Water LIFE Dec 2009

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December 2009

Circle Hook Jigs Page 11

3 Ring Circus the 2010 Kids Cup Page 13

Manatee Travels Page 5

w w w. W a t e r L i f e M a g a z i n e . c o m

Great White Catch and Release Page 11

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DIRECT 941-235-5648 TOLL FREE 877-218-6552

MYAKKA RIVER VIEW, 2 story built 2006 with 2,770 sq ft heated pool home.

This is a JEWEL!! All the upgrades anyone can think of. 3 bedrms, 3 ½ baths, 3 car garage. Two minutes and you are in the river for a day of fun and fishing. It doesn't get any better than this. Downstairs, double glass entry doors, living and dining rms, master suite and bath to die for. Family rm, large laundry, nook and kitchen with white wood cabinets, corian counters thru out home. Volume ceilings with double lighted treys, crown molding, aquarium window in Nook. Upstairs, bonus room, 2 bedrms. Bath overlooking the Myakka River. Long trek walkway to dock and boat lift. This is a Florida dream home.

You have to see to appreciate all the quality work in this home.

The list is too long for all the extras, call for more info. $675,000 Call Ellen 628-6954 DEEP CREEK BEAUTY, you have seen the rest, now see the best! 3/2/2 with pool and lovely pavers around heated pool and at entry plus the stones in landscaping matches the pavers. Tile roof, great room with 4 skylights, country kitchen with spacious wood cabinets, pantry and dining with long breakfast bar. Walk in closets in all bedrooms. 2nd bath is also a pool bath. Master bedrm and both baths have wood flooring, tile in all other rooms. The list goes on, call today for a viewing, so nice and clean. Seller will look at all offers. $199,000 Call Ellen 628-6954

BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPING Well taken care of. Volume ceilings thru out LR/DR wood laminate floors, Bay window in living room.

Security, wired for generator, hurricane garage door. Walk-in closet in master, large open patio. You have to see this home. $89,900.

Call Ellen 628-6954

ATTENTION! Key West style beauty you'll love.

Two story with full length front porch with dormers and 2 car detached garage with a/c 14x25 bonus room or 4th bedrm over garage. Built to 160+ mph wind code.

Impact resistant glass in doors and windows.

Concrete plank siding, metal roof. Upgrades include 2 a/c plus wall unit in bonus rm. Hardwood floors, tile in baths, wood cabinets, granite tops, stainless steel appliances. Six inch base boards and crown molding, walk in closets in every bedroom, sitting room at top of stairs. Huge walkin closets length of bedrooms upstairs. And the list goes on.

New construction home, sold as-is. $239,900 Call Ellen 628-6954

EVERY IMAGINABLE UPGRADE- Gourmet kitchen, spacious master suite, area for fine dining and breakfast nook for those more casual meals. Lighted tray ceilings and well appointed game room, with built in wall entertainment and wet bar. Both the master bath and the main bath are extravagantly appointed, garden tub in the master numerous sprayers in the shower, including the ceiling rainmaker. Gourmet kitchen designed around the bakerʼs rack with wall oven, microwave, glass cooktop stove, built up dishwasher on a pedastal, wood cabinetry, granite counters and crown mouldings. Waterfalling pool with a huge deck and a complete summer kitchen. Oversized 3 car garage with 14' ceilings and lots of built in storage. NOTHING NOT TO LOVE $575,000 Call Ellen 628-6954

BANK OWNED CUSTOM BUILT HOME with pool and lots of space, 1,958 sq ft under a/c!

Living and family room.

Cooks delight kitchen with maple wood cabinets, granite counter tops, glass top range with microwave. 9x6 laundry room and 20x20 garage. Split plan, large master bedroom and 8x9.6 walk in closet! Dual sinks and walk-in shower all tiled. Walk in the front double doors to tile entry and niches, bull nose corners and many upgrades. You need to see to appreciate the quality in this home. $165,900 Call Ellen 628-6954

PIRATE HARBOR SAILBOAT CANAL HOME- Heated pool home, 3 br, 2.5 ba, 2-car garage, oversized corner lot, concrete seawall, boat lift, dock and lush tropical landscaping.

Brick pavers, 50 year hurricane proof Gerard steel roof, and solar windows. Garage has lots of storage room. Full of extras with beautiful pool and lanai. Loads of cabinets, desk. pantry, breakfast bar and nook all overlooking pool and canal. Kitchen appliances are GE Profile, range is convection glass top. Five ceiling fans, recess lighting, volume and tray ceilings, plant shelves and central vac. Large 14x17 master bedroom with a bath room you will love.

Two walk-in closets, dual sinks, jetted tub and walk in shower. Newer pool heater and pool pump. This home is a steal!! Must see to appreciate. $339,900 Call Ellen 628-6954

PENDING

Ellen McCarthy Broker Associate www.portcharlotte-pgi.com

ellenmc@portcharlotte-pgi.com

19700 Cochran Blvd • Port Charlotte, FL 33948

December

2009

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www.fishinfranks.com Water LIFE

L e t t e r s t o : Wa t e r L I F E @ c o m c a s t . n e t

Trespassed from the Boat Ramp or a Public Park? Answer is NO!

Mr. Heller: I discussed your concerns with the City Attorney today and was advised that the Police Department has been advised by the City Attorney that with the exception of the area immediately surrounding the Crab House as depicted on the Lease the City has with the Crab House, the remaining property of Laishley Park is a public park facility that anyone has the opportunity to enjoy without fear of being arrested for trespassing.

The one (1) exception to that would be a public event where the event organizer has been granted the limited right to regulate entry into the area designated for the event. An example of this limitation would be the recent concert whereby a portion of Laishley Park was fenced off and admission was limited to ticket holders.

If you have any additional questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.

I (also) confirmed with the City Attorney - the marina and boat ramp are part of the public park.

Thank you.

Teri Tubbs, City of Punta Gorda, Zoning Dept.

Widening of Edgewater Dr.

Mike: I am a recipient of a newsletter from Southwest Engineering & Design concerning a meeting this month at the PC Beach Complex Recreation Center. The meeting will be all about the widening of Edgewater Drive from Harbor Blvd to Midway Blvd starting after the first of the year.

Don't you think it would be a good idea for the area residents whose boats take them under the bridge on Gardner to propose building the "new" bridges giving boaters better clearance then they now have? I not only believe that it would be great for the boaters but will be a great real estate enhancer. Even a small boat with a bimini won't pass under several of these bridges without lowering them. Back in the early 90s when we had that winter storm that flooded our area, I went out to the Edgewater

Dear Michael, Chrystal Murray and John Hadden here, from FWC's Fisheries Independent Monitoring Charlotte Harbor Field Lab.We just wanted to say, "Thank you" for the opportunity to work with the Punta Gorda Middle School Don Ball class.The junior anglers were amazing- so smart and quick to learn. We hope they enjoyed our presentation on baitfishes.Look forward to next year.

Sincerely, Chrystal

Mail: 217 Bangsberg Rd. Port Charlotte, FL 33952

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Graduating Students received a custom Be the Fish t-shirt. Some extra shirts are available for sale at Fishinʼ Franks in Port Charlotte

bridge over the Elkam Waterway and measured the clearance when the tide was really high. I measured 14ft clearance - not enough clearance for some of the boats that some of the boating public that would like to live on the "unsailboat" side of Edgewater would like to have.

I live on one of the canals off Gardner and there is one of my neighbors who owns a 25 ft Hydrasport with a raised cockpit and he rarely takes it out because of the clearance of the bridge over the Elkam waterway. Same thing for another friend on Spring Lake with a 28 ft Sea Ray with a flying bridge - there is just enough room to squeak through at low tide.

I enjoy your informative publication and the way you keep us informed not only on fishing, but everything else that happens on the water that we "should" know about, CHUCK DAVIS, Port Charlotte

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Nice redfish are still coming from Charlotte Harbor.

Manda Carr with the redfish part of her first ever ʻslamʼ The other snook and trout fish photos are on page 18 and 22. Photo: Capt Angel Torrez

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Water LIFE i s the o ffi ci al publ i cati o n o f the Charl o t t e Harb o r Reef As s o ci at i o n, the o ri g i nato r o f the Ki ds Cup To urnament and the pro ducer o f the Do n Bal l Scho o l o f Fi s hi ng .

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Florida Manatees ARE in Cuba

December

2009

By Mi chael Hel l er Water LIFE Editor Ten Years ago, when I was still working for the Daily Disappointment, I said it was not unrealistic to assume manatees from the West Indies were interbreeding with manatees from Florida and viceversa. I printed a map in my section of the paper showing how I thought this was happening. Boy did I get yelled at!

One overly liberal editorial writer dragged me into a meeting with the Manatee Club’s Laura Kleiss Hoeft and the newspaper’s editors and proceeded to lambaste me for daring to say manatees are migrating, in print. Everyone in the room thought they knew better, but to me migrating only made sense.

Now, it turns out, scientists have apparently known about the manatee’s penchant for long distance travels for a long time.

Recently I emailed James Reid, the senior USGS manatee migration scientist for the Government. I requested information about a manatee named Mo who, in 1998, swam from way north of Tampa all the way down to the Dry Tortugas. When I presented Mr. Reid with my Cuban manatee migration theory he wrote back: “There i s defi ni te evi dence of a Fl ori da manatee now i n Cuba. ” Well, Merry Christmas! No one had ever admitted that before, at least not to me.

What a present!

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Mr. Reid also sent me the track of Mo’s travels and a pdf of the book BioGeology of the West Indies, published in 2001.

The background of the book notes: “If manatee meat had not been so highly esteemed by pre-Columbian inhabitants and early explorers of the West Atlantic region, we would know much less about the former range and abundance of the species. Indians, the book said, would hunt manatees using a tethered remora (fish) to find them.

Columbus even commented on manatees in his log.

Among other things, the book said: “It is possible that linkage between (manatees) in the Greater Antilles and in South America has been maintained by wanderers that island-hopped across the Lesser Antilles. Dispersal may also occur between the Greater Antilles and Mexico and Central America.

The North Equatorial Current, flowing from east to west through the Caribbean Sea and northward offshore of Yucatan, would tend to favor a Yucatan-Cuba crossing more than a Venezuela-ta-Puerto Rico crossing, although manatees may not necessarily depend upon favorable currents to cross open ocean.

An extensive area of shallow water (the Miskito Bank) between the HondurasNicaragua border and Jamaica might help to promote ocean crossing between

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Central America and the Antilles. Such a crossing is known for green sea turtles (Nietsehmann, 1972; Carr et aI., 1978).

Allen (1942) suggested that manatees originally extended their range to the West Indies by way of the Yucatan Peninsula and the intervening shallows.

Reynolds and Ferguson (1984) sighted two manatees 61 km northeast of the Dry Tortugas in the Gulf of Mexico, and suggested that they could be wanderers from Florida, Cuba, or Yucatan.”

There you have it. Manatees are an invasive species in Florida, and they knew this long before Mo’s 1998 satellite track was recorded. It’s been kept quiet.

What if there are more than just a few wanderers? If manatees are migrating and interbreeding then the total manatee population should be added together for determining how the whole species is doing.

The problem is the dollars for protecting a robust manatee population of 10,000 won’t come as urgently as dollars for a dwindling 800. Eight hundred manatees is what they wanted us to believe existed in the 90s.

The map shown here depicts Mo’s position on May 7 . Then his track disappears until May 23 when he re-appears in the Dry Tortugas. Reid says: “Sensor data from the tag indicated he was offshore. Active manatees in deep water often prevent tethered tags from providing regular location updates.”

May 7 Homosassa Springs

May 23 Dry Tortugas

In 1998 a manatee named Mo might have spent three weeks offshore, enroute to the Dry Tortugas, but the actual course plots for those three weeks are missing.

Was that a convenient lapse, or would it have been an inconvenient truth? Why did the USGS send out a helicopter to recapture Mo? Would his permanent and indelible radio track have shown him going straight to Cuba? I think so.

That wouldn’t have been good for fund raising in 1998. It apparently looked better for Mo to appear lost so they would have a reason to recapture him – for his own good. That’s my theory.

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Letter To Santa

Offshore with Capt. S teve S kevington Dear Santa, I will admit, first and foremost, that last year I received and deserved a lump of coal. However, after a hard fought year of temptation to be naughty, I will say this Santa "I deserve" and “would greatly appreciate it,” if you would fill this list to the best of your ability.

Thank you – Capt Steve.

1. I will be needing 6 new lever drag reels as I have burned up four of them this month on big gag grouper, and I don't think the other two are going to last through this kind of punishment.

You see Santa, all the shallow ledges just off our part of coastline are just full of these grouper and they are almost always hungry.

So in order to catch em, I am dropping down big live baits like squirrel fish and large pinfish. We have been bringing in our limit on almost every trip, but if this keeps up I

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am going to need some new reels.

2. Santa, I really need a bunch of new deep diving trolling plugs. All the plugs in my tackle box have been beat half to death this last few weeks. I have been dragging them for grouper, but these darn kingfish keep hitting them.

Some of these king's are in the 30-pound range. They can do a lot of damage to those plugs – after just a few fish they just don't seem to want to swim right anymore. So 15 or so will do just fine.

3. I am going to need several spools of fluorocarbon leader. A spool of 20-pound for the big mangrove snapper that are piled up on the wrecks just offshore in 50 feet of water. Live shrimp is my favorite bait, but scaled sardines work really well on them too. I really like to use this light and hard to see leader on snapper.

And a spool of 60-pound leader for the cobia that have been hanging out on some of the deeper wrecks. I sometimes like to flat line a whole squid out behind the boat for these big guys.

And a spool of 80-pound for the amberjack on some of those same wrecks. Live blue runners are always my first choice, when I am fishing for amberjack. And I will be doing

December

2009

a lot of that when season opens on them next month.

4. A new fillet knife would be nice, as this time of year I almost always wear out one or two.

Capt. Stev e operates out of Pineland Marina. He can be reached at: 941-575-3528 for fishing information or to book a charter trip – Happy Holiday s from Capt. Stev e

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Wise Men Appear

By Capt. Chuck Ei chner Water LIFE Inshore Late fall fishing on Charlotte Harbor means shallow water. Vast areas of the Harbor that used to be covered up with water for most of the summer will be out of the water on low tide phases. The long submerged bar that extends off of Cape Haze will be a true navigational hazard to be wary of along with many other spots. For the true shallow water angler this is the season we have been waiting for. Artificials come into their prime as the vast populations of migratory bait fish leave the flats.Specialized boats are needed. Stealthy presentations and boat maneuvering are needed to approach wary fish that often only have a foot of water on them. I enjoyed a recent flats trip with two talented anglers. My companions for the day were Mike Henry owner of Pipestone Fly-in Outpost and Famous Joe Farkas a full time Arkansas fishing guide. Mike operates a fly in Canadian wilderness fishing experience for walleye, northern pike and other species and Joe is a 20 year veteran striper guide on Beaver Lake in Arkansas.

Leaving the dock early we sped across the Harbor to catch the last 3 hours of falling tide. In the Gasparilla area Mike eased his flats boat into a quiet basin with a strong tide moving across grassbeds with sandholes. Letting the tide do the

work all three of us cast in unison. A topwater Yozuri, a sub surface Sebile and a gold spoon were the lure choices and action started early, 7:30 to be exact and my second cast produced a snook. My partners stayed busy trying to outsmart wary snook that would swat at their lure but not connect. The true winter pattern was evidenced as Mike caught a couple of rat reds well under 15 inches. These fish were piled in here just yesterday, Mike proclaimed however today the fish were scattered and moody. Such is flats fishing and we hopped from spot to spot giving each only 15 to 20 minutes before moving on. Picking up an occasional trout kept our spirits high and a few large

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snook chased and boiled on our plugs to keep the adrenalin pumping. An incredible blast on Mike’s Zara Spook plug shattered the morning silence and produced an oversize snook that would make anyone proud.

After 4 hours of fishing Mike made the call to go to Pine Island Sound which is a formidable run in a 17’ flats boat from Turtle Bay. A half an hour later, along a mangrove island , we spotted sizable snook passing over a sand hole.

Cast after cast without a hit and the day was growing long. Joe had yet to hook his first snook, but patiently worked a sub surface Yozuri plug in a side to side cadence when the water suddenly exploded! Joe’s adrenalin was contagious as the snook leaped and burned drag. Lipping the near legal snook was the reward for a days worth of casting. No beginner to top water fishing, Joe guides fisherman to surface blasting stripers but was awed by his largest snook ever. “The power of this fish is incredible!” exclaimed Joe. Another hour passed as we changed spots fishing islands and sandholes.

Moving slowly with the wind at our backs we pushed redfish from their haunts despite our attempts at a stealthy approach. A legal redfish was not in the

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2009

cards this day. Mike was casting a swimbait, I was casting an Exude RT slug while Joe continued his plug twitching with pure confidence. The middle of a shallow grass bottomed basin seemed an unlikely place to find a monster trout but a smash on Joe’s plug proved wrong.

Persistence paid off and a gator trout pushing 24 inches made the day for all of us. The fish gods were giving up fish sparingly, but the quality of the fish and the comradery made for a memorable day.

The ride back from Pine Island led us to fish Matlacha and Pirate Harbor until the sun was dropping. The best of the day was behind us.

The pursuit of shallow water gamefish is addictive and not measured by fish in the cooler or the numbers caught. The experience of visually spotting fish or blind casting mystical shallows where any cast can end in a lure smashing wake up call is the ultimate reward. Mike and Joe make their living by putting clients on lots of fish and delicious walleye or striper filets are often the measure of how successful a day is. Our day on Charlotte Harbor was plenty reward in itself and the catch of many nice fish in a pristine natural environment proved to make three anglers very happy.

Capt. Chuck Eichner is a local charter captain. For information or to book a guided fishing trip call 941-505-0003 or go to his website: www.back country -charters.com

Stump Pass Permit DEP Looking for Pay Dirt

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On the Line wi th Capt Ron Bl ago Water LIFE Senior Staff I’ve followed the saga of Stump Pass for over 15 years now and I’ve gathered a lot of information on the pros and cons of keeping the pass open. Granted, I’m not exactly an impartial observer on the subject since I live less than a mile from the pass and like many others, use the pass as my main entrance to the Gulf of Mexico.

You don’t have to be a boater, fisherman or waterfront property owner to have an interest in Stump Pass. If you care about manatees, sea turtles, shorebirds, seagrasss, water quality or taxes; you have a huge stake in the fate of Stump Pass.

15 years ago the pass began to migrate to the south and as it did the water flow became less and less until it reached a point where there was not enough water exchange between the Gulf and the inshore waters, so Lemon Bay began to die.

Lemon Bay has five major creeks that drain into it; draining the watershed from South Venice, Englewood, Rotonda and the South Gulf Cove-Placida areas. All the pollutants from those areas, either man made or natural found their way into Lemon Bay. While special interest groups argued about whom to blame and what to do; the pollutants settled on the bottom of the Bay and killed off shell fish and seagrass beds. I remember my favorite saying at the time was that Lemon Bay was the only body of water between Tampa and Ft. Myers that was showing a decrease in seagrass beds. Not exactly a slogan the Chamber of Commerce would want to use.

Fortunately, after three years of arguing about the merits of the case the Florida Department of Environmental Protection granted Charlotte County a permit to dredge Stump Pass and to do what it takes to keep it open for 10 years. The bounce back in water quality in Lemon Bay was almost immediate. Shellfish came back, seagrass began to grow, fishing was good, boaters were safe; the Palm Island beaches were renourished with the sand from the project. Even the hard core opponents of the plan had to admit that things turned out pretty well. The only thing left to complain about was the cost of maintaining the pass.

Everything was going well until now, when the last of the maintenance dredges was scheduled to begin in November. The DEP put a hold on Charlotte County’s permit until a few issues could be resolved. The problem is not about water quality, or water creatures or even boating or pollution. It’s about sand; who has itwho needs it-who wants it and who is going to get it.

Traditionally, sand that is removed from

Manasota Key

Lemon Bay

Stump Pass Beach

Palm Island

a pass dredging project is placed on the beaches on the down drift side of the pass, in this case Palm Island. This is to compensate for the natural flow of sand that a pass interrupts. It is thought that any pass causes an acceleration of erosion on the down drift side. Of course the property owners on the up drift side, in this case the people of Manasota Key have a different opinion. They say that the sand was originally on their beaches before it started moving south: and they would like to have it put back on their beach.

The DEP, which is the final arbitrator in these matters has come up with another idea. They want the sand for their own beach at Stump Pass. After all, there appears to have been a lot of erosion of their beach since the geo-tubes were removed; and if they got the sand from Stump Pass to renourish their beach; they probably would be more inclined to approve the permit to begin the maintenance dredging in March.

If the County doesn’t agree to this arrangement the DEP appears to be willing to play out the clock on the 10 year permit (which expires next year) and begin another round of negotiations. I guess the DEP wants to see how high a price Charlotte County is willing to pay to have their environment protected.

Capt. Ron can be reached for comments, information or to book a guided jig fishing trip at captronb@juno.com

FISHERMANʼS ALERT!

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If you are a fisherman looking for a waterfront home then you need to Call The Captain!

Hereʼs why: • Always Knows the Best Deals (list available) • Expert Knowledge of the Waterways and Homes • Foreclosure Waterfront Homes and Land • Areaʼs Leading Agent in Waterfront Sales (Top 1%) • Huge Waterfront Listing Inventory • Boat Tours of Area and Homes

Call The Captain! 941-833-4234

KIDS CUP Page 10

Tracking Update

By Betty S taugl er Water LIFE / Sea Grant Last month I gave an update on one of two tagging methods used during the annual Water LIFE Kids Cup Tournament. That update described our dart (streamer style) tagging process and angler recaptures to date. The second tagging method we use is a more sophisticated remote sensing process. This method allows us to evaluate redfish sur-

Water LIFE

vival and travel patterns without having to recapture the fish. Data from this second tagging method is described below.

During the April 25th 2009 Kids Cup Tournament, 22 redfish were surgically implanted with battery operated acoustic tags and released (20 each were implanted in the 2007 and 2008 tournaments).

These tags transmit a signal into the water at random 30 to 90 second intervals. The signal can be received, decoded and stored inside one of our underwater listening units if a tagged redfish swims within 400 meters of the unit. We download our units (14 total around the harbor) to retrieve the data every few months. We are now due to do another data download.

The tags that we used in 2008 and 2009 have a battery life of a little more than two years and we still do continue to observe some of our 2008 redfish.

Following is a brief summary of our acoustic data through mid August 2009.

Since the April 25, 2009 tournament, we have received 13,050 observations total. Most of those observations occurred within the first couple weeks following the tournament and within close proximity of the release location (Fishermen’s Village). Our most observed redfish from 2009 was caught by Kyle Miller. Kyle’s redfish has been observed 1204 times and at 7 different underwater units. This fish was last observed on August 17th at Ponce Inlet.

Another redfish with a lot of observations is the one caught by Bryton Wolfe.

Bryton’s redfish has been observed 1175 times and at 5 different underwater units.

His tournament redfish was caught in Pine Island Sound; it was last observed at Alligator Creek on June 23rd. Bryton’s redfish was part of our control study, in which we held 15 tournament fish for 48 hours prior to release.

Although most of our acoustically tagged redfish have stayed in the upper harbor and traveled back and forth between underwater units, two redfish have only been observed a couple of times.

Kingsey Richard’s redfish went into Bass Inlet on April 30th after two observations

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2009

DOUBLE CATCH AND RELEASE Alex Smith was a Kids Cup angler in 2006. Last month her dad Steve sent us this picture and wrote: My daughter Alex caught this 43" snook on Burnt Store bar - we revived him for about 10 min then sent him on his way. Then Alex put another chunk of lady fish on and casted out. She caught the same snook again, I could not believe it - he was hungry!

and hasn’t been heard from since. Dacota Cline’s redfish passed our Ponce Inlet underwater unit on April 25th (the day of the tournament) and hasn’t been heard from since, either.

I mentioned earlier that we do continue to receive data on some of our 2008 redfish. One of our most interesting observations this year was when Thomas Crosland Polk’s redfish from the 2008 tournament came back to the release location at Fishermen’s Village. What made this observation so cool is that we had not heard from this redfish for a full year.

It disappeared from our radar on May 13th, 2008 after going into the inlet at Colony Point and reappeared on the back side of Fishermen’s Village Marina on May 17th 2009. Thomas’s tournament redfish had come from Matlacha Pass.

Also caught in 2008 and observed this year is Jeff Watkin’s Jr.’s redfish, which was last observed on June 13th, 2009 about midway down the west wall. We

have heard from Jeff’s fish ten times during 2009. Jeff caught his 2008 tournament redfish in the vicinity of Bull Bay/Gasparilla Sound.

A final interesting observation worth sharing” We are seeing from this tagging method that very few acoustically tagged redfish have been recorded on our underwater units during the month of June in both 2008 and 2009.

Our 2008 redfish showed a pulse of movement during the month of September 2008 and another smaller pulse in January 2009. As we continue to collect tracking data, it will be interesting to see if the same pattern is observed again.

The Water LIFE Kids Cup Redfish Tracking Project is a collaborative project of scientists and anglers. Thank you all for your continued support.

Betty Staugler is the Florida Sea Grant Agent for Charlotte County. She can be reached at 941.764.4346.

Sea Grant is a Univ ersity of Florida IFAS program.

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2009

Tagging a Great White Shark

Water LIFE

Biggest Catch and Release Ever – Over 4600 pounds!

S peci al t o Wat erLIFE from Pet e Johnson GUADALUPE ISLAND, Baja Mexico, (Nov. 13, 2009) – Avid billfish angler and TV outdoor fishing adventurer Chris Fischer never thought he’d actually be living a scene much like that from Jaws as he kneeled face-to-face handling a huge, live 4,600 pound great white shark.

As a sportsman, Fischer has caught and safely released lots of giant black marlin each weighing about 800 lbs, but this great white and the other giant toothy predators that followed were the biggest he’s ever caught, examined and then released 15 minutes later unharmed.

It began when Fischer, a board member for The Billfish Foundation (TBF) was asked by Dr. Michael Domeier to help him tag big black marlin off Panama to follow their migratory habits by satellite.

An avid billfisherman and billfish scientist, Domeier happens to be a great white shark scientist as well.

“When he saw Ocean our 126 ft., mothership he asked if I would be able to catch and safely lift a great white shark on it for the scientific research he wanted to do,” said Fischer. “We have a hydraulic lift to pick-up a 7500 lb game boat.” I said ‘sure. We can build a fence around the lift and swing a great white over it.’

“I felt we were the only people in the world who can safely capture these giant beasts of the ocean, pick them out of the water and let them go in good shape because of the lift and my crew of very talented world game anglers and captains.”

Fischer named Jody Whitworth and Brett McBride, two legendary captains, among his team members.

“I self-funded it, because we don’t really know much about great white sharks or other huge fish. It was a kind of a moral obligation to help Dr. Domeier solve this puzzle because I thought we would be the only people in the world who could do it for him. No one has ever had the ability to deliver mature specimens to scientists in remote locations because they are so big.

“Like in the movie Jaws, the first time we saw a shark come in and eat the bait and then take off and drag the buoys under and across the water it was a life-changing moment as an angler. The angling experience of capturing and releasing giant great white sharks is nothing similar to an angling experience of capturing a large pelagic fish. There’s a sense of history, a sense of awe, humility and humbleness.

When a shark comes into the pattern under the back of the boat you look over at your bro and you’re all taking a step back. That thing is going to eat and we

P a g e 11

MAGAZINE

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Just like in the Kids Cup tagging project, but a lot bigger, a hose keeps running water flowing over the animalʼs gills

don’t want anyone to die today,” Fischer said with a smile describing that moment.

A specially designed system is used to keep each animal alive. The exam includes a blood draw by Dr. Domeier to check hormone levels, measurements, sperm samples taken, and tagging by attaching a tracking antenna to the dorsal fin before releasing.

“So it’s been great as the data is pouring in. Dr. Domeier is beginning to solve the puzzle of the great white shark; where they breed, where they feed, where they give birth so we can look after them and protect these areas. We’re learning so much new science.” Fischer said.

“The first thing I did was call my buddies at the IGFA (International Game Fish Association) the world record keeping body, and I called Salt Water Sportsman magazine and asked them what was the biggest fish ever caught and released alive,” Fischer said.

“Figures were in the 2,000 lb range on recreational tackle. I sent them the picture and they said nothing has been caught and released alive that big. We caught three of them over 4,000 lbs., the three biggest fish ever in history, caught and released alive,” he said.

And the work also continues on the life cycle and migratory habits of billfish.

“Early next year we’re helping Dr. Domeier put out black marlin tags in the Puerto Vallarta fishery,” said Fischer.

A new 10 hour National Geographic special highliting the Great White tagging project will air next summer.

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Page 12

Water LIFE

MAGAZINE

December

2009

December

2009

Water LIFE

MAGAZINE

Page 13

7th annual Kids Cup to be reel 3-Ring Event

By Mi chael Hel l er Kids Cup Tournament Director It’s not even January and the energy for the Water LIFE Kids Cup is already starting to build. In 2010 it is going to be a three ring circus. Capt Ralph Allen our Kids Cup weighmaster and I have been looking at the fountain in center court at Fishermen’s Village and our plan for the coming Kids Cup is to use the fountain and the center court area as a showplace for what an angler-based-science tournament can be. The plan is to drain the fountain and fill it with harbor water. Then the fountain will become our main redfish holding tank. That’s going to be ring number one, right there for everyone to see.

We will again be tagging 20 redfish with surgically

implanted sonic transmitters which enable us to track the fish around the Harbor for 2 years. Betty Staugler our Sea Grant agent in Charlotte County tells me the funding for the 2010 tagging project has already been set aside.

The Mote surgical team will set up their Fish-MASH surgery center right in center court. Spectators will be able to gather on the walkway above and watch the biologists operate on the fish. That will be happening inb ring number two.

And on stage at center court, in the third ring, will be Capt Ralph Allen and our fish handler Robert Lugiewitz.

Angler’s boats will arrive on the west side dock, or inside the marina if the weather is bad. Fish will be transported to the stage in weigh bags. That will be the third ring in our fishing circus.

The Kids Cup is a benefit for our Don Ball School of Fishing. This month the eighth week of school classes in five of our area middle schools conclude. On the last night of class we give the students custom Don Ball graduate t-shirts and a pizza party. It is a fun last evening for students and instructors both.

The pizza parties ate up 24 large pizzas, half cheese and half pepperoni and 120 cans of soda.

Center court at Fishermenʼs Village. The fountain will be used to hold the fish

Once again this year Lui gi ’s Ital i an Restaurant in Port Charlotte (In my opinion the best pizza in Charlotte county!) has donated all the pizzas for our Don Ball School Kids pizza party.

That is the kind of community support we are talking about. That is the Do the Right Thing, ethical, good citizen approach we are teaching our angler kids.

Thank you Lui gi ’s for the pi zza and for supporti ng the ki ds agai n yhi s year!

Kids Cup entry forms go online at midnight Dec 31 at: w w w. ki dscupt ournam ent . com

Page 14

Taking Time to Recharge

Water LIFE

By Capt. Mark Bennett Water LIFE Tarpon Every year, late October or early November, Jenni and I take some time to recharge our souls before we make the big change from tarpon fishing to fishing the back country of Charlotte Harbor for snook and redfish. Generally this takes a couple of weeks sitting in the trees. Somehow, looking over the hardwood creek bottoms and oak flats with a bow and arrow in hand, has a way of helping us maintain our sanity.

Now we are back to business as usual, back to my roots, fishing for snook and redfish. The fish have gone through a change also. With the water temperatures dropping rapidly, the fish have moved from their summer haunts to deeper winter locales.

While redfish should be in a lot of the same spots, prowling the bars, drop offs, creeks and mangrove shorelines, of our shallow water species the falling water temperatures affect the snook the most. I have heard a lot of guys say snook don't feed in the winter. This is entirely untrue. A snook will feed every day. Granted, in the warmer months they

seem to be everywhere and are more easily caught. In the winter months you see them in a lot of places but they seem less than interested in your offerings most of the time. In truth, snook can not handle the cooler water as well as most other species. They do eat, they just aren't as opportunistic as they are in the warmer months. The main reason for this is they spend a lot of their time inactive due to the cooler water. Instead of eating when the opportunity arises and gorging on the mass amount of bait around when the tide is right, they lay up, conserve their energy and wait for the strongest tide of the day to feed. In the winter months that is usually in the night time hours. Not good news for the fair weather fishermen, but great news for the night time hardcore bunch that patrol the rivers, bridges and deep canal systems of the area. These guys wait all year long for the first of the major cold fronts to get the winter snook fishery into gear. They know there are some big boys stacked in the holes that get little or no pressure all summer long.

Another thing I noticed years ago, before the December – February season

December

MAGAZINE

2009

Capt. Mark with a hat hiding his face keeps ʻinvisibleʼ before a bow-shot on a wild hog

closure went into effect, is the snook’s diet seems to change during the colder months. A lot of the snook we caught in the rivers during the coldest months stomachs are filled up with small blue crabs. So in turn we figured out why the colder it got the better slower bottom bouncing lures worked over the swimming plugs. I am no biologist, but I think that hard slow-digesting crabs might keep their bellies full a little longer.

There are still a lot of snook on the

photo: Jeni Bennett

flats and creeks, but as the water cools down they get a little harder to fool. A stealthy approach and longer casts are a must for catching snook in the clear water of winter. Take your time and cover ground thoroughly, it will pay off.

Be careful handling and releasing these fish, remember the season is closed on snook till March first.

Capt. Mark Bennett can be reached to book a trip, for comments or questions at: www.tarponsnook.com or (941) 474-8900

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RE HE re a s ab Cr

December

2009

R Re ea al l E Es st ta at te e N Ne ew ws s

PROVIDED BY: Dave Hofer RE/MAX Harbor Realty (941) 575-3777 dhofer@remax.net www.harborparadise.com

1. Sarasota County and the City of North Port are jointly hurtling towards their own "bailout program" for the benefit of Naples based lender, Cypress Lending Group. Cypress obtained title to the 10 acre health spa in Warm Mineral Springs through a foreclosure action against the former operators, Golden Springs, LLC. Golden Springs had acquired the property for $3.75 Million in December of 1999 with $300K down and seller financing.

They received $7 million in financing from a naive lender at the height of the

real estate bubble in October, 2005.

Golden Springs spent the next two years trying to sell the health spa before defaulting on the mortgage in March, 2008.

Cypress Lending then foreclosed.

Now, Fresh from a 2 year exile in outerspace, the Sarasota County Council and North Port City Council are jointly concocting a plan to purchase the property for $8 million! Certainly, someone should tell them that land values are now significantly below 2005 levels. The timing for this extravagance couldn't be much worse. Taxpayers have no interest in taking on $8 million more in debt to purchase non buildable land of little value to the community.

2. The final permit hurdles have been crossed for the Charlotte County Airport to begin construction of a $3 million control tower early next year. The FAA is predicting more than 15,000 takeoffs annually by 2015. No taxpayer dollars will be used for the construction or maintenance of the tower.

3. The Southwest Florida Planning Commission approved commencement of phase one of Babcock Village. Economic weather permitting, Kitson Partners will start with 1,000 single family residences,

Water LIFE

26K sf of retail and 10K sf of office space on the 18,000 acre site.

4. Overwhelmed by too much work and too little personnel, Charlotte County will outsource the management of the Alligator Creek "s" curve. Dredging should begin next year some time.

5. Citizens Insurance have announced rate increases averaging 8.8% for single family homes and 10.2% for condominiums for next year.

6. KB Homes began construction of 2 new model homes in its Creekside subdivision on Taylor Road. KB is targeting the tax rebate stimulated first time home buyer with a more modest "open" design approach to their traditional tract home.

7. The first time home buyer's $8,000 tax credit was signed into law. Piggybacked on to an expansion of Federal Unemployment benefits, the program will finally be extend $6,500 to homeowners who have lived in a home for more than five years. It's refreshing that Congress finally realized that existing homeowners deserve a break too, but what's the magic of five years of ownership?

8. Fannie Mae announced a new program to cut down on the mindless shuffling of foreclosed homeowners seeking rental accommodations. Now, rather than FNMA wholesaling abandoned foreclosures to investors who will have to restore them and rent them out (largely to displaced foreclosees), they will be able to retain the former homeowners in their own homes as renters. Foreclosed homeowners will be able to turn over the deed to Fannie Mae, with less impact on their credit rating, and get a one year lease at greatly reduced market rent rates.

In other news: Last month, Mike and Karen Hirsh related their experience of three visits to the new Laishley Crab House. Since their opinion mostly panned the new endeavor, it caught management's eye (and ire) ... Chris Evans, et al have promised to transform it into the first quality restaurant that our community deserves.

S al es S tati sti cs: Median sales prices actually rose in October over last year. The National Assn of Realtors reported that the number of sales in September were 54-percent than a year ago. The national rate was 9.4-percent higher. National median sales prices declined 11-percent from a year ago to $177,900. Ft. Myers SMSA led the nation in price declines, 40% to $98,000.Inventories are down over 50-percent from last year's already diminished levels. Median prices are showing signs of leveling off, but still typically 10-15percent below last year's levels. Even a few sales of more expensive homes are taking place. Patience is still the order of the day, but the light is at the end of the tunnel.

MAGAZINE

Page 15

SCUTTLEBUTT Sometimes Unsubstanciated,But Often True

S ave the ManaTeeth “Whether Florida manatees suffer any nutritional stress caused by tooth wear with age remains to be investigated.” So say the manatee scientists who also note: The teeth of Florida manatees are typically far more heavily worn than those of Antillean manatees.

It looks like manatee teeth might need saving. Some people are asking what’s next? Maybe manatee whiskers are getting shorter too.

So we did a search on the Internet for manatee teeth. Here are some of the cooler manatee teeth pictures we found!

The reality is that sawfish, not manatees, are the current buzzword animals among conservation groups. Sawfish grow up in the Peace and Caloosahatchee Rivers.

You know what could come next.

Not Too Bri ght Seems the reason the sign at the Events Center hasn’t been working lately is because it shorted out in the rain. Word has it that when the electrician went to check on it he found the outdoor mounted sign is only rated for indoor use.

We S crewed Up The ad for Underwater Fish Lights ran with the wrong phone number last month. The right number is: 941-258-1307. We have had one of these lights for 5 years. If you live on the water you should too! We love to sit outside at night and watch the fish. What a cool gift idea! This month’s ad on page 9.

snook and a school of bait

Hey Mike!

Check it out: First boat built by myself to enter a IHBA (International Hot Boat Association) race!

Scott Steffe Al Fiberglass Repairs Punta Gorda We Now Ask: – How fast did it go? Did you finish?

New Stuff

Water LIFE

Page 16

S t aff R eport Costa Rica is said to be the first place to use circle hooks for fishing. Now the circle hook phenomonon is slowly spreading around the world.

Next in the great circle evolution comes the Ci rcl e Hook Ji g. The only place we have seen these for sale, so far, is at Rio Villa Bait and Tackle in Punta Gorda. But that could soon change. Since Florida fishing regulations require reef fish, caught both offshore and inshore, to be caught with non-stainless circle hooks when using natural bait, circle hook jigs just have to be on the horizon.

Jim at Fishermen’s Edge in Englewood says he has recently been approached by a circle-jig manufacturer and he has received some samples, although at this time he does not have any for sale. Robert at Fishin Franks told us that Z-Jigs, a Florida company in the Keys, is tooling up for making true circle hook jigs.

The circle hook jig shown here, appears to be made by bending the tip over so it faces the shank on a regular jig. Technically it is legal.

In order to have a bigger reef-fish specific circle hook jig, the hook itself must be made with a special longer shank to accomodate the lead.

Circle hook jigs for grouper are a logical extension of this technology. Those jigs would have to be made to carry up to 12 or 14 ounces of lead and the hook would be very specific for that application.

The circle hook jig will become more popular as more and more states along the coast implement circle hook fishing regulations. Once that happens the circle hook jig should be produced en-mass and will become much more readily available.

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MAGAZINE

December

2009

Can We do Better with Trout?

By Mi chael Hel l er Wat er LIFE Edi t or One local tournament has now removed trout from it’s species venue for the coming year. This after several comments and complaints (mine included) over their numbers of dead fish.

Removing trout from the venue will go a long way towards helping to solve the dead fish problem, but we think if trout were retained as a tournament species tournament anglers might work harder next year at finding better ways to keep their trout alive. That would have been good for all tournaments and it would have been very good for recreational anglers as well.

Dead tournament redfish used to be a problem in the mid 90s, but anglers and tournament staff found better ways to keep redfish alive.

Trout are much less hardy than redfish, but is it unrealistic to think if every trout (brought back alive and able to really swim away) paid $1,000, that anglers wouldn’t find better ways to keep trout alive? Sure they would.

Capt. Danny Latham says: “One day I can put a dozen trout in my livewell in the morning with my bait and at the end of the day they will be doing fine.

Then, the next day, I can put another dozen in my livewell and they will all be dead at the end of the day – I still

don’t know why.”

And Capt. Latham is one of the most knowledgeable anglers in the area.

Bigger trout seem to be less hardy than smaller ones, Capt. Latham observed, “and all of them are horrible for swallowing deep and getting gut hooked.” So the odds are not good.

But trout dehooked while still in the water, trout that are never ever squeezed, never netted and handled (only when necessary) with a dripping wet hand, trout held by supporting their belly, trout transported in a livewell that will not rub off their slime, trout transported at smoother, slower-than-breakneck-boat speed so they don’t get banged around... those trout have a better chance.

The move to eliminate trout from tournament venues takes a popular and easily caught fish out of the competition. A lot of anglers don’t like that idea, but it could turn out to be a positive step.

Will released trout be tracked like redfish one day? Will, one day, we be able to say, we figured out a better way to catch and release seatrout? I think so.

And I think when that day comes angler based science and tournament fishing will have contributed to the discovery. Without angler based science we get government based science.

Is that what anyone really wants?

December

Water LIFE

2009

Page 17

MAGAZINE

Paddle Sports

Paddling the Myrtle Slough

By Davi d Al l en Water LIFE Kayaking Why would anyone want to paddle a stream called a "slough"? I can't imagine, can you? Webster defines a slough as: a place of deep mud or mire /(1)/ a swamp <swamp> /(2)/ an inlet on a river; /a/ backwater /(3)/ a creek in a marsh or tide flat /4/ a state of moral degradation or spiritual dejection.

The most descriptive definition of Myrtle Slough is "A creek in a marsh or tidal flat," and it's a beautiful little creek at that. And no moral degradation here!

Not too many kayakers, or boaters of any kind for that matter, know of this beautiful little creek a few miles north of Punta Gorda. Actually, there are two creeks within a few miles of Shell Creek that are called "Myrtle Slough." The "Myrtle Creek" that we paddle several times a year is west of the Shell Creek Dam. The other is located well east of Hathaway Park on Washington Loop Road.

A tributary of Shell Creek, Myrtle Slough flows south into Shell Creek from Desoto County, and a four mile section of the Slough flows north into Shell Creek, and drains the northern sections of the Cecil M. Webb Wildlife Management Area. There is easy access to Myrtle Slough from Riverside Park in Punta Gorda. Another possible launch site is Harbor Heights Park on the west side of the Peace River, although that access point is several miles west of the entrance to Myrtle Slough.

Part of the charm of Myrtle Slough,

despite the name, is the wildlife that abounds in the area. These tidal flats provide a critical esturial habitat and are extremely productive for many local flora.

They are inhabited– by a diverse group of wading birds, such as the egret, blue heron, and the white ibis. Also, migratory birds find a safe resting and feeding place on these tidal flats. This abundance of avian wildlife, not to mention the animals, fish, and of course the alligators, is why we seek out these little-known areas for our paddles.

Our kayak club elected to paddle Myrtle Slough in late November, so we anticipated the (very) cool temperatures early in the morning. A hazy mist was rising from the water as we launched our kayaks from Riverside Park, just off Highway 17 N. There were fewer kayaks than normal, again due to the cooler weather and the relatively strong wind.

We turned right as we entered Shell Creek and paddled east, upstream, toward the dam. Myrtle Slough is about one mile east of the launch site – about a 15 minute paddle. The wind was brisk, but we were reasonably well protected by the vegetation on both sides of the Slough.

There were few birds in sight, perhaps due to the cool temperatures, but you could always hear a few alligators barking as we passed near.

By the time we returned to the launch site, the temperatures had warmed up considerably and we were pulling off our jackets and long sleeved over-shirts. A nice paddle to put an active end to a wonderful Thanksgiving Weekend.

Let us build one for YOU!

Paddlers make their way through Myrtle Slough

The Port Charlotte Kay ak ers meet each Wednesday ev ening at 5:30 pm at Port Charlotte Beach Park . All are welcome to join us to learn about k ay ak ing. For additional information, contact Dav e Allen at 941-235-2588 or email:dlaa@comcast.net

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Page 18

Water LIFE

Things to Remember in December Screaming Reels

By Capt. Andrew Medi na Water LIFE Charlotte Harbor With the recent cold snaps that have come through, it seems to me that the fish have done a 180. From feeding instantly when the bait hits the water to being sluggish. Don’t get me wrong, the fish will still eat, if given time.

We have been concentrating on flats, and catching a lot of trout and reds out over the pot holes. Most of our fish this time of the year are caught under a popping cork. A popping cork is a great search-tool, when used properly.

What I like to do is get on a flat and power pole down, letting the boat settle.

Then I fan-cast the area of the flat. My simple rig – and old faithful – has to be the D.O.A. shrimp, set about 18 inches away from the popping cork.

The good thing about this method is the casting distance you can get from the popping cork. This time of the year it is equally important to down size the line weight you normally throw in summer.

With the water starting to clear up and the style of fishing I like, I will switch my main lines to monofilament, 12 to 17pound test. This is great for sight casting

and throwing top waters. A lot of anglers throw top waters with braided line and although there is nothing wrong with this, my personal preference is mono line for top waters. The stretch in the mono line is what I want.

A lot of anglers make the mistake of setting the hook too early, often at the first sign of a strike. If you wait till you feel the weight of the fish, you will have a much better hook up ratio. I remember missing fish after fish, before I figured that out, way back when.

This time of year is also the time I put away my bait nets and throw mostly shrimp. Shrimp is one of the best baits during winter time. It is readily available at most bait stores and best of all, you don’t have to get drenched throwing a net in cold water. Everything eats shrimp, from snook at the docks to redfish and trout on the flats. Even tarpon in the canals won’t turn down a shrimp.

The two basic ways to fish a shrimp is hooked through the tail, or through the head. This can be done either on a weighted rig or free-lined. Many choose to use a jig head, but my personal preference is to tail hook the shrimp and pinch the tail off.

December

MAGAZINE

2009

Manda Carr with the snook part of her first ever ʻslamʼ

This allows a little more scent to exit out of the shrimp.

Fish are starting to move and you should now start looking in areas along the east wall and areas such as the myakka-cutoff or Tippecanoe Bay. These areas always start to hold large numbers of snook and redfish this time of the year. Also, start out looking up river. Large snook are on the move and heading that way. The baits you should throw up river are lipped plugs.

Something that will dive down, to the 5 to 7-foot-of-water range. Concentrate around the bridges and docks. I like throwing Xraps, and Bombers with black backs and a

silver body. This lure is one that has always pulled its weight up river.

For you meat shoppers, flounder and permit have made their showing. The Silly Willy jigs are hard to beat tipped with shrimp. Start out checking the beaches, or just inside the passes on the bars. These fish are excellent eating and pretty easy to catch. Hope this helps, till next time. May your trips be safe ones. Happy Holidays!

Capt. Andrew Medina can be reached at (941)456-1540 or on the web at www.fishfloridatarpon.com, to book a trip or fishing info.

December

2009

Look carefully and you can see the ball-rattle in this translucent green Sebile Crankster for $15.49 at Fishnʼ Franks

Staff Report From all the bait and tackle shop owners, the consensus is: the most popular gift women buy is a Gift Certificate.

Women, one shop owner told us don’t buy something they were specifically asked for, so if they don’t really know fishing hardware they think Gift Certificate.

When it comes to gift certificates, be clear on the length of time (usually one year) and find out if the gift certificate can be used for live bait purchases like shrimp, which lets the recipient deplete it slowly over time. A year’s worth of shrimp is a cool gift.

Aside from gift certificates, the old stand by stocking stuffers and tree hangers will keep even the most accomplished angler happy.

A red and white Bomber Long A, an orange bottomed, gold sided, Spook Jr, or

Water LIFE

MAGAZINE

Page 19

Gifts of the

Season

even a little brown Zippin Ziggy lure will decorate any fishermen’s tree. So will a shiny Hobo gold spoon with yellow or red feathers – red’s my personal favorite.

Soft Plastic baits like the Reaction Strike or the Gulp brands are also always well received fishing gifts.

UV protecting Buff neck garments have been a big seller, we are told... and I don’t even have one of those myself ... hint, hint!

Ladies, stop in at your local tackle shop, it’s not as scary a place as you might think.

A GIFT FOR US ALL – For those of you just getting back to Florida, we are happy to report mangrove growth along the west side of Charlotte Harbor is coming back more and more. Now, five years after Hurricane Charley, the big old dead trees are falling over and the new growth looks like a carpet of green.

A Holiday Fish Story

A blonde and her husband go on a fishing trip for the holidays. They rent all the equipment: the reels, the rods, 2 pairs of waders. They rent a boat and a hotel room.

They spend a fortune.

The first day they go fishing, but they don't catch anything. The same thing happens on the second day, and on the third day. It goes on like this until finally, on the last day of their week long vacation, the blonde catches one redfish.

As they're driving home they are really depressed. The guy turns to his wife and says, "Do you realize that this one lousy redfish we caught cost us $1500?"

The blonde says, "Wow! It's a good thing we didn't catch any more!"

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Water LIFE

Page 20

MAGAZINE

December

By Bi l l Di xon Water LIFE Sailing

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Next to Publix

Mon-Fri 9AM-5:30PM Sat 9AM-3PM

“Green Pool” Clean Up & Maintenance

2009

December 1 – Wow. To paraphrase somebody: “fun time when you are having flies.”

Moonlight regatta weather was great. Jerry Poquette won Orange fleet and over all.

Bill Curtis, who we haven’t seen on the race course in months, won the spinnaker class. Tony Milan, next year’s race chair, won in White fleet.

Light air has cursed the fall series, but the grand finale “long” race had wind (and rain).

All sorts of great boating coming up.

Lighted Boat Parade December 5.

PGSC Change of watch December 6.

PGSC Holiday Regatta with decorated boats, costumed crews and a Dessert Contest will be December 12 and 13 – two buoy races are scheduled for Saturday.

On Sunday the 13th there will be a reverse start race. These are very easy for casual racers to compete in. Everyone gets their own time offset from the slowest boat to sign up. The start line is fixed near Marker 3A in front of Fishville. It will not be crowded and is normally not a beat into the wind. Decorated boats and costumed crews are encouraged with their own awards and a special Sunday-only $10 entry fee. Notice of race Checking the wind at the start and entry are on the club web site at pgscweb.com January events start up with the first race of the PGSC spring series January 3, and the Golden Conch on January 9-10 at Platinum Point YC. Maybe I can get Tom Fleming to write my February column again this year.

William Dixon: dixonwj@comcast.net

Smallboat sailors in Sunfish set out from the Port Charlotte Beach Complex

DIVING December

2009

Water LIFE

MAGAZINE

Page 21

with Adam Wilson

By Adam Wi l son Water LIFE Diving There are a lot of different little sayings that go along with diving. Recently, two I can recall made me laugh. The first is: if you can’t afford to lose it, don’t put it in the water. It is a very good and simple rule to live by. The other is even shorter, but just as important. When the bubbles stop, it’s full. Anyone that has submerged something that is meant to stay dry can appreciate that. I learned the full meaning of both these sayings on my last trip.

Diving out in 70 feet, and enjoying some of the best vis I have seen this shallow in a while, I was anxious to set the gun down for a minute to start loading up a 2-gig SD card full of photos.

When I powered up the camera it immediately shut down. That’s when I noticed the water droplets inside the camera housing. It wasn’t a full on flood, but technology and salt water really don’t mix well in the least. I bailed on the dive and surfaced as quickly as safety would allow to begin performing emergency CPR that might save my long time electronic companion.

With no evidence of moisture on the camera itself I was hopeful I had caught the malfunction in time, but the teaspoon of seawater had already done its damage. I had no choice but to laugh.

With hundreds of dives on my trusty little “point and shoot” I should have known that purchasing the new external flash and wide angle lens would prompt Murphy to lay down the law with this harsh sentence. I like to think of how many uses I get out of something to determine the true value. My camera lasted so long the actual cost per dive was less than a cup of coffee. So I can live with that.

I really can’t complain after all I have put that camera through these past few years. Most trained and dedicated photographers whose only concern is getting the shot will always protect their camera from harm by cradling it like a newborn infant throughout a dive. I’m a hunter first and my poor camera was always left dangling by its lanyard, left to float around my tank like a neglected step child. Clipped off to my BC it has been on deep dives way past it’s intended depth rating, dragged over barnacle encrusted logs and rocks searching for stone crabs, through rusting and jagged razor sharp shipwrecks. But whenever something interesting and worthy of setting my gun down for came along, it was always there.

Just a quick reach behind me with my right hand and there it was, ready to cap-

ture all the images, images I have been able to share with everyone here.

Actually it’s a miracle it has lasted this long. Especially after just now reading the manual and discovering the manufacturers recommendation to replace the housings o-ring and seal every 25 dives, whoops, never did get around to that. I did find some new ones still in the box under the manual. Sure was nice of the company to provide extras.

I’m really not very skilled at taking pictures, but in the same way GPS has made everyone with a boat a sailor, a digital camera can make anyone a photographer. When you have the option to sit on the bottom and take literally hundreds of photos, and then review them on the spot to save or delete, you are sure to get a few keepers. It’s all about the numbers.

For me it’s about five percent. For every 100 photos I take I will get five I really like.

I have already ordered the new and improved version of my old Intova camera. It has been upgraded to 10 megapixels instead of my old 7, but for the most part it’s exactly what I’m used to, and all my new attachments will still fit. This is one of the cheaper point and shoots on the market, but it’s within my budget and I find it takes just as good of a picture as cameras that cost three times as much.

This reminds me of another saying that proves true whether it’s spear fishing or taking photos, it’s not the bow, it’s the Indian. If the new camera lasts as long as my old one I will be very happy. Maybe I will try and replace an o-ring every once in a while too.

Top: diver Barry Blackwell, Above: a toothy lizzardfish, Below, left: baby yellowtail snappers

December Page 22

Fishing Report

Water LIFE

December

MAGAZINE

2009

Charlotte Harbor:

Robert at Fishin' Franks Port Charlotte: 625-3888

Happy Holidays and thanks for another year of bringing us your business.

Welcome to winter time. Take advantage of every calm day you have this month, because starting in January the winds will not stop until May. Traditionally fishing in December can be a little tricky. Fish are moving around a lot because of the dropping water temperatures.

S heepshead have finally started to move off the reefs and come inshore now that the water temperature has reached 75 degrees. They will be here the rest of this winter. The best places to find them will be around pilings Pilings such as the Placida Trestle, the Phosphate Dock or the pilings at any of the fish shacks in Bull and Turtle Bay. The reefs very near shore are always overlooked for sheepshead. Fiddler crabs, sand fleas and pieces of skinned shrimp are your best sheepie baits. An owner size 4 mutu-

Left: Grouper and mac with Capt Steve Skevington Above: Capt Bob DeKeulenaere and a pompano Below: Manda Carr with the trout part of her first slam

light, circle hook works best on them.

Even though circle hooks are not required on sheepshead they work best because they are such nibblers.

Pompano and fl ounder are both fairly abundant along the beaches. Schools of pompano will be coming into the harbor throughout the month and be scattered for the rest of the winter. The Cape Haze bar and the flats between Bull and Turtle Bays are usually fairly productive. Crazy jigs and small bucktails tipped with shrimp are most productive.

Offshore, pretty good grouper action and it should stay pretty good. Anywhere

from 5 to 15-miles out, fishing on the bottom especially on insignificant ledges, you will find grouper now. Trolling some of the depth-specific lures like the Bomber and Mann stretch 30 pulled at 4 to 6 mph, 30 to 50 yards back, depending on the line. Fifty-pound braid needs less line to get down further. This is also a good way to find hard bottom: if you pick up a grouper trolling, it usually means you are on hard bottom or on some kind of structure.

Tri pl etai l have started to show up along the beaches. On your way out or on

the way back in take a look at the buoys.

Inside, trout season is still closed, but thousands of fish are still being caught.

Just take care to release them carefully and gently. Continued on facing page

December

2009

Fishing Report .

Water LIFE

The The BIG-4 BIG-4

MAGAZINE

Fish to expect expect in in Fish to

December December

conti nued Redfi sh are starting to get smaller now as the winter gets here more and more.

REDFISH: In the deeper SHEEPSHEAD: On the MACKEREL: Offshore POMPANO: Moving from the Time to start using circle inshore pilings near the pass creeks and inshore Gulf passes into the harbor hooks on them. They may be small, but they are voracious feeders. Deeper creeks on and go. Sharks on the beach, bonnet heads, both sides of the Harbor tend to hold more spi nners, all the smaller sharks. Coming smaller fish. The larger ones will be scattered inside, a lot of redfi sh are on the flats and in around the Harbor, primarily on the inside of the grass. There are snook being caught at the bar on either tide, it doesn’t matter, as long Placida drifting live bait. as there is moving water. In the winter, it’s all S heepshead and snapper are holding at 4265 Tamiami Trail, Port Charlotte about moving water. the Placida Trestle. Crabs and shrimp are the 941 - 625-2700 Live shrimp, or cut ladyfish or sardines will sheepshead bait – we have plenty of both. The be most productive. Slow down and take your last four or five days of November fishing time for this kind of fishing. Some of the larg- picked up. The water has cooled off and more er reds will be moving into the Myakka and fish are starting to show up, but I’m not see December 5 Punta Gorda Lighted Boat Parade the Peace Rivers. You will also find a good ing a lot of fishermen when it’s cold or windy.

December 5 Chix-N-Stix Ladyfi sh number of snook moving into the rivers as Guys are catching some trout that are pretTournament, Heaviest bucket of ladyfish wins, well. S nook, l i ke trout, are cl osed thi s ty nice, but you can’t keep them; you have to minimum 12 inches/fish, $100 entry for ladies month, except for catch and release fishing. let them go. S napper and grouper, both $50 for men, Fish-Tale Marina. Contact Kristi A lot of tarpon and baby tarpon have been Riley 239-850-1707 / Lacey Rush 239-980-1436. blacks and gags are between 20 to 30 miles moving on the Peace River. Catfish tails will out. Some local guys have said closer in has December 19 Ri m Canal Li ghted Boat work later in the season, but right now catchParade, PGI gags mixed with some red grouper and lots of ing tarpon upriver is basically all luck. It all porgys and key west grunts.

January 7 Boati ng S ki l l s and depends what you throw at them and what day S eamanshi p, USCG Aux, Flotilla 87, Lemon Quite a bit of cobi a offshore, some wahoo it is.

Bay Park, Englewood, 7 - 9 PM Monday and at 50 miles. Also cobia on the inshore reefs.

Thursday $40 /individual or $65/couple 941-697Small sharks will still be prevalent on the Finally, there are some fl ounder on the inside, 9435 www.coastguardenglewood.com harbor bars. If the S pani sh and ki ngs stay close to the pass, north of the phosphate dock.

January 21-24 Charl otte County Boat out there, the sharks will still S how 239-656-7083 be out there too.

Send cal endar i nfo rmat i o n t o : Spanish mackerel and small wat erl i fe@ co mcas t . net bl uefi sh should be in the southern end of the harbor, Holiday Lights Cruise from Mkr. No. 5 to Boca Pass.

Page 23

Go

Fishing!

CALENDAR

Lemon Bay: Jim

at Fishermen’s Edge, Englewood: 697-7595

Most of the fishing here is stuff close in. There are mackerel on the beach and close to the pass, Ki ng mackerel and Boni ta mixed in– they come

Evening Boat Cruises through PGI Departing Fishermenʼs Village Three trips per night 6pm / 7:30pm / 9 pm starting Dec 6 $13 Adults / $6 children under 12 Reservations are a very good idea!

Call Kingfisher Fleet 639-0969

Fishing RIGHT NOW

Excellent or Better

December

Water LIFE

2009

MAGAZINE

R ED U C ED

R ED U C ED

R ED U C ED

R ED U C ED

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