8th Annual New Years Day Dead Sea Get Together ...

The 8th Annual New Years Day Dead Sea Get Together will be held on Belews Creek on Wednesday, January 1, 2014. Launching will be from the Highway 65 Piney Bluff ramp, as in times past. http://www.duke-energy.com/lakes/facts-and-maps/belews-lake.asp has information on location of the ramp.

All fish must be caught in Forsyth, Guilford, Rockingham or Stokes County. All other foreign fish will be disqualified, and you must return them to their respective county before weigh in begins. Study your Belews Creek map for further explanation. A PDF copy of said map is available at the above referenced link, showing all the really good fishing locations.

There will be no live-well inspections, and no entry fee. There will also be no huge prize kitty unless one of our sponsors gets very generous. This has happened in the past, and is *truly* appreciated by all. At earlier get togethers, we have thrown a NIB lure in the hat, if you wanted to. Please contact me by IM if you’re interested in sponsorship.

Oh, and there is a perpetual trophy. It got started a coupla years ago, and Rustyhook owns it now. He will bring it, assuming all the planets line up, and whoever gets first place will also get to keep the trophy till next year. My bet is that it goes out east to the Lake Jordan area, but of course some of those armchair fishermen from LKN might wake up early enough to claim it as well. They’re gonna have to bring their ‘A Game’ cause there’s ringers at the Dead Sea too, and they’ll be there on NYD..

Blast off time will be 10 AM, and weigh in will be 3 PM. If you care to blast off earlier, that's OK. You can come in earlier or later than 3 PM if you wish. There will be no prizes or photos after the 3 PM weigh in, however, as we are all too cold to wait around for you. And you'll have to wait around for us if you come in early, or exhibit some intelligence (as was done coupla years ago) and just go home and get some hot coffee.

Actually, blast off is a bit of a misnomer for the Piney Bluff ramp, as there is no way you can get up on plane, go under the bridge, and not collide with the shore or some poor crappie fisherman. So I want to say up front that this is not an organized event, it has absolutely nothing to do with the board I have posted it on, and that I accept no liability or responsibility for anything that happens. Neither does anybody else. So you're on your own. No ifs ands or buts about it. No liability, none, nota. It's all on you. And on anybody crazy enough to come with you, if they do something wrong.

As you can easily see, this is not a tournament, but instead a great time to get together, have an outstanding time, and go fishing. It started when both my son and I were working really hard ( I gave it up myself, he still works too hard ), and this was the only day we had to go fishing. As time progressed, others thought it might be fun too, and showed up with their kids and grandkids, etc etc. So now it's up to 8 years of fun, and the only reason we don't go is if it is raining, the roads are icy, or frozen over so the truck might be launched as well as the boat.

Come to think of it, you're welcome to come in the rain and sleet and snow too, if you wish. I won't be there, however. It's tough to get salt stains off a black hull. NOTE: If I know you are planning on coming and the weather looks to nasty, I will let you know if the guys decide to not get together. You must let me know you plan on coming though, or I won’t know to call/IM.

Y'all come, we have fun.