For all of those fishermen, private charter and commercial that are really upset with the Government control of our natural resources in the Gulf of Mexico, it is time to go to the rally that will be held in Washington on the 21st of this month (March). We have a lot of our Congressmen that are representing the fishermen of the Gulf already but we do not have enough to make changes in the National Marine Fishery Service and NOAA. There will be two buses available in Panama City, FL to travel to Washington on the 20th of March and return after the rally on the 21st thanks to Eugene Raffield of Raffield Fisheries. There will be no charge for the bus rides as the only charge an individual will have is for food and possibly a motel room the night of the 20th. It is very, very important that all fishermen try to make this rally and maybe we can provide enough influence to our Congressmen. To make arrangements to ride one of the buses, call Bob Zales at 850-814-8001.
Now, let’s get down to some fishing that might materialize in March. All of it will be in the inshore waters as I cannot think of a fish that we will be allowed to bring home in March that any of us would spend the money to go offshore to catch. Inshore fishing should be very good as they have increased the redfish limit from one to two per day, and the spanish mackerel have already begun to show and the cobia should start arriving by the end of March due to this very warm winter and the water temperature being as high as it is. This fact also applies to king mackerel which may very well come on big time. If we can all make it through March with enough fish to eat then April will make a little change in that we will be able to bring home at least four red grouper, scamp and our deep water grouper. I wish I had better news to help you have a fish dinner in March.
Don’t forget to file a float plan, and let somebody know when you are going to return.