Tuesday, Feb. 02, 2010

Local Outdoors notebook: Youth Waterfowl Days set for next month

By Gregg Holshouser - For The Sun News

Local weekly fishing report

RALEIGH, N.C. --Young waterfowl hunters across the state will enjoy special days in the field Feb. 6-7 during Youth Waterfowl Days on private lands, public waters normally open to waterfowl hunting, and on some S.C. Department of Natural Resources Waterfowl Management Areas.

Hunters 15 years of age or younger may hunt ducks, geese, mergansers and coots on those two days when accompanied by an adult at least 18 years of age.

Daily and possession bag limits are the same as the regular duck season. The adult cannot carry a firearm or hunt and does not have to be licensed.

South Carolina youth waterfowl hunters are not required to have the Federal Waterfowl stamp and the HIP (migratory bird) permit for the Feb. 6-7 hunt.

For more information on Youth Waterfowl Days, call (803) 734-3886 in Columbia.

"These hunts offer the perfect opportunity for youth to be introduced to waterfowl hunting in a positive manner," said S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) biologist Dean Harrigal.

Many DNR Waterfowl Management Areas will be open for public hunting on Feb. 6 for Youth Waterfowl Day, (DNR Waterfowl Management Areas are not open on Sundays) including Marsh WMA in Marion County, Wee Tee WMA in Williamsburg County and Hatchery and Moultrie WMAs in Berkeley County.

CCA State Convention

Coastal Conservation Association South Carolina's 2nd Annual State Convention will be held Feb. 19-20 at the Omar Shrine Temple in Mt. Pleasant.

The event is a two-day celebration of recreational saltwater angling and South Carolina's coastal sporting heritage with all 12 Palmetto State chapters represented including the local Waccamaw Chapter.

"Given the remarkable growth of CCA SC over the last 10 years and the resource successes that the organization's volunteers and members have been a part of, the feeling was that an event to bring everyone together at one place and time would have tremendous appeal to our volunteers, members, and the recreational community in South Carolina" said CCA SC State Chairman and convention Co-Chairman Michael Smith.

For ticket and accommodation details or other information concerning the event, call the CCA SC state office at (803) 865-4164 or visit the state chapter website at www.ccasouthcarolina.com.

N.C. angler hooks a world record

Emerald Isle resident Sara Cozart Moss caught a 7-pound, 4-ounce Spanish mackerel on 4-pound test monofilament near the Cape Lookout shoals on Oct. 13, breaking the International Game Fish Association's women's line-class world record.

Her husband, Clifton Moss, once held the state record for king mackerel and a world line-class record for the fish.

"I thought it would be fun for me to have one," she said.

Randy Gregory, an N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries biologist, said North Carolina is as good a place as any to hunt monster Spanish mackerel. The all-tackle world record, 13 pounds, was caught at Ocracoke Inlet in 1987.

The previous women's line-class word record was caught in Miami in 1996. It was 6 pounds, 12 ounces.