Iraq and Afghanistan Veteran’s Free Fishing Charters - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

tattoobob · 03-10-2008, 07:31 PM

Rich is good people,

Squid kids Dad · 03-10-2008, 07:41 PM

Can we donate $'s

Slingah · 03-10-2008, 07:48 PM

this is a great idea...I made it a sticky

JohnR · 03-10-2008, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squid kids Dad

Can we donate $'s

First one to put up $100 - I'll match it

Good work!

Squid kids Dad · 03-10-2008, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnR

First one to put up $100 - I'll match it

Good work!

Consider it done JohnR..Where do we send it???

ilovetwofish · 03-11-2008, 05:30 AM

Very nice of all of you.

fishonnelsons · 03-11-2008, 06:39 AM

Thanks guys - the response has been tremendous!!

Any donations should be sent to Rich Wood, P.O. Box 1175, Truro, MA 02666. On the memo line please write "Veterans Fishing Charters"

The $$$ will go towards the food and beverages, and if we get enough I will probably get some small fishing combo's for the children.

JohnR · 03-11-2008, 06:56 AM

Excellent - check goes out tonight...

2na · 03-11-2008, 07:52 AM

Great job Rich - I'm in for $100

saltfly · 03-11-2008, 10:16 AM

GREAT IDEA!!! I'm in $100.just thought of it.I'll also donate a custom fly rod and a dozen flies.Anyone donate a reel and line???

Flaptail · 03-11-2008, 11:15 AM

When Rich e-mailed this to me I forwarded it to our local veterans agent for the towns I am involved with through my work.

Please do the same.

Thanks Rich!!!!

justplugit · 03-11-2008, 12:50 PM

AWESOME.

What a great tribute to our Vets.

Thank You!!!
check in mail.

eelskimmer · 03-11-2008, 02:14 PM

What's the parking situation at McMillan Pier. If it is
paid parking perhaps owner would like to donate free
parking. Certainly if parking is on town streets maybe the
selectmen would like to forgive the vets any fines, Etc.

fishonnelsons · 03-11-2008, 03:42 PM

Going to see Bobby and Vaugh about parking on their Pier, Fisherman's Wharf, although the dedication of the re-built Catholic Church is on the same day and they are having the big celebration on that wharf.

Will also try to get the town to give us some chits for the public lot right at the base of McMillan, I think that will work.

Got the first 2 signee's this afternoon - an Iraq vet and his wife from Ct.

saltfly · 03-11-2008, 04:34 PM

rich how about a shuttle from the shop ? just an idea.maybe arts dune tours donating a mv.

basswipe · 03-11-2008, 04:40 PM

I will also put up money.

How about volunteers to help?

Slipknot · 03-11-2008, 04:53 PM

That is great

What a nice thing you guys are all doing.

I'll let Danny's friend's father know about it.

BMEUPSCOTTY · 03-11-2008, 04:59 PM

This is great! To all those responsible and all those who are jumping in to donate to this cause:

I told my GF about this as soon as I saw it. Her son was just home from Taji for a month, returned to Fort Hood a week ago. His commitment is due to be done before his unit is scheduled to go back over, but they can still grab him and keep him in if they want?

Anyways, he's not really a fisherman but I know he would jump at the chance to hang out w/me, doing my thing. I doubt he will be able to get back home again by then, but he's gonna try. If he can't make it, I would like to volunteer to help, good idea basswipe.

Also, would this not be worthy of an auction of some type?

fishonnelsons · 03-12-2008, 06:26 AM

Good thought on the shuttle Saltfly, not sure if we have enough spaces over there with the other businesses in operation though - I expect maybe 25 to 30 separate vehicles for each session. I think I can get the town to ante up, if not alot of people are donating $$$ and we can probably cover the parking.

As far as volunteers, anyone willing to help out that day - maybe just setting up for coffee/doughnuts in the morning, working the grill, escorting people to the boats, whatever comes up - please PM me name, phone number, etc and I will make a list and as we get closer contact you.

Keep the cards and letters coming - need all the ideas and help we can get!

2na · 03-12-2008, 08:39 AM

Great idea as to bring this to the attention of the local Veteran's Agents, Flap. I just went on line and found a site where you can find your local one real fast :

http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=veterans...teransagents_A

So we don't 2X, I'm in the proces of sending everything to Quincy.

fishonnelsons · 03-14-2008, 04:28 PM

Thanks to Capt Colby, Little Sister Charters, PTMike, Saltfly and Dave Kuehne for stepping up to the plate!! All received and accounted for!

cb2fly · 03-29-2008, 02:26 PM

I would like to offer a nice flyreel and 2nd spool and a few flies for saltfly's nice donation of a custom 9 wt fly rod. A Sink tip and Intermediate AirFlo lines, leaders & flies. Thanks Rich for organizing this trip for our servicemen & women. i contacted saltfly already with details.... Chuck

strpr3 · 04-06-2008, 10:03 AM

As one of the guys signing up for this (I got back last week), I want to say thank you to all involved. I've seen these kinds of fishing trips advertised for OIF/OEF vets down south, but this is the first I've seen here in NE. Though I'm a boat owner and enjoy being my own captain, it'll be a very nice treat to have someone else take me and my wife & kids out for an afternoon and providing lunch. Thanks guys!

bart · 04-06-2008, 10:55 AM

thank you for your service!

cb2fly · 05-25-2008, 12:53 PM

Hello to all the supporters of the First Annual Charters for Veterans & their Families:
Saltfly, BillyBlanks and cb2Fly (me) have collaborated on a nice 9 WT Fly Outfit that will be auctioned off to support these fantastic Servicemen and women who have sacrificed for us!
I am sending the reels and flies to Rich on Tuesday morning, he already has a nice custom 9Wt flyrod that Saltfly built for the cause. So to those that want to support and haven' found the right avenue, this is your chance. I will post some pics of the outfit soon.

The package will be set up and ready to fish and will include:
9'0" Premium Graphite Flyrod ("The Craftsman" SaltFly has details)
ECHO 6/9 Large Arbor Fly Reel with Extra Spool- GREAT SW REEL
AirFlo COLD SALT SInk tip and Intermediate Fly lines w 30lb Backing
1 Doz Great "The Greatest Striper Flies EVER" collection from BillyBlanks. Bid high and often when it is listed, thanks Billy and Saltfly for taking action to support our troops! cb
here are some of the links:
http://www.echoflyfishing.com/reels.php
http://www.flylines.com/Flylines_Air..._Saltwater.cfm
http://www.flylines.com/Flylines_Air...er_Striper.cfm

fishonnelsons · 05-28-2008, 05:42 AM

Hello to all - an update on the event.

We have 20 boats - over sixty veterans and 120 of their kids and spouse's - we are full!!!

Donations have come in, and stores etc. are donating food items.

As cb2fly notes - we also have some great items we are raffling off. In addition to the reel and flies, plus Saltfly's great rod, William and Chritine Davison from Seaford, New York donated a ten ft. St. Croix Premier surf rod and a Penn 560 Slammer.

We are selling tickets at the tackle shop(508-487-0034), and at the event, for $10 - buy one ticket and you have a chance to win either outfit - all the tickets go into a bucket and we pull two winners the day of the event.

Just a big thanks to everyone who has donated and stepped up to the plate with time and donations - we will post pictures and personally get back to everyone after the event - Thanks Again.

Sweetwater · 06-07-2008, 03:18 PM

Tomorrow is the big day! Good luck to everyone and acknowledgements to Rich and everyone for doing this. Now go put those folks on big fish!

2na · 06-09-2008, 07:22 AM

What a fantastic event Rich! A great day. Our 1st trip we got -0-, but our 2nd charter was with Captain David Roy, his wife Michelle and son Nick (5) out of Attleboro. Captain Roy had returned home from Baghdad Thursday(!) and this was his 1st weekend home. His family had never been to Ptown (they are spending the week there), nor had he ever caught a striper. 2 keepers, largest a fat 32-33". A great way to spend the day. Thanks to our servicemen, and thanks to you Rich - can't overstate what a great event it was, and all the great people in attendance.

fishonnelsons · 06-10-2008, 08:45 AM

We had the event on Sunday - great weather, sunny, calm waters, went really really nice.

Ended up with 13 charter boat guys and 7 recreational boats who also volunteered, and took out a total of 175 people - approx. 65 vets and their spouses and kids. Had a morning trip and afternoon trips, and alot of fish were caught up to about 25 pounds, which the mates filleted and bagged.

We had a great breakfast for all, and an even better lunch - made possible by the numerous donations we received from people on this site and direct from area restaurants. Alot of the people actually came for the weekend, as some hotels gave 50% off discounts.

I will post some pictures, but need to downsize them and re-load the rest of them.

Bottom line - THANKS to all who made this possible, too many to mention, but 2na, who actually got on a boat to mate, and Saltfly who donated a custom fly rod and BillyBlanks and cb2fly donated flies, line and reel, Bill Davison who donated a 10 ft St Croix and slammer reel, and on and on. I hope to get a CD made of the event as our local TV station was there, and then I will distribute it out to all who helped pull this off.

The Vets and their families really had a great time and were very, very thankful for the entire event - it was a real nice time.