fishing to help feed the hungry

[redpaulhus]

Yesterday about 30 of my friends and I chartered the Lady Merilee Ann III out of Seabrook NH on our annual pollock trip to benefit the NH Foodbank.
all legal fish caught, and some of the fares as well as proceeds from a rod raffle, went to the foodbank.
thanks to the fine team at Eastman's fleet and many great fishermen, we donated 700 lbs of filets and over $3000 to the foodbank.
the first 25 members who signed up on the charter covered the cost of the charter, the next half dozen donated a $100 check to the foodbank as fare, and a custom built black hole rod was donated and raffled off.
this year the foodbanks warehouse manager was able to join us and did his part pulling in doubles of pollock.

I know a number of the guys on the trip service their reels by following the great tutorials on this site (myself included) so I wanted to post this here.

We were pollock fishing about 30 miles offshore, in depths rangjng from over 350' to about 250'
seas were fairly flat and temps in the low 40s.

I did most of my damage with a 12 oz lavjig, a FinNor OFC16L and an 8' Ugly Stik
I didn't leave the rail long enough to take any pics, but I'll borrow some when they become available.

Mike Bluefish knows the crowd I fish with, they are a great bunch.

If you have a dependable fishery with large or no bag limits in your area - even if they are a less popular species, your local food bank would probably be thrilled with some filet donations. Some of my friends donate any pollack they catch to local shelters multiple times a year. Better yet - plan a charter like this with friends and make a difference for many people !
There are so many under utilized species and so many hungry people...

[bluefish69]

Paul

That was always a Great Trip. It was named after a very good friend of mine that passed away. I don't think that I have been the same since then. When I was going every one brought Food for the Pantry. I still have the 2 rods that I won at auction on one trip. If I would have known I would have Donated them for a Auction. 1 was from Rodwinder & the other was from Shaun Enders both were 8'

Mike

[BMITCH]

Donation to the local food bank is a great idea. I don't know why I didn't think  Thanks for that! I'm the only one in my house who likes fish. So if I catch more than I need I usually give the rest to someone on the boat who didn't have as good a day or didn't catch. I can tell you for sure, I will look into donating to the local food pantry in the future. Thanks for posting this idea.
Bob

[redpaulhus]

Paul

That was always a Great Trip. It was named after a very good friend of mine that passed away. I don't think that I have been the same since then. When I was going every one brought Food for the Pantry. I still have the 2 rods that I won at auction on one trip. If I would have known I would have Donated them for a Auction. 1 was from Rodwinder & the other was from Shaun Enders both were 8'

Mike

Hi Mike,
my one regret is that I joined the club too late to meet Steve
if you like, we can try and coordinate something for the raffle next year.
this years rod was built and donated 700 by Rodwinder (on a blank donated by Kil)

[fIsHsTiiCkS]

Great way to give back!! Just more reasons to get on the water 

[bluefish69]

Paul

That was always a Great Trip. It was named after a very good friend of mine that passed away. I don't think that I have been the same since then. When I was going every one brought Food for the Pantry. I still have the 2 rods that I won at auction on one trip. If I would have known I would have Donated them for a Auction. 1 was from Rodwinder & the other was from Shaun Enders both were 8'

If you would like to do this it's fine by me. One of the rods has Food Bank on it. Kenny P has my number. I don't go on that site very much any more since I won't travel that far any more.

Mike

Hi Mike,
my one regret is that I joined the club too late to meet Steve
if you like, we can try and coordinate something for the raffle next year.
this years rod was built and donated 700 by Rodwinder (on a blank donated by Kil)