The guy who nailed Crazy Alberto picture choice in this (soon to be past) issue of the Surfcaster’s Journal is c4red jhilamanc4red@aol.com
Congratulation pal, please send your shipping address to info@surfcastersjournal.com
Speaking of the magazine, the new issue is coming , all 200 and then some pages. Sometimes in next 24 hours or so, barring any more technical difficulties.
I particularly like the cover shot this issue because its different than you usually see on the cover. We are trying to keep stuff fresh, as much as we can. You will also find that our resident Art Director genius has moved some stuff around to confuse the crap out of you. Because that what you asked, and we are listening.
Now I want to bring to your attention what is going on with our beloved stripers in California, land of Lohan’s and Kardashian’s. I sure hope someone invites me to go striper fishing in CA one day, it’s on my bucket list. But from the look of it, there might not be any stripers there very soon, so you guys need to get involved by either writing a personal letter or just using a automated one. Either way, take one minute of your day to get involved and read this. If you don’t agree with it, do nothing. But if you do, get involved. I know CA seems like is another world away but on the end of the day, surfcasters are surfcasters no matter where they practice their craft. That is the reason we started this magazine.
California DFG Threatens to Eradicate Striped Bass
In an unprecedented move, the California Department of Fish and Game has been forced to propose regulations which will eradicate striped bass from the San Francisco Bay and Delta. A water contractor group known as the Coalition for a Sustainable Delta filed a lawsuit against the DFG alleging that striped bass are one of the primary causes of the loss of endangered salmon. The DFG was forced into a settlement on the lawsuit and the Department now has issued draft regulations that will eradicate the striped bass. Fisherman and the fishing industry are livid about the proposal. It will reduce the minimum size a fisherman can keep to 12 inches and it will allow a bag limit of up to 40 stripers in some locations.
This proposal stinks rotten. The lawsuit was funded by Stewart Resnick, the billionaire farmer and developer who sees this as an opportunity to once again try to blame the fish and fishermen for the problems in the Delta caused by overpumping. We see it differently. It is a brazen move to undo the public trust doctrine and the rights of the citizens of California to use and enjoy the water and aquatic resources of the state. We need to fight back with every mechanism at our disposal.
The action proposed by the organizations at the top of this page advocates a massive letter writing campaign to the Fish and Game Commission which has the ability to kill the DFG proposal. If the Commission votes for the proposal, it will go into effect. If the commission votes against the proposal, it is dead and the water contractors will have no further recourse. The regulations will then stay as they are today. We are asking every concerned striper and other fisherman to use one or both of the following procedures to send letters and emails to the Commission. If you want to write and mail a personal letter, click here to see a couple of sample letters http://water4fish.org/write-letters-to-legislators/index.php/ To use the automated email letter, click “to Continue” below and you will see the email letter to the Commission with copies to Fish and Game. On the email letter please do two things.
- 1. Fill out your name address and email and click on the box that gives industry leaders permission to add your name to a mass protest that will be submitted to the Commission.
- 2. Click “Send My Letter”, your email will be immediately sent and you will receive a confirmation.
We will protect your confidentiality. We will not give, lend, share or sell your email address to anyone except the organization that you list on the form.
Thank you. With your support, we will win this battle.
Here is the link to their website http://water4fish.org/striper/
and Go Giants
Cruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuz
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Thanks Zeno (and all those who love Striped Bass),
Things have gotten pretty messed up on this side of the US.
We can use all the help we can get.
I will be there when the commission gives us our chance to speak.
↓It’s awesome that you give the heads up on this to us…nice to help out wherever help is needed
↓Or Nicks and Manningham! Actually could anyone ever have imagined the reverberations on the east coast (washington & albany) from a massive letter writing campaign about striped bass management on the west coast from east coast anglers? Really a chance to show we care and we are watching everything. Down side is that hundreds of west coast anglers will be posting “I’m in” for Zeno’s secret Van Staal give away. Upside is that we gain ridiculous credibility. Think about small groups who have very loud voices. That could be us. I myself am Fedex’ing Nancy Pelosi (D-SF, HoR minority leader) an ass-slimming pair of breathable waders and an 10’6 mojo. sorry to joke but a 40 fish bag limit in california is a cancer that we do not need to spread.
↓Thanks guys for trying to help save the stripers on my coast!!!!!
↓Will do.
Congrats Giants fans …great game.
↓This is so f**ked it makes me sick. Eradication is not the answer. The Greatest Migration Video on Salmon sums its all up. The Dams do the most damage and will eventually wipe out all the salmon that spawn in the snake river. Ill send them Bozo’s a letter no problem
↓Done! Everyone needs to do this. If it can happen on the left coast if WILL happen here.
↓Woodwker99. You are absolutely right. If we can write a few words to enter a Commando bag give away then we can give something back to the sport we all are hyper-passionate about.
↓Done, California is my home state and these Environmental radical’s are destroying it.
↓Done. I’m going to post a link to this on my clubs message board.
↓No group should have more say than ” THE AMERICAN SPORTSMAN “each and everyone of us must speak up for our fellow ” ANGLER ” no matter what coast we are on….Thank you everyone for your support.
↓thanks SJ for putting the word out, we need all the help we can get.
↓letter being sent today
↓Done. Hope this helps.
↓DONE. hope it helps. Z, thanks for the heads up. Rick
↓Done. I know a delta area striper fisherman who is getting the word out there. MattM hit it on the nail about the dams.
↓I am Praying they finally take out the dam on my home river, the great Penobscot in Maine, used to be world class for salmon, stripers and much much more before the dams. thanks for letting me know another way I can help SJ.
Thanks Zeno
As a fellow angler that fishes both coasts and has fished next to you on occasion at a certain south shore sandbar, I really applouad your help in bringing this to everyones attention. Also this is an official invite to the west coast, with a place to stay. Best time aroung mid July for fish. Stripers, Salmon, Halibut, Rockfish, Sturgeon. Great for the kids too. I am in Santa Cruz. Think Beach boardwalk, surfing, Mt biking, wine for the Ms. up in Napa, Big Sur etc.. Anyway if I can’t put you on some fish, I would bet the infamous Mike Fixter can. If we get lucky he will even throw a plug at ya and take you to his private testing pond to make sure that Pikie swims just right. Here are some videos of the earlier meetings.http://www.stripersonline.com/t/823858/proposed-striper-regulation-changes/30
↓Thanks Again
Lee S.
This post is by Jason Colby from MA (formerly NY :-))
For whatever reason, he is unable to post..if anyone has an issue, please let me know
Zeno
,,
I just got back from California (plane landed at 5:04am) and the fishing in “The Bay Area” is in big trouble! Apparently, for the past 40 years or so, the state has paid a few contractors to pump some of the fresh water that comes to the “Delta Region” from the river systems that drain the “Sierra Nevada Mountains”. The water is used mostly for the Los Angeles area for “regular use” while about 40% of it goes to agriculture. This has caused widespread damage to the salmon, sturgeon and striped bass populations that need the freshwater rivers to spawn; its part of their life cycle. About three years ago, these contractors “stepped up” their removal of fresh water by double! This year the salmon population in the Bay Area has diminished to practically nothing (by a “funny coincidence” the life cycle of these salmon is 3-5 years).
↓All the Bay Area charter boats, party boats, sport and commercial fishermen have been shut down and a moratorium has been enacted. I had to cancel my salmon charter and I booked two halibut charters.
While my brother and I caught a few halibut, I found it very interesting to talk to the two captains all day (Jim Cox and Jay Lopes). What I gather from all this is over time, these “contractors” have become “politically powerful” and have a bunch of lobbyists working on the politicians to keep them in business of getting free water to pump to Los Angeles for a fee.
These lobbyists are quick to point out that we can’t say for sure that the problem with the salmon is not over fishing or some situation out in the ocean. They even tried to blame striped bass for eating all the salmon smolt!
They fail to mention that when there were an estimated 50 million stripers, salmon were thriving and now the bass population is estimated to be less than 1 million fish. The cause for the decline of all these river dependant species is more than obvious but even the “Fish and Game Department” doesn’t want to hear anything other than “something out in the ocean”. It looks like the fix is in!
One of the things the politicians said that was disturbing was “even if we are killing the fish, we have to put people first”.
De-salination plants have kept Saudi Arabia going for the past thirty years and they have no problem with taking care of their people and their agriculture needs. A few plants could be up and running within a year and they could easily cut back the amount of fresh water they are taking to levels before 5 years ago. But the lobbyists are fighting any talk of de-salination!
I forgot to mention that I spent $700- twice for the two charters, $38- for a 10 day non-resident license (with sturgeon stamps). The fishing was quite poor and I’ll not do that again until they clean up the above mentioned situation. I can only imagine that I’m not the only person who feels this way and these people are going to have a “wake-up call”. Can you imagine exterminating the entire populations of several different species for the profit of a few “contractors” when a feasible alternative is within easy grasp?
If anyone knows how to contact Arnold (“The Governator”), please let me know!
The above is from April, 2008……….JC
↓I just sent the email letters to the contact info on the water4fish.org site and wouldn’t you know it. Two were kicked back and two said thank you for your interest, but since I am not a local resident, I am better off speaking to my local rep. Yea, thats going to do good. I can just see my local reps going out of their way to stick their noses in another states business. I tried.
↓Thank you for the great information Jason. I am very sad to hear of the situation there. You got it right man. Stripers and salmon have been living side by side just fine in Maine forever until man stepped in with the dams here. The desalination idea is a great one and I wish you best of luck. I dont use the word hate often, but I HATE politics. Take care out there in Cali
↓The government cares (and I have a bridge to sell you)…….JC
↓