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LHPSSA January 2023 Newsletter

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

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

Read More

January 2020 Newsletter

 

LHPSSA NEWSLETTER

JANUARY 2020 ISSUE
 

PRESIDENT’S REPORT
JOHN PIOTROWSKI

Dear Members,
 
Happy New Year! We are excited to be starting the new year with a great line up of speakers, fishing tournaments, events and travel trips. 2020 should be a great year!
2019 ended with a wonderful Holiday Party hosted by Charlie Greenberg and planned by Bill Dudsiak. Bill did a wonderful job planning and running the party. Thank you! A special Thank you and congratulations to Charlie for being such a gracious host of his beautiful new home. 
 
Fishing has been pretty good when you can get out. I have been getting a lot of sailfish reports and good wahoo fishing both out front and in the Bahamas. I hear that Steve Seigle learned how to catch the wahoo with planers off the edge in Bimini. Probably a good a strategy to have in your back pocket. There seem to be some  good lobster on the reef. Reports have been solid on days you get good clarity.
 
The clubs fiscal year ends March 31st. We will be taking nominations for the 2020 / 2021 Board of Directors. We would really like to get a few new faces on the board next year. We have a lot of new members that should be able to help us drive participation in our tournaments and events. Please let us know if you have an interest helping with the operations of the club. We have a lot of great positions  – Tournaments, Speaker and Events, Membership etc.
 
I look forward to seeing all of you at our January Meeting!

Sincerely,
John
 

TOURNAMENT REPORT

  •  

Hey guys let’s get out there and start the new year off right. We have a couple of new members who are eager to get out there and fish. And what better way of meeting and getting to know them than spending the day out fishing. 

If you have a friend who would like to join but is not in the club we will try to get them on a boat as long as we have enough room for all of our anglers who are members first. 

We are planning on having a Hat Tournament Saturday March 7th. We are going to be in the middle of sailfish season and this is a perfect window to do our annual sailfish tournament. If you would like to enter your boat or be an angler please feel free to email me or text me at 954-224-4184.

We will be picking angler names out of a hat at the February meeting which is a week and a half before our tournament date. Depending on how many boats and anglers participate we can book the yacht club for lunch and weigh-in after fishing. 

Tournament Rules:

Lines in will be 7:00am and lines out will be 1:00pm.   
 

Point System
Sailfish release is 25 points each
if There are no sailfish caught the winner will be decided by a meat fish at 1 point per pound. Any legal all size fish will count                        

 

Meat fish are 

King fish (24 inches to the fork)
Wahoo (No size limit)
Tuna(No size limit)
Cobia (33 inches to the fork)
Dolphin (20 inches to the fork)
 

If you guys have any ideas or suggestions on the rules or species for future tournaments, please feel free to reach out to me. Email, phone, or text.

Jeronimo Grassi

Club Tournament Schedule 2019-2020

March 7 HAT Tournament – sailfish

We have our annual Chokoloskee tournament coming up on March 28, 2020.  Contact Arnie Sedel for further info (954-871-7056).

Our annual Key West tournament will be May 16, 2020.  This is one of our Club’s favorite trips and one which our wives/sig others enjoy also.  More info, contact Arnie Sedel

   
 
Tournaments Results 2019/2020:
 

  • Hat tournament winners June 29,2019 (only 2 boats weighted in)

1st) Final Judgement- Tom Mathews, Jeronimo Grassi (mate), Ken Whyte, Robert Roy
2rd) Crescendo – Charley Greenberg, Randy Strauss (mate), Trae west, John Kent 

  • Venice trip Oct 10-13, 2019
    • No tournament points tracked due to weather
  • CLUB BATTLE 2019 (Nov 16th 2019)

1st – Meat wagon – Tom Jones, Steve Siegel and Mike Price
2rd – Kona Blue – Charlie Berkley
3rd – My Time/Big Dog Tackle – Trae West

Leaderboard 2019-2020

 

Dolphin Wahoo Kingfish Blackfin Tuna Swordfish Cobia
Thomas Matlock 35lbs   Frank Schmidt 18 lbs.   Michael Zislin
450lbs
 
Pete Prior 24.9 lbs       Ted Ziel 216lbs  
Thomas Matlock 18lbs          

 
 
 

Snook Tarpon Bonefish Permit Redfish (over 26 inches)
Allen Furia 27lbs     Mark Repetski 15lbs Allen Furia 42 Inch’s
        Allen Furia 38 Inch’s

 
Sailfish Catches Per Day 

  1. Meat Wagon Tom Jones 4 sails released

 
Most Outstanding Catch Nominations:

  • Staley Weidman & Greg Edwards boat – Wahoo 93lbs Chub Cay  

 

 
2019 / 2020 LHPSSA CLUB ANNUAL AWARDS Rules
Goal: 
To create a fun and challenging competition that is fair and equitable for our club members. 
We want to encourage the highest participation amongst active club members. 

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 of Boca Raton, Hillsboro or Port Everglades and not on a Charter.  Points given to LHPSSA captain & LHPSSA anglers on board. Points will count toward Club Championship and Florida Championship (3 for 1st, 2 for 2nd, 1 for 3rd).  

Offshore targeted species champion: Awards given to the angler/LHPSSA captains who catch the largest Blackfin Tuna, Swordfish, Dolphin, Wahoo and Kingfish. Fish must be caught on day trip out of local inlets of Boca Raton, Hillsboro or Port Everglades. Reports can be submitted online. For Swordfish – girth and length measurement calculated weight will count if weight by scale is not possible. 
The 1st place angler and/or captain 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.  Both the angler and captain will be the winner, but the points will be split in half if both the angler and captain were LHPSSA members. 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 hat tournament winner (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. 
 General Format of a Hat Tournament 
The goal of this tournament format is to get the whole fishing club especially new members the opportunity to fish together!

  • No entrance fee per boat (no buy in costs)
  • $600 prize money put into pot by club!
    • Pot split 50/30/20
  • Optional $100 per boat for Calcutta with 50/30/20 splits
  • Captain allowed to pick 1st mate, then 2-4 random club members picked from hat
  • Members can invite friends to fill boat after club members placed on boat
  • Teams split expenses estimated to include $0 entrance fee, $100 optional Calcutta fee and $60+-estimated fuel & $100 baits
    •  General targeted for costs are $100-$125 per member on boat

 
General Format of a Tournament (Non-Hat tournament format)
The goal of this tournament format is to be competitive but allow anyone in club that wants to fish the opportunity

  • $200 per boat buy in
  • $100 Calcutta with 50/30/20 splits
  • Captain allowed to pick three core guys (captain and three mates) 1-2 random club members
  • Club members not on a team goes into a hat and are pulled at random and put on a team
  • Team split expenses estimated to include $200 entrance fee and $100 Calcutta fee and $70+- fuel & $100 baits
    •  General targeted for costs are $125-$150 per member on boat

 

Fishing Reports!
Also submit your fishing reports at https://lhpssa.org/turn-in-fishing-reports/ or email lhpssa@fishangler.com and include a photo and the following information:

  • Catch Date:
  • Fish Species:
  • Catch Location:
  • Weight:
  • Length:
  • Bait used:
  • Water depth:

Thanks
Tom Wye
Fishing Reports & Tournament Bean counter!

Recent Catches

Trae West with a beautiful wahoo. Intel from Trae – Wahoo bite has been hot this month outside of both Hillsboro and Boca inlets. Baits of choice have been Seawitch with bonita strips, diving lures, rigged ballyhoo or mullet. High speed lures have also been productive.

Steve Fishman with a truckload of beautiful wahoo

Greg and Staley with a beast!

Michael Zislin with a 450lb swordfish


DIVE REPORT

The weather has been tough for diving.  Water temperature is down just below 75 degrees, and with the cold weather lately, you need to dress warm both for above and below the surface.  Three weeks ago we able to limit out lobsters and we dove again this weekend and picked through a lot of short lobsters to eventually wind up with 20 keepers.  Visibility was pretty good, and we saw several large male hogfish.  They clearly know they are out of season.  We will be organizing a dive and after-dive party for the last weekend in March just before lobster season closes.  We are also going to try to put together a level I free diver course for an upcoming weekend this spring once the weather warms up.  Reach out to Steve Siegel if you have an interest in that. 

Steve Siegel

TREASURERS REPORT     

Happy New Year to all LHPSSA members, family and other interested parties.  As your Treasurer for the past 3 years I thought it would be good to provide all with the financial status of the association.  I’m very happy to report that the association is in excellent fiscal shape with 25 thousand dollars in reserve savings and a general operating balance for 2020-2021 of 32 thousand dollars.  The 25K in savings has been a carryover of savings from many years of excellent fiscal responsibility by prior board members and treasurers.  I do find it interesting that our annual bank balances, at any given time, are within $500 of a previous year’s balance for the past 3 years.  We have a balanced budget, and are enjoying dinners, speakers, quality raffles, tournaments, dive events and numerous club fishing/diving trips on a regular basis.
     Gee I forgot to mention annual awards that are second to none, and always beautiful trophies.  Let me not forget the wonderful efforts of Bill Dudziak for his unbelievable efforts putting together several high-end social events for our fishing and diving family.  His hard work, and the generosity of other club members providing facilities has saved the club hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars over the past few years. 
     Going forward I strongly encourage all members to participate in all our activities and take advantage of your membership benefits.  At monthly meetings we do our best to provide quality raffles, the profit of these raffles provides income to keep membership dues down and also goes towards the purchase of door prizes.
    One last note, during the last year substantial effort went into the administrative effort of turning our association into a 501 (c)(7) Non-Profit Social Group for purposes of our tax filings, which legally eliminates our tax obligations.  Note, we are not a 501 charity.  Sorry no charity deductions here.   

Bottom line: our association is in excellent fiscal shape.

May all of you have tight lines for the New Year.

I look forward to serving the association as Treasurer for the coming year.

Mike Price  
Treasurer
 

UPCOMING EVENTS1/29/20 – LHPSSA Meeting at LHPYC – see below
2/4/20 – Fish City Pride Tournament
2/5/20 – LHPSSA BOD Meeting at LHPYC
3/7/20 – Hat Tournament 
3/21/20 – LHPSSA Casino Party, Sea Ranch Lakes 6-11pm
3/28/20 – Chokoloskee Tournament
4/25/20 – Hat Tournament (meat fish)
5/16/20 – Key West Trip
7/25/20 – Hat Tournament (Dolphin)

This Month we have another great SPEAKER!!!
 
Capt. Rick Murphy

Most of you will recognize Capt Rick from the TV show Florida Insider Fishing Report. He has fished all around the world and has a wealth of knowledge. A topic of discussion for the meeting will be the legendary Casa Viejo Lodge and the unique fishing they have to offer. Below is a biography on our speaker ….
 
All my life I’ve been fishing for adventure––and boy, did I find it––in the waters off Key Biscayne, Lake Okeechobee and beyond … in the TV studio where I get to share tips and techniques with viewers to improve their catch … in the friendships of my crew and sponsors who believe in me and support what we do … in the faces of kids who’ve just discovered what I found out when I was five: fishing is a blast!
My family calls me a fishaholic. That’s because I even fish on my day off. (The funny thing is, they’re usually right there with me!) All I know is I’m hooked––on nature, the thrill of the sport, my fellow anglers and fans, and championing the cause of conservation by reminding others of our duty to preserve our oceans and their inhabitants.
In life, people often judge you by the numbers. And every year since 1994 ours have grown stronger. We’ve gone from one show to three, thousands of viewers to millions, and one or two sponsors to dozens. But the numbers aren’t what get me up in the morning. It’s the joy of guiding, fishing, teaching and being outdoors that turns every day into an adventure. I hope you’ll join me.
Awards and Recognition
•Fishing Guide, Founder & CEO RM Media
•Host, Florida Insider Fishing Report 2004-Present); Texas Insider Fishing Report (2017-Present), Sportsman’s Adventures (1994-Present)
•One of only two fishing guides to win the four Keys Tarpon Fly Fishing Tournaments (Ladies Tarpon Fly, Golden Fly, Don Hawley and Gold Cup)
•Angler of the Year IFA Redfish Tour (2004, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013)
•Angler of the Year Honors (ESPN, FLW and IFA Redfish Tours)
•South Florida Sailfish Circuit winner
•Master Angler Jimmy Johnson National Billfish Championship (2015 & 2016)
•Only professional redfish angler to win three Redfish Titles in 12-month period (two FLW Redfish Championships and one ESPN Redfish Cup)
•Only angler to win saltwater championships, both inshore and offshore, in
every category (bonefish, redfish, sailfish, tarpon and permit)
•All-time winningest saltwater tournament angler in U.S.
“Rick has an uncanny ability to connect with his fans––whether they’re 5 years old or 80. People respect his knowledge and are pleasantly surprised by his humility. When he catches a fish, he’s genuinely excited. He’s one in a million.” ~Brie Gabrielle
“Rick lives to fish. He doesn’t care what the species is as long at it tests his skill and sportsmanship. He is the only person I know in fishing who produces 65 shows in 26 weeks. He is truly living his dream.”
 

 

LHPSSA 2019 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

PRESIDENT: JOHN PIOTROWSKI
VICE PRESIDENT: TRAE WEST
TREASURER: MIKE PRICE
SECRETARY: TOM HELLER
MEMBERSHIP: TOM MATTHEWS
FISHING TOURNAMENTS:  JEROMINO GRASSI, TED ZIEL, JAKE BRYANT, TOM WYE, ARNIE SEDEL 
DIVE: STEVE SIEGEL, 
MEETINGS: TRAE WEST
NEWSLETTER / SAFTEY: MARK REPETSKI
SOCIAL: BILL DUDZIAK
COMMUNICATIONS: JOE WHITEFALL

 

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November 2019 Newsletter

LHPSSA NEWSLETTER

NOVEMBER 2019 ISSUE
 

PRESIDENT’S REPORT
JOHN PIOTROWSKI
 

Dear Fellow Club Members,
 
I hope this letter finds you all doing well! Our club – THE  – LIGHTHOUSE POINT SALTWATER SPORTSMANS ASSOCIATION has some really great things coming up so we figured it would be a great time to revamp our communications. It feels good to be kicking the fall off with a brand new newsletter! Thank you Joe, Mark, Dennis, and the team for figuring out a new format! We will do our best to keep them coming!
 
We are just coming off another great Club Wahoo Trip that was a success! Some nice Wahoo caught aboard the Relentless with the never faltering Capt. Siegel on the helm. Great work guys! They braved the rough seas to cross on a snotty day only to be rewarded with a less crowded Bimini and more fish. Such a blessing to have guys from the club to make that trip!

The winning didn’t stop there! Trae West put together another great Club Battle Tournament  that was a huge success! From what I hear the World Famous Meat Wagon Wins Again! Great job boys – sails, dolphin, smiles all around. We will call that a win for the LHPSSA as most of the anglers were from LHPSSA and the others were members of the LHPSSA before joining other clubs. Kona Blue finished second out of the LHPSSA boats. Great job Capt. Golden! Gene Stoller and Charlie Berkley fished with Mike. 3rd Place for the LHPSSA boats went to My Time/Big Dog Tackle with Trae West representing for the club. Congrats to all for doing a great job representing our club!
 
I know you guys can’t stop winning so we have on of our first Fall Hat Tournaments coming up on December 14th! The Tournament Committee will be announcing the Game Plan at our November Club Meeting on Wednesday 11/20/2019. I hear Trae is going to out do himself with door prizes this month!
 
Although the weather did not cooperate as we would of liked –  a special Thank You to Arnie for putting together another fantastic Venice Trip. Some time in New Orleans and the ride out of the Mississippi is worth the trip in and of itself. I know several of the boats loaded up with Tuna even though the seas were rough. The evenings in the lodge by the bar with your friends from the club never gets old.
 
I am very proud to announce we have just inducted 7 new members bringing our Membership to almost 90 again and I hear we have a number of new potential candidates in the pipeline! Very exciting to get some new blood involved. I would join just to get one of those fancy new shirts that our famous artist and special guest member Dennis Friel was awesome enough to design. Thank you Dennis!
 
I also hear we have some really exciting club parties on the horizon. We all know that when Bill gets to planning we all are in for a treat! Charlie Greenberg has graciously offered his beautiful new home as a venue. Wait till you see his new crib! More details to come in this months meeting at the Yacht Club!

Also this year we launched the “LHPSSA Fishing Reports & Intel” group on the FishAngler mobile app so that club members can stay connected to the LHPSAA community, share in real time their Fishing Experiences, and submit Fishing Reports to compete for yearly awards, all within a private LHPSSA membership environment. So far 50% of the club has downloaded the app and joined the group! We want to encourage everyone in the club to join the LHPSSA group and contribute. During the monthly LHPSSA meetings while sharing fishing reports around the room, we hope to be able to show off photos of your catches that you have posted!
 
We will be running into 2020 with swelling membership, really cool and new fishing tournaments and events, a calendar of really top notch speakers and some new meeting venues. Its so special for me to see the new relationships that develop as our club grows and to know that many of our members lives will be forever changed because of our great members and the friendships they develop. Even those members that move away, enter different phases of their life or just take a break from club life – they will never lose the memories, friends and experiences they gained from THE ONE AND ONLY –  LIGHTHOUSE POINT SALTWATER SPORTSMANS ASSOCIATION.
 
Looking forward to see all of you at the upcoming events!
 
Sincerely – 
Your President

TOURNAMENT REPORT
 This previous weekend on November 16th 2019, Big Dog Tackle held their 2nd annual Club Battle Tournament. Being a Sailfish and Meatfish combined tournament, this gave many teams a chance to pull together enough points to win the glory for their club. LHPSSA club members Tom Jones, Steve Siegel, and Mike Price along with their crew on the Meat Wagon managed to catch and release 4/5 sailfish, 4 gaffer mahi mahi, and a keeper kingfish.  Their sails were enough to push them to the top of the leaderboard and crown them champion of the 2nd annual Club Battle Tournament. 

The Bimini Wahoo Trip was 10/26 – 28 out of the Bimini Big Game Club. Unfortunately, the weather played havoc with this trip and only one boat made the crossing. It was a struggle but Team Relentless finally got into some nice wahoo. Steve Siegel was joined by Tom Heller, Joe Whitefall, Eric Melnicoff and Mark Repetski as well as a couple other members of the Sir’ Reel team. They rounded out the trip with a day of free diving and spearfishing at Middle Isaacs.

The next HAT tournament is around the corner and we only have two boats and 6 anglers signed up at this time. We could certainly use more boats and anglers for this tournament. The more members we can get the better. This will keep out friendly competitive HAT tournament tradition alive. Check your schedule and sign up now!

We are planning on having the Hat tournament Saturday December 14th. We are going to be in the middle of sailfish season and this is a perfect window to do our annual sailfish tournament. If you would like to enter your boat or be an angler, please feel free to email me (jeronimo1996@hotmail.com) or text me at 954-224-4184.

Depending on how many boats and anglers participate we can book the yacht club for lunch and weigh-in after fishing. 

Tournament Rules:

Lines in will be 7:00am and lines out will be 1:00pm.                                    

Point System

Sailfish release is 25 points each

If there are no sailfish caught, the winner will be decided by meat fish at 1 point per pound. Any legal all size fish will count.                                        

Eligible meat fish are: 

Kingfish (24 inches to the fork)

Wahoo (No size limit)

Tuna (No size limit)

Cobia (33 inches to the fork)

Dolphin (20 inches to the fork)

Jeronimo Grassi

Leaderboard 2019-2020:
 

Dolphin Wahoo Kingfish Blackfin Tuna Swordfish Cobia
Pete Prior 24.9 lbs   Frank Schmidt 18 lbs.   Ted Ziel 216lbs  
Thomas Matlock 18lbs          
           
           

 

Snook Tarpon Bonefish Permit Redfish (over 26 inches)
Allen Furia 27lbs     Mark Repetski 15lbs Allen Furia 42 Inch’s
        Allen Furia 38 Inch’s
         

 
Sailfish Catches Per Day 

  1. Meat Wagon Tom Jones 4 sails released

 
Most Outstanding Catch Nominations:

  • None

 
Tournaments Results 2019/2020:

  • Hat tournament winners June 29,2019 (only 2 boats weighted in)

1st) Final Judgement- Tom Mathews, Jeronimo Grassi (mate), Ken Whyte, Robert Roy
2rd) Crescendo – Charley Greenberg, Randy Strauss (mate), Trae west, John Kent 

  • Venice trip Oct 10-13, 2019
    • No tournament points tracked due to weather
  • CLUB BATTLE 2019 (Nov 16th 2019)

1st – Meat wagon – Tom Jones, Steve Siegel and Mike Price
2rd – Kona Blue – Charlie Berkley
3rd – My Time/Big Dog Tackle – Trae West
 
 2019 / 2020 LHPSSA CLUB ANNUAL AWARDS Rules

Goal: 
To create a fun and challenging competition that is fair and equitable for our club members. 
We want to encourage the highest participation amongst active club members. This year’s goal is to double the number of fishing reports gathered last year (27 reports) and make the information more usable to members.
Apr 1st, 2019 / March 31, 2020 Annual Awards & Tournaments rules:
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 a catch with the following information filled out.

  • Catch Date:
  • Fish Species:
  • Catch Location:
  • Weight:
  • Length:
  • Bait used:

How to report “LHPSSA Realtime Fishing Reports”!

Catch’s must be submitted to the “LHPSSA Fishing Reports & Intel” group on the FREE FishAngler Apple & Google Play store mobile app. Post a “catch” with the following information filled out.

  • Catch Date: Required
  • Fish Species: Required
  • Catch Location: Required
  • Weight: Required
  • Length: optional
  • 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. 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

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

  1. Once the App is downloaded & your registered
    1. Open the FishAngler 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 Fishing Report

  1. Open the FishAngler mobile app
  2. Tap on “+” icon on the bottom of screen
  3. 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. Add a catch description – required
    3. Tap on Catch Date – required
    4. Tap on Fish Species – required
    5. Tap Catch Position – use map to mark spot if not automatically updated  
    6. Tap on “Bait Type” – optional
    7. Tap on Next button on bottom of menu
    8. Tap on Catch Weight – required
    9. Tap on Catch Length – optional
    10. Scroll down and tap on NEXT button
    11. 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 Post with FishAngler community” to “NO”
    12. Tap on POST at bottom of menu!
    13. You’re done, the report will should up to all member on the following newsfeed!

 


DIVE REPORT

It has been a tough year so far for lobsters, especially compared to last year, although there have been some reports in the last week of good numbers in shallow.  Hogfish season is now closed, but there have been some nice black grouper taken off the third reef this month.  The guys on Relentless put in a day of spearing after wahoo fishing over in Bimini and got some nice hogfish.  If any of the divers in the club want to get out either locally for some dives or head across to spear some fish, reach out to dive chairman Steve Siegel and he will try to put something together.

Steve Siegel

 

UPCOMING EVENTS11/6 – BOARD MEETING: WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 6TH AT 6:00PM AT LHPYC
11/20 – ASSOCIATION MEETING: WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 20TH AT 6PM AT LHPYC
12/14 – HAT Tournament
12/14 – Holiday Party at Charlie Greenberg’s 6pm
2/8/20 – Hat Tournament (Sailfish)
3/28/20 – Chokoloskee Tournament
4/25/20 – Hat Tournament (meat fish)
5/16/20 – Key West Trip
7/25/20 – Hat Tournament (Dolphin)

 

LHPSSA 2019 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

PRESIDENT: JOHN PIOTROWSKI
VICE PRESIDENT: TRAE WEST
TREASURER: MIKE PRICE
SECRETARY: TOM HELLER
MEMBERSHIP: TOM MATTHEWS
FISHING TOURNAMENTS:  GEROMINO GRASSI, TED ZIEL, JAKE BRYANT, TOM WYE, ARNIE SEDEL 
DIVE: STEVE SIEGEL, 
MEETINGS: TRAE WEST
NEWSLETTER / SAFTEY: MARK REPETSKI
SOCIAL: BILL DUDZIAK
COMMUNICATIONS: JOE WHITEFALL

 

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Happy Holidays and a Safe New Year!! Thank you Members for 2016!

Dear Members,

What a fantastic year for the club! We have enjoyed record membership and attendance, fantastic events and record setting catches!

Thank you to all of you for participating and helping this club be as great as it is!

The board of directors wants to wish all of you a safe and Happy Holiday!

We look forward to an even better 2017!

Sincerely,

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SWORDFISH TOURNAMENT – SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 19TH – SIGN UP NOW

Our annual swordfish tournament will be Saturday Night, September 19th.  Fishing time will be from 7 p.m. – 1:00 a.m.  No electric reels, although crews can certainly go out earlier in the day and do some drops on the electric or fish  for whatever else – those fish just won’t count for the tournament.  Each captain can choose 2 mates, although you may be required to bring an additional 2 LHPSSA anglers, depending on how many anglers sign up.  Please let me know ASAP if you are planning to fish.  You can sign up on the website or email me at ssiegel@laborlawyers.com.  Thanks.

So far we have 3 boats signed up, so we could use some more boats and some more anglers.

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