Water LI FE
Charlotte Harbor, Lemon Bay, Venice, Estero & the Gulf
The Don Ball School of Fishing
August 2015
Biologists admit: Manatees are swimming to Cuba!
Page 5
This is a Fish Rub How to Do It Page 12
Party Time Page 17
Fishing Report Page 22
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Tune in to Radio Fishinʼ anytime! Talk shows with Fishinʼ Frank @ FishinFranks.com
Send letters and photos to: WaterLIFE@comcast.net
Mike Here's my tale of woe. Last August I purchased a Whale 320 pump for my baitwell from GO2 Marine. It failed on the last fishing trip. When I looked under the diaphram the plastic gear was ground off. The pump has a 1 year warranty. I contacted GO2 Marine who advised me to contact Whale Pumps directly as I had the pump over 30 days. Which I did. Finally after almost 2 weeks the rep from Whale pumps called me and started talking about a clog in the line causing the problem etc. When I told him that I was using it for a baitwell pump he said the pump was never designed for the constant running of a baitwell. I explained that I contacted Whale Pumps to see which pump they suggested before I bought it. I also said the 320 is advertised on their website as a baitwell pump. He then explained that the problem is in the ʻtranslation,ʼ as their headquarters are in Ireland. At any rate, he said he would send me a pump.... if he could, but couldn't as Whale Pumps has been sold to Brunswick and would only be open for 2 more days! I'd warn anyone: Do not purchase any Whale Pumps. Lester Kuhn John Ryan reported a sawfish catch to the sawfish hotline. The following was their reply: Hi Mr Ryan! You did good in reporting your sawfish catch! You did all the right things by keeping the fish in the water and not getting too close because those saws can do some serious damage (as our boat can prove – itʼs all beat up from when we go catch these animals to tag them). I just wanted to clarify a few things; was there 24 inches of 30lb leader in addition to the 5 ft of 20lb braid attached to the fish when it was released? Or was that 24 inches already
wrapped around the saw when you caught it? Iʼm just a bit confused about how much line was on the fish when it swam away. Also, did you happen to take any photo or video of the fish? Those are great for our files, if you did take any and wouldnʼt mind emailing me copies. Thanks again for reporting the sawfish! Any and all information we receive is much appreciated. Cheers, Caitlin McGarigal Manager, International Sawfish Encounters Program for Shark Research, U of F Museum of Natural History
Frst Fish! – after just moving here! This black drum from a local canal will be a memory for sure! There are lots of these fish now. More Ethanol May Be Coming From the SW Florida Marine Mfg. Assn. Last month, the EPA held the only public forum on its proposal to raise the ethanol levels in our fuel supply. It was held in the heart of corn coun-
try, and no surprise it was decidedly a one-sided debate. Governor Jay Nixon (MO) energized hundreds of pro-ethanol supporters at the hearing. Of the more than 250 testifying participants, all but a dozen were for increasing the amount of ethanol — even beyond the EPAʼs proposal! Our voices will be drowned out if we don't take action. We need you to join our effort and contact the EPA. Tell them to protect boating and decrease the amount of ethanol in our fuel supply. 2,000 people in the boating industry have already commented through our link. Will you join them and make this a fair debate? Boating United is the grassroots platform of the recreational boating industry. It is comprised of boating manufacturers, businesses and supporters who share the common goal of protecting and promoting the industry. Take action, learn about the issues and more at http://boatingunited.com Re; Sticky Subject, Tarpon Release article Water LIFE, July edition Wow..... Very disappointed in ur article.... Totally missed the big picture here. Will you print my rebuttal ? If not I will have Josh do it Capt. Rhett Morris
We responded: I'd be happy to see what else you have to say. But there is no argument for the tarponʼs air bladder drying out and sticking together. Josh who? (We received no further reply)
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Independant - Not affiliated with any other publication Vol XIV No 8 © 2015
No part of this publication (printed or electronic) may be copied or reproduced without specific written permission from the publishers.
Contributing Editors:
Photography: ASA1000.com Senior Editor: Capt. Ron Blago River and Shore: Fishinʼ Frank Charlotte Harbor: Capt. Billy Barton Diving: Adam Wilson Punta Gorda: Capt. Chuck Eichner Venice: Glen Ballinger Estero: Capt. Joe Angius Kayaking: Bob Frasier Sea Grant: Betty Staugler Offshore: Capt. Jim OʼBrien Beach Fishing: Mallory Herzog Circulation: Robert Cohn Pier Fishing: Bobby Vitalis Office Dog: Molly Brown (in memorium)
On the Cover: A beautiful Fish Rub made from a fresh vermillion snapper by diver/artist Adam Wilson. See page 12
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AUGUST 2015
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Manatees - Yes They Do Swim To Cuba! Michael Heller Water Life editor
For years we were told by manatee experts and by the Save the Manatee Club, that Cuba was devoid of manatees, but that didn’t seem right. I thought that since the seagrass was healthy there and since the inshore species were thriving, there would be manatees around. I also reasoned, manatees from Florida were travelling to Cuba and they were breeding with the Cuban manatee stock. In the late 1990s, when the then-new manatee regulations were all being discussed, I found local boaters and fishermen were intentionally being misled about the status of the manatee and the local Charlotte Sun newspaper was turning a blind eye to the truth. The manatee population was not declining, it was just not being recorded accurately. Boaters were not the biggest threat to manatees, Red Tide and cold weather were. I worked for the Sun at that time, I wrote about what I had found and they tried to silence me. I wrote that Cuba’s north shore was a seagrass-fertile feeding ground for manatees and that manatees from Florida were not only traveling to and from Cuba but probably to and from Belize as well. These events helped shaped my theory:
1911 newspaper report: A manatee is captured in Texas. 1919 newspaper report: A fisherman netted a manatee near Wilmington, North Carolina. Both stories suggested manatees
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from Florida had travelled great distances.
1933 ‘We know what’s best for you.” Eugenitics, the control of human breeding as a means of improving future generations, is advocated by Julian Huxley in his paper “The Vital Importance of Eugenics.” Julian’s bother, Aldus, wrote Brave New World. They both advocated psychological manipulation and conditioning of society to achieve their goals.
1941 – Manatee skulls are found in Louisiana and Texas. The report indicates manatees were known in the area.
1946 Julian Huxley (See Eugenics, 1933) becomes the first Director-General of UNESCO (The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization) and begins to establish environmental policy. 1964 – The Flood Control governing board of Florida awarded a three-year contract to Florida Atlantic University in Palm Beach County to study using the manatee to suppress aquatic and bank weed growth in essential inland waterways. The study concluded that manatees have the unique potential to be effective and economical for aquatic weed control.
1966-67 Federal Endangered Species and Preservation Act – The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service lists the West Indian Manatee as endangered. Manatees are eaten throughout the region, it notes.
This photo recently appeared on the internet showing GPS tagging of a manatees in Cuba
1967 Graduate student Daniel “Woody” Hartman, assisted by James “Buddy” Powell conduct the first in-depth study of manatees in the wild at Crystal River. Hartman goes on to complete his doctoral dissertation on manatees in 1971.
1968 – Hartman and Powell propose to Citrus County and the Florida Department of Natural Resources that Crystal River be declared a manatee sanctuary. The county does not support their proposal. 1972 – Federal Marine Mammal Protection Act designates the manatee as a Marine Mammal.
December 11, 1972 newspaper headline: Apollo locked in Moon orbit. Landing later today! Further back in the paper it said Daniel Hartman had learned that in the last decade, the Crystal River manatee population had ‘unexpectedly exploded’ from about 20 animals to over 1,000. The story was about a $35,000 grant Hartman was receiving from the Department of Endangered Species to help find where and why the Florida manatee populations were changing. Hartman was now becoming known as the Manatee Man. continued on page 14
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AUGUST 2015
What Weʼre Seeing Now
By Mallory Herzog Water LIFE Fishing Well that was fast, only a few more weeks now until the kids are back in school! All the more reason to head out and get some fishing time in! When the water temps were up this made the bite a bit tough. Even the fish find cool places to hide from the heat. Look for shaded areas, the water is slightly cooler there. Thicker and deeper mangrove areas provide refuge from a blazing sun. Bait. Where is it? What kind and how can you get it? Whitebait moves around. All the rain we had at the end of last month didn’t help.
Chum them up with white bait cut in half and you can easily get them into a feeding frenzy. We had them hitting live bait on top and got our limit in an afternoon! I got one heck of a surprise while snapper fishing last weekend. I hooked up to a keeper gag grouper. He had a great hiding spot, I never expected to catch a grouper in my favorite snapper hole, which is a mangrove backwater area with minimal current flow. It was quite the fight on my 2500 reel and plasma rod. Delicious too, he came home for dinner that night. The tarpon bite is slowing down but they are still around and hungry. Crabs or threadfins work great, early morning and evening into the night. Juvenile tarpon have also been active in our local canals and waterways. These little guys are Finding this beautiful black spotted tarpon was one highlight, last month our future, reEarly morning it’s pretty easy to chum member to handle with care. Catching the them on the flats. Frank sells a great dry smaller tarpon on artificial soft plastics, jig bait chum you mix with water. I like to head or weighted swim bait hook. They make it the consistency of peanut butter. It also respond well to lures and flies. When also calls in pinfish and ballyhoo. As the using lures, I remove the treble's and reday gets later, look on markers and deeper place them with a circle hook. This small areas for bait. If you don't throw a net, live hook change can make a huge difference in shrimp works too! Frozen lady fish or your hook up ratio! mullet chunks are also a great option for You can contact Big Bully Outdoors Charbottom feeding fish. ters for a trip with Captain Andrew Herzog. Call 941-661-9880 or BigBullyOutdoors.com Early morning or evening right before sunset have been best for fishing as the rain has helped cool things down just a bit. If your fishing during the day the deep holes of the Harbor are always a great option because the water is cooler. Fish flood to these deep pockets to cool down. These holes have a variety of marine life swimming though them. Cobia, tarpon, grouper, shark and more. You can make a knocker rig (weight right before the hook) to get it down to the bottom or free line a live bait on top. Use wire or steel-cable for shark, make sure your bait is large enough that it doesn't get stolen by a sailcat. Looking for eating fish inshore? In Boca Grande the snapper bite has been great around docks. Light tackle, 1 or 2/0 circle hook, a split shot or free lined.
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AUGUST 2015
Fishing the Weather Patterns
By Capt. Billy Barton Water LIFE Inshore It's officially the heart of summertime and rainy season here in Southwest Florida! Hopefully everyone's been getting their weekly dose of vitamin Sea! I know I am, with small periods of air conditioned recuperation and rehydration in between! As much as we all love our Florida sunshine and the time we spend out playing in it, it can take its toll on our bodies if we let it. Keeping protected and hydrated out there in the heat, this time of year, is very important. During the month of July we experienced hot and stagnant conditions, with higher than normal temperatures and a lack of rain. Our surface water temperatures in the bay climbed up to the 90s. This was not beneficial to our inshore fishing, especially mid day. Getting out on the water early in the morning and snatching that window of opportunity early in the day was pretty important. Think like a fish for a second. Heck, for that matter, think like a human being! Do you feel like eating
more when you're hot and uncomfortable, or when you're relaxing in the cool? I know my choice. Hot water holds very little oxygen in comparison to cooler water. In my opinion, the inshore fishing in the summer tends to be a little more consistent when you get closer to the Gulf. Water temperatures as you near the Gulf are a little bit cooler, offering a bit more oxygen and a little higher salinity than you see up inside Charlotte Harbor. A good majority of our fish will actually migrate towards this slightly more comfortable scenario during the summer months. Thankfully, as we make our way into the month of August, we are now seeing some much needed rain and cloud cover. Our weather seems to be cooling off a bit (in relation to July) and this has been beneficial to our fishing in general. The rain brings up
the oxygen levels in the bay and on our flats. It's good for our grass and the fish up inside the bay seem to react well to it. How do the fish react to the rain? This is a question whose answer has many variables, and I get asked about this subject all the time. This is my best, relatively short answer: Our moon phase, tides, and light levels have the largest impact on our fishing when combined with water temperature and salinity. Air pressure (barometric pressure) is another important factor that you can work into the equation if you want the best odds at being successful on your ventures. Fish don't react to the rain as much as they do to the drastic and sudden change in air pressure. This sudden change in air pressure could also be described as prefrontal conditions. I'd say, hands down, those are my favorite conditions to fish in. Now I'm going to warn you, this could get a little dangerous and those two teenagers who disappeared out
AUGUST 2015
of Jupiter Inlet last month might, sadly, be an example. A beautiful, calm day (high pressure scenario) with a big, mean storm rolling in off the Gulf (or in their case the Atlantic) in the afternoon (extreme low pressure scenario). The fish can sense this soon-to-be pressure change in their air bladders and the short period of time prior to a big storm rollin' in can be some of the fishiest conditions possible. From my experience, overcast and sprinkling is perfect, but once it starts to pour hard, the fish usually shut down. So many factors! That is what keeps things interesting out there! Remember, take extra care in letting your fish go for the next couple of months, they stress easier during the summertime. Also, don't forget to show respect for our grass flats and to your fellow boaters. Distance is ethical and sea grass is what makes Charlotte Harbor the beautiful place that it is. Capt. Billy Barton owns and operates Scales-n-Tails Fishing Charters. 941- 979-6140 http://www.puntagordafishingcharter.com
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Capt. Billy始s
Harbor始s Variety Clockwise from top left snook tarpon tripletail redfish snook black drum black drum
CANVAS & UPHOLSTERY
Nuclear Chicken, Electric Chicken or Texas Chicken ?? PAGE
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By Fishin’ Frank Water LIFE Baitshop As a tackle shop owner this is the old debate I hear; Do I, or should I, stock lures that catch fish or should I stock lures that catch fishermen? If a lure would catch every fish that swims and no one bought it, does it still catch fish? The simple truth is, a lure has to catch fishermen first. Most lures work. That said, I had a line of lures called KillerBaits, they were so life like, and the swimming action looked so perfect to me that I threw that lure on and off for 12 years until one day I caught a bunch of fish with it. Then I threw it as far as I could out into the Harbor.... for some one else to find and try. Looking realistic is only half the battle, but I was right, it caught a lot of fish, eventually, if I forget the 12 years it took. I attended my first tackle show in 1985, it was a Dealer’s Show by a guy who is long since out of business. In those days it was: hit the closeout booth for the deals first and then move on to the new stuff. That is the one thing which has changed today - 99-percent of the closeout merchandise today is there for a reason. So I have learned to go to the new stuff first, ... unless there is a local-favorite that did not sell out nationally, which happens often. Stuff sells like crazy here, but not so much in the rest of the
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country. So when that happens, I buy all I can get. I had the same problems in the old days, with new products, as I do now. So many names; what's the difference between Nuclear Chicken, Electric Chicken and Texas Chicken? No it is not a new trend in fast food, they are color pattern names for lures. One of the reasons to go in person to buying shows is so you can see what the stuff really looks like. Last month was the ICAST show. It is the biggest wholesale tackle show in the galaxy. It took a day and a half to walk around. We bought a number of different lines of lures - some new ones and a couple of classics. We bought some Livingston Lures, they are a little on the pricey side, but they produce sounds that attach fish. Pro shark anglers use under water speakers to call the sharks in and these lures do the same thing. I figure a lures which makes it own sound to attract fish is very cool. We also invested in some Spool Tech lures. Which have a built in leader, so there is no heavy leader exposed, and they have replacable tails. Supposedly these lures are becoming a snook catching favorite. A retractable leader is the cool part. I picked Baker Lures for price point and the finish on them. The Baker will be mid price and they have interesting holographic color patterns and good action, which is why I think they are going to
catch fish. And we’ll be getting Savage Lures. We bought some huge ones – 16-inch long lures for tarpon and Goliath grouper. This lure is almost perfectly life like so add a little scent to it and just let it swim in the tide. My advice, then, would be to hang on to the rod, when a fish hits it will be a monster. We also bought their life like Soft Plastic Fish, from 6 inches up to the monster 16-inchers. Studying lures to picture what action it will have has gotten easier over the years. I spend time in a swimming pool or in the Harbor, under water, watching lures fall towards the bottom, or having someone retrieve them past me. If you can figure out where the weight of the lure is you will be ahead of the game. Weight at the top of it and it will tip over when falling. Weight at the bottom it will drop down flat... and round bodies will usually wobble going down. Another thing I discovered while under water looking at lures was why top water lures have different colors on the top or back of the lure than it does on the bottom. A top water lure floats on the surface so I could not understand why the part not in the water would be a different color, but when you are underwater looking up, you see three images of that one lure. In the middle you see the bottom of the lure and on both sides you see a mirror image
AUGUST 2015
WATCH FOR THE CLOSEOUTS The shallow running, 3/8 oz, gold Hobo spoon, our favorite Charlotte Harbor lure, was discontinued a few years ago. It ran shallow because it pulled from the ʻfat end.ʼ
of the back or top of the lure. So you really see more of the top color by reflection than you do the part that is actually in the water. You gotta see it. Buying lures can be overwhelming, but there are 60 million people going to fish in the U.S. this year. I figure some one will like the new lures I bought. Frank@fishinfranks.com 625-3888
AUGUST 2015
Estero Bay: By Captain Joe Angius
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Water LIFE Estero Bay
The fishing in Estero Bay continues to get better every day. With evening showers making their way into Southwest Florida’s weather pattern, the mornings for fishing have been cool and crisp. The heavy rainfall also means that there is an abundant source of freshwater flushing into Estero Bay. When salinity levels change, along with water temperatures, the fishing drastically shifts. Having a well-rounded understanding of tide movement and weather shifts will increase your chances of locating and catching fish.
First and foremost, before you can start searching for fish, you must have a livewell or bait bucket with some quality bait. As far as the bay goes, there are mullet and pinfish on grass flats in 1-to 3-feet of water. Pilchards are now starting to grow large enough to use as bait. To find them I would recommend looking for a grass flat where birds and dolphins are present. Start chumming up the bait and wait patiently before throwing the first
cast with your net. Right now I am using a 10-foot, ¼-inch mesh, cast net to get my bait. The larger net just makes it easier getting a lot of bait at once. To find active feeding fish truly depends on your location. Remember that Estero Bay has five major river systems that feed into it and at each location there are different tidal flows and salinity levels. Be sure to look for clean moving water, i.e. near or around the large passes, and of course “signs of life.” If you are fishing an area with no “life,” such as sting rays, mullet, or even dolphins, there is a good chance that the redfish and snook don’t want to be there either. My rule of thumb for fishing the bay is to fish the backwaters on an outgoing tide and to fish near the passes on the incoming tide. I say this because the outgoing tide means
that the tide has already come in, along with all of the salt dense water from the Gulf of Mexico. As the tide moves out, the salt dense water will begin to leave the backwaters. When it becomes too low there is a good chance most of the water will be brackish with a low salinity level. The incoming tide will affect salinity levels around the passes first, before it can reach the backwaters. The most important tip that I can give any fisherman or fisherwoman is to take time to truly understand the area you are fishing. Be patient and know that catching fish is on nature’s time. Even though it can get brutally hot or extremely frustrating out on the water, it’s part of fishing and we have all been there. Enjoy the beautiful estuary of Estero Bay, respect
the fish and wildlife by following all of the rules and regulations, and be mindful of other boats.
Captain Joe Angius (727) 234-3171 Speakeasyfishing.com FlatsHQ.com Speakeasyfishing@gmail.com
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The Fine Art of Fishing: By Adam Wilson Water LIFE underwater
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AUGUST 2015
MAKING FISH RUBS FROM YOUR CATCH
1. I use natural fiber papers from Thailand, i.e. mango, banana & mulberry. I purchase my paper from Blue Line supply at the end of Fruitville road in Sarasota. I am sure it can be ordered online with ease as well. Material easier to acquire that I have used before: a canvas painters drop cloth, discounted fabric from sewing departments and plain white butcher paper. 2. I use water based block printing ink from Speedball. Acrylic paint also works really well and is easier to find.
3. I use cheap bristle brushes for application, and disposable foam brushes for color blending.
4. Not Required, but I also use Rigid foam insulation panels & sewing pins (the process can be done on a counter top, but you won't have the fins open) My fish are typically gutted...
Step 1. Pack all cavities with paper towels, including gut, or anus and nostrils. ( If you don't, you can get body fluids squishing all over your canvas when you rub the fish)
Step 2. I place the fish on a rigid foam insulation panel and draw the outline of the fish, not including the fins. Then cut away the foam material inside the outline so the fish will lay inside the foam. Step 3. Spread open the fins and use the sewing pins to keep them open by pushing through the bony section of the fins into the foam behind. With the foam material removed from behind the fish, the fins should be flush with the foam.
Step 4. Completely dry the fish. I use a hairdryer and paper towels. Once the fins are dry, the sewing pins can be removed and the fins should remain in the same open position. Step 5. Put scrap pieces of paper behind all the fins to keep excess ink from getting on the foam. Otherwise any excess ink on your foam (or counter top) will be transferred onto your canvas when you rub out the fish.
Step 6. Mix colors and apply to the fish. Try to match the natural
Adam Wilson with the American Red snapper he made the fish rub (right) from
colors of the fish (a photo of the freshly caught fish will help), also keep the ink or paint from being to thick in any one spot. That will result in a blobby mess with no detail. Fine details like a snooks stripe, or the yellow spots of a spanish mackerel are best added in by hand later. The eye and teeth are always painted in later also.
Step 7. Remove the scrap pieces of paper from behind the fins. Make sure there is no excess ink or paint anywhere other than on the fish.
Step 8. Let the fun begin... Lay your paper, canvas, fabric etc. over the fish. Gently press the material around the fish. I start with the tail and work forward. Rubbing against the scales will bring out a little more detail. Peel the paper off the fish and there you have an almost completed print. Leave to dry for an hour or two and then the details can be added by hand. Step 9. Rinse off your fish and fillet for dinner. Water based printing ink and acrylic paint will wash off and the meat under the skin is not affected in any way.
Tips: 1. Sometimes the ink or paint will begin to dry a little on the fins before you can get your paper down. If so,a plastic spoon can be used to rub them to help transfer the ink. 2. I take a closeup picture of the fish eye so I can study the detail for hand painting it in later. 3. The first print I make is always the worst for some reason. Take note on the first print. Notice areas that had too much
One vermillion snapper, repeated : above and on the cover
paint, or not enough and adjust. Lightly re-ink where needed and repeat. Multiple prints can be made of the same fish. I like to make a "school" by printing the same fish over and over on the same paper. 4. Fine details can be added with the same printing ink or acrylic paint. I also like to use water color pencils for extra fine detail. 5. If mixing colors isn't your strong suit, ( I struggle with it every time) appealing prints can be made of any fish using strictly black ink or paint.
AUGUST 2015
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AQUA TICA
PAGE 13
58 Million Years Ago
A colorful but rare Lion始s Paw scallop on one of the wrecks. Cleaned up, they look like this stock photo
GREAT VIZ!
Far Left Two - Awesome visibility toward the middle of July gave diver Adam Wilson the chance to record wide angle views of the wreck Pegasus GPS 26.33.13 82.43.415
Left: the rudder post of the wreck Bayronto. The prop was salvaged in the late 70s or early 80s. Turned out It wasn't bronze and it wound up sitting in the worthless pile at a Sarasota scrap yard for years.
The top one looks like a local Spanish sardine! 58 million years ago, in the Green River Region of Wyoming, seasonal torrential rains would occur in the mountains and flow down the mountain sides forming wide shallow lakes in the valley, which would evaporate during the dry seasons, similar to what happens in Africa today. Birds probably dropped fish eggs, so millions of fish lived and died there in a short period of time. That happened in a cycle every 20 thousand years so layer upon layer of oil shale formed. Then a reddish sandstone which contained no fish was deposited above the oil shale by a large river. The excavated and preserved fossils above were for sale last month at a gift shop in Colorado. Left: I call this photo "One in a Vermillion" It is a huge school of grunts and my light picked up the one, lone vermillion snapper in the middle of them. Above Left: Here is a small Goliath grouper hanging out on top of the boilers inside the Bayronto. He had a hook and heavy leader coming out of his mouth. And yes, I cannot resist grabbing a hold whenever I can get close enough and hanging on for a bit. Left: This school of jacks appeared at the end of the dive and provided enjoyable viewing during my ascent.
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Cuba: One Big Big Manatee Melting Pot During the 1970s Powell works for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service as a biologist and manatee specialist creating manatee management policy. In 1974 Hartman again sets the stage to claim the manatees are dwindling. He writes that hunting during the 17th through the 19th centuries reduced the number of manatees in Florida to a few relict groups, “they have been 'hunted, speared, clubbed and harpooned because the meat is said to rivel good beefsteak," he says, but he presents no evidence of any former great abundance.
In 1974 I was living in western Palm Beach County, working in construction, digging canals and building houses at Sandalfoot Cove, a new subdivision off US 441, across from the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Preserve. The area was north of the Hillsboro Canal which drained the Everglades into the Atlantic. The manatee weed control project of ten years earlier happened in my backyard and by1974 manatees were still being used occasionally, for Hyacinth control in the area. On several occasions I had seen workers picking them up from the end of a canal along us 441, using a front-end loader, and redeposit them into another canal south of Glades Road, specifically for aquatic weed control. The manatees cleared the hyacinth out very quickly!
In the early 1980s, the United States became a party to the Cartagena Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment. Twenty one nations in the region ratified it. The area comprised: The marine environment of the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea and the adjacent areas of the Atlantic Ocean, within 200 nautical miles off the Atlantic Coasts of the participating States, south of 30 degrees north latitude. U.S. territory covered by the Convention includes the marine environment in the waters off Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, plus the United States Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The Cartagena Convention envisioned detailed management protocols would soon be developed. ``Take all appropriate measures to protect and preserve rare or fragile ecosystems, as well as the habitat of depleted, threatened or endangered species,'' it said. It is important to note that from its inception in the early 1980s, the Convention was focused on pollution of the environment and water quality, not the animals living in it. But there was more going on than met the eye. A mind set was being circulating that suggested the friendlylooking manatee could be useful in achieving the Convention’s goals. The thinking was, if people could be made to love the manatee, then preserving the places the manatee inhabited would become much easier.
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In 1980 the Florida Manatee Recovery Plan was issued. Buddy Powell was listed as one of the contributors. In the 1980s documenting fewer manatees meant more money for the scientists studying them, so a myth was circulated that there were only 800 manatees left alive in Florida.
In 1981 the Save the Manatee club was formed and, at the same time, a major update of the Cartagena Convention had begun. Powell and Hartman's work must have been influental to both causes. The Manatee Club, with the help of singer Jimmy Buffet and Florida Gov Bob Grahm, began getting school children (and then paying adults) to ‘adopt’ humannamed manatees. A very well orchestrated plan had been set in motion.
By 1988 Belize had launched its own pilot manatee plan which followed the protocols of the CEP.
In 1990 Belize was a test site for all things manatee. Belize manatees were said to be the same as Florida manatees and so Buddy Powell moved there to manage the Glover Reef Marine Research Station of Belize. Powell and Hartman had studied and tracked manatees since the early 60s so by 1990 it must have occurred to him that manatees were travelling great distances. Reported sightings near the Dry Tortugas must have given them a clue that some manatees were travelling to and from Cuba and I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some conversation between biologists about it. Powell had to have had some contact with Cuba too, but he maintained the myth that manatees were not capable of travelling very far.
AUGUST 2015
In 1995, under the framework of SPAW, (Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife) the first Regional Management Plan For the Manatee went into effect. In it, the concept of 'sanctuaries' advocated by Hartman and Powell in 1968, was initiated. Sanctuaries were places where manatees could go and no human infringement would be allowed. Land developers and fishermen quickly labeled that a “No Growth No Access" approach. The manatee was becoming a catalyst, as planned, but it wasn’t bringing anyone together. In 1996 Gina, a manatee from north Florida, wound up in the Bahamas. The official report at the time said "she ‘probably’ had a ‘misadventure’ offshore from Florida’s west coast, ‘perhaps’ got disoriented by a storm, eventually drifting into the Gulf Stream south of the Florida Keys
1984 - Reynolds & Ferguson reported a By 1995 biologists began insisting the sighting of two manatees of unknown origin 61 km northeast of the Dry Tortugas in the Gulf of Mexico. The report said manatees in the area had been "commonly reported." No one paid For 315 miles, the northern Coast of Cuba, with itʼs expansive bays and rich inshore seagrass is, much attention. according to biologist James Powell, “ a manatee Eden.” Why does this come as a surprise?
By 1986 the United Nation’s Caribbean Regional Coordinating Unit had started to take over the work begun in cartagena. The Caribbean Environmental Program (CEP) Technical Report No. 35 was drafted. It was the “Regional Management Plan for the West Indian Manatee.” The report took the old ‘we know what’s best for everybody’ philosophy to a new level, saying now that the manatee should be ‘used to full advantage.’
In the CEP report's third section: Short and Long Term Recommendations, it stated: "Programmes of environmental education are an integral portion of a conservation programme and should be immediately implemented in areas where manatees occur. The public at all levels must understand the immediate and long-term benefits of species and habitat conservation. By stimulating appreciation and pride on the species, it may be possible to induce the development of a conservation philosophy, and achieve the goal of resource preservation. By being a high-profile species, the manatee may function as a catalyst in bringing together interested governmental and nongovernmental agencies to elaborate comprehensive conservation plans. Manatees may be instrumental as well in the establishment of sanctuaries and attainment of the overall goal of preservation of coastal ecosystems with all their associated species."
Use manatees to establish sanctuaries, that was always the plan and now it was finally on paper. I wouldn’t be surprised if Powell or Hartman had some ink in this.
Florida manatee was now different from the West Indian Manatee population because of a small bone in its head... and the manatees in South America, a third population, were somehow different again. Previously, scientists had said the West Indian manatees were the same animal from Florida to Belize, but around 1995 that boney process in the head gave scientists a wedge to split off the Florida manatees. In 1995 sharks and the Gulf Stream were said to be natural barriers that kept manatees around Florida quallifying the Florida manatee for its special protection.
Problem was, if manatees were going back and forth to Cuba, that would mean they would be interbreeding, male manatees are horny little devils. They would be sharing chromosomes which would then make them all one population. The Florida manatee count would then have to be added to the total number of manatees from all over the region and the need to 'save the manatees' would not be as dire. But that wasn’t going to happen. Paychecks were at stake, research would be threatened... so the populations stayed scientifically separate. The manatee party line was still: 'We don't know what is happening in Cuba. There aren’t many manatees there.” But they certainly did know what was going on in Cuba. Prop marked manatees seen in Cuba since the 1980s did not come from Cuba. Cubans had few, if any, boats. If they had boats they would have escaped from Cuba! Those were Florida manatees and those were smart Florida biologists studying them since the early 60s, those guys must have figured this out.
and east onto the Great Bahama Bank.”
‘Perhaps’ ‘probably’ and a ‘misadventure’ were the best explanations biologists could come up with. Manatees were indeed traveling and biologists were running out of excuses. A later report on Gina gave more detail, citing manatees in the Bahamas at Bimini, Andros and Great Harbor Key. It concluded This provides the first documentation for the Florida origin of Bahamas waifs. The movements of another manatee in Florida suggest a mechanism and route for manatees getting to and from the Bahamas.”
In 1997 the Dock Study, part of the Manatee Protection Plan, began. Claiming impact to seagrass growth, dock construction permits, issued by The Army Corps of Engineers, became unavailable. Appreciation for the Species began to erode even more. In 1997, at the Miami Boat Show, I heard anecdotal stories from two Cuban boaters which again included reports of manatees in Cuba having propeller scars.
In 1997 I also heard that the United States Federal Fish and Wildlife Service in Belize was studying breeding manatees and was running boats up on them to test acoustic warning devices. I heard they did it in Belize because, legally, they couldn't do that in the United States. Then in 1998, an orphaned manatee calf named Mo that had been raised in captivity was radio-tagged and released at Crystal River, north of the Homosassa River. The official report said "Mo wandered offshore and drifted south approximately 480 km (300 mil with offshore
AUGUST 2015
currents and was rescued in deep water 20 mi northwest of the Dry Tortugas, well outside normal manatee distribution.” The report played the event down significantly.
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So in 1998 either the manatee biologists were really dumb or they were really lying. The radio transmitter on Mo was the clue. When they saw Mo was headed for Cuba they pulled out all the stops to get him back. A radio track to Cuba would answer the question of whether Florida manatees were breeding with the Cuban manatees. Subsequent reports showed that first a helicopter was dispatched to find the animal and keep watch over him until a trawler arrived on station to capture and haul it back. Mo was then taken to Sarasota and hidden away at Parker Aquarium.
In 1999 I got a packet of letters from 3rd grade school kids in Arcadia. ‘Mr Heller, please don't raise the speed limits, please dont kill manatees’ all the letters said the same thing. I drove to the school and talked to the principal. It turned out the teacher told her kids what to write. The Manatee Club was apparently making inroads at Arcadia but I wasn’t giving up. In January 2000, Save the Manatee Club, et al., a national coalition of 18 environmental and animal protection groups, filed two federal lawsuits demanding sweeping changes in the business-as-usual attitude of the federal and the Florida state government. Named as defendants in the first suit in Washington were the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A second federal suit in Tallahassee was filed against the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Both suits charged the agencies with failing to protect Florida's endangered manatee population. The suit between the parties was then quickly settled before it went to court. The pre-arraigned settlement strategy precluded any appeal, so it became law. It was a brilliant legal tactic that has become known as the 'sue and settle' defense.
August 2000: Standing Watch, a boater's coalition in SW Florida says: If the environmentalists were serious about species health, each and every carcass found would have tissue and organs screened for pollutants and illness (not done). Water in critical habitat areas should be analyzed on a regular basis to check for pollutants and harmful bacteria (not done). When animals are determined to be water craft fatalities, extensive analysis should be done to determine the size of the craft, the type of craft, and what might be done to alleviate the major contributors to these causes (not done). Ongoing research should be in progress to determine how many animals can survive on our existing grass beds. An aggressive program should be in place to find out what is killing the animals classified as “un-determined” (not done). And, finally, research should be underway to study the long-term effects
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The distance between Florida and Cuba is short enough to make the passage plausible.” James A. “Buddy” Powell
The manateeʼs range is much wider than biologists had previously claimed. Interaction and breeding between the manatees of Belize, Cuba and Florida is more common that previously reported. Now, the new questions are whether the animals from South America move up the Windward Islands towards Puerto Rico, how far they move west and exactly where the Mexican and Coastal US manatees overlap.
of artificially augmenting a wild population of animals due to artificial habitat alteration — warm waters discharges from power and sewer plants (not done). In 2001 Powell leaves his job as administrator for Florida’s research program on marine mammals and sea turtles at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to become Vice President for Aquatic Programs at the Wildlife Trust. Working in collaboration with several partners under a license from the US Treasury Department, he begins a longterm initiative to ‘develop and strengthen’ manatee research and conservation programs in Cuba. How, in 2001, Powell received a Treasury Department license to work in Cuba, is, as of yet, unclear.
In 2001 a publication entitled Biogeology of the West Indies, a handbook for manatee regulation with Powell and Hartman in the Biography section, states emphatically: The coast and the Straits of Florida to the south serve as geographical barriers that isolate the Florida subspecies. It notes: Manatees in northeastern Brazil, at the southern end of the species' range may also be geographically isolated. By 2001 there was no longer a question. In my mind that Cuban and Florida manatees were interbreeding and therefore they would have to be considered one population. ‘The next manatee count should total all the Florida animals and all the Cuban animals together,’ I wrote in a two page story, accompanied by a map showing the wide range of the manatee and Mo’s recent track. I put question marks between Florida and Cuba and between Cuba and Belize and Buddy Powell wrote me back:
Mr Heller, Wildlife Trust and the Ocean Conservancy are working with Cuban colleagues to determine the status of Antillean manatees on the island. For clarification, our Florida manatee is a genetically and morphologically distinct subspecies. It is not the same as the Antillean manatee found in Cuba and the rest of the Caribbean. It is probably an extremely rare event for manatee populations to intermingle, supported by the fact that the Florida manatee is genetically distinct from other manatee populations. The manatee that was tracked toward the dry Tortugas was a captive animal that had been released and was rescued in deep water after wandering in the Gulf for weeks. Interestingly, however, a Crystal River manatee did find its way to the Bahamas. James “Buddy” Powell, Ph.D. Director for Aquatic Programs,Wildlife Trust
My map had apparently struck a nerve.
By 2010 The UN’s CEP manatee report was up to version No. 45 and the subject of pollution was relegated back to p100.
Then came the 2010 paper, First Report of a Florida Manatee in Cuba by James A. Powell, Alvarez-Alemán, and Beck. In this report they did a 180-degree turn around, reporting that 12-percent of the tagged manatees made seasonal migrations of over 250 miles. “The distance between Florida and Cuba is short enough to make the passage plausible and exchanges of individuals between Florida and Cuba may have genetic implications." I was right, but it was a shallow victory. Manatees were coming and going from Cuba, but now Florida manatees were endangered because of some ‘genetics.’ The report casually added, a manatee found in “Isabela de Sagua,” on the north shore of Cuba, was, by gene analysis,
found to have come from Belize. The official explanation said that was a fluke.
In a March 2015 You Tube interview that promoted new eco-tours to Cuba, Powell says “Cuba is a Marine Eden, with places untouched and pristine.” “There are few places like it in the world.” He said manatees in Cuba were thought to be close to extinction, but biologists talked to fishermen and found out where the manatees were.
Wait just one minute!! Hadn’t Powell been around Cuba for 20 years? He just talked to fishermen now? I don’t buy that for one minute. Powell also said, before 2010 they had “No idea Florida manatees would travel to Cuba.” Yet he wrote me about that very subject in his 2001 letter.
Looking at the big picture, I believe that Dr. Powell and Dr Hartman, and probably other manatee biologists, must have known, at least 20 years ago, there was healthy sea grass and a healthy manatee population feeding on it in Cuba. And they must have also known, or at least strongly suspected, manatees were travelling back and forth between Florida and Cuba and also between Cuba and Belize.
I take no issue with Hartman or Powell’s cause, or their life's work, They have done some good things. I only question the methods they use to achieve their goals. Epilogue – As of Aug 1, 2015, the Save the Manatee Club’s website still says: "Manatees in Cuba are a very rare species with alarming conservation problems." Say it isn’t so, Buddy – tell them it just isn’t so!
A Sail Racerʼs Strategy PAGE
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By Peter Welsch Water LIFE Sailing You can sign up for a local race series or as crew via PGSCWEB.com and assure that you get out on the Harbor, but regular participation alone does not guarantee good results. First comes equipment and crew coordination. It takes the right strategy and tactics to excel. The sailor’s “race track” is undefined in the rules for 95+ percent of the distance. The right strategy can help define most of that. Then tactical skills are employed to protect the strategy. Sailboat racing is a friendly “war” with right-of-way rules to prevent collisions. My strategy starts two days before the race. I check the wind and tide forecast at PGSCWEB.COM and make a mental “map” similar to the one shown. The weather and strategy is reviewed and confirmed or revised the morning of the race. The objective is to map the shortest distance and most favorable current and wind around the course. The current is determined from both the tide chart and the wind direction and strength. The “map” shown assumes an east wind of 15 knots while the tidal ebb is maximum. The strong adverse
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current on the first leg from “A” to “4” should be avoided by sailing near the shoals. Then use the beneficial current from “4” to “A” by staying away from the shoals. The shortest distance to “4” near the shoals is on the Punta Gorda side. The prime strategy is to start on Port tack at the signal boat (south) side of the line. If traffic takes you away from that then a rapid 360 degree turn to port and a port tack start at the signal boat is almost as good. These maneuvers at 10 seconds to the start gun are tactical actions. The worst situation is being trapped between two starboard tack boats and taken away North in their wind shadow. Failing a great port tack start, work back to the favored side with the least lost time. Wind velocity and direction always fluctuates. More so in variable low cloud cover and it is occasionally severe near the 41Bridges where land obstructions play a role. The strategic message is to avoid being trapped between marker “4” and other boats within 5-10 boat lengths of the rounding of “4”. Just ask skippers who have been stuck in traffic there! So time the frequency of adverse shifts and over stand the mark on the last tack to the rounding. From “4” to “A” stay centered in the
Harbor and use the tidal current boost. You should also jibe to the best downwind angle with the fluctuations. Best speed may be as much as 15 degrees away from downwind. The optimum for your boat should be determined on a non race day via GPS set to VMG data. The worst case is to allow other boats to block your wind from as much as 15 boat lengths back. Rig the boat and train the crew to jibe rapidly and almost no speed will be lost in the maneuver and your advantage will be preserved. It is very rare that one person can manage strategy and tactics alone. The worst case may be for the skipper on the helm to attempt it while leaving the crew in the dark. The best solution is to have one crew who can embrace the “math” of strategy and tactics and advise the skipper. The worst solution is to have every crew member voice a different solution and fail to trim sails or keep good watch for wind gusts and collisions. Get great tutorials by reading Positioning- the Logic of Sailboat Racing by Dr. Stewart H Walker. Peter Welsch can be reached at : pwcboats@aol.com
AUGUST 2015
Fishing the Barometer
Just how does a big storm like a Hurricane in the Gulf affect the fishing? Obviously, common sense would dictate that you don't go out in a boat in dangerous wind and sea conditions. With that said, I've noticed over the years that changing atmospheric conditions such as a moving barometer will often get fish biting. I've seen many days when fish just seem to know that a storm is brewing, and it's as if they just can't get enough to eat. What may play into this fact is the falling barometric pressure that often takes effect ahead of approaching tropical weather systems. It really is amazing to me just how intensely wildlife is influenced by dramatic changes in barometric pressures. For instance, I remember one day in particular we were anchored down about three miles out in the Gulf. We were fishing with live shiners for bait. The Spanish mackerel were on the surface feeding and basically worked up into frenzy. No sooner than we would cast a shiner out behind the boat then we would be hooked up. Anyway, it was in November and a small front line passed over us and the wind swung around out of the north. It was as if a giant switch was thrown to off. We tried throwing handfuls of live shiners out behind the boat to get them feeding again - nothing. The mackerel were still there, they just quite feeding. On the other hand I can't tell you how many times I've experienced just the opposite happen. We're anchored over a favorite ledge or rock bottom where I just knew there was grouper and snapper. A quick change in wind direction from an approaching cold front or passing thunderstorm pushed a breeze in our faces. Evidently not only was the wind direction affected, so was the movement of the barometric pressure. Like magic, the fish started biting like crazy. I always feel like a good time to get out and do some fishing is after a stormy area clears out of the Gulf. The barometer should be on the rise and the fish should be hungry. A few years back we had a major storm churn up the Gulf pretty good. The storm pushed a bunch of gag grouper onto some of the local limestone ledges just west of area beaches. These were big grouper, and they were hungry too. If I recall correctly, there were reports all up and down the coast of excellent grouper fishing. Where'd the fish come from? I'm really not sure. It was obvious that the passing storm displaced them from either deeper water, or from another area altogether. Capt. Dave Pinkham, 1998
Party Boats AUGUST 2015
By Capt. Chuck Eichner Water LIFE Charlotte Harbor Inshore I grew up fishing the Chesapeake Bay as a young lad. At that time they called the bay boats “party boats.” My father was responsible for putting together a party of 6 men for a day of fishing, which I think is where the word “party” came from. It always seemed like a party to me when we fished the Chesapeake with 5 men and a boy all reeling in fish and having a good time. On the Gulf of Mexico they call them charter boats but the end result is probably just the same! Recently, I joined up with Mike Wright a relatively new Punta Gorda resident for a day offshore fishing on his beautiful Blue Wave boat. We stacked and packed the boat the day before with ice, frozen bait, rods, food and tackle and an hour before daybreak the next morning we left the dock. Navigating Charlotte Harbor to Boca Grande Pass is not too difficult if you know where the unlighted buoy markers are, otherwise you better wait until daybreak. Traveling in darkness becomes a bit of a time warp and then before you know it, you are getting set up to fish. We were positioned over a public reef in about 88 feet of water, anchor down, chum box deployed and chunking bait fish. Snapper was our goal and quickly a
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very nice yellowtail snapper came aboard as did several others as the sun rose to our east. Still plenty cool outside the plan was to catch a limit of snappers, then red grouper and be home around 2:00 pm. As it turned out, the snappers were moody and would bite in spurts despite them eating our chum nearly out of our hands! Fifteen pound fluorocarbon leader, size 2 hooks, 10pound monofilament line and all the tricks we could muster and these fish were just too smart or too full to take our carefully presented baits. Around 11:00 am we made a significant move to an area I call the “Promised Land.” It is a large area that I discovered to be consistent grouper territory. Only in 72 feet of water on hard bottom, we dropped bottom rigs and jigs with frozen sardines. Four rods buckled over and the game was on! Many of these fish were legal over the 20-inch limit, but we were cautious to not keep too many as I promised bigger fish. For security we put a handful of 6 pound groupers in the box and dropped the others overboard and continued fishing. Soon thereafter fear set in for us as the bite quit. Letting fish go and then having a long dry spell with plans to be home at 2:00 pm meant the fish box would not look too impressive. Mike loves to fish the butterfly jig. He jigs it frequently while the rest of us drift bait and he caught a few for sure, but focused on dead bait drifting when the bite was good. So out comes the old butterfly jigging spoon in the middle of a fishless drought and wham! A big fire-truck size grouper makes it to boatside and friend Ray quickly ties on a jigging spoon and wham! Another big fish is coming from the same area as the smaller ones earlier in the day. I continued to drift a 4 oz Spro
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bucktail jig tipped with a sardine and Mike and Ray continued to drag monsters to the side of the boat. Just their lucky day I told myself and then standing next me was Brian grunting away as he winched in a super fat red! Brian had been fishing a sardine tipped jig too so his luck was there, but not mine. Brian bangs another as did the other boys but the ol’ captain was quietly sucking it in. Finally I blurted out “what the heck” to Brian as a grouper swatted his Spro jig three times before getting stuck. What is going on and under his breath he murmured, take the dead bait off! With that I deployed my bucktail jig and one or two vertical jerks and I was connected! Imagine that, jigs and spoons outfishing frozen sardines and the fish
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were 2-3 times as big! Now this was a party with all of us swinging our rods high, reeling in and dropping and stinging a ton of red grouper with most being let go at this point. There were high fives, pictures snapping and smiles so big you would have thought the celebrity was the president! With a memory to last a life time for all of us, I think it is fair to say today we were fishing on a party boat! Capt. Chuck Eichner operates Action Flats Backcountry Charters and can be reached at 941-628-8040
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SCUTTLEBUTT
Sometimes
Unsubstanciated,
But
Often
True
It was unusual for hikers to be on the trails in the wildlife area during the middle of the day in the extremely hot and humid conditions so an FWC officer started to track the individuals. There were two young males running through the pasture land heading north. A short time later both subjects emerged from the preserve and ran to their vehicle with a brown bag. The bag contained mushrooms and weighed over one pound. The subjects were issued citations for removing plants/vegetation from the wildlife environmental area, which is a misdemeanor. Officers responded to assist the County Sheriffʼs Office in locating two young women who were missing from the Blackwater State Park. The officers located the two women just south of the park boundary. The women were tubing and had passed the take-out point. They spent the night on a sandbar and attempted to walk back towards the park the next morning. The women were shaken up from their ordeal, but unharmed.
The operator of the vessel advised there were swimmers in trouble on the other side of an anchored barge on the Inter-costal Waterway, east side of the Longboat Pass Bridge. There were individuals on the barge attempting to throw a line to the two swimmers who were being dragged out of the pass in the tidal current. The swimmers were hanging onto the floating debris boom. The current was unusually strong that day, accelerating to 5-6 mph under the bridge. Both swimmers were wearing life jackets but the current was still pulling them under. They were unable to hang onto the rope that was being thrown to them. An FWC officer pulled alongside the barge and put his bow next to the swimmers. He left the motors in reverse to hold the vessel stationary against the current and ran to the bow where he was able to grab the distressed swimmers and pull them into his vessel. The swimmers were safely returned to shore.
Sharknado? No, itʼs outdoor art at Oxford England
Inside the weapons room of the Royal Navyʼs new $2 billion sub named DHK (Deadly Hunter Killer)
Officers assisted the Sheriffʼs Department, and U. S. Coast Guard with a search on the Blackwater River for eight stranded tubers reported stuck at a large log jam. Due to low water levels in the river, rescue personnel were unable to use vessels to reach the subjects. A USCG helicopter responded and located the subjects. Officers used coordinates provided by USCG to get a patrol vehicle to the subjects to escort them from the river.
Officers working plain clothes enforcement along the Sanibel causeway observed several young men as they were fighting a tarpon from shore. After several minutes they managed to get it to the beach. Three of the people walked out to the water and began picking the 120-pound tarpon out of the water for photographs. The officers stopped them from doing any more harm to the fish. The men admitted to knowing better. Mercury Marine introduced Active Trim
which uses GPS-based control to trim up or down motion automatically in accordance with speed and engine rpm.
Officers conducted surveillance and saw a man fishing with a pole at the end of a local dock. The man stopped fishing and went to one end of the dock where he pulled a gill net to check for fish. The officers spoke to some fishermen that had just left the dock. The anglers stated that the man and his wife had set the nets and had been fishing there for four days. Numerous blue crabs, spadefish, puffer fish and horseshoe crabs were pulled from the entangling nets. One illegal trap was also pulled that the couple had been using. The two were placed under arrest for multiple counts of felony net and trap violations and booked into jail. FWC Officers on land patrol near the Withlacoochee River noticed a truck and airboat trailer in the parking lot. They waited for the boat to return in order to do a safety and re-
source inspection. The two persons on board were found to have a small hatchling alligator in the boat. The operator explained that he had caught the hatchling to show his son. However, he could not explain why there was also a 7-foot alligator hidden in the front compartment of the boat. The two subjects were charged.
The FWC received information that a man was operating an illegal charter business without the proper licenses. The vessel pulled in with three males on board. One of the subjects fillet a dolphin and then exchanged what appeared to be a significant amount of money with one of the two men on the vessel. The officer approached the two men and obtained sworn statements attesting that they contacted the subject after booking a fishing charter on line. The two men stated that they paid the “captain” $800 for a day long charter. A records check revealed that the subject did not have a charter fishing license and he was cited.
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On The Line AUGUST 2015
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period and I don't know if some of that money is included in the $100,000. Because the system is so frustrating it is estimated that at least 50% of the people don't pay or under pay for their parking. Here is the part I find interesting, if you don't pay; what are the chances you will get a parking ticket ? Well, the Sheriff Department reports that they have given out a grand total of 30 tickets for illegal parking at Englewood Beach this year. Another source of local frustration is the Edgewater Drive road project which has recently started. Edgewater is a very popular short cut for people traveling between Englewood and Port Charlotte. It bypasses all the heavy traffic on US.41. The project also included rebuilding two bridges. This will shut the road down for a considerable period of time. The project is scheduled to finish sometime in 2017. Expect much more heavy congestion and time delays during the next upcoming tourist seasons. The latest Boating Accident Report is out. In 2014 there were 634 boating accident in Florida which resulted in 73 fatalities. Way too high. Here is something to think about: In 2014 there were more humans killed in boats (73) than manatees killed by boats(68). Maybe someone should look into that. You can reach Capt. Ron at captronb@juno.com
By Capt. Ron Blago
Water LIFE Senior Staff
Here it is the middle of summer with daily temperatures in the mid 90s and the humidity just about the same. With weather like this I tend to conserve energy by just hanging around the house which probably explains why I just received a record high electric bill for last month. Even with my new level of laziness I still feel a need to let you people read about some of the things I'm working on for the rest of the year. The State legislature finally passed a budget for the next fiscal year, a record $78 billion dollars. The good news is that there is an appropriation of $2.5 million dollars to be used for the Stump Pass project. This will cover a big chunk of the cost which will lower the burden on local taxpayers. The project, with the jetty, is still on schedule to start in November this year. No one seems to know if there will be a walkway on top of the new jetty Also on the local front, there seems to be a lot of blow back about the parking meters at Englewood Beach. These are the second-generation machines that were put in two years ago because the old ones were falling apart. A lot of people are saying that half the time the machines are not working and the other half of the time they are not working properly. The way it is supposed to work is you drive into a parking stop that has a 3 digit number painted on it, you then go to the parking kiosk and stand in line to use the machine. When it’s your turn, the first thing the machine wants to know is what is your parking space number. If you forget the number or you are a tourist that didn't know about the number, you have to get out of line and go back to your parking spot to get it and start over again. When you finally get up to the machine you find that a lot of time it won't make change or let you
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The handicapped accessible walkway at the (then) just opened Stump Pass Beach park in 2001 was magnificent. It lead from the parking lot right down to the waterʼs edge. It lasted about one month, then the weather took it! What were they thinking?
swipe your creditcard. The system just doesn't work as intended but the county say's that they bring in $100,000 a year from Englewood Beach parking. They also report that they sold 2,700 annual parking passes over the same
Marion Ave in Punta Gorda, 2001, before new storm drains were installed. We are still waiting for a real test.
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The Economic Impact of Bait and Tackle Shops
independent bait and tackle shops in U.S coastal communities, the contributions to the U.S. economy are $2.3 billion in total sales impacts, $800 million in income By Betty Staugler The final report breaks down data into two distinct Water LIFE/Sea Grant groups. The first group is bait and tackle stores that cater impacts; and over 16,000 jobs, of which 7,800 are bait and tackle store jobs. These contributions were the result NOAA just released their exclusively to recreational anglers. The second group of $854 million in sales of saltwater recreational fishing findings for a study where they comprises other stores that returned usable surveys and bait and tackle. evaluated the economics of independent marine recreincludes sporting goods stores, convenience stores, mariA few other fast facts just for the Gulf of Mexico reational fishing bait and tackle retail stores. The results nas, general retail stores, and hardware stores. Findings gion that were identified in the report include: are in 2013 dollars and are reported for the U.S. and by for these two groups are displayed in the table below for Saltwater recreational fisheries that generated I federal fishery management geographic regions. The the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico regions. The rethe greatest sales of bait and tackle were 1) Red or black study focused on independently owned small businesses sults for other regions are aggregated and displayed as drum/sea trout; 2) Red that sell bait and tackle to saltsnapper/Grouper; 3) water anglers in coastal and Region Total Sales Bait & Tackle Sales Income Jobs Spanish mackerel; folnear coastal communities lo(millions) (millions)* (millions) (millions) lowed by a close 4) cated in states on the Atlantic, New England Total $200 $93.7 $78.9 1,256 Dolphin/Cobia/Wahoo. Gulf of Mexico, Pacific coast, Mid Atlantic Total $383.5 $180.5 $137.2 2,578 Retail store I Alaska, and Hawaii. NOAA South Atlantic Bait & Tackle shops $225 $83.9 1,733 owner opinions on how targeted small businesses beOther stores $163.8 $60.3 1,159 outside factors affected Total $389 $186 $144 2,892 cause they would be more disGulf of Mexico Bait & Tackle shops $409 $112 2,902 their sales were: Negaproportionately affected by Other stores $192 $48.2 1,495 tive affects 1) Fishery regional fisheries management Total $601 $266 $160 4,402 seasonal closures; 2) actions as a result of their West Coast Total $208.7 $96.5 $70.1 1,67 Fisheries regulations; greater dependence on local Alaska Total $44.3 $27.3 $15.9 319 and 3) Other governfisheries; also because this secHawaii Total $38.1 $22.6 $19 285 ment regulations. Postor in previous studies has been itive affects 1) largely overshadowed by larger Weather; 2) Status of national and regional chains. economy; and 3) Changes in fish stock status. The survey was conducted by sending bait and tackle overall totals. Top Industries likely to be supported by store I retail establishments a survey by mail in June 2014. SecFrom the final report some key terms are defined: operational expenses include wholesale trade, commerond and Third mailings occurred through October 2014. I Sales are the gross value of sales by business cial fishing, maintenance and repair of nonresidential The overall response rate at the end of the third mailing within the economic region. structures, and employment services. was 27%. The results of the surveys were used to deterI Income includes personal income (wages and I Top industries likely to be supported by store mine the direct sales, income, and employment impacts salaries) and income from self-employment. employee spending are food services and drinking places, associated with retail sales of marine bait and tackle in I Employment is specified on the basis of fulloffices of physicians, private hospitals, and retail stores. coastal communities. The analysis used IMPLAN, an and part-time jobs. For more information visit input-output model that is commonly used by economists Now for the numbers‌extrapolating the 27% of surhttp://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/economics in economic analyses. veys returned up to the total eligible population of 3,514
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Next Year This Will Be Hard To Beat By Capt. David Stephens Water LIFE Harbor This last week has been crazy for me. I am trying to prepare to go on vacation. On top of that I am trying to get my charters done. That’s not to hard, it’s the getting everything packed up that is the tough part. Also during this time I had a great friend of mine that was going to be back in Florida from Tennessee. Well I only get the chance to see him and his family once a year for a few days, so I made my mind up that I was going to spend a couple days on the water with them. We spoke on the phone a week or so before they were to arrive, making plans for a couple days on the water. Working out the details, like what we were going to target and where to meet and all the other things. Honestly I think I was as excited as he was. Its not very often I get to spend the day fishing with out any pressure. Luckily for me we weren’t going to target tarpon, or
By then, the tide was slack so we decided to make a run and headed for the mangroves to do some snook fishing. Soon tide was running out very well and we managed to catch some decent snook and some more snapper. After lunch we decided to call it. It was getting hot, and we were going to hit the water again tomorrow. The next day we did pretty much the same thing as we did the day before. The only difference was we couldbig snook. It was going to be one of them what-ever-bites kind of fishing trips. We spoke the day before and decided to meet at 6 am at Ponce Park. We figured we would get out before it got too hot. On the first day, we left out to catch bait. After loading the live well we went to a sunk boat to try for some snapper. We managed to put a few nice snapper on the boat. I told Alan sometimes Cobia hang out here too, and I should rig one of the rods for a bigger fish, but I didn’t have time to get that done. As soon as we were done talking about that, we had a 15-pound cobia behind the boat. I know in the cobia world that’s small, but the real problem was we were snapper fishing. Still, we successfully landed that fish on 10-pound test line and a #4 hook.
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n’t get nothing going on the sunk boat. But we decided to hang out there anyway and wait for the tide to change. Then, when the tide began to run out, we pulled up and hit the mangroves. I could tell when we got to our first spot, this day was going to be different. We chummed the first spot and the fish were way more aggressive. Four hours after leaving the sunk boat we had only fished two more spots. Alan looked at me at the end of the day and said, man we must have caught 80 snook today. I didn’t want to disappoint him and tell him it was only 79, so I kept that to myself. I didn’t mention his better half Katie spanked him pretty good. It was just one of those days I couldn’t do anything wrong, not counting fishing the sunk wreck. We also caught 25 nice snapper and some really good trout. Now the biggest problem that I am going to have is trying to do it again next year. If you would like to experience some of Charlotte Harbors best fishing give me a call or send me an email. All of our charters are private and customized to fit you and your parties needs. Capt. Dave Stephens www.backbayxtremes.com 941-916-5769
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August – Predictions and Suggestions
August is confusing because of the rain we had at the end of July. The question I get is, is the fresh water going to ruin the fishing? It can, but not exactly. If we just get rain and no clouds it can hurt fishing but because of the amount of clouds we had the fishing got better. The Peace River was just up at 6 feet. The Myakka is good too, fishing is good. When the cloud cover holds, the water temperatures will drop and that drop is what makes the fishing get better. The salt water fish have no problem with river water, but all fish have a problem with hot water. Rain could slow fishing but the cloud cover is really most important so it’s looking like we are off to a really good start for August, for fishing. Pompano have been around and Hog Island is a biggie. Great stories on the south end of the Cutoff and at the Myakka, with more from Cape Haze and a few reports from along the beaches. Too much surf to really know, but I think they are there. Snook is getting better and better and better and better and it’s most betterest at Redfish and Captiva Pass. Both passes have tremendous snook
populations now. The east side and the West Wall are good on snook. The west picked up the most, maybe because of the run off from river with lots of food in it. Redfish are as scattered as they were. Lemon Bay has thick Trout just wonʼt quit this redfish both east and year. Big trout! west. The primary bait had been shrimp or pieces of pinfish. Smaller like 2 inches are ok but if they are bigger cut them up. Spanish mackerel have been around Cape Haze and all the way up to the US-41 Bridge. They are Dustin Smith says ʻplenty of monster snook on the west wall! With all the pods of bait in the harbor chumming isn't a problem and my thickest to the south. All the passes have Spanish girlfriend and I have a blast watching them explode on the bait. too. Tarpon continues to be pretty good. If you are My ruler ends at 38-inches and this big female was over that!ʼ fishing the deep holes in the Harbor we guarantee as The fish was safely released. many catfish as you want. To get by the cats, guys are switching to artificials. The new Savage or the the lock, the tarpon and the snook are just way more than old DOA lures are it. Tarpon are also in the Myakka, at they should be back there. Boca Pass, Punta Rassa and, at dark, in the CaloosaThe summertime surprise is sea trout. This has to be hatchee and the Peace Rivers. Local canals have the 2- to the crazycat year ever. In November and December you 4-foot tarpon with one or two 150-pounders mixed in, but couldn’t find any sea trout and now, anywhere you look they are slow. The Rattle Trap 1/4 or the DOA Terrorin the Harbor you are likely to find sea trout. Go figure! eyes are the lures for tarpon in the canals. Trolling those rattletraps in South Gulf Cove, inside
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August
Cobia actually should get a little better in August. Most of Fish to expect in July had a lot of short cobia caught and released. Those fish grow quickly, they will be legal in August. The Alligator Creek Reef, Cape Haze Reef, Cape Haze, the 20-foot Hole, the SNAPPER Under docks and SEA TROUT All over the HarBLACK DRUM area canals, SNOOK In the Passes and near cobia are maintaining. bor north to south - go figure! under the mangroves big schools in the Harbor the ICW Mangrove snapper are surprising a lot of people. It seems like it’s the 1980s at the Beach Complex - with 16-inch snapper being caught. There are also great numbers and big fish at the US-41 Bridge, at the Placida Trestle, at the Cape Haze Reef. Snapper fishing in August is going to make for another great month. Tripletail is another one. This is gonna’ be the first year I can remember when we have had tripletail in August. From 41-Bridge to the near Gulf there have been great stories of tripletail – fish over 20-inches are being caught. Inside the Harbor seems to be the best place. Usually Happy Campers with redfish and snook from a charter with Capt. Billy Barton tripletail are here with the stone crabs in March catching redfish in Lemon Bay, fish above the and done by June but hey, we’ll take it. It’s a slot, you have to find the right ones. Up in pleasant, unexpected, surprise. Whidden Creek, Gulps are working pretty good We have schools of black drum, schools on snook. In the Bay and in the passes, inside and schools of them. You see fish by the surthe back of Gasparilla Sound, at Boca Grande face, but they are bottom to top - big fish, and lots of them! All I can say is: Don’t fish the fish and at the trestle, snook are doing OK. There are good ones to be caught by the Boca Grande at the top! Fish the fish at the bottom. Fish the bridge if you try drifting a live mullet. ones you don’t see, and hang on! Tarpon that are biting are in the Pass. The guys who went up the Harbor didn’t find any. Jim at Fishermen’s Edge You can try drifting a crab on the outgoing, but 697-7595 it’s hard to get a crab now. Since once the charMost of the fishing has been relegated to Mike Carr was not especially shocked when his rod ters stop the guys who bring me the crabs go near shore or in the passes with hardly any offbent violently as soon as the bait hit the bottom. away. They are catching tarpon on squirrel fish He believed in short order a shark would snap his shore action. It’s been really rough, but guys got too, if you have the right tide. Cobia are around line, a low test line and a small jig on a 20 pound into some mangrove and yellowtail snapper too, smaller fish in the lower 30-inch range. leader. He tightened the drag knowing he would eiand grouper, but not a lot of reports are coming ther snap off or stand a chance at bringing it to the They are catching them on live bait. Pinfish in. There have been lots of mangs close-in and surface. Mike maneuvered the fish up from the 200 with the dorsal fin cut off are good right now. foot depth. It was a 35 pound cubera snapper! on structure throughout the Bay. Guys are
PAGE 23
Gulf Temps are mid 80s The Harbor is 3- or 4-degrees warmer The Rain has cooled things off
95˚ 90˚ 85˚ 80˚ 72˚ 70˚ 68˚ 50˚ 45˚
FISHING RIGHT NOW:
Great!
Last month Capt. Joe Millerʼs guys saw plenty of action on his Fish Galore Offshore charters, out of Venice Inlet. Clockwise from top left the fish are: snowy grouper, trumpetfish, trigger fish, red grouper, blackfin tuna and a gag grouper.
PAGE
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