Water LIFE June 2013

Water LIFE C Ch ha ar rl lo ot tt te e

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L Le em mo on n

B Ba ay y

Keeping Fishermen and Boaters Informed since 1997

The Don Ball School of Fishing

June 2013

Manatees: Skewing the Data Page 6

Goliath Month for Fishing Page 12

Tarpon: Same Ol’ Same Ol’ Page 10-11 w ww ww. w.Wa Watte er rL Liiffe eM Ma ag ga az ziin ne e..c co om m o on nlliin ne e a an nd d o on n y yo ou ur r d de ev viic ce e e ev ve er ry y m mo on ntth h

Summer is Here Capt. Bart Page 14

ALWAYS FREE!

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JUNE 2013

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JUNE 2013

Shark Tournament This Month!

LETTERS Observations via eMail May was a month of scientific backtracking. NOAA called for a reassement of the venting tool, once thought of as an indispensable device for saving fish brought up from the depths. (Editor Notes* The first mass produced version was created by Charlotte County Sea Grant Agent Rich Novak out of a chunk of a broom handle and an old basketball inflater needle) Now scientists think there are better ways to return a fish to depth than to puncture its swim bladder.

The proposed rule would eliminate the requirement to use venting tools when fishing for reef fish. Some scientific studies have questioned the usefulness of venting tools in preventing ʻbarotraumaʼ in fish, particularly those caught in deep waters. In addition, some fish caught in shallow waters may not need to be vented, and attempts at venting may cause damage to fish by improper venting and increased handling times. Finally, the current requirement goes against using other devices such as fish descenders. These devices use a releasable weight to return fish back to depth. The Council recommended the venting tool requirement be rescinded.

Also last month, the scientist who

verified the findings that said tarpon jigs donʼt snag tarpon now says they do. In a recent letter to FWC Chairman Kenneth Wright, Dr. Justin R. Grubich – allegedly one of the worldʼs leading authorities on tarpon feeding habits – disputes the Guindonʼs hook placement “study” created a decade ago.

“The evidence,” Dr. Grubich writes, “indicates break-away jigs result in higher foul hooking percentages.” And, “the results show that break-away jigs still have significantly greater foul hook placement in other parts of the tarpon compared to live bait.”

What percentage of foul hooking did the study actually uncover?

Was it 10 percent? Maybe 15 percent? Dr. Grubichʼs examination of the data puts the number well above what the FWC once said was acceptable. “The percentage of foul hooking associated with break-away jigs would be 27 percent for the 2003 results.”

(941) 766-8180

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Not affiliated with any other publication Vol XII No 6 © 2013

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

Keeping an eye on kitty? Not hardly! Several Punta Gorda mullet fishermen working the Gilchrist Park shoreline have taken to using underwater TV cameras to look for fish. The pet carrier is used to keep the monitor in the shade for viewing.

Below: Waiting with cast nets -on the Gilchrist fishing pier for mullet cruising the shoreline.

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Contributing Editors:

Photography: ASA1000.com Senior Editor: Capt. Ron Blago Charter Fishing: Capt. Bart Marx Port Charlotte: Capt. Billy Barton Punta Gorda: Capt. Chuck Eichner Real Estate: Dave Hofer Inshore: Fishinʼ Frank Offshore: Capt Steve Skevington Kayaking: David Allen Circulation: Robert Cohn Office Dog: Molly Brown

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Capt. Billy Barton with clients and a goliath grouper See page 12-13

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JUNE 2013

Tarpon Tale

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By Michael Heller Water LIFE editor You can’t always get what you want, but if you try, some times, you just might find, you get what you need.’ The Rolling Stones

Thirteen year old Tyler Ross wanted his first tarpon. He’d alreadycaught a monster trout and the tarpon was the next step in a slam. The snook will be easy on any of the docks around here, guide Louie Yaitanes predicted. Tyler was trying.

It didn’t matter to Tyler that he was sharing the Big Pass at Boca Grande with 80 or so Professional Tarpon Tournament boats and 12 or 15 boats protesting the tournament.

No matter either, that there were other recreational angler’s boats fishing in and around the pass. No matter, any of it.

Tyler had already hooked his first tarpon when we met. He just hadn’t landed it yet.

Tyler was fishing with three adults - guides Louie and Mya Yaitanes- and Tyler’s dad.

Louie maneuvered the boat around while Mya kept an eye on Tyler. Every now and then Mya would take the helm and Louie would come up to adjust the drag or check the

line while Tyler kept pulling up and cranking down.

We followed them as they followed Tyler’s fish in and out of the congestion. They gave way and Tyler wouldn’t give up. The fish came in and then ran. Tyler made and gave back some progress. It went on for about 20 minutes.

Tyler’s rod was bent, but not straining, it didn’t seem like too big of a fish but it ran like a monster.

Louie stayed on it. The fish had circled around in the pass and then started to head towards the “Hill,’ perhaps following the tide.

The tarpon floundered on the surface once and I guessed it was about an 80 pound fish but it quickly disappeared. Little by little Tyler made progress and finally the fish was at the boat.

We’d been talking to them, boat to boat. Louie went up to the bow to land the fish. I got ready to take a picture.

It all happened very fast. Louie reached down and then the fish was gone. I squeezed off one frame. I kind of thought the picture would be of Tyler and the fish.

He reminded me of our 13-year old Don Ball 7th grade students. I was going to send him the picture. “Was that your first tarpon?” I asked Tyler, and he said it was.

There were some high fives, but something just didn’t feel right. We said goodbye and left.

Later that day, when I got home and downloaded my pictures, I saw what had happened The fish was out of the water backwards and hooked in or around the tail - snagged - a bad word for tarpon right now. Tyler had a funny frown on his face. It wasn’t what Tyler wanted, but if he was going to get his slam it was what he ‘needed.’

Recreational anglers who foul hook fish are not the problem. Unless someone is intentionally trying to snag a fish, I think most foul hooked fish come to anglers who are just too ‘quick on the trigger. Keep smiling, get back to fishing. The tarpon by the tail, tale, might make a pretty good fish story when he grows up.

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Manatee Myth Busting PAGE

ON THE LINE

By Capt. Ron Blago Water LIFE Senior Staff Someone sent me a copy of the April issue of National Geographic magazine which has an article on manatees. The article contained some good information on the trouble they are having in the Crystal River area with tourist verses manatees. You should go to their web site and watch the video called “Manatee Madness” and see what happens to manatee protection when there is money involved.

What really got my blood pressure up was a chart they had which listed the causes of (non-infant) manatee deaths in Florida from 1974 to 2011. On the top of their list was watercraft mortality listed as 28% of the total mortality.

There are a few items with their chart that I have a problem with. First off is why did they start their data collection at 1974. Back then their was not much money or personnel used to study manatee mortality. In ‘74 there were a grand total of 7 manatee mortalities; hardly significant when compared to the 566 dead that have been recovered so far this year. The other thing that bothered me was

why did National Geographic exclude non-infant manatees from their list? And what did they mean by non-infant?

Of course they had to take a shot at boat owners by including this statement “Scores (manatees) are killed each year in collisions with watercraft; fueling the conflict between conservationist and boaters.” I guess the folks at National Geographic think that boaters can't be a conservationist or that a lot of conservationist are also boaters.

The FWC has the responsibility for collecting manatee mortality data. They put all dead manatees into one of 8 categories, noninfant is not one of them. They do have a category called Perinatal deaths which is a dead manatee- “less than 5ft. in length which was not determined to have died due to human related causes.” Had National Geograhic included these perinatal deaths in the total, the percentage of watercraft deaths

would have shrunk considerably.

People use statistics to lie, but you need statistics to tell the truth. My data starts in 1991 and end at the end of 2012. Why 1991? Because that is the first year the state legislature required the FWC to produce a synoptic survey (including aerial surveys) to estimate the total manatee population. All the data generated before then was pretty much guess work.

Remember that the real threat to manatees comes from those who exploit the manatee for a paycheck.

The answers to the following Manatee Myth Buster Quiz comes from the 22 year period starting in 1991.

Of the 8 categories the FWC uses for

manatee mortality. Which one accounts for the largest number of deaths?

Answer: - Undetermined- which make up

25.25% of the total

What percentage of manatee deaths

are not caused by watercraft Answer: - 80%

Which category accounts for the

most dead manatees- watercraft or perinatal? Answer: - Perinatal by a hair with 20.45% vs watercraft at 20.35%

JUNE 2013

Crow Murders

We have been watching a family of crows build a nest in a tree on the vacant lot next door. Fitting to their legend the nest is at the top of the tree. This crow, almost two months old, took advantage of Mayʼs gusty winds to spread his wings and then we watched as the bird made his first flight.

Crows are social birds that spend their time in family groups known as flocks or murders. The groups start as small as two crows and grow to as many as 15. Some crows stick with the murder for up to 7 years.

This spring both parents worked for several weeks building their nest. It takes about 18 days to incubate the eggs and during this period her mate or maybe one of her young from the previous year brought momma crow food. One bird dropped this fruity flower they were eating.

For a month after hatching, adults in the murder helped feed the four new chicks. Now they are all flying, but return nightly to the nest.

JUNE 2013

GUIDING

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Down One Side, Up the Other

By Capt David Stephens Water LIFE Inshore Did you ever notice, it never fails, when something breaks it’s always on a four day weekend!

This time it was my Power Pole anchor but it’s fixed now.

The fishing has been good!

We had lots of snook on yesterday’s charter. We lost count of how many snook we caught, and they were all anywhere from 20 to 33 inches. And on top of that we had a lot of real nice trout.

For the most part, I’m using whitebait. We caught a few trout on the BadonkaDonk topwaters, This 40-inch snook was caught and released in the ones with the black back and May by Rachel Stephens the blue stripe down the side. It’s in the cut off. a lightweight low pitch lure.

It seems like we’ve been going down Fishing has been all around great one side, usually on the east side, and anywhere from Two Pine (south of then we work our way back along the Burnt Store) to the Myakka cut off.

West Wall.

I’ve done a number of full day charters The fish have been on the outer iswhere we started out and went down to lands, the windblown spots like Two Two Pine and when I got done we were

$2 off any haircut!

Sardines dimple the water surface, giving away their position.

Tits, around Pirate Harbor and Alligator Creek. I’ve been going around Pirate Harbor for the white bait.

I like to wander around and look for the right spots. The bigger shorelines are the ones with the nice, what I call ‘weedlines,’ but it’s really where the grass and the sand meet.

Starting around the southern end of the west side, where the waster isn’t too murky, try to fish the greener bushes or the dead wood on the higher tides.

Most of my clients are not wade fish-

ermen, but yesterday we saw a ton of people wade fishing between Two Pine and Burnt Store. It was so thick with wade fishermen I had to swing my boat outside the bar to run north. That seems to be the spot for wade fishing this time of year. Whatever you do right now, use flourocarbon leader because the water is so clear and try for very long casts.

Send me an email or give me a call.

Charters are customized to fit your needs.

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

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Sharks: PAGE

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The Shore Fisherman

By Bobby Vitalas Water LIFE Shore Fishing Sharks are great to catch. They give a good fight. This shark was caught at Tom Adam’s Bridge Pier, fishing from low to high tide in the morning. You can catch shark from the beginning of the Pier to the end of the Pier. There are many different types of sharks that you can catch, and we do, catch and release. When catching shark I use either ladyfish or dead pilchard baits. The best way to catch ladyfish for bait is to use Got-CHA lures which work great. The GOT-CHA lure to use is a 1- or just a 7/8-ounce weight with a color chartreuse head.

When using ladyfish for bait, cut the bait up in chunks, with the ladyfish and pilchards, use a 2/0 to 3/0 circle hook which works fine. The way to catch

pilchards is to use sabiki rigs. Hook size 6 works best. The best weight to put on the sabiki is 1oz. If there is a strong current, go to a heavier weight. The best place to use a sabiki rig is on a pier or off of a boat. I am using 30lb. test SUFIX ADVANCED SUPER LINE (BRAID) as my main line. The leader line I am using is one foot of 30-pound test SURFLON American fishing nylon coated stainless steel wire color (black). The reason why I am using wire line is because sharks have very sharp teeth. I put a weight of 2ounces on leader wire. When putting the hook on the wire leader. I am using two hooks. One as my main hook, and the other as a stinger hook. With this method, it would be hard for the shark to break off. So, have a great time fishing for shark.

Looking Outside the Factory Box

By Michael Heller I’m pretty good at flushing my outboard regularly. I’ve got a set up with a SaltAway dispenser on a hose that hangs on the fence behind my boat pad. When I pull the boat up on my davits and swing it onto the pad I snap on the quick connector and

turn it on. I even have a pressure gauge on the hose so I don’t overpower the engine’s flush system. Last month when I went to flush the engine I heard a sickening kerthwump sound followed by a gushing of water. I knew immediately what happened. A lizard or some other critter

stuffed up my flush hose, and when I turned the water on it plugged up the inlet and burst the little s-shaped wash out hose Mercurys have from the back of the cowling.

I went to my friendly Mercury dealer and asked for a new hose. It was $33. I swallowed hard and paid, but on the way home I stopped at the auto parts store on Taylor Rd. in Punta Gorda, went through the back room and found a Gates# 19605 heater hose that had the same bend in it for $11.

I took it home, cut it appropriately and installed it.

Perfect fit! And then I made a critter proof cover for my flush hose.

JUNE 2013

JUNE 2013

WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM

Water: Clear to Coffee Brown

By Capt. Chuck Eichner Water LIFE Punta Gorda Fishing Spring fishing on Charlotte Harbor this year was incredible. The baitfish populations have been remarkable and the backcountry fish have been on fire. Speckled trout in the 4-6 pound category became a common catch on every trip and sometimes there were many. Without a doubt in 12 years of fishing here, this was the best trout fishing I have ever seen. Snook and red fishing was also fantastic and most trips we could count 40 or more fish at boat side by day’s end. Jack Crevalle have made a huge comeback with some days running from the jacks once they invaded my fishing hole. I can only get my arms pulled off so many times by jacks before wanting to catch more challenging fish. What a nice problem to have!

Towards the end of May, I found the fishing to taper off and I largely blamed this on the incredible clear water. Chumming with live pilchards often produced surface action but the fish easily picked out a bait with a hook in it and avoided it like the plague. Snook and redfish were easily spotted but on the flip side they probably picked me out 500 yards away despite a stealthy approach. By the end of June clear water will likely be a distant memory as our rainy season will introduce tannic acid produced from the countless miles of mangrove shorelines on the river systems entering the harbor.

The first 2 weeks of June will likely see clearer waters until the rains arrive in earnest. Capt. Missy Becker opened my eyes up to a different approach when fish-

ing in the clear water. With sheets of baitfish skirting the flats and mangroves I normally fish in areas away from all of the bait figuring that they have all they want to eat‌.why pick on one lonely pilchard free swimming amongst thousands. But the proof is in the picture! Missy fishes around the schools of bait and consistently is taking huge snook! Perhaps the fish are so distracted with the schools of bait that they let their guard down plucking out the easy catch.

For the short window remaining with clear water it is time to idle the harbor with a friend on the bow as a spotter. Idle, drift or troll motor shorelines, mangroves and flats and pick out the deeper areas.

You need good sunlight and 11:00am2:00pm is the best time to look as the sun is directly overhead. Our flats fish relate

LBTC Fishing Tourney

The second Lemon Bay High School Football inshore/offshore fishing tournament is set for July 6 out of Cape Haze Marina in Englewood.

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Fishing guide Capt. Missy Becker with a fat Charlotte Harbor snook.

to the deeper pockets and troughs and are attracted to them like a magnet. Once the waters become dark and mysterious you will know where to come back and fish.

Eventually you will not be able to tell if the water is a foot or 5 feet deep. This will be time well spent and will help your fishing for the rest of the year. If you are lucky, you may see fish in these spots but every spot is different and fish use them at different parts of the tide, so make record of every deep spot off a mangrove or on the flats.

With the influx of rain, we experience salinity changes. The mix of fresh and salt water is at the basic core of a tidal estuary. Salty water becomes more brackish and the smallest of sea creatures will react to it. Crabs, shrimp and baitfish will react and with that gamefish will follow their

Pre-registration entry is $350 per boat for up to four anglers, with a $50 fee for additional anglers.

Fees are $400 per boat the day of tournament registration for up to four anglers and $50 for additional anglers. Sponsorships are available.

The tournament is organized by the Lemon Bay

food sources. Some baitfish like threadfin herring may leave if the harbor becomes too fresh. Blue channel crabs will like the freshwater and I expect to see more and more in my crab traps. Crabs are number one on the menu for redfish and we will see more redfish the further we get into summer.

My advice for early June is to quietly look for the best places to fish while the water is clear. If you put a dozen new potential locations to fish on your scorecard, odds are four or more will likely produce.

You will be really happy you sacrificed the fishing time once the rain hides the fish and their haunts.

Capt. Chuck Eichner operates Action Flats Backcountry Charters and can be reached at: 941-628-8040 or go to his website: www.backcountry-charters.com

Touchdown Club, and all proceeds benefit the Manta Ray football program. For more information, visit www.lbtdclub.com or contact Tom Hinck at 941-716-0442, Dave Nelson at 239-398-4263, Dan Reigle at 941-716-2795 or Jim Connaghan at 941-209-9646.

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How Did We Forget The Fun Part?

By Fishin’ Frank Water LIFE Baitshop Ahh the wonder of being on the water, the peace, the tranquility, the fishermen yelling nasty things?? Well, yes this seems to be the thing out at Boca Grande Pass. Water LIFE publisher Mike Heller asked me to drive his boat while he took pictures during one of the P.T.T.S. tournaments last month. The trip had the extra incentive of the Boca Grande Guide Association, (Save the Tarpon) protest going on that day. We got out there about 6:30 am after a beautiful ride down Charlotte Harbor. The sun low on the mangroves; this is such an amazing place. We got there, and with nothing to do I started counting and there was about 100 jig boats and 4 protest boats. By 9:30 or so there were about 200 jig boats and 18 protest boats, that I could see. I guess identify that is, I have since learned that there were protesters who were just sitting in their boats somewhere around the area but did not want to have signs or be in the pass, but were protesting by being near the area? No I don’t get that either.

I did see something really funny to me, this boat had a sign on it, No Skill Using Jigs. Me being the sick individual I am could not help but think, The Pass is the largest fishing lottery there is. When you have a couple hundred boats all with in yards of each other, ‘Please bite mine fishy,’ is the realist thought. Hundreds of boats dropping jigs, bait, and every type of fish-catching contraption, type thing you can think of, so you drop a jig down and hold it there with "here fishy fishy" going through your head, then you drop a bait down, here is where the skill level increases, you need to say ‘here fishy fishy’ with a

deeper voice. I have since been told by ‘no skill’ they mean that the jig snags fish. Well ok, if that is true and maybe it is, or maybe it is not, does it really change the ‘here fishy fishy’ lotto aspect? It is still just too funny.

There are only a handful of people who have the pass figured out. They do it day after day, year after year.

Most use Bait, Jigs, and Lures, whatever it takes to get hooked up. These are mostly Charter Captains trying to give their customers that moment in their life they will never forget, the fight with a fish as big as they are, that can jump-into the sunlight and smash back down in the water with a magnificent crush of white water splashing.

The guys fishin the tournament, well I did not find too interesting, but the tourist guy all sunburned hooked up to a what looked like a 140 pound tarpon, his arms like limp noodles, having been on that fish for over 30 minutes, face red, shoulders bent, mouth breathing, grinning from ear to ear. That guy was so busy fighting and trying to stay with that tarpon I doubt he was even was aware of anything but that fish. Finally it was next to the boat, the hook was removed, and the fish held then released. You could see the moment when all of a sudden he realized.

"HEY I DID IT" the exhaustion was gone and he was all but dancing on the deck.

I really don’t care about a bunch of tournament anglers, or fishing guides, worried about who is hiring who.

I find that after all these years, my biggest kick is the people who are just out there having the fun, that is fishin.

My final impression of that day was a surprising lack of non-professional boats, 200 plus jig boats, some which

JUNE 2013

could have been phantom protesters, a couple dozen protesters, but only a handful of people out there in their own boats just looking to enjoy some fishing in the world famous Boca Grande Pass.

I believe the fighting has got to the point where regular people just don’t want to get in the middle of it. I will go on record here. I believe, if all we can do as fisherman is fight and call each other names, let’s ban all fishing in the pass in April, May and June. Boca was the tarpon capitol of the world, now it is just the place where people yell nasty stuff at each other. I would rather see it closed off completely. This is embarrassing for the whole of South west Florida. How did we forget the fun part?

Frank can be reached at: 625-3888 or at: Frank@ FishinFranks.com

RESPECT? What lesson about respect did these young anglers learn when the Save the Tarpon megaphone was used to broadcast slurs and obscenitys.

JUNE 2013

WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM

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Some People Evidently Really Wanted to Save the Tarpon

By Michael Heller Water LIFE editor Resources already severly depleted by Federal and State budget cuts are being diverted to deal with what I call commercial fishing ventures that are private money making businesses. Both the Boca Grande Fishing Guides (I’ll call them BGFG) and the Professional Tarpon Tournament Series put on by Ingman Marine (I’ll call that IMPTTS) make their money from the tarpon fishery in Boca Grande.

The fact that all tarpon fishing in Boca Grande preys on a pre-spawning, aggregating fish population requires more thought on another day, but today, keeping watch over these fighting factions takes money and resources and the two factions contribute neither.

Commercial fishing tournaments are no different than any other commercial fishing venture and as such they should be State licensed, taxed and regulated accordingly. Tournaments shouldn’t be the recreational angler’s problem.

Over the last 12 or 15 years, some good has come from all the tarpon controversy. Fish arent’ dragged to a scale, lip gaffing is no longer used, and depending on the group, fish are either unhooked, measured and released where caught, or released by breaking off the leader.

Many of the boats at last month’s ‘protest’ were the same live bait drift fishing boats I saw 15 years ago when I first started reporting and taking pictures in Boca Grande Pass. Back then the BGFG guys, fishing from those same drift boats I saw last week, would yell at me ‘Hey we are trying to make a living here’ and then try to shoo me away. It was their Pass, they’d let you know it.

Back then, the old Miller's Marina Catch the King tournament was going on, it was like the IMPTTS today, except they weren’t filming it for TV. Guys in flats boats fished in the Catch the King tournament with (then) smaller tarpon jigs, and at the same time the Old BGF Guides fished their clients in the Pass and in the World’s Richest Tarpon Tournament with live bait in their same old boats.

I like the old guide’s slow approach to tarpon and I like the insanity and the ac-

tion pictures I get of the IMPTTS, but you'll never convince me otherwise, the problem with jig fishing in the pass wasn’t the jigs or the drift, it was that the jiggers were bringing a lot more fish to the surface than the old live baiting guides. It didn’t matter if the fish were snagged or not; the old guides were fishing high dollar corporate and social clients and the jiggers just made them look bad. The hatred was cast.

The BGFG claimed ‘foul’ and began pointing to foul hooked fish. ‘Hooked outside the mouth,’ became the first battle cry of the BGFG. Then it went to ‘Intentionally snagged.’

Some BGFG men started fishing at night, some switched over to jig fishing, some then switched back. Jigging was a lot more work than drift fishing.

Fishfinders evolved and the new mind set became why drift? Why leave the school when you can sit right on them?

Drifting was no longer a good option, especially with 200 boats in the pass.

Meanwhile, the FWC stepped in to clarify how the tarpon jigs had to be assembled. The weight now had to be attached with a tie having a specific breaking strength. Jiggers soon came up with a new heavier jig with the hook cast into the lead or a thinner, breakable eye.

Since the lip-gaf was outlawed anglers have been experimenting with other devices. Here a hand hook on a tethered line is used to control the fish.

The Ingman Marine PTTS now use a girth snare (L) and a tape (R) to measure fish

Then last year BGFG mounted a publicity campaign. They established a group called Save the Tarpon. It was a great sounding name and many guides did care about saving the tarpon... many because the fish were their meal ticket.

They circulated petitions and clicked up over 18,000 likes on facebook, they got their past president to write a regular column for the daily paper, they seemed to have chosen the high road about caring for tarpon. Then, last month, the BGFG brought a sign to the protest demanding ‘Respect’ and megaphone to broadcast obscenitys. The IMPTTS camera boats took over. The BGFG got the emanant tarpon expert to say that the jig is actually a snare. The IMPTTS circulated tapes of the

obscenitys. Nothing had changed.

The Save the Tarpon leaders are tarpon guides and fishermen, fishing tarpon every day and fishing in tarpon tournaments of their own. Some petition signers said had they known Save the Tarpon supported a tarpon tournament, they would not have signed it. Some people who initially aligned themselves with Save the Tarpon actually wanted to save the tarpon.

There is no reason to believe if the jig was banned today the same jig anglers would not be fishing for tarpon again tomorrow, just with a different rig. .. and there is no doubt the BGFG wouldn’t like them any better than yesterday. This is a cultural battle over money and power.

The tarpon are just a fish in the middle.

Silver Kings and Toothy Machines PAGE

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By Capt Billy Barton Water LIFE / Charlotte Harbor We live in one of the most beautiful places on this planet! As Floridians we are truly blessed and have so much here to appreciate and take advantage of! I am sincerely, 100 percent, without-a-shadow-of-a-doubt a true Floridian. It's in my blood. I spend every day of my life savoring what this place has to offer. I don't take one second for granted. I am passionate about the saltwater and what lives in it. I will never leave this beautiful place unless the fish leave, but if that happens I'll follow them wherever they go if I have to!

Speaking of fish and fishing... If I could ball up the whole of last month’s fishing and describe it in one word... The word I would choose would be (in all caps) W0W!!! If I had to choose one favorite month to be on the water with a rod in my hand, I know I say it all the time, but it would be May. Don't get me wrong, our fishery is great here all year long. Once you know what's here, you know what to target and how to target what you're after. However, May is when all the real "big" fish have officially arrived for us to enjoy all summer long. I don't know about y'all, but one of my favorite sounds is a screaming drag.

Actually, it's probably at the top of the list of my favorite sounds. This is the time of year to get out there and hear that noise over and over and over again! Am I getting through!?

The tarpon and shark fishing have both been outstanding over this last month.

The tarpon were out in the holes in the Harbor for a few weeks, but for some unapparent reason they just haven't shown back up yet. They should re appear here in the Harbor pretty soon. When they do, I would think a live lady fish or a small live mullet would be the bait of choice.

However, currently your best chance at hooking up a tarpon is going to be down in Boca Grande, with small blue crabs or pass crabs as bait. Boca Grande pass can be a dangerous place. With an insane amount of boat traffic, super swift rip tides, sharks, and multiple people hooking very big fish all at once, things can get kind of hairy out there at times. So when fishing there always be cautious and aware of what's going on around you,

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and operate your vessel with caution.

One other thing I need to touch on is all the fish out in the center of the Harbor right now. Specifically, in the holes. There is just a world of fun to be had with sharks, cobia, and Spanish mackerel. What I like about this type of fishing is it really is fairly simple, they're hard fighting fish, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out how it's done. Stop by your local bait shop and buy yourself a chum block. Make sure you pick up some wire leaders so that you don't get bit off, and get yourself a box of frozen sardines or some mullet for cut bait. Get out there in the middle of the Harbor, anchor up and start your chum slick.

You should have no problems at all catching your fair share of sharks, and maybe, if you’re lucky, you might even pick up a cobia. I'm hearing cobia stories coming from all corners and parts of the Harbor right now.

Especially out in the holes, on the bars, and near the bridges.

Well, that's my little rundown on what's going on out there for this month. There's plenty of silver kings and toothy machines to go around, so go rip some lips, get that rod bent and let that drag scream! I hope y'all are having as much fun as I am out there! It's now 5 a.m., and I'm checking out cause I can hear them fish callin my name!

Capt. Billy Barton operates Scales N Tails Charters. Phone 979-6140 or email him at : bartonw24@yahoo.com

JUNE 2013

JUNE 2013

WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM

PAGE 13

Fishin for Dinner PAGE

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JUNE 2013

big fish pull. Pine Island Sound and Charlotte Harbor are great places to hunt for the other two- tarpon and shark - that will quench your desire to battle with something that pulls back hard.

There are plenty of reds, snook, and trout in these areas as well. This is the time of year you can accomplish the S.W. Florida Grand Slam that consists of a snook, red, trout, and a tarpon and put that check in the box on your bucket list.

81-year old Nat got his redfish for dinner

By Capt. Bart Marx Water LIFE Fishing

June again, summer and hurricane season are here. There are plenty of anglers around looking for tarpon and sharks this month and there are plenty of those guys around to quench your big fish appetite.

There are plenty of the other guys offshore that will give you a battle of your life too.

I am talking about Goliath grouper, they hang around the reefs and wait till you are taking too long to get a mangrove snapper or a lane to the boat which is, in his mind, fair-game for a snack.

All of these big fish require some preparation to battle. Each one needs a little different rigging. Sharks need some wire to deal with the teeth and tarpon and goliath just need some heavy fluorocarbon to deal with the coarse jaws. You can even go all out and do your Bimini twist and check the IGFA rules if you think that you are going to break some type of a record.

Even if you don’t go offshore you can still get hooked up with sharks, tarpon and goliath too. The old phosphate dock is well known for goliath if you need that

June is a pretty hot month for fishing if you focus on just the few that we have been talking about. If you are looking for a bounty of fish for a neighborhood fish fry or dinner for two there should be no problem.

Looking back at some of my recent trips it was my pleasure to take Frank and Karen from Connecticut. They bought a donated trip from the Disabled American Veterans Chapter #82 for a fund raiser auction. They had a great trip. Frank caught a nice flounder, and Karen caught a nice snook to throw back and grow up.

They had a great time on the waters of Charlotte Harbor. They are big water fishermen used to trolling in the North East on big sport fisher boats way out in the ocean, but they really enjoyed this type of fishing too.

Another outing with a father and son team, dad from Long Island, Nat and son from Texas, Mike. Nat is 81 years young.

I met these guys at the dock and they informed me that they would like a nice fish for a meal for the two of them and the rest we will release.

It started a little slow, the snapper and pinfish were stealing the bait as fast as we could get it out there. We moved down the mangroves with the trolling motor and we sent some shrimp into the mangroves as if we were squirrel fishing LOL. We found a

Frank and Karen with a Charlotte Harbor flounder

spot that was productive and caught some nice reds and snapper, up close to the mangroves. Then we moved out to the open grass flats and drifted with the breeze (that was enjoyable) and caught some trout and lady fish ( the poor man’s tarpon). It was a memory making trip for these guys and they made some good ones. Nat caught two nice reds that trip

and one was dinner, Mike caught his share of nice fish too, but it was all about dad catching fish that was the fun.

If you would like to come along and make a memory trip for yourself, give Capt Bart Marx a call 941-979-6517 and we will get you hooked up. Until next time remember singing drags and tight lines make me smile.

JUNE 2013

Offshore

WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM

with Captain Steve Skevington

Reds are in, Gags are Moving Out

By Capt. Steve Skevington Water LIFE Offshore Grouper fishing has been fantastic!

There are lots of red grouper and they are eating everything we put under the boat; cut mullet, squid, live pinfish, even paddle tail jigs! We fished 45 to 90 feet and the reds have been everywhere in there. The red grouper come in and the gags move out with the cooler water. Once you see tarpon and permit the gags are moving out ... except this year. I think what happened this year is we were fishing ledges and wrecks for the gags. Then once the reds came back in everybody started to go back to the hard bottom so it took a little longer to find them. We have more straggler gags because no one is harvesting them. Deeper, in 70 to 110-feet of water, there are gor-

geous fat vermillion snapper, most from12 - to15- inches. They were eating tiny pieces of cut bait, shrimp and squid.

We’ve also had some huge mangs on the offshore wrecks. They come right up to the back of the boat in the clear water. We don’t even have to chum, you just put one bait out at a time to keep away from the goliath grouper. We had 4 goliath at the surface, yesterday, waiting for our mangs.

Permit are stacked up eating crabs all day long. Sharks are everywhere we had a tiger eat a 50 pound aj right off our hook.

With a strong east wind it blows the tarpon off the beach. Some guys have been as far as 5 miles offshore looking for them.

Capt Steve Skevington Paradise Fishing Charters 941-575-3528

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House Bill 999 PAGE

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JUNE 2013

CS/CS/CS/HB 999 is an Environmental Regulation bill and contains the following provisions that are important to Marine Industries:

* Boat Show Leases - Allows for 10-year leases or consents of use for boat show owners; allows reconfigurations of temporary docking facilities within the lease area; simplifies lease fee calculations to be based on the size of the actual preempted area and period of the preemption. * Boat Show Permits - Directs DEP to issue special events permits, which run concurrently with the consent of use or lease of government property as allowed under s. 253.0345, and which also allow movement of temporary structures within the lease area.

* Seawalls - Adopts the federal standard for restoration of seawall restoration.

This does not eliminate anyone from occupying lands owned by the Board of Trustees or Water Management District.

The language increases restoration of a seawall from it previous location from twelve inches to eighteen inches. This does not affect the permitting requirements of Chapter 161 and DEP rules. * Multi-family Docks - Adds dock fee reductions for certain multi-family docks so they are more fairly treated as residential docks than commercial docks.

This is a fairness issue. This language treats condo owners with a dock the same as a single family homeowner.

* Managed Public Mooring Fields - Provides for general permitting of mooring fields not exceeding 100 vessels ; removes availability of a general permit for public marinas, so all marinas will be subject to the standard permitting process. Mooring fields are environmentally friendly and more economical. This language is intended to be an incentive for local governments to consider mooring fields in their area as they will reduce seagrass scarring by providing a place for boaters to tie up their boats instead of anchoring in seagrass areas.

Another strong benefit of mooring fields is the provide pump out facilities for vessels.

The Tiki Bar at the Four Points hotel has become a popular spot to kick back and take in the sunset

Real Estate News

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

Recent area news items: Recent area news items:

1. The Warm Mineral Springs saga continues.... After an unsuccessful attempt to sell its 50% interest in this questionable asset to Sarasota County, the City of North Port now feels that it would explore purchasing Sarasota's share. North Port had turned down an offer to buy out their share for $2 million.

2. The high bidder, and now proud owner, of the IMPAC University facility on Retta Esplanade in Punta Gorda has been revealed to be billionaire investor, Brad Kelley. The property was sold for $3,520,000. Kelley has purchased large tracts of land in our area from his local base in Venice. Kelley is also the owner of Calumet Farms, producer of this year's Kentucky Derby 6th place horse and Preakness win-

ner, Oxbow. Although he has not yet indicated his intended use of the property, he will be getting invitations from Charlotte County's Development Officer, Tom Patton. Mr. Patton is still determined to locate a business incubator on this property.

3. Some 883 citizens responded to Punta Gorda's questionnare about their satisfaction with the quality of city water.

Although 40% of them indicated that they owned water softeners and 20% owned reverse osmosis systems, more than half indi-

cated that they would be in favor of paying higher water bills if the city built an r/o system to remove solids from half of the city's water supply. Even though proposed system will only filter half of the city's water supply, city council unanimously approved the $28 million + investment.

4. Charlotte County made its first installment of $10,000 towards a $250K commitment to fund costs of a series of speedboat races next year. The County hopes to recover these

taxpayer dollars from room and sales taxes paid by visitors to the event. Speedboat International has convinced the proactive commissioners that this event will fill 1500 hotel rooms.

I don't know who convinced them that 1500 vacant hotel rooms even exist.

In other news: Tortuga restaurant says they will now take reservations for less than six - enjoy!

The Olʼ Fishinʼ Hole

JUNE 2013

By Captain Jim O’Brien Water LIFE Offshore Hey ya -all I hope ya-all have been getting out fish'n man these beautiful days mother nature have given us I mean 5 to 10 kt winds, 1 to 2 ft seas, this is the time to run deep.

Last month we took out 5 color guards and some wounded veterans from Vietnam and Iraq. We did the color guard presentation in Boca Grande pass at 8 Sunday morning. It was great! The wounded warriors and the color guards were all from Tampa. The color guards in our boat were Rudy Salas, Doc Milligan, Steve Allberry, and Mike Flynn. The guys in the other boat were wounded warriors Rick Donaldson, Chris Martin and Chris Dooley. When the color guard presentation was over, the PTTS tarpon tournament started. Some of the guys in the tournament had American flags flying on their boats and at the end every one clapped and the tournament started. We will have some people from the Amputee Veterans American Support Team aboard soon.

Fishin’ is just great. Everything is here; the tarpon are here the sharks are in the pass and the Harbor also, and ther are some BIG-UNS on the offshore wrecks. We’ve got permit, aj's, cobia, I mean to tell ya, if you havn't got out there yet you’re going to miss the train.

We have a fishery that's great and that’s the American red snapper. By the time you read this it will be open (It opens JUNE 1 to JULY 15) so if you like these tasty snappers you only have 6 weeks to fish for them. Your limit on these snappers are 2 per person and have to be at least 16 in. long, but believe me if you go out about 50 miles they get big out there and you won't have to worry about if they are 16-inches or not.

While we’re talk'n about fish openings and closing, when the American red snapper opens JUNE 1 the AJ'S will close from JUNE to JULY 31. I sure don't know why they are shutting down AJs, there are so many out there it’s not funny Now we get down to the GAG GROUPERS that we’re catching out there and throwing back. Fom what I

WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM

PAGE 17

am hearing, the GAGS should open JULY 1st and close.... I’m not sure when.

Now on to what the fish are doing: TARPON - are off the beaches, in Boca Grande pass and up in the Harbor. Right now, the best baits are blue crabs, pass crabs, cut mullet and pin fish.

SHARK - are all over the place. They are in the Pass and on the near shore reefs and the offshore wrecks.

Good baits are chunks of fresh bonita, mullet slabs, barracuda strips and Spanish mackerel slabs. The black tip sharks are very good eating, you just have to remember as soon as you get the shark in the boat if you decide to keep it, Take your knife and put it on top of his head just across his eyes and pop your knife straight down and its an instant kill. Then you should have a serated blade knife and you can cut him from the anal fin to the throat.

This part is a little gory, but it will make all the difference when you are eating it. You have to remove all the

inerds, the stomach the intestines everything must go, then put the shark in your bag or cooler and put a lot of ice over him. Then put a bucket or 2 of salt water over the ice. This makes a very cold ice slurry that will get into his stomach cavity and the surrounding areas. It will keep the shark ice cold until you get back to dock and cut your steaks. I cut them 1 1/2 to 2 in. thick. Don't forget, you can't cut the shark up until you’re back to dock, that's the law. If you catch a shark and just put him in the cooler he will excrete all of his body fluids through the pores of his skin and you will have very bad tasting meat. Like I said, blacktips are a very good tasting shark so long as you clean him right away.

AJ'S - are still on the offshore wrecks and reefs. They are in abundance, there sure isn't a shortage on these bruisers. Best baits are live blue runners or big pin fish MANGROVE SNAPPER and PORGIES - the big-uns like these mangs, were all over 20-inches.

Best bait live shrimp or squid.

GAG GROUPER NOT IN SEASON some bruisers are being caught in 85 to 120 ft of water. Live pin fish, squirrel fish, mullet and squid combos are your best baits BLACK GROUPER - are in your deeper waters of 120 to 200-feet. You can use verticle jigs on these bad boys or live pin fish.

RED GROUPER - are on fire right now. Some monsters coming in from 90 to 140-feet of water. Best baits whole squid, mullet and sardines.

Well, it’s time to get out of here.

If you have a good ol’ fish story or a recipe for cooking fish that we can share with our readers send ‘em in!

AND REMEMBER, GET OUT THERE AND SNORT SOME OF THAT GOOD CLEAN SALT AIR C U Z IT'S GOOD FER YA ! ! !

To book an offshore charter with us aboard the Predator II call 941- 473-2150

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Call the Captain! PORT CHARLOTTE SAILBOAT WATERFRONT HOME, complete remodel with quick deep water access, 3/2/2 $249,900

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Call the Captain! WATER PRIVILEGED GULF COVE 3/2/2 pool home with 4 car garage on 1 acre. $269,900

Pineapple PAGE

18

If you are a fishermen you probably have the right tools to cut up a pineapple and pineapples are cheap right now ($2.50) Use a flat blade to cut the top and bottom off and to trim the skin, then use your long bladed fillet knife to cut around the heart and then push it out with your finger. Cut to rings or sections for serving and enjoy!

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KAYAKING

Withlacoochee Weekend

David Allen Water LIFE Kayaking My wife and I always celebrate her birthday by visiting a new area somewhere in Florida in the hope of finding some great kayaking and also an extended bike ride. Now to be fair, this was not my first trip to the Inverness for paddling and biking. A number of years ago, a small group of friends would spend a long weekend paddling the springs and rivers between Dunnellon, Ocala and Inverness, and sometimes slip over west to Homosassa and Crystal River. The paddling in the springs and river was great as was the camaraderie around the campfire in the evening. One of the rivers that we enjoyed the most was the Withlacoochee River and we paddled it launching from several different locations. And as a past member of the Coastal Cruisers Bicycle Club, I have been to Inverness for rides several times. The Withlacoochee Trail, 46 miles of “Rails to Trails” asphalt, winding through the countryside is one of the best riding locations in the state.

So we got on the internet, found an intriguing “Bed & Breakfast”, and headed north, 175 miles, to Inverness. To those who have visited Inverness you will recall that Inverness is located in an area of interconnected lakes, ponds and channels.

Our “Bed & Breakfast”, located on Gospel Island, was situated on just such a lake. From there, we could have paddled throughout much of Inverness without ever leaving our weekend home. However, we elected to drive about 5 miles east of Inverness on Highway 44 to a state-operated launch site on the Withlacoochee.

For those of you who haven’t paddled the Withlacoochee, it is one of the few rivers in the world that flows to the north.

Actually, the river originates in the “Green Swamp” east of Polk City and flow 141 miles north to exit in the Gulf of Mexico at Yankeetown. Along the way, it merges with the Rainbow River (Spring) at Dunnellon, adding the crystal clear flow of the spring to its volume flowing northward. And, for most of its length, it flows through pristine wilderness areas with cypress along the riverbank and an abundance of wildlife.

As we paddled north from the launch site, we saw many species of birds, and maybe even an eagle soaring overhead,

JUNE 2013

If you have a few days to explore a new location for kayaking and more, let me suggest the Inverness area in Citrus County.

plus a small alligator. But the highlight of the trip was a family of five river otters playing along the riverbank. We only saw them briefly, as they dove into the reeds to escape our kayaks.

The second day we devoted to taking a long bike ride on the Trail. We parked at the historic railroad station in downtown Inverness and pedaled south through gently-rolling terrain and back to Inverness.

We saw a very large turtle alongside the trail, but later we saw a small group of bikers clustered by the side of the trail.

They said that they had seen a flock of wild turkeys, but the birds had just flown away. We could hear their calls, but didn’t see any of the birds.

The last day of the trip, we drove about 20 miles south to The Silver Lake Recreational Area. This lake is close to Croom and Trilby, which also marks the south end of the bike trail. The lake is actually just a widening of the Withlacoochee River, but there are excellent launch facilities, a camping area and covered pavilions for lunch or a picnic.

It was a fairly windy day as we launched and paddled north. But within a half mile or so, the river became a narrow, windy pathway and we were protected from most of the wind. This section of the river is just beautiful…it’s hard to describe. Lots of wildlife and a perfect spot for a quiet, serene paddle. We couldn’t have enjoyed it more.

After returning to Silver Lake, we put our kayaks back on the trailer and headed south to home. The Withlacoochee River, almost anywhere along its length, is a great paddle and one I would personally recommend to anyone. One small fly in the ointment: We had dinner at a highly recommended restaurant in Inverness called Stumpknocker’s. Don’t make the same mistake we did.

The Port Charlotte Kayakers meet each Wednesday evening at 5:30 PM at Franz-Ross Park of Quesada Ave. All are welcome to attend. For more information call Dave Allen at 941-235-2588 or email to dlaa@comcast.net.

Assorted Species JUNE 2013

WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM

Martin Ranzer caught this sawfish in Charlotte Harbor at the end of April. We have been seeing more and more sawfish locally, over the last few years. Some sawfish have been tagged and are now being tracked in the Harbor.

PAGE 19

FISHING GUIDES NEEDED : Are you willing to share your expertise with our Don Ball School of Fishing students?

Can you devote 1 night a week this fall to talk about fishing with our 7th graders?

email: WaterLIFE@comcast.net or call 941-766-8180

Glenn Ballinger has a spot where he finds these African Pompano but he始s not giving up his numbers. All we know is he fishes out of Venice and we see African Pompano pictures from him every year.

Thanks!

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JUNE 2013

Your free copy of Water LIFE is waiting at over 100 locations These are a few of them:

Cooks

Sportland

4419 So. Tamiami Trail S. Venice 493-0025

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We say 驶thanks始 to our major distributors with these free card ads!

JUNE 2013

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SCUTTLEBUTT

Sometimes Unsubstanciated, But Often True Clean-A Gator Nav-A-Gator Grill & Marina is sponsoring the 19th annual Peace River Cleanup June 1 & 2. from 9am – 2pm A prize awarded for the most unique/unusual item found from the clean-up. Nav-a-Gator will donate free use of canoes and kayaks for cleanup participants. A limited number of vessels will be available for use; Call 941-627-3474

Conched Out FWC Officers responded to a call from the Lee County Sheriffʼs Office regarding a complaint that several subjects were taking live conch from Fort Myers Beach. According the information, several subjects had loaded the conch into the back of their vehicle and left the scene. Officers conducted a marine fisheries inspection, which revealed the subjects were in possession of approximately two gallons of live conch. During an interview, the subjects admitted that several people warned them not to take the live shells, so they discarded what they had collected, then decided to move to another location and collect more live shells. The subjects were issued citations for both violations.

Local Citation An FWC officer observed a vessel docking at the Englewood Bait House that had several fishing poles and coolers onboard. After the operator confirmed that he and his occupants had been fishing and had fish onboard, Officer Norris conducted a fisheries inspection. The inspection revealed five undersized red grouper. Two of the three occupants received citations.

NOAA Reports that six more stocks were declared rebuilt in 2012, bringing the total number of stocks rebuilt since 2000 to 32. This year's rebuilt stocks include Southern Tanner crab, Acadian redfish, windowpane, yellowtail flounder, coho salmon, and pink shrimp. In addition, overfishing is at an all-time low with 10 additional stocks removed from the overfishing list since last year. The number of overfished stocks also declined in 2012 with an additional four stocks removed from that list. Overall, of the 284 stocks whose status is known, 255 or 90% - are listed as not subject to overfishing.

Flew the Coop The FWC obtained warrants for the arrest of a subject caught last year selling snapper and snook fillets. The individual was observed fishing and was then observed filleting some fish. Officers followed the sub-

SCARY SIGHT: Holding on to an exhausted tarpon underwater in Boca Grande Pass in the spring or early summer could mean an easy ʻhand-outʼ for sharks.

ject and then observed him exchange the fish fillets, which were in plastic baggies, for cash.

Interviews with the buyer confirmed that some of the fillets were snook. The fish fillets were taken into evidence and DNA tested. Lab results revealed one bag to be snook fillets and the other to be snapper. The individual was not readily located at his home, and his work information had changed.

HarrassAManatee A joint investigation with US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the florida FWC into the harassment of a manatee after a video surfaced showing subjects luring manatees in with a water hose and then jumping off a dock onto the manateeʼs back.

The manatee that the subject jumped onto had a calf swimming next to it during the incident.

The manatee was not harmed; however, the case is being pursued by USFWS. A concerned citizen called the FWC after they witnessed a male capture a sea turtle in Curry Hammock State Park near Marathon.

The witness saw the subject in question place the turtle in a cooler. An officer arrived and contacted the witnesses who proceeded to describe the subject. The officer located the subject who was still in the park near the shoreline. A consensual search of the cooler revealed a dead green sea turtle. The subject was read his Miranda Rights. The subject admitted that he killed the turtle. The defendant was arrested and transported to the Monroe

County Jail in Marathon and was charged with the violation of the Marine Turtle Protection Act.

Crash Stash A Florida man who went hunting for pythons in Floridaʼs Everglades returned instead with a mysterious treasure: an antique, diamond-studded gold medallion that could date back to the 17th century.

How the handmade, penny-sized amulet got there is a riddle. One theory is it could have been aboard a ValuJet plane that crashed nearby in May 1996 – or that perhaps it was part of the debris field from an Eastern Airlines crash in the same area in 1972. The fact that it is partially melted on one side could support that idea. .

Park Service Officers concluded a brief surveillance and inquiry regarding the illegal purchase and sale of reef fish observed two men exchange several fish for cash and shrimp, including amberjack and Warsaw grouper. The next weekend, the officers watched as one man filled several coolers with fish heads and carcasses after they were filleted. The fish were caught on a recreational charter trip and were not commercially harvested. The next day, the man sold the carcasses to the same man who had driven from Louisiana to purchase them. After completing the transaction, the two men were stopped and interviewed.

Both admitted to the two illegal transactions.

The purchaser stated that he planned on selling the fish heads back in Louisiana. Seventyeight fish heads from amberjack, scamp, grouper, and barrel fish were seized, along with a bag of shrimp and $309 in currency.

Charges resulting from the transactions are pending.

Youth Sailing Program

The Charlotte County Family YMCA is now offering a scholarship to the first 10 registered in the 1st week only of the summer youth sailing programing starting June 3rd. For the first 10 registered, the cost will be $75.00 instead of the $140 for YMCA members and $95 instead of the $160 for nonmembers. SPACE IS LIMITED. The sessions will run Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. at the YMCA Bayfont Center, 750 W. Retta Esplanade, Punta Gorda. Registration and swim test are required. Ascending levels of experience for targeted sessions with a maximum class of 20 students from ages 8 to 16 years of age. If you have a small sailing or power boat that is no longer needed or would like to volunteer, please contact Lynn Tidwell at (941) 347-8855.

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Charlotte Harbor:

J J u u n n e e

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F F i i s s h h i i n n g g

F F o o r r e e c c a a s s t t

JUNE 2013

Frank, at Fishin' Franks Port Charlotte: 625-3888

Tarpon are still the big focus, and irrespective of the problems at Boca Grande, it’s still fun to fish for them out along the beaches and north and south of the Pass a few miles. The best tarpon fishing in Boca Grande Pass itself. Fishing in the pass in the morning, you have two choices; the standard jig or a Carolina jig with a hook and a ball sinker under it. Slide a 4oz sinker up the line to the swivel at 3-to 4feet. Use a large circle hook and rig a jerk bait on it. Try the Strike King Caffeine Shads or a Gulp. Strike King has the ultimate fish flavor; coffee with cream and sugar scent. I love it! My boat smells like coffee and cream all the time.

By mid day tarpon in the Pass slow down. Right now, crabs and threadfins are the best thing to use. Try using a 1/4 oz

rubber-core sinker above your knot with a crab or threadfin. If you dont have much current you won’t need it, but sometimes you need the weight to get your bait down in the water a little. My secret weapon is on the outgoing tide use select or hand pick shrimp on a 5-0 hook.

Hook them above the head, throw it up-current and let it drift out with the tide. It is deadly on the outgoing but not so much on the incoming. This is the last hurrah of the shrimp. It’s the last big shrimp push out to the Gulf and the tarpon are keyed in on the shrimp because there are a lot of shrimp moving around down deep. From here the shrimp go out to spawn in the Gulf. There are not a lot of tarpon in the Harbor right now. If you don’t want to go to the pass I’d

Austin Phillips with a nice cobia. Fishin Frank suggested cobia might follow schools of stingrays because they like to eat the stingray pups. photo: Capt Billy Barton

look at the rivers for tarpon. Get out just before daylight and fish the last hour or two of darkness at the bridges. The tarpon leave between 7 and 8 am. At the 41Bridge they leave at 7 or 8 and then they seem to hang out on the west side of Fishermen’s Village until 8 or 9 am. Where they go from there, who knows?

On the beaches, we are getting the spawning snook. There are big snook up to 50 inches. Cast your lure right up on the sand, a TT18 Mirrolure is a good choice, throw it on the sand and work it back into the water. The big fish are all within 10 feet of the shore. A 15-LongA Bomber or a Maverick Golden Eye is a good choice fishing from shore. Walk offshore knee deep and throw parallel to the shore, 2- to 10-feet from the water’s edge. Nice big fish. continued on facing page

Fishermen 3-year old Landon Ali caught this jack at the alligator creek pgi canal on a Wright & McGill 6'9" flat blue rod with a sabalos 3000 spinning reel and a Mirr-o-lure mirrOmullet top water lure. Good Job Landon! Keep Fishing!! Send more pictures!!!

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JUNE 2013

WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM

June June

PAGE 23

Sharks are out by the pass.

The and Fish to to expect expect in in and we we mean mean BIG BIG The BIG-4 BIG-4 Fish Sharks are in the Harbor. Gasparilla Island, Stump Pass and Gulf Temps the Bayshore Pier are all good for small to moderate size are in sharks now. Laishley pier has the 80s even had some good shark rain is coming TARPON In the Pass more and SHARK Sharks are everySNOOK in the deeper spots SPANISH MACKEREL In the fishing in recent evenings. outside the bars more, moving in and out Harbor In the Pass where, both big and small But for the big ones, you are going out to the beach. Some guys are kayaking their bait When it starts raining, regularly thats when we’ll out off the beach, bait with big hooks, 12-14-0 lose the majority of the trout that are left. hooks, and a 3-pound chunk of bonita, Spanish are up the Myakka, on the artificial Up inside the deep holes in the Harbor are good reef at Cape Haze and out along the beaches. shark fishing. Fish with chunks of mullet, ladyfish mackerel will hit about anything. When I troll I or sugar trout. Fish deep for the bigger ones and use the 14 black and silver Bomber or the 222 within 4-5 feet of the surface for the smaller ones. chartreuse Maverick. Casting for mackerel I use I’d say the average size shark on the bottom right the 1/4 oz Gator spoon. There are still a lot of now is 4- to 10-feet. mackerel in Boca Grande Pass too.

Stingrays are north of the Phosphate dock, and Bluegill fishing is off the charts right now. You at the Cape Haze bar. Some are reported to be 4 only need a couple of wigglers, some wire hooks feet between wingtips. There are rays from Pirate and a bobber and you have dinner. The canals in Harbor to Burnt Store in 5 feet of water. These are Northport and Port Charlotte are loaded. Use a 3-to 4-feet-plus animals, not the little guys that are 1/16 to 1/8-oz. beetle spin, green is the best color, all over everywhere. it’s the same as for crappie but the bluegill are hitCatfish are once a year sought after fish for our ting them now. We are into a banner year on the tournament this month. Sailcats to 6 pound plus bluegill. are to be had down on Cape Haze. Same as for Sal Catizone builds custom rods in Venice and shark, use mullet, ladyfish and big chunks of bait says he has been fishing in Florida for many years. (as big as my fist) so the little ones don’t get it.

Jim, at Fishermen’s Edge This large firetruck red grouper was caught with Glenn Ballinger out of Venice last month in 113-feet There are big sailcats at ElJobean Pier and the PGI Englewood: 697-7595 of water on live bait. rim canal is a good bet for catfish right now.

Fishing has been good. The guys did really well Cobia are still doing well off the north end of off the beach for tarpon. The tarpon in the Pass are with small little silver dollar sized crabs. Some Hog I. at Mkr No. 2, the Reef and at Cape Haze. doing really well. Most guys use crabs in the AM bigger redfish over the slot sized around the If you are shark fishing you have an even chance and then the bigger threadfins after that. Some south side of Boca Grande island where the crabs of by-catching cobia. Calm bright days are best to other guides who go out later said the afternoon is start to flush out. Some goliath grouper in there sight fish them. good and the beach is taking off. There has been at the Phosphate too and a big variety of Redfish are in the creeks on the west side, they plenty of snook activity, I’ve seen many pictures sharks close to the pass. Guys reported seeing FISHING are loaded up. On the east side they are there too, of big fish. The fish are staging around the cause- one with a 3 foot dorsal fin out of the water.

RIGHT NOW: but getting back far enough in the shallows on the way and the phosphate dock before they go out to Offshore, a lot of snapper, still some pomBig Fish HERE! east side is tough. spawn. Catch them with live bait. pano around at the mouth of Stump Pass, It’s Trout to 20 inches are on the east side too. We Some trout around, 4-7 miles out there are per- been hard to target them because they move in should keep the trout around until it starts to rain. mit on the wrecks, 20 to 30 pound fish, all caught and out so much.

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