Water LIFE November 2021

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

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The Charlotte Harbor Reef Association

November 2021

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Steve - snook

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Shallow Water Fishing!

Capt. John Brossard Shark Chaser Charters

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Freddy and sons with a nice redfish in Estero bay woth Capt. Fred Gowdy

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30-inch snook on a surface lure for Esposito and Horecky near Pineland

Burnt Store Bar redfish, Mely

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NOVEMBER 2021

Getting Ready to Sell NOVEMBER 2021

.By Michael Heller Water LIFE editor Sell your house - the real estate market is hot - you’ll make a killing....right? or maybe it will kill me! None of it is easy.

We’re getting ready to sell our house, but before we list it I had some old broken pilings to pull out of the canal. Pick up the phone, make a few calls and it’s done right...? I’ve got connections...Ha! Not any more!

HONC Marine was my first choice.

They have been staging materials for a seawall job they are doing from a vacant lot across the canal from me. I figured they could swing around and yank the pilings with their barge, but as it turned out they just finished up here and are over in Gulf Cove for a couple of months. I called another marine contractor and they were five months out. I posted something on facebook and got a referal. Nice guy; we were back and forth on a Sunday with pictures and information and then came Monday and suddenly his barge was broken.

Three other guys didn’t return my calls.

So I was standing out on my seawall, looking at my pilings and seeking inspiration with an adult beverage when I got this idea. Why not use my davits to pull out the pilings? I have gear-driven motors on my davits that are rated for 5000-pounds each - that’s more than enough oomph!

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I shared this idea with my friend Ralph, but he suggested pilings have to come out straight up. The furthest one was 40-plusfeet away from my davit, That’s not going to work, he said, but you know me, I had to try. So I went down to Home Depot and bought one stick of 1/2-inch CPVC pipe and a connector to hook my garden hose onto it. We have 70-pounds of water pressure at the house so I figured I could water-jet around the pilings, loosen them up and pull them up with a davit.

I cut the pipe down to a manageable length (mistake!) and my water jet worked great. I jetted down through the black mucky-muck into a dark grey layer of sandy mud and then down to a layer of golden sand. Each level of sediment flowed up in a plume in the water column and spread out across the canal, so in a few minutes I was working blind, jetting around the piling at random.

The first piling, the closest to the davit, took 20 minutes and when it finally came up I saw my problem. My CPVC pipe wasn’t long enough. The piling was buried 7 feet into the mud - I glued the piece I cut off back onto the CPVC pipe, went deeper on the next one and an even lighter colored sand came up and then so did the piling. The routine became jet and pull and release and jet some more... and with that, the next two pilings came right out.

I’ll have to admit, the last two pilings were scary. My davit cable was at full extension and I had a heavy 25-foot chain at-

tached to that. If anything broke it could have gotten ugly, but nothing did. The last two pilings took some extra angled jetting in front of them, but up they came.

Then I cut everything into 4 foot sections and I got my lawn guys to haul it all out to the curb.

The next day was garbage day and by late afternoon (with a cash tip to the trash guys) all the dock material and old pilings were gone.

So now I’m just waiting for a new front

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door and new sidelites. We’ve rented a storage locker and thinned out our furnishings to make the house look nice when it is listed. Selling is a whole lot of work, my back is sore, but we made some progress. More information about the selling is on www.waterlifemagazine.com

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Water LIFE inc. waterlife@comcast.net www.WaterlifeMagazine.com Vol XX No. 11 © 2021

Ellen Heller Publisher Michael Heller Editor

office: (941) 766-8180

Contributors:

Photography: ASA1000.com Senior Editor: Capt. Ron Blago Baitshop: Fishinʼ Frank Upper Harbor: Cameron Parson Peace River: Capt. Dave Stephens Punta Gorda: Capt. Alan Williams Estero: Capt. Joe Angius Everglades: Capt. Charlie Phillips Sailing: Fran Burstein Pier Fishing: Bobby Vitalis Diving: Adam Wilson Office Dog: Augustus

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Letters to Water LIFE

Look at the photo Page 14 August 2021 edition, Left hand bottom row, Cameron M....

guides offer gift certificates

Give the Gift of Fishing! this Holiday Season

If thatʼs a snook itʼs no wonder that I have never caught one. It looks like a Tarpon to me but I am on my second Martini.

Vito Caiati August? You waited two months? lol! ;-) Yes itʼs a tarpon.

I missed that! thx!!

- MH

NOVEMBER 2021

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Cameron M with 35-inch snook caught fishing with Southwest Fishing Charters

Some Things that Never Change

By Michael Heller As weʼre cleaning up, getting ready to sell, I came across this, a column I wrote 20 years ago. Back then, some teachers were trying to push their own secret agendas on their students, just like today.

October 2001: Actually this column was going to talk about something completely different, but after I went to lunch today, and stopped by my office in Punta Gorda to get the mail, things changed. A thick, brown, manila envelope lay on my desk. Inside were 21 letters from the sixth-graders at DeSoto Middle School.

These letters help make the point I was trying to get across in the Manatee Madness story in the September 17th edition of WaterLine. The point of the story was that there is a lot of misinformation and bad science surrounding the manatee issue.

Today I have 21 letters saying “We donʼt need to raise the speed limit in the manatee zones from 20 mph to 45 mph.”

These letters come after the sixth-grade took a trip to Bishop Planetarium in Sarasota. Right now I donʼt know who told these kids I wanted to raise the speed limits in the manatee zones, but I doubt they came to that conclusion on their own. Certainly it was not from anything I wrote in the September 17th edition.

By next week, Iʼll find out where that idea came from, and Iʼll tell you, I guarantee it.

Now, the remainder of this column is for the sixth-graders at DeSoto, so Iʼm going to write big.

I LIKE MANATEES.

I DO NOT WANT TO HURT

ONE SINGLE MANATEE.

I NEVER SAID THE SPEED

BackBay Xtremes Capt Dave Stephens www.backbayxtremes.com

941-916-5769

LIMIT IN ANY MANATEE ZONE SHOULD BE RAISED.

I DO NOT WANT TO TAKE

ANY MANATEE SIGNS DOWN.

(The following week) I went up to the Parker Manatee Aquarium in Bradenton, and had a visit with Alison Roberts, the PR lady there. “No way” she said, “We never told the kids you wanted to raise the speed limits and take down the signs in the manatee zones.”

So I headed down to Arcadia to talk with Sue McElroy, the teacher whoʼs class sent me 21 letters.

It turns out that Mrs. McElroy, is an environmentalist and a great supporter of the manatee. On a wall in the administration office is a plaque listing her as “teacher of the year.”

After meeting her I think she could teach my kids any day, but Iʼd just ask that she first brush up on both sides of the manatee issue and get her facts straight.

Mrs McElroy told her students what to write. These werenʼt letters from students they were letters from Mrs McElroy, who thought she was doing a good thing, but in reality she only set a bad example.

This was nothing new, in fact it was a lot like what some parents around the country are complaining about today.

Rita Flake catching her first redfish in Estero Bay with Capt. Dan Camp Letters from 6th graders at Arcadia, 20 years ago.

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Stump Pass Maintenance Dredging On the Line

By Capt. Ron Blago Water LIFE Senior Staff If there is one thing I’ve learned in my 25+ years living in Englewood is that keeping Stump Pass, safe, navigable and clearly marked is always going to be a controversial issue; and the next chapter of that story is about to begin in November of this year.

Charlotte County has or is about to sign a contract to begin a maintenance dredging of Stump Pass starting November 15 with the mobilization of equipment. The actual dredging is to begin December 15 with a completion date some time in April.

There are a lot of things that could jeopardize that time table; weather delays, equipment breakdowns, regulatory problems, labor disputes, pandemics and civil unrest. Anything can happen.

Stump Pass was last dredged in 2017 at a cost of $5-million; at that time 200,000 cubic yards of sand was pumped out of Stump Pass and placed north on the State’s Stump Pass Park and south, to renourish the shoreline of Palm Island. A stone groin was built on the north side of the Pass in an attempt to slow the movement of sand going into the Pass. The success of the groin is a debatable issue. Great Lakes Dredging was the primary contractor of the project.

So what is different this time? Well, the maintenance dredging will be about the half the size of the 2017 project with the dredged sand going to the same places. No improvements will be made to the groins system (at this time). It cost over $2 million to build it in 2017.

The big change will be with who will do the dredging this time. In the past the two large dredging companies that bid on the contracts were Great Lakes Dredging and Weeks Dredging. These are the biggest companies that had worked on the Pass and one

o f them was expected to get the job, but there are some economic realities that came into play.

One of the largest costs of a dredging project is the mobilization of equipment.

pany; a smaller dredge company, Atlantic & Gulf Dredging and Marine, that is located in Florida on the Atlantic side, they are out of Indiantown. They are a rather new dredging company, founded in 2014, but their management team and supervisors have worked

Donnie McAulay took this painterly-like photograph at Stump Pass last month.

That is when you have to get all the pipes, pumps, dredges and personnel all at one place, ready to start work.

The Stump Pass maintenance dredging project is considered to be a small time project for these companies to make a profit. The only way it could work is if their equipment is close by working on other projects. I guess it just didn't work out this time, but there may be a silver lining to this problem. The County received a bid from another com-

for other larger dredging companies in their careers. I don’t know how big a job this is for them; but the County is willing to let them try.

Charlotte County has a budget of around $2.4 million for the project and I have been told that Alantic & Gulf’s bid came in considerably below budget . Let’s hope it works out for everybody.

Captronblago@gmail.com

NOVEMBER 2021

Stump Pass Day Drinking group tops 9K members!

In spite of their totally socially unacceptable name, the Stump Pass DayDrinkerʼs facebook group is a nice bunch of boaters with kids and pets.

And since even the FWC red tide reports are compiled from information that is often a week old, the Day Drinkerʼs facebook page has proven to be the best up to the minute source of red tide and water quality reports for the Stump Pass, Englewood, Boca Grande area The Day Drinkerʼs group which was at 3000 members at the beginning of Summer has grown to over 9,000 in just 4 months!

NOVEMBER 2021

Everglades & 10,000 Islands

By Capt. Charlie Phillips Water LIFE 10,000 Islands

Last month was a good month of fishing down here in paradise. The Everglades National Park and Ten Thousand Islands are fishy right now and a good day on the water, accompanied by some good weather to boot, is not hard to find. I fished both inshore and offshore thru the month and we did well, a trend I expect to only get better as it cools down just a bit and we start the transition to fall fishing. Let’s get started inshore and then we will head out to sea.

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Transition to Fall Fishing

Fishing the low tides, we worked bucktail jigs and soft plastics on the deeper cuts and had some great redfish, snook and trout catches. The soft plastic offering will cut down on the snapper that hit the shrimp tipped jig, but for me I am ok with catching some fine eating mangrove snapper along with my target species.

Trout are getting bigger, and we started finding some better numbers around the backcountry bay islands as the tide flowed on the points and bars. Snook as well were coming from these areas. Remember that fish will most likely face into the current waiting for a meal to come towards them and then ambush it. So, with that in mind ensure you have the boat position at the correct angle to fish the area you target.

We shark and goliath grouper fished in the deep areas of the mangroves in October, using cut ladyfish or catfish tails and had zero issues catching, though some days were better than others. The sharks were quick to hit our baits before we could find the Goliaths, which is unusual, but still a win. Curious on this note, how many of you are considering seriously the goliath tag if available and would you pay the money for it? I am personally unsure myself, but watching with interest.

Heading offshore, we had some great days and some slow ones, but the catches we brought in were stellar. Big schools of permit were hitting some crabs and live shrimp. I ran across a school of near 50 permit in a random (undisclosed) location with all the fish being near

30- pounds, one day. I marked the spot and, on a whim, came back the next day and was surprised to see the same mass of fish still hanging in this area, though with a case of lockjaw. Still awesome to see though, and I am curious to see what is beneath the surface that I don’t know about that is drawing them. Always searching is a big part of the game folks.

Cobias are in the area and I expect it to get busier as the weather cools north of us. A big live pinfish or jig will do fine and is something you should have handy should you encounter one of these guys coming up to check you out while you are bottom fishing.

November will be good, take time to hit the water and Happy Thanksgiving to yall!

Note the pic of the broken piling: I wanted to share with you a warning to those visiting our area. This is inside a marked channel, markers are private aids so not government maintained and this is just one of several that litter this route.

They sit just under the surface when the tide comes up and seldom are marked. This is where the phrase on the chart (local knowledge required) is a good idea, so I encourage new boaters to ask!!

Side Story on this one: As I headed out for a trip, a guy flagged me down in a small brand-new poling skiff. We eased over to him and he told me he had hit something and lost his engine. I thought he meant lost power, but no a quick look showed he "lost the entire engine". I figured he had hit the piling as it couldn't be seen at that tide stage. He got a line on his engine and myself and my clients helped him pull it from the bottom and get it on his aft deck. A brand-new small-tiller Honda.... Sucks, but wanted to share.

Capt. Charlie Phillips, President, Florida Guides Assn.

Owner/Captain at Hope Fishing Adventures Everglades City, Florida 863-517-1829 hopefishing.com

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By Cameron Parson Water LIFE Spillways and Ponds Our first actual cold front will have been upon us by the time this month's edition hits the shelves. Cooler weather means lighter gear and down sizing your baits for the season. Slower presentations will also be in play as some of our fish can become extremely lethargic during our cold season.

Tides tend to be lower than normal with quite a few of them being negative tides. Poling through grass flats and wading are great ways to locate fish since pot holes and sand spots are much easier to pick out. Snook, trout, redfish, and occasional flounder can all be caught in these areas, even in prop scars left by shallow running boats. This also gives you an idea of the local topography and where fish tend to hide or get trapped with the lower than normal tides.

Muddy bottoms will eventually hold fish. The darker bottom will often hold just a little more heat for longer periods of time. Snook and redfish will take refuge in these areas as the sun rises just to warm up a bit before moving on to find food. A good sign to slow down your poling or

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Bobby Chapman 32ʼ Goliath grouper caught on lady fish chunk October 17th

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trolling motor is seeing big puffs of mud in front of you.

Challenge yourself and hone in your casting skills. Fish can be seen "waking" or moving across a flat from one area to another. This makes for the perfect opportunity to test the accuracy of your casting skills.

As the season progresses, the water will gradually become crystal clear.

Medium and medium light gear with 8- or 10-pound braid can be better utilized.

Rods in the 6'6" to 7'6" range are fine with 1500 to 3000 sized reels. There really is not much to break you off on the open flat. It's the fact that you can cast a little farther with ease and without much weight, usually no more than 1/8- or 3/16ounce.

My baits of choice are usually the Slayer SSB in golden bream or molting colors and the Z-Man swimmerz in pinfish or red flake. Both can be rigged weedless or on a jighead (if in deeper water). Topwaters of choice are usually

the chrome Super Spook Jr's or white Rapala Skitterwalk. I'm technical, so I usually have at least 3 rods rigged with something different.

If the water is super shallow, I'm opting for the Z-Man products. They have much more buoyancy than most others and can be worked a little slower without plunging into the turtle grass as often. The swimmerz and paddlerz can be jigged or just simply reeled which make them an optimum artificial of choice.

Finding the fish can be somewhat of a chore, but you'll know when you do.

There are other places to scout besides potholes, sand spots, and prop scars.

Canal intersections not far from the canal mouth itself can be a treasure chest if you find the right one. When the water temperature drops increasingly, a good portion of fish will move into these deeper

NOVEMBER 2021

and darker areas to keep warm. Some fish will even stay there for a week or two until the water temperature changes and tend to favor certain intersections more than others.

Shrimp on a jighead is always an ideal strategy. Sheepshead, snapper, redfish, black drum, and trout will often frequent deep water if the temperature drops enough. Small jigs will take trout and redfish while shrimp will take most everything else with ease. If a jighead is too big, use a good split shot just above a slightly smaller hook, anywhere from a size 2 to a 1/0. Sheepshead can be quite the thief.

And as always, handle the fish care.

Avoid using rags and gloves. Instead, wet your hands and keep the fish horizontal.

Catch some fish!!Cameron Parson can

sometimes be found at Rio Villa Bait & Tackle in Punta Gorda. 941-639-7166

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Brody Gibson our grandson caught this 26” red off our dock in Cape Coral

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Sheepshead, Port Charlotte Mr. V

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“Big Jake” manages the biggest fish of the trip. Jake and his crew ran down to the Tortugas.

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Estero Bay: How Low Can You Go?

what I’m really good at and that’s shallow water inshore fishing, but the question always is; How low am I willing to go?

In my seven years of guiding I’ve put that question to the test. Some attempts were successful and others left me in the Estero Bay mud. The key to low water fishing is to know your boats limits and to safely operate around those limits. Remember that your boat is a tool and designed to perform certain tasks. There are trade offs and compromises, but knowing and using your boat for its intended purpose will bring you great success. So knowing where you can go is equally as important as knowing when you can go.

What I mean by that is if you go to an area to fish on when I need to get it over some sand and mud bars. Removing the trolling motor creates more room to fish as well. For me it’s a big trade off, but there are certain situations where I need to float skinnier.

Southwest Florida in November gives people the opportunity to experience what the “old Florida” may have really been like. There’s no better way, in my opinion, to spend a day out on the water in Estero Bay fishing the mangroves, watching the sunrise or sunset with a cold drink in hand.

By Capt. Joe Angius Water LIFE Estero Shallow water fishing at its finest in Estero is here.

Crystal clear backwaters and cooler weather is what excites me about November inshore fishing. I’ll start to have more live shrimp on board and, hopefully, less net throwing in my future. From redfish or juvenile tarpon to cobia or permit, it can all be done on a good day of fishing this month.

Picking and choosing where to fish and what to fish for this month is difficult because of the countless opportunities that November presents anglers with. I know

Captain Joe Angius 727-234-3171 www.Speakeasyfishing.com Speakeasyfishing@gmail.com

low tide, be prepared to fish that specific area for a long period of time. One instance I took my guests to a fishing spot and the tide, paired with the wind, went out for another hour or so. This actually left me stranded in the backwaters where I couldn’t really push my boat over a mud bar. Luckily, the fishing hole was loaded with fish and we were able to stake out at that one spot long enough until the tide gave us more water to motor out.

Had I not been in a familiar area, the fishing trip would’ve been a long silent one.

Another tip when it comes to planning on fishing a low tide is to know your boat’s weight distribution. For exceptionally low tides I usually only carry 10- 15-gallons of fuel, try to use only one livewell, and remove my trolling motor and batteries from the boat. This not only makes my boat easier to push pole, but it really helps

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NOVEMBER 2021

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Love my dock, second big snook in 20 minutes,, Debbie mason punta gorda

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Janet LoGalbo Red snapper is back.

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Brothers kley and kale from Indiana fishing Tarponbay w/Capt Pauly

Al Ruscaʼs first Snook, caught and released in a PG canal

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Best day ever! Caught ten of these bad boys! Tom amrhein Englewood florida

Hank Belligan with a 20 inch triple tail with his little sister Melody

Mike Mangham and a beautiful Redfish caught with Capt. Alan Williams

The Biggest Movers NOVEMBER 2021

By Capt. David Stephens Water LIFE Charlotte Harbor I would like to start of by extending a warm welcome to our friends from the north. Hopefully this winter will be a mild tropical winter that Florida is known for.

The mornings have been nice and cool with warm sunny days and the cooler nights have started to move the fish around some. The biggest mover has been our snook. As we move closer to winter these guys will move closer to areas that have deep water access.

Areas on the flats that have deep creeks close by are good areas to locate feeding fish. Our miles of residential canals are another great place to locate snook. When I look for fish in residential canals there

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are a couple different things that I look for. The main one being tide flow - good moving water is very important. The other is docks that have been around for some time and are old. Oysters and barnacles are great hiding places for smaller prey such as crabs and small bait fish. Those same oyster and barnacles can be your enemy when fishing these docks so I recommend using no smaller than 30-pound leader, and a nice tight drag.

Another fishery that will begin to pick up, is our sea trout. The cooler water gets these fish starting to school up. They are not as affected by the cooler water as snook, however they will move to areas with deep water if we have some major cold fronts. Our local flats with a mixture of sand and grass has been holding good numbers of trout.

The past couple weeks have been very productive on our charters. We have been managing to put well over 50 fish to the boat on our half day trips. Our main bite has been trout and snook, with a few reds mixed in. The trout we have been catching have been pretty nice. We have not had many fish under 15-inches, and a lot of them over 20-inches. On a recent charter we sat in a spot and caught nice trout for over an hour. We then moved on and caught some nice snook and ended the morning on a 30- inch red fish.

The snook have been mostly schooling fish in the 18-to 22-inch range.

and we are starting to catch a few fish in the 30’s.

This cooler weather should help get the big girls fired up. They will be looking to put on some fat before winter. As long as we don’t have any crazy changes in our weather patterns our fishing

should keep getting better for the next few weeks.

If you would like to

experience some of Charlotte Harbor’s finest fishing, call or send me an email. All of our charters are private and customized to fit your needs.

Capt. Dave Stephens 941-916-5769 www.backbaytremes.com

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Shark Fishing Continues to be Very Productive Weather has been perfect in the morning, the water temperature is starting to change a little bit, moving the fish around. There is practically every type of shark in the area. From big tiger sharks to small bonnet heads.

The fishing for sharks has been good all day long, as long as you find some deep backwater channels or high tide sandbars. Pretty much every close-in wreck has sharks swimming around it.

Capt John Brossard Shark Chaser Charters 239-777-9279

Above: Right noe, the bycatch of shark fishing can be a nice redfish.

Right: a shark is tagged through the dorsal fin before release

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Looking for Gobblers on Thanksgiving

By Capt. Alan Williams Water LIFE Charlotte Harbor November has arrived, thankfully for everyone reading this and beyond. It's a time to reflect and to give thanks for the things that bring us happiness. Family, friends, good health, food on the table and... fishing. That one word, fishing, encompasses all of the above. You fish with family and friends, your outside soaking up the healthy vitamin D, the table can be where your the fruits of you’re fun labor ends up. I believe they should name a fish The Gobbler for this time of year. .

What should it be ? The chunky copper bulldog known as a redfish who are here this time of year for there prespawn feast?

The snook, who are on there trek to their winter time haunts? The sheepshead who come in this time of year in ever-increasing numbers to fatten up for there spawn?

Maybe big gator trout annotating a top water bait? The Gobbler title would fit any of these. I think any of these species that are on the large size should be called a Gobbler for the entire month of November. I'm in. Maybe it'll catch on... or not.

And I'm going to look for gobblers all month and beyond.

This time of year has the fish on the move for their wintertime zones. The water temps will dictate the speed and amount of this move. The weather gurus with their high-tech crystal-ball are predicting an above average temperature winter season. I hope not. I'm not hoping for freezing temps - a pattern of cool weather

that will move them and keep them in an area for awhile. Sheepshead are showing up in numbers around oysters whether it's on seawall's, pilings or oyster bars. I love sight fishing these guys and get an extra thrill when the one I want gets fooled.

They are one of the few fish you can keep these days, along with mangrove snapper and trout.

Just take what you need for a meal that night. This is going to be a busy season with the influx of people moving here and the snowbirds arriving. We all need to help keep the fish numbers up. They can be removed a lot quicker than they can be replaced.

Big trout are showing up in good numbers too. A 20-inch plus trout is one of my favorite fish to target. They will annhilate an artificial or pinfish

and shrimp. Their soft mouths make it a challenge to get them in the boat. A lot of times they will fight so hard they tear a hole in there own soft mouths and get off. The challenge is to get them to the boat with no holes. Try that challenge, it puts a new spin on catching trout.

One of the other species showing up this time of year is cobia. They have

been around the markers, 41 Bridge and Alligator Reef. I could have sworn I saw one in the marina at Fishermans’ Village, around the cleaning table. Hopefully this will be a banner year for them. I would be extremely thankful. Get out and enjoy this time of year. Spend quality time with your family and friends. Take a kid fishing and help them all catch a GOBBLER. See you on the water.

Capt. Alan Williams 954 -347-5275 awilli9412@aol.com

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Jim Vitucci, my biggest caught, Goliath grouper

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Will Jarvis catching nice little snook in Estero Bay with Capt. Dan Camp

My Grandson Mason, aka Mr Goldenrod, it was caught in Maryland 7lb catfish

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John Tul- Redfish- El Jobean Pier

NOVEMBER 2021

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CJ Turman with nice Charlotte Harbor snook. Capt. Alan Williams put us lots of fish!

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Dane Hilston of Englewood caught these 2 nice fish back to back in Bull Bay on a Zara Sppok Jr. fishing with his wife Marcy.

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FISH PIX! 41 Repeat customer Richard Gilbert with a big black drum with Capt Fred Gowdy in Estero bay

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Capt Fred Gowdy with a 16+ inch mangrove snapper caught in Estero Bay

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from Water LIFE magazine

Scott Lenart bass fishing in rotonda

Matt Ovsianik- Snook- El Jobean Pier

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SCUTTLEBUTT

NOVEMBER 2021

Sometimes Unsubstanciated, But Often True

HOUSE BOAT OR BOAT HOUSE? A young couple in McIvers, Newfoundland, recently found a unique way to beat the soaring cost of building materials in an overheated housing market. Homeowner Daniele Penney had coveted the square, two-story house on the point ever since she was young. When she heard that new owners were planning to tear it down and build a new house, she and

her boyfriend resolved to buy it and relocate it to their own land. The only catch: due to topography and power lines, it would not be possible to move the house by land. It would have to travel about half a mile across Newfoundland's Bay of Islands. They bought a vacant WWII-era house on the waterfront, strapped a trailer and a few dozen empty barrels on the bottom, and floated it half a mile across the water to their own property. Thanks to this time-tested Newfoundland method, along with a high tolerance for risk and a lot of help from their boat-owning neighbors, they secured an all-in shipping rate of just $4,000 (not counting the price of the structure).

QUEEN GETS NEW UPPERS The QE2 served Cunard Line from 1968 to 2008, when she was sold to the government of Dubai's private-equity investment firm for use as a floating luxury hotel. But those plans were delayed

for a decade due to the global financial crisis, until 2018 when, after a change in ownership, the removal of her propeller and 2.7 million man-hours of refurbishment - she reopened to the public.

Now a leading Middle Eastern investment group decided to change this mid-century icon's top deck into an ultra-modern nightclub.

ICICB Group, an investment house with strong ties to Dubai's ruling family, has underwritten the creation of a nightclub with enough

space for 1,000 patrons - far more than the capacity of nightclubs aboard most working cruise ships. Entry to Float Dubai is technically free, but the price for bottle service is high indeed: A reservation comes with a minimum take-or-pay alcohol purchase of $1,100, and the largest bottles of Dom Perignon go for more than $100,000.

BAT MAN LIES Officer Hudson was dispatched to a residence in reference to a trapping company illegally placing bat exclusion devices during the bat mating season. When bat exclusion devices are placed during the mating season it allows the adult bats to leave the nest, but they are unable to return causing their young to die. The officer contacted the trapping company and agreed to meet at the residence. The bat specialist for the company was questioned by the officer and denied placing the illegal exclusionary devices during the closed period. The officer was able to obtain video footage proving the trapper placed the exclusionary device on the house. The officer cited the trapper for placing an exclusionary device on the house out of season.

AVAST YE LUBBERS AND BILGE RATS On Friday, the Ecuadorian Navy tall ship Guayas provided a rare, real-world educational experience to new cadets on an international train-

ing cruise. In what may be the first occurrence of its kind since the end of the days of sail, the

Guayas intercepted and detained a low-profile smuggling boat on the high seas, capturing four suspects.

COMMERCIAL OK, RECREATIONAL NO Floridaʼs recreational red snapper quota in Gulf state and federal waters was met during

the June 4 through July 28 open season. Because the FWC cannot allow recreational harvest of Gulf red snapper once Floridaʼs quota has been reached, Gulf red snapper harvest will not reopen this fall for Florida anglers fishing from private recreational vessels in Gulf state and federal waters, or for for-hire operations that are licensed to fish in state waters but are not federally-permitted.

A SLICE OF HISTORY A sword believed to

have belonged to a Crusader who sailed to the Holy Land almost a millennium ago is held by itʼs discoverer near to where it was recovered from the Mediterranean seabed, the Israel Antiquities Authority said, last month.

SPACE RACE In the Los Angeles neighborhood of Wilmington, police have issued more than 400 citations for improperly-stored containers this month, L.A. Port Police Chief Tom Gazsi said at a harbor commission meeting last week. Local residents have reported an endless parade of drayage traffic, with trucks rumbling through (restricted) side streets, blocking driveways and stacking up on thoroughfares. So in an effort to help relieve the pressure, the City of Long Beach has decided to relax enforcement of a longstanding ban on high-stacked containers on private property.

For years, the city has forbidden stacks of more than two boxes high, an aesthetic measure intended to preserve visual sightlines in the harbor neighborhood. Now that rule will not be enforced for at least the next three months, and city lots that are zoned for container storage may now stack up to four or even five high, if they get approval from the fire department.

COMPLY, COMPLY, COMPLY Officer Miano responded to a complaint of a subject harvesting snook out of season at Fort Pierce Inlet State Park. Upon her arrival she met with the individual meeting the description given to her in the report. The subject was uncooperative and belligerent. Officer Arnold then arrived on scene along with several deputy sheriffs. The subject became combative, still refusing to cooperate with instructions given him. He was subsequently tasered and sprayed with OC

spray and placed in hand restraints. Then he became cooperative. A snook was located in a cooler, in the bed of his truck, as originally reported. The subject was booked in jail without further incident. He was charged with resisting arrest with and without violence, possession of snook out of season, possession of undersize snook, and harvest of snook without the required permit.

THEY CAN TICKET YOU FOR THAT? FWC responded to a single boat crash involving a vessel and a channel marker. The investigation revealed that the vessel operator didnʼt maintained a proper lookout and operated the vessel too fast for prevailing conditions. Damage to the vessel was consistent of that of a vessel striking a channel marker as there was extensive gel coat damage and multiple large and small wood fragments imbedded in the damaged fiberglass. The operator was uninjured and was charged with two criminal navigation rule violations.

GATORʼS BUFFET CLOSED FWC Officers Garcia and Johnson responded to a complaint about an alligator that had eaten two goats and a dog at a womanʼs house. When the officers arrived on scene, they spoke with the complainant who said her animals had been eaten over the course of a couple weeks. The officers walked the property and noticed a large alligator in the water behind her residence. An alligator trapper was requested by the complainant, and he arrived on scene a short while later. The officers and the trapper were able to successfully remove a ten-footlong alligator from the womanʼs property.

SNEAKY SNAKE To the great surprise of a stonemason in southeast England, when their long-awaited shipping container arrived from

India there was a “saw-scaled viper inside.

“Having had one before, we understood fully the gravity of just how dangerous these reptiles are,” said the local animal hospital. “They are way up there in the top few most deadly snakes (it is believed to have killed more people than all the other species combined).”

The snake, while not the most poisonous snake, according to the veterinarian, is very quick to bite when it feels threatened. They have a highly toxic venom that can cause humans to bleed to death.

Charlotte Harbor Water Quality Predictions... made 20 Years Ago

NOVEMBER 2021

FREE ONLINE

Limnology and Oceanography - Paleo Indicators A Report by RE Turner et al. 2006 We reconstructed water quality changes for (the years) 1800 to 2000 in Charlotte Harbor, a shallow subtropical estuary, by using a suite of biological and geochemical proxies in dated sediments collected in the region of a present day, midsummer hypoxic zone. (Editor notes* the zone is at the top of Charlotte Harbor.) The declining freshwater loading into the estuary from 1931 to the 1980s is not the probable causal agent encouraging the appearance or expansion of a hypoxia zone (measuring up to 90 km/sq in summer). Rather, the reconstructed trends in nitrogen loading indicate increased phytoplankton production has likely caused a decline in bottom water oxygen concentrations. Sedimentary biogenic silica (BSi), carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus concentrations (things on the bottom- ed) increased concurrently with known or inferred changes in nutrient loadings. There were direct relationships between phytoplankton pigments and BSi, with increased carbon loading as carbon loading increased. The results from the sediment analyses and the results from mixing models suggest an estuarine system that is responsive to increased carbon loading from the nitrogen-limited phytoplankton community and whose sediments are becoming increasingly anoxic (killing oxygen) as a result.

The nitrogen loading in 2000 is about three times above that prior to the 1800s, suggesting that without management intervention the anticipated doubling of the watershed’s population from 1990 to 2020 will greatly increase the nitrogen loading to this estuary and will lead to much higher amounts of phytoplankton biomass and accumulation and exacerbate hypoxic conditions.

(editor notes Since 2006 there has been no effective intervention and so we have filamentous algae today) Coastal eutrophication is a ubiquitous environmental problem accompanying population growth, agricultural expansion and intensification, and increased demands for food and energy products. Society has altered the global cycles of nitrogen and phosphorus and increased the mobility and availability of these nutrients to marine ecosystems through wastewater discharge, application of fertilizers, nitrogen fixation by leguminous crops, and atmospheric deposition of oxidized nitrogen from fossilfuel combustion. These changes in nutrient loads often compromise water quality as phytoplankton or filamentous algal growth increases, including that of some nox-

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ious and toxic algae.

Changes in the amounts or relative proportions of nitrogen, phosphorus, and silicate may favor harmful algal blooms, aggravate oxygen depletion, and alter marine food webs. Over the last half of the 20th century it became

increasingly apparent that these symptoms of eutrophication were not minor and localized but had large-scale implications and were spreading rapidly.

Addressing the temporal and spatial significance of increased nutrient loading into a specific estuary can be a vexing problem for managers and scientists. Changes

in estuarine nutrient loading from local urban or agricultural land use changes, for example, may or may not be as significant as the changes occurring from land use changes, such as phosphate mining further up the watershed and be undetectable against a background that includes a sub-

A fishermen circles his net in Charlotte Harbor

stantial natural variability or inadequate monitoring.

Without knowledge of these larger scale influences, we may remain uninformed, subject to overly simplistic arguments, and profoundly uncertain about remedial strategies, even though nutrient enrichment of coastal watersheds has many consequences for fish, humans, and habitat. Decisions will be made, however, re-

gardless of the sufficiency of our knowledge.

The Charlotte Harbor watershed in southwest Florida has experienced many of the same land use changes ob-

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served in other estuaries, but has done so mostly in the last 50 years and these changes are continuing. This estuary has the second largest estuarine surface area in Florida and has a significant hypoxic zone. Forty species of animals in the Charlotte Harbor area are listed by the state as endangered, threatened, or of special concern.

Phytoplankton growth in the estuary is controlled by the availability of nitrogen, but the baseline water quality measurements useful to estimate changes began only in the 1970s.

We used water quality data records to build a framework of regional influences and responses by the estuarine ecosystem. Particular attention was given to the occurrence of low oxygen conditions in bottom waters of the estuary—a significant indicator of water quality.

The Peace River is naturally enriched with dissolved phosphate from watershed phosphorites in the Bone Valley formation and from phosphate mining activities, originally in the river, and then on land after 1900s, including occasional catastrophic releases.

(editor notes* occasional catastrophic releases will increase once they set up mining operations at Horse Creek)

Decreased freshwater inputs raise the average salinity of the estuary. The water column is more likely to be stratified when the surface water is low in salinity. Stratification reduces the exchange of oxygen between the bottom layer and the atmosphere. This is important because stratification is necessary to form and maintain hypoxic conditions. High, summer temperatures contribute to lower oxygen concentration in bottom layers because oxygen content is lower at higher temperatures, while potential respiratory rates in water column (from recent production) and sediments (stored organic carbon) are higher. In other words, a decline in river flow will reduce stratification and raise bottom water oxygen saturation.

The higher salinities are, within the period of record, positively related to higher oxygen saturation in bottom waters. A coupling between changing nitrogen loading and bottom water oxygen concentration is thus established. However, the organic carbon stored in sediments during previous periods remains a significant dissolved oxygen sink for many years. A modern example of the coupling between changing nitrogen loading and bottom water oxygen concentration is thus established.

The relationships between nitrogen loading, algal growth, and hypoxia are implicit in these relationships.

Editor Concludes** without intervention these conditions and the proliferation of green filamentous algae we are currently plagued with, will increase exponentially.

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Now only closed on Wednesday ... until we find more help

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READERʼS PHOTOS Send us ur FISH PIX! Weʼll use ʻem!! see page 4

Cape Cod guests with a nice pair of October reds, thanks Capt. Paul

Rick Johnson sent picture of black fin tuna caught outside Boca Grande Pass and just keep going

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Humberto with nice Snook

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Daniel Acosta 29-inch snook.

Personal best, not bad for a 13 year old!

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Frazer Craig caught and released this Tarpon in Charlotte Harbor

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Debbie Mason with another big snook

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Lisa-black drum and a red

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Humberto with nice Snook

NOVEMBER 2021

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The BIG-4

TRIPLETAIL hiding in any shadowy area thery can find

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Fish you can expect in

SNOOK Working their way up the Rivers

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Lacy Hamsher with a 33" tournament Snook.

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Jim Vitucci, Naples FL. , Goliath grouper

Lacy Hamsher capped off a great weekend by landing this 26" fat red in the Myakka River.

REDFISH in scattered small groups

Reef, down along Cape Haze and the area off Turtle Bay where Danger Reef used to be. Cobia come in the Pass to go up the Frank @ Fishin’ Franks Harbor they are going to go by that spot.

4200 Tamiami Trail 941-625-3888 With the tripletail, it’s different than Only closed Wednesday ... for now cobia.

You wait for cobia, you are going There is still a bit of tarpon fishing to notice cobia, but with tripletail it’s going on around the area but cooler down to the hunt. Look for signs, markweather will move them south. You’ll still ers, buoys anything that will cast a have a shot at them in the mouth of the shadow.

Middle of the day is not best, it’s Myakka, the holes in the Harbor are bebetter when the sun is lower and there are coming sporadic so I think the best shot is shadows. It between Alligator can literally Creek Reef and Allibe somegator Creek. thing stickIn Fort Myers ing out of and Cape Coral, the water, down around Punta anything Rassa and around that casts a the beach, you are shadow. likely to find tarpon If tripleas they move out tail had sunfrom here, heading glasses they south. wouldn’t be There are a lot of hiding in snook, snook fishshadows and ing is good, it’s betwithout ter in Port Charlotte shadows you all the way up the wouldn’t Peace River to Isknow where land 33. The to look for Myakka is doing them! pretty good on the The regusnook as well. lar shark Once the fish get Donnie Finkelstein: Tripletail season is FISH PIX! caught on a fly while fishing a into the River and winding around the bridges dredging barge's mooring buoys down, the at I-75, El Jo and bonnets and 41 you should start looking to Rattle little hammerheads come into play now, Traps - the water is yellow so a Rattlethey are the opposite of regular sharks Trap lure with orange is what you want. they like the cooler water. Bonnet shark The fish are on the pilings. Cast across and trout hang out in the same places, the piling let the Rattletrap run close to they both like shrimp under a popping the bottom and close to the pilings. Because the Rattletrap is an annoyance bait, cork. The Harbor, PI Sound, and the middle of Gasparilla all have nice trout and it does well on multiple casts. bonnet sharks right now. This is a reRedfish are throughout the Harbor as minder for people: Wet hand, wet glove, well. There are no specifics, they are wet rag, anything dry will kill a trout. starting to scatter out in pockets of 1 to 4 fish. This is the time it is harder to anchor Handle them wet.

This is the time when a fisherman’s and fish. It is better to use the trolling eye turns to crappie. Crappie season is motor on low, work the area and once you kicking off and most of the local canals catch the first one, you will probably have a decent crappie population. Lake O catch more. hasn’t kicked off yet. The local canals Did you ever hear of wait for fish? We have pepper trees and they are the key to have cobia and tripletail and they are finding crappie.

Crappie like to spawn both here now. Wait for them! under the pepper’s heavy cover. Mini jigs The best spot for cobia is from the and minnows are key baits now. middle hole up to the Alligator Creek from Water LIFE magazine

FISH PIX!

November

COBIA Moving around the upper Harbor

Charlotte Harbor, Lemon Bay, Placida, Gasparilla Sound

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The water nearshore is in the high 70s Fall petterns are setting in

95˚ 90˚ 85˚ 80˚

75˚ 72˚ 70˚ 68˚ 50˚ 45˚

FISHING RIGHT NOW:

STILL VERY GOOD!

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NOVEMBER 2021