Raul Boesel, Jr

Left: Camoufaged freediver hunts along a reef. Below: Freediver and tiger shark in the Bahamas. Right: Freediver and school of reef sharks.

Above: Freediver and nurse sharks, Bahamas. Left: Hammerhead shark. Right: Freediver and hammerhead shark.

Soak up the rays with your new Guy Harvey Tervis Tumbler

BY GUEST EDITOR

NICK HONACHEFSKY

Bottom-Up A pproach

Anyone involved in fsheries management must understand that if you remove a primary food source from any species higher up on the food chain, the population of the said species will suffer and inevitably decline.

The natural selection process kicks in hard. A shining example of how this concept is evinced and remedied is the recent success of management of the menhaden (aka bunker or pogy) stocks in the Northeast, namely in New Jersey. Though entire books have been written on the contentious menhaden issue, here, I will solely focus on the correlation between menhaden and striped bass stocks.

The interdependency of striped bass and bunker is pretty clear-cut. Bunker are the base of the Atlantic food chain and are the primary diet for striped bass. Prior to 2002, commercial reduction boats from out-of-state were allowed to enter New Jersey waters to suck up bunker schools with reckless abandon. Prime commercial interests of the largest menhaden processing plant, Omega Protein, and its political lobbyists, have a lifeblood stake in its proftability, thus, the undue pressure on bunker stocks. Jersey enacted a law that banned reduction boats from its state waters, which supply Omega Protein, efectively saving the inevitable decimation of the stocks. To give an idea of the magnitude of what that translates to, according to Jim Donofrio of the Recreational Fishing Alliance, “The entire bait industry in New Jersey takes approximately 30 million pounds of menhaden annually from Cape May to Sandy Hook, while the reduction boats we ousted from state waters over a decade ago that use 12-in. diameter pumps, took 30 million pounds of bunker of a single stretch along Long Beach Island alone during a two-week period back in 2001.”

In the 1980s and early 1990s, striped bass stocks were trying to bounce back from near extinction levels wrought by commercial fshing. In 2002, when Jersey signed the Menhaden Protection Bill into law, prohibiting commercial netting in state waters (.6 to three miles from shore) when the purpose was to use bunker (menhaden) for producing fsh meal, the striped bass stocks and fshery rocketed to historical highs. A direct correlation must exist between the elimination of bunker boats from state waters in 2002, when striper fshing was marginal at best, to present day, where New Jersey is now the premier destination in the world for trophy striped bass of 30 to 50 pounds. What used to be a near desert is now a bustling oasis in the springtime months of the Jersey Coast, when miles and miles of thick bunker schools are followed and fed on by tens of thousands of stripers. The menhaden schools are not harassed by a fotilla of purse seiners pinning them in a corner and scooping them up for cross-industry uses, but pressured now by only a few sporadic netters to be sold solely as bait to tackle shops.

But even that small pressure on the bunker stocks can have an impact in state waters and the schools that still go unprotected against out-of-state commercial boats outside of the three-mile federal line. Until early June, it’s a bonanza on catching stripers, but inevitably, out-of-state commercial bunker boats move into federal waters of Jersey, the engines of spotter planes hum above, and within days, the once too plentiful bunker schools are corralled up out of the ocean—save for a few straggling pods—and guess what, the bass are no longer to be found. The run is over. It’s that simple. I’m not suggesting that the striper stocks get decimated, but what I am saying is that they immediately move on, northward to fnd more bunker schools to feed upon, since their local food source has been depleted. It’s a direct correlation that the bass follow the food source, and over the years, if that particular food source gets compromised, the striper stocks will begin to diminish, as there will be more competition amongst each other to consume other food sources (i.e. spearing, anchovies, clams, snails, etc.), and even non-traditional food sources like juvenile weakfsh and blackfsh, etc. This will have a direct afect that will shoot upward, redistributing and rearranging the food pyramid, then trickling down, putting more pressure on the entire symbiotic food chain. If you remove the anchor of the food chain, prepare for the consequences.

Fisheries managers, while focusing eforts on laudable endeavors of protecting gamefsh, should also be seriously focused on protecting baitfsh stocks. Maybe since menhaden have such strong commercial interests that cross over to politically backed industries outside of the fshing industry— such as fsh oils for vitamins, cosmetics and poultry feed—the sentiment is that there is no need to protect say, sardines or whitebait, baitfsh with no proftability, with such a hardnosed passion. But inevitably, somewhere down the line, some outside or internal industry, whether legal or black market, is going to fnd how to make a proft of of a lowly baitfsh, and there will be a mad dash to wipe out the stocks. It’s currently happening with glass eels (juvenile American eels) in New Jersey that fetch $100 a pound overseas, creating a devious black market to seine and sift the species to near extinction in the local creek waters. That particular fght is still ongoing.

It’s a simple modicum. Protect the health of baitfsh stocks and you will protect your gamefsh stocks. Management ofcials of any gamefsh species would be best served to begin proactively developing their fsheries models after such a bottom-up approach.

HARD NUMBERS

Straight talk about the sweat and science behind fshing regulations

BY CA STAFF

There seems to be no end to discussion and debate regarding season lengths and catch limits for red snapper, red drum and other species that are a favorite of recreational fshermen. Are the regulations fair? Is the science sound? Since fsheries are managed by both state and federal agencies, we heard last issue from Eric Schwaab, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries. This issue, we’ve asked Gil McRae of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to shed additional light on this topic. McRae is an 18-year veteran of the FWC’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg and has served as director the last 11 years. His department is responsible for much of the science that is the basis for fshing regulations in the state’s inshore fsheries, and they collaborate closely with federal fsheries managers on offshore fsheries.

CA: We know that seasons and catch limits

are geared toward sustainability of a given species or fsh stock, but the frst step must be determining the present condition of a fsh stock. What’s the process for counting fsh to know how many are out there and how many are being caught?

GM: What you’re asking about is called “stock assessment,” and it’s always the result of a mathematical model. Modeling is the only way you can incorporate all the factors necessary to decide if a stock is overfshed or if it can sustain itself. These models are complex, specialized and inherently difcult things. In a nutshell, there are a number of data streams that have to be updated and integrated for a stock assessment model to produce a good result.

Typically, multiple years of data for a stock assessment need to be collected. These data are gathered both from commercial and recreational fshermen, and collected by scientists themselves. Collecting commercial landings data is pretty straightforward, and it’s some of the most accurate data we have. Collecting information on discard mortality is more challenging for commercial fsheries. Recreational data collection is more complicated. We use dockside surveys, phone or charter boat surveys to estimate recreational catch and/or efort (number of trips). This takes time. Once the data is collected and incorporated into databases, the stock assessment process begins. In the Southeast U.S., this often occurs via a process known as SEDAR that allows the public to become part of the assessment. Stakeholders and the public sit side by side with scientists and review the data going into the models and the form of the models themselves. There’s a phase with input from outside experts, then a review workshop. That is a good six- or eight-month process in itself. Ultimately, even the best assessments are dated by two or three years.

CA: If the stock assessment

process is that lengthy, that must mean regulations are slow to change. Does this cause problems?

GM: Well, it certainly can create some frustration among anglers because what the fshermen see in the water is real time, but the stock assessment process is not real time. For example, as a species like red snapper rebounds, catch limits are reached faster and seasons must be shortened. So fshermen see lots of fsh in the water and feel like restrictions are getting tighter, which is counter-intuitive. In reality, the catch limits may be the same year to year, but the fsh are just being caught faster and the limits haven’t changed because the stock assessment is still in process. It’s frustrating for the angler, but right now it’s an inherent part of the process. I think most folks agree that the frequency of stock assessments needs to be increased for certain species like red snapper. However, more frequent assessments require a corresponding investment in data collection, and that increased cost right now is a hurdle that has been tough to clear.

CA: Can the stock

assessment process be sped up? Is it possible to get data faster?

GM: The data for the commercial fshery is often some of the most reliable we get because of requirements that commercial fshermen must follow. If you ignore illegal catch, we have good information there on landings. That is about as near real-time as we get. The recreational fshery is a much diferent story. If you look at the volume of fshing in Florida, which is over 20 million trips in a year, that’s an incredible number. A survey efort to get that many people represented is costly and time consuming. That’s why you’re starting to hear about the modernization of survey methods.

CA: Can you elaborate on that?

GM: One thing has been advancements in the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP). MRIP is the modernized version of the Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey (MRFSS), and is the mechanism for collecting data on recreational harvest and efort for most of the country. One of the biggest changes is a change in survey approach. The phone survey done previously involved a random digit dialing program. It didn’t consider if the target was a fshing household or not. Now it does. Also, in the past, Florida didn’t require a license to fsh from a shoreline. Now, a shoreline license is required but is free-of-charge. However, this allows the survey to reach a whole group of people we previously missed. This sounds like common sense, but getting it done was a big task. We also need to fnd other ways for anglers to report their catch. There’s been some talk about a smartphone app, and several are available as we speak. We also need to dramatically increase the number of “intercepts,” or interviews at the dock to ask people what they caught. That’s a big challenge because it requires manpower.

Gil McRae chats up GHM editor Fred Garth and AFTCO president Bill Shedd at the 2012 Gulf Fisheries Symposium. Photo: Jim Tizzano.

Gil was a panelist and moderator at the Gulf Fisheries Symposium last September. Photo: Jim Tizzano.

CA: Getting accurate

information on the current condition of a given fsh stock is certainly a challenge, but what about establishing the baseline? How do we know how many fsh there “should” be? Is this based on historical data, and if so, how do we know it’s accurate?

GM: There’s always some debate about this, but I think there’s general agreement in the scientifc community. The baseline is driven by the life history of that species. Typically, that means it’s based on the number of eggs that fsh can produce, how fast it can multiply, and the total weight of spawning individuals. So, anything that regulates fshing is really an attempt to ensure that the spawning capacity of the population does not drop below a critical level.

Note that stock assessments and the determination of how much fshing can occur are diferent than allocation among fshing sectors. While biology drives the total amount of fsh that can be sustainably harvested, allocation factors are often more of a social or economic decision. CA: What about things like

natural disasters…the BP oil spill comes to mind… or other environmental conditions that might have an impact on fsh stocks. How is that accounted for in this process?

GM: It’s surprisingly difcult to include environmental variability in stock assessments, whether that means a loss of habitat quantity, reduction in habitat quality, or something catastrophic like an oil spill or red tide. Recently, the assessment of one species of grouper did include impact from a severe red tide. In order to begin integrating environmental variables more fully into stock assessments, we need more fsheries data collection through scientifc surveys in addition to data from the fsheries themselves. These scientifc surveys make it easier to integrate fsheries and environmental data, since you have very detailed information on exactly where and how the data was collected. In Florida, we have good fsheries scientifc surveys in place for many inshore species. These surveys allow us to react more quickly to unforeseen events, such as the severe cold winters a few years ago that killed large numbers of snook. However, for most of the ofshore species, these scientifc sampling programs don’t exist. So, the establishment of scientifc surveys that allows the modes to be more real-time needs to be put in place. Inshore, we typically can use seines and trawls, depending on the habitat type. In the Gulf, video, fsh traps or acoustic surveys or trawls are the ways we would collect samples. The best stock assessments have data both from the fshery, (fshery dependent) and data collected through scientifc surveys (fshery independent).

CA: So, to summarize,

regulations are based on the life history of a given species and on the results of stock assessments. The stock assessment process is time consuming, both because of the challenges of data collection and the extended review procedures. Are there other issues? Is this lengthy process working?

GM: I would just say it’s easy to get lost in terminology when we talk about this stuf. What we sometimes hear from anglers is that a stock assessment is wrong. As we discussed, there can be a disconnect from what researchers have and what anglers see on the water. Also, because it’s all based on mathematical models, everything is related to statistical accuracy. Sometimes, the estimation of an important parameter in a stock assessment may be plus or minus 20 percent. I think the managers do a good job about being upfront about the uncertainty in these parameters, but that needs to be better communicated and understood by everyone involved. But, to answer your question, I think the trade-of of time vs. angler involvement is worth it. It’s worth the time spent in the data assessment and review workshops to improve transparency.

BY JEFF DENNIS GHM INSIDER

From managing kites and dredges to saving lead on deep drops, ELECTRIC REELS ARE THE ANSWER.

G E A R H E A D S:

Anglers of a certain age frst heard of electric reels in the heyday of head boats and commercial bottom fshing, but with improvements in technology and an increase in competition, the modern power-winder is handling a variety of specialized duties on the bridge and from the transom. In addition to winching up monster grouper from the depths, electric reels are just the tool for clearing teasers and kites. And it all happens at the push of a button, which allows the crew to concentrate on fghting the fsh that takes the bait. In short, the electric reel is a captain’s best friend when it comes to easily deploying and managing all kinds of tackle. Here are a few things to ponder when making a purchase.

Many sportfshers employ a pair of electric reels to pull a teaser known as a dredge. A dredge is a type of spreader bar that anglers bait with mullet in order to mimic a school of bait. Each mullet carries a three-ounce chin weight, giving each dredge rig roughly 36 ounces of weight. Trolling at 5.5 knots creates stress on the electric reel, and since anglers like to double- or even triple-up on dredge rigs, the bigger the electric reel, the better for handling the pull.

When it comes to deep-dropping in daytime for swordfsh, line counter technology on your electric reel is a big plus. Set the reel to let out 1,400 feet of line and the guesswork regarding the accuracy of your drop is eliminated. Setting a second electric reel at a diferent depth helps to cover the water column. Also, many anglers don’t use lead weights when dropping deep, but you can keep the lead on when using an electric reel, since you have the power to pull it back up.

Electric reels are also great for kite fshing for yellowfn tuna or sailfsh, and these applications don’t require as much heft. Captains love this because they can retrieve their kite after a strike with a push of a button, setting the line counter so that it stays just shy of the boat. There’s no more cranking the kite reel and fghting the wind. Instead, they can keep their hands on the helm while an angler plays the fsh.

Of course, bottom fshing with electric reels extends the depths to which you can practically fsh and staves of the onset of noodle-arm from cranking big fsh up from the abyss. A pro tip is to install a section of bright-colored rubber tubing that can slide on the line to keep anglers from jamming the swivel into the rod tip while under power. Some electric reels can also be set to jig the line upward at diferent intervals, giving your bait an extra appeal to predators.

In the end, electric reels do add another expense to the tally of a fshing trip, ranging in price from one to several thousand dollars. But tackle shop gurus explain that, considering the price of fuel alone, the efciency electric reels ofer in extended fshing time is well worth it. A growing range of models means anglers can fnd a good ft for both their fshing style and their budget. In the end, the right model should help boat owners reel in a new level of success.

Lindgren-Pitman S-1200

Top-level fshing captains appreciate many features of the S-1200. Although this is one of the most expensive electric reels available, it ofers serious technology and performance and the utility of a 12-volt power system. The cantilever spool system is completely sealed to discourage corrosion, and there’s a level winder to wrap the line back on the spool. The removable and interchangeable spool design allows quick line changes when shifting from one type of fshing to another. The L-P S-1200 is a good choice for those who want to troll multiple dredge rigs. • Electronic Counter • Stop at Top Mode • Titanium Spool

MSRP $4,500 www.Lindgren-Pitman.com

Hooker Electric

A true multi-tasker, the Hooker Electric will help you target whatever bottomfsh options the ocean has to ofer. Despite its sleek, lightweight design, it makes a great dredge reel with a dual-speed, wireless remote control accessory. Powered by a 12-volt system, the reel includes a level winder and digital line counter. Reeling in at 500-ft.-per-minute is impressive and allows quick retrieval and resetting from deep drops for more time in the strike zone. • Fits Shimano Tiagra Reels • Aluminum Construction • Variable Speed Control

MSRP $2,275 www.HookerElectric.com

Daiwa Seaborg 1000 Megatwin™ Power Assist Reel

Two variable speed ranges deliver excellent versatility on this Daiwa model. There’s high-speed retrieval when it’s time to change fshing rigs or when moving to a new location. A second setting ofers more power to help control large fsh by keeping the pressure on the line during an extended fght. The Daiwa Megatwin™ is not suited to handle multiple dredge rigs, but there is a programmable auto-stop feature that prevents over-winding when the lure reaches the surface. • Electronic Counter • Maximum Winding Power: 20 lbs. • Max Drag: 44 lbs.

MSRP $1,400 www.Daiwa.com

Kristal Fishing Series 600

Italian manufacturer Kristal Fishing produces electric reels that ofer enough power to double-up on dredge rigs but has some notable creature comforts, too. There’s an auto-stop, line counter, weather guard and variable retrieve speed for matching reel power to the fght. The Kristal also is known for its low power consumption. • Low Maintenance, High-impact Plastic Housing • Good for Novice-level User

MSRP $1,500 www.KristalReels.com

Dolphin Electreel

With a rich, 24-year history in tooling and manufacturing parts in the U.S.A., Dolphin enjoys a loyal customer base. The dolphin electreel system mates with Penn® International, Penn® Senator or Shimano Tiagra Reels. It allows anglers a manual override if they want to use the crank handle to play the fsh against the drag system. • Gold Anodized Aluminum Construction • One-year Factory Warranty

MSRP $1,820 (for Penn 70 electric motor) www.DolphinElectreel.com

Elec-Tra-Mate Pro II

Elec-Tra-Mate has had a strong presence in the electric reel market for more than 40 years. Made in North Carolina and targeted toward serious fshermen, these reels favor power and durability over bells and whistles. The durable plastic housing is lighter than other oferings and mates with Penn®, Shimano and Fin-Nor reels. • Three-position Toggle Switch • Ofered in Special Sportsman Models for Physically

Challenged Anglers

MSRP $1,499 www.Elec-Tra-Mate.com

Big-mouthed snook are the prized jewel of Southwest Florida’s backwater fshery. Opposite: Snookie Jig, looking for a fght.

SNOOK

HUNTER

TEXT & PHOTOS BY NICK HONACHEFSKY

Y Y ou know you’re fshing with a serious snook captain when a wiry beagle named Snookie Jig is barking from the bow. “Oh, she

don’t mind the ocean,” said Captain Chris Rush of Rush Charters, as his 24-ft. custom Morgan plowed through the three- to fve-foot onshore rollers of Redfsh Pass off Captiva Island, Florida, headed to a wreck fve miles off. Snookie Jig’s wobbly sea legs were barely holding up. “We had some serious grouper action here two days ago, but looks like there might be tough conditions today.” Rush, a second generation Ft. Myers local, embodies the saltwater lifestyle, whether live-baiting snook from under mangroves in his home waters of Pine Island Sound or fycasting permit down in Belize. Rush is one dedicated salt. Once on anchor, wave crests started breaking over the bow, and Snookie Jig started getting seasick, barfng up Kibbles and Bits, so we back-burnered the wreck grouper idea and made a move back to ply the docks off Pine Island Sound for snook. It was just what the doctor ordered to start my Gulf Coast grab bag off right.

Above: Young snook are repopulating the Ft. Myers waters—a positive sign stocks are on the rebound. Drag-ripping jack crevelles get the attention of all aboard, including the dogs.

I had plans to spend the next four days fshing the Ft. Myers area, and it was part of a much-needed break. I’m a Jersey guy, and superstorm Sandy took everything I’ve ever owned—from my home on the barrier island in Normandy Beach, New Jersey, to my entire array of fshing gear, photographs, everything. She wiped me of the map. It was fve months since the destruction, and it was high time I got out from under the day-to-day grind of putting the pieces back together. I was tired of dealing with FEMA and living out of hotels day to day. I decided it was a good time to travel, and I reached out to some friends down in Southwest Florida. My plans were a bit loose, but day one with Capt. Rush and Snookie Jig was already turning out to be a muchneeded adventure.

As Rush and I broke Redfsh Pass, reentering the backwaters, Snookie Jig regained her intrinsic hunter’s ferocity, barking fastidiously at cormorants and such, and good karma was back on our side. A recent red tide had fsh with a case of lockjaw, but Rush had his suspicions to beat the red tide fow and headed to a favorite slough of a local dock, known for harboring snook. “High tide, sun’s fnally breaking through, should be some snook of that piling,” Rush surmised as he lobbed a live threadfn herring a razor’s edge of the piling. Crash, splash and the mad dash—snook on! Not long after, we plucked the circle hook from the under-slung jaw of the 14-lb. heavyweight and slid her back into the tannic water, I was buttoned up, again with a “snuuuuk” as the local dialect call them in Southwest Florida, and promptly released a feisty eight-pounder. The tide began to move again, the bite turned of, and we decided to work the mangrove shoreline with poppers, toying with one shoulder-driven, 10-lb. jack crevelle after another, testing the drags out and putting a ftting ending to a fun-flled day.

The Ft. Myers area encompasses the Captiva/Sanibel/Pine Island playground. It’s world-renown for incomparable snook, redfsh and tarpon fshing. Names like Redfsh Pass, Boca Grande, and Pine Island Sound send shivers down the spine of any dedicated angler with the dreams of targeting the fsh of a lifetime, whether casting a live-baited threadfn or a precisely-dropped shrimp fy. It ofers some of the best inshore action along the Gulf Coast, and that’s saying something. I wanted to fsh as much of it as I could.

The next morning, we changed the game plan. I dialed up my good friend Denny Wagner to join me and Rush. Wagner is a salty brother who previously held the position of engineer on the vessel Ocean of the television show Shark Men. We all met up and then put the throttle down on Rush’s 19-ft. Ranger skif, this time to navigate the winding upper creek channels of Pine Island Sound in an attempt to strategically avoid the red tide conditions. Underneath mangrove roots of the creeks, rat packs of baby snook of 14 to 20 inches stacked up, a warming sight to see after the big freeze of 2010 that killed of an enormous chunk of the snook population in Florida. All three of us stood in awe of the prolifc amounts of diminutive snook pooling up at nearly every mangrove cutout, a true testament to the rebounding ability of a species if stocks are allowed to rebuild in dire times. “Let’s get outta here and leave these kids be, and head up to tuck into a sweet spot, where I’ve got a feeling there might be some bigger snook and reds around,” suggested Rush.

In short order, he won the battle with a beautiful 11-lb. specimen. “Yeah brother!” was the simultaneous shout-out from Rush and me as the pugnacious snook was unhooked and sent back to its home. Rush, Wagner and I were all pleased with the outcome of the day, so we decided to call it quits for the moment; after all, it was 5 o’clock and “happy hour” had just begun. We ended up back at Rush’s house, imbibing in a few adult beverages and practiced throwing metal spears into a laundry basket in anticipation of wild boar hunting the next morning. But, as plans change when living a nomadic life, boar hunting had to take a back seat as an old school friend from Long Island, New York, crazy Alberto Knie, who recently had relocated to Estero, Florida, rang me up. He wanted to test the waters at the Lovers Key Pass at Estero Island for a sunset session on speckled trout. “Get in,” was all I heard from Knie as his salt-wearied face greeted me at fve in the evening. I climbed into a rod-laden truck built for fshing. There was no time for the frivolous

Pointing the bow up into the backwaters of Cape Coral, we slid into a quiet, business of catching up. “It’s witching hour; we’ve got to get to the pass,” said slick-calm back cove, to a honey hole where some fallen down oak trees jutted a very serious and focused Knie, as he drove straight toward Estero Island. His out from the shoreline. Rush deftly launched a “livie” between two of the larger friend Butch Newell was riding shotgun. Soon, as the sun dipped over a surreal, limbs, a V-wake headed straight for the fittering baitfsh, followed by an explosive sun-sparkling Gulf of Mexico backdrop, we all cast out into an outgoing tide with commotion. “Big red! Get the net!” Rush shouted out, and quite deftly twisted ½-oz. red jigheads tipped with Berkley Gulp shrimp. An uncharacteristic slight the buckled rod left and right to wrench the fsh out from the submerged tree chill in the late March air had us in long pants and sweatshirts, and the whole limbs, eventually battling it to the boat where Wagner slipped the net under a scene was reminiscent of my childhood days catching trout in an enclosed pen respectable 33-in. redfsh. Smiles were plastered on each of our faces as the red at the fairground days—the action was simply too good to be true. Every single was gently let back into the water—a tail splash, and he was on his way. Wagner was next up, as he skipped his bait underneath the same submerged tree limb. The threadfn vibrated frantically, followed by another heart-stopping crash. This time, the hooked snook had other ideas, smartly navigating through the sharp Map Data: SIO, NOAA, U.S. maze of submerged branches, heading straight for Navy, NGA, GEBCO; Image: the tangle of shoreline mangrove roots, looking to © 2013 TerraMetrics, U.S. part himself permanently from Wagner. Denny—not Captiva Island Geological Survey, Cnes/ to be made a fool of by the snook—had other plans. Spot Image Writhing around of the bow of the boat, Wagner jumped into the water, passed the rod under one of Sanibel Island the submerged branches and out the other side. The Lover’s Key snook made a B-line for the next shoreline, but Denny wasn’t fooled. Wagner then climbed back onto the bow, regained his footing, stood back up and came tight again on the snook, narrowly averting disaster.

cast was attacked by ladyfsh, as the diminutive tarpon doppelgangers put on daunting aerial displays that had all three of us cheering like sugar-rushed school kids. After delicately releasing an overzealous pelican that tried to suck down a hooked ladyfsh from Alberto’s line, Butch found the magic method of presentation and began dialing in numerous bejeweled speckled trout up to three pounds. In an hour and a half ’s time, we released nearly a hundred ladyfsh and specks between us—stashing away two legal specks in the cooler—and we jumped back in the truck and headed back to Alberto’s place. He then put his legendary culinary talents on display, dishing out thinly sliced speckled trout sushi. There’s nothing like enjoying a solid fsh dinner, surrounded by best friends. At that moment, FEMA was a world away, although Jersey did come back to mind.

Another brother, Sean Reilly, after some persistent Jersey-style trash talking, fnally manned up and decided to play hooky from his job as a boat salesman. He booked a fight down from Atlantic City to join me in Ft. Myers. Without hesitation, the moment Sean landed, he and I put the keys in Rush’s pickup truck and headed straight to the local secret spot for sheepshead. It’s the Sanibel Island B-span bridge bulkhead. Some wily locals had already claimed the hot spot of the corner bulkhead, bailing one sheepshead after another, and we were forced to pick up the remnant shorts on the outskirts of the main school. “We’ve gotta get in on that spot,” I said to Reilly, frustration mounting. And then, as if the fsh gods heard my impassioned plea, a heavy rainstorm settled in and sent the locals packing. That’s when we made our move. Through driving rain, Sean and I mugged the spot up and began to absolutely light up the sheepshead, eventually landing eight keepers up to 19 in. long, enough for a solid dinner. With the sun setting, it was time to fnally get back to Rush’s house to enjoy the fruits of our labors. Rush whipped up some crazy, old-fashioned family recipe, seasoned with local favor, grilling up the sheepshead, and matched it with backstraps and tenderloins from the wild pigs of Rush and Wagner’s morning hunt in the orange groves.

With full bellies, Sean and I packed up our gear that night in anticipation of our “Day 5” fshing adventure to Key West the next morning. I laid my head down on the pillow for a few hours sleep before the Key West ferry’s departure at the crack of

Denny Wagner does his best to convince a redfsh to exit the mangrove roots. Opposite: A hefty stringer of sheepshead tricked up from the B-span bridge bulkhead.

dawn, thinking about the fantastic fshing I just experienced and forgetting all about living in hotels day to day. My eyes closed, smiling of a week well spent on the water, I fnally passed into a deep sleep, dreaming of one more snook on the end of my line. Three hours later, I awoke to a fsh-breathed Snookie Jig licking my face, ushering me to get up and get back at it.

Special thanks to Captain Chris Rush (and Snookie Jig) of Rush Charters. For information on fshing the Ft. Myers area, visit www.rushcharters.com or call (239) 229-5388.

Anglers in Action

When snook population in Florida took a monstrous hit during the

big freeze of 2010, conservation-minded factions stepped up to the plate. They gathered real-time data to assess stock levels by getting direct input from anglers on the water. As a result, researchers and regulators had the information they needed to help them make decisions that would foster stock recovery. That process continues today as the Snook & Gamefsh Foundation spearheads a data collection endeavor called Angler Action (www. angleraction.org) where fshermen can log on and record their trip and catch information to the group’s website. This includes relative size, numbers and locations of snook caught. The data is allowing decision makers to quickly assess the impact of environmental phenomena such as weather or red tide and develop timely management plans. There’s also a link for downloading a smartphone app (iPhone or Android) that allows data reporting anytime, anywhere. In addition to the Angler Action site, check out www.snookfoundation.org for more information.