I went to a meeting yesterday about....

[Flaptail]

Monomoy Island. I attended a meeting yesterday at the U.S.F.W.S Monomoy Island refuge HQ on Morris Island. There were a dozen or so of sportsfishermen, including myself who met with Bill Perry, Refuge Planner for the Eastern Massachusetts National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Bill is preparing the Comprehensive Conservation Plan that provides a 15 year management plan for the refuge. I must say I, along with one other gentlemen, were outnumbered by the Fly Fishing guys but we managed to get along and understand the purpose of why we were all there. This was a chance for the USFWS to get ideas on use by several major user groups. The USFWS refuge system is bound by an act of congress to see that besides, the welfare of the wildlife as being the main concern, that hunting and fishing be allowed to continue there as always. The forum offered yesterday an opportunity to air our concerns, dispel rumors, offer suggestions and ask for certain changes in policy. Major concerns were forwarded for rule inforcement ( not going where the posted signs say you can't go etc.), maintainance of the water "taxi" service to and from South Beach and North Monomoy( making tha service available at the Monomoy HQ @ Morris Island etc.), Compatibilty studies ( is a use compatible with the refuge, clamming yeah, Parasailing no) and having all activities on the island be based on Wildlife resource dependent ( ie; hunting and fishing, bird watching etc not jetskiing)

All who were there participated and many good solid suggestions were addressed. As for myself I asked if you could still land on south Monomoy to fish from shore. The answer is yes but only in daylight hours and avoid posted areas. I asked why couldn't we be able to fish there at night on either north or south Monomoy ( only Morris Island is available to night fishing) Nobody from the service in the room had any idea why and when that rule had been implemented but they said they would look into it) and I also asked that "when" not "if" South Beach joins south Monomoy would surfcasters be allowed to fish at night and asked that that be made part of the CCP plan. That would be one fine stretch of beach. ( The UFSWS is responsible for Monomoy and the National Park Service for South Beach, an agreement between the two or a demarcation line would have to be drawn somewhere along the beach). Even with the seal problem the fishing there could be outstanding.

There is a meeting to be held on April 5th at the Eldredge Library in Chatham from 11 am to 1 pm and another that night at the Chatham High School cafeteria from 7 pm to 9 pm. These will be scoping meeting where all are welcome to come where the USFWS explain the CCP and everyone there will be broken into working groups. You can also address your concerns/suggestions by writing to : Bill Perry, Refuge Planner, Eastern Massachusetts National Wildlife Refuge Complex, 73 Weir Hill Rd., Sudbury Ma 01776.

Monomy was once the greatest Surfcasting spot on Cape Cod. Many enjoy the flats and light tackle fishing there now. We have a chance to keep it that way and maybe make some changes that both protect the resource but get some lost access back.

[JohnR]

Very interesteing - thanks for the heads up!

[Bronko]

Great post Flap. I fish that area a lot. Log a lot of miles on foot out there. I had no idea about this meeting. Thanks for speaking up.

[fishweewee]

Flap, that whole area is gorgeous. I hope they open up more of it up for shore anglers, just the views alone are worth the trip.

[mooncusser]

Originally Posted by Flaptail

... I, along with one other gentlemen, were outnumbered by the Fly Fishing guys but we managed to get along and understand the purpose of why we were all there.

I'm confused by your statement here. Did you expect to get a beat-down from the fly fishermen? Why would you expect to not get along?

[capesams]

About 9 years ago we[5 guy's] asked the guy who watches over south momo. about fishing the back side at nite..he said not without a million dollar bond...well! it's a nice place at nite and it didn't cost a red cent...then the seals moved in the spot we liked...kiss nite fishing there goodbye.

[Karl F]

mooncusser... guess you've never run into a "clave" before... even if you were there first, they get quite territorial, and think any other form of fishing, be it plugs, tins, eels, or bait and wait, is not pure fishing, and your rights are not as important as theirs ... Flap used to flyfish

Keep us posted Flap, and let us know how it goes, or if you need a show of beach guys. I will admit, I'll be surprised, (pleasantly), if this flys.

[fishweewee]

The first mile or so of Morris Island is all salty flyrodders.

They're too wimpy to walk all the way to the end with all their heavy gear.

[tynan19]

Steve, great presentation the other day on Monomoy. One question I thought you said you can only fish the Point of North Monomoy near the seals from shore.

[Slipknot]

Thanks for going to the meeting and reporting back to us Flaptail.
It certainly will be interesting to see where this goes.

[NIB]

Nice work Steve.We have some of our same sportsman here in NJ that have taken the reigns in similar fashion.Its amazing what u can get done.spread the word of ur meetings to the press.it carries alot of weight.Good luck..Its a special place to u then its worth it.

[Rob Rockcrawler]

I have talked to one of the rangers who works for F&W at monomoy. They have a big problem there with people poaching horseshoe crabs at night. That may be a reason behind not allowing night fishing. I would think that more eyes on the beach would decrease the poaching. unfortunatly, the trash left behind by some fisherman is probably another reason its closed after dark. Ive never been out there but the ranger i know who works out there said i could tag along on patrol sometime, and that i could bring a rod with me.

[Flaptail]

Mooncusser, that was a joke. I was trying to lighten up the situation because most surfcasters and bait fishermen think that flyrodders think of themselves as elite, which is not true. Relax, your getting worked up for nothing. As Robrockcrawler stated the horseshoe crab harvesting at night has been a problem but carrying a little card in your wallet with some very important phone numbers could help an awful lot with that if you happened upon it, especially with your cell phone in your pocket. The flats at Monomoy are perfect for the flyrodder and access to them for them should be a high priority. So should access to the outer beaches of monomoy for surfcasters and bait fishermen. Policing ourselves should also be a high priority, whether it is at the Monomoy refuge or any shore you fish. It would be nice to see some other surfcasters at the April 6th meeting. Karl, don't be doubtful so fast. The failing fisherman have is that when faced with a dilemma concerning thier rights to fish or access to fish some where they usually don't put up much resistence as do other wildlife based groups. Here we have a chance to be heard and I will not let that chance go unheeded. If nothing comes of it than at least I can say I tried and that is all I am asking of you all. Let's at least try.

[capesams]

the rule's state that no comm. business shall take place on the refuge.
guiding
clamming
crabbing
etc..etc..
I think you'll find the only reason why the water taxi[private business] doesn't get shut off is because the bird watcher's also use it to access the noth end.

And the only reason the fly guy's are there is so they won't loose their ferry service to the same location. their not worried about not being able to fish the flat's which is permitted during the day....

[kippy]

Not to get too far off subject Flap, but what are the horseshoe crabs poached? I didnt think you could eat them. Last time i was there it looked like a horseshoe crab graveyard from all the birds eating them.