3-2-10 ...... TUESDAY ...... We're opening in just 10 more days! .......

It's really hard to believe that this long COLD, WET WINTER is almost gone! ........... The STAFF is in the process of getting everything running for our 50th ANNIVERSARY year! ............. We haven't seen many fish so far this winter on the pier, but that just means there is more for our fishermen in the SPRING! ............... We have lost BOTH of the BUOY MARKERS on each side of the pier now; it seems that there might be a TROUGH washed along the beach in the line of the buoys! ............. Hopefully, this will help the Bottom Fishing; it's always great to have a channel for the fish to run! ............. The water temperature is a cool 45* right now; fishing probably won't be wide open for a while yet; I like to shoot for April 1st as the real opener for the season. ................ The Emerald Isle St. Patrick's Day Festival will be March 13th this year, and we open the pier on Friday just to be there for the folks who are ready to get out and walk, or even wet a hook (you never know when that BLUE or BLOW might show up!) .............. So just relax, and enjoy exploring our new website for the next week or so; we have been working diligently on it for a while now! ............... I would like to again thank CHRIS HILL [ www.grasscats.com ] and my son, KEVIN STANLEY for all of their tireless work on the development of the new site; it is a work in progress, and will continue to evolve with new ideas and interesting information for many years to come! ............... I would like to ask everyone out there that may have any old pictures of friends and family from the early years of EMERALD ISLE and BIP to send them to us, and we will share them for all to see! ............... It is a shame that I can't seem to find enough older pictures; there are a lot of wonderful memories of literally thousands of friends that have either passed away, or have moved on to better places (although I don't know where that would be!) ............. We will be opening on FRIDAY, March 12th, so plan on coming down for the big day! ............... I can only hope that ALL of the snow and bad weather will be gone by then, although this has been a strange winter! ................ SEE YOU SOON! ............... MIKE STANLEY