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Angler's Profiles
by Mike Lanni
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| A series of articles introducing RISAA members to the rest of the club. |
| (From the February, 2000 Newsletter) ED BOGDAN |
As recreational anglers, we are living in a time when our computers and stationary
are becoming just as important to us as our rods, reels and tackle boxes.
No longer can we afford to sit back and let others worry about issues such
as fisheries management, shoreline access and pollution of our waterways,
to name a few. We must all take the time to write letters or send e-mails
to our elected officials, attend fisheries council meetings, and make other
efforts to ensure that our children will have fish to catch in the years
to come. My opinion of a good fisherman includes one’s willingness
to sacrifice at least a percentage of his or her time being involved in the
political process. One individual who exemplifies such overall dedication
to the sport is Smithfield’s Ed Bogdan.Ed came to the RISAA about a year ago with a lengthy list of credentials in the field of sportfishing. From the days when he and his friends would ride their bikes from Providence’s Smith Hill to Georgiaville Pond, rent a small rowboat for $1.50 per day, and fish until the sun set before heading home, Ed has always loved to fish. In the years to come, he would become an accomplished fly-rodder and surfcaster, mainly pursuing striped bass. In fact, he was fly-fishing for stripers 30 years ago, before it became fashionable, as it is today! When hunting down big bass, however, Ed would leave the flyrod home and instead set out with his chest waders, surf rod and a bucket of eels. Fishing Rhode Island hotspots such as Beavertail, Narrow River and the Narragansett surf, as well as Cape Cod’s beaches, he reverently fished for bass. Honing his skills as a surf fisherman, he quickly began to take advantage of the large numbers of big fish that were available in the 1960’s and early 70’s. Catching 40-50 pound bass was not unusual back in the 60’s, says Ed. He doesn’t even have 
photos of the 48 pounder he pulled out of the surf at Chatham Beach, or
of the 45 pounder he took off the northern tip of Prudence Island during
that time period.Like many fishermen of that era, he must have figured that those big fish would be around forever. Little did he know that the striped bass population on the east coast would crash in the late 70’s. Fishing the Cape was serious business back then, remembers Ed. Most of the surf fishermen had hook and line commercial licenses, and they were in it for the money, as well as the sport. From that perspective, one can appreciate the unenviable position he found himself in on the night he caught his 48 pounder. Ed had dragged the fish back to where he had safely placed his cooler and stuffed the lunker into it. The night was pitch black however, and it wasn’t until later that he realized that he had not, in fact, placed the fish in his cooler. He had apparently mistook someone else’s cooler for his own! Now he had to go searching through all the other coolers looking for his big fish! At this point, Ed’s memory gets a little hazy, but he does remember getting out of there alive with his trophy bass. Having lived through times when we had big bass, only to see stocks nearly decimated due to careless overfishing has made Ed very wary of what seems to be happening today. He, like many other experienced fishermen, is beginning to wonder if our present population of stripers is in trouble once again. That is one of the reasons Ed has joined RISAA. As a member of our Legislative Committee, Ed has been quick to get involved with fisheries-related issues. He’s recently been appointed by the RIMFC to an Advisory Panel that recommends management procedures for Bluefish and Weakfish. He attends all the important meetings and hearings held by the R.I. Marine Fisheries Council. Recently, he has joined other RISAA members in a letter-writing campaign to promote Steve Medeiros for a seat on that Council. One of the reasons Ed has been able to spend time on such important issues is because after 33 years of teaching industrial arts to Bellingham, MA high school students, he retired from that noble profession this past June. Ed's wife, Priscilla, is also a school teacher, but retirement doesn't seem to be in her vocabulary. From time to time, she will join Ed in his fishing excursions. Together, they share a fish-related hobby of a different sorts - raising tropical fish. Their home features 30 fish tanks ranging from 20 - 100 gallons in capacity, and each day they look after approximately 1,500 fish! Both are members of the Tropical Fish Society, and both have won numerous awards from that association. Nowadays, when Ed sets out to fish the surf, it's with lighter tackle than in years past. He still fly-fishes quite a bit, with flies that he ties himself. He has traded his eel bucket for an assortment of plugs that he casts on custom spin rods, most of which he build himself. He's also pretty good at making his own variety of bucktail jigs, and at one time he even supplemented his income by making jigs for a local tackle producer, Acme Lures. His favorite spin reel is the Shimano Sustain. Ed Bogdan is just one more example of the type of dedicated individual that has made the RISAA what it is today - the foremost fishing organization that Rhode Island has ever seen. As Legislative Chairman, I've come to know who I can really depend on when it's time to rally the troops for a worthy cause. Ed is one of those people who head straight for the front lines, and as a member of our club, he will never stand alone! |
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ANGLER PROFILES
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