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LHPSSA NEWSLETTER

JANUARY 2023 ISSUE

In This
ISSUE

President’s Report

Tournament Report

Dive Report

Upcoming Events

LHPSSA 2019 Board of Directors

Classified Section

LHPSSA Advertising

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

JOHN PIOTROWSKI

Dear Members,
 
Happy New Year and Welcome 2023! I hope all of you are having a great start to your year. We have a fun and exciting year planned for the LHPSSA.
Our key initiatives this year is to bring our membership levels back to pre covid levels (100 members), revamp and launch a new slate of club tournaments, drive interest and competition for our annual club awards and tournament standings, put together several world class fishing trips and events and deliver content packed meetings with great meals.
 
We are refreshing the website so that members can look up other members, submit fishing reports, prospective new members can submit an application, you can submit new pictures, find out about events, check out fishing reports and blogs, get links to helpful websites and much much more. 
 
Several members have been over to the Bahamas lately to catch wahoo. I know Steve and his crew got a 60 pounder last weekend and Tom Heller and his crew got several the week before. I know we are working on some dates to reschedule our Bahamas Wahoo trip. The sailfish season is off to a good start. Team Sir Reel did pretty well in the first few tournaments in the new boat.
 
We have a good Captain speaking at this months meeting which will be held at Galuppy’s. Many of you have been talking to prospective members. Please reach out to them and invite them to this months meeting.
 
We are excited to embark on another fantastic year. It will be very exciting to see what all the new members will be bringing to the table. We will also be looking to add some new faces to the fishing club board in 2023/2024. Please let us know if you have any ideas on how to help the club continue to grow. 
 
Sincerely,
John

TOURNAMENT REPORT

TOURNAMENT CORNER:

Fishing in South Florida is getting RED HOT as we move into Spring. We have seen Sailfish and Wahoo migrating to our local waters. Right outside Hillsboro Inlet has proven to be a strong Wahoo bite with anglers using planers with a seawitch/Bonita strip combo. Trolling ballyhoo on the surface has proven to help with double hookups. 

Our local club members recently made a trip to Bimini on Tom Heller’s boat and caught a slew of Wahoo in the 40-50lb class (pictured). Technique used was high speed trolling with trolling leads and jet head style skirted lures. 

Tournament Season for Sailfish has kicked into full gear with tournaments taking place almost every weekend through April. Some local tournaments that have been very popular are Operation Sailfish, Bucanneer Cup, The Cove Tournament and of course the Jimmy Johnson Tournament. We will have guest speaker Capt. Bric Peeples at our next meeting January 25th to gives all the details and tell us some great fish stories. Live bait such as Goggle Eyes and Herring are preferred baits on either kites or free lined flat lines on a drift. 

We are hearing the bottom fishing bite has been stellar in about 180ft targeting Vermillion Snapper. There have been some nice ground currents that have pushed them in shallow in big #’s. These snapper behave more like Yellowtails than “bottom” fish. They congregate above structure mid way up in the water column. Chumming is a great way to attract them. Light Tackle as low as 10lb fishing line 3/4 ounce jig head with a chartreuse grub tail and a chunk of bait such as squid, sardine or ballyhoo will do the trick!!! These fish don’t typically hit the bait hard so you need to be watching and feeling the line. No swivels are to be used, just line to fluorocarbon knots. 

Good Luck out there and Tight Lines!!

Best regards,
Trae West

Sir' Reel in the money in the Silver Sailfish, Operation Sailfish and Buccaneer Cup tournaments.
Island Moon wahoo trip
Relentless wahoo trip

LHPSSA Fishing Leaderboard as of 1/24/2023

(Apr 1, 2022 – March 31, 2023)

Offshore

Dolphin

Wahoo

Kingfish

Blackfin Tuna

Swordfish

Cobia

Dave Maurer 38 lbs.

 

Michael Zislin 48.5 Lbs.

Randy Strauss 33lbs.

 

Davis Stewart 24.5lbs.

Mark Repetski 34.5 lbs.

 

 

Tom Wye 24 Lbs.

 

 

Steven Siegel 28 lbs.

Inshore

Snook

Tarpon

Bonefish

Permit

Redfish (over 26 inches)

Maurice Jemison 42 inches

 

 

 

 

Carl Treyz 40 inches

 

 

 

 

Mike Price 8lbs 2.5ft

 



Blackfin Tournament 4/14/2022: 

  1. Meat Wagon – Jones, West, Azeem, Randy Strauss, Sean Donato, Steve Lewis 
    1. 20.5, 20.5, 33lbs Blackfins
  2. Makin Time – Steve Fishman, Skip Dana, and 4 or 5 others
    1. 16.5lbs, 19.5 lbs
  3. Overboard – Savona, Carl Treyz, Dave Maurer, Charlie Berkley, Allen Furia plus 3 of Savona’s professional fish killers
    1. 27.5lbs Blackfin
  4. FishAngler – Tom Wye, Tom Heller, Pete Prior and 3 or 4 others
    1. 24lbs Blackfin with a 9.5lbs Backfin head!
  5. Relentless – Siegel (x2), Repetski, Walls, Price, Stewart, Dudziak, Lynch
    1. 24.5 Cobia

Chokoloskee tournament

  1. Frank Schmidt, Dennis Brammer, Ray Little 7 Snook, 1 Redfish, 7 Sea trout
  2. Owen and Keith 5 Redfish, 5 sea trout
  3. Don Huston

Most Sailfish Catches Per Day

  • 9 Sailfish releases Mark Repetski and Skip Dana 

Most Outstanding Catch Nominations

  • No submissions

2022-2023
LHPSSA CLUB ANNUAL AWARDS
Rules

Goal: 

To create a fun and challenging competition that is fair and equitable for all our club members. We want to encourage the highest participation amongst active club members. 

Prizes:

This year (2022-2023), in addition to the year-end club trophies, the crowned “Club Champion” will received a free LHPSSA membership for the 2023-2024 year, a $550 value! 

Time Period: Apr 1st, 2022 / March 31, 2023

Annual Tournament Champion (Major Award – Trophy) – Qualifications will remain the same.  Most points acquired through the entirety of the annual hat & money tournaments. 

Points:  3 for 1st, 2 for 2nd, 1 for 3rd. Most points acquired annually by individual.

Most notable/ outstanding catch award (Major – Trophy) –Notable catches will be documented by pictures submitted to the board. (In person or online) Board will vote at tournament year conclusion. Notable catches can be caught anywhere in the world and can be any fish species. Points will count toward Club Championship (3 for 1st, 2 for 2nd, 1 for 3rd).  If you catch something notable/outstanding you must tell me that you want to nominate it for this category and send me a picture.

Club Sanctioned Travel & International Trip Tournaments – Tournament Rules will differ by tournament. Each club sanctioned away trip will be its own tournament.  Some of these tournaments will have individual winner(s); some will be by boat.  In order for the Club to sanction a travel/international tournament, there must be at least 3 boats if it will be a boat tournament or 6 LHPSSA anglers if an individual tournament.  Points will count toward Club Championship (3 for 1st, 2 for 2nd, 1 for 3rd).  

Most sailfish releases in a day – Fish must be caught on day trip out of local inlets Fort Pierce to Key West and not on a Charter.  Points given to LHPSSA anglers on board. Points will count toward Club Championship and Florida Championship (3 for 1st, 2 for 2nd, 1 for 3rd). 

Most Fishing Spots shared with club members by logging each spot as “Fishing Spot” posts on the private “LHPSSA Fishing Intel” group on the FishAngler mobile app. Points will count toward Club Championship (3 for 1st (most), 2 for 2st, 1 for 3rd).

Offshore targeted species champion: Awards given to the angler who catch the largest Blackfin Tuna, Swordfish, Dolphin, Wahoo, Cobia and Kingfish. Fish must be caught on day trip out of local inlets of Fort Pierce to Key West. For Swordfish – girth and length measurement calculated weight will count if weight by scale is not possible. 

The 1st place angler for each species will be crowned the champion for their respective species for the year and they will earn 3 pts.   Second Place and Third Place anglers or captains will gain 2 or 1 point respectively.  Points will count toward Club Championship and Florida Championship (3 for 1st, 2 for 2nd, 1 for 3rd).  

Florida Inshore targeted species champion: Awards given to the anglers who catch the highest number of any of the following individual species in a day: Snook, Redfish, Tarpon, Bonefish or Permit in a day of fishing.   Try to document your catch by picture if possible. These species can be targeted on any day trip in Florida waters. 

3 Points will be awarded to each winning angler.  The 1st place angler for each species will be crowned the champion for their respective species for the year.   Second Place and Third Place anglers will gain 2 points or 1 point respectively. Points will count toward Club Championship and Florida Championship.

Permanent Trophies:

Club Champion – (Major)   Points will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place for the annual tournament champion winners (3x) or triple credit, each club sanctioned travel trip (1x), the most sailfish releases (1x) and for each of the offshore and inshore targeted species and for most notable catch (1x) in order to determine the club champion. Name on Permanent Trophy, Individual Trophy award. 

Florida Champion – (Major) Member with the most points acquired from the Targeted offshore and Florida Inshore awards.  – Name on Permanent Trophy, Individual Trophy award. 

International Champion – (Major) The person with the most points from the Club sanctioned travel and international trips. – Name on Permanent Trophy, Individual Trophy award

We will not award the Club Championship and Florida Championship to the same person.  If the same person is in first in both categories, then the next person with the most combined Club Champion and Florida Champion points will be the Florida Champion.  

 

Fishing Reports!

Must be submitted to the “LHPSSA Fishing Reports & Intel” group on the FREE FishAngler mobile app that can be downloaded from the Apple & Google Play store. Post as a “Catch” with the following information filled out.

  • Catch Date: required
  • Catch Location: required
  • Fish Species: required
  • Weight: required for off shore catches
  • Length: optional for all inshore catches
  • Bait used: optional

How to submit a “LHPSSA Fishing Report”!

A fishing report must be submitted to the “LHPSSA Fishing Reports & Intel” group on the FREE FishAngler mobile app. Download from the Apple & Google Play store. Post a “Log a Catch” with the following information filled out.

  • Catch Date: Required
  • Catch Location: Required
  • Fish Species: Required
  • Weight: Required for offshore species
  • Length: Required for inshore species
  • Bait used: optional
  • Water depth: optional

Step 1)
How to download the FREE FishAngler mobile app

  1. Download the “FishAngler” mobile app from the Apple or Google app stores onto your mobile smart phone!
    1. Use keyword “FishAngler” as the store search keyword to find the FishAngler app
  2. On Google play store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fishangler.fishangler
  3. On Apple store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fishangler-fishing-app/id1073941118
  4. Download and open the app and register as a user
    1. Check your email for an account confirmation email and click on the verification link
    2. If you can’t find the account confirmation email check your SPAM box.

Step 2)
Join the “LHPSSA Fishing Reports & Intel” group

  1. Once the App is downloaded & your registered
    1. Open the FishAngler mobile app
    2. Tap “More” icon on the bottom right navigation menu
    3. Tap on the “Groups” entry on the “More” menu
    4. On the top menu under the search box enter keyword “LHPSSA” and tap on “REQUEST”
      1. Select “LHPSSA Fishing Reports & Intel” group
        1. Tap on the “REQUEST/JOIN” button on right side 
        2. This will send a membership request to the group administrators to approve you joining the PRIVATE LHPSSA group
    5. Once “accepted” into the LHPSSA group you will receive a push notification which you can then tap on. The tap will take you into the app to the LHPSSA group profile page.
    6. Notice the different info tabs “About, Feed, Catches, Fishing Spots, Photos”
    7. Once you are in the group, as other members post catches/reports you will automatically see their posts under the main “Following News Feed”

Step 3)
How to post a LHPSSA Fishing Report

  1. Open the FishAngler mobile app & login Tap on “+” icon on the bottom of screen
  2. Tap on “Log a catch” and fill in the following fields
    1. Select one or more fish photos of catch or next (no photo)
    2. Tap on Catch Date & Time – required then tap “Next” top right
    3. Tap Catch Position – use map to mark spot if not automatically updated
    4. Tap on Fish Species – required then tap “Next” top right
    5. Tap on Catch Weight – required for Offshore species
    6. Tap on Catch Length – required for Inshore species
    7. Tap on Gear used – optional then tap “Next” top right
    8. Add a catch description – required then tap “Next”
    9. Post Setting Privacy menu –
      1. Select the “LHPSSA Fishing Reports & Intel” group
      2. If you want to only to let LHPSSA members see the post change “Share
    10. Post with FishAngler community” to “NO”
    11. Tap on “done” at top right of menu!
    12. You’re done, the report will should up to all members on the following LHPSSA newsfeed!

DIVE Report

Lobsters have remained plentiful in local waters, which is good now that grouper and hogfish season is closed until May 1st.  Across in the Bahamas, the diving and spearing has been excellent.  In the last few weeks, I’ve done a couple of trips over with members Mike Lynch, Bill Dudziak, Carl Treyz, Tony Azeem, Eric Melnicoff and Jay Mays.  The water is 76 degrees and visibility has excellent. We have been shooting some big hogfish, including a 10+ pounder by Eric Melnicoff this past weekend.  Get out there and go diving!

Steve Siegel

UPCOMING EVENTS

1/25 – LHPSSA MEETING


This month’s meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 25th,   at 6PM; at Galuppi’s Restaurant located at 1103 North Federal Hwy, Pompano Beach.  

Please RSVP – Thank you!

Our guest speaker will be the famous local Captain Bric Peeples from Key Largo will talk about fishing locally and the Bahamas, and the upcoming Jimmy Johnson Tournament!

Looking forward to seeing all my friends at the meeting!

2/18 – Sailfish tournament

Contact Jon Savona if you would like to enter your boat or be an angler

3/31 – ANNUAL CLUB DUES

 

TREASURERS REPORT

Members,

     Our 2023-2024 dues will be due by March 31st.  The dues are to remain at $550, and initiation fee of $150.  The preferred method of payment is still by check, at the monthly dinner, or via snail mail.  Please mail to : Mike Price 3411 S Indian River Dr, Fort Pierce, FL  34982
I can take Zelle also, but I need a text request to my phone (954-605-0918) and I will send you a request for payment.  Zelle charges the club 1% service fee for incoming.  Please do not look up my name for Zelle payment as it will go to my personal account, creating additional work.
I can also accept PayPal, @LHPSSADUES   PayPal charges us 3%
Yes, again this year we will offer a special raffle for all members that pay prior to March 31st, 2023
Please if you have questions call, text, or email me.
 
Tight lines, and safe travels
 
 
Treasurer LHPSSA
Mike Price
954-605-0918
MP4Aviationsecurity@comcast.net

LHPSSA on Facebook

Everyone should have received an invitation from Maurice to join the club's Facebook page. Please join if you haven't already.

LHPSSA on Instagram

Please check out and follow the club's new Instagram page for all the latest pictures. Contact Jon Savona at 561-927-5274 and get your pictures posted.

LHPSSA 2022 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

PRESIDENT: JOHN PIOTROWSKI

VICE PRESIDENT: TRAE WEST

TREASURER: MIKE PRICE

SECRETARY: TOM HELLER

MEMBERSHIP: RYAN RODASTA, DAVE KAZNECKI

FISHING TOURNAMENTS: JON SAVONA, STEVE SIEGEL, MARK REPETSKI, TOM WYE, ARNIE SEDEL DIVE: STEVE SIEGEL,

MEETINGS: MIKE ZISLIN, TRAE WEST

COMMUNICATIONS/NEWSLETTER / SAFTEY: TRAE WEST, MARK REPETSKI

SOCIAL: MAURICE JEMISON, RYAN RODASTA

HISTORIAN/ADVERTISING: FRANK SCHMIDT

CLASSIFIED SECTION

LHPSSA ADVERTISING