[Billfish715]

Kudos to you Paul for the support and promotion of saltwater fishing in NJ. You were there to be an advocate for the Save Summer Flounder effort and vocal at the rally a few years ago at Fisherman’s Supply in Pt. Pleasant. When you and your committee discuss this year’s tournament, will you compare the results from past years? I’m interested to hear your take on this year’s overall fluke fishing compared to other years.

How does 35 teams compare to other years? How would a 6.5# 1st place fluke have held up to previous winners? I’m only curious because I’ve been wondering about this year’s fluke numbers. Would there have been more teams if fuel prices were lower or if there were more and bigger fluke to catch?

Eventually the Mid-Atlantic committee members will be evaluating this year’s fluke totals in order to determine next year’s quotas and seasons. What “guesstimates” will they use from this season? My impression of this year’s fluke fishing is not very flattering. That doesn’t matter. Only the impression that the Council feels matters. I’m hoping they look at the numbers with an open mind and look carefully at the mess they’ve made of the fishery with their “ management “ plans.

If you feel that your tournament could have had a larger subscription and that with a larger fluke population, more teams would have taken a chance and entered, please let your feelings be heard. A chance to catch more and bigger fish will draw more tournament entries.

Congratulations on continuing your efforts to support fishing and those who love to do it. I hope the tournament is even bigger and better next year.