President's Message - December 2025

I am very proud to have had our Mascot at this years Children's Fishing Tournament! Rick Ditizio who is its ‘caretaker plus’ right now, trailed it down behind his pickup. Then he used his truck that day and hosted two people from the division of Fish and Game, back and forth on the beach in order to let them measure fish that were caught during the tournament. Rick just called me and told me he was selected for a full time pass at IBSP, I congratulated him! He was originally rejected, but I guess they had some left over from the first lottery. I was initially rejected and didn't get the email Rick did, I am so frustrated not just for myself but for my team. My Officers, Directors and Friends that make this team who basically give a lot of their time to volunteer for projects at IBSP to better conservation, work on keeping things open and active so all the people who buy a permit can enjoy IBSP, even those people who don’t even know who we are. My friend Tom who lives out of state has bought a pass for the last 57 years has been rejected, He is one of the originators of the NJBBA and it is a disgrace he has been rejected! The Friends of ISBP are also team members for the IBSP, volunteer many hours so everyone and their brother can enjoy IBSP! I waited to the last minute to write this, so this is real time, I have to get it to the printer so I can pick it up this week, get a party together who will fold, staple and label the newsletter. Than I have to run it back down to Toms River Post Office, almost 100 miles and go through all the loops to have it mailed. If you think this is self-serving, you have no idea what the NJBBA stands for, what we accomplished and have been literary fighting for over the years. I found out about the new lottery 3 days before it went into effect, really had no recourse. But now I have a lot of people invested in this, we are basically waiting to see who the new government appointments are so we can follow up, meet with them, explain our history and who we are, then we will get everyone involved to write letters and such. We have the support of a lot of important people including local tackle shops and local clubs. We are joining the NJOA-UCF and will strategize with them to obtain our goals, not just for the IBSP pass issue but issues concerning management of our fisheries, bunker management to name a few, we are ’Conservation Partners’. Damn, I feel like I let everyone down with this, I really do, but we’re far from defeated and we will fight for our privilege to fish IBSP and pursue access here in New Jersey. Our next board meeting is on December 10th, if you would like to join us, send your email to NJBBA1954@gmail.com. I will need everyone's help once we formulate a plan to move forward. Oh I have been actively fishing for 47 years at IBSP!