sports

outdoors with Lou Rodia

, Remembrances of Fishing Adventures Past

There are four mounted fish on my office wall — a striped bass, a wahoo, a marlin and a northern pike. They eaclj represent a unique — for me — fishing experience. They serve as a link to fishing trips of the past, trips with friends who no longer fish, no longer are in the area, or are no longer part of my fishing life. Each fish represents a personal achievement the marlin is the first of the many I have caught and the only one I k|pt and boated The rest were all released, hopefully to swim away to fight again another day. The Wahoo. a sleek fishing machine which makes a dramatic first run and then passively comes to the boat, was the first one I caught and it won a prize for me in a tournament I happened to be fishing. THE STRIPED bass fell six pounds short of the fifty-pound goal I had set for a striper mount but at 44 pound it was the biggest of the many stripers I have caught from Cape Cod all the way to North Carolina. The northern pike is also a landmark fish which came from the wilds of Canada in a river 1,000 miles north and west of Montreal. It was one of two I caught on that trip which measured 40 inches or over. ' None of the fish are close to record size. Many anglers have caught bigger fish, but none have more

memories locked up in the reproductions which grace my office wall. Each fish represents a trip which was an outstanding one with people who deserve being remembered by me for their contribution in making an ordinary fishing trip an event. On the Canadian trip, the three other anglers had all caught big pike before — none over 40 inches. It seems that the 40-inch mark was a plateau for them, and it had been unattainable. For me it was a first visit to that part of Canada, and the first time I had access to quantity qnd quality northern pike fishing. . THE DAY BEFORE the big fish took my Dardevle spoon it had attacked a spinner bait cast to a point of land juttingout into the river. The fish followed the lure right to the boat and my fishing buddy for the day missed the strike. We both saw the fish, and both of us saw the big white slash mark in the back of the big northern. We returned to the point the next day, and this time the big northern followed my lure to the boat and struck close enough to shower both of us with water. A 10-minute fight put the fish into the big net we carried and when we measured it, the fish went 44 inches long from tip of the snout to the tail. The scar indicated it was the same fish we had raised the day before.

The 42-inch northern I caught the next day was a fishing thrill, but it paled by comparison and it didn't make the wall. WE HAVE CAUGHT lots of fish, remember many occasions, the people we fish with and the fun we had. Only these four fish were important enough for me to want to have mounted. Lots of anglers mount fish for their trophy collections, for the office or den wall or for their place of business. For some, it is important for them to have the trophy to show — almost as if it were needed to prove the deed. For the biggest majority of the anglers we know who catch and then in turn mount their trophy fish, the main reason is to lock in the memories. Fish mounting is an expensive venture, and one in which most anglers engage only after giving the event a lot of thought. There are lots of ways to preserve the memories of a good fishing or hunting adventure. Mounting a trophy to mark the occasion is just one of them, the camera is an excellent tool to use for future memory prodding. So is a scrap book or a fishing/hunting diary. WITH THE advent of modern technology, camera equipment has been improved to where the relatively cheap cameras when used with modern film, produce ex-

cellent, permanent records to keep for the future. Movie cameras have also improved, but the perfection of the compact video recorders, it is now possible to record the events in color as well as with sound. The opportunities are endless today, and perhape we are only scratching the surface. Whether you choose a video camera, a diary, a fish mount or a photograph, many of the memories are worth, preserving. One of our fishing friends, who has since died, had a simple, inexpensive way to keep remembrances of important fishing trips. He fished , fresh and salt water and had an affinity for pickerel, sunfish, largefnouth bass, weakfish, fluke and kingfish. For what ever his reasons, they were his favorites. HE FISHED a lifetime and at some point, he decided to keep mementos of his trips. His method was simple but effective. Moreover, it was inexpensive. All he did was to lay the fish down on a piece of brown wrapping paper and draw the outline with a heavy pencil. After drawing the outline on paper he would cut the fish out and record the date, place and other important information about the fish; who was there, what it weighed, how long it was and what bait was used. . The paper "fish" would I then be hung on the wall of I his office. They were inex- | pensive and sturdy enough I to withstand time. They were always handy when it was time to talk about

fishing trips. The scraps of paper became important to him, for they linked the past, the memories and the present. NO MATTER how you preserve your memories, now is a good time to stmg to think about it. As plan your fishing trips, you can also plan your program for recording memorable events. By the time this reaches you, fishing may well have wound down for nearly all of us. There is some surf fishing around. The past

weekend saw big blues and some weakfish on the beach. Blackfish and a few sea bass were on the wrecks, and north of here, blues, porgies and a few stripers were being reported. But for most everyone, fishing has been set aside and it will remain dormant until the first mackerel start to show up in the spring. Hut's not too far away, so if you have things to do to get ready, start now before you run out of time.

P HOLIDAY jAIt AND CEMETERY ARRANGEMENTS j j 20th AND NEW YORK AVI. » NORTH WILD WOOD OKI 1:30 H 5 f JL - 7.MYS A W» SOt VtHG CAM MA Y COUNTY Jj llllTl^ll " ftfcl _ MO* I THAN 30 YlAtS

j Flagball Semi's AVALON — Semi-final play in the Avalon Recreation Flag Football League will take place Sunday, Dec. 2, with the Belleplain Bullies facing the Recking Crew at 11 a.m. and Ferguson Construction tackling J&F Builders at 12:30 p.m. Results of first round playoffs held Nov. 18 were: Ferguson Construction 23 — Mud Hens 20; Belleplain 61 - BTMH O; Recklig Crew 16 — Champagne 13; J&F Builders 20 — Blue Knights 9. Knocked out of competition was Champagne, last year's champion. overweightMVi f GMTINS fOR American Heart ^ Association j 1

Avalon Students In Fitness Tests

AVALON - For the second year in a row the Avalon Elementary School students, under the direction of physical education teacher Marie Losiewicz, have participated in a school-wide fitness challenge. Throughout the 1983-84 school year, students in grades one through six earned merit patches for completing a 35-mile run. Students charted on sneaker-shaped graphs, mileage which they ran during physical education and recess periods. With thier parent's encouragement, they also increased their mileage after school and on weekends. IN KEEPING with the spirit of the 1984 Olympics, this year the Avalon students were presented with a new challenge: the Avalon Pentathlon. Students in grades one through six are racking up

points by completing 500 jumping jacks, 500 sit-ups, 500 push-ups, 500 ropejumps, and a 10-mile run. Students chart their progress on their individual five-ringed Olympic symbols. Ms. Losiewicz predicts that the 100 percent success rate of last year will occur again this year. BOTH THE 35-mile run and the pentathlon encourage the . development of strength, speed, flexibility, power, endurance, agility, and a positive attitude towards fitness for life. They also prepare the fifth and sixth grade students for the President's Physical Fitness test. Joseph Kauterman, a sixth grade student, who has already won the President'a Ward for Physical Fitness, was the first place winner in the 35-mile rim and has repeated his school-wide triumph in this year's pentathlon.

- Cape May County ALMANAC DECEMBER

MOON PHASES/POSITIONS / The Moon 'a affect on the Tide is greatest when closest to Earth (in perigee) and when in direct alignment with Sun * earth (full 4 r new moon phases). On and about these dates, low pressure systems and/or strong winds (depending upon direction) mayresult in flooding, and extremely low tides. Moon Phases First Quarter Nov. 38 Full Moon « Last Quarter 15 New Moon a First Quarter. 30 *P<*ee 2J0 Perigee ix TIDE TABLE Computed for Cape May City beachfront . for other areas, see Correction Times. DATE HIGH LOW 28 Wed 11:44— 5:10- 5:55 29 Thu 12:15-12:35 6:05- 6:52 30 Fri 1:12- 1:27 7:13- 7:48 1 Sat 2:07- 2:23 8:16- 8:39 2 Sun 3:03- 3:18 8:12- 9:27 3 Moo 3:57- 4:14 10:08-10:10 4 Tue 4:44- 5:03 10:47-10:52 5 Wed 5:29- 5:48 11:31—11:35 6 Thu 6:09— 6?30 —12:18 7 Fri 6:47— 7:10 12:14— 1:(0 8 Sat 7:24- 7:50 12:55- 1:45 9 Sun 8:01- 8:31 1:37- 2:27 10 Moo 8:42- 9:16 2:17— 3:09 11 Tue 9:24-10:03 2:59- 3:52 12 Wed 10:15-10:58 3:42- 4:37 13 Thu 11:10-11:57 4:33- 5:28 14 Fri -12:06 5:34- 6:28 15 Sat 12:55- 1:06 6:47- 7:29 16 Sun 1:55- 2:06 7:58- 8:29 17 Moo 2:56- 3:14 9:04- 9:25 18 Tue 3:57- 4:19 10:02-10:18 19 Wed 4:55- 5:19 10:58-11:08 20 Thu 5:48- 6:10 11:53-11:59 21 Fri 6:38- 6:59 -12:46 22 Sat 7:23- 7:46 12:51- 1:36 23 Sun 8:08- 8:32 1:40- 2:23 24 Moo 8:52- 9:19 2:27- 3:09 25 Tue 9:57-10:06 3:11- 3:50 26 Wed 10:25-10:54 3:55- 4:32 27 Thu 11:10-11:42 4:41- 5:14 ^^Fri 11:55- 5:26- 6:03

CORRECTION TIMES Compute approximate times of high It low water for your area by adding or subtracting the following number of minutes for each tide phase in the Tide Table. LOW HIGH Great Egg Harbor Inlet Minus 12 phtslO Ocean City <9th St. Bridge) phis 35 plus 22 Corson Inlet (bridge) plus 21 plus 7 Sea Isle City (Ludlam Thoro Bridge) plus 66 plus 43 Sea Isle City Beach minus 2 minus 21 Townsend Inlet plus 21 plus 4 Seven Mile Beach plus is 0 Stone Harbor (Great Channel Bridge) plus 43 plus 40 Hereford Inlet (Anglesea) plus 19 0 Wildwood Beach Minus 2 * minus 17 West Wildwood (Grassy Channel bridge) Plus 46 plus 43 Cape May Harbor plus 1 minus 4 Five Fathom Bank plus II plus I Cape May Point plus 46 plus 34 McCne Shoal plus 28 plus 22 Delaware Bay Baysbore Channel (Bay -Canal Junction) Plus 31 plus 36 Miami Beach' Plus 75 plus 71. Dennis Creek Entrance plus 98 plus 84 Brandywine Shoal Light Ph* 77 plus 52 J