DSF Monday Meetings and this crazy week … tautog

Well it has been an interesting few days to say the least. Monday we had EJ Chalabala,  from the Delaware Center for the Inland bays give a presentation on Shellfish Aquaculture to our fishing group at Old Bay Steakhouse.  Every Monday DSF has a gathering at Old Bay Steakhouse for anglers to meet, hang out, and talk fishing.  We learned a great deal on the programs for oyster gardening and the possibilities of farming oysters and clams in our Inland Bays on a commercial level.  The talk and power point presentation lasted about 45 minutes.  EJ was a great speaker, and at one point all of the restaurant and bar patrons stopped, and paid attention.  Old Bay Steakhouse donated a portion of the night’s proceeds to the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays.  I am proud to say we helped raise $180 for the CIB.  I personally think aqua-culturing oysters in our bays is a good idea since it will help clean these tidal waters, and eventually recreate a viable industry.  These bays use to produce a lot of local oysters,  most of the shellfish sold in Delaware is now imported.  Commercial ventures of oyster farming will help stimulate our economy locally.   There is a group looking into commercial ventures, and we will keep up with their progress.  The CIB has a variety of volunteer programs and they are always looking for more help.  Oyster gardening is an on going project that has a waiting list for volunteers, but you can always check with the CIB for any opportunities.  A big thanks to EJ Chalabala for such an informative presentation, the group really appreciates you taking the time, and everything the CIB does for the Inland Bays.  There will be a monthly presentation during our regular Monday gatherings.  April 1st we will have Captain Brian talk about drum fishing in the Delaware Bay.

The Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition sent out a press release about the pink T shirts we sell to help raise money for the DBCC.  Every pink shirt we sell, $5 is donated to the DBCC.  You can read the article here on Delaware Now.com, or in the Delaware Wave.  Another way we will raise money for DBCC, our DSF license plate number 0001 will be auctioned off next week on Ebay.  The auction will last 2 weeks, DSF will cover the cost of the plate, and give the rest of the money to the DBCC.  I will have a pink ribbon added to the plate above the number.  DSF does what it can to raise money for our community.  These license plates are just for decoration, and not the official beach tag for park access.  Though that would be rather cool.  Thursday night Bo Derickson blew the roof off Old Bay Steakhouse for a St. Judes Children’s Hospital benefit with Cat Country live.  The house was packed and a lot of money was raised for the benefit.   We are participating in and hosting a few fundraisers this year and volunteering to help in several events.  Of course we will keep you posted about when, where, and how to help.

We got rocked by a Nor’easter on Wednesday in Sussex county.  The ocean eroded the beaches, and even breached route 1 just north of the Charles W Cullen bridge.  Crews spent most of the next day clearing sand and water from the highway.  The DelDot crews, power crews, and first responders did a great job keeping everyone safe during this storm.  Kudos to all of the crews from DSF!!  Neighborhoods flooded fast as the extreme high tides hit us, and people were pulled from neighborhoods by rescue crews.  I watched power crews deal with a tree in minutes, turn on the power, and then have to deal with another tree 50 yards down the road.  It was very windy, we peaked in some areas  with gusts upwards of 66 mph.  The bays didn’t flood as bad as Hurricane Sandy, but they came close.  The beaches took the brunt of the storm.  They will recover soon enough and carve out the cuts and holes.  Hopefully sooner than later, the surf  looks like New Jersey.  Long flat beaches with 30 yards of wash and the waves are breaking farther out than normal.  The  poles at 3R’s south side are exposed and a good indicator how much sand washed away.  The drive on beaches are okay, but some of the drive on accesses are a bit steep so check them before you drive across to the beach, make sure you have that shovel handy.  Faithful steward access is almost filled in with sand.  The winds have been crazy strong lately, many of the walk on access are filled in with sand, due to the snow fences.  Expect sand to blow across route 1 for a few days.  This can make the road slippery, and wear out your brakes.  I managed to cover the storm for 36 hours with the help of many friends, and sponsors.  We will always keep you up to date on storm conditions as they happen in our area.  Spring is close, fishing will turn on soon.  We have a friend of a friend that witnessed a 60 pound striper pulled in nets up north.  We are headed to northern Delaware to do a little fishing this week.  Be safe and have a good weekend, it is going to be beautiful.  We will be in the surf all weekend.  First keeper flounder picture sent for this season wins a DSF T shirt.  You have to be able to prove it was caught this season and have a witness.  There are hundreds of storm pictures on our DSF Facebook page.

Fish On!!

Rich King

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