Fishing is my passion. Before it was my passion, it was my hobby. Before it was my hobby, it was an activity. Before it was an activity, it was a curiosity. Along this journey, I never had a mentor. But, I have had the opportunity to collaborate and fish with great anglers. The angler who has had the greatest impact on my fishing was my friend Tony Stetzko.

I first met Tony Stetzko at a fishing show hosted by the Plum Island Surfcasters. That following season, I fished an incoming tide on the very beach that he landed the Massachusetts state record striped bass of 73 lbs. He taught me how to read the water and how to fish plugs. To this day, I never see the surf the like a pedestrian. As my eyes scan the surf, my mind visualizes the sub-surface structures and how to best fish them.

The last time I saw Tony Stetzko was at a New England Saltwater Fishing Show. He came up to me and said “Hi Julio. How’s it’s going? I was looking through my fishing journal and I saw my notes from our trip. We should get out and fish together again.” After the show, life got busy. And then life got busier. And before I could drop him a line, he passed.

Life continues to happen. The demands on my time continue to grow. But, now I make time to get out and fish with friends. I also make time to share my fishing knowledge and experience with other anglers in my blog articles and seminars. Life is short. Go fish!

Large predatory fish are not vegetarians. The best presentation to hook a trophy fish is a fresh chunk. To keep your chunks fresh, you need a cooler. An optimal chunking cooler is the Coleman 16 quart cooler. It’s hard shell can take abuse. It’s walls are stuffed with insulation to retain temperature. The non-removable flat top can be used as a cutting board. Hence, it’s a good chunking cooler. But, with a simple modification, it can become a great chunking cooler!

Customizing a cooler for portable, hands-free chunking is easy. All you need is basic tools and inexpensive materials.

Materials

• Coleman 16 Quart Cooler
• Shoulder strap
• 2 Carabiners
• 4 1/4″ x 1.25″ Stainless Steel Washers
• 2 1/4″ x 2 1/2″ Stainless Steel Eye Bolts
• 2 1/4″ Stainless Steel Nuts

Tools

• Power Drill
• 1/4″ Drill Bit
• Adjustable Wrench

First, make a 1/4″ hole on each side of the cooler using a drill bit and power drill. Be sure to make the holes at the same height from the bottom and centered on the sides.

Second, insert a stainless steel washer on to the stainless steel eye bolts. Insert each eye bolt into the holes.

Insert a second stainless steel washer onto the eyes bolts. Secure the stainless steel nuts on the eye bolts using an adjustable wrench.

Third, clip a carabiner to each end of the shoulder strap. Clip each carabiner to an eye bolt. Adjust the shoulder strap until the cooler hangs at waist level.

You could use a soft cooler with a built in shoulder strap. But! They do not hold up the demands of chunking the surf on a regular basis. The zipper is typically the first thing to break; followed by a punched wall or worn out corner. I have had my Coleman chunking cooler for 15 years!

Capture fishing tournaments put a lot of pressure on fisheries. Capture and release tournament that use live wells reduce pressure, but they do not work for all species. A new type of fishing tournament is becoming main stream: Capture Picture Release Tournaments. CPR tournaments are a win/win for fish and anglers.

PHOTO CREDIT: Jonathan O’Connor

There are C.P.R. tournaments across the nation for various species. They are primarily length based. This verification method helps the fish. Improperly weighing a fish can damage or stress the fish, which can lead to death and defeats the purpose of C.P.R.

To participate in a C.P.R. tournament you only need a ruler and a camera. Waterproof point-and-shoot digital camera’s are readily available on the market at nominal prices. An alternative is to use a smartphone with a water proof case. Just be sure to secure your camera or phone via lanyard!

A digital camera (or smart phone) will $ave you buckets of money that would have otherwise gone to the taxidermist. No taxidermist can capture the color and sounds of landing a trophy fish. No taxidermist.

I participate in several fishing tournaments throughout the year. I enjoy the competition and social interaction with other anglers who are equally passionate about fishing. But! I only participate in Catch and Release tournaments or tournaments with a Catch and Release division. This is my personal choice. If you want to remember and share your catch, save fish, and save money, then C.P.R..

Fish360 Journal 5.5 is now live! This release is overflowing with fishy features!

SUN, MOON, TIDE, WEATHER
The sun, moon, tide, and weather all influence your fishing. To learn how they can impact your fishing, you need to record data for 15 parameters when you catch a fish. I personally would rather spend more time fishing than record keeping. In this release, when you add a fish, the sun, moon, tide, and weather information is now automatically collected and saved with your fish!

SPOTS
One of my favorite features of the Fish360 Journal is spots. Having the ability to collect photos and notes on my spots and centralize them in my journal is a huge time saver. I have limited memory in my brain! Too many spots and too many subtle details to recall. In this release, when you add a new spot, the LAT and LONG fields are now automatically populated with your current location. For example, when you find a new hole in the Cape Cod Canal or a new drop off in your favorite river or lake, you can now create a spot and the LAT and LONG will automatically saved with your newly found spot.

REPORTS
The only reason to keep a fishing journal is to find patterns. In addition to using Search to find patterns, you can now use Reports. In this release we have added four reports that will help you visualize patterns: Time of Year, Spots, Presentations, and Moon Phase. You can generate these reports for all time and all species or limit them to a specific date range and species.

We are working on additional reports to help you identify additional patterns. One of them is wicked fishy!

PRIVACY
By default, your Fish360 Journal account is private. No other subscriber can see your data. In this release, you can now choose to share your fish catch data with organisations that manage and contribute to the recreational fishing. By providing organisations like NOAA and your local state fisheries department with your fish catch data, they can better manage our fisheries by making data-driven decisions. A well managed fishery helps the fish and anglers. It’s a win/win! 😉

USABILITY
We are always looking for ways to improve the usability of Fish360 Journal. In this release, we have made some small, but significant improvements. First, we added content specific icons for Trips, Fish, Spots, Gear, Searches, and Reports. Second, the species field on Fish, Spots, Search, and Reports now auto-suggests species as you type. Thirdly, the fish caught date now defaults to trip start date. And fourthly, the web app no saves your login credentials. This allows you to switch between apps on your device without having to re-login. Very convenient!

The Fish360 Journal Angler Edition gives you access to all the functionality for FREE. The Angler Edition only limits the number of trips, fish, spots, gear, photos, searches, and photos you can create. You can now upgrade to the Fish360 Pro Angler Edition for unlimited content for only $10.00 per month. Subscribe today for FREE and start identifying patterns!

GoTight.Net runs annual catch and release tournaments for striped bass. We are proud to have Jonathan O’Connor and Josh Foster from our Surf Team competing in this years’s GoTight.Net Surfcasters’ Classic and Cow Hunt.

Jonathan O’Connor learned how to surfcast from his father 30 years ago. Since his first trip to Race Point, he has been refining his craft. His systematic and high energy approach helped him realize his personal best: a 47 lb striped bass that engulfed a live eel during a dark night from a jetty on the South Shore of Massachusetts. He likes to fish the entire water column with his Century rods and Van Staal reels spooled with Suffix 832 braid. But, his favorite genre of plugs is pencil poppers. His Flatlander bag is never without a Guppy a pencil popper, or two, or three! 😉 On rare occasions, he has been spotted surfcasting without a wet suit.

Jonathan O’Connor practices selective harvest. He releases all BIG breading fish and keeps a couple of legal size fish each season to enjoy with his family. When competing, he only fishes tournaments with a catch and release division or category. His passion for surfcasting can be seen in his smile as he watches a large fish swim away.

Josh Foster has been fishing for 20+ years. His method of choice is Surfcasting with Century rods and Van Staal and ZeeBaaS reels spooled with Spider Wire Invisibraid. He stuffs his Flatlander bag with wood, plastic, and metal presentations fish the entire water column. His go-to plugs to fish the water column are: Linesider69 needlefish, Super Strike darter, and Bomber swimmers, and Diawa SP Minnows.

Josh Foster is a classic trophy hunter practicing CPR (Capture, Picture, Release). When he fishes tournaments, he only submits fish to the catch and release division or category. With the aid of his log, he landed his personal best: a striped bass with a 49.5″ length and a 31″ girth.  This fish (with a calculated weight of 53.17 lbs) was landed on the North Shore of Massachusetts. The fish swam away to spawn another day.

In addition to their combined 50+ years of fishing experience and top gear, Jonathan O’Connor and Josh Foster will be utilizing a novel tool while fishing the GoTight.Net tournaments: Fish360 Journal!

My friend Earl Pacella has been fishing king salmon for 25 years. This past January he presented “Kings of New York” at the Plum Island Surfcasters.

Earl’s seminar was full of great tips. For example:

1. Bring dark and light polarized sunglasses with you. Wear them at all times. They help you see fish and structure below the water’s surface and will protect you eyes against a flying split shot when a king of New York snaps your line.
2. Learn the regulations! Bring cash with you for fines, in case you break the law un-knowingly.
3. Read “The Complete Guide to the Salmon River” by George Douglas.
4. Have your fish cleaned at a fishing station: cleaning fish on the river banks is illegal!

Earl Pacella’s great seminar has inspired me to take a road trip this fall! 😉

Fishing is not made in the U.S.A.. But, there are lots of fishing opportunities in the U.S.A! There are no shortage of saltwater fish and freshwater fish to target.

There are nearly countless fishing guide books and information available for fishing in the United States of America. But, did you know that each state has it’s own fishery website with overflowing free information?  FREE! 😉

EAST COAST

1. Maine
2. New Hampshire
3. Massachusetts
4. Rhode Island
5. Connecticut
6. New York
7. New Jersey
8. Delaware
9. Maryland
10. Virginia
11. North Carolina
12. South Carolina
13. Georgia
14. Florida

 SOUTH COAST

1. Alabama
2. Mississippi
3. Louisiana
4. Texas

 WEST COAST

1. California
2. Oregon
3. Washington
4. Alaska
5. Hawaii

INTER-COSTAL

1. Montana
2. Nevada
3. Arkansas
4. Idaho
5. Illinois
6. Utah
7. New Mexico
8. Colorado
9. Wyoming
10. North Dakota
11. South Dakota
12. Nebraska
13. Kansas
14. Oklahoma
15. Minnesota
16. Michigan
17. Iowa
18. Wisconsin
19. Arkansas
20. Tennessee
21. Kentucky
22. Indiana
23. Ohio
24. West Virginia
25. Vermont

I have a small library of guide books that I am expanding. But, I augment them with the information from each state’s fisheries website. All the information on these websites simply cannot be condensed into a book that you can easily carry. 😉

Many moons ago whilst walking through the halls of knowledge at my college, I had the selfish privilege of studying art. Philosophical arguments aside, art for me is something that is conceived in a person’s imagination and crafted into form to be viewed and enjoyed by others. Art is personal. Art connects with the viewer and makes him or her feel something. Lauren Grainer and Caroline Grainger create such works of art in their shop on Sandwich, Massachusetts.

Lauren and Caroline, yes they are sisters, answered their vocation four years ago. Their passion and energy for their craft is reflected in the 100+ amazing aquatic species from 3.5 inches to 42 inches. They are always working on something new. For example, they are currently working on a smaller Dolphinfish and Sand dollar. Clearly, they are artists. But, they also do responsible “stuff” like pay bills (when necessary).

Each sculpture in Grainger Pottery Sandwich is life-like and bursting with color. So much so that the fish look like they are swimming the wall! My artistic appreciation is infinite. But, buy funds are finite. So I chose the fish that I connected with most: cod. Why? Well. It’s delicious! All joking aside, cod has strong cultural significance in my Portuguese heritage and to Massachusetts, which I call my home.

When I bought my cod from Lauren and Caroline at the New England Saltwater fishing show, I had no idea where I was going to hang it! Really!! No idea!!! Well, I can now say with confidence that a fish out of water looks at home in the kitchen. But, do not take my word for it. Just ask my envious friends.

Do you have a fish in your kitchen? Do you have a fish in your man cave? If not, I can help you select one. First, are you Portuguese? If yes, then cod. Second, do you live in Massachusetts? If yes, then cod (striped bass, sea bass, albie, bonito, sea bass, or tuna). Third, are you Portuguese and live in Massachusetts? If yes, then drop Lauren and Carolyn a line today! The cod are swimming out of the shop!!!

When I am kayak fishing in freshwater or saltwater, I tend to rest my paddle on my lap when I am re-rigging, changing presentations, casting, or fighting a fish. I have never lost my paddle! Why?

There are some fancy kayak paddle lanyards on the market. But, I trust my paddle with one of my custom DIY lanyards. I secure one end of my lanyard to my P.F.D. via carabiner and the other end of the lanyard to my paddle using a simple loop made from two zip lock ties and a 5″ segment of vinyl tubing. This loop is will not corrode. You can leave the zip ties exposed or cover them with black electrical tape.

Paddles are expensive. Lanyards (DIY or commercial) are inexpensive. Paddling back to the access ramp while your friend “hand paddles”, priceless! 😉

The Fish360 Journal web app has been live for a year now.  Fish360 Journal will help you to identify productive fishing patterns that lead to more hooks up with minimal data entry.  You can manage your trips, fish, spots, gear, and pictures securely from any device. Based on our extensive beta testing, we realized that the web app is good, but a native mobile app is what anglers really need.  My self included!  Hence, we started a Kickstarter project to raise funds to develop native mobile apps for iOS and Android devices.

You can back us in several ways.

1. $25 – 1 custom tied fly and 1 year free of Fish360 Journal Pro Edition.  That’s a $95.00 savings!
2. $50 – 2 custom tied fles and a 2 years free subscription to Fish360 Journal Pro Edition.  That’s a $190.00 savings!!
3. $75 – 4 custom tied flies and a 3 years free subscription to Fish360 Journal Pro Edition.  That’s a $285.00 savings!!!
4. $100 – 8 custom tied flies and a 4 years free subscription to Fish360 Journal Pro Edition.  That’s a $380.00 savings!!!!

Thank you in advance for backing us and telling all your friends about our Kickstarter project!