Water LIFE Nov 2015

Charlotte Harbor, Lemon Bay, Venice, Estero, 10,000 Islands and the Gulf

The Don Ball School of Fishing

November 2015

Kids Offshore page 17

FWC OUTREACH: Future keepers of the environment

Go To Baits These are page 18

page 12

Artificial

Serious Sailing

More Like Carnage! page 15

Kayak Fishing page 21

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NOVEMBER 2015

Tune in to Radio Fishinʼ anytime!

Talk shows with Fishinʼ Frank @ FishinFranks.com

Send letters and photos to: WaterLIFE@comcast.net

Texasʼ got nothinʼ on this FL Bad Boy!

The Fittest, Surviving

This Everglades monster frog was wrestled back to shore last month by Ben Chancey and friends. Thanks for the photo, Ben! Are creatures getting bigger because of Global Warming? We donʼt know but weʼd warm this guy on the grill, probably serve two to four!

AI: there are a number of very large frog species in Africa, Asia, and South America, many get heavier than 2 pounds. The heaviest of which are the Goliath frogs of West Africa which can be 7-pounds. The biggest frogs in the US have been in Louisiana...so far!

Note** AI means: According to the Internet.

– MH

An octopus fights a gull In an effort to avoid becoming its lunch. The octopus wrapped one tentacle around the gull's beak, but the gull succeeded in clearing its beak and whisked the octopus away.

Photo: Dr. Andrew Lee

Waste Management Overwhelmed

When we called Waste Management to schedule a bulk pickup of landscaping debris we were told it “would be a week to 10 days.” A month later we began calling, and calling, and calling. Every time the answer was the same: ʻitʼs scheduled for todayʼ. That was a clever answer, who would argue with that? It took me a while!

Turns out, right now, Charlotte County Waste Management has over 750 scheduled pick ups of bulk

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Michael & Ellen Heller Publishers

(941) 766-8180

217 Bangsberg Rd. Port Charlotte, FL 33952

Independant - Not affiliated with any other publication Vol XIV No 11 © 2015

No part of this publication (printed or electronic) may be copied or reproduced without specific written permission from the publishers.

Contributing Editors:

landscaping debris on their to-do list. ʻNormally we have about 250 at this time of year,ʼ an employee (who would probably be fired if I mentioned his name) told

Photography: ASA1000.com Senior Editor: Capt. Ron Blago Baitshop: Fishinʼ Frank Peace River: Capt. David Stephens Charlotte Harbor: Capt. Billy Barton Diving: Adam Wilson Punta Gorda: Capt. Chuck Eichner Venice: Glen Ballinger Estero: Capt. Joe Angius Kayaking: Bob Fraser Sea Grant: Capt. Betty Staugler Everglades City. Capt. Charlie Phillips Beach Fishing: Mallory Herzog Pier Fishing: Bobby Vitalis Office Dog: Molly Brown (in memorium)

On the Cover: Students in the Don

me. Big summer rains and resultant heavy growth are to blame. He also said they were considering hiring subcontractors to help clean up the problem.

Ball School of Fishing spent the morning with the FWC at Ponce Park, learning about creatures in our estuary.

More on page 12-13

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Running the Numbers NOVEMBER 2015

By Michael Heller Water LIFE Editor Why so much focus on oyster reefs?

Perhaps because the BP settlement has just drafted 8.8 billion (with a B) dollars for 13 new restoration categories and oysters are one of them. In my Oyster Reef Aquatica story last month, I mentioned that the Nature Conservancy just spent $300,000 to build nine 12-foot by 36-foot shallow water oyster reefs along the Punta Gorda Harborwalk. That seemed like a lot of money, so I said I would look into it.

I contacted the Nature Conservancy’s media person, Fran Perchick, and asked her for a breakdown. We had several cordial emails and then I received this: The Nature Conservancy’s Trabue Harborwalk Oyster Habitat Restoration project budget involves several elements including pre-restoration monitoring, permitting, community outreach and volunteer management, reef supplies, equipment, operations, TNC administration, future monitoring, and additional program elements. This is an ongoing, privately funded program and, as such, we do not provide cost breakdowns.

‘Is that your final answer?’ I emailed her back, but I got no more information.

So let’s figure this out ourselves. They already gave us their budget categories: pre-restoration monitoring permitting

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community outreach volunteer management reef supplies equipment operations administration future monitoring additional elements I put it all on a spreadsheet: Pre restoration monitoring. You can hire a guide with a boat for a full day for $600. I figure 4 full days (or 8 half days), to scope out 324 lineal feet off the Harborwalk, that should be enough. Probably you could just walk, but I gave them $2,400 for pre monitoring.

Permitting - $1,000 per site. That is my estimate, so add $9,000 for permitting.

Double that if you want, it won’t matter.

Community Outreach - At other times this is known as fundraising, but let’s throw $2,500 out to reach the community.

Volunteer management - This is tricky because it is the same as administration, it’s a salary to someone. They had 1200 volunteers, but not all at once. Let’s say we spend $12,000 to ‘monitor’ them.

Thats $10 per volunteer ... that enough?

Reef supplies - This one is easy.

The most complex reefs were made of 16-inch squares of plastic matting that oyster shells were attached to. Others were oyster piles, I’ll figure they were all

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Don Ball students at the annual October Seine Net Pull were surprised with a new fishing rod provided by the Walmart store in Punta Gorda. They are all yelling: ʻThank You Walmart!ʼ

built the most expensive way. There were (+/-) 18 oyster shells on each mat, so to make a 12-foot x 36-foot ‘reef’ they used 243 mats and 4300 oyster shells. Times 9 reefs equals 2187 mats and 38,700 shells.

Let’s figure high, let’s say the mats were $3 each, that’s $6,500 in mats and the half-shells, priced by the US Oyster Wholesalers Association, cost them $400/ton, or 36 tons of shell for $14,400.

Add another $54 per thousand for zip ties for another $2,200. The sprinkler donuts they used to weigh the mats down are $1.28 at Home Depot. So one donut per 4 sections is $675 in cement donuts. That totals just over $17,000 for reef materials.

Are you doing the math in your head already? $300,000 minus what we have so far...equals.... ?? But stick with me.

Future monitoring Another $2,500.

Equipment - Now, I don’t know what that could be... so let’s just buy them a

brand new boat! - add another $30,000, that should be enough. That brings us to $75,400 and yes, I know, they could use the new boat to do the monitoring!!

Now take that $75,400 away from the $300,000 they got. What’s left?

PORK! $224,600 worth of PORK for the last three categories... which are: Operations Nature Conservancy administration Additional elements (whatever that is).

When we apply for grants for our Don Ball School of Fishing program, the granting organizations we deal with will only fund ‘hard expenses’ like rods and reels, tackle and workbooks. They want to know specifically that we DO NOT ADD any management, salaries, administrative or additional elements.

I guess we’re just not smart enough to understand how the big time environmental groups operate. Or are we?

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Estero Bay Signs of a Cold Winter PAGE

By Captain Joe Angius Water LIFE Estero Bay Last month while fishing far back into Southwest Florida’s beautiful estuary, Estero Bay, I came to re-encounter some magnificent migratory friends. They usually make their way to Florida in the Fall and stay down here until Spring. Arriving from the northern and inland parts of the United States, our friends come to stay for the winter, foraging in the shallow-brackish water. The beautiful American White Pelicans are our estuaries new residents now and their presence means more to a fisherman than a bird enthusiast.

Knowing that the American White Pelicans migrate down to Florida when their

northern homes become too cold to tolerate, we as fishermen understand that as an indication of a cold winter.

Every year they arrive in Florida at different times and at different locations, depending on the weather up North. Typically, I’ll start to see them around November in Estero Bay but my first encounter with them this season was around the second week of October. The presence of American White Pelicans this early-on can indicate a cold winter for Southwest Florida, regardless of this year’s El Nino pattern.

NOVEMBER 2015

With that being said, the fishing has been, and will continue to be, top-notch.

Redfish are still in large schools and have been congregating around areas This overslot redfish inhaled a Flats HQ Flats Walker early one morning. with a lot of bait activity.

In some areas it is impossible to visually see the school, because the water is too brackish and about two to four feet in depth. In other areas, with cleaner and clearer water, you can still see the schools feeding on the flats. My bait of choice for these active feeding fish has been live and cut pinfish. Cut ladyfish, mullet, crabs and live shrimp can also get them to bite. Use at least a 30-pound fluorocarbon leader with a 3/0 Owner hook.

Snook and tarpon are also staged up in the backwaters and will be for the remainder of the month. Large female snook will be found at the mouths of rivers and creeks looking for an easy meal. Juvenile tarpon should still be in the mix, but may be further in the backwaters. Both species will be looking for large-live pilchards, mullet, or jumbo shrimp. When I’m targeting either of these species I’ll size-up my leader to 40- or 50-pound fluorocarbon with a 4/0 Owner hook.

As the mornings become cooler and the afternoons become bearable, get out on the water early to experience Estero Bay. Respect everyone that is on the water, even if they don’t respect you back. Be mindful of where you run your boat, so that our seagrass beds are proCaptain Joe Angius (727) 234-3171 tected. Take advantage of the day you are Speakeasyfishing.com FlatsHQ.com given and go fishing!

Speakeasyfishing@gmail.com

NOVEMBER 2015

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Fishing in the Skinnies PAGE

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By Capt. Billy Barton Water LIFE Inshore I don't know about you folks, but I absolutely love the fall! October and November are my favorite months of the year, but not only because of the obvious.

Yes it's nice that it’s gorgeous outside and the Holiday Season is upon us, everyone can get excited about that. My excitement however, revolves around our beautiful Charlotte Harbor and some of the most exciting months of fishing it has to offer!

The term Red October definitely lived up to its reputation this year. Redfish of all shapes and sizes have been schooled

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up all over our harbor flats. These schools are from 20 up to 500 fish and if you find them on the right days they can provide some extreme excitement out there.

The snook and tarpon fishing should continue to be great as well through the month of November. And spotted sea trout are showing up in heards as our as our water temperatures continue to drop.

Scaled sardines (whitebait), pinfish and live shrimp have been the baits of choice and will continue to be, at least through the month of November.

But as we ease our way into the winter months, good sardines will become a little more difficult to find and live shrimp alone will become our primary bait on Charlotte Harbor.

Pinfish can be found as well if you feel like throwing a net for them, however they are not necessary.

With southerly winds and higher

water during our warmer months, most of the fish on our flats will scatter to mangrove shorelines or structure where they can find food and cover. In general they are more spread out during the warmer months.

On the contrary, in the fall and winter, our winds will almost consistently fluctuate from the Northeast to the Northwest, with North being the predominant general direction.

When we have strong winds out of the North/Northeast our incoming

NOVEMBER 2015

NOVEMBER 2015

tidal flow doesn't amount to what it should be and as a result we have lower than normal tides all winter long. The tides hardly come in and a good amount of water is pushed out of the bay.

When these lower tides occur our fish on the grass flats can't tuck up under the mangroves because there is not typically enough water there for them to reside in comfort. So with nowhere else to go, they tend to ball up in open water where they can find a good trough or sand hole. To fish these fish during our cooler months, stay as distant as possible and slowly hop a decent sized shrimp through these holes.

That should prove to be quite effective for redfish, snook and trout. Most fish will hit it on the drop, so you want to feel for the thump in between twitches of the rod.

I hope this steers some of you folks in the right direction. I hear a lot of people say they struggle fishing in the winter - and with the right front overhead it can be tough some days. However with a little understanding and a lot of persistence you should get into a groove, figure out some patterns, and catch good fish on Charlotte Harbor pretty much all winter long.

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Capt. Billy Barton owns and operates Scales-n-Tails Fishing Charters.

Phone: 941- 979-6140 http://www.puntagordafishingcharter.com

CANVAS & UPHOLSTERY

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NOVEMBER 2015

Fish Retreat To The Depths

By Capt. David Stephens Water LIFE Charlotte Harbor Fall has finally arrived here in South West Florida. This can be some of the best fishing Charlotte Harbor has to offer.

Many of our top game fish such as snook are a tropical fish. What that means is water temperature plays a big part on how they prepare for the upcoming winter months. As the cold fronts begin to push down, dropping our water temperatures, a lot of our local fish retreat to deeper waters. Fortunately for us we have plenty of deep water for the fish to take up residence in for the winter. Charlotte Harbor has two rivers that flow into the north end of it. On the north west side you have the Myakka River, on the north east side you have the Peace River.

A third fish haven that the north end of the Harbor has to offer is Punta Gorda Isles. PGI is a vast system of man made canals. In most of these canals the water depth is over 6 feet. I don’t normally share too many secrets, but I’m going to do that now. Some of these canals have to be kept at a minimum depth for the sail boats.

Most of this is on the harbor side of any canal that has a bridge. That’s just a little something to think about.

Well these local residential canals provide excellent cover for our local game fish seeking refuge from winter. Finding and locating fish here can take some time.

If this is an area you would like to explore, I recommend going out one day on just a scouting trip.

When the tide is the lowest, just ride around and look for the holes. Take notes so you can come back and fish those areas.

With a little time invested you will find fish. I know fishing residential canals is not as glamorous as fishing the flats and mangroves, but sometimes, if you want to have a successful day on the water, you got to go where the fish are.

If you are more of the adventurous type the rivers provide some excellent fall and winter action. Some people are intimidated by our local rivers and I can understand why. There is a lot of skinny water and a lot of sand bars, and due to the

darker water in those areas and the poorly marked channels, it is easy to run a ground.

Just take it slow and you will do great.

Look for and focus on the deeper water.

The reason why the fish are moving to these areas is winter. As our water cools and the fronts push down, it’s warmer on the bottom so the deeper water offers refuge to the fish from the cold.

Spend a little time exploring some of Charlotte Harbor’s deep water, you might just be surprised.

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

PAIN IN THE GROIN: Still Stumbling Over Stump Pass NOVEMBER 2015

On The Line

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By Capt. Ron Blago Water LIFE Senior Staff

Last month I wrote an optimistic article about the Stump Pass dredging project.

Based on information presented to the Marine Advisory Committee, I wrote that all permits and plans for this project have now been approved - turns out, that’s not happened yet.

I still feel this project will be completed on time and under budget, but with any project of this size and complexity, there is always the potential for a problem that could turn into a major delay. I try hard to be 100-percent accurate, so with that in mind, let me give you the latest, best, new information I now have.

The Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) has the final say on the approval of this project. They collect all engineering plans, all the public input and all the permits from local, State an Federal agencies and issue their final verdict. They have indicated that the project looks good and that they are ready to approve the project, but there is one piece of the puzzle that is missing and that is a permit from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).

Those folks are concerned primarily with fish stocks and marine creatures. The proj-

ect manager had submitted all of our plans to protect shorebirds, manatees, turtles and sawfish to the NMFS over a year ago.

They told us everything looks good from their end and they intend to approve the permit. So why haven't they done it yet ?

Well, the NMFS says they are just too busy. They need more people, more equipment and more money to do their job.

County officials, State legislators and Federal congressmen have contacted the NMFS on our behalf and they may have already signed off on the project but as I write this article, it hasn't happened yet.

Another potential problem is getting someone to do the work. There are a limited number of companies that are large enough to do this type of project and their ability to bid depends on their cost, the

closeness of their equipment and the open time in their work schedule.

Already three companies have shown interest in getting the contract. They all know about Stump Pass and the work that is required, so what else could go wrong?

Only one company will get the contract. If the other companies feel the biding process was not open, honest or fair, they have the right to appeal. If they do, it could take up to 60 days to work its way through the legal system.

Once the contract is awarded, the winner has to line up his sub-contractors which is very common for these type of projects. They need subs to do specialty work like move equipment around and in this case, building the rock groin which will be around 580 ft long.

The Florida Park Service has insisted that the groin be built out of limestone, the natural stone found in the Gulf of Mexico.

That stone will have to be quarried and delivered to the job site; this will present another potential for delay.

Charlotte County is sticking by their current time line, which is to start work

by Dec 15 and finish by July. If there are additional problems and the project is not started by Feb 15 then we will run into turtle nesting season which starts May 1 and runs to Oct 31. Worst case scenario, the project gets pushed back at least another six months.

Remember that come July, I still believe I will be standing on that new groin watching the boats going through Stump Pass. capt.ronb@juno.net

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AQUATICA

By Michael Heller Water LIFE / Don Ball School of Fishing When you hear the term My FWC, think of this: 52 kids, fifteen adults, six Don Ball instructors and three of YOUR FWC staffers showing them things about Charlotte Harbot they never knew before. This is what the FWC calls an outreach program. It is a perfect symbiotic relationship.

FWC staffers Kiley Gray, Jamie Darrow and Nicole Iadevaia are routinely on the FWCʼs net boat, they are among those biologists out every day, pulling huge seine nets, hauling in the contents, rain or shine, and recording it. Their sampling is how we are able to spot changes and discover trends in the aquatic populations and vegetation around the Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserve. There is no one better to talk to the kids from our Don Ball School of Fishing about the creatures that exist in the Harbor.

The kids didnʼt pull the big nets that the FWC uses every day, the FWC provided two smaller scaled down versions, and buckets and dip nets and bags.

The first part of the morning was spent collecting ʻstuff.ʼ The kids broke up into several groups and went out to see what they could find. They spread out and gathered up the two seine nets over and over. Their captures were then moved into buckets and brought back to shore where they were separated and classified. Later, the kids came ashore to examine everything.

There were otoliths, eggs, shells, skulls and other specimens the FWC had brought for our kids to examine.

Parents on shore watched the two big nets in action, another group throwing a cast net, five shoreline clusters of kids looking for creatures in the shallow mud and others turning over rocks. There were four kids down past the mangrove cluster that no one was supposed to go past, but they came back with some cool mud crabs so it was OK! There were a few kids back in the trees and there was an exploratory group wandering up towards the point. Nothing escaped their quest.

Our thinking is, we are only going to keep kids interested in the environment bytalking to them about it for so long. Talk too much and they get bored. But get them to look closely, look with their eyes and explore with their hands and they will be drawn in. That is what we are trying to do: draw kids into the environment, show them things they didnʼt know about and encourage them to explore more and find new cool stuff.

I tell them Right now you donʼt have to do anything; look around and find cool stuff, thatʼs your only job.

You eyes are learning the environment, When you get older you will remember this and youʼll know what the best thing to do is, protect it.” They get it.

Thanks to the MYFWC and especially to Dr. Phillip Stevens and his staff at the FWC Marine Research Lab in Murdock.

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FWC OUTREACH : Seine Net Pull at Ponce

The bigger nets had floats on one edge and weights on the other. The students circled them and then drew them in.

The water was warm and the shoreline trees protected us from the wind.

This is not a little flounder, itʼs a flatfish

The FWC had the kids scampering around in the sand learning about crabs and turtles

Kids found blue crabs and learned how to tell a male from a female

A Kingʼs Crown came up from the shallow flattʼs sand.

NOVEMBER 2015

Drawing the net into a purse.

Hands on, eyes open is still the best way to learn about the environment

This was the only tube fish we saw

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When the first net came in everyone wanted to see what was in it.

One by one the tiny fish from this net pull were retrieved, identified and then released

Kids (and I) learned the outlined scales tell us this is a rainwater killifish

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The Don Ball School is made possible through grants and other assistance from:

Kiley Gray (in blue) and Jamie Darrow explain about the things the students brought back to shore.

Teamwork was an essential component of the day

The thing we saw the most of this year were tiny shrimp, a good sign in a healthy estuary

The two types of mojarra we caught were silver Jenny and the tidewater mojarra

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10,000 Reasons to Fish

NOVEMBER 2015

Editor Notes ** We welcome Capt. Charlie Phillips (rt) to the Water LIFE family of guides. Capt.

Phillips fishes out of the Everglades 10,000 Islands area and will be reporting from there. He is the current President of the Florida Guides Association.

By Capt. Charlie Phillips Water LIFE/Everglades City Traditionally, October in the Everglades is always a magical time of year.

The rains have slowed, the humidity is not quite so stifling and the fish are hungry and eager to please. This October has been no exception.

Redfish have been the star of the show for me inshore lately, with great catches of slot fish coming almost daily. Most of these fish on my charters are caught using the tried and true method of 30pound flouro leader tied to my mainline using a double uni knot - on the business end I typically use a 2/0 circle hook and then will add a split shot appropriate to the current and depth I am fishing.

For bait, it’s hard to beat fresh cut ladyfish nuggets. I cut them about finger width and usually in half as well, and put them on the hook going in the meat and out the skin. I am typically targeting my fish along the edges of bars and points down in the Everglades. I especially like those bars that have a trough of deeper water that runs parallel with the structure.

Those are the places to toss that rig and hold on.

Speckled trout action has been increasing as the fish start to bunch more with the cooler weather. Most of the outside points and flats, as well as the grass down by Pavilion Key have been producing quality fish, and I expect that trend to continue. Hard to beat the old trusty popping cork with a live shrimp to cover some water for trout. I also expect great catches of Spanish mackerel, jacks and ladyfish - all in the same areas.

Snook are making the annual October

Mr. Tila from Labelle with some buddies and their inshore bounty

migration towards the backcountry right now. Where as in the summer, folks really target fish in our area on the outside oriented keys, it’s now time to start getting skinny again. I do most of my snook fishing in the far back creeks and bays of the Everglades. These are also great places to target small tarpon, and even largemouth bass, depending on how far back you move. Live bait is always a good option, of course, but artificals can do a bang up job as well. Simplicity is the key for most days, and a good quality jig head with a curly tail soft plastic grub, bounced slowly back to the boat, will catch everything in the pond.

On the offshore side, the red grouper fishing was off the hook as we came out of September and into October. But of course the Gulf Council had to end our fun closing that fishery on October 8 and keeping it closed until Jan 1 2016. Some of y’all in other areas can still catch them in state waters, but that’s usually not the case for us down here as we are too shallow. Lots of cobia have been passing thru, and great catches of mangrove snapper have been coming off the shallow water wrecks in our area.

Hopefully you have been enjoying one of the most solid months of the year for fishing the Everglades. This trend should continue for several more weeks until we start getting those strong cold fronts that change the game a bit. There is always

Dale from Buffalo with a slot tripletail, caught on shrimp, sight fished off a piece of floating debris

Kim Timm from Labelle with a solid red grouper caught on a grunt

something to target anytime you want to hit the water around here. Take care and see you next month.

Joe Garcia from Naples with a back country black drum caught on a Bass Assassin combo

Contact Capt. Phillips at 863-517-1829 e-mail: hopefishing@hotmail.com Web: hopefishing.com

Howie, also from Naples, with his first cobia.

It was caught on a small live blue runner

Experiance the Fishing You Missed This Past Summer!

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NOVEMBER 2015

By Peter Welch Water LIFE Sailing The 2015 Zhik F18 Americas Championship drew 30 boats from California, Quebeck Canada, Florida and points in between. These sailors defy the generational description currently given to age groups. Just call them avid extreme sport athletes. What unites them is the F-18 catamaran, a high tech boat that can go from 5 to 25 knots in an eye-blink.

This year the wind and waves of Charlotte Harbor provided five days of racing, a couple of which were almost too extreme, even for these sailors. The regatta format called for 14 or more races in that time with the two worst results thrown out. Boat finishing order determine points - lowest points win. Some racers came to wish that more races could have been thrown out because of the strong, unrelenting, gusty winds for Race No. 1 on day one.

The boats like to sail one hull out of the water and ride bow high, but winds gusting above 30 knots with 4 foot waves often had these light-weight-speedsters sailing at (or beyond) the ragged edge of control, getting knocked down, with crew in the water; some times more than once.

Boats jibed past each other at a closing speeds in excess of 40 knots, often in the confined space around the mark. Errors resulted in a capsize.

After the first race a number of boats required a tow back to the Port Charlotte

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S Sa aiilliin ng g

Beach Complex and significant repair. Luckily, no injuries required a physician.

Locally provided safety boats assisted 8 boats racing that day and the event photo boat returned one crew’s broken rudder. Crews worked long hours into the night repairing their crafts. Out of a 28 boat starting field registered for Race No. 1, only 8 finished. Racing was abandoned at 1 of 3 planned races. Some repairs took more than one day to complete, but by week’s end 25 boats had completed more than half the 12 races.

On boat 415, Sarah Newberry at the helm and Matt Whitehead (shown below) were consistently at or near the top of the fleet. They took first in the regatta.

They did not think the wind was extreme, but said they did use caution the first day.

They believed good communication and teamwork contributed to their win and hope to qualify for a place on the US Olympic sailing team this year.

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CARNAGE!

WaterLIFE photos by Michael Heller

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NOVEMBER 2015

SCUTTLEBUTT

Sometimes Unsubstanciated, But Often True

ME-YOWZER The average pet cat in the United States eats 30 pounds of fish per year, about double that of a typical American.

NO NO DeSOTO Florida passed a bill to require you pay the fees designated for the county your boat is registered in as opposed to the fees of the county you register your boat in. No more going to DeSoto to save money.

By Bobby Vitalas Water LIFE Pier Fishing SPANISH MACKEREL are awesome to catch. They are a good fast fighting fish. I caught these mackerel at Sharky’s Pier in Venice. I have caught these mackerel right before Sunrise, to about 10:00 am. The legal length to keep mackerel (in this area) is from 12 inches or more; measured from the fork of the tail. Mackerel come in schools. If you find one, you are going to find another. As the days go by in November and the water gets cooler, more quantity of mackerel will show up. So far I have caught several mackerel there and I gave my mackerel away to some people to eat.

Mackerel are a good eating fish so long as you eat them right away. You can’t freeze mackerel.

The way I catch mackerel is to go spinning for them. You want a fast retrieve to move a lure at a pace that will interest the mackerel to bite. The lure I am using is called the GOTCHA lure. The color is yellow head with silver body with red treble hooks and weight is 1 ounce, model #G502RH. The presentation using the GOT-CHA lure is at a fast speed. As you’re reeling it in, give it fast jerks every so often. There are other jigs you can try that are just as effective as the GOT-CHA lure. They are the SEA STRIKER Clark spoon in color (chrome). Or the R and R Spanish

Mackerel sabiki rigs in hook size 22.

For those people who want to use bait there at the pier, I suggest you use green backs. They way to catch green backs there is to use a casting net. The green backs come in large schools.

You can catch a whole net full of them (when they are there).

When putting the bait on the hook, the hook size to use is a 2/0 long shank, due to the mackerel have sharp teeth. You can use a bobber, or try free lining. What free line means is that you use just the bait and the hook. You want to cast out as far as you can and let the bait swim naturally in the water. I am using 30-pound test Sufix Advance super line (braided) color (green), as my main line. I like this line because it has great casting distance. Then for my leader line, I am using 2 feet of 25 pound test SEAQUAR 100 percent Fluorocarbon line which is invisible in the water. At the end of that line, I am using 6 inches of AFW 7x7 26 pound test Surflow N Micro Supreme knottable nylon coated stainless steel leader wire color (camo) model #DM49-26A. When using wire line, it will be difficult for the mackerel to break off.

Some people just use wire leader by itself, so, you can try that too. There are many different wire lines that you can try, so, you can pick out the wire line that is best for you. Have a great time fishing!

Spectacular stonework on the new outdoor patio at LESSER FORCE FOR GOOD A fedFarlows in Englewood. New waterside dining as well. eral court in Honolulu entered longYou can always pick up this publication at Farlows! sought protections for whales, dolphins and other marine mammals by limiting rushed 2020 completion deadline. If completed, Naval activities in vital habitat. The settlement the canal could give China a major foothold in stems from the courtʼs earlier finding that the Central America, but, allegedly, the construction Navyʼs activities illegally harm more than 60 sepacompany HKLD has not followed transparency rate populations of whales, dolphins, seals and standards, including sharing information about sea lions.

30,000 people who might have to move from their homes or lose their assets and livelihood.

POP UP SUB The Super Falcon Mark II personal submarine ʻfliesʼ underwater and uses positive CHINA TO BUILD SHIPS FOR IRAN With U.S.led sanctions expected to be lifted, Iran has unveiled a $120 billion fleet expansion campaign.

Mohammad Saidi, the head of the Islamic Republic of Shipping Lines (IRSL), says it plans to purchase 579,000 TEUs of container ships, about two million deadweight tons (dwt) of dry bulk vessels and 1.6 million dwt of tankers. The funds will be provided from billions in frozen oil revenues in international banks. Iran will likely place most of its orders in China at Chinese shipyards. buoyancy with auto return to the surface from up to 400 feet. For $1,700,000 you can own yours.

NEVER LET GO Officers responded to a boating accident that occurred in Pinellas County. It was a single personal water craft with two subjects on onboard. The PWC jumped a wave and the operator let go of handle bar which impaled his leg near the groin area. The operator was transported to a nearby hospital.

DOUBLE TROUBLE an FWC officer was alerted that an empty boat with a barking dog was found in Lake Poinsett and that a man could be heard yelling for help. Once on scene, the officer and a deputy used an air boat to locate the man who had just got back to his boat. After refusing medical attention the man was ready to return to the ramp. The officers accompanied the visibly exhausted man back to the boat ramp. En-route to the boat ramp the man's outboard caught fire. After speaking with the man at the ramp it was determined that he had hit a stump and was ejected from the boat.

OTHER PANAMA CANAL Nicaragua's 172-mile, Chinese-backed canal project built to compete with the Panama Canal has been met with widespread distain, especially over its source of funding and

WIMPS The Chinese are building a military base on top of coral reefs in International Waters in the South China Sea. We Ask: Where are the Greenpeace boats? Why isnʼt one of the radical ocean conservancy groups challenging the Chinese over the travesty they are wreaking on the environment?

Port Charlotte residents have been using the as-yet undemolished bridge across the Elkcam waterway for bike, foot and small motorcycle traffic. The bridge, is part of the Edgewater Drive revitalization project which will not be completed until 2017... maybe because there is hardly ever anyone working on the project. This is a disgrace! Plus... putting a traffic circle at Lakeview will kill the boat ramp there. We hope they are able to show boaters how to get a boat trailer around that round-about.

Thereʼs Something Fishy Going On!

NOVEMBER 2015

Staff Report Twenty seven students from L.A. Ainger and Murdock middle schools went out before the sun came up for an offshore fishing trip last month on the Reef Raider boat out of the Englewood Bait House. And they came back smelling like fish.

Grunts, porgys, red grouper and a nice lane snapper were among the fish brought aboard by these 6th and 7th graders. For some this was their first experience handling a live fish.

The students, all enrolled in the Don Ball School of Fishing program, presented by the Charlotte Harbor Reef Association, learned to bait their hooks, lift up and then reel down and, importantly, how to release their fish. For others it was their first time on a boat.

If you don’t kiss your fish, mate Mark told the class, there is a chance you might not catch another one... so there was a lot of fish kissing and giggling going on as well.

Four hours went by quickly and then, with a couple of porpoises following alongside, we headed back to the dock.

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Lines in the water at the first spot, soon the fish were coming aboard

There was a little spray on the way to the second spot, these kids loved it!

Tre Taylor kisses her first porgy of the day

Taylor Green was happy

We had a bunch of red grouper

McKenna Grayʼs grunt grunted

Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte Don Ball School students go offshore November 7.

Ashton Scullenʼs red grouper was his first fish ever!

PAGE 17

A lot of fish got kissed on this day!

Victoria Meissner fished hard and came back victorius

Seth Dutcher with a red grouper

Stephanie Gizas caught the most fish, 14 in all!

Mathew Twombly solidifys his luck

My Go-To Baits PAGE

18

By Mallory Herzog Water LIFE Fishing There are a few pieces of tackle every angler is thankful for. Everyone has their favorite lure or jig head that gets the job done every time. You know, that one lure you never want to forget. I love having a live well full of white bait, but I have a tackle box full of simple artificials. When presented in the right way, these artificial baits/ lures will help you locate and hook up on a nice catch.

As the sun is coming up and the water is calm this is the best time to take advantage of a floating top water lure. We have been using a Tsunami floating plug in a bone and mullet color. Work the lure down the mangrove shoreline in a walk the dog type of action. This action moves the lure in a zig zag pattern, creating a chugging sound that interests a hungry fish nearby. These lures are often intimidating to new anglers, but you pick up on how to use them with a few practice casts.

Fishing top water is like riding a bike, learn it once and never forget. Snook, jacks, redfish all explode on these lures creating quite the show. We often change out the treble hooks for circle hooks for a better hook up and easier release, for both human and fish.

Another great artificial for your tackle box this fall is a weedless gold spoon.

Every tackle company makes them, and you can find them in any tackle shop or at Walmart. They are cheap and great for finding fish. Is that a mullet or redfish

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school? Throw your spoon in and see if you get a bite. A redfish and trout rarely pass on a spoon streaking by on the grass flats. Weight varies, 3/8 oz is easy to get distance in your cast. When using braided line, tie a small swivel on a split ring and attach it to the spoon. Then tie the swivel and spoon to your main line. This minimizes twist in your braided line created by the spoon fluttering.

Offshore, all the talk are the kingfish.

Like their smaller cousins, Spanish mack-

NOVEMBER 2015

erel, the kings are attracted to flashy lures in the water. Pick out a trolling lure that will stand out. Kings have been hanging out only a few miles off our Gulf beaches.

Captain Andrew has been after them, using a maxel 10 reel and a basic rig of 30-pound mainline to 40 fluorocarbon to No. 5 wire. Minimum size for Gulf or Atlantic kings is 24 inches fork length. Two per person per vessel. These fish will

stick around until the water cools down, usually around 70 -76 degrees is their optimum water temperature. These are a great fight, usually with an explosive first run, and they taste great on the smoker.

Gag grouper have been biting as well and vertical jigs get their attention. Hang on tight. We are using a medium/heavy Ande jigging rod, and 50-pound braid to a 60-pound fluorocarbon leader. This step up in tackle gets the grouper up quickly and away from predators lurking below. They are open until December 3 in our Gulf waters and have a minimum size of 22 inches total length. One of my favorite eating fish, baked in the oven with lemon and butter. Fall is here and the bite is on!

You can contact Big Bully Outdoors Charters for a trip with mallory’s husband, Captain Andrew Herzog. Call 941661-9880 or visit BigBullyOutdoors.com

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NOVEMBER 2015

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First Family of Fishing

By Fishin’ Frank Water LIFE Baitshop

I am a transplant, here by the grace of an old Ford van and the steel work and pay checks that came from building bridges on I-75.

I did not start Fishin’ Franks, my dad was the original Fishin’ Frank and the bait shop has been here over 50 some years. I started working it in August 1984.

When I grew up my parents were Fishin Frank and Catchin Carol. We lived in a small suburb of Chicago. There was a tiny creek 200 feet behind the house that flowed into a small river a block away. I fished a lot. Every summer my parents would take us on fishing vacations to the North Woods of Wisconsin. As I got older we took fishing trips to the Great Lakes, trolling, nighttime netting for smelt, catching worms for pan fish and bass, making jigs and spinners in the basement for walleye lures. Mine has been a been a life time of fishing, thanks to my parents.

Dad and I like to fish from my little skiff. Dad likes the east side of the Harbor, fishing around the hundreds of little keys, or islands. Last month we headed out on a beautiful morning with the sun shining and the storms off to our west in the Gulf.

We started fishing Silcox Key, casting right up under the mangroves. This did us no good at all. Then dad said that the

week before he had found some fish further back from the islands, so we headed a couple islands south this time staying 75 feet from the bushes. We anchored up and started casting our shrimp on to the open flat that was between us and the mangrove branches.

I think maybe the dark water or the moon in-line with Mars and Mercury or something else worked its magic and we started whacking redfish. Dad likes mono line, 12- pound test, with a ¼ ounce sinker, a swivel and 24-inches of 15pound fluorocarbon leader, with a 1/0 hook and a live shrimp. Me, I was using a poppin’ cork with about 30-inches of 25 flouro-leader to a No.1 Kahle hook and a live shrimp hooked cross-ways through the head.

Dad had two reds in the boat before I got my first hit. Me, being stubborn, I knew the poppin cork would work. In a quiet moment, Dad pointed out my red fish was a bit smaller than either of his fish, one being 24- and the other 26-.

Mine, from the poppin cork, was a thinner but still respectable 18. Funny how much thicker a redfish grows as it gets longer.

Seems like after 22-inches they really start to get bigger around, I said to my dad.

The storm started moving in, so we switched to the back side of the Island and found a little cove. We pulled the boat as close to the mangroves as we could and tied the bow and stern right to the trees.

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We waited for it to hit and hit it did with 20- to 30-mph winds blowing a driving rain past us, but we were sitting comfortable and tight against the island. The rain was heavy enough where I took a life jacket and sat on one side of it so my behind would stay dry. If you sit on a flat surface in the rain it puddles, sitting on one half of the life jacket worked like a charm. Some times it is better to hide and not run. Ten feet away the wind was howling and the rain was pounding, but I still managed to a catch a snapper while we were tied to the trees.

Shrimp seemed to be what the fish wanted and dDad caught the largest bon-

PAGE 19

net shark I have ever seen on one. It took him around the boat three times and through the anchor line, which that shark managed to wrap twice. I was laughing at my dad trying to fight this shark in. A good son would have helped, but hey, it was funny! Like I said, it was the largest Bbonnet I ever saw and after I let it go, I got to thinking that it was a possibly a world record and I just released it. Now being a good son I did not tell dad my thoughts on his record breaking shark, instead I pointed out how that bonnet shark really kicked his butt.

Frank@fishinfranks.com 625-3888 Editor Notes* Happy Anniversary! to Frank’s parents, who celebrated their 60th last month!

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The Secret Spot

By Capt. Chuck Eichner Water LIFE Inshore I grew up not far from the Chesapeake Bay and have spent countless hours fishing and exploring there. It is a remarkable fishery that is largely untouched except by a few savy anglers. On a recent visit back home I fished with Lee and Eddie Haile, a father and son fishing team that fish the Bay for stripers, both commercially and recreationally.

Launching the boat at a ramp near a defunct steel factory set the tone for the day.

We motored past huge dock terminals for massive cargo ships, an iron-ore factory and countless piers designed to load chemicals and goods for manufacturing. If you are thinking this is not a pretty place to fish you are right! There was a stale smell in the air, but there were plenty of seagulls dipping and diving on schools of menhaden too.

Lee is the consummate lure fisherman and he told us we had the perfect day for top water fishing - a low cloudy sky, flat calm and ready-to-rain at any moment.

Baltimore Harbor is a unique graveyard of ships. You can look just about anywhere and see remnants of vessels from the late 1800s to the mid 1900s. Wood silhouettes show the overall shapes, some hundreds of feet long. There is a half mile of ships to fish, most of them underwater on high tide. They are striped bass ambush points.

We started the day casting “walk the dog” type baits, chugger plugs and fast moving hard jerk baits. Stripers mash a topwater bait. The only problem was, my favorite striper topwater bait was the Rebel Jumpin Minnow which no one thought they had. So I settled for another plug and cast away without success. As most of us know, confidence can make or break your fishing and a string of plugs came and went from my line as the other boys continued to bang them up! Then, fate smiled upon me, I discovered a brand new Jumpin Minnow buried deep in a box.

Making a precision cast over a ship-

NOVEMBER 2015

wreck is mandatory or you will snag inside the ship and lose your plug. I cast and hit the edge of the ship and I swung the rod with confidence. Mash, splash and wham, I was on! This striper attacked the bait 3 times and missed, then tail swatted it and ate, putting on a show for everyone.

Stripers will often attack a bait with their body in attempt to wound it before hitting it with their mouth.

We were pleasure fishing this day and the size limit was 20-inches minimum, 2 per man. When fishing commercially with hook and line the limit is 18. To me, this is a confusing aspect of fishery regulations.

I was now banging some of the biggest fish of the day while everyone else scrambled to imitate me! Lee pulled out a semibuoyant chugger plug and developed a cadence that made stripers blast it!

While casting, you have to brace yourself for incoming waves from passing cargo ships, cruise ships, freighters, tugboats, naval hospital ships….you name it.

I have heard of 8 foot waves developing from these boats but the day we fished none were over 4. Almost 50 stripers were landed this day, nearly all on topwater baits. The fish were beautiful, fat and healthy.

Capt. Chuck Eichner operates Action Flats Backcountry Charters and can be reached at 941-628-8040

Kayaking NOVEMBER 2015

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FISHING WITH A TROLLING MOTOR

By Bob Fraser Water LIFE Kayaking When I have a charter trip, my clients paddle my single kayaks or pedal my Hobie Tandem. When I kayak fish with my wife, we always take our tandem and use a trolling motor. My son likes to use a trolling motor on his single kayak. Some kayak purist would never consider putting a motor on their kayak, but we do.

There are some advantages. My wife has trouble with her shoulders and back, so it’s hard for her to paddle or pedal.

Using a trolling motor makes it possible for her to go kayak fishing. Another advantage is covering more ground when fishing. When you paddle, a person needs to consider how far you are capable of paddling out and then paddling back. I have been kayaking when the wind speed and direction changed and it was difficult getting back to the launch site. The motor fixes that. Another reason for using an electric motor is trolling. I have trolled off of Panama City Beach for kingfish in

the past using my paddles. I wished I had a motor on those days, especially since I went two miles offshore.

Now I like to drift Gasparilla Pass in my kayak, but only with a trolling motor.

I paddled the pass one time when the tide was going out and I couldn’t get back because the tide was too strong. Thankfully I was fishing with a friend of mine who had a Hobie pedal kayak, and he tied off to my kayak and he was able to help get me through the pass.

If you have a sit-on top kayak with

built-in rod holders behind the seat, you can either buy or make a bracket with the rod holders on the top, so you don’t lose the use of the built–in holders. For the Hobie pedal kayaks, there is a trolling motor you can buy called a WaterSnake that fits in the place where the pedals usually go. I would still take the pedals and paddles in case something happens to the

motor or if the battery runs out of juice. I know this... it happened to me in the past!

Now on to the fishing. Earlier in the month I took out a guy from Kentucky, this was his third time fishing with me.

The last time he wanted to catch a redfish and he accomplished his goal. This time we went fishing for trout. We went to Gasparilla Sound early in the morning. It was a little rougher than I expected, but we caught several trout fishing with live shrimp under a popping cork. After catching several trash fish, my client decided to try a penny colored Gulp under his cork.

This turned out to be a good idea because he caught quite a few trout with the Gulp.

I usually fish a Gulp by bouncing it off the bottom, but he had good luck using it with the popping cork.

On a family trip about three weeks ago my son, wife and I took the kayaks to Bokeelia. We put in at Jug Creek marina.

Because of the strong winds we started out fishing the creek that runs parallel to Charlotte Harbor, which protected us from the wind. We covered a lot of ground that day; I’m glad we had our trolling motors.

PAGE 21

We started catching trout right away in the creek, my wife was fishing with a Cajun Thunder popping cork with live shrimp and I was using a live shrimp on the bottom. About an hour into the trip we fished one of the coves off the creek, and I caught a black drum.

We ended up the day drifting Charlotte Harbor. We were lucky and caught the tide just right so it took us back to the opening of Jug Creek where we started the day. We caught a lot of trout in the harbor, enough for dinner that night. We had deep fried trout and blackened drum.

The trout were caught on shrimp under a popping cork and on suspending Mirror Lures.

Bob Fraser is a southwest Florida kayak fishing guide – He can be reached for comments or to book a trip at: 941-916-8303 or email him at bobmfraser@gmail.com His website is ww.kayakfishingwithbob.com

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Novem ber – Predictions and Suggestions

Charlotte Harbor

tide in that area. Some fish are dieing off - mostly the smaller ones. Fresh water will Frank at Fishin’ Franks keep it at bay for a while, fresh kills red 941- 625-3888 tide, but the fresh is getting less and less.

Redfish are still doing really, really, Trout have been up by Hog Island, eiwell. There are not as many bigger ones, I ther south or at the Myakka, check on the think the bigger ones are moving offshore. flat on the west side of the Island. Good Fish from 10- to 26-inches are on the east trout reports are from north of Two Pine side, out from the islands there, about 30 and outside the bar. Cape Haze and the ft. On the west side, since the river is Jug Creek shoal seem to have the larger going down, the west side fishing is picktrout, but the best numbers are along the ing up. The river is down to 3.5-feet in Ar- east side of the Harbor. cadia, down from a high of 14-feet. It’s Snook fishing is getting way better up dropping a foot every couple of days now. on the rivers and in through the canals Less freshwater flowing keeps the west now. The incoming seems to be the better side salty and fishy. tide. Tides seem high, even with all the From Trout Creek down the west side, north wind. I don’t know why. in all the creeks and under the bushes Staying close to the mangroves is the you’ll have redfish. Out by Bull and Turkey to snook fishing. With snook, the two tle Bays there has been an intermittent red best choices for lures are the 3D Yozuri or the Storm Twitch, they are very similar with same action and good for smaller snook. Cast right up to the mangroves and let the bait work out, that seems to be key. Give them time, with a slow retrieve, you don’t want to be under the mangroves for snook, they seem to be out from the islands a little. Everything they would normally do they aren’t doing, Tarpon bay - Excellent when winds are high. Most of bay is 2` and sometimes they don’t seem or less in low tide but holds a huge variety of fish. Today's to be there at all. I don’t know catch included 30 Jack, a mackeral, a blowfish, 3 keeper what’s going on with that. reds, 3 keeper trout, 3 ladyfish, 1 stingray,10 mullet and unSpanish mackerel are limited pinfish and pilchards. Not bad for a days catch! doing well from marker No. 5 Michael Rodgers.

Fish With A Guide!

off Cape Haze and off Jug Creek. Now we are just starting to see more coming across toward Burnt Store.

Bonnet Head Sharks are everywhere, from Cape Haze up and down the east side, the west side and in the middle of the Harbor, it doesn’t matter where you go, if you put a shrimp down by the bottom you’ll find a bonnet shark. I also don’t know where these fish go when they are not around, a month ago there were one or two. Now they are everywhere. They are shrimp-babies they love eating shrimp. Use a cork on the flats to move the bait around. In 3 feet I put it 2 and a half feet down.

In the middle of the Harbor I use a 1/4-oz or a 1/2 oz and get it near the bottom to catch the bonnets.

Sheepshead are starting to move in the PC and PGI

NOVEMBER 2015

canals. They’re not around the bridges and trestles yet, but back in the canals people are catching them, on shrimp.

Cobia? There are some in the middle, some nice size ones too.

There are some nice flounder inside of the Harbor and more down, by Two Pine.

And there are still a gazillion tarpon back in the canals. Up river, by the water treatment plant, the tarpon were rolling up there last week. The Port Charlotte canals also have quite a bit of small tarpon too.

3 photos: Capt. David Stephens Back Bay Extremes

Youʼll catch more fish and youʼll learn something new too!

BackBay Xtremes Capt Dave Stephens www.backbayxtremes.com

941-916-5769

NOVEMBER 2015

Big Redfish Moving Below:

Capt. Billy Barton (top) Capt, Andrew Herzog (middle) and Capt. Joe Angius (bottom) all sent us photos of big redfish caught last month. These bigger fish are probably now moving towards the Gulf to spawn but there are plenty of ʻslightly less bigʼ redfish still around.

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The BIG-4 hammerhead-like nose

BONNET SHARK just all over the Harbor right now

November

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Fish you can expect in

SNOOK in and out of the area canals and rivers

REDFISH congregating on the Harbor bars

Out in front of Alligator Creek there have been some pompano and a little bit of pompano up the Myakka river.

TROUT Lemon Bay, Catfish Creek and the PI Sound flats

Lemon Bay - Placida Jim at Fishermen’s Edge 697-7595

Local Guys Fishinʼ

Fishing has been OK, it’s just that everybody has had to battel the wind. The Spanish and king mackerel are going good, but the guys can’t get out with the wind. The few lucky ones are getting them on the tide-change or near shore on the northeast wind. There have been mangrove snapper in and around the Pass, on the trestle and up at the Tom Adams Pier. A lot of gags have been caught close-in. The Bomber CD-25 and 30 or the Count Down, a big-lip diving plug - work better because they track way better, like a Rapalla or Yozuri.

There have been scattered cobia reports in the Harbor, close to the Pass and on some of the offshore spots like Trembly and Novak or the fish havens there, those spots have had cobia around.

The stone crabbers are getting crabs and some guys are catching triple tail by working the crab pots around the neighborhood. I used to have guys come by and give me stone crabs, but not any more. Those perks have dwindled.

Some sheepshead are now around the piers

PAGE 23

Gulf Temps are mid 70s

...and falling.

The wind has been persistent..

95˚ 90˚ Capt. Larry Smith with a nice October kingfish.

and boat docks. Trout are pretty good up in Lemon Bay and south into Pine Island where there is more grass. Fishing for trout in and around Boca Grande, by 3-Sisters, they are coming in from the Gulf, the yellow-mouthed trout is what everybody says is a Gulf fish. Redfish and snook are fairly consistent and the red tide doesn’t seem to have hurt the catching offshore. Some tarpon are still around in the pass. Everybody says they are little ones, but those I saw were 60 pounders!

Some bass and a lot of bluegill are around the neighborhood ponds pretty good at the moment.

And there have been a couple of reports on pompano here and there, not a lot, but enough to know that fall fishing is starting to fall into line.

85˚ 80˚ 72˚ 70˚ 68˚ 50˚ 45˚

ʻIʼll write about it next month,ʼ our friend Glen Ballinger told us. He was in Louisiana, with these guys, catching some respectable redfish last month.

Dick Meyers, age 86, from Venice with a beautiful 98-pound yellowfin caught with Capt. Joe Miller.

FISHING RIGHT NOW:

Very Good!

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NOVEMBER 2015