This Sunday, come out and catch all the action at Malletts Bay in Colchester at the 9^th Annual LCI Bass Open.   See some of the top two person angling teams battle it out for first place and the guaranteed $3,000 grand prize.  All boats must be in the water by 5:30 am and tournament hours are from 7:00 am till 3:oo pm.  Pre-fishing is allowed up until Midnight on Saturday, August 30^th.  If you haven’t already registered and you want to get in on all the action, you are still able to register up until 6:00 am, the morning of the tournament, and the fee is $200.00 per team. You can read more about all the specifics here, at the LCI website.

Burlington Boatyard will be at Malletts Bay covering the tournament all day.  Check out BurlingtonBoatyard.com for all of the exclusive highlights and interviews of the 2008 LCI Lake Champlain Bass Open.  Best of luck to all the anglers!

-Jimmy

Guy Mitrano’s Burlington Boatyard Blog post highlighting a recent Wall Street Journal article on Yo-Yoing on the North Atlantic focuses attention on lead contamination here. Yo-Yoing, or using heavy sinkers placed in live baits for striped bass and other bottom feeding fish is not only bad for the environment, it’s a bad reflection on anglers. It happened on Lake Champlain folks, but on a smaller and less intentional scale. Vermont’s program to “Get The Lead Out” was the beginning of an effort by wildlife officials to minimize lead contamination on Lake Champlain. In Vermont it is now illegal to fish with lead sinkers weighing less than one-half ounce. New York has banned the sale of lead sinkers smaller than one ounce. There are not many cases of Yo-Yoing on Lake Champlain that fisheries managers know of, but lead sinkers were a problem for wildlife, especially loons and other waterfowl. It’s up to anglers to refresh their stocks of sinkers with the various options now available like tin or tungsten weights. The old sinkers can be recycled.

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Today on the front page of the Wall Street Journal there is a story entitled “For Massachusetts Fishermen, A Weighty Debate About Fair Play” which discusses a recent event involving a common baiting technique called “Yo-Yoing”.

The article highlights a gentleman who caught a 57lb Striped bass last fall during the annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass & Bluefish Derby, and while he was under the impression this was the winning fish, his hopes were deflated after the judges opened the Striper to reveal two pounds of lead weights.

The gentleman was not the angler to have caused the presence of these weights, but rather it was the work of those seeking out the fish on prior attempts with this technique of yo-yoing, where the bait fish is filled with a single lead sinker, enabling it to rest on the ocean bottom and move in the same way that would cause a Striper to go for the kill. As those who have been Striper fishing before may know, often times the line may break when trying to land the fish, or more commonly the fish will make off with the bait, leaving just the hook behind. Beyond the fact of causing “fake weigh-ins” for derby results, the issue has raised much attention regarding the presence of the lead that could cause harmful consequences for the fish and those that eat them later on. Much controversy surrounds these theories, amongst anglers, general public, and state health and wildlife associations alike. Some feel the lead leaders are spit out by the fish more often than swallowed, where others feel the lead will contaminate the water, fish and the next angler to reel him in and make a meal of it.

While there is no Striper fishing taking place on Lake Champlain, this is an issue that can cause opinions to be heard by all anglers regardless if it is fresh or salt water locations that they primarily spend time fishing. We would like to know your stance on the practice of “yo-yoing” and others like it, that may or may not increase the chances of catching fish while possibly posing environmental concerns that can occur thereafter.

For the full story, visit the Wall Street Journal article here, and watch the video to see a Massachusetts fisherman give his opinion.

We encourage you to comment on this piece below, as it could provide insight to the many opinions out there regarding fishing practices and health in general.

-Guy

Recently, Burlington Boatyard came across an interesting web community forming on the Internet called Outdoor Freaks. Willie Urish, founder of the website, chatted with our team to discuss his growing outdoor community website.

BBY:
What exactly is OutdoorFreaks.net?         

Willie:
OutdoorFreaks.net is an outdoor community for sportsmen and women all across the country.  Through our dynamic website, we provide outdoor news and information to outdoor enthusiasts.  Our Forum section is a great place to ask and learn about anything outdoors.  Our real-time activities include youth hunts, fishing trips, camping trips and cookouts to spread the word about the great outdoors and give back to Mother Nature.

BBY:
Who are the founders of OutdoorFreaks.net and how did the idea come about?

Willie:
I have posted on hunting and fishing message boards for a few years, and loved the idea of connecting with people who loved hunting and fishing across the country.  All of these message boards were just a part of a bigger organization and I felt like they never gave the message board members the credit they deserved.  I felt like if there was a community that really drove the actual website and its members, it would create a huge amount of value for people who love the outdoors.  I made some calls and got some feedback, all was very helpful and positive-move forward with this.  I called a good friend, a super web designer, and got to work!

BBY:
How do you see OutdoorFreaks.net impacting the outdoorsmen & women across the country? 

Willie:
Our goal at Outdoor Freaks is to create a “hub” of outdoor knowledge on our website and grow to be a respected community nationwide.  Our mission is “To provide America’s outdoor enthusiasts with a community of outdoorsmen and women that preserves and promotes outdoor activities through ethical teamwork.”  Success to OF would be to continually grow and promote hunting and fishing through our real-time events and online community.

BBY:
What is your impression of BBY?

Willie:
When I first learned about Burlington Boatyard, I was intrigued. Businesses that are unique interest me and BBY was different; not like the cookie cutter businesses that are so common today.  When I spoke with Guy Mitrano, I learned more about their mission and how everything came about.  It became apparent that Guy and I had a lot in common, and that BBY and OF could potentially help each other.  BBY clearly puts people first and is committed to helping out the Burlington area boaters, it is not hard to see why BBY has an extremely bright future!

Check out “5 Minutes With BBY” where Willie Urish, founder of OutdoorFreaks.net talks with Guy Mitrano about Burlington Boatyard. 

During the festival, Burlington Boatyard was also able to speak with Dragonheart Vermont – a breast cancer survivor dragon boat team. 

The members of Dragonheart Vermont strive to promote breast cancer awareness in our community, to provide hope to other cancer survivors and their families to live each moment fully, and to support our own team members in a spirit of camaraderie and joy. When breast cancer survivors participate in dragon boating, they provide a face to the disease and the statistics. Breast cancer is what brought our team members together. Friendship is what keeps us together. Racing dragon boats is not our point. Our race is against breast cancer. In China, the dragon traditionally symbolizes a good omen. It is the heartfelt hope of Dragonheart Vermont that the dragon will protect us until the race against breast cancer brings an end to this disease at last.

Dragonheart Vermont has taken on the sport of dragon boating for our health and well being. After a diagnosis of breast cancer, survivors learn how to embrace life again. Dragon boating helps you feel alive. Just imagine how energizing it feels to be out on a boat on Lake Champlain with the mountains and setting sun as your backdrop. Now imagine sharing this experience with 20 other people who are with you in the boat. The fun of the sport is that it does not require great athletic ability. In dragon boating, no one team member shines. It is a true team sport. Timing is the key. The paddlers must work in perfect unison. Twenty paddles hitting the water at the same moment and propelling the boat forward is a thing of beauty. This synchronicity is health-giving and life-affirming.

If you are interested in joining the team – you may contact Linda Dyer at 802-434-4423, or email dragonheartvermont@gmavt.net

For more information:
Head to www.dragonheartvermont.org

Robyn Comstock, from the Vermont Special Olympics, sat down with Burlington Boatyard at the Lake Champlain Maritime Festival to chat about their involvement on a number of initiatives within the Vermont area.

For more information on the Vermont Special Olympics:

Read the information below and head to their website: Vermont Special Olympics.

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Jimmy from Burlington Boatyard sits down with Juliette Dubroca from the Lake Champlain Community Sailing Center.  The Community Sailing Center (CSC) provides educational and recreational programs to those who wish to gain access to Lake Champlain and learn to sail; regardless of age, physical ability or financial concerns.

“Each summer, the CSC partners with local organizations to provide sailing opportunities to thousands of at-risk and economically disadvantaged youth, the physically challenged and others. CSC also provides social activities, youth camps, adult instruction, rental, storage, racing and volunteer opportunities. We invite you to learn more about our great organization.

The Community Sailing Center is an active member of US Sailing (the national governing body of sailing in the United States) and follows many of their procedures and guidelines. US Sailing recognizes the CSC as one of several hundred community sailing centers in the United States.”

For more information on the Lake Champlain Community Sailing Center, check out their site at http://communitysailingcenter.org.

- The Burlington Boatyard Crew

 

 

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Lake Champlain Community Sailing Center; http://communitysailingcenter.org

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Everyone-

Despite it being a bit overcast, the day has still been very exciting as we had the opportunity to interview Mike O’Brien, who has been a key figure in the creation and operation of the Lake Champlain Maritime Festival. Check out the video below to hear more about Mike and the LCMF.

 
Mike also serves actively in the Antique & Classic Boat Society, both nationally and for the local Lake Champlain Chapter, which holds frequent meet-ups and boat shows during the season.

Feel free to comment and get in touch for more info!

- The Burlington Boatyard Crew

 

 

Hi Guys-

A few minutes ago we had the pleasure of being interviewed by Tim Kavanagh, host of “Late Night Saturday”, which airs Saturday evenings at 11:30pm. 

He asked us about Burlington Boatyard in general and then we got to get into some specifics. We made sure to mention the most important aspect of our business…YOU GUYS. We spoke about our interactions with the boating and fishing communities, the features we provide to keep everyone connected, and also the issues that are out there now which need some attention.

This taping will air in the fall, and we will make sure to let you know the specifics so you guys can check it out!

His website can tell you some more about the show, and you can contact Tim if you want through http://www.latenightsaturday.com/index.htm

So, with that, we are going to sign off for today and go get some dinner and drinks at Splash. It’s been a long one, but a fun one, and we will get back at ya in the morning.

- The Burlington Boatyard Crew

 

 

Hi Guys-

So I just had the opportunity to speak with Peter Thayer and Debbie from Will Fish For Fun, an organization dedicated to teaching kids how to fish, respect the lake and basically get out there and have fun with the sport.

This is a phenomenal resource for Vermont children and for the fishing community, and we will be putting up more information in our Lifestyle section shortly.

Below are two videos, the first was with Peter and Debbie, and well, we ran into a technical difficulty so the last 30sec got cut off. Nonetheless, I did a second piece to overview and hope you all enjoy!

- Guy

And again, sorry about the technical difficulties! We are LIVE, it happens.

Will Fish For Fun – Kid’s Fishing Derby