Matt Broderick

First off, I want to start by thanking all of those who visited The Fisherman booth at Striper Day on Sunday. It was great to kick off the show season with such a good event dedicated to the surfcasters of the region. Personally, I want to thank all of those who stopped by to attend my seminar on shorebound togging as well. I always enjoy putting on these talks for enthusiastic listeners who are willing to learn something new. If you missed it, I’ll be giving the same seminar again as upcoming events. Our next event in the schedule is going to be the New York Boat Show at the Javits Center in New York City. The event will take place from Wednesday through Sunday and if you’re in the market for a boat or just want to see some of the newest ones on the market these days and spend a wonderful day with your family I highly recommend that you come down and check it out. We will also have a table at the Fishermans Flea Market in Babylon this Sunday as well, offering the same special. Keep in mind that if you do sign up with The Fisherman at these event you will walk away with a sweet pair of Danco pliers with your subscription to the magazine. For fishing, it was a lackluster week and it might be tough again this week with the sub-freezing temperatures in the forecast. This could set up the opportunity for some local ice fishing if all goes well enough. Tune in next week for an update on that

Finally the wind seemed to give up over the weekend which was a big relief for those trying to get out and fish and me personally. Thirty degrees with 30 mph winds is an entirely different feeling than 30 degrees and no wind. I know that a lot of the lakes had ice on them still which made it tough to fish but I did hear that some of the lakes in the central and eastern regions of the island had some fishable ice for ice fishermen to drill holes in and catch some a mix of species including yellow perch, panfish, pickerel and bass on waxworms, shiners and nightcrawlers. Always take extreme caution when ice fishing though and don’t ever risk it. In general, you need 4 inches of clear ice to consider it safe to walk on by foot. Have the proper safety equipment on you as well before trying this endeavor. None of the cod boats sailed this weekend but keep an eye out for potential trips in the future. I also heard of scattered white perch reports on open tidal creeks on the South Shore of the island. Carmens, and Connetquot being the main two of interest. On an extremely unfortunate and sad note, one of the legends of the sport, Ralph Votta of West End Tackle left us recently. Ralph was a friend of mine and so many others. He was a model example of what an exceptional person is and will be deeply missed by many. Rest in peace “tin man.” I’ll always remember our conversations about the days of old.