The SFEC held the first meeting of Spring 2019. There were many items on the agenda and some event planning also took place.
Upcoming Tournaments
Surf Tournament: Friday, May 10 to Saturday, May 11. The Tournament will be combined with a Club meeting on Saturday at 5 p.m. where awards will be given out and refreshments served.
Herb Hollinger, Sr. Opening Day Flounder Tournament will be held on the Saturday May 25th; that’s Memorial Day Weekend. Awards, Hot Dogs, Beverages after the fishing at the Fire House.
Details for both tournaments can be found on our website..
Ospreys
The ospreys are no longer on the endangered list. Herb remarked that “Dick Omrod has done a great job in building many nesting platforms. In the STM area, it has encouraged many ospreys to return year after year.” Scott Oliver gave an overview of our osprey program. This overview is also on our website
Reef Program
Randy Roash displayed plaques which were presented to the Club from the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife. They will again be on display at the Schiavo Library in Strathmere. Randy also exhibited colorful laminated charts showing Herb Hollinger, Sr. and SFEC Ocean City and Townsends Inlet Reef Deployments. The complimentary charts were available to the members. New Jersey Fish and Wildlife currently has 5 tugboats that are possibilities to be deployed, and Randy remarked that many clubs in New Jersey are seeking to have deployments.
Turtle Movement Tracking Sheet
The SFEC is requesting members’ assistance in monitoring turtle road crossings this season with a 2019 Turtle Movement Form. Data to be collected includes the date, number, size, location, weather, time, and action taken. This information will be given to the Wetlands Institute to aid them in their research. The form is to be returned by September l to Carol or Dave Ferguson or Herb Hollinger. We hope to have the turtle sign up in the next 2 weeks.
Milkweed
Butterfly populations are constantly in danger of disappearing. Habitat loss is one of the leading causes of species decline. The toxins found in the monarch butterfly host plant (MILKWEED) actually help protect the caterpillars and adult butterflies from birds and other predators. As an environmental club, we can do our part to curb the disappearance of butterflies by planting milkweed in our gardens. Our club will be selling milkweed plants in mid-May. Please consider supporting this effort. Thanks to our environmental director, Carol Ferguson, for spearheading this event. The Club will be selling milkweed around the middle of May.
Comments from Club members: Roundup is very toxic and kills butterflies. Vinegar, Epsom salts, and boiling water can be used to kill weeds.
FLOUNDER FISHING FORUM
Following the meeting, Bucktail Willie and Mike Clark spoke about flounder fishing, and below are a few of their comments:
Bucktail doesn’t use live bait; he uses artificial bait. He said that right now flounder are feeding on gulp shrimp. He starts out with white bucktails and then goes to other colors. He uses mono-filament for the rig. He said a braided line has no give, while mono-filament has some stretch. He also showed a really simple rig to make.
Mike Clark commented that does “not dead stick”. He has a long, thin strip on the rig, and he uses a swimming mullet. Whereas Bucktail starts out with white and goes to other colors, Mike prefers chartreuse. He said to keep it simple and that “you must have confidence that what you have will catch fish.”
Following the talks, Eddie Andress prepared his delicious chowder, and he and Louise served this with a variety of hoagies.
In keeping with our mission as an environmental club, plastic water bottles have been replaced with paper cups and pitchers of water.