Welcome to the Mission Bay Marlin Club!

 

Presidents Message by
Jeff Meeker

Government can get the whole process working smoothly before the summer season begins or abandon the requirement completely. It’s actions like these that make you think the Mexicans don’t want us fishing below the border in our own U.S. vessels; and you can’t but hope this comes back and bites them in the ass sooner than later.

As far as the MLPA goes, we lost access to a couple of premier kelp bass habitats off South La Jolla from Wind in-Sea Beach south to just north of Chrystal Pier and up in Encinitas from Moonlight Beach south to the north end of Solana Beach. The existing no-take reserve off La Jolla Shores expanded west a couple hundred yards to the northern tip of the Cove; and a second area north of Scripps Pier to the Gliderport only allows for bait catching, no halibut or white sea bass. The same can be said for the area below the Imperial Beach Pier; bait only no white sea bass or butts here either. What this does is compact all the users into the smaller remaining productive areas which will mean more boating accidents and aggressive fishing behavior. I guess it’s time for us to start thinking outside the box, explore the remaining open areas and find some new hotspots in the process. It’s not impossible, the 2 biggest seabass I’ve ever caught were taken off Solana Beach and Del Mar, areas that I didn’t fish normally. The good WSB fishing of the past 2-3 years off NW La Jolla remains intact as does the spot off Pacific Beach just below the pier. Point Loma remains unaffected except tight to the shoreline around the base of the Lighthouse. The scientists are predicting a repeat of last year’s water conditions and temperatures, so it will take a few years to determine how these closures will really affect us in the long term.

On Saturday the 28th of January we will be recognizing this past year’s accomplishments at our annual MBMC Awards Banquet at Marina Village. A full coarse meal will be served to those in attendance and the cost is only $10.00 for Adults and Juniors 16 & under are free just like last year. Oscars will be handed out to those fortunate enough to land or release one last season; Tournament Jackets and awards will be handed out as well and for those of you who caught the largest fish species in your division(Men’s, Women’s, & Juniors), your name will be entered in a raffle for each qualifying fish and one lucky angler will be drawn from a hat and win a nice baitcasting reel. The evening promises to be a fun one so please send your RSVP in to Donna McKee before January 25th so we can get an accurate count for the dinner, we really need to stay on top of this next year as this is one of our most manageable elective expenses and with our available budgets shrinking with  our membership . And please make room on your February calendar for our annual Membership Meeting. This year we need to bring in a lot of new blood and ideas into the operation of the club as several Board Members are retiring after several years of service.  I hope a few of you can find time to volunteer as your club needs you now more than ever. I hope to see you all at the MBMC Awards Banquet Saturday Night January 28th @ Marina Village.