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Our September meeting brought forward some great information about managing common medical issues while offshore. Our presenter, David Burmaster, did a fine job of simplifying the subject matter, and sent everybody home with a short list of must-carry supplies. Most of the attendees took advantage of the hook-removal practice session, although it's unlikely that the volunteer that gave up his foot as a pin cushion was quite as happy about things.
Matt Harnick taped the entire venue, and copies of the tape will be available to PJSA members shortly.
Sincere thanks go out to David for his time and presentation of this valuable seminar!
Our next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 16 from 7:00 p.m to 9:30 p.m, and will feature a presentation by Joel Harnick and Al Gillen titled "A to Z Wreck Fishing." Joel and Al will present two perspectives on wreck fishing.
Joel's first fishing experience was fishing the rocks of Absecon Inlet, and for the past 50+ years he's put countless days into wreck fishing. Joel's interest in wreck fishing went so deep that he ended up publishing a book of wreck fishing numbers, and currently sells a line of wreck fishing grapnel anchors. Joel currently fishes from his 32' Topaz out of Little Egg Inlet.
Al took up wreck fishing from a 22' boat in 1985, and after filling a cooler on the first trip, was hooked for life. Since then, he's written 8 articles about wreck fishing that have been published in The Fisherman, and even has contributions in Fisherman Library books. Al specializes in fishing inshore wrecks in 90' of water or less, and typically makes 15-20 trips per year from March through November. Although he insists boats under 25' are optimal for wreck fishing, Al currently runs a 29' Blackfin.
In this presentation, you can expect to learn everything from how to select wrecks to search out, the value of record keeping, techniques for locating and marking structure, single- and double-anchoring, as well as using grapnels. Then we'll introduce a variety of rigging techniques for fishing wrecks. Among the tips and tricks you'll take away include learning how to raise the challenge with Al's ultralight (10 pound test!) conventional outfit to Joel's can't-miss big-tog double hook rigs.
For a look at other future events, see our Calendar page. Please note that our scheduled regular meetings are planned for the third Wednesday of each month.