of the Sport Casters (Surfcaster) members who saw a white jeep cut the fence down in a few spots, he told Dave he confronted them...they were not too friendly..and said "we don't care"

I want to thank who ever it was, I appreciate your guys making an effort to keep things friendly between the fishing community and my efforts to keep the area accessible to fishing. There is always one bad apple.

 I think it may be time to adjust the fence line, everyday the access changes due to tides. I will work on it this week. I also will be adding small pieces of reflective tape on the fence posts, I think it will help the fisherman navigate at night.

This kind of behavior by a member of the fishing community on Martha’s Vineyard is unacceptable.

As Matt said, “there is always one bad apple”.  Although one bad apple doesn’t spoil the whole bunch it  does give all of us a bad name and is a black eye for the angling community in general.

Matt is an angler himself and a good guy. He takes a lot of pride in his property and is dedicated to preserving it’s natural beauty. He has worked with us to keep high tide access to the Gut available and he has also agreed to open an area just south of his house for parking during the Derby. He does not have to do this. Please be appreciative by showing respect for him and his property and please, if you see something, say something before we lose total access to the entire area.                 

Saturday, June 15, 2019

Windmill House Update:

Over the past several months, some MV Surfcasters have been talking to the new owner of the Windmill House about fishing access, passage, etc to that area of Cape Poge.

On Saturday afternoon, working in agreement with the new owner,  a group of MV Surfcasters moved the approximate 1 mile stretch of fence line an additional 10' to 15' inward.   There is now extra room for car travel to/from The Gut, with the usual caveat that at high tide water floods the access as it has always done.

The WMH owner likes to fish and understands there is often good fishing in this area.  In short, he is friendly to us fisherman.  For our part, we need to respect his property, the dunes and wildlife, the same as we do for the rest of Cape Poge.

Most importantly: 

Please respect the fence lines (yes, even at high tide when your car will get wet).  Do not drive "behind the lines", there is plenty room between the shore and the rope fence for passage. Note that the first breach (east, before reaching the house) has created a basin and will be flooded at high tide, hopefully with time this fills in with more sand.

Please don't make it a beach day along his stretch of property (it's not a typical "beach" spot anyway).  Depending on the tide there is room for 2-3 car widths room for passage, same as it has been historically.  If there are breaking fish, stop and catch them, then move on. Be respectful of access/passage to and thru this area for all.

I've been very encouraged by the discussions to date - he's done an amazing job cleaning up the area (there was tons of junk in and around the house that he has removed). 

Thanks to Ron, Jack L, Brad, Jonathan, Joe, Jack, Ralph, Jason and everyone else that helped move the fencing, it went smoothly and quickly.

Click this link to see photos.

President Trump Signs The Modern Fish Act

Repost of the American Sportfishing Association Article (January 2, 2019) in the On The Water online magazine.

The recreational fishing and boating community is celebrating the enactment of the Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act of 2018 (Modern Fish Act), which was signed into law by President Trump December 31. The Modern Fish Act finally recognizes in federal law the differences between recreational and commercial fishing and adds more appropriate management tools for policymakers to use in managing federal recreational fisheries.

To read the entire article click on this link.

 

MV Times, Barry Stringfellow, February 21, 2018

Martha’s Vineyard fishermen did the Island proud at the 2017 Massachusetts Saltwater Derby, capturing eight out of possible 31 winning trophies.

The awards for annual fishing contest, sponsored by the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), were presented Saturday, Feb 17, at the New England Boat Show, in Boston.

Islanders made a clean sweep of the False Albacore trophies. David Nash of Edgartown won the men’s division with a 11.3 pounder. Nash was the only Islander to land a state champ fish on a fly.

Click on this link to read the entire article.

What: MVSA Annual Banquet and Awesome Raffle
When: Saturday, January 27th at 1:00p.m.
Where: Old Whaling Church, Edgartown

Don't miss this awesome event! The Annual Banquet and Awesome Raffle is one of the best MVSA events of the year. There is great food, great prizes and most of all...awesome people! This is one of the best attended events of the year.

If you are going to attend we would appreciate if you could also bring a side dish or dessert.

If you want to help set up, shuck oysters/clams or just give us a hand please show up around 10:00a.m.

Hope to see you all there!

MVSA Angler of the Year Standings Thru October 16th

 

Cosmo Creanga        15 Points

 

Jason Patterson        12 Points

 

Ron Domurat            12 Points

 

John Piekos            10 Points

 

Dave Balon             6 Points

 

Ed Amaral, Ralph Peckham, Tony Rezendes, Jim Cornwell, Janet Messineo, Dave Nash, 5 Points

 

Jonathan Cornwell         4 Points

 

Don Scarpone, Kathi Pogoda     3 Points

 

Peter Johnson             1 Point

 

October Leaders as of 10/16/17 (not official until 11/7/17

 

Striped Bass    Ron Domurat, 24.79 lbs., Jim Wareing, 19.62 lbs., Cosmo Creanga, 17.77 lbs.

 

Bluefish    Ralph Peckham 14.26 lbs., Brenda Beal, 8.36 lbs, Ron Domurat, 6.30 lbs.

 

Bonito         Mary Ann Angelone, 5.97 lbs., Kathi Pogoda, 4.46 lbs.

 

False Albacore, Kathi Pogoda 11.31 lbs., Paula Sullivan 9.99 lbs. Janet Messineo, 9.55 lbs.   

Check out the latest standings of the MVSA  for Angler of the Year. These are the standings as of the end of July 2017.

1. Cosmo Creanga                    (May-5, June-5, July-5)     Total- 15 

 

2. Jason Patterson                    (May-6, June-3)                 Total -  9

 

3. Ron Domurat                         (July-6)                              Total -  6

 

4. Ed Amaral                              (May- 5)                            Total - 5

 

5. Ralph Peckham                     (June-5)                            Total - 5

 

6. Jonathan Cornwell                (May- 1, June-3)               Total - 4

7. Don Scarpone                       (July- 3)                            Total - 3

 

8. Peter Johnson                       (June- 1)                           Total - 1

Stripers Forever
May 10, 2017
Brad Burns, President

Yesterday the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission debated on whether or not an increase in striped bass harvest of about 10% should be allowed for next year. The motion to take the increase out to public hearings failed 10 votes to 5. Hooray! NJ, DE, MD, VA, and the Potomac River Fisheries Commission – a shill organization that simply provides the Chesapeake Bay states an extra vote – all voted in favor, and all other states voted against. What changed from the first vote was that CT, NY, NC all changed their votes from yes to no, and that did it for us.   Why the change of heart from last winter when this idea was dreamed up? I think in the final analysis there were three reasons. The first was that the actual catch is hard to predict. The catch was thought to have decreased considerably on the coast but had actually increased in the Chesapeake Bay area, and these were the same people who wanted still more. It didn’t sell well. The scientists predicted that there was a very good chance that the catch in 2018 would actually increase by more than 10% even with no change in regulations. This was because of an increased number of fish in certain year classes that both the Bay and the coast are expected to fish on, and lastly because a stock assessment with a lot of new science is being proposed for 2018. Many thought it was likely that even if a change was made this year it would probably be changed again – perhaps reversed – next year.   In any case we dodged a bullet, and I hope our advocacy was helpful. This reprieve will give us a chance to see another year class born in the Chesapeake Bay before the issue is tackled again. Some of the recent YOY have been poor, but the trend isn’t really conclusive because there are also occasionally really good ones. The science is also evolving. During yesterday's meeting there was a discussion about the new science methods, and they are talking about some of the complicated aspects of the old models that we have long had issues with. I’m sure that all of the problems won’t be fixed, but perhaps the population estimates will get better and more reflective of what we actually see on the water. Along with the new science was a discussion about perhaps designing various stock reference points and management triggers to reflect a different set of values for the fishery, and how this will be an opportunity to take a new look at just how and for what values the striped bass fishery should be managed. Hopefully we will be able to influence this process to achieve more recognition of the socio-economic value of high quality angling. Science and advocacy matters. Thanks to everyone who wrote and lobbied for no increase in the regulated harvest. Alone a single voice is nearly silent but together we have raised an awareness of the need to protect and conserve. I believe we have pricked and awakened the latent conscience of many regulators that are beginning to realize that no longer will the recreational fishermen and women silently allow commercially vested interests to destroy what is our fishery too.

Brad Burns, President Stripers Forever​​​​​​​