17 minute read
OUTDOORS
20 THE SUN OUTDOORS MARCH 9, 2022
Reel Time
RUSTY CHINNIS
Recently I was intent on fishing an area that has become one of my favorite haunts. Unfortunately, when I got there, another boat was anchored nearby. As I started working my way towards my intended target, yet another boat pulled up behind me, intent on heading in the same direction. My first reaction? Disappointment crept over me and I was thinking my carefully planned strategy had failed me.
Then I remembered a fable I had read in a book by Zen master Thich Nhat Hahn. In a parable from his book, “The Art of Living,” the poet, global spiritual leader and international peace activist tells the story of a farmer’s son who fell off his horse and broke his leg. His neighbors tell him how unfortunate that is. His response? “We’ll see, we’ll see.” Two weeks later the military comes to conscript new recruits for a war and his son was not taken because of his broken leg. Once again, the neighbors chime in, this time saying how lucky he and his son are. His response, once again, is, “We’ll see… we’ll see.”
Suddenly my mindset changed and I saw this as an opportunity to maybe actually benefit from what had initially been my frustration. Although there wasn’t any catching involved, I fished a place close by and discovered some promising areas I had never explored. I’ll definitely return there again as I’ve learned over the years one certain fact about fishing (thank you Captain Scott Moore), “Fish move around!” How many times over the years have we as fishermen developed a plan that was altered by factors out of our control? Wind, rain, cold, heat, tides, competition for territory and a hundred other things conspire to alter and sometimes completely destroy a wellthought-out plan.
While it doesn’t always turn out to be advantageous, who hasn’t in hindsight looked and found perceived disruptions to be “blessings in disguise?” Over-optimistic, you say? Maybe, but I’d rather look for the proverbial “pony under there somewhere” than let disruption ruin my day.
Don’t get me wrong, I am totally a fan of having a plan for my fishing. I’ll check tides, wind and myriad other factors to try and develop a strategy to improve my odds of catching fish. Having said that, it’s good to have a backup plan that includes addressing the actual conditions you find on any given day. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m not really good at finding fish. I jokingly ”and fully in earnest” comment on the fact that fish and I don’t see things alike; the places I find that should hold fish don’t seem to appeal to them.
Then there’s the strategy of being persistent, definitely an advantage as fish get more spread out, pressured and spooky. Another seasoned fishing guide has a saying that resonates with me. Captain Steve Huff, arguably one of the best guides the Florida Keys ever produced, likes to tell anglers who seek his advice, “pole far enough and the fish will find you.” My advice? Go out with a plan but be willing to make a change. Will that strategy pay off?
We’ll see, we’ll see.
CAPTAIN DAVE WHITE | SUBMITTED Shawn Kircher, of Old Bridge, N.J., shows off a beautiful African pompano caught with Captain David White of Anna Maria Charters.
Inshore fishing heats up with temperatures
CAPTAIN DAVE WHITE
The weather has finally been good to us here the last week or so! We here at Anna Maria Charters are thoroughly enjoying the rise in temperatures and the drop in winds. The fish are loving it as well. On our inshore trips, snook season opened March 1 and you’re allowed to take them for harvest north of the Manatee Bridge. The last red tide was tough on these animals, so we try to discourage our clients from keeping them as much as possible. But at the end of the day, it’s legal, and the customer is top priority. But we try to keep them as informed as possible and let them know there are other great eating species to target that are more migratory and, therefore, less susceptible to water quality issues. As we push further into summer, the mangrove snapper will be more prevalent. We’re already getting limits for our clients and the water barely hit 70. So, it should be a banner year for them. We’re also getting redfish, trout and starting to see a Spanish mackerel or two.
Personally, I’ve been excited to get offshore. The windy winter has kept me inshore and the slicked-out conditions are a fresh change for us. We did well on red grouper under 120’, mangrove snapper and my favorite, African pompano. Live pinfish seem to be the go-to right now. We caught pompano up to 32 lbs. last week. And if you’ve never eaten it, it’s definitely some of the best meat on the planet. It looks like we’ll have another week of great temperatures ahead. And things will only improve.
CAPTAIN RICK GRASSETT
Anglers fishing with me out of CB’s Saltwater Outfitters on Siesta Key recently had good action catching and releasing snook, reds and trout in Gasparilla Sound, trout in Sarasota Bay and snook and blues in the ICW at night on flies and DOA Lures.
Keith McClintock, from Lake Forest, Ill., fished backcountry areas of Gasparilla Sound on a couple of trips with me recently and had some action catching and releasing several reds, trout and snook on CAL jigs with shad tails. Friends Steve and Kathy Gibson also got in on the action in Gasparilla Sound, sight fishing several snook to 30”, redfish and several trout to 4-lbs on a Mirrodine and jerk worms on another trip with me recently.
Palmetto winter resident, Jerry Poslusny, had some action catching and releasing snook and blues on flies in the ICW on a couple of night trips with me recently. Bill Morrison, from Anna Maria Island, and grandsons, Patrick and Chris, from Massachusetts, fished Sarasota Bay with me and had good action with trout to 18” on CAL jigs with shad tails and Clouser flies.
There are still a few spots left for CB’s Saltwater Outfitters Orvis-endorsed fly fishing school on March 19. Contact them at (941) 349-4400 to sign up. Look for reds, snook and larger trout in shallow water. Fishing deep grass flats of Sarasota Bay is usually a good choice for action with a variety of species including trout, pompano, blues and more. Snook at night around dock lights in the ICW is also a good option depending on conditions. Our natural resources are under constant pressure from red tides fueled by industrial, agricultural and residential runoff, toxic spills and discharges, freezes, increasing fishing pressure and habitat loss and degradation, please limit your kill, don’t kill your limit!
FROM PAGE 1 BEACH PATROL
During a discussion on beach patrol funding, Titsworth said she’d like the county to step up their financial support of the Holmes Beach Police Department, which is tasked with policing the county-owned beach, public beaches in Holmes Beach and Kingfish Boat Ramp, along with the rest of the city. While the county currently reimburses the city $46,612 for beach patrol services, Titsworth said the city pays about $150,000-160,000 per year to adequately patrol the beaches, boat ramp and beach parking.
The mayor said she’d like to see the county increase its financial support, working up to a minimum of $90,000 per year to be more in line with the amount offered to the Bradenton Beach Police Department annually for similar services, and ideally $115,000 or more to cover the entire cost of one HBPD officer.
While Titsworth acknowledged that the city of Bradenton Beach has a longer stretch of countyowned beach, she noted that Holmes Beach is a larger city and provides more public parking for beachgoers than the Anna Maria Island city to the south.
Manatee County Commissioner George Kruse said that while he appreciates Titsworth’s request for more beach patrol funding, he wanted to know what city leaders are prepared to do for the county in exchange for additional funding, a sentiment echoed by Commissioner Vanessa Baugh.
Holmes Beach Commissioner Terry Schaefer said Holmes Beach city leaders had come to the meeting to discuss items of concern, not to try and leverage one item for another.
County Commissioner Carol Whitmore, a Holmes Beach resident, said she thinks the stretch of beach in Holmes Beach is too small to necessitate the spending of more funds to police it. County Administrator Scott Hopes said he thinks the county’s funding to Holmes Beach is complementary to the amount given to Bradenton Beach, $125,000, given the size of the city versus the size of the county park, Manatee Beach and Kingfish Boat Ramp within the city.
ACCUSATIONS FLY
When leaders began discussing beach parking, accusations began to fly on both sides.
Van Ostenbridge accused Holmes Beach leaders of having less than 1% of the population of Manatee County and closing its beaches to 99% of Manatee County residents to save its own residents.
Titsworth called out Van Ostenbridge for “weaponizing funding” in a bid to try and force city leaders’ hands to allow beach parking to go unrestricted in the small city to the detriment of Holmes Beach residents, who, she pointed out, are also Manatee County residents who pay county taxes. She accused Manatee County commissioners of being unwilling to work with the city and learn the facts about what happens in the Island city and how issues affect residents and tourists alike.
At the crux of the discussion was the status of about 480 parking spaces located solely on the sides of residential streets in neighborhoods near beach accesses. Those residential streets are maintained by the city of Holmes Beach and are funded by tax dollars paid to the city, not the county. Public parking also has long been a headache for nearby residents, who often find trash and litter in their yards, people vandalizing their property, some trespassing and using their private pools and water hoses as public facilities and others defecating in their yards.
After more than a decade of discussion, 124 of those 480 spaces were designated in 2021 as Holmes Beach resident permit parking only from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily after being closed to public access since 2020. Ever since that decision was made by Holmes Beach commissioners, it’s been a sore spot between city and county leaders.
Van Ostenbridge demanded that city leaders reopen all city streets to public parking.
“You want 400 spaces?” Soustek countered. “480 parking spaces is a spit in the ocean,” she said, noting that the number of people trying to find parking in Holmes Beach regularly exceeds that amount. She added that opening residential streets to the onslaught of beach parking wouldn’t guarantee Manatee County residents a space to park, that they would still need to get up early to drive out to the Island to avoid traffic and parking stresses.
Holmes Beach Commissioner Jayne Christenson suggested county commissioners designate some of the spaces at Manatee Beach as Manatee County resident-only parking, a suggestion dismissed by county commissioners without comment.
“You’ll never have enough spaces and the people will never all be able to get out to the beach,” Titsworth
KRISTIN SWAIN | SUN Holmes Beach and Manatee County leaders gathered together on March 1 at the county’s administration building to talk about building a better working relationship. The conversation quickly turned to beach parking.
KRISTIN SWAIN | SUN With more visitors and locals coming to Anna Maria Island beaches every year, the issue of available parking near beach access points continues to cause animosity between city and county leaders.
said, noting all of the housing developments currently planned for Manatee County and the increase of people expected to travel to Anna Maria Island’s beaches. At about seven miles long, with about three miles of that being Holmes Beach, she said Anna Maria Island only has so much room to fit people and vehicles on.
City Commissioner Terry Schaefer said residential street parking wasn’t going to be used as a bargaining chip between the city and county.
Whitmore said that while she wants to work with city leaders, she’s opposed to the permit parking system and refuses to pay for one. She also said she feels that Holmes Beach has too many rules, including the newly instituted city-wide 25 mph speed limit.
GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS
With tensions already flaring between the two groups, Manatee County Director of Parks and Natural Resources Charlie Hunsicker offered the results of a parking study conducted by APTIM/CPE, an independent group. The field study was completed in 2020 with the report from that study dated September 2021. The study area was limited to the city of Holmes Beach and conducted on parking spaces located within a quarter-mile of beach access points and compared to a similar report from 2013.
According to that report, the city of Holmes Beach has 775 public parking spots located within a quarter-mile of public beach access points, with an additional 480 spaces that are either without a sign or reserved/permit only. According to the 2013 report, there were 1,255 public parking spaces with the only change being 480 spaces converted to unsigned/reserved status. Of those 480 spaces, 124 were reserved for resident permit-only parking from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with the other 356 “lost” spaces being attributed to parking obstructions and a potential increase in no parking signed areas. Signed public parking spaces in the study area actually increased by 12, with the number of unsigned spaces decreasing by 492 from 2013 to 2020, reducing driver uncertainty on where parking is allowed.
To receive beach renourishment funding, Holmes Beach is required by the state to have 364 public parking spaces located within a quarter-mile of the beach. In the city’s interlocal agreement with the county regarding beach renourishment funding, Holmes Beach is committed to having about 500 spaces within a quarter-mile of the beach. Currently, there are more than 1,200 public parking spaces, not including resident permit parking spaces, located within a quarter-mile of public beach access with more available throughout the city but located outside of the quarter-mile area.
Titsworth said she’s not only concerned with the issues resi-
We’ve been coming there (to Anna Maria Island) for nine years. This was our last time. Ridiculous traffic! So many other beautiful beaches to see.
Anita Cooney, from Michigan On The Sun’s Facebook page
dents see in neighborhoods but how those issues could also affect the city’s tourism, with more than 1,500 short-term rental properties located in residential neighborhoods. She added that for people just coming to the beach for the day, there need to be adequate restroom, trash and food facilities as well as crosswalks to get safely from parking areas to the beach.
PARKING GARAGE
Another idea floated around during the meeting was the construction of a parking garage in Holmes Beach to provide more public parking.
Titsworth suggested commissioners consider the purchase of additional property in the city to build a garage on, such as the old Bank of America building on the southeast corner of East Bay Drive and Manatee Avenue. The site is located about two blocks from the entrance to Manatee Beach.
That idea was shot down by Manatee County commissioners. Whitmore said it wasn’t worth it to the county to build a parking garage limited to the city’s 36-foot building height limitations. Titsworth said that with the height limitations in the city’s charter, it would take Holmes Beach voters casting their ballots in favor of changing it to allow for a larger garage to be built. Van Ostenbridge said he opposes purchasing additional property in Holmes Beach and if commissioners decide to build a parking garage in the city, he’d want it to be at Manatee Beach.
Another meeting between Manatee County commissioners and Holmes Beach city leaders is planned to take place in the future to continue discussions.
MARCH 9, 2022 FOOD & WINE THE SUN 23
Celebrating Ukrainian culture with pierogis
Brian Mathae
HURRICANE HANKS
I’ve been glued to the coverage of the invasion of Ukraine. I am aghast at the death and destruction inflicted on the innocent people of Ukraine. Many of my friends from Canada are of Ukrainian descent. Seeing their social media posts about the worry they feel for their relatives back in Ukraine is incredibly saddening and maddening.
Growing up, I never really thought about the history of Ukraine or the issues its people faced. I just knew Ukrainians as friends and neighbors who were kind and generous. Their traditions were shared with us, including very vibrant dance groups, elaborately decorated Easter eggs and, of course, some great cultural food. We were very fortunate to experience church dinners, fall suppers and fundraising events where authentic dishes were prepared. We always left beyond stuffed! I’ve written about several of the traditional dishes in past articles and include a favorite dish today.
I’ve recently educated myself about Ukrainians in Canada. Initially I was surprised to learn that due to several different periods of immigration, Canada has the world’s third-largest Ukrainian population behind Ukraine itself and Russia. The first wave of immigration to Canada started in the late 1890s. Approximately 170,000 Ukrainians from the Austro-Hungarian Empire territory arrived in Canada during that time. Subsequent larger waves of immigration occurred until the collapse of the USSR in 1991. Since then, there has been continuing immigration, but not as significant to necessarily call it another wave.
I was born in Winnipeg, Canada. Census data indicates that just over 15% of Winnipeg’s population is of Ukrainian descent. In hindsight, that makes sense. That’s why we were so influenced by Ukrainian culture. My heart goes out to all my friends who are suffering and we celebrate their culture with today’s submission.
Varenyky, or pierogis, are filled dumplings made by wrapping unleavened dough around a savory or sweet filling. Typically, they are cooked in boiling water, but can be deep fried or pan fried after boiling. Baked pierogi casseroles also make an interesting dish. While typical ingredients are potato and cheese, you can use any filling you like. I tasted this recipe several years ago and was blown away by the flavor. It’s a new twist on a traditional recipe. We do hope you enjoy.
Gorgonzola, Fig and Rosemary Pierogis
(makes 30 - 40 pierogis)
Filling Ingredients
5 medium peeled russet potatoes 1/2 tsp salt 2 tbs butter, melted 3/4 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese 4 tbs fig jam 1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
Dough Ingredients:
4 cups sour cream 4 cups all-purpose flour 2 tbs salt
Garnish:
Salt Pepper 1 cup sour cream 2 tbs chopped rosemary
SUBMITTED
Egg wash:
1 egg 2 tbs water
Directions
Gently mix the dough ingredients by hand and let rest refrigerated overnight. The next day, boil the potatoes until they are easily pierced with a fork. Drain potatoes and allow steam to evaporate for 5 minutes, then mash. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Set aside while rolling out dough. Roll the dough on a floured surface and cut circles 3 inches in diameter using a coffee mug or large glass. Place a spoonful of the filling in the center of each circle. Lightly brush egg wash on the dough edges. Fold the dough over and pinch the edges firmly to seal them. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and slowly drop the pierogis in, cooking for 4 or 5 minutes or until they float. Remove and toss in a sauté pan of melted butter to finish for a few minutes. Serve immediately with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste along with some chopped fresh rosemary and sour cream.
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