I wrote an article in

Coastal Angler Maga-

zine this month that

deals with what we call

beginner’s luck. I find

it to be such an inter-

esting topic I thought

we could continue the

discussion here. This is

Wikipedia definition of

beginner’s luck.

Beginner's luck refers to the supposed phenome-non of novices expe-riencing dispropor-tionate frequency of success or succeed-ing against an expert in a given activity. One would expect experts to outperform novices - when the opposite happens it is counter-intuitive, hence the need for a term to describe this phenomenon.

FROM THE PRESIDENTS COMPUTER

GRAND STRAND SALTWATER ANGLERS ASSOCIATION

FEBRUARY 2017

THE HOOK SPONSORS

Lakewood Camp-ing Resort

Don Perry 447-7311 Bonefish Grill 8703 N 17 Bypass Andy Smith 215-4374 Quality Pools and

Quality Landscap-ing

Bill Seay 234-2665 2nd Avenue Pier Teak Collins Bass Pro Shops Glenns Bay Dental Dr. Hal Capps Jr.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE :

CALENDAR AND AN-

NOUNCEMENTTS

2

RECIPE OF THE MONTH 2

FISHING REPORT 3

CLUB PICS & SUCH 3

LEADERBOARD 4

EDITORS NOTE/ GAMES 5

Business of the Month: Thank you to Greg’s Cabana Bar and Grill and Hurricane Maggie’s for sponsor-

ing our Flounder Tournament! This month we are going to be visiting both loca-

tions, on Sunday the 5th and Thursday the 23rd, respectively!

Both restaurants are known for their laid-back atmosphere and great pub grub!

Both are on 17, and now is the time to go while the locals have the run of the

roost!

Make plans now to join GSSAA on the 5th and 23rd for good eats and fellowship!

The term

“phenomenon” is used in

the definition, but more

often than not it seems to

be fact. I think that most

all of us have had that

experience of taking

someone new to the sport

and seeing them catch

most, all, or the biggest

fish of the day. Myself as

a perfect example; I was

19 years old the first time

I went saltwater fishing.

My good friend James,

who was already an ac-

complished saltwater an-

gler, finally convinced

me to put away my trout

rods and try putting some

bait in the salt. Off to

Cape Charles, VA, we

went. Sure enough, the

first ever saltwater fish

that I sank a hook into

was a 50-plus pound co-

bia. I had no idea what I

was doing and the fish

must have felt merciful

that day for it kept itself

on the end of my line

through all my fumbling

and bumbling with get-

ting the drag right- as it

went from too tight to too

loose and back and forth

again. In the end begin-

ner’s luck won out and I

caught that beautiful

creature and at the same

time hooked myself on

saltwater fishing forever.

Now believe it or not

but there is more, I have

a theory. As most of you

know my tournament

fishing record has been

less than stellar. For

years now I have been

brainstorming for ideas

to give me an advantage

in tournaments. So this

year, in every tournament

I fish, there will be a be-

ginner on my boat.

Your pres, Ken

INGREDIENTS · 1 lb beef tenderloin fillet

· Salt and pepper

· Canola, grapeseed, or olive oil

· 1 lb mushrooms (we used half cremini, half shiitake)

· 4 thin slices ham (Parma ham if you can get it) or pro-sciutto

· 2 Tbsp yellow mustard (we used Coleman's Original English Mustard)

· 7 ounces puff pastry (needs 3 hours to defrost in refrigerator if using frozen)

· 2 egg yolks, beaten

RECIPE OF THE MONTH : DATE N IGHT BEEF WELLINGTON

D ID YOU KNOW :

THE MONTH IS

NAMED FOR THE

LATIN WORD

FEBRUUM WHICH

MEANS

PURIFICATION .

PAGE 2 THE HOOK

Club Officers

President–

Kenny Moore

446-5777

Vice President–

Vic Woods

458-9364

Treasurer–

Anne Seay

241-5709

Secretary–

Jen Hodges

241-5713

Past President

Chick McDaniels

651-2076

Members at Large

Ed Skowysz-650-7553

Bill Cash-237-9987

Dave Williams–357-9590

John Moure 668-4640

Editor

Jen Hodges– 241-5713

jhodges001@horrycounty

schools.net

Good and Welfare

Barb Pierson– 357-6530

Darla Williams–3579570

February

9th– Club Meeting/

Spaghetti Dinner/

womens kp

MONTHLY PLANNER April

9th– Club Meeting/

Auction Meeting/

Covered Dish/

womens kp

TBD– Pier Tourney

March

9th– Club Meeting/

Auction Meeting/

Covered Dish/ mens

kp

TBD– Pier Tourney

Annual Club Spaghetti

Dinner This Month!

Committee: Pat Serviss, Jean Quick and

Anne Seay. Let these ladies know if

you’d like to help or bring something!

Directions: 1. Season filet with salt and pepper. Sear filet on

all sides, brush with mustard.

2. Prepare mushroom duxelles– chop mushrooms in food

processor and puree. Put them in a pan and cook them to re-

lease moisture. (I made this without the mushrooms.)

3. Roll out large piece of plastic wrap. Lay slices of ham on

plastic wrap so they overlap. Spread the mushroom mixture

on the ham. Place beef filet in the middle, roll the ham around

the filet tightly using the plastic wrap.

4. Preheat oven to 400. Roll out puff pastry to a size that

will wrap around the ham and filet. Fold around the filet and

try to limit overlap. Brush the edges of the pastry with an egg

wash. Chill for 5-10 minutes.

5. Brush entire pastry with egg wash and bake at 400 for 25-

35 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 min before

serving.

Club Outings! 2/5/17

Greg’s Cabana Bar and

Grill

430 pm

2/23/17

Hurricane Maggie’s

430 pm

Quote of the Month:

February days are a marketing gimmick; love

happens every day.”

If you would like to volun-

teer, or would like more

info about volunteering, to

work with a committee,

please contact Chick or

Jen.

If any information has

changed or you would like

to know more about what

you can do in the club to

get more involved –

please contact Jen Hodg-

es at 843.241.5713 or

through email.

Report taken from local

guides, Sun News, fint-

alk.com and word of mouth

Estuary Look for: Red drum, flounder, spotted seatrout, black drum, sheeps-head, tautog

The warmer-than-normal winter has continued right along through most of January. Capt. Mike

McDonald of Gul-R-Boy Guide Service and Capt. Lin Fore of Lowcountry Expeditions went fun

fishing on Sunday, and observed a water temperature of 58 degrees in the Winyah Bay area.

The pair of anglers used artificial grubs to catch about a dozen trout and eight red drum. “They were-

n’t hitting very aggressively,” said McDonald. “We were just switching around grubs and colors. We

caught enough to smell up the box.” On the north end, Capt. Patrick Kelly of Capt. Smiley Fishing

Charters also found active fish on a Tuesday trip, as he embarked on a 2 1/2 – hour fun-fishing trip.

Kelly and his fishing partner caught two trout, seven black drum and two red drum. “It was windy,

but fishing was pretty good for it being the end of January,” said Kelly. On Sunday, Kelly had a

charter that produced well over 30 trout, with most of the fish in the 12 to 13 1/2-inch range. Kelly

has used Vudu shrimp and small Mirrolures for trout and fresh shrimp for black drum. The red drum

were hitting fresh shrimp and Gulp shrimp.

Inshore Look For: Bluefin, black sea bass, weakfish, tautog, flounder, whiting, croaker

If you needed proof that it’s been a warm winter thus far, check out the species that has been caught

off the Cherry Grove Pier, and the ocean water temperature. Ronnie Godwin of the pier reported a

water temperature reading of 56 degrees, surface and bottom, Thursday afternoon, and then noted an

angler had caught three bluefish, one a 12-incher.

In late January another angler caught a spotted seatrout off the pier, another rarity in the surf in Janu-

ary. Fishing has not been on fire off the piers, but there also have been a few whiting, croaker and

black drum caught this week.

Overall, bluefin tuna catches have slowed off the southeastern North Carolina coast but whales were

spotted just off the beach in North Myrtle Beach earlier this week, so there’s a legitimate chance the

giant tuna are still around. On hard-bottom areas and artificial reefs, look for black sea bass, plus

sheepshead, weakfish, tautog and flounder. And maybe even bluefish.

Offshore Look For: Wahoo, blackfin tuna, dolphin, grouper, vermilion snapper, black sea bass, amberjack, vermilion snapper, triggerfish, porgy, triggerfish

It’s been a windy and rough week, with little activity offshore. But that doesn’t mean the fish aren’t

there. Find a calm day and trolling action for wahoo and blackfin tuna can be very productive.

Bottom fishing is very good, although red snapper and the shallow-water category of grouper cannot

be kept. Species you can put in the cooler include vermilion snapper, black sea bass, triggerfish,

grunts, red porgy and amberjack.

The annual Shallow-water Grouper Spawning Season Closure is in effect through April 30 and red snapper cannot be harvested and must be released in the South Atlantic region.

PO BOX 15663, Surfside Beach, SC

29587

GSSAAMI@yahoo.com

GRAND STRAND

SALTWATER

ANGLERS

ASSOCIATION

FISH ON!!!

G RANDSTRAND SAL TWATERANGLE RS . COM

#specialedit

Last month’s meeting was our Awards Meeting, and we have a lot of club members doing great things! Huge congrats to Vice Presi-dent Vic Woods for capturing the Angler of the Year Award for another year, and from the looks of the lead-erboard he’s got a good start for 2017! Chick McDaniels was pre-sented with a plaque for all his won-derful service to the club as the Past President, and the club thanked Ray-burn Poston and Ed Librick for their service on the board in 2016 as well. I was shocked to come home with the Member of the Year Award, and I am incredibly grateful and humbled that the club presented me with that honor!

MONTHLY FYI In the southern hemisphere, February is equivalent to August, weather-wise.

Black Sea Bass Vic Woods 3lb 2 oz/ 17 in 12/31/16 Spotted Seatrout Eric Rosch 24 in 12/18/16 Red Drum Vic Woods 1 lb 6 oz/ 16 in 1/21/17 Black Drum Vic Woods 2 lb/ 16 in 1/21/17

Leaderboard is now open! Turn your fish pics and weights into Jen Hodges at jhodges001@horrycountyschools.net Vic Woods continues his quest for Angler of the Year this month.

Eric Rosch shows off his pretty trout and even

prettier daughter Victoria!

2017 Leaderboard Species Angler Weight/Length Date

The following members took

home awards for the leaderboard:

Kevin Seay– Black Drum and

Pompano

Vic Woods– Red Drum,

Black Sea Bass, King Macke-

rel, Spanish Mackerel,

Sheepshead

Kenny Moore– Speckled

Trout

Ed Librick– Flounder

Jerry Condenzio– Pigfish and

Weakfish

Jen Hodges– Croaker

Roland Boucher– Gag Group-

er and Scamp Grouper

Richard Teeters– Bluefish

Congrats, GSSAA members! Make sure to turn your fish in to the leaderboard!

Since it’s February, and it’s the home month

of the world’s largest sporting event, we’re

going to have our own Super Fishing Bowl.

The prize? First in line for the spaghetti din-

ner. That’s a win, people. That’s a win.

Rules:

Black drum is going to represent the Falcons.

Spotted seatrout is going to represent the

Patriots.

Whoever catches the biggest fish in those

categories is the winner. Then the team that

wins, designates our overall winner. So for

example, if Joe catches a black drum and Ed

catches a spotted seatrout and they have the

two biggest of those two fish, they are the

representatives for their “teams”. Then, if the

Falcons win, Joe goes first. If the Pats win,

Ed goes first. Bragging rights for both for

making it to the bowl. :)

Supposed to be nice next week, get out and

drop a line!

-Jen