It shouldn't come as news to anyone by now that the South Atlantic Marine Fisheries Council last week in Orlando passed the controversial 17 A amendment. This will essentially close all bottom fishing (vertical line) from 98' to 240' from the 28 degree line (12 miles north of Sebastian) to the Georgia/Florida border. 17 B has been previously passed and closes all bottom fishing except Golden Tiles from 240' to 200 miles. These will be reviewed  by committees from NOAA and than with recommendations go to the Secretary of Commerce for signing, probably by the first of next year.

In the next few months we will be providing as much information as possible, including speakers at our meetings to one, clarify exactly what the new rules are, when they go into effect and how the enforcement will work. Secondly, and probably more importantly what we as a club can do to reverse these policies. Information will be provided in the seminar section of the Hot Knots and on the web page  www.hsfc.com .

 Andy White and his "Kids Can Fish Too" committee wound up their 2010 series with a six hour trip on the Super Critter Saturday, June 19. This was funded completely by a grant we had applied for and received from "Fish Florida". Pictures on the web site.  You can read about it in Andy's article elsewhere in the newsletter. Congratulations and thank you to Andy and his team for a super kids series this year. Work has already started for next year and it promises to be bigger and better. This is a committee that all should be involved with, it is extremely rewarding and certainly easy enough, just take a bunch of kids and show them how to fish!!!!! Contact Andy to get involved.

 Thursday, June 17 was a "double header" for our Seminar Series. Long time club member and avid offshore fisherman, Mike Mohney had the first public showing of his "patent pending" invention. "Line Chum" is a personal chumming device that you attach to your fishing line. It is a clear, 3" diameter plastic ball with a filler hole on the top and several smaller holes on the bottom. You inject chum into and attach it to your line. It will work on just about any style rig, sabiki, chicken rig, fish finder rig were some examples Mike showed. Its so simple yet so practical you have to wonder why someone didn't think of it sooner! Mike offered these at a significant discount along with free pizza, I hope our other speakers take the hint.

They are currently available at "The Fishin Shack" in Daytona Beach Shores and on line at www.linechum.com .

Capt. Gary Danley, the second speaker of the evening shared with us his idea for alternatives to bottom fishing during the closures offshore. Kite fishing doesn't normally come to mind when you think of bottom fishing but Gary seemed to make it make sense. Your not going to catch bottom fish, but your not trolling and you are still using your valuable bottom numbers. Live bait on top of bottom structure was Gary's message. Kite fishing has long been a mainstay in south Florida but never really caught on here in east central Florida. The draw back of course is the distance to the Gulf Stream and the vast expanse of soft bottom between structure. Using bottom numbers you already have from that stand point makes sense. Next time your offshore and it looks like a kite festival in the distance you'll know someone was listening.

 Well that's it for this month, see ya' at the  Squishy Island picnic, Sunday, July 11. More information elsewhere in the newsletter and on the web page.

 Look for us on Face Book and My Space, and now our seminar listings are on the local Craig's List.

If you have any comments or questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Capt. Don

O. (386) 445 4102   C. (386) 871 5351