I wonder if fish celebrate the New Year. If they do, do they eat caviar?

Like many folks, as I prepared for 2007 to be ushered in I found myself reflecting on 2006. For me it was a fine year from an angler’s prospective.

We had a mild winter which meant that there was no “freeze” kills of drum and trout. Thus many of the fish that would have been killed grew larger and provided some nice catches this fall. I caught more red drum and speckled trout this past year than I have in many, many years. Not only more, but the fish were on average larger. Last year’s spike size specks were this year’s keepers.

Flounder are not as affected with the weather, so mild winters do little to help them. Still I caught my fair share of keeper flounder in 2006. My largest this year was a 4.5 pound fish. Large enough to have been a citation size catch in 2005 but the state upped the citation weight for flounder to 5 pounds in 2006. I even caught a few flounder last week. With that said, the pressure on flounder is very heavy and we as a fishing community need to take care in preserving this important fishery for the future.

I have a computer disk full of fish pictures from 2006. They testify to some great catches and some good times this past year. From king mackerel to red drum and many species in between, I have plenty of fond memories fishing in 2006.

Red Drum, now there’s a success story. Our official state fish was on the verge of becoming a relic of our memories. For so long little was understood about this fish’s life cycle. When I was young, it was commonly thought that puppy drum and red drum were two different but closely related species. Then studies were performed and information that the fish grows slowly and lives over 20 years became available. Once the life cycle was better understood, management of this important fishery could be effective. Today red drum are thriving in our waters. They still need to be protected but they have a chance now.

Speaking of studies, many anglers are hopeful that much of the revenue generated by the new Coastal Recreational Fishing License - CRFL or saltwater license as it is called by many - will be used for studies to protect our fisheries as well as to increase our fish stocks and enforcement of our laws. This is an excellent opportunity to enhance our saltwater fisheries, let’s keep the pressure on our government to use the money wisely.

Regarding the new CRFL, in case you haven’t heard it went into effect on January first this year. In the past you didn’t need a license to fish in North Carolina’s coastal waters. Now you need one for all public waters in NC, fresh, salt or brackish. But they are two different licenses. If you have a freshwater license that you purchased last year, you will still need to purchase a CRLF for 2007. They can be purchased from the same place, at the same time but require 2 separate fees. Of course just a CRFL can be purchased if you don’t plan on fishing in waters regulated by the Wildlife Resources Commission (freshwater).

A couple of important points – in the past you could fish on public waters in your county of residence with natural bait (dead or alive) without a license. This is no longer true. Starting on January 1, 2007 you will need a license for all fishing on public waters unless you qualify for an exemption (see the WRC rules for further details). Also, if you purchased a lifetime sportsman license on or before Dec 31, 2005 (the date is not a typo) you will never have to buy the CRFL.

Wishing you tight lines and a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!