Page 7 - Martin Downs Bulletin - October '22

Martin Downs, Page 7
Treasure Coast Outdoors

Can The Local Golden my limit, and then
Tilefish Population Handle resumed trolling for
dolphin and sailfish.
Commercial Fishing? Then a few
years ago, I noticed
By Jim Weix a commercial boat
A number of years ago, advertising that you
Tom Flynn of Palm City, could buy fresh
introduced me to deep locally caught fish
dropping for golden tilefish. at the dock, while
The next week I bought an supplies lasted. Since
electric reel and an assortment the middlemen were
of weights needed to keep my being eliminated, the
bait on the bottom in 600 to prices were often low
1,200 feet of water. compared to buying Tom Flynn (left) and Jimmy Doug Goethel, of Stuart,
My new typical fishing fish in the store. The McDaniel found the tilefish bite to caught his first tilefish while The author is hooked on
day was to troll until I reached ads on the Internet be good last year. fishing with the author. tilefish.
the 800-foot depth, and then try a few deep drops for tilefish. often showed his boat
Since the bag limit is only one per person, quite often I got with the locally caught fish available fresh that day. The pictures of dolphin, snapper, and grouper didn’t
surprise me. What got my attention though was the picture of
what looked like 100 golden tilefish. I’m not anti-commercial
fishing, so I didn’t think much of it.
However, over a relatively short period of time, I noticed
that catching a golden tilefish got harder and harder. My
normal fishing areas seldom produced and so I expanded
my range, with little success.
I mentioned this to another angler and he told me that
he has seen a local commercial fisherman “just hammering
them.” Tilefish live in pods and burrow into the mud, so they
don’t move around much. Overfishing can easily wipe out a
local population.
Which makes me wonder if our local population can recover
after too many are caught in one area. Although the commercial
fishing season for tilefish is closed from July 6 through Dec.
31, I’m not sure that helps much if the fish don’t migrate into
the areas where the population has been drastically reduced.
Editor’s note: Jim Weix is an avid hunter, angler,
conservationist, as well as an outdoor writer. Jim is included
in the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s Hall of Fame, for his
work in helping restore thousands of acres of wetlands. Jim is a
broker associate with The Keyes Company. He can be reached
at (772) 341-2941 or by email: jimweix@jimweix.com.

Club News

Finding Hidden Stories In Family

Trees With The Martin County

Genealogical Society

In addition to tracing lineage, a family tree may reveal
stories about your ancestors that were unknown to you. These
family stories often make the names and dates of genealogical
research come alive. At the Martin County Genealogical
Society’s (MCGS) November meeting, in a presentation
entitled “The Joy of Uncovering Hidden Family Stories,”
MCGS Secretary Loren Johns will discuss how he discovered
multiple interesting but previously unknown stories about
his family. “Some stories can be painful,” he says, “and the
people in them deserve nonjudgmental respect.” Johns also
will share resources and methods for genealogical research
on families with Amish and Mennonite ancestry.
With experience in his 20s and 30s as a pastor, residential
roofer and book editor, Johns received his Ph.D. in New
Testament from Princeton Theological Seminary. He served
as academic dean at the Mennonite Seminary in Elkhart,
Ind., and taught Biblical Studies there and at Bluffton
University in Bluffton, Ohio. Johns and his wife Rachel
retired to Stuart in 2019.
Free and open to the public, the meeting will be at the
Blake Library, 2351 S.E. Monterey Road in Stuart, from 1
to 3 p.m., Friday, Nov. 18. To participate via Zoom, go to
mcgsfl.org and register by Nov. 17.
Earlier in November, MCGS will host a Family History
Fair in partnership with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
Day Saints in Palm City. There will be 18 presentations in
four simultaneous sessions ranging from pursuing colonial
ancestors and using DNA Technology to American lineage
societies and researching German, Irish and Italian ancestors.
Lunch and dessert will be offered. Free and open to the
public, the fair will run from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., Nov.
5 at the Family History Center, 2401 S.W. Matheson Ave.,
Palm City. Preregistration is suggested at mcgsfl.org or by
emailing mcgsfl@gmail.com.
The Genealogical Society offers a variety of services
at the Genealogy Room in the Blake Library in Stuart
including an extensive research library, access to several
genealogy websites and assistance from MCGS volunteers.
See answer in this paper. For more information about membership, activities and
services go to mcgsfl.org.