Angling Trade and MidCurrent Announce Product Award Winners

The prestigious "Best of Show" awards at the at the International Fly Tackle Dealer (IFTD) trade show in New Orleans, LA have been announced by MidCurrent and Angling Trade magazine.

These awards are given in 24 separate categories for new fly fishing products that will be available in 2012.  The following is the list of all the category winners:

Best of Show—Simms ProDry GORE-TEX Jacket, Bib, and Pants

1. Best Outerwear—Simms ProDry GORE-TEX Jacket, Bib, and Pants

2. Fly Rods, Freshwater—Sage “ONE”

3. Fly Rods, Saltwater—Sage “ONE”

4. Fly Reel, Freshwater—Hardy “Ultralite” Fly Reel

5. Fly Reel, Saltwater—Nautilus NV “Monster”

6. Fly Lines, Freshwater—Scientific Anglers Mastery Textured Trout Stalker

7. Fly Lines, Saltwater—Airflo “Ridge” Floating Clear Tip Tropical Fly Line

8. Eyewear—Smith “Chief” with Techlite TLT Lenses

9. Wading Gear—Simms Freestone Stockingfoot Waders

10. Women’s-specific Product—Redington Women’s “Sonic-Pro” Waders

11. Youth-specific Product—CasTarget by The School of Fly Fishing

12. Eco-Friendly Product—Korkers Metalhead Wading Boot with “Svelte 2” Soles

13. General Apparel—Buff “Bug Slinger” Series UV
14. Fly Pattern, Freshwater—Jay Zimmerman’s “Texas Ringworm,” (Umpqua Feather Merchants)

15. Fly Pattern, Saltwater—Fish-Skull “Crafty Deceiver”

16. Fly Tying Material—Fish-Skull “Sculpin Helmet”

17. Fly Box/Storage System—Montana Fly Company “MFC Waterproof Boat Box”

18. Book—Fifty More Places to Fly Fish Before You Die, by Chris Santella (submitted by Angler’s Book Supply)

19. DVD—“Musky Country Zero 2 Hero” by Robert Thompson (submitted by Angler’s Book Supply)

20. Personal Watercraft—Water Master “Kodiak” Loaded Package

21. Gift Item—Montana Fly Company “MFC iPad Folder”

22. Luggage—Fishpond “Bumpy Road Cargo Duffel”

23. Accessory—Loon Outdoors “Nip & Sip”

24. Chest Pack/Vest—Rising “Flask Pack”

New World Record Striped Bass Pending

It's yet to be certified by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) but it looks like the striped bass record has been broken by an unofficial 81.8 lb giant caught by Greg Myerson off the coast of Westbrook, Connecticut.  The huge striper was fooled by a live eel drifted just off the bottom near a submerged boulder by the Outer Southwest Reef off Connecticut's coast.

Not a neophyte striper fisherman, Myerson has several 50 lb plus to his credit along with a 71 lb monster he caught and released several years ago and last year he won On the Water magazine’s Striper Cup with a 68.75 lb giant.

The best report, including pictures, I've come across can be found on Field & Streams website: Exclusive Photos: New Pending World Record Striped Bass!

Sustainable Seafood Information via FishPhone

If you'd like to know what seafood choices are good ones when you're in a restaurant or at the market this iPhone app from Blue Ocean Institute does all that plus more.  It's a free app so there's really no excuse not to have it.  Just go to the iTune Store for your free download. Maybe you need a suggestion on which wine would be a good choice or maybe you just need a good seafood recipe. This app will do that too.

You don't have an iPhone?  Well no problem there.  I don't have one either but you can still get valuable sustainable seafood information sent to your cell phone.  Just text 30644 with the message FISH and the name of the fish in question and Blue Ocean Institute will text you back their assessment of the fish and if there are environmental concerns with the fish you're questioning they will offer some alternative choices for you to consider.

The FishPhone texting service is made possible through the support of the Waitt Foundation and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.

NY Proposes to Ban Boat Sewage Dumping in Jamaica Bay

 A whole new meaning to the term "poop deck"

This is something that you'd think was taken care of years ago, but under the category of it's better late than never, New York has proposed banning the dumping of boat sewage in Jamaica Bay.  Fortunately the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) agrees with this idea.

The EPA is looking for public comment on this proposal and invites you contribute by email, fax or snail mail to Moses Chang at chang.moses@epa.gov, Fax: (212) 637-3891. Mailing address: Moses Chang, U.S. EPA Region 2, 290 Broadway, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10007-1866.  Upon a final affirmative determination from EPA, New York State may proceed to ban the discharge of boat sewage into Jamaica Bay and its tributaries.

You can read tye EPA's press release in its entirety at:  

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/d10ed0d99d826b068525735900400c2a/cb7c4ab919061d69852578e100590a93!OpenDocument

The Largest Survey of Marine Protected Species in the US

Study Covers U.S. East Coast Waters

The nation’s largest survey of protected marine species is now underway for its second year along the East Coast.

Aboard the NOAA ships Henry B. Bigelow and Gordon Gunter, researchers are documenting animals in deeper waters beyond the edge of the continental shelf, with the Bigelow off the northeastern U.S. and the Gunter off the southeastern U.S. During July and August, NOAA aircraft will carry observers surveying for animals in the shallower waters on the shelf all along the East Coast, and USFWS aircraft will survey for seabirds during August from Maine to Florida.

The expeditions are part of the Atlantic Marine Assessment Program for Protected Species (AMAPPS), a joint multi-year study involving NOAA’s Fisheries Service, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) and USFWS. Under an interagency agreement, NOAA and BOEMRE will assign scientists to this summer’s and future expeditions and BOEMRE will provide $7.6 million for the study, which runs from 2010 until 2014.

These surveys will allow scientists not only to better estimate the abundance of marine mammals, sea turtles, and sea birds in U.S. Atlantic waters, but also to investigate how the animals’ distribution and abundance relate to the physical and biological ecosystem.

The study will help NOAA’s Fisheries Service manage, conserve and protect living marine resources within the United States Exclusive Economic Zone, waters three to 200 miles offshore. The study also will help inform BOEMRE’s decision-making process for future energy development. Finally, this partnership will give USFWS much better scientific information about seabird populations, so that the agency can more clearly define the needs of these species and make better management decisions.

In addition to the surveys currently underway, AMAPPS research in 2011 has included harbor seal tagging this spring in Massachusetts and Maine, followed by an aerial seal survey along the New England coast during peak pupping season in late May and June. In addition, a loggerhead turtle-tagging and biological sampling cruise was just completed ahead of schedule this month aboard two New Jersey commercial scallop vessels. Researchers put satellite tags on 25 juvenile loggerhead turtles, adding to the 44 tagged last year by scientists from both NOAA’s Northeast and Southeast Fisheries Science Centers.

A report on the 2010 work was recently published by the NEFSC and can be found online.

Summerfest at the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum

Summerfest at the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum (CFFCM) in Livingston Manor, NY also includes the popular Anglers Market-Jubilee Weekend at CFFCM August 6 & 7, 2011.  This two day event is the largest outdoor market for the fly fishing tackle and accessory collector that we know of.   This year marks the event's 29th year.  

You'll want to check out the Hardy Cup bamboo rod casting competitionon Saturday August 6 from 9 AM until it's over  This event is open to everyone with a bamboo fly rod. 

The rules are simple, one bamboo rod with a 9' length maximum.  Each contestent is to have their own rod & reel with a floating line.  A handicap system is in place for those using the smaller, lighter line rods. Total points are based on the combination of two distance casts and one for accuracy.  Up to 6 practice casts will be allowed.

The over all point champion will receive a Commemorative 100th anniversary C.C. de France built by the Hardy master rod makers, Tom Moran and Callum Gladstone. Second and third place finishers will receive a Hardy classic fly reel. The winning caster's name will be engraved on the Tiffany designed perpetual "Hardy Bros. Cup" that will remain on display in the Catskill Fly Fishing Museum. The winner will be announced that evening at the Hardy Bros. Cup pig roast that is open to all (no charge). 

It's Joan Wulff's 85th birthday too, and Mary Dette turns 80.  Agnes Van Put (Queen mother of the Catskills) will be 95, Mary Fried turns 80 and Doc Fried turns 85 along with the Fried’s 55^th Anniversary.  Join them all at the CFFCM on Sunday August 7 at 1:30 PM for cake and much fun.