The good, the bad and the free t-shirt at the Fred Hall Show
The good news from the show is sources say there will be an announcement tomorrow that Guadalupe Island will be opened to the long range fleet this year. The bad news is that a Federal rule was signed today that created a 37-inch maximum size limit for halibut caught by recreational anglers in Southeast Alaska. And the latest special from SportfishingReport.com is that anyone who signs up for one of our charters this weekend will walk away with a free t-shirt. Definitely not ugly was Mike Lackey when he just walked by in a suit and tie to a standing ovation from everyone in row 700 here at the show. It's good to be king. You can tell that the info on the latest restriction on the Southeast Alaska charter fleet is good by the sad faces at the booths. A 37-inch halibut weighs about 40 pounds, is a great eating fish, but at one a day is hardly the stuff of dreams, even if a visting angler is allowed one king salmon a year and a bunch of rockfish and silver salmon. It's hard to believe the Federal government and the state of Alaska want to eviscerate one of the most successful charter fleets in the world. But that's politics and money.

It's easier to understand a foreign country stepping in the way of recreational fisherman, but it hasn't been any easier to accept the loss of the Guadalupe Island fishery the last couple years, especially with the lackluster offshore bite. So permits for the 'Lupe would be the best thing to happen in a while for San Diego, although Mike Lackey in a suit was quite a momentous occasion, too.