Page 7 - Stuart Exposure - February '20

Stuart Exposure, Page 7

in your CoMMunity

Keep Martin Beautiful Seeks beautify our wonderful community,” said Martin
Nominees For The 2020 County Commissioner Ed Ciampi who will also
be serving as co-emcee of Keep Martin Beautiful’s
Environmental Stewardship Environmental Stewardship Awards for the second
year in a row. “I’ve supported and attended this
Awards event for many years, and it is really an honor to
be a part of it,” Ciampi added.
The Awards Ceremony takes place on Earth
Call For Nominations To Celebrate Day, Wednesday, April 22, at Piper’s Landing Yacht
Environmental Excellence In Martin County & Country Club in Palm City.
Do you know someone making a difference to improve In addition to nominations, Keep Martin Tom Lucido, Chelsey Matheson
our environment who deserves to be recognized? Does Beautiful is also seeking sponsors of the Rob Ranieri, Kate Cotner and Cara and City of Stuart Commissioner
your business make environmentally-conscious choices to Environmental Stewardship Awards. Nomination Perry Merritt Matheson
conserve water or energy? Has your civic or youth group and sponsorship forms, previous year’s winners,
been involved in a beautification project or worked to keep and other details are available online at keepmartinbeautiful. Waste and Recycling Inc.; FAU Harbor Branch; FPL;
our beaches clean? Now is your opportunity to recognize org. For more information contact Keep Martin Beautiful at Jenkins Landscape; The Kiplinger Foundation; Lucido and
them - or even give yourself some credit! (772) 781-1222 or events@keepmartinbeautiful.org. Associates; Martin County Commissioner Edward Ciampi –
Keep Martin Beautiful, a volunteer-based nonprofit Keep Martin Beautiful appreciates the generous support District Five; Martin County Solid Waste Division; METCo
organization, is seeking nominations for individuals, from current sponsors including: the City of Stuart; Coastal – Marine Electronics of the Treasure Coast; n2 architecture +
businesses, civic and nonprofit groups, and government design; Sailor’s Return; Wallace Nissan; Waste Management;
agencies that are improving our local environment and quality and Whiticar Boat Works.
of life. Areas of focus include: community and neighborhood About Keep Martin Beautiful
revitalization; litter and marine debris removal; recycling Keep Martin Beautiful (KMB) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
programs; river advocacy; innovation and stewardship; youth community organization founded in 1994 as an affiliate
engagement and education. Projects and activities must have of Keep America Beautiful. Its mission is to preserve and
occurred in 2019. Nominations are due by Friday, Jan. 31. enhance the quality of life in Martin County through litter
“As our signature fundraising event, the Environmental prevention, the promotion of recycling, improvement of
Stewardship Awards is an opportunity for Keep Martin solid waste management practices, and beautification and
Beautiful to recognize our community’s devotion to community revitalization activities. KMB signature events and
protecting our natural environment. Each year, we are always programs include the Environmental Stewardship Awards,
impressed by the wide range of submissions we receive, and the International Coastal Cleanup, the Great American
it’s a great reminder of how folks work all year round to make Cleanup, the Adopt-A-Road and Adopt-A-Street programs,
a difference in Martin County,” said Craig Ahal, president of and other educational and outreach activities. Find KMB
Keep Martin Beautiful’s Board of Directors. Representatives from the Environmental Studies Center on Facebook at facebook.com/KeepMartinBeautiful,
“This inspiring event celebrates all of the individuals accept an award (pictured from left) Marilyn Gavitt, Brook follow KMB on Twitter at twitter.com/KMBmartin, visit
and organizations working so diligently to protect and Bullock, Heather Arnold, Michelle Fowler and John Vanilla. KeepMartinBeautiful.org or call (772) 781-1222.
Treasure Coast Outdoors

You can catch pompano,
Don’t Let The Winter Rough snook, whiting, sheepshead, the beach, which is a fun activity in itself.
Just as there is an art to reading the ocean, the same

Seas Keep You From Fishing! flounder, and black drum. I applies to reading the surf. I look for changes in how the
have also caught tarpon. surf retreats. You will find areas where there is a runout
By Jim Weix Unless you are already a that is different than the rest of the retreating water. These
No, I’m not suggesting you do what that crazy guy did seasoned surf angler, take a often wash out more food, like sand fleas, and fish will
recently. He had to be rescued after he took his 14-foot trip down to the beach and be waiting for them.
aluminum boat out into the ocean in rough seas. Hopefully talk to a few anglers. You Some anglers prefer an incoming tide. The surf reaches
the Coast Guard gave him a certificate for a commonsense will learn what equipment further up the beach and washes out food that wasn’t
boat safety class. you might want and what being reached before. It will also bring fish in closer to
Instead, try surf fishing when the seas are too rough to is biting. This time of year, the beach.
safely go out into the ocean in a boat. Even if your boat can pompano is popular. My most memorable trip was by accident. I simply
handle the rough seas, you are going to come back pretty Sand fleas are a popular bait for pompano and you can went to the beach to see what other anglers were catching.
well beat up. Not so with surf fishing, most of the time. get them at many bait shops. You can also catch them at I grabbed a light spinning outfit with a silver spoon. As
I walked the beach, I noticed some tarpon.
I hooked one and when it jumped, I realized that my
equipment was no match for it. I figured that it would
head out to deeper water and simply spool me. Instead it
ran parallel to the beach.
With my line fast disappearing, I began to chase it.
You Deserve The This created an audience. Some cheered me on and some
cheered for the fish. After numerous 200-hundred-yard
sprints, I got the fish nearshore.
Best Flowers In Town! fish and wanted it safely released. I spent 15 minutes
By that point everyone seemed to be siding with the

rolling around in the surf wrestling with the tarpon so I
Geraniums as the fish was successfully released.
could get my spoon out of its mouth. There were cheers

It was fun, but I also learned a valuable lesson. I’m
too old and out of shape to pull that stunt again.

Editor’s note: Jim Weix is an avid hunter, angler,
$ 3 99 FREE conservationist, as well as an outdoor writer. Jim is
5” Pots
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
CLASSES Company. He can be reached at (772) 341-2941 or by
email: jimweix@jimweix.com.

Complete List Of
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