01.09.2007 Going Toggin' and M.A.R.I

[Skylar]

Fish Report 1/9/07
Going Toggin' and M.A.R.I.

Hi All,
Can't stand it no more ~ gotta go fishin!
Tog trip on 1/11 7am to 3pm 16 head sells out. Green crabs provided. Calm but cold is the forecast. 5 fish at 14 inches is the law (and boy does that need work!)
We've been painting - finish paint - even got a coat of non-skid on the deck. Can't recall ever having temps to do that in January before; had to take advantage of it.
Lots of other maintenance ~ some left to do still. You never get 'done' with a boat; lucky to shrink the list before it grows more!
Perhaps many of you are already dialed into MARI - the Maryland Artificial Reef Initiative. How nice to see Maryland getting back into this!
Focused on the remains of the old Woodrow Wilson Bridge, the project has gathered a tremendous amount of financial support in just a few weeks.
A short video was presented in Annapolis today of some existing artificial reefs in the Chesapeake. Very familiar. Life - lots of life!
It is my sincere hope that this project gets legs. The collapse of one of the world's largest estuaries can, I believe, be corrected in large part by reef construction. Yes, there are numerous other factors - hundreds. Fact is though, the natural mechanism that once strained -filtered- the bays waters about twice a week is missing. Artificial reef is the only way to ever have a shot at recreating that capacity in our lifetimes.
And a few folks dropped some serious coin to start the ball rolling. Good stuff.
While I strongly urge you to continue to support the Ocean City Reef Foundation -same problems, bigger scale- I know for a fact that many despised the old WWBridge. For $25 you can buy a little payback -sink a ton- just go to the CCA MD website. It's all set up.
Whether it's Bay or Ocean, you can't renew fisheries without rebuilding the habitat.
We'll go see how some of it's doing off the coast...
Regards,
Monty

Capt. Monty Hawkins
mhawkins@siteone.net
Party Boat "Morning Star"
Reservations 410 520 2076
The Morning Star