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LIFE
Charlotte Harbor, Lemon Bay & the Gulf Keeping Fishermen and Boaters Informed since
Kill Tournaments Send the Wrong Message
1996
The Don Ball School of Fishing
January
2014
Page 6
Here to to Fish! Page 17
About the Seminole Trader Page 21
Cool Stuff Page 9
w ww ww. w.Wa Wat te er rlliif fe eM Ma ag ga az ziin ne e..c co om m o on nlliin ne e a an nd d o on n y yo ou ur r d de ev viic ce e e ev ve er ry y m mo on nt th h
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JANUARY 2014
JANUARY 2014
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JANUARY 2014
Inshore / Offshore / Freshwater LETTERS
Michael and Ellen,
email: WaterLIFE@comcast.net
I read the article “A Bad Sign” in the December issue. It is a bad sign when areas start to close fishing spots that many have enjoyed for years. I remember as a kid I used to fish areas that are now closed. Even in other states, not just Florida this occurs. Many times it is the anglers themselves that have caused those areas to be closed or somehow restricted. I noticed areas around bridges and under overpasses that are now closed because of the amount of trash thrown around. Even when trash barrels are within a few feet many people still throw their trash on the ground. You can find food wrappers, beer and soda bottles, and used fishing line thrown everywhere but the trash barrels. Soon the neighborhoods find those areas unsightly and even unsanitary. Complaints are filed with the city, county or state and if the anglers themselves canʼt be responsible then those areas are restricted to fishing. Many should look at their own irresponsible actions before blaming local enforcement. It is not that difficult to pickup trash. Even when fishing in a boat myself and sons will pickup floating trash or fishing line in the mangroves. I think if everyone would do their part it would be a much better place for all for years to come. Steve Rimar
Via facebook You know, I've had a lot of interaction with the slew of mullet fisherman that have sought the silver-rush of catching Charlotte Harbor mullet to make some money. I get that and applaud them for dealing with a disgustingly nasty way of fishing to make a few Sorting mullet at seasonal bucks when Placida last they have nothing else month. to do. I actually respect the part about the effort and time required to actually make a profit, because itʼs a tough life. What I do not appreciate is why most people in the marine world look at these guys as unprofessional, white trash pirate like ambassadors of how to "in many ways" destroy a fishery. Not just the mullet fishery, but the natural resources as a whole. Day after day I've seen and endless stream of these vessels plowing through our backcountry waterways. Rut after rut of grass destroyed, running shoreline after shoreline, scaring every gamefish within a mile away and most importantly, and most idiotic, is driving right in front of any professional or recreational angler clearly in the act of fishing normally. Is it too difficult to just show someone that is fishing the courtesy of going around? If I had a pallet of bricks today with a giant slingshot, I would have likely been on the news for demonstrating character building and proper vessel handling to these idiots. It wasn't just one moron, it was at least 12 during my two charters today. If the local "do gooder crowd" would put emphasis on what this does to our waterways and fishery, worrying about tarpon that come here for two months a year would be at the bottom of the list. This is an ecological unsustainable nightmare in more ways than one. Chris ONeill
SPEAK OUT! Jan 23 6-9 pm @ Bass Pro Bonita Springs Water LIFE
The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council is hosting a series of RAP Sessions across the Gulf in January. We're hoping to gather recreational anglers who are willing to help us identify issues with federal fisheries management and suggest workable solutions. The workshops will be way less formal than typical public hearing meetings – Instead I hope to walk away from each session with a list of federal fishery management problems and potential solutions to share with the Council in early February. I hope to see you there. Please feel free to distribute as you see fit. As always, if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask! Your Chum, Emily Muehlstein Gulf Mgt. Council
Water LIFE inc. www.WaterlifeMagazine.com
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Not affiliated with any other publication Vol XIII No 1 © 2014
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 Family Fishing: Capt. Bart Marx Punta Gorda: Capt. Chuck Eichner Venice: Glen Ballinger Kayaking: David Allen Sea Grant: Betty Staugler Real Estate: Dave Hofer Offshore: Capt. Jim OʼBrien Gulf Fishing: Capt. Steve Skevington Circulation: Robert Cohn Office Dog: Molly Brown
on the
COVER:
BEFORE THE CLOSURE
Grouper headed to the deep freeze. Recreational gag grouper season closed last month, but shallow-water groupers (red, black, yellowfin, scamp and yellowmouth) in the Gulf of Mexico, are legal shoreward of 20 fathoms.
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FISHING! JANUARY 2014
By Michael Heller Water LIFE editor The feasibility study came back and the prospect of Mote Marine opening an aquarium in Punta Gorda has sunk like a lead pontoon. An aquarium wasn’t ever really a good idea, not unless you were the one getting paid to write the feasibility study. An aquarium is a high tech business that’s expensive to run and requires skilled help. Worse yet, an aquarium in Punta Gorda would have had to rely heavily on attracting visitors from somewhere else, and given the choice of an aquarium-interested visitor traveling to see a small aquarium in Punta Gorda, or going to the REAL Mote Marine Aquarium in near-by Sarasota, where do you think they would go? I bet Mote figured this out early on. People come to Punta Gorda for the lifestyle, for the Harbor, for the fishing and for the abundant wildlife in the Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserve. I’ve said this a million times; what we have that sets us apart from everywhere else is our Harbor. People come here, go home and tell their friends. We are slowly building on our reputation for sportfishing and natural beauty, but ‘slowly’ is not fast enough. In the future, the Punta Gorda Harborwalk may attract people to Punta Gorda ... but the City will still need to have a centerpiece. A few years ago I suggested they build a tall stone tower, like the Bok Tower in Lake Wales. ‘We need something special, a drawing card’, is what I had said then and I still feel that way
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Exhibits of our colorful history could fill a large facility and attract visitors from all over.
today. Punta Gorda needs to come up with something of its own, something unique and different and yet something that would also benefit the community. I think they were on the right track with something ‘fishy’, it just shouldn’t have been an aquarium. Lately, I’ve been thinking about a concept I’ll call FISHING!, a cutting edge, high-tech, interactive attraction, like nothing else.
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We have an incredible estuary and we have an extremely rich heritage of fishing here. From the Calusa Indians to the Spanish and Cuban fishermen, from Crackers to the CCA, this area has been intertwined with fishing. We have the culture, we have the artifacts. We have generations of old fishermen with fishing relics and first hand descriptions. We have very interesting ‘fishy’ stuff here ... and we have 2.5 million Florida fishermen within one day’s driving distance. How to bring those two things together? FISHING! would be the sign on the front of the building and the whole Harbor would be inside. The central feature would be an IMax-like projection that would take viewers out into the Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserve. There would be live cams and videos, holograms and dioramas. We have so much! Commercial fishing, recreational fishing, shrimping, crabbing, scientific sampling, sonar tracking, tournaments, netters, records – everything that makes up fishing in our estuary would be encompassed in such a living place. The IMax would just be one part. We have knowledgeable fishermen living here. Such a facility would also include a Guide Service to book visitors to fish or just observe the real live Harbor. Guides would contribute to the ongoing video displays that FISHING! would show. There would be a restaurant and maybe even that tall tower I talked about. We have so much to offer. A day visit could easily become a weekend stay. Dollars would be spent. Memories would be made. More people would come. The town would grow, new fishing related businesses would pop up. Look at our unique surroundings. Do you think we have something special here? Well do you? Other people will think so too!
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Charlotte Sun on the right track, but heading the wrong way
Commentary by Michael Heller Water LIFE publisher. In other states, spotted sea trout are considered game fish, but sea trout aren’t classified as game fish in Florida, not yet. Still, in this area, the recreational fishing community has adopted trout as a ‘sport fish’ and as such trout are included in the venerable Charlotte Harbor snook, trout, redfish slam. Big catch and release tournaments have moved away from including trout Trout are particularly vulnerable sport fish. In summer tournaments they die in the heat as one of their targeted species because trout are so fragile and tourna- (shown). Environmentally responsible tournaments donʼt kill fish for any reason. ments don’t want dead fish showing up at their weigh in. It’s not right to and conservation are held up to higher kill fish for the ‘show.’ standards and that makes a boatload of Last month the Charlotte Sun newsdead tournament fish unacceptable. paper announced they were starting a Steeling from the fishery to ‘feed fishing tournament. They promoted it the hungry’ as this tournament proas a ‘Trout Scramble’– the first angler claims it will, isn’t an acceptable exback wins. ’ All participants are asked cuse. The responsibility to the fishery to bring back their limit of trout, dead must come before the responsibility to and on ice. Expensive tournament charity. prizes insure maximum participation. I believe the Sun is running this We catch and eat redfish, we catch tournament to promote themselves. and eat snook, we catch and eat trout, OK, I get that. A fun community tourbut we try not to kill any of them neednament might even have been a good lessly. Look at the cover picture this idea for them, but it shouldn’t have month. A boatload of recreationally been a kill tournament with families caught grouper - headed to the deep and kids invited to participate. freeze. I don’t like this approach to The Sun’s fish are being given to the fishing, but a recreational angler gets to Salvation Army. ‘Oh, we give the fish make his own choices. to charity’ that’s an old tournament exBut in a public tournaments ethics
cuse, but I don’t believe the needy need trout fillets. If the Sun wants to help the hungry they should write them a check to buy them what they really do need. This is not a touchy-feely complaint, this is about killing sport fish and doing it in the Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserve – in a for-profit event. Granted, I have no fond spot in my heart for the Charlotte Sun, but this is not about that. We are shaping our image every day and the fishing community around the state takes notice of what happens here. We want to be known for great fishing and educated, insightful and ethical anglers, not for kill tournaments, no matter what charity they donate to. Kids should be learning fishing ethics, how to handle fish and how to keep them alive. Kids need more good examples and fewer bad ones. And where does the money go? At $125 per entry fee this tournament could raise over $10,000. The Sun didn’t respond to our request for more information about who keeps the money. We teach our 7th grade fishing classes that Ethics is: ‘to always Do The Right Thing, even when no one else is looking.’ In this instance everyone is watching, and we think the Sun newspaper, killing sport fish for fun and profit, is just not the right thing.
JANUARY 2014
Tagging From the Beach
6
Inshore Kill Tournaments Send the Wrong Message PAGE
Dec 21 Mallory Herzog, from her Blog on Fishinfranks.com After a 15-20 min fight Tom reeled in a healthy female sandbar shark! She measured at 78 inches long! We TRIED to tag her for NOAA but my tag stick literally folded in half when I attempted this! Not sure if it was a worn out tag stick or a really tough shark!? Picture is of the guys de-hooking her and getting her ready for release! I tried to video this since I was releasing today and the water was nice and clear! Turns out I can not function a Go-Pro! Barry has footage on his that I hope to get this week to share with everyone!
JANUARY 2014
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Shark Migration in Full Swing By Capt. Orion Wholean Water LIFE Gasparilla/Boca Grande
As the winter season has arrived beach fishing has become better and better. The water temperature has now entered the low 70's and numerous large species of fish are passing thru Charlotte County waters. Mullett are thick off the beaches and are an excellent bait for almost anything.
Currently the sandbar shark migration is in full swing. These sharks are cruising the beaches within 100-feet from shore and are biting like crazy. Medium tackle provides a fun fight for all level anglers. Sandbar sharks range anywhere from 3 to 8 feet in length and are harmless to swimmers and fishermen when handled properly. Through my experience, 4/0 sized reels, braided line and fast action rods provides the most fun fight. Light wire (#12), heavy swivels and 12/0 J hooks have given me the best results in landing fish. Whole or cut mullet deployed anywhere from in the surf to 100 yards out have produced many fish. Blacktip and spinner shark will start their migration mid month. Similar technique will apply for these species. Spinner sharks are an extremely fun catch and fight hard. These sharks are notorious for jumping and throwing the hook. Fighting them is comparable to fighting a tarpon. Boca Grande pass is exploding with life! I landed goliath grouper, tarpon and many sharks throughout the month of December. The right tide, with wire rigs, lots of lead and mullet for bait will bring endless action. You think landing a tarpon from the boat is hard? Try it from the beach! Several times we have jumped in excess of 15 fish in one night and not landed any. Don’t be discouraged though, with a
solid hook set and low drag your dream fish can be achieved.
To see some awesome pictures from recent trips check out Gasparilla big games facebook page, and book a charter today! Reach Capt. Orion at (941) 249-0177 or visit www.Gasparillabiggame.com
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More Quality Fish Story on facing page
JANUARY 2014
Dad on the left and brother Matt on the right on a family-fishing day last month.
I fished a number of offshore trips last month. The gag grouper fishery is now closed, they have been chewing good.
My buddy Austin (right) with a good snook, and me (left) with a big trout. We boated a number of nice Ęťslam fish. The client in the middle, had a nice redfish too.
Same Fish, Different Day JANUARY 2014
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By Capt. Billy Barton Water LIFE Charlotte Harbor
Happy New Year guys and gals! If you're reading this it means you probably like to fish. It also means we all made it through another year and that's always a good thing! If there's one thing I've learned in my young life, it's not to take a single day for granted. Life is too short. So how's everyone been making out in the fishing department? I hope well. Remember, as I wrote last month, if you want to catch good fish in numbers during the winter time it's all about adapting to those low winter tides. Once you figure out where those fish like to stage on the negative tides you're in business! (Examples: potholes, troughs, outside the bars). If you are having a hard time finding fish on the grass flats, there's always the docks. The docks and canal systems in our county tend to hold a bunch of fish like sheepshead, snapper, and redfish. This is the time of year when sheepshead move in full force and there are a lot of folks after them, including myself. December was a great month of fishing. It remained fairly mild for the most part, with a couple of short cold fronts. This is good for us in my opinion. Sixtydegrees is the coldest I would personally like to see our water temperature ever get. When it gets below that, well let’s just say there are several of our subtropical fish that will not be "happy, happy, happy!" The water temperature in the Harbor is still bouncing up and down around the 70 degree mark, which is just perfect in the fishing department! Water temps in this range should keep our fish up inside the bay, nice and spunky and ready to chew. Alright enough with all that. I have a pretty cool little story to tell about a hungry redfish. I had the pleasure of getting my own dose of fishing in during the last week of December with family and friends. I took my little buddy Austin out for a great day of redfishing. Shrimp and live pinfish were the baits of choice. During that fishing trip we put most of our focus on Oyster bars. Oyster bars tend to hold up a lot of fish in general and they're something I like to target on a regular basis. Austin and I both caught respectable "Charlotte Harbor Slams" on that trip. For you guys who don't know a Charlotte Harbor Slam is a snook, redfish, and trout on the same venture. If you catch a nice slam, you had a good day of fishing. During that trip we put about 20 or so redfish to the boat, along with two snook over 30-inches and quite a few good sized speckled trout. My biggest redfish that day was 31-inches, about a 10 pound fish. He had pretty navy blue colorations on the end of his tail, with two spots on one side,
and one on the other. Stay with me now because this is where I think it gets pretty cool. In between my little bit of playtime during the holidays I was still running charters as usual. It was about 4 or 5 days later and I had a gentlemen and his son on the boat for an inshore flats trip. We had already gone and got our limit of nice sized speckled trout. I explained I was waiting on the incoming tide to start pushing in a little bit harder before I would attempt to get these guys each on some redfish. The tide came up a bit, and I took them to the same spot that I took Austin to a few days prior. I knew the fish would be there, we just had to wait for the right time. Once again, live shrimp and live pinfish were the baits of choice. I positioned the boat a distant cast away from the oys-
ter bar and we got to fishing. It wasn't 5 minutes and the father was hooked up with a good fish. You could tell the gentlemen didn't know what he was in for! He got the fish to the boat, and I landed it for him. It was his first redfish and a darn good one to boot. It only took me two seconds to realize once I got a good look at the fish. Real pretty navy blue outline down the tip of his tail. Two defined spots on one side, and one on the other. Hang on a sec!! I caught this same exact fish three days ago! I put him on the tape measure for reassurance. Sure enough, the fish was 31inches on the button. There was no doubt it was the same redfish that I had tangled with a few days prior. I told the son and his father the story, and really couldn't hide my excitement as we took several pictures then let the fish swim free. One would think that fish would have been a little wary of eating a pinfish analfin hooked on a jighead the second time
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around. But he sure wasn't! I just found it too cool. When I look back at it now and give it further thought, four people got a great dose of excitement out of that fish! It strikes some thoughts too as to how territorial fish can be when they find a place that they are comfortable in. That fish definitely wanted pinfish. It all makes me think a little bit more about catch and release fishing and the importance of releasing the fish you catch in good condition. I'm a catch and release guy personally. There is zero fish in my freezer. If I want to eat fish, I have the luxury of being able to catch it fresh and eat it that same day. It would be a sin to put it in the freezer. Yes in my full life of fishing, I've seen similar things happen a time or two. However this was just too cool of a story to not tell this month and just another reason yet why living the "salt life" is so exciting. You never know what's going to happen, what you're gonna’ hook into, or what kind of cool, crazy things you could potentially experience. I hope everyone has a happy, fishy, and exciting new year. The fish are calling your names, guys, go get em!! Capt. Billy Barton, Scales & Tails Charters 941979-6140
Capt. Billy and Austin Phelps
Convict asks: PAGE
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Where Did I Go Wrong?
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By Fishin’ Frank Water LIFE Baitshop
Sheep Head was caught after several years of stealing. This convict was hooked for being a thief and while I don’t understand his life choice I do have to give credit to an artist in their chosen profession. Below is his story.
Photographer Pat Ford sent us this great Ospry with two captured pinfish. Below, on of the many small sheepshead in and around Charlotte Harbor this time of year.
I was raised on the poor side of the ocean. Life around the trestle was not easy. During the day, life was ok. I would hang out at the oyster beds. It was easy living, lots of food, small crabs, and most of my family was there. Where I went wrong was hanging out at the pilings at night. I liked the fast water and the allure of a bubbly life style that has brought down better fish than me. At first it was a crab here or there, a shrimp or two, but the crabs were just not enough. I wanted bigger thrills. So I ended up trying barnacles – at first it was only one before I went to sleep, but soon I was hooked, every night I was out chewing barnacles! The crunchy outside, the soft meaty insides, what could I do? I was hooked. They told me to stay away from them, but I could not stop. I heard the stories of
the barnacles with a bright shiny spot. I was told these were exceptionally bad, but the sparkle of it just hanging there in the water... oh my! Once when I was young I bit one, and all of a sudden I was jerked up, I was being pulled, I could not stop. Suddenly there was this bright light. I was grabbed. I could not breath, then held this way and that and then the other. I was poked, you could almost say probed and then all of a sudden there was this pain in my jaw! I was put against a stick with lines on it and then it was over. I was flying, then splash. I was back swimming and headed home. I figured, I was just too much for those
aliens to handle so they had to release me. I knew how attractive the lure of the barnacle was. Soon I had to have more. I started just nibbling a little bit from one side or the other, careful not to let that shiny thing get me. I became the best of the best bait stealer. I could swipe the bait right off that shiny thing before the alien even knew I was there. Sometimes I bit and all of a sudden the bait was jerked away, like it was never there in the first place, but after a while it always came back. So I would swim quietly on the back of a piling waiting, watching up into the current, so even if I could not see it, I could smell it in front of me.
JANUARY 2014
To me, the best place to hang out around a piling is about 2 feet off the bottom where there are plenty of barnacles, lots of tiny crabs trying to hide in the barnacles. If a big fish came around I could run around the piling until it got tired of chasing me. I was King of the Trestle. If it was not for my addiction to barnacles, I would never have been caught. I should have known better. I watched the alien break barnacles off of the piling, putting some in a bucket with a little water to keep them from drying out. Then just down the pilings came this scraper crushing the barnacles sending a cloud of wonderous smell out into the water around me. It was too much. I could not resist the smell. They got me on a No. 2 Owner cutting point. It had a point on it like a broad head arrow, which made it easy to drill into the barnacle. The guy that got me was using a whole barnacle, hard outer shell and all. That Owner hook was drilled in and then brought back up the barnacle shell. That was not fair. I can resist a piece of bait, but a whole tasty barnacle, the crunchy outer shell, the soft sweet meat inside, it’s heaven on a hook. When they put the hook into the lower side and then out of the bottom of the shell it’s hard for me to see it hidden like that. Most hooks break up the barnacle and it’s easy for me to tell, but that hook with a 20-pound fluorocarbon leader and just a No. 3 spilt shot, that was the trick it took to fool me. Cast or dropped right next to the piling it slowly sank, staying right in front of me. It is just not fair playing on my weakness like that. So yes I was caught in the act of bait stealing, and that is a 5- minute to life sentence, depending on who catches you. I admit I stole bait, yeah I did it, ya rotten copper. Why did I steal it? Because I could. Yeah, I’m a thief and I’m good at it. Go ahead, I dare you, put a piece of bait in front of me, I will snatch it before you can blink. Hey, I’m not bragging, but I can steal a bait faster/quicker than any fish alive. So you caught me. I was having a bad morning. I am the convict they call Sheep Head, the best bait thief in the water. Frank@Fishin’ Franks.com 625-3888
JANUARY 2014
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Fish Health Management Class
Betty Staugler Water LIFE / Sea Grant Once a science geek always a science geek! One of my absolutely favorite things about being a scientist is that I am always learning something new. Of course the older I get the more I find myself saying “I used to know that” which is an indication that relearning old stuff is important too. In December I got an opportunity to attend a fish health management workshop being offered by the UF Tropical Aquaculture Laboratory in Ruskin. The focus was on fin fish aquaculture but the principles have far wider application. Day one started with the pre-quiz. I turned it in feeling as though I was a solid 40%. Not good, but some of the questions I really did “used to know”. So then the lectures began starting with fish biology and physiology basics; I was good with that. On to intro to fish health management; good again. Next up was water quality followed by a water quality lab. Water quality in aquaculture is a bit tricky because much depends on whether the system is a tank or pond, freshwater or saltwater, etc. An important take home message: Water chemistry is the cause of most fish diseases in aquaculture or display systems. Next up on the agenda was biosecurity, something that tends to conjure up images of NSA and $$. Biosecurity is management practices taken to control the introduction and spread of pathogens in an aquaculture facility and leaving the facility. This includes footThis is Ich (ichthyohthirius) a common freshwater parasite. In the photo they baths, recordkeeping, quarantine of incoming or sick ani- are the dark dots. When you zoom in you can see the macro nucleus. Ich has a complex life cycle. It can only be treated during the stage when it's in the water mals, proper food storage, etc. Although biosecurity is expensive, facilities that have thousands of fish in-house column. It is considered one of the bad boys. This slide I pulled from the jail fish about a year ago. They got a batch of fry in that were infected. Fortunately they can’t afford not to take it seriously. were quarantined. The other slide I posted on FB was tricodina. It is also a paraDay two was all about external parasites, internal site but with a simpler life cycle. They are found in fresh and saltwater. parasites, bacterial infections, fungal infections and viruses; followed by a necropsy and diagnosis…fun, fun, then did our necropsies. We had to pull samples from the liver, fun!! Some tricky stuff here is first figuring out what is causing spleen, kidney, stomach, and intestines; again to examine under problems in the fish, and then knowing the effective treatment the scope. My fish’s stomach, spleen and intestines were a little which is going to depend on the system the fish are in, the water smaller than BB’s. Its liver and kidney were smaller yet. chemistry, and whether they are food fish or ornamentals. In the end I learned a ton of good stuff and reAll of the fish we performed necropsies on were sick fish from learned much of what had been purged from my the lab in need of workups. My fish was a freshwater ornamental memory. I will say I did do better on my pre test too. about the size of a quarter, by far the smallest fish I’ve ever I leave you with a few things that I learned. Consider worked up. We first took external samples to examine under a mi- it your own pre-test. (test at right) croscope including a skin scrape, fin sample and gill sample. The first two not too difficult, but getting the gill sample on a tiny fish Capt. Betty Staugler Florida Sea Grant Agent was a little more challenging. External samples are taken while UF/IFAS Extension Charlotte County the fish is still alive because many pathogens need a host and will (941) 764-4346 quickly die if the fish dies. After we took those samples, our fish were “fixed”… the scientific word for pickled, after which we
JANUARY 2014
PRE TEST 1. Which is the most common type of parasite encountered in fish disease? a. Trematode b. Cestode c. Protozoan d. Nematode
2. The best cure for a viral infection in fish is: a. Salt b. Nitrofurazone c. Dylox d. a and c e. None of the above
3. High biosecurity risks to an aquatic facility may include all of the following EXCEPT: a. Imported fish b. Incoming shipping water c. Well water d. Live feeds e. Facility visitors 4. When considering a parasitic treatment with formalin, what water chemistry parameter is important to monitor? a. Alkalinity b. Nitrate c. pH d. oxygen 5. TRUE or FALSE The function of a fishʼs immune system is dependent on water temperature. Answers:
1) c 2) e 3) c 4) d 5 True
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Disection: My fish was about the size of a quarter,
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JANUARY 2014
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A Contrast in Seasons By Capt. Chuck Eichner Water LIFE Charlotte Harbor The toughest two months of Florida fishing is upon us and I find myself day dreaming of March, April and May while fishing in January. I am still excited any day I leave the dock, but I temper my expectations to catch trout, a few redfish, bluefish, jacks, flounder, snapper, sheepshead and black drum. This is tough living in southwest Florida when your outlook for the day is to only catch 6- to 8 species of extremely hard fighting and tasty gamefish. In contrast to superlative winter fishing over anything else in the United States, visions of my wife Joyce pop into my head as she fought a monster tarpon in Redfish Pass at North Captiva. With the fish exiting into rough Gulf waters we had no choice but not follow it. Rod dug deep in the waist high strap-on fishing belt, she hung on for dear life as the boat rock and rolled and the fish grey-hounded for offshore waters. This was a June trip and we hit the crab run just right and the fish ate like mad…..7 tarpon hooked in a couple of hours with only 2 boated. Ah, for June! Drifting back into consciousness on a day trip in January, the backcountry finds some screaming drags as well. Scott Jackson, a recent transplant to the area experienced remarkable trout fishing with
shrimp on the open flats south of Alligator Creek. To top it all off, a legitimate 5 pound bluefish mashed a little plastic swimbait meant for his trout. With the drag a burning this fish is just about as tough as it gets and certainly a record size bluefish for this area…at least on my boat. So, there are still some pleasant surprises waiting for the winter fisherman. When the day goes just right you might spend it on an inshore or offshore reef chumming for sheepshead and snapper. That’s right, I said chumming. Most don’t think to do it, but it is so easy. Get a block of chum and place it in a chum cage and drop to about 5 feet off the bottom with the tide running so the chum flows to the bottom structure. Because you started with 200 regular shrimp you will now take about 50 and start cutting them into small pieces. Occasionally, throw a handful of shrimp pieces in the water. Freeline a tail hooked whole shrimp on a 1/0 circle hook with a split shot 24 inches above the hook and let it melt into the water column with a light finger touch on the line as the line coils off the spool. You are guaranteed action and don’t be surprised, if offshore, bonito and sharks show up – inshore, gag grouper will likely give you a pull on the inside reefs. Again, this is good living. There is a 100-percent chance that a
yankee clipper carrying ridiculous cold temperatures will eventually loop low enough in the states to bring upper 30 degree morning temperatures to us here. Three days of this pattern guarantees that the flats will be dry of water because this almost always coincides with a strong northeast wind that blows out the water. The good news is that every speckled trout in the Harbor will drop into the canal systems, marinas and deep water basins to wait out the cold. They are reckless eaters in this scenario. Options in January are a bit limited to your imagination. There are plenty of keeper size grouper on public reefs like Alligator and Cape Haze. I envision that
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on a daily basis fish move in and out from the Gulf stopping at these locations. A skillful northern angler can deploy long learned skills used for pike and walleye fishing where trolling on bottom structure and contours is a way of life. A deep lipped plug trolled in Charlotte Harbor produces more grouper than many would ever expect. The kind of short line pull they give is certainly worth the disappointment of having to release them after the fight. There are lots of options and game plans this month; only limited by your imagination and the weatherman. Capt. Chuck Eichner operates Action Flats Backcountry Charters and can be reached at 941-628-8040 or go to his website at www.Backcountry-Charters.com
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Aerial AQUATICA December 19 – I love to fly and shoot aerial photographs. Iʼve been doing it for 45 years. For the last 9 years I have flown the Charlotte Harbor Reef Associationʼs aerial survey of the mangrove growth and shoreline conditions around Charlotte Harbor, Lemon Bay and the Peace River watershed. It is a survey that began right after 2004 Hurricane Charley which decimated the mangroves around the Harborʼs perimeter. In the 10 years since Charley, several human driven efforts have been initiated to re-forrest the mangroves and while they may have planted some more mangroves, the areas seeded by man donʼt (to my eye) seem any more dense or more green than those reforrested entirely by Mother Nature. This last year mild temperatures and abundant rain produced even more growth and while there were predictions of losing shoreline to erosion I donʼt see that happening. The most impressive regrowth appears to be in the islands on the upper east side of the Harbor. Itʼs hard to tell from the air, but there do seem to be some Brazillian Pepper trees in some of the new growth, but Iʼm not sure they werenʼt there before the hurricane. – Michael Heller
JANUARY 2014
This is the West Wall just after Hurricane Charley. Where ever the storm went it looked like this.
Worm-like ripples in the sandy bottom of a tributary to the Peace River above Horse Creek. The water was flowing shallow and clear.
The Punta Gorda Barge Canal was raked over by Charley (inset, reverse angle), but today itʼs grown thicker and greener with mangroves starting to overhang the shoreline.
Looks Good - Just above Cape Haze on the West Wall shoreline there is a little ʻhookʼ or depression in the shoreline. In the exploded view you can see the new growth and the golden colored shoreline sand just under the water. If the shoreline was eroding this would probably be more of a muddy brown.
JANUARY 2014
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A significant improvment in the regrowth of mangroves appears most evident on the East Side Keys. The image to the left was just after Charley while the image to the right was taken last month. Fishing on the East Side has been good this summer as well. The islands in this area are a key part of the Charlotte Harbor Estuary since this is where numerous small species get to grow bigger.
A small commercial fishing boat cuts across a sandy flat near Turtle Bay. The hooked little bay at Cape Haze looked like this before Charley (right) . Today (far right) it始s starting to show good growth and nice overhangs once again. More and more of the the towering dead trees have begun to fall.
You can see the bottom structure through the clear water at Alligator Creek. The mangroves are growing back nicely here although a few small islands to the south have disappeared since the storm.
A lone fishing boat is anchored at the mouth of Trout Creek on the northwest side of the Harbor. The deeper troughs are easy to see from above.
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Pompano
Bobby Vitalis at the Tom Adams Bridge with a December pompano.
By Bobby Vitalas Water LIFE Pier Fishing Pompano are fun to catch and they give a pretty good fight. This pompano was caught from low to high tide in the afternoon at the Tom Adam’s Bridge Pier. Their average weight is from 1 to 2pounds, which is most common. The food value is good. The legal length to keep pompano in this area is between 11 inches to 20 inches from the fork of the tail. When fishing for these fish, most of the time I use artificial lures and most of the time I cast. The jig I’m using to catch pompano is called The Jig by Capt. Joe. The color I’m using is yellow and white with a pink fly. The weight is 3/8oz. The way to use this jig is as you’re reeling it in, give it sharp jerks every so often. If you want to increase your strikes, I suggest you use Pro Cure bait scent. The
scent to use is called the INSHORE SALT WATER FORMULA. This scent is used to catch many different species of fish. It comes in ether 2oz. or 8oz. squeeze bottles. When putting the scent on the jig, you don’t have to soak it, just put enough every couple of casts. For those people who use bait, the bait to use is shrimp, fiddler crabs, or sand fleas. I am using 30-pound test SUFIX ADVANCED SUPER line (BRAIDED) as my main line. For my leader line, I am using 3 feet of 25pound test SEAQUAR 100% FLUOROCARBON leader line, which is invisible in the water. So, if you want to have fun catching pompano, try using the Jig by Capt. Joe.
JANUARY 2014 Edfitor Notes We received some photos of a fishing trip with Capt. Joe Miller out of Venice. As it turns out the trip was with a group of Canadians who own Nestor Falls Fly-In Outposts, a charter fishing business, in the Canadian outback. The photos are from last month. The text below is from the blog on their website.
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Canadians Came to Fish and Went Home Happy
Some Florida Fishing December 16, 2013
Dave and I love to fish. After all, we run a fly-in fishing business! The only problem is that by the time we have time to go fishing, our lakes are frozen over. Needless to say, we need to find our fix in other locations. Dave and I have been going to Florida for over 15 years now but have never really tried deep sea fishing until two years ago. A good friend of ours recommended we take an excursion with Captain Joe Miller of Fish Galore Offshore in Venice, Florida. We decided to give it a shot and have been absolutely thrilled! We have been going with him for the last two years with great success. If you are ever in the Venice area and looking for an ocean adventure, you should contact Captain Joe. We guarantee you will have a wonderful time. On this trip, we were with our good friends Jeff & Dawn from Columbia City, Indiana, as well as Dave’s business partner in the hanger, Gene. We all had a wonderful time out on the Gulf. We caught Red Grouper, Gag Group, Red Snapper, and Trigger Fish. But the most exciting was when Dawn released a 10foot Nurse Shark, and then only 30 minutes later, Gene released a hefty Bull Shark!
Thanks to Glen Ballinger and Capt. Jo Miller for some of the photos!
The Amber Jacks were also great fun. They always put up a good fight. With the help of Dave, I was able to reel in a 30+ pounder. But Dave was the real champ and landed an impressive 50 pounder! Our Florida fishing trip was a great es-
cape. After the busy fly-in season, it’s nice to relax and enjoy our favorite sport. After all is said and done though, we are ready to get back to work. Escape to the Wilderness, Dave & Michelle
Dave is wearing the Yellow sweatshirt. I have the Navy one on. We are from Nester Falls Ontario. Jeff Hoffman (in the green hat) and Michelle Beaushene are from Columbia City Ind. Gene has the yellow hat on and is from Ontario Canada. I am Dawn Hoffman and wearing dark sweatshirt.
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Real Estate News
Provided to Water LIFE BY:
Dave Hofer RE/MAX Harbor Realty (941) 575-3777 dhofer@remax.net www.harborparadise.com Recent area news items:
1. The feasibility study for the new aquarium to be located on the Marketplace site has been released. The study did not appear to produce any further insights than any of us nonprofessionals could provide. The consultants went out on a limb and projected annual attendance at somewhere between 134,000 and 340,000 at $15 per entrant. Mote Marine in Sarasota had already pulled out of this project. Projected contributions to build the facility were $67 Million. PG's liaison for this project, Tom Kerr, suggested that cutting the size of the facility in half and raising the admission price by 20% might make the project break even... eventually. 2. The January/February issue of Best Places to Retire magazine will feature
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Punta Gorda as number 1. 3. Planning for the ongoing fiasco known as the Super Boat Races at Stump Pass and Englewood Beach is running short on time. Promoters of the event have collected $63K from taxpayer's so far and will have to collect another $80K for the national event sponsor, Super Boat International, before the event dates of April 12-13. The promoter is required to come up with a plan to provide parking for their expected attendance of 80,000. They have been unable to do so. They have collected $5,600 in advance advertising fees to date.
4. Hotel tax receipts were up by 6% to a new record for the month of May vs. the prior May. 5. Governor Scott is pushing for a rollback of vehicle registration rates to pre 2009 levels ($46.80 vs. $71.85)
6. The annual mowing fee for vacant lots in Punta Gorda will be placed on your real estate tax
WE LOVE THE LOGO! The owners of Dean's Restaurant in Punta Gorda are opening Hurricane Charley's Raw Bar and Grill. Todd Stolte will be the chef.
When we talked with them, phrases used to describe the still evolving menu included: “eclectic with a seafood flare, Asian Fusion, and New Orleans.” February is their target date to open, although restaurant manager Bob McCurry said they may be cooking by late this month. t
With an open harbor view, we predict the restaurantʼs tiki bar, located along the premiere stretch of the new Punta Gorda Harborwalk, will bcome an incredibly popular spot to watch the sun go down.
starting next year. The 2,800 vacant lots affected by this changes will see a new $115 item on their tax bills. In other news: Toys R Us is closing its Murdock store. Closest store will now be in Ft Myers. Dean's Restaurant will be taking over the former Benedetto's Restaurant location in the former Best Western Hotel (now the Punta Gorda Waterfront Hotel). The new restaurant will become Hurricane Charley's Raw Bar and Grill. They will have banquet facilities available, too. February is their target date. Dean's North of the Border on Harborview will be closing.
Sales Statistics: November existing
home sales fell nationally for the first time in over a year. California, Nevada and Arizona led the way in this slide as interest rates and prices both increased. Our area shows home sales of 303 vs 282 a year ago. Median sales prices were 12% above a year ago, reflecting the ongoing shift of product mix to traditional sales vs. distressed sales. Foreclosures in Charlotte & Sarasota Counties dropped to 276 from 525 in November '12. Lot prices continued to stabilize.
Top 10 JANUARY 2014
Stories from 2013
ON THE LINE By Capt. Ron Blago Water LIFE Senior Staff Each year I make a list of stories that I felt didn't get enough coverage in the main stream media. This is just a personal list of items from my notes over the last year. Here they are: 10 - The largest private owner of land in Florida is now the Mormon Church. They just closed a deal to buy 382,834 acres from the St. Joe Co. for
$565 million. Land holdings in Florida for the Mormon Church are now 678,000 acres. 9 – About 100 eagles a year are killed by the wind power industry. Duke Energy was recently fined $1 million dollars for killing eagles at two of their Wyoming wind farms. Under pressure
from the wind power industry, the White House said it will allow companies to kill eagles without fear of prosecution for the next 30 years. On a side note, the price of electricity has gone up 42% in
the last decade. Green energy may be more efficient but that doesn't mean it will be cheaper.
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8 – Snook season finally re-opened in Sept. 2013. It had been closed since January 2010. You probably heard about this already. 7 – Florida's economy is back on track. Florida's unemployment rate is at 6.5%. Last year at this time it was at 8.2%. Home values are going up and foreclosures are going down. Sales tax revenue and real estate property tax revenue to local counties is going up. Things are starting to go back toward normal.
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6 – Mother Nature Stump Pass and the barrier islands, as photographed on Depicks her favorites. Green sea turtle nestings cember 19. Prediction for 2014: Stump Pass will finally get a jetty. have hit a record high in making it one of the slowest storm sea2013; over 25,000 turtle nests were sons in recorded history. Since Hurricounted on the 26 public beaches of cane Charley hit our area in 2004 the Florida. That's twice as many as the previous record. The news is not so good for number and severity of tropical storms the Florida panther. The estimated popu- hitting Florida has steadily decreased; yet the National Hurricane Center keeps lation of the Florida panther is 160. Last predicting more storms. You would think year there were 24 reported deaths with that after 10 years of getting it wrong, 19 caused by collisions with automothey would just give up the long range biles. forecast and just predict one month in advance. 5– Charlotte County signed a deal with Super Boat International to have a 3- People vote with their license Grand Prix style speedboat race on Enplates. Back in the day there were only glewood Beach April 11, 12, 13, 2014. This could be the biggest event in Engle- two specialty license plates; the Challenger space shuttle plate and the Save wood history. the Manatee plate. Now there are over 4 – No hurricanes hit Florida in 2013 120 different plates and the manatee
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plate has dropped out of top 5. Out of the one million specialty plates sold last year only 47,232 were manatee plates. #1 plate sold -University of Fla. #2- Fla State University. #3 Helping Sea Turtles.
2 – Record Manatee Deaths in 2013As of the latest report, there were 803 reported manatee mortalities in 2013, this is twice the number as last year . The suspected major cause is red tide which accounted for 276 of the deaths. An additional 92 deaths were from a mysterious algal bloom on the northeast coast. It may turn out that several types of harmful algal bloom are killing manatees. The previous record year for manatee deaths was in 2010 with 766 deaths a high number of those from cold weather. Looks like red tide and cold will keep the manatee population under control.
1- The case for Global Warming seems to be falling apart. 2013 turns out to be one of the coldest years in US history. The Arctic ice sheet has increased 50% over last year. This is good news for the polar bears. Antarctica recorded the coldest temperature ever found on earth -138.8F. Snow hits Cairo, Egypt for the first time in 100 years. For the last 17
years in a row the earth has actually been getting cooler. More climate scientist are seriously considering the possibility of an upcoming “Little Ice Age”. It's not all bad news for global warming defenders; CO2 levels of over 400 parts per million were detected in the atmosphere. The highest amount ever recorded since they first started measuring it in 1958.
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Friendly Fishing
By Capt. Bart Marx Water LIFE Fishing It’s 2014, can you believe it? Another year of fishing in the books. A lot of firsts last year: Capt. Bart caught his first blackfin tuna in the Gulf. My son Brandon caught his first hog fish and his first permit. Some of our guests caught there first fish with us and we had a first snook on a fly rod for one of our Michigan guests. Just last month we had the privilege of taking our music minister Jared and his wife Karle who is an elementary teacher. They relocated here from the Jacksonville area. They have been busy with getting settled in there new home here. Mrs. Hunter (Karle) caught her first sheepshead and it was the first keeper fish of the trip. We were using 20-pound class rigs. A Redbone rod with a Quantum Boca 40 reel with 20-pound suffix performance braid with clear 20-pound big game leader, and a VMC 3/0 circle hook No. 7381 sure set. We were using live shrimp from Fishin’ Franks and pin fish caught with a bait master 10 foot net.
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The day we were fishing the tide was very low and it was a little windy. We ventured out in the Gulf for a few minutes and trolled around the artificial reef out of Gasparilla Pass. There were a few large barracudas hanging around. We were
JANUARY 2014
using some older equipment; Shimano reels on Kunan rods with 30-pound suffix braid, setups with jig and spoons looking for some Spanish Mackerel and had other poles with Shimano reels with 30-pound Suffix with No. 1 planers with Clark spoons for going a little deeper for king mackerel. There were some waves but no bites so we opted to head inshore. Getting back to our ‘firsts’, our music minister and his wife were in competition and all of a sudden she caught the first fish, and it was a nice size one too, a sheepshead. Then she caught a redfish. Mr. Jared was not doing so well – the pressure cooker was building steam! There were some little bait robbers that moved in and we had to move to another spot. It was a little bit of a boat ride to our next spot, but there Mr. Jared caught his first snook and then a black drum. It was a fun trip and I hope, the first of many trips with these guys. We even spent some time in the Boca Grande Bayou looking for fish and looking at houses and boats. It was a great day and fun was had by all. If you would like to start this new year with some firsts give Capt. Bart Marx a call and book your Florida fishing adventure. Call 941-979-6517 or e-mail me at captbart@alphaomegacharters.com Remember singing drags and tight lines make me smile. <*(((((>{
JANUARY 2014
Water LIFE received this letter last month and it started a chain of discoveries: To Capt. Ron Blago My name is Thomas McKeown and I live in Lee County. On Saturday I was given a copy of the November issue of your paper, the first one that I've ever seen. You had written an article about the dearth of reefs in Charlotte County. The reason that this article captured my attention was the Seminole Trader. Thirty some years ago when I was in my early twenties, I built that boat. I was hoping that you could write back and give me some additional information about who, what, when, where, and all concerning its sinking. I feel that it would be appropriate that I be there to see her off since I was there at her birth. Any information you could give me would be greatly appreciated. Sincely Thomas
We forwarded that to Roger DeBruler, the Charlotte County agent who will actually be sinking the Seminole Trader Roger wrote back; Question: I have a David Lake as the builder and original owner of the
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was built in 1985. Interesting dilemma, Roger
Seminole Trader up until John Slade purchased it in 1998, who then sold it in 2004 to John Drown. Who is Thomas McKeown? He does not show up as a previous owner on the USCG vessel search. The vessel
So we forwarded Roger’s note to Thomas, who wrote back the next day:
Hello Michael, To put it briefly, the keel of that boat was laid at the old Gulf Caribbean Boat Ways by Billy Creek in Ft Myers in late 1978 by my Uncle Bill and my cousin Vance for my father Top. I dropped out of college in Arizona. the summer of 1979 to work on it. In late 1979 Vance moved to Massachusetts with his wife. In 1980 the Ways was sold to Ft Myers Yacht at which time we had to get it out of there quickly. We finished it enough to float and moved it to a place called Lanyon's Landing in Alva which is now called the Rialto Harbor Marina. Shortly after that Bill got bored and went back to shrimping which left me to work alone on the boat off and on for the next three years. When my dad bought a load of steel I
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worked on it full time and the other times I devoted weekends to it. Thirty years ago this month my dad died of a heart attack while scuba diving. In 1984 my mom sold the boat which was as yet not finished to Dave Lake who completed it from the deck up, registered it, and began fishing it in 1985. So to repeat, the reason there is no record of that boat before 1985 is because it wasn't done yet! If you have any questions about this story, Dave will verify everything. Once again, I respectably ask when and whatever concerning the boats ultimate demise. Sincerely, Thomas.
Last week we went to Placida to talk to Capt. Steve Skevington who is the current owner of the Trader. Thomas and his dad did a good job on the hull because the boat is still floating, but not much of the rest is intact. The boat had been someone’s ‘cabin’ for a while, the interior having been converted to a living space. Capt. Skevington had planned to take the boat back out shrimping, but that never happened. The deck is rusted through with big holes, the shrimp net with its turtle excluder and stainless steel cables lays tangled on the aft deck,
rotting away. Winches, rollers, booms everything is rusted solid. It’s a mess, and before the Trader can be sunk on the Jeff Steele Artificial Reef off Englewood it has to be completely cleaned out and stripped of everything but the steelwork. Capt. Steve and his mate have been working in their spare time to get the Trader ready, but there is still a very long way to go. Perhaps a big dumpster and a community-day project would help?
Marlon Brando 1954
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JANUARY 2014
Kayaking
Big Pine and Everglades City
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By David Allen Water LIFE Kayaking
As the new year begins, and our snowbird friends start to arrive from the snow-bound north, we plan for trips to warmer waters and new adventures. Now that the Christmas holidays are behind us…the wonderful time spent with family and friends, all the parties and community events, like boat parades and tree lighting ceremonies…we can start thinking about special winter paddles that we have enjoyed in past years. Several that stand out are trips to the Keys and the Everglades. It's surprising how much warmer the weather and waters are in the southern keys or even in the Everglades. Over the last few years our club has spent several three day weekends at Big Pine Key and Everglade City, and enjoyed paddling both areas. Big Pine is one of the largest keys in the chain stretching from Key Largo to Key West, and is surrounded by many smaller keys, generally running from northwest to southeast, that are fun to explore. You will see all of the wildlife that you would expect in such a setting; Big Pine is on the southern edge of Florida Bay and just north of Hawks Channel and the Florida Reef line. We always see scores of dolphins, some tarpons and I've heard that pilot whales are sometimes seen near Florida Bay. And a short paddle east of the Overseas Highway will take you to the coral reefs at Bahia Honda for snorkeling and diving. The current along the Bahia Honda beach can be very strong, so take special care in the water. One of the unique features of Big Pine Key is the diminutive Key Deer that roam all over the island without,
seemingly, any restrictions. These tiny whitetail deer are fun to watch and photograph and they are quite accustomed to humans and will often follow you everywhere. The choice of lodging is limited to the Big Pine Motel, not the best accommodations you'll find in the Keys, but acceptable for short stays. Marathon is only 17 miles to the north and has more and better motels. And a quick visit to Key West is just 40 miles away. Everglades City, located about 100 miles south of Port Charlotte, offers a very different paddling experience compared with Big Pine Key. Here the paddles are through beautiful creeks and rivers, surrounded by mangroves and wildlife of all description. And yes, there are plenty of alligators, but we’ve never had a serious encounter with one and they’re always fun to photograph. The Turner River is one the best paddles in the area. Located just a few miles from Everglades City, the river meanders about 10 miles through mostly open water to
Chokoloskee Bay. The Turner River area is actually an archaeological site with habitation, shell mounds and pot shards dating back to 100 BC. If you don't see alligators in the Turner River, you just aren't looking. Lots of birds too, always diving for a seafood dinner. Halfway Creek is similar to the Turner River but shorter at about 8 miles, and with Halfway Creek you get the additional pleasure of navigating a twomile mangrove tunnel. We usually stay at the Captains Table or the Rod & Gun Club in Everglades City. Both have excellent accommodations and the dining, particularly if you enjoy seafood, is hard to beat. The Oyster House, closer to Chokoloskee, is also a good choice for dinner. So, break out of the mold and take a few days this winter to explore new areas and the warmer waters south of Port Charlotte. You won't regret it. The Port Charlotte Kayakers meet each Wednesday evening at Franz-Ross Park, adjacent to the local YMCA, at 5:00PM. All are welcome to attend. For more information, call Dave Allen at
941-235-2588 or email to dlaa@comcast.net.
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Staff Report Sailing picks up speed this month and if the wind cooperates there will be smiles on the faces of sailors in several interclub races and regattas scheduled for January. On January 11-12 the Flying Scott District races are being held out of the Charlotte Harbor Yacht Club’s basin. Then the 2014 Golden Conch Regatta hosted by the Platinum Point Yacht Club, is scheduled for January 18 and 19. The
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event will be held out of Burnt Store Marina. Platinum Point has been working to enlist more boats to join this regatta so the Golden Conch looks to be a great event this month. Next month the Charlotte Harbor Regatta is scheduled for February 6-9 In March, what has traditionally been the biggest big-boat event, the Conquistador Cup, will be held March 8-9, with the final day traditional reverse start race finishing near Fishermen’s Village. Editor Notes: Last month we mixed up the one design and the Big Boat regatta dates for the March Leukemia Cup. The correct dates are: March 15th, One Design small boat Leukemia Cup Regatta. March 22- 23, PHRF Big Boat Leukemia Cup Regatta.
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Canadian sails were out in front of the US in this December small boat race on the Harbor
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SCUTTLEBUTT
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Sometimes Unsubstanciated, But Often True
GULF OF MEXICO HEADBOAT COLLABORATIVE PILOT PROGRAM BEGINS THIS MONTH NOAA Fisheries authorized the 2-year pilot program through issuance of an Exempted Fishing Permit (EFP). The purpose of the pilot program is to assess the viability of an allocation-based management strategy for achieving conservation and economic goals more effectively than current management. The Headboat Collaborative was allocated a portion of the red snapper and gag recreational quotas based on historical landings data. Participating headboats may use the allotted quota to harvest red snapper and gag outside the normal recreational fishing seasons. CATCHY NAME Last month trees were flown in by helicopter to create fish habitat on Northern Californiaʼs Mattole River. The Douglas firs had been removed from a nearby prairie, which is being restored and replanted with native grasses. Rather than burning the trees as waste or using them for firewood, conservationists decided to use them to create in-stream habitat thay called “Large Woody Debris.” The new habitat will benefit threatened fish like salmon and steelhead.
CROSSBOW TAG A satellite LIMPET tag is shown being deployed on the dorsal fin of a Type A killer whale near the Antarctic Peninsula. The tag was implanted from a cross-
bow bolt (orange in photo), which rebounded and left the small (49g) tag attached to the fin (black with protruding antenna). DEEPWATER HORIZON Bottlenose dolphins in Louisianaʼs Barataria Bay have lung damage and adrenal hormone abnormalities not previously seen in other dolphin populations, according to a new peer-reviewed study published Dec. 18 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. The Deepwater Horizon spill heavily oiled Barataria Bay. The study was conducted in August 2011 as part of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) by a team of government, academic and nongovernmental researchers.
WHILE ON VESSEL PATROL on the Weeki Wachee River, Officers observed a flood light illuminating the river and three men fishing from the seawall. An inspection of their catch revealed a thirty-gallon trash can filled with water and fish. The contents of the trash can revealed a total of 117 mangrove snapper, four of which were of the legal size limit and one legal size sheepshead. The three subjects were each charged with possession of undersized and
MyFWC.com/ManateeSeaTurtleDecals or ask for them at local county tax collectorsʼ offices. Decal donations support conservation of manatees and sea turtles, including research, rescue, rehabilitation and management efforts. FWC has not responded to our question of: Does money collected for the decals go to the Save the Manatee Club?
TOOL USE IN CROCODYLIANS: crocodiles and alligators use sticks as lures to attract waterbirds. As described by Dinets et al. in a November article in Scientific American, Mugger crocodiles Crocodylus palustris in India and American alligators Alligator mississippiensis in the USA have both been observed to lie, partially submerged, beneath egret and heron colonies with sticks balanced across their snouts. Birds approach to collect the sticks for use in nest building and… well, letʼs just say that it doesnʼt end well for the birds. If the crocodylians really are using the sticks as bait to attract their bird prey, this is tool use, since the sticks are objects that are being employed for a specific function. over the bag limit of mangrove snappers. Additionally, two of the subjects were issued warnings for not possessing a valid shoreline fishing license and snapper not in whole condition. The fish were seized as evidence. OFFICERS ON AIRBOAT PATROL in the Kissimmee River Public Use Area observed subjects in two airboats chasing and shooting at a wild hog. One of the vessels was detained and the operator received a notice to appear in court for attempting to take wildlife from a moving vessel.
The 2014 Gulf of Mexico red snapper recreational season will be 40 days, opening at 12:01 a.m., June 1, and closing at 12:01 a.m., July 11
Cleaning-table scraps for a treat at Placida
HIGHLIGHTS STATUS AND TRENDS NOAA has authored a new report, “Status and Trends of Wetlands in the Coastal Watersheds of the Conterminous United States 2004-2009,”with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. According to the reportʼs findings, the coastal watersheds of the continental United States lost wetlands at an average rate of 80,000 acres a year from 2004-2009. Thatʼs approximately seven football fields, every hour! Itʼs a 25 percent increase over
PIT TAGS IN POOP Researchers used the recapture of unique tags, called passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags, on a gull breeding colony to identify the proportion of tagged steelhead that were consumed by gulls and subsequently defecated or regurgitated on the colony. They fed a known number of PIT tags to gulls to determine
the previous 6-year study period.
SHARK FATALLY BITES KAYAKER A shark in late December near Makena State Recreation Area on the island of Maui has led to the death of one man. Officials with the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources say that the angler was fishing for baitfish about half a mile off Little Beach in a kayak. The attack happened late in the morning when a shark bit one of the anglerʼs legs dangling over the edge of his craft, causing severe injuries and blood loss. RIGHT SPEED A federal rule that protects highly endangered North Atlantic right whales by imposing a speed limit on large ships has been made permanent. First put into effect in 2008 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the regulation requires ships 65-feet-long or more to travel at speeds of 10 knots or less seasonally in areas where right whales feed and reproduce, as well as along migratory routes in-between. The area off the coast at the Georgia-Florida border is the only place where the whales are known to give birth.
what proportion of eaten tags were subsequently deficated back on the colony.
MORE MONEY NOAA and the other federal agencies responsible for the damage assessment for the Deepwater Horizon oil have released a draft plan for the third phase of Early Restoration. The draft plan proposes more than $625 million in new early restoration projects across the Gulf states—making this the largest phase of Early Restoration yet. The draft plan also outlines the Trusteesʼ proposed programmatic approach to early restoration planning for Phase III and future early restoration plans. The draft plan is available for public review and comment through February 4, 2014.
FOLLOW THE MONEY With a $5 donation, people can receive a manatee or sea turtle decal from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). This yearʼs decals celebrate the presence of manatees and sea turtles (los manaties y tortugas marinas) 500 years ago in Florida when Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon landed on this peninsula and named it La Florida, or land of flowers. People can PANTHER WATER CAR, At 44 mph on the water, is the fastest order the decals online at amphibious vehicle in the world! Looks like a Jeep. Runs 90
on the highway! 250 HP Honda V-6 power. Video on You Tube!
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January Fishing Forecast
Charlotte Harbor
Frank, at Fishin’ Franks 941- 625-3888
Peace and Myakka Rivers are holding lots of smaller redfish with some big ones mixed in up to 32-inches. Fish have been in the opening to Shell Creek and at the islands by I-75. Going into the Myakka it’s been the far shore on the right side. I think the big reds have been eating the small ones. We’ve seen them crushed around the
middle with two different sets of bite marks, one offset by snook or tarpon but some perfect circle bites which are most likely from other redfish. The big ones are oversized so you can’t cut them up to see. Around Hog Island at the north and south openings there are both trout and Spanish mackerel. Small sized reds 12 to 20 inches, but no big ones. Spanish are also good around Marker No. 5 and a few up by 41 on the Punta Gorda side, where the deep hole is. Along the East Side there is a trough south of Alligator Creek that runs down to Pirate Harbor. There are a lot of trout hanging right in that run zone. Closer to the flats there are smaller fish but the big ones are right in the run zone. If a boat goes by, throw into the prop wash, as it mixes up the shrimp and little pinfish. The trout have been feeding in that swirl. On the West side the reds are in the creek mouths and back up in the creeks. The little ones are holding pretty hard in the creeks even as the tide comes out. The bigger fish are outside the bar but there are not many of them.
Top: Two cobia from a charter with Capt. Steve Skevingtonʼs Paradise Charters. Above: Paul Winkelman and his buddies are all smiles in Venice with a red grouper caught last month with Glen Ballinger.
This is Shannon Friday from the tiki bar. I've caught some weird fish recently including a sea robin, lizard fish, puffer fish and a blow fish. Lots of small mangs out there too and the snook are still around, thankfully! Seeing sheephead and small reds too. I fish mostly from shore or from a pier so Iʼm fishing around a lot of structure.
There has been a big school of cobia, must be two dozen, in the Harbor. They have been sighted all around from the 41 Bridges to the East and West sides... big fish, one 52-inch cobia was taken out of that school late last month! Keep your eyes out, the one caught took a mullet chunk. Sheepshead have been very sporadic at El Jobean, Above: Capt. Billy and the new Penn Conflict reel “A step nice size, but not a lot of above the Penn Battle, with better drag.” them. More sheepies at Below: Chris Gray with barracuda. His 2 children Evan and Placida and the Tom Adams Jenna had a great day! Bridge. Some of the most fun fishing right now has been on the inside of Gasparilla Island,sheepshead and black drum and a chance that a school of big marauding jacks will go by. In the Gulf, AJs, Spanish grunts, snapper, everything is nearby on the near shore reefs right now. Keeper red grouper are in 70 feet if you really want them. Watch the weather. If it’s nice, Bass fishing is going crazy, the thing is sailfish, wahoo, mahi, and tuna are all you want hard baits right now not soft sitting out at 45 miles right now, but that plastics. The Rapalla scatter wrap is the could change with the weather. Cooler bait. The temperature changes have put temps will keep the water mild and these some bass in the pre spawn mode, in the fish will stay out there. When the wind middle of open water feeding on baitfish stops and you can get out, you will have and they are just sucking up the scatter amazing fishing. wrap. At Cecil Webb (management area) Snook are still good. The rivers and the you can stand at the middle boat ramp and canals are loaded with fish. Snapper do really good catching bass. Closer to croakers, ladyfish snook, and jacks are all home, Lake Betty, where the canal and the in the canals right now. lake come together, is where the bass fish-
Charters
Offshore Fishing Trips: 1/2 day • 8hr • 10 hr • 12 hr We help put your charters together
Shark, Tarpon, Grouper, Snapper, Kingfish, and MORE!
Nighttime Trips Available
Capt. Jim OʼBrien USCG 50 ton license since 1985
941-473-2150
JANUARY 2014
BackBay Xtremes Capt Dave Stephens www.backbayxtremes.com
941-916-5769
JANUARY 2014
Lemon Bay:
Jim, at Fishermen’s Edge, Englewood: 697-7595
The The BIG-4 BIG-4
WWW.WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM
Fish Fish to to expect expect in in
January January
There has been action throughout the bay and the shallower running skiffs SPANISH MACKEREL Mkr No.5 SHEEPHEAD More at Placida, COBIA Good school moving TROUT Good to the south are having more luck in around in the Harbor and in Pine Island Sound in the south Harbor. fewer at ElJobean Gasparilla Sound. The redfish there are in the back country off the sound but in Lemon Bay they are scattered through the Bay. The guys have had really nice trout on the grass flats along with blowfish, lizard fish and ladyfish. I’ve heard a lot of small tarpon stories lately, anyone close to a creek is doing well on juvie tarpon. Godfrey, Coral, Buck all the creeks are doing good. And there has been good snook fishing all the way in overnight. There are so many mullet front of Turtle Bay up into the Harbor, they are on the trestles and at the deeper there is a glut on the market. A friend caught a 36 pound cobia docks too. Oyster and Ainger creeks out in the Gulf. They are around. Keep have snook way way up in the creeks. They have been moving in and out with a rod ready with an eel or a spoon or a bucktail, to throw them on the surface. the tide, like they don’t know where to Lastly I’ve had some reports offbe with the warm water. shore of hogfish, porgy snapper and There are still tons of mullet and Above left: Back from a trip at the Kingfisher dock in Fishermenʼs Village. Above: Julie Krueger and daughter Jordan (2) of North Port they are catching them pretty good. The grunts. It’s good offshore if you have a with 30-inch red caught off the Gasperilla sound. day good enough to go. price dropped from $2.25 to $1.70
OFFSHORE from Capt. Jim OʼBrien
KING MACKERAL - are scattered and from what I have heard they have moved out to deeper water GAG GROUPER -ARE CLOSED through July 1 The state has said there will be no closure of red grouper, black grouper or scamp inshore from 20 fathoms (or 120 feet). The only closuer is from 20 fathoms out and that is from Feb.1 to March 31. Thank God we can keep fish'n for reds, blacks and scamp this year!
www.fishingpuntagorda.com
RED GROUPER - big red grouper, what we call firetrucks, hogs, or pigs are hitting at 90 to 120 feet of water 28 to 35 miles out. The best baits are mullet chunks, sardines, live pin fish, squirrel fish and large hand picked shrimp MANGROVE SNAPPER - are all over the place on most of the inshore reefs. Try fishing on Maryʼs, Helenʼs or Rich Novakʼs reef. The best baits are shrimp, squid and small chunks of sardines SHEEPSHEAD are stacking up on any structure. Take a small rake with you and scrape the barnacles
this will make the sheepies show thereselves. Best baits are sand fleas, shrimp and tube worms. You get worms at low tide, dig ʻem up an put ʻem in a bucket. AJ'S are on the offshore wrecks and there are a lot of them. The Army Tanks off Venice are holding a lot of AJs. You can also find them at the Pegasis and ol' faithfull, the Bayaronto wreck. Best baits are live blue runners PERMIT - there are some BIG - UNS on the offshore wrecks. The best bait for them are small silve r- dollar-size crabs.
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Gulf Temps are 69 and cooling off. Fish are still moving around
FISHING RIGHT NOW:
Good
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JANUARY 2014