Sunday, November 27, 2011

MAN CATCHES HUGE TUNA - FEDS REEL IT IN

What a bummer. A Massachusetts commercial fisherman hauled in an 881-pound bluefin tuna, that could have been sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars to the shusi loving Asian market, but federal authorities said, "sorry, Charlie - no tuna for you."
The fish was caught in a net and tuna are only allowed to be taken on rod and reel. The boat captain said nobody ever told him that and he had bought 15 tuna permits over the past four years. NOAA' s law enforcement division says the matter is still under investigation.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

CATCH AND CATCH AGAIN

A second fluke that I caught and tagged has been recaptured according to Jeff Dement, tagging director of the American Littoral Society. The 13-inch flattie was first caught in June off the nude beach at Sandy Hook and caught again in August in the Raritan Reach. The fish grew an inch and a quarter in that time and was released again with the tag intact. I'd like to see it caught once more when it reaches legal size.
Meanwhile George Horvath of Trenton caught a 28-inch striper in June, 2010 from the North jetty at Barnegat Inlet. The angler tagged it and released the fish. In July, 2011 the bass was caught again, in Chesapeake Bay. Horvath didn't say what the striper's size was on recapture.
Tagging kits are available for sale at a modest price from the ALS. Call (732) 291-0055 or go to www.littoralsociety.org.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

FISHING CLOSER TO HOME

With the price of gasoline, sportsmen on a tight budget may want to take a look at angling opportunities close to home rather than a six-hour drive to the Adirondacks.
A "Flyfishers Guide to the Big Apple, Great Waters within 150 miles of New York City" will be the featured presentation at the Nov. 14 meeting of the Ernest Schwiebert Chapter of Trout Unlimited at the Pennington fire house starting at 6:30 p.m.
New Jersey Audubon president Tom Gilmore, fly fisherman and book author, will give the talk which is free and open to the public.

SUNDAY MONEY?

Possible Sunday hunting is a big issue in Pennsylvania, where it has support from most hunters, but opposition from the farm bureau.
However, a bi-partisan legislative study says hunting on Sundays could generate up to $804 million in economic activity, support nearly 7,500 jobs and rake in some $57 million in state and local taxes.
The report found that hunting is worth nearly $3 billion to the state's economy with deer hunting accounting for about $1.7 billion of that total.
Other than commercial and semi-wild operations, New Jersey allows Sunday bowhunting on WMAs and private land.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

SWEET (and sour) HEARTS

Sitting around the campfire with cigars and libations after a day's hunting at Stuyvesant Outdoor Adventures in New York State, we were discussing venison recipes. I mentioned making pickled deer hearts one year after collecting a half dozen from successful club hunters back when we had doe days.
I didn't think the results were all that great, but one of the guides at the lodge says he likes this recipe for sweet and sour deer hearts.
2 hearts
2 tbls flour
2 tbls fat
2 tbls salt
6 tbls vinegar
2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp pepper
3 cups water
1 small onion, chopped
Clean hearts, remove membrane and large veins. Cut hearts into 1/2 inch cubes, brown flour in fat, add meat and remaining ingedients and summer for 1 1/2 hours or until tender. Serve with noodles.