Water LIFE Oct 2007

W a t e r LIFE

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Charlotte Harbor and Lemon Bay

Keeping Boaters and Fishermen Informed

Producers of the

Spot Tournament

October 2007 KIDS CUP

Page 29

Xtreme ...but late Page 19

Manatees: One more time A Letter to Gov Crist

Mangrove Marauders Page 18

Red/Snook Tourney

Page 14

Offshore Page

www .CHARLOTTEHARBORMAGAZINE.COM

17

ALWAYS

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October 2007

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October 2007

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LETTERS

TO

Hey Guys These things are popping up all over my canal. It looks like some kind of jellyfish to me. The one in the picture is approximately 6 inches in diameter but most of the others are only about 2 inches. Protruding from the middle is a worm like appendage that looks like a cobra coming out of a basket.

The worm thing actually moves against the tide , so it seems to have a mind of its own. When I move close to the thing it pulsates and I can see a round disk structure on the bottom. The outside of the disk is alternating black and white like the outside rim of a coin. For you math geeks - it looks like a natural fractal ( a geometric shape that can be subdivided in parts, each of which is a reducedsize copy of the whole.) Any idea what it is?

Capt Ron - Englewood Answer: This is the upsidedown jellyfish -- Cassiopeia andromeda.

I think someone from Mote is working on (studying) the local distribution of this jellyfish. It is very common in canals in the Keys.

Thomas H. Fraser, PhD Adjunct Scientist, Mote Marine Laboratory

Hello Mike: This is "---" up the Severin canal. Yesterday I caught the pictured fish in the canal and haven't been successful at finding any information or description on the internet. It had no scales and had a head similar to a catfish and therefore

WAT E R L I F E

assumed it to be a specie of cat, one that I've never seen during the last 10 years of catching catfish here in Port Charlotte. The fish is whiskerless. Other physical attributes of the normal canal cat fish are not present on this fish either.

Perhaps you can tell me the name of the specie or what web site I can find a picture with matching description and information.

Here is the picture. I'm the one with the hat on: I do not eat catfish so I called a friend who did and what a surprised look on his face when he saw this 26 inch fish.

After he cleaned the fish, he told me that the filets were sort of pinkish and that he'd let me know how it tasted after he cooks it.

Regards, Name Withheld (for his own good!)

Editor Notes It ought to taste good, itʼs a cobia. Too bad itʼs undersize. Now we just hope the wrong people don't see this photo! – MH

Dear Water LIFE Just wanted to say thanks for writing an article on spearfishing. The St. Pete Open Article was well written as is the entire paper!

Richard Taylor Southern Photo Technical Service, St. Petersburg,Fl.

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October 2007

Water LIFE Charlotte Harbor Magazine

Michael and Ellen Heller Publishers

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© 2007 Vol VI No. 10 Water LIFE

WRITE US! e-mail (preferred) Waterlife@comcast.net Regular MAIL: 217 Bangsberg Rd. Port Charlotte, FL 33952

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Contributing Editors:

Fishing / Environment: Capt. Ron Blago Charlotte Harbor: Capt. Robert Moore Gasparilla: Capt. Chuck Eichner Port Charlotte: Capt Andy Medina Offshore: Capt. Steve Skevington Real Estate: Dave Hofer Sailing Advisor: Bill Dixon Kayaks: David Allen Sea Grant: Betty Staugler Diving: Adam Wilson

on the COVER:

George Frantz Jr had a nice redfish for the Xtreme Tournament weigh in.

Unfortunately he was a minute late.

on our WEBSITE:

WWW.charlotteharbormagazine.com

Realtors: Links to advertisers

Tide Graphs: For local waters

Weather: Links to all of our favorite sites.

Back editions: Pages of previous editions

Artificial Reefs: Lat. and Long local reefs

Manatee Myths: Read the original plan to create sanctuaries and refuges, as spelled out by the United Nations in 1984 Kids Cup Updates, Fish Tracking and Tournament Information.

One Thing About Fishing October 2007

By Mi chael Hel l er Water LIFE Editor Last month my wife Ellen and I drove up to Moorehead City NC for a four day, four couple, family get-together. We fished one day, my three brothers-in law and myself, with a local guide aboard his 32-foot World Cat. My brother in law Greg found the captain on the internet. Turns out, our captain was not a full time, on-the-water captain, he was a full time on-land dentist and not even a local Morehead City dentist – he was from 100 miles away. But he was a lifelong fisherman; “Paid for dental school, fishing,” he had told us.

The Atlantic, that day, was three to five- with a 20+ knot wind. I had never been on a twin-hull boat like the World Cat before. A vibrating ‘shudder’ travelled through the hull whenever we crossed a wave. It quickly got my attention. Apparently this is normal, as other World Cat riders have told me since, but on that morning I was watching the deck to see if I could spot a big crack opening. “This is a fine boat in big water” the dentist told me as he flicked a cigarette overboard and lit another. He would knock off two and a half packs before noon. I wondered what his hands smelled like on Monday morning, back at the dental office; cigarettes or fish?

We motored out about five miles to one of the channel markers. Our captain took down a spinning rod with a twisted up sabiki rig on it and spent a few minutes untangling it while the boat pitched and rolled.

The water was moving so hard that he only got one drop before the boat drifted passed the marker and out of range of the cigar-minnows he said lay below. After

Water LIFE

several additional rapid drifts and one lonely minnow in the well, we motored another six miles out into the Atlantic to another buoy. We left at 6 and it was now 7:30 a.m.

Numerous drifts and sabiki drops later and Captain ‘smokey-tooth’ announced we had enough bait to go fishing. I looked into the well and counted a total of 14 minnows.

Plenty of coffee, no breakfast, non stop cigarette smoke and gas fumes wafting from the World Cat’s fuel tank vent and I didn’t care. If I was driving I would have headed back, maybe fished inshore, but we pressed on. I spent a lot of time scanning the surface, mostly the horizon, that day, looking for fish. I saw nothing.

We trolled for about an hour with three lines out, all on the surface, cigar minnows with ballyhoo-skirts and a stinger hook on a eight inch wire behind each one. “If there are any kingfish around, we’ll catch them on the stinger,” the captain said, adding “they’ll be hooked in the head.” ‘Snagged’ I thought, but I said nothing.

We were trolling in a rolling landscape of waves that were sometimes bigger than the boat. After about an hour, my brother in law, Walter, the ex round-theworld-navy- seaman, brought up a small kingfish...and then he brought up last night’s Italian dinner. That one king turned out to be our biggest fish, our only fish, trolling.

At one point, coming out of a slow turn, we wound a line around the starboard prop and it took almost 20 minutes to get it untangled. After that, either our captain was starting to show signs of seasickness himself, or he was running out of cigarettes – but we headed in …to “This is my spot,” our captain told us as we GPS

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Walter, Capt ʻSmokey-Toothʼ and the King

5

navigated to within a couple of hundred yards of another boat fishing . “They are on the spot that is shown on the charts. We’re fishing a spot I found myself,” the Captain told us.

Flounder fishing for us was a matter of four rods down, each with the same red jig with a white bucktail tipped with a white Gulp grub. ‘Jig the bottom’ was the captain’s advice, but when we didn’t catch anything on ‘his spot’ we moved over to where the other

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Water LIFE

MAGAZINE

October 2007

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October 2007

Water LIFE

Screaming Reels

The Heat is (almost) OFF

By Capt. Andrew Medi na Water LIFE Staff The end is near for our hot weather. Oh, I’m sure we will get at least a couple more warm ones, but I see light at the end of the heat tunnel. The last couple days of September the angling was spotty due to all the wind and rain – our harbor looked more like mud than water, but when you finally found the fish, you found a pile of them. We found pods of redfish under one bush on a shoreline, but we spent all day looking for that one perfect spot. Still, the double and even triple hook-ups at the end of the day were enough to call that a good trip.

Now let’s talk about October. This should be a really good month. A little bit cooler weather in October will hopefully send a message to the non-calendar-reading snook that it’s time for them to find their

way up the harbor from the beaches and passes. Start looking for larger snook along the points of deeper cuts or at canal entrances during a fast tide. Live bait will be the choice for these fish, but you can still catch them on a number of artificials.

Lipped plugs in an array of colors usually do the trick.

Out on the flats and in the mangroves, pinfish have been doing very well as bait.

We have been rigging all the pins on jig heads, and that out fishes the white-bait almost every trip.

But wait! The best news is that the shrimp in the bait shops have been getting larger. So you don’t have to throw a net to get bait, you can just buy it on your way out. A redfish or a snook will not turn down a big hand picked shrimp. Redfish are still responding well to cut baits in the Pine Island Sound. Cut pieces about 1-inch in size, stick it on a circle hook and chunk it

MAGAZINE

into the bushes – cut bait has been producing the larger fish.

Now’s the time to start preparing for the colder months ahead, when the tide really starts to bottom out. While you are out this month start making mental notes of larger potholes and deep drop offs. This will prove important in the coming winter months if you plan on chasing fish, instead of heading up north for deer season. There may be no water on the flats this winter, but I bet their will be some in the deeper potholes.

And where you find water on the winter tides is where you’re going to find fish.

Artificials have a place in all this too.

Try working a bone-white Spook Jr. first thing in the morning to get an early snook bite. This is primarily my bait of choice this time of the year for snook.

Even when you have bait, I find it’s easier to first locate fish with a top water plug, then throw your live bait in the area they jumped the lure in.

Soft plastics will also work well this month , the fish are feeding to put on their February fat.

Try throwing jerk shads in white or shad color. Riptide/Culprit’s red golden halo has been working real

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well with the new 1/8 once screw-lock jig heads.

The water should start clearing soon and the redfish will be easier to see. OK maybe it won’t be clear, but at least it will be clear enough to present a shrimp to a single ‘cruiser’ on a shore line.

Fly fishing will also pick up for you waders this month. Green and white clausers are the ticket in the morning for the snook.

I have found that soaking flies in ‘gulp remains’ – the juice that always spills in your tackle bag – has helped a lot. I know I will catch heck about that one because “No true fly angler would ever think of doing something like that.” But I say, if it helps you outsmart a fish then so be it.

Be safe on the water and just have fun.

Page 8

Tailing Time

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MAGAZINE

October 2007

will spook the fish. Polling into the area is almost a must. Wading will usually give you the best stealthy approach, but even when wading, try and

By Capt. Robert Moore remember to pay attention to your movements.

Water LIFE staff Make every step deliberate and quiet. As you Usually, starting in mid-October and lasting approach the fish, watch its feeding pattern. The well into December, the water temperature begins fish will usually tail for up to 15-20 seconds and to drop and redfish ranging from 18- to 32-inches then dip back into the water. Watch which way the begin to head for the nearest grass flat feeding in fish is moving each time it sticks its tail out of the a manner called ‘tailing.’ Tailing describes when a water to try and figure out its path. Then, make a fish positions itself vertically rather than horizoncast several feet beyond its path so you can slowly tally, sometimes sticking half of its body out of present your bait in front of it. Most times you can the water, grubbing nose down in the grass for leave your bait on the bottom in front of the fish’s anything that moves. path, slightly twitching it, and trigger a strike. Two With the right tides and weather conditions you of the most common mistakes are casting behind a can find tailing reds on the grass flats from Pine fish’s path of travel or casting the bait right on top Island Sound to Lemon Bay. After December, the of the fish. Casting your bait on top of the fish combination of low winter tides and cold fronts will usually result in a spooked fish that may take Steve Johnson caught and released this 606 spot redfish in Fort Myers in will push the majority of fish into deeper water. other nearby fish with it.

August. DNA samples went to Mote Marine. Mote is gathering more data at Calm winds also plays a big factor in tailing.

A good pair of binoculars will aid in locating a spot tournament in St Pete this month.

See SPOT TOURNAMENT on Page 29 Most fish will not tail on really windy days. fish from several hundred feet away. My tackle of When targeting tailing redfish, weedless is the choice for tailing redfish is a 7-71/2-foot light key to fishing any type of bait. As for live bait, nothing exposed during a low tide. Second I look for that grass action-spinning outfitted with 10-pound test line with a beats a good 3-4 inch live shrimp rigged with a weedless flat to be adjacent to deeper water. Then I look at the tide 30 inch 20-pound fluorocarbon leader. Fishing in an tables and determine when the tide will be in the negahook. If fishing with an artificial lure, weedless gold open grass flat presents very few obstructions to get brotive and be incoming. When a grass flat is exposed, or spoons and soft jerk baits seem to work the best. ken off on and the lighter line will assist in making nearly exposed, the redfish will abandon that flat for The one difficult part about tailing redfish is they are longer casts with lighter baits. After the fish is hooked deeper water. Then as the tide begins to rise over the in very shallow water and can be extremely spooky at remember to hold your rod tip up high. Once hooked, grass flat, redfish will make their way up onto the flat times. A stealthy approach and near perfect bait presentathe fish’s natural tendency is to bury down in the grass tion is almost a must to be somewhat successful. Unless and begin feeding and tailing again. I will position which will collect on your line, sometimes breaking you myself up wind on the grass flat in the deeper water and your boat drafts less than 10 inches, or you are in a off with the added weight. follow the tide as it comes in. kayak, you will need to throw on your wading gear and Capt.

Robert Moore can be reached for questions or to The one word to remember when attempting to venture out on foot to get within casting range. book a fishing trip at: www.captrobertmoore.com approach a fish in shallow water is stealth. In a boat you First I look for large grass flats that will be nearly can forget about using a trolling motor. The noise alone

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Page 18

By Betty S taugl er Sea Grant / Water LIFE If you have fished the West Wall of Charlotte Harbor, you have likely noticed the rainbow of flagging tape along the shoreline. This rainbow of color is marking our mangrove restoration project.

Each color has a meaning, as ‘Mangrove Marauders’ learned on September 19th and 20th at the restoration training workshops held for our volunteer partners. The eastern shoreline, not quite as colorful, is being surveyed now as we ready for our October 13th and 14th restoration event.

Who are the Mangrove Marauders?

The Mangrove Marauders represent a group of scientists, community organizations, students, and citizens all committed to restoring the mangrove shoreline and improving important fish corridors. The Mangrove Marauders are an outgrowth of a meeting held at the Best Western in Punta Gorda back in December 2006.

Present at that meeting were a small group of anglers, scientists, and resource managers. Our goal was to openly discuss two important questions: 1) What is the condition of the Mangrove Forest? and 2) What can be done about it? As a result of that meeting, a grant application was submitted and a permit application applied for. Our original project partnership included: Charlotte County, Charlotte County CCA, Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program, Charlotte Harbor Reef Association, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida Sea Grant, King Fisher Fleet, Marine Forest Group, Inc., PGI Fishing Club, and WaterLIFE Magazine. It has now grown to include Burnt Store Marina, Honc Construction, the 5th graders at Good Shepherd School, Edison College Students, the PGI Islanders, Gulf Cove Fishing Club, Fish America Foundation, NOAA, and private citizens. For our name, we give credit to Capt. Ron Blago.

Our plan is to restore the shoreline by assisting Mother Nature with ‘recruitment’. How? Mangroves reproduce through a process known as vivipery (live young).

The parent tree produces embryonic tree structures known as propagules (looks like a bean). When the propagule is

Water LIFE

MAGAZINE

October 2007

Mangrove Marauders

A point about a mile north of Cape Haze, marked for different planting methods.

mature it falls from the parent tree into the water below. The propagule can remain viable floating in the water for several months, this is a reproductive strategy that gives the propagule a good chance of success in becoming established. It also allows the mangrove to expand into new areas, another natural reproductive strategy. When the winds and currents carry the propagule to the shore, it will eventually right itself (the brown end – heavier – will be down and the green end up). At this point, roots will emerge from the bottom of the propagule and the first set of leaves will develop from the top marking the establishment of a new mangrove tree.

Recent research has shown that propagules only travel about 2km from their parent tree. So, what happens when a large scale die off occurs and there are not enough mangroves to produce the propagules needed for reforestation? The answer to this question lies on the West Wall where very little new mangrove recruitment has been seen since Hurricane Charley. Our plan therefore is to collect propagules from areas they are readily

available and put them in areas that are lacking. Now back to the colorful flagging tape We will be using two different restoration techniques. Each technique is marked with a different color flagging tape. The first will be propagule planting.

Here, students from Florida Gulf Coast University will be going into the mangrove deadfall and hand inserting the collected propagules. This will be a daunting task as the students will have to climb through the debris to the mean high and the storm high elevation where the planting will occur. Our second technique will be propagule dispersal. For this method volunteers will gently toss propagules into the deadfall (but still in the water) during an incoming tide. Our hope here is that Mother Nature will do what she normally does pushing the propagule on to shore where it will right itself.

In order to tell whether our efforts have made a difference, all of our propagules will be marked with turf paint and our restoration sites will be measured against a control. A control is a location with similar starting conditions where nothing occurs throughout the project.

Each technique will also be replicated in different areas to reduce the effects of any site biases (yes this was designed by science nerds). After the restoration event and for a period of one year, we will be going out to our restoration sites to evaluate the effectiveness of our techniques.

This will involve counting how many propagules become established and comparing that to the establishment in our control areas. We will also be measuring the difference in invertebrate and bait fish abundance in the different locations.

Going back to the science nerd part, one of our goals is to determine what

works and what doesn’t work. Hurricanes are a function of where we live and at the end of our project we would like to be able to say, should another hurricane cause widespread mangrove destruction (hopefully somewhere else), this is what a community can and should do. But, in order to say that we have to make sure our results are valid and that means good methods, with replicates and controls and yes a few science nerds too.

Our community partners are the biggest component of our restoration project. These individuals are collecting, storing, sorting, painting, and transporting propagules for our restoration project.

At the training workshops all of our partners learned how to identify a healthy propagule and an unhealthy propagule, where to collect propagules, how to store them, where to store them, how to paint them and where and when to transport them for the restoration event. Six of our Marauders have set up propagule collection sites at their docks located in Englewood, Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda, Pirate Harbor, and Cape Coral. Marauders will also be helping with the restoration on October 13th & 14th.

If you are interested in helping the Mangrove Marauders, give me a call.

Betty Staugler is the Sea Grant Agent for Charlotte County. She can be reached at 764-4340.

Water LIFE

October 2007

The little dock at the Best Western gets more crowded every time the tournament comes to town.

S t aff R eport “It was a sucky tide,” weighmaster Capt. Andrew Medina observed, wryly.

“It dropped a foot before the boats went out this morning!” he added. Medina’s early observation was echoed as anglers returned to the weigh-in dock that afternoon. “We couldn’t get into our spots, it was so shallow, ... wahha wahha, wahha.” There was a lot of crying going on, but there were some nice fish as well. You just had to know where to go.

“We found some nice fish,” Brad Opshall said. Opshall and his partner Billy Shaffer managed an 11.06 second place. John Baty and Charlie Simpson, having come down to Charlotte Harbor from Tampa for the first time didn’t know any different. “This fishing was good,” Batty said, holding up a six pound plus redfish, but that was it.

George Franz Jr, shown on this month’s cover wasn’t as lucky. He had one nice red and one small one. It didn’t matter.

George Jr and his son George III were

one minute late for the weigh in. The scale was closed.

The official results are as follows: 1st. pl ace Mark and Jorden Frisbie 12.64 lbs $1130 they also won big fish....7.01 lbs for an additional $240 2nd pl ace Billy Shaffer and Brad Opsahl 11.06 lbs $465 3rd pl ace Mike Mahan and Bob Boudreau 10.87 lbs $200

19

Above: Jorden Frisbie holds up the big fish of the day Top Right: John Batyʼs red

4th pl ace Donny Leveson and Eric Aldrich 9.48 lbs. $125 There were a total of 24 teams entered. A total of 21 fish were weighed in, 4 of which were dead.

The next TOURNAMENT DATE has been changed from Oct. 6.

The new date is Oct. 27th See the Calendar on page 31

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8210 Manasota Key Road Island Paradise for sale. Gulf to Bay property w/ large beach house. Swimming pool overlooks the Gulf. Large screened porch, huge galley kitchen and more. $2,100,000

Pelican Landing Complex has it all - pool, spa, tennis courts, boat docks and Direct Gulf View. Lovely 2 bedroom 2 bath plus loft condo on Manasota Key.

Page

MAGAZINE

Sailboat water. No bridges to ICW; 5 minutes to Gulf.

Gorgeous custom home.

Spectacular Bay and Canal views from throughout.

Other home also available.

Anglers Resort. Updated turnkey furnished 2 bedroom condo w/great view of pool, lovely patio and deeded boat slip. Great rental property.

From $299,900 Gulf Sands. Customized and updated 3 bedroom 2 bath end unit condo w/open floor plan. Partial Gulf and Bay views.

Heated pool and deeded boat dock.

Water LIFE

Page 20

October 2007

MAGAZINE

Training Buoy Recovered

Fantastic Country Home-

2.5 Acres- Oversize luxury 5 bedroom custom pool home, built in 2002, pond shed, circular drive with No Deed Restrictions $499,950

New Waterfront Home $299,950- 100% Remodel 3/2, extra wide canal, super fast to open water, fabulous lanai, Better Than New! $299,950

Incredible, Updated Pirate Harbor home – 3/2 Completely updated, 100 feet of seawall, oversize lot, new boat lift. Only $399,900

Grand Key West Home 150' Waterfront with Quick Gulf Access, Luxurious Custom Home with Elevator, Over 3800sf under air, boat ramp, dock. $969,000

The Ultimate Deep Creek Home - Luxury appointed 3/2/2 pool home, over 2000sfAir, designer kitchen, metal roof, Simply The Best Home! $234,777

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Wide Open Waterviews, Custom Features, Designer Pool, Sailboat Waterfront, Granite, Oak Cabinets, Stunning! $799,900

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Super Low Price Lot $4995 Located in a boat ramp community. 80x125, mostly cleared.

A USCG Aux. search & rescue training buoy was found 80 miles west of Clearwater pass. After calling the phone number written on the attached pvc pipe, Dennis McNeill, FSO-OP Flotilla 73 said the buoy had been launched at John's pass 2 weeks prior for a training session and we were the first people to call it in since then. – Adam Wilson/ Water LIFE Diving

October 2007

Water LIFE

Page

MAGAZINE

2008 Don Ball School of Fishing Classes

21

Charlotte Harbor Reef Association Director Jerry Jensen is seen here during one of last years Don Ball classes at Murdock middle school. The Reef Association, through the Water LIFE Magazine Kids Cup Tournament, funds the Don Ball Kids fishing program for 7th graders at Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda , Murdock, L.A. Ainger and Heron Creek middle schools. This will be the seventh year of the program.

Classes are taught by local fishing guides. Materials fee is $35 per student. First class is October 8th.

To sign up check with the school administration office. Class size is limited to the first 25 students.

Kids Cups Redfish Tracking Sees Two More Fish

Wat er LIFE / S ea Grant Two more redfish were recaptured and called into the Redfish Hotline this month. One fish was previously recaptured in June. This redfish, originally captured by Jesse Smith around Cape Haze, was recaptured in June near Ponce Inlet and then recaptured again in September just south of Ponce Inlet. Our second recapture during September occurred about two hours after the first and about 30 yards away. This recapture was one of our sonically tagged redfish which was originally caught by Amin Marshie in upper Pine Island Sound. Both of the redfish recaptured were again released alive with tags intact. Thanks anglers for your calls to the Redfish Hotline.

Plans are underway for next year’s redfish Sonic transmitter tags are shown actual size on the left side of this page. .

At the Kids Cup Tournament we implanted 20 redfish with the smallest of these tags.

tracking project. Our team met on August 30th to discuss what we’ve learned so far and how we would like to proceed next year. The 2007 redfish tracking was a pilot program and we hope to incorporate our findings and lessons learned from last year into our study design next year. Our findings have been encouraging. We now have at least 7 days of data on 18 of our 20 sonically tagged redfish.

We also now have 7 recaptures that were called in to the hotline. As of this writing the furthest south that we have seen our redfish is about a mile north of Pirate Harbor. Two of the biggest changes that we would like to see next year include using a different tag (longer battery and better range) and acquiring more underwater sensors to more adequately cover the study area. These changes will hopefully allow us to observe more redfish movement throughout Charlotte Harbor and for a much longer period of time.

Tracking Report Follow Up An e-mail to Water LIFE: I just read the article about the redfish from the Kids cup and Zack Shavers redfish being caught twice since the tournament. This is really good news because the fish was hooked deep. I know this because Zack is my stepson and even though we were using circle hooks this fish was in a school and feed very aggesively. After we got the fish to the boat and realizing the hook was to deep to dig it out we

cut the line as close to the hook as possible and put it in the livewell it never looked is stressed. So to here that it is surviving well makes me very happy because during my guide trips I have to due this numerous times and always wondered the outcome. So now I know it is better to cut than dig.

Thank you for your hard work.

Capt. Mike Miller MillerInshoreCharter.com

Page 22

By Bi l l Di xon Water LIFE Sailing Some ‘open’ regattas are in the near term future. Anyone can enter. You don’t need to belong to a yacht club or sailing organization; you just need a sailboat or two.

If one of your sailboats is small, say under 17 feet, there is a YMCA charity small boat regatta October 13, 14 off the seawall at Gilchrist Park. It should be a great time for Sunfish, Lasers, and the like. Call Dennis Peck 941-627-6650 or check the PGSC web site at pgscweb.com for details.

If your other sailboat is larger than 20 feet or so, there will be a YMCA big boat charity regatta November 3 and 4 in the harbor. You will need a handicap to enter this race, but if time allows, I can get you either a real PHRF handicap that lasts till next July 1, or if you wait till the last minute, I will make you a temporary number good for this regatta only.

Jerry Haller 505-0499 is the man for the big boat regatta, or you can check the PGSC web site at pgscweb.com January 12 and 13 there will be an

Water LIFE

October 2007

MAGAZINE

I Know you Racing Wannaʼbes Are Out There ...This is your wake up

call!

Last Yearʼs Golden Conch Regatta at Burnt Store was an ideal race with perfect wind and lots of boats.

open PHRF regatta off Burnt Store Marina, put on by the Platinum Point YC. Again, you need not belong to a yacht or boating club; just have a PHRF handicap number that levels the playing

field for different boats competing.

I know that you wanna’be racers are out there. There are over 20,000 boats in Charlotte County. I don’t know how many are sailboats, but I’ll bet it’s more

than the 50 or so we will get at these regattas. As what’s-his-name said on TV, ‘Come on Down’ .... and join the fun Bill Dixon can be reached at: dixonwj@comcast.net

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Shore Line Clean Ups an Unfortunate Necessity

October 2007

By Davi d Al l en Water LIFE Kayaking Keep Charlotte Beautiful and the Adopt-A-Shore programs are part of the largest beach and waterway cleanup effort in the world. The program has volunteers in all 55 U.S. states and territories and in more than 100 countries. Thousands of volunteers spend at least three days a year picking up tons of trash and debris from the countrie’s coastlines, rivers, and lakes.

Glenda Anderson manages the Keep Charlotte Beautiful and the Adopt-AShore Programs. She is headquartered at the Environmental Campus at 25550 Harborview Road in Port Charlotte. The

Water LIFE

effort in Charlotte County enlists the aid of several hundred volunteers for each of the three cleanups held each year. The program provides trash bags for the cleanup and tee shirts to the participants.

Three times a year the Port Charlotte Kayakers participate in the Keep Charlotte Beautiful effort through the Adopt-A-Shore Program. The club has taken on the responsibility of adopting and cleaning a mile and a half stretch of beach by picking up the trash at least three times a year. Our ‘shore line’ extends from Muddy Bay, directly south of Port Charlotte Beach Park, to Rocky Creek.

MAGAZINE

September 15 was the date of the most recent cleanup, and about 20 kayakers met at Port Charlotte Beach Park for the paddle to Muddy Bay and the start of the trash pickup. We also had two powerboats available to ferry the trash back to Beach Park from the kayaks along the shore, this really makes the pickup much easier and quicker.

Even though the club has cleaned up the same section of beach for about 3 years, there is always more trash to collect. This year, we filled 40 large trash bag with all manner of bottles, cans, styrofoam, tires, buckets, chairs, and on and on. A large dock box and an air mattress were also removed from the beach. All in all, the club collected about a ton of trash and ferried it back to the beach for pickup

by Waste Management.

The Keep Charlotte Beautiful Program

Page

23

is an excellent way to help maintain the beauty of the harbor and surroundings. I urge all of you who enjoy the beaches and waterways to take their trash with them when boating or on the beach. Every little bit really does help.

The Port Charlotte Kay ak ers meet each Wednesday ev ening at 5:30, at Port Charlotte Beach Park . All newcomers are welcome.

Contact Dav e Allen at 941-235-2588 or dlaa@comcast.net for more information.

Underwater Report

Page 24

By Adam Wi l son Water LIfe Diving For most fishermen the anticipation of a big fishing or dive trip is almost unbearable, like the kid that knows he's going to Disney World. If you're anything like me you'll spend hours in the garage each evening, days before a trip, packing, rigging and preparing. This is what the past few weeks have been like around my house.

We started out early in the month heading 60 plus miles out of Stump Pass to the old Skyway Bridge rubble in 165 feet.

We fished the area overnight with freelines and cut sardines. After putting some huge yellowtail snappers in the boat, some almost 30 inches, and landing a 35 pound cobia, some pretty big shadows appeared under our drop light near the chum block. This will tend to give you an uneasy feeling the next morning when assembling your scuba unit.

Dropping down, the bottom materialized clearly at about 80 feet. One thing about being this far out is the visibility is usually very good. One thing was also very clear, the goliath grouper population is very healthy at this site. They were barely out numbered by the smaller summertime aj's.

The mangled bridge structure rises up off the bottom almost 10 feet in some spots and this particular patch looked to be the size of a football field. It's mostly twisted, indiscernible metal girders and small chunks of roadway. The overall feeling on this dive is rather eerie when you recall the tragic boat collision with the bridge that led to this new reef.

The cooler was slightly heavier after that dive with some mutton snappers and a couple of jacks. Not exactly what we had come looking for this far from shore.

It was this time last year we had found some very large black grouper in this area.

Our next big adventure put us 100 miles west of Tampa to spearfish on some big ledges and explore an old ship-

Water LIFE

Heʼs just holding them, theyʼre not all his.

wreck that until 2004 was un-identified.

The Gwalia lies in 130 feet and is a relatively small wreck. She was a 130 foot tugboat that sank in a December storm in 1925. The crew was rescued 8 days later after rowing their life boat to the barge they had been towing.

This wreck is loaded with mangrove and red snapper, aj's and goliath grouper.

While we were out this far we had to drop on some of our big ledges too.

Carl and I were driving the boat in small circles and waiting for our buddies to surface. This two up, two down approach to diving keeps us from dropping anchor, saving time for more dives.

We were watching the streams of our buddies bubbles returning to the surface through the indigo blue water. They had gone from a steady stream of fine bubbles, a sign of an easy relaxed dive, to huge clusters of big bubbles, a sign of a diver working very hard, like when there are a lot of big fish, or big sharks. After jokingly discussing what calamity our buddies may have stumbled into on the bottom, Carl noticed something a ways from the boat and said “what is that little yellow thing over there?”

MAGAZINE

October 2007

Carl and a stuck amberjack. This one fish could soon to be a 2 person limit

We steered over and it was the small butt end of a brand new, high dollar, hand made custom spear gun, floating just beneath the surface. Being made of wood, most spearguns float once all the steel shafts have been removed. It is the habit of most spearfishers to slide their arm through the bands once all the shafts are out to prevent the gun from floating to the surface. Obviously we knew who it belonged to and we promptly hid the gun below deck because we knew what was coming.

No more than ten minutes later Jason surfaces with a trophy hogfish, a handful of shafts and of course yells to us that he has lost his brand new gun and asks have we seen it. Of course we had to reply, "what do you mean you lost your gun, we haven't seen anything?" followed up by the often heard "boy that's going to be one expensive fish dinner". Now we have known guys that have found floating guns before that have kept them hidden from their rightful owners as long as until back at the dock. Looking at each other and barely being able to not crack up, we kept it going long enough to hear the promise of ‘$100 to the person that

sees it first.” With more dives before the end of the day and the torture too unbearable to stand, ten minutes later Carl produced the hidden gun to a shocked and very grateful Jason. I know he will never let go of that gun again.

Closer to home we have been doing some advanced diving training on the Palm Island Ferry and nearby spots. For October, expect conditions to change daily on the shallow reefs in less than 70 feet.

With great visibility one day and horrible viz the next being the norm. As it begins to cool down a little we will see more favorable diving conditions in shallow waters. At least this year we managed to avoid any outbreaks of the thick green algae smothering the Gulf floor like we had last summer.

Time to dust off your claw gauges and kevlar gloves. Stone crab season opens this month on the 15th and if it's half as good as last year that would be great. It can be a fun, inexpensive and easy day of diving around Boca Grande when the conditions are right.

Adam Wilson can be reached for comments or div ing information at (941) 7661661 or v ia e-mail at: wilson-

SCUTTLEBUTT

October 2007

Sometimes Unsubstanciated, But Often True

Charlotte Harbor FISHING GUIDES Water LIFE

MAGAZINE

IGFA LETS A BIG ONE GET AWAY In 2008 the International Game Fish Association will end its direct participation and management of competitive “World Championship” series fishing events.

DOWN THE TUBES Sources at the Charlotte Sun tell us the monthly edition of WaterLine – a knee-jerk-reaction to our own Water LIFE monthly – is now dead and has received a fitting burial.

TOU R N A M E N T S TRATEGY With money tight and entry fees rising, tournament anglers are waiting until the last minute to make sure they are on a good school of fish before entering a money tournament. Making matters more expensive, entry fees for several tournaments will go up next year.

NAVIGABLE TAKE OVER Charlotte County Parks and Recreation department is wanting to administer over ‘navigable waters’ within the county when they establish kayak trails and kayaking areas. Latest on their agenda was a stop before the Marine Advisory Committee to request permission to install signs in Coral Creek.

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NO TURNOUT Attendance at September’s Gulf Council ‘grouper and amberjack’ meeting in Fort Myers was abysmal. No wonder the Gulf Council thinks nobody cares about the decisions they make. With miserable turnout we’ll probably see some huge changes in the recreational regulations for grouper and amberjack as of Jan 08'. Perhaps a several-month grouper closed season along with drastically reduced bag limits and probably a big reduction on aj's too.

S LIGHTED BOAT PARADE? This year’s lighted boat parade will start at Laishley Marina (how will they get the big sailboats under the bridge?) and run in and around the Punta Gorda shoreline. Parade officials say this offers better public viewing from shore, but this will be the first time the parade has not started in Port Charlotte at Edgewater Lake and then crossed the river to Punta Gorda. So far no one from the Charlotte side is complaining but this is still new news. The parade date is Dec 8.

REDFIS H CUP 2008 Looks like the weekend of April 27. Entry fee: might go up significantly... $3000? Purse?

Big!

Backcountry Special!

2 anglers, 6

Page 25

Water LIFE

Page 26

October 2007

Last Cruise of Summer MAGAZINE

Breaking in the rebuilt motor

By Mi chael Hel l er New motors, at least Water LIFE Editor new Mercury 2-stroke outKey on, primer in (5 boards, need about 10 hours seconds in summer, 8 or of run-in on a double dose 9 seconds in winter of oil. The speed should ....never any longer!), vary, accelerate up and turn the key, contact! She decelerate down, never stay fired right up. A freshly at the same rpm for too rebuilt motor, peeing a very long. good solid stream, and I hadn’t been on the The rigging, hoses and cables had not yet been things were warming up. water for a month-and- abundled together when this No funny noises. In half, so a cruise around the first-run photo was made gear, idled out, warm up ‘realm’ would be perfect. fully, then up on plane We threw the fins and and an easy low-rpm-cruise around the masks in the boat, loaded a cooler full of grassy point and back to my dock. Then a drink sand snacks and off we went for a cool down overnight. day of cruising.

Friday dawned hot and flat with not a We cruised down the west side bar, whisper of wind. Looking back at the saw a half-dozen manatees, lots of rays, weather now, the greatest boating weeksome mullet and a few small reds on the end of the summer was the calm before outside at Turtle Bay. Then we ran out the the storm, the weekend before all the late left side of the pass at Boca Grande and September low pressure areas formed and south along the shoreline of Cayo Costa. it rained on us for two solid weeks.

It’s so nice down there, so remote.

But this weekend was perfect weather We beached the boat and got into the for breaking in the motor. water, flopping and flippering around on

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the rocky outcroppings North of Captiva Pass.

Back in the boat we cut inside and ran the mile or so up to Cabbage Key to have lunch, then we headed up to the sailboater’s haunt at Pelican Bay for a look around. Not much happening in the mid-day sun there, so we ran back out Boca Grande, this time cruising north along the beach until we reached Gasparilla pass where we ducked back in and worked our way back south, down the Gasparilla Sound, to Sandfly Key. This is such a great spot for a boat ride. We drifted through the lush seagrass in a foot of water, right next to the island, at the edge of the clam-lease area, watching a few nice redfish as they dissolved in and out of the thick grass. Then we fired the motor back up, hopped up on plane and cruised around the front side of Bull and Turtle Bay and headed up the

west side for home. Total time on the motor that day, about 4.5 hours. Fuel burn: about 35 gallons. Next I’m going to get the prop re-done and see if she’ll run any better than 62 mph. That was top speed, with a light chop, on a good winter day. There is always room for improvement.

New ‘Old Friend’ makes a return to Charlotte Harbor October 2007

St aff Rep o rt Scott Steffe and Steve Vannes have obtained the molds and production rights for the Marksman 183 flats boat. This design originated in Charlotte County in 1989 when boatbuilders and designers Mark Randall and Robert Gyorkos teamed with Salt Shaker Marine to develop a rugged boat suitable for Charlotte Harbor. But that was right around the time that Action Craft was pushing their 18–10 flats boat and Saltshaker was busy with bigger projects.

Two boats were built and the project was shelved. Now after almost 18 years the Sharpsshooter is back.

Steffe already has the Coast Guard ‘stick-

Water LIFE

er’ for the next two boats which are going into production. “One boat is going to be our sales model, the other will be a test boat,” Steffe said. The pair are building the boats at Steffe’s All Fiberglass Repairs shop

A Letter to our Elected Governor

MAGAZINE

on Steadly Ave, in Punta Gorda.

Bronze and stainless fittings and trim, twin livewells, dry storage, rod lockers and all the other top end accessories you’d expect to find on a ‘serious’ flats fishing

Dear Go v erno r Cri s t, I voted for you and now I just want to say Thanks. Thanks for being a such a sorry, two faced, lily livered, spineless, gutless, worm. I wonder how you find the strength to get up in the morning no less go against the recommendations of your own scientists day after day. You profess to ‘know better?’ when in fact, you apparently know nothing. How could you just suck up and roll over to still more manatee misinformation? I hoped you were smarter than that.

There is no shortage of manatees.

Manatees are not endangered. Florida manatees are the same animals as the West Indian manatees. Together there are more than 7000 of them with probably over 4000 of them living in Florida today ... and they’re not in any peril from boaters. Red tide is statistically their biggest enemy. We had no red tide this year, manatees are prolific breeders, so now we’ve got even more cell phone photo than last year. So why won’t you let the FWC down list the manatee to endangered status? The principle involved here is not whether the manatee survives it’s whether we let the Manatee Club die. So to stay alive they are now saying aerial counts are inaccurate.

Well think about this. If aerial counts are inaccurate, they are only inaccurate to the extent they account for fewer manatees than there really are. I’m a 3000 hour multi engine, instrument rated, commercial pilot, flight instructor and aerial photographer. Believe me when I tell you, you miss a lot counting anything from an airplane. I bet we miss at least 20-percent of them when we try to count them from the air. More science may provide job security for the Manatee Club but it won’t do much for you in the next election. Boaters are voters and we will not forget your turn around on this issue.

Has anyone ever told you exactly how many manatees are enough? Doesn’t that strike you as just a little strange, that there isn’t a target, a goal of how many manatees we need for a ‘full recovery.’

Think about that. Ask anyone. No one will say. But I say we have enough now.

As the manatee population continues to grow, we’re going to have more and more dead manatees, that’s going to happen every year, even if they all die of old age. Don’t you get it? It’s not about the manatees this is all about restricting the boater’s access to areas in the environment.

The United Nation’s Caribbean Environmental Council, in trying to get control of pollution issues back in 1982 came up with the same concept. They wrote: “Programmes of env ironmental education are an integral portion of a conserv ation programme and should be immediately implemented in areas where manatees occur. The public at all lev els must understand the immediate and long-term benefits of species and habitat conserv ation. By stimulating appreciation and pride on the species, it may be possible to induce the dev elopment of a conserv ation philosophy, and achiev e the goal of resource preserv ation. By being a high-profile species, the manatee may function as a cataly st in bringing together interested gov ernmental and non-gov ernmental agencies to elaborate comprehensiv e conserv ation plans. Manatees may be instrumental as well in the establishment of sanctuaries and attainment of the ov erall goal of preserv ation of coastal ecosy stems with all their associated species." Read it for yourself, it's at www.cep.unep.org/pubs/techreports/tr35en/chapter3.html. The Manatee Club was founded because of this UN idea.

Still not convinced? Find out why the Florida FWC was studying manatees with the Feds, the Ocean Conservancy and the Manatee Club in Belize in the 1990s? Are manatees in Belize worth studying more than our own manatees or are they all the same? Are the Caribbean manatees included in the species count? You should know this.

And finally, what about the manatee named Mo? Mo had a radio tag affixed to his back and they tracked him from Homasassa Springs to the Dry Tortugas. Then they sent a helicopter out to pick him up and bring him back to Homasassa. Could Mo have become the link proving a migration pattern of Florida manatees are swimming to Cuba? If they let Mo swim and tracked him that would have shown different manatee populations were interbreeding and would have proven they are in fact one species. I bet you didn’t know about Mo, Governor?

Page 27

boat are part of the package “This boat has twice the floatation required by the Coast Guard,” Steffe said. “It’s a rock.”

The boat has a 7’8” beam and weighs just over 1,085 pounds with a 40 gallon fuel tank. “Structurally it will be rugged,” Steffe said, as he showed us the labrynth of stringers, ribs and bracing that make up the inside of the boat.

“We’re going to lay up each boat by hand, individually. We’ll be able to rig and set up boats exactly as anglers want them,” Steffe said. “We’ll be very aggressive with our pricing on the first few boats,” he added.

For more information contact Scott

Page 28

Water LIFE

MAGAZINE

October 2007

The Water Water LIFE LIFE Distributor始s Club

Cooks Sportland

4419 So. Tamiami Trail S. Venice 493-0025

Pick up a copy of Water LIFE at any of these and 120+ other locations. Water LIFE is not affiliated with any newspaper or other publication and is distributed at select locations around the state. These free ads to our loyal distributors rotate on a monthly basis.

If you would like this publication for distribution at your business please call us at 941-766-8180

October 2007

Water LIFE

West Marine Re-opens in Punta Gorda Recovering from Charley

On Saturday October 6, three years, one months and 24 days after Hurricane Charley blew them out of business, West Marine in Punta Gorda re-opened in a new building at 700 Tamiami Trail. As a part of the Grand Opening they are going to donate 5percent of their sales on that day to the Punta Gorda Sailing Club Charity Regatta to benefit the County YMCA. PGSC will be on hand at the Punta Gorda West Marine store to take entries in the regatta, so go to West congratulate them and buy stuff.

Page 29

Spot Tourney – anyone can win MAGAZINE

St aff Rep o rt It’s not like you have to be on a good school of fish, anyone can win. In a spot tournament, the angler in a pontoon boat flipping a shrimp under the mangroves has just as much chance as anyone at winning.

That’s probably why Arthur Allison’s ‘Hunt for Reds in October’ Spot Tournament (www.huntforreds.com) is growing, expanding to St. This redfish was a spot winner at Titusville Petersburg and then to Corpus Christi, Texas this year. The event is in its 9th year in Titusville with an average of 900 anglers plus the community participating in a two day family event.

The Family Boating Center in Bay Pines will be the tournament home during the October 27- 28 weekend at St Pete. The ‘Hunt’ is a spot only tournament - the redfish brought in with the most spots win each category.

The tournament has a junior component as well as a senior and ladies divisions.

There will be a Junior fishing clinic (15 yrs and under) on Saturday the 27th prior to the Captains meeting. Many guides and professional anglers are offering to teach knot tying, casting, use of bait and lures, conservation, sun and water safety, and fish biology. The tournament will provide up to 100 children with a free rod and reel and tackle kit and certificate of participation.

Adults pay $50.00 each to enter the tournament and can have a child (15 and under) fish for free. Participants can fish from boat, bridge, pier, wade, canoe, or kayak.

Hewes boats is providing a 17' flats boat, there is Ameratrail trailer, and Yamaha is providing an engine. Canoe Country Outfitters is donating a rigged fishing kayak for the Junior Division. There are also cash prizes, Captain bag gifts, material prizes and raffle items.

With help from Mote Marine and others this tournament will also be educating the public on conservation and fish stock enhancement. Mote will be providing fin clip kits

October Page 30

Fishing Report Charlotte Harbor:

Robert at Fishin' Franks Port Charlotte: 625-3888

October is usually a predictable month, but this year it’s a guess. With all the rain we’ve had in late September and with the rivers flowing lots of fresh water, this might bite me in the butt, but I’m going to say the tarpon will turn on to ladyfish this month and start to show themselves real soon. I’ve had two reports this week of guides picking up tarpon on ladyfish. That might not

Water LIFE

sound like much, but remember tarpon haven’t done anything normal this year at all. Still, I think this month tarpon will be anywhere there is a concentration of ladyfish. Find a school of ladyfish and chances should be good there will be a tarpon underneath them.

Redfi sh should really turn on this month. They are already doing well and this is the month they should school up in heavy numbers – 100 to 500 fish – generally toward the end of the month.

The schools will be down around the intracoastal and in the Bull Bay and Turtle Bay area. They will eat anything you throw in front of them and artificials will work exceptionally well on schooling redfish right now. There should be a lot of nice individual fish and small groupings of fish on both the east wall

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MAGAZINE

October 2007

Cobia by night was the order of the day in September for Capt. Angel Torres.

and the west wall this month. Look for greenery or shaded areas close to a deeper drop off and you’re likely to find redfish.

This is the month redfish start to feed heavily. This is the time pinfish grow quickly – it seems from the silver dollar size to 3 or 4 inches in just a couple of weeks. Pinfish work exceptionally well on redfish now because they are getting to the 3 inch ‘perfect size.’ There will be some fish along the beaches and occasionally you might see schools out along the beaches ... if you watch real close near the bottom. TIP* There is a trough in the new sand-fill just north of Boca Grand that ought to be good for offshore reds this month. That sand fill, dredged up to protect the beach at Boca Grande, might, some guides say, have had something to do with why the tar-

pon fishing along the beach wasn’t that spectacular this year.

S nook night fishing should be phenomenal at Placida for the month of October. Live bait, of course, will work well. The fish are starting to move off the beaches, so there will be some fish in the passes now. There will be plenty of fish in the Intracostal, at Whidden Creek, Catfish Creek and Turtle Bay, but those first fish will only stick around for a while (a couple of hours or a couple of days) then other snook will ‘rotate’ in to take over the spot. Snook are offshore spawning and when they come back in, they work their way up towards this end of the harbor.

El Jobean should start to see more snook at the end of the month. Right

continued on facing page

October 2007

BIG-4 BIG-4 SNOOK are moving in from the beaches.

Morgan Rakow, 10, with a stringer of September NY bass caught on her very old grandfatherʼs Hula Popper.

Morgan our the publisherʼs grand-niece!

now it’s just good for catfish and rays.

Trout are going to start showing themselves but on November 1 they close the trout season down. Around

Lemon bay and the Intracoastal will be the better places to look for the bigger trout this month. A poppin cork with a shrimp in 4 to 6 feet of water will be the more productive way to find trout. They won’t be schooled up yet, so you have to splash around to find them.

Stone crabbers are allowed to put down their traps on the first of this month, but they can’t pull up any crabs until the 15th.

Generally, in that two weeks, the tri pl e tai l will start to hang out around those crab trap buoys. Start fishing the traps real heavy around the 10 or 11th.

n October 1: USCG Flotilla 87, Englewood, Bo ati ng Ski l l s and Seamans hi p Monday and Thursday evenings from 7 to 9 PM at Lemon Bay Park in Englewood. $40/individual and $50 /couple 697-9435 or 475-0127 n October 6: Ri ches t Redfi s h Chal l eng e, Punta Gorda. A benefit for the Good Shepherd School, sign up at Laishley Marine, 639-3868

Water LIFE

MAGAZINE

Octoberʼs Octoberʼs Target Target Species Species

REDFISH are starting to school up now

Tripletail will be easy picking right before the crabbers come back. Free lined shrimp or a very small greenback will work very well. Just don’t mess with the crab traps, please ...and keep a bigger pole ready with a Bomber or a big shrimp because the cobi a are often hanging around those traps too.

Lemon Bay

Jim at Fishermen’s Edge Englewood: 697-7595

I haven’t sold any fishing licenses in a while. It’s quiet. License fees go up this month. Resident fishing is now $17.50

Calendar

TARPON are up in Charlotte Harbor

Lately, everyone is catching those redfi sh in small schools and fish that are scattered in Lemon Bay, Placida, Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island areas – fish from rat reds up to 18 or 20 pounders. They’re catching them in a variety of ways: jerk-baits, pinfish, topwaters, on pilchards, on spoons what ever – now is the time.

S nook fishing has been good. There are still fish out on the beach and in the passes A few guys were catching snook in Boca Grande Pass the other day.

There are still tarpon in the area too because there is plenty of bait around.

of

n Oct. 12-14: Take Stock in Children Backcountry Challenge Key Largo.$125 per adult angler and $75 per junior angler (305) 394-3736 n October 13 & 14: Fl ats mas ters Champi o ns hi p, Punta Go rda at Fishermen’s Village.

n October 18: Englewood Rotary, Seminar, Ins ho re Fi s hi ng Techni ques , 6-8 pm,

THE ALL NEW 2008 F-450 KING RANCH SUPER DUTY

TREIPLETAIL will be on the crab traps offshore

Page 31

October 6

Still a lot of snapper action around too. The size has dropped off a little bit, but they are still catching them in the passes. There are pompano around and whi ti ng and bl uefi sh.

There should be some mackerel around by the end of the month. There have been ki ngfi sh offshore all summer – we’ve had good clean water and plenty of bait.

I haven’t heard too much in the way of trout but there has been pretty much everything else.

There are a lot of fish everywhere. I’ve had guys in my shop saying they never saw so many fish

Events

Suncoast Auditorium, Englewood, $35. 6978277

n Oct 27: Xtreme Redfi s h To urnament, Best Western, Punta Gorda. Sign up by phone or on the morning of the tournament. 4561540

n Oct 27-28: Hunt for Red October, spot tournament, a Mote Marine science project $50,

Fishing

RIGHT NOW:

Early Morning and Late Afternoon – Very GOOD!

October 2007

Water LIFE

MAGAZINE

Page 32

October 2007

Water LIFE

MAGAZINE

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Page 10

Water LIFE

MAGAZINE

October 2007

October Fest October 2007

By Capt. Chuck Ei chner Water LIFE Charlotte Harbor Leaning back as hard as I could on a heavy spinning rod, I realized my chances were slim of landing this fish.

This was my third chance at pulling a monster from beneath this dock. My partner mused and said that I had the response time of a cadaver! Perhaps he was right because my 8-foot St. Croix big snook stick was bent and I was walking the deck backwards trying to horse this fish out ....then snap!

Twenty pound power pro and 50 pound Seagar fluorocarbon and this fish was not coming out. Perhaps I didn’t react quick enough when setting the hook or maybe my senses were slow to realize the fish had taken the bait and moved further under the pier, but then again big fish like to hang around structure and snags and they wrap you before you can turn the handle.

Charlotte Harbor is chock full of pinfish and they will begin to thin out this month. Pitching chunky pins around docks will produce bigger than average fish. The only problem is getting them out.

This is just one scenario of what October is all about. October is a transition month and like the transition from a low to high tide, the fish move in patterns that are sometimes predictable. Snook will really turn on and that is my absolute favorite species this month. Redfish will be relatively easy and often will be found milling around the same haunts as the snook. The mechanics of what makes a fish tic’ are not as complicated this month. First, it is fall. You probably have already noticed we have more wind consistently each day. Wind scatters baitfish, changes water clarity and fish sometimes position themselves to take advantage of it. Wind also keeps a lot of other fisherman off the water as well.

There is less daylight and the waters are cooling. Simple triggers that tell gamefish throughout the United States that it is time to feed up before the water cools and the source of food dwindles.

October was a fantastic month in my home state of Maryland. On certain fall trips I could expect to catch largemouth bass, stripers, bluefish, perch, pickerel and sea trout all on the same body of water. Each species was active because the summer fest of baitfish and crabs was dwindling and as such their appetites made them more aggressive and easier to catch. It’s the same deal on Charlotte Harbor, just different species and different forage.

The common thread I have found is

Water LIFE

Charlotte Harbor Style

that the fish move a lot on a daily basis. Snook are supposedly moving from the surf and beach areas to meander to their ultimate destination in the river systems. I personally don’t believe all snook do this, but certainly plenty do.

What does occur is that the fish move around a lot. Bull Bay, Turtle Bay, Pine Island Sound and all the backcountry areas around the barrier islands are simply short term vacation spots for snook and reds to visit.

My general approach is to pick an area and cover lots of water. The area I fished the day before may not hold any fish. High tides are supreme in October. Regardless of incoming or outgoing the fish will focus on the mangroves on this tide. Lower tides will pull the fish into the grassbeds.

Focusing on the potholes is key, but it is a patience game of hunt and peck.

Choosing docks, canals or deeper basins helps me continue to stay on fish on the lower tide phases.

October gamefish are most easily caught on live shiners and pinfish.

Generally, bigger pinfish will catch you bigger fish. Chumming with shiners is a standard that many fisherman utilize these days. My fishing has changed however and often you are better off not chumming. Our fish have become conditioned and don’t always respond positively to slightly injured baits flying into the water 20 to 30 at a time.

Perhaps only a couple of freebies or none at all. Fish have a survival instinct and an ability to ‘recall’ – some may say this is hogwash, but 45 years of fishing has proven this to me.

Experiment with how you present your live bait and how you chum.

For the less patient fisherman, rapid fire lure casting is as good as it gets in October. Cover lots of water, place your casts tight to docks, mangroves and other fishy haunts. I find that fast moving plugs, spoons and soft plastics are the threesome to have tied on to 3 rods. Experiment with retrieves and colors because it does matter and can vary from day to day.

For the bait fisherman who prefers not to throw a cast net – shrimp are super! Generally, the larger shrimp will show up at bait shops and split-shotting with a whole shrimp and casting around will produce a lot of fish. The reds will gobble them up. Snook will eat them as well. The only catch is that just about everything that swims will take a swipe at a live shrimp including the remaining pinfish. Sometimes, the small bait stealers can take the fun out of it.

MAGAZINE

P a g e 11

Capt. Missy Becker loves to fish and itʼs no wonder, just look what sheʼs been catching!

Big snook on top, big red on the bottom....and in the same spot too. It looks like a high tide, so exactly where are those boat lifts in the backround?

Trout will begin to really school up this month. I have found the larger fish to be a bit evasive this year and am hoping to see large numbers of trout move into the harbor this fall. The year of 2007 has been incredible for baitfish.

I would suspect that all of our gamefish have been well feed over the summer months, which should make for some spectacular fishing.

Lastly, if you noticed that I mentioned earlier that the fishing patterns are sometimes predictable in Octoberthat was no slip of the tongue. The keywords being sometimes predictable.

The fishing can be feast or famine.

Some days the fish will be red hot and easy to catch. You can do a follow-up trip with huge excitement and fish the same spots the next day with a blank.

Sometimes the prettiest sunny, calm weather days lure me to the waters, but don’t produce. If you have the same kind of luck, then you know you have company. However, I generally have some of my best fishing trips in October and am hoping that this year is no exception!

Capt. Chuck Eichner operates Action

Page 12

Water LIFE

October 2007

MAGAZINE

Little Technicalities of the

By Capt. Ron Bl ago Water LIFE Senior Staff We Are All Law Breakers. When I was a young guy running around the mountains of upstate New York, the local towns were so small that the only law enforcement in the area were the State Troopers. They were like the Texas Rangers of New York. There weren’t many of them, but they seemed to be everywhere. One night I had to stop for one of their notorious roadblocks and when I rolled down my window, I asked the trooper what I had done wrong. Without a pause, that big Trooper shined him spotlight in my eyes and said, “Son, we are all law breakers. I just have to figure out which law you broke.”

Right then and there I realized there are so many laws that no matter how hard you try, you are bound to break a few whether you know it or not.

What brought this memory back to mind was that recently I read a press release from the FWC that it is now legal to carry more than one castnet on your boat.

Well, I always carried a 1/4 inch and a 3/8 inch mesh net – one for shallow water small bait and another for deepwater larger bait. Who knew, all these years, I was breaking the law? That got me thinking about how many other laws about fishing that people, knowingly or unknowingly break. As luck would have it, I attended the last meeting of the Englewood Fishing Club (www.englewoodfishingclub.net) and the guest speakers were officers of the FWC and the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Deptment, so I got to ask the experts about

some of these obscure rules.

The first thing to come up was the new snook size limits, which is now 28 to 33 inches. The real discussion turned to be: how do you measure a fish? Officer Jason Forkner of the FWC laid it out as clearly as any one when he told the audience “I can stretch that fish and pinch the tail together and measure the two furthest points and if that is bigger than the maximum length, you have an illegal fish.” They also pointed out a few local laws that not many people know about. You know those neat green underwater lights that some people have put in under their dock? Well it seems that it is illegal to fish under or near those docks. I’m not sure you can’t still have the light, but you just can’t fish near it. You can still fish in or near a classic snook light shinning on the water from on top of a dock, but you can’t fish in or near the one that’s under the water. What the difference is, I don’t know; but the law is the law.

Bet you didn’t know it’s illegal to spearfish in the inshore waters of Charlotte County. But it is legal in the offshore waters of Charlotte County. My editor, Michael Heller tells me he was told it’s illegal to fish off a bridge in Charlotte County. Good thing they don’t enforce that.

Did you know that if you clean a fish on your boat or on a fishing pier, you are supposed to keep the carcass to prove the species and size of the fish in case you get stopped. Nothing like bringing home a bucket full of fish guts. And remember you can’t cull your redfish unless you are in a tournament with a culling waiver. If you catch a 33 inch snook right after you catch a 28

inch one, you can’t legally throw back the smaller one (even if it is still alive) and keep the bigger one. And if you catch a Goliath grouper you can’t bring it on board, even to take out the hook or take a picture.

We even have some local situations around Stump Pass that people should be aware of. There are these long sand filled tubes, called Geo Tubes on the north side of the pass. They were installed by the state as an experiment to see if they would slow down the migration of sand into the pass. Did you know it is illegal to anchor near these tubes; but you can still drift and fish over them. How far do you have to be away from the tubes?

That’s the hard part; there used to be markers there, but as the pass migrates, the markers have been buried or washed away. Officer Greg Sutton, of the Charlotte Co. Sheriff’s Marine Patrol says that he uses a 250-foot limit. How do you know if you are too close? Simple, he just tells you to move.

All of the on-the-water law enforcement officers I have met are really nice people who are not looking to hassle anyone unless they feel someone is knowingly and purposely breaking the law. If you find yourself caught breaking one of these little known laws, my advice is to just come clean and tell the officer what you did and why you did it. You probably will get by with a warning; but if they catch you again there will be no mercy for you.

Cap. Ron can be reached for comments , information or to book a guided fishing trip at 941-474-3474

October 2007

Water LIFE

MAGAZINE

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Page 14

Flatsmasters

Water LIFE

Red Snook

October 2007

MAGAZINE

Sundayʼs Top 5 Far Left: Winners, MJS Trucking Left: The big red Below: The big snook

S t aff R eport The Flatsmasters Tournament Series continues to evolve. The morning check in and start now takes place at Laishley Park Marina. “That gives us the nice shot of all the boats coming out from under the bridge, tournament weighmaster Jerry Cleffi said. The ‘shot’ was particularly important this month because the tournament had a small plane shooting video of the event from above. Flatsmasters events are shown on the Sun network. This was the last event of the series. Points collected here would determine who makes it to the championship this month.

The morning got off to a slow start for team Latham when the lower unit on their Evinrude let go.

“You should have seen it,” one angler commented. “It was swung around 180 degrees and just dangling there.” Latham overcame the adversity and stayed in the top five with 16.2 pounds.

The weigh-in scale closed at 3:30, but some of the biggest fish were weighed-in early. “Right now there are five teams with weights (two-fish combined) of over 15 pounds,” Cleffi noted as he worked the scale at 2:45 p.m.

This round, the Red Snook, is what sets the Flatsmasters Tournament off from many of the other inshore tournaments. In order to compete for the championship you have to come up with a snook in this round to stay in the points.

Snook were hard to come by for many teams.

Only 18 of the 84 teams entered came back with a snook, but there were good weights. The big snook

of the day was a 10.57 pounder weighed in by the 1800-Plumbing team.

The big red was a 7.62 pound monster weighed in by Frantz Masonry and MJS Trucking had the MGW for the day, a 16.95 pound total made up of a 7.02 red and a 9.95 pound snook.

Going into the top-5 on the second day MJS Trucking was in the lead with their 16.95, followed

by Team Latham at 16.2, the TowBoat US team with a 15.92, Dooley & Barnhill with a 15.82 and Banks Engineering with 15.68.

Marine canvas and cushion products Everyone expected more killer fish for the second day. Standing on the dock, waiting for the boats to At Affordabl e Boat Canvas we speci al i ze i n xweigh-in weighmaster Cleffi prethe smal l stuff, al ways at affordabl e pri ces! dicted it would take ‘15.6 to win Canv as Repai rs Center co ns o l e co v ers today,’ that ‘one team would not Zi pper repl acement Uni que cus to m co v ers have a snook’ and that Danny Canvas, Is i ng l as s repl acement Snap repl acement Latham would have a ‘pig’ redfish.

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On The Line October 2007

Water LIFE

Fishing withCapt Ron

Page 15

MAGAZINE

LEARN TO FISH S.W. FLORIDA! Fishing seminar series taught by Capt. Steve Skevington of Paradise Fishing Charters

Tues., October 18th (6-8 pm)

INSHORE‚ FISHING TECHNIQUES

Ciguatera poisoning

Tues., November 27th (6-8 pm)

These may be some of the last bikinis of the year, kids fishing at the Placida Trestle

By Capt Ron Bl ago Water LIFE Senior Staff I’m learning to adjust to my new forced retirement. At first I was a little ticked off, but then I had a revelation.

Most guys, when they retire, move to Florida, buy a house on the water, get a boat and go fishing. I live in Florida have a house on the water and a boat and I go fishing. So I guess I’ve been retired for 25 years and never realized it. I’ll just keep doing what I do until the next great thing comes along.

I’ve always told people not to worry about ciguatera poisoning (fish poisoning) in this part of Florida. Most cases occur in the Caribbean and South and Central America. Now I might have to change my opinion on that. Recently, three men were stricken in Collier County after eating a kingfish they caught offshore. A guy who ate a contaminated hog-nose snapper recorded another case sometime ago, north of Tampa. Ciguatera is a bacterium that can be found in any fish; particularly barracuda, grouper and snapper. It doesn’t seem to bother the fish much, but it will sure ruin you day if you eat a contaminated fish.

How do you know if you have ciguatera poisoning? Within a day or two you can get headaches, upset stomach and vomiting ... diarrhea and a loss of feeling in your arms and legs. The usual symptoms I get after a hard night of partying on the town. The dead give away of ciguatera is the reversing of the feelings of hot and cold. Hot feels like cold and cold feels hot. You probably will not die from it but you may wish you had. Most people get over it in about a week, but sometimes the symptoms can linger for months. Best to avoid the large predator fish during the hot summer months.

Fishing is pretty good. We are getting a bit more rain and the water temperature is dropping to the low 80s. In Lemon Bay, snook fishing is really hot, particularly in the Stump Pass area. Top water plugs are getting a lot of action in the mornings.

Redfish and mangrove snapper are under most docks and trout is picking up on the grass flats. Now is a good time to bag and freeze some whitebait for the winter season. One of the preferred baits during the coldest part of winter is a chunk of whitebait fished under the docks for flounder and redfish .

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

OFFSHORE‚ FISHING TECHNIQUES

Suncoast Auditorium – Located behind Englewood Community Hospital – 700 Medical Blvd, Englewood Cost $35pp per seminar Kids under 14 are $10 (Tax deductible/ Seating is limited) Register Online at www.englewoodrotary.org or call J.J. at

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Page 16

R Re ea all E Es st ta at te e N Ne ew ws s PROVIDED BY: Dave & Marlene Hofer RE/MAX Harbor Realty (941) 575-3777 dhofer@remax.net Recent area news i tems:

1. Punta Gorda CRA is pushing ahead with plans to build its parking garage on Herald Court. Despite an increase of more than 60-percent over its original cost projection and a reduction of 7-percent of additional parking spaces to be provided by the new building, commissioners are excited about the additional 8,000 square feet of retail space that will be included in this stunning ‘mission style’ building. Although a surface lot adjacent to City Hall will provide 125 new spaces and the Sunloft Center, Charlotte Harbor Event Center now under construction and other major commercial and residential projects now in planning will provide for their own parking needs, decision makers feel that the garage will somehow attract enough new development to justify the $10 million price tag.

2. A recent court case in Escambia County is putting additional stress on County Commissioners and City Council members. This ruling may require that major investments be specifically approved by voters. In addition to budget limitations on operating budgets, agencies may have to live up to much higher standards of accountability and will have to be better prepared with cost justifications for voters to endorse.

3. The Charlotte Harbor Event Center is officially under construction.

Despite Punta Gorda's offer to pay for architectural upgrades, County planners

Water LIFE

first shunned the idea of using barrel tiles and arched windows in conformity with approved plans. They grudgingly have agreed to make necessary changes to the latest plans.

4. A new bandshell is in consideration for Laishley Park.

5. Charlotte County School District failed to obtain a 1/2-percent increase in sales tax from voters on September 18. Like other districts around the country, Charlotte County will be forced to continue to follow traditional means of ad valorem taxes to obtain funds to rebuild schools still being housed in temporary classrooms.

6. CRA members are fuming over current construction plans for the Harborside Park now under construction.

Lights are to be placed on Harborside Dr. rather than within the park. Somehow, the commission will find another $500,000 to have this amenity added inside the park, as well.

7. Punta Gorda is looking at withdrawing $20,000 of support for the annual block party. Entry fees will likely increase to make up the shortfall rather than cancelling the event.

8. Skybus Airlines is booking reservations to start commercial air services in December. They will serve Punta Gorda with an Airbus 319 to Columbus and on to 18 other cities in their system.

If you don't mind the limited schedule and changing planes in Columbus, this is a real bargain. Go to http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=naktyecab.0.elwu zecab.gx8t49bab.824&ts=S0277&p=htt p%3A%2F%2Fwww.skybus.com 9. Publix closed on its new Punta Gorda distribution site. The 87 acres traded for $7.67 million.

10. The promising, but ill-timed, Tern Bay Development on Burnt Store Road has hit a brick wall. Lennar only completed about 15 homes and a condo building. Developers, Tern Bay, LLC, also closed the 27 hole golf course.

The expansive Tern Bay development on Burnt Store Road has hit a brick wall.

Construction has ground to a hault, landscaping is unkept and the golf course has closed.

11. Charlotte County will likely put the $12 million new library for Englewood on hold. When staff claimed that budget constraints wouldn't allow staffing both the existing Port Charlotte facility and a new one, Tom D'Aprile crusaded to keep the existing library open at the expense of a new one in Englewood. It's puzzling that a project could get thousands of dollars of planning money without anticipating its impact on operating costs!

12. The new Gulf Breeze Public Housing project will get under way shortly. The 169 unit complex on Myrtle Street in Punta Gorda will cost some $27 Million. At $160K per unit, here is still another municipal project being started before its time. They should consider simply buying up all of the new speculative and foreclosed single family housing in our area rather than adding to our supply.

13. An 88 room Country Inn on Kings Highway and a 9,000sf office building at US41 & Chamberlain were approved by Charlotte County planning.

14. Sarasota County laid off another

Two Lots on Corner of Fleming & David 60ʼ ON THE WATER with seawall in and dock being installed. Lots cleared with water and sewer available.

Gulf Cove Lot CHILCOTE TERRACE Cleared, filled, with seawall and dock. 3rd from Myakka in area of upscale homes. 98'X125' $499,000

Great New Bayside Complex. Gated with private

elevators and coded entry .

Turnkey furnished 2bed 2bath. nice views – unit has private garages, community dock, workout room, pool with spa. $799,000

27 bringing the total to between 120 and 140. Hopefully, the remaining staff will be able to pick up their responsibilities.

Sales Statistics:

Lot sales continued their frigid levels as prices declined to less than 2004 levels. Remote unimproved lots show little sign of holding prices as they decline towards 2001 levels when many were abandoned for unpaid taxes. Home sales didn't fare much better. While national builders reported their worst sales week ever in the last week of August, excess spec inventory is selling, at albeit substantially lower prices. One builder reports clearing out house sales in the low $400's for a product that was once bringing high $600's. In response to this national trend, the Federal Reserve lowered the discount rate from 5.25% to 4.75%. Hopefully, this will improve affordability for entry level buyers and stimulate sales through all price levels.

These statistics are intended to assist in analyzing trends in supply and demand and not to indicate specific market values. Ending inventory is not always beginning inventory plus listings minus sales

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October 2007

MAGAZINE

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October 2007

Water LIFE

Offshore Report

By Cap t . S t e v e Skev i ng to n Water LIFE Offshore Every trip I fish this month will start the same way, with a cast net full of live scaled sardines. These baits are quite possibly the only bait you’ll need in October. Everything out there has its sites set on these flashy little guys, from the mackerel run on the beach to the mahi 50 miles out.

There are nearly endless fishing opportunity's for those of us getting out this month. The yearly migration of sardines down our coast has put the feed bag on almost every predator fish that swims.

You can find huge schools of bait within a stones throw of the beach and with the bait you ll find Spanish mac's, blue runner's, bluefish, blacktip sharks and kingfish as well as small jacks and ladyfish.

The best time to get in on all this action is bright and early in the morning when these fish still have the bait rounded up in tight balls where they can run through with there mouths open scarfing down everything in sight.

The bars outside of the bigger passes are prime places to find this scenario, look for diving birds and the fish themselves as they will very often jump clear out of the water in a feeding frenzy.

Cobia are feeding on the wrecks at night, as well as huge schools of mangrove snapper and yellowtail.

Every one of our nighttime trips have been limited out in the first hour - hour and a half, all we are doing is fishing live shrimp and sardines.

Most every bait we put on a hook is getting nailed almost as soon as it hits bottom. As far as the cobia, we are leaving a whole squid out behind the boat, if there's any current at all you can expect a hit.

Red grouper and lane snapper are still on the hard bottom deeper than about 70 feet. We are fishing these fish the same way we have all summer long, drifting

with cut sardines is ideal for the red grouper.

When we hook-up with a quality fish we drop the anchor and then drop a few more baits, with strict one per person limits on the red grouper it takes no time at all to get a limit on these guys anymore.

If you can find hard bottom that's holding big schools of bait you will find lane snapper, feed them some cut squid or frozen shrimp on a small hook.

By the end of the month, those really big amberjack should be back on the offshore wrecks about 85-90 feet and deeper.

These fish almost never turn down a heavy jig worked real fast over top of a deep wreck, but if that fails, go to a big live bait and it's all over but the crying.

Fresh on the heals of all this great fishing is the long anticipated fall season kingfish run.

We are just a couple of cold fronts away from these fish being everywhere, you’ll be able to fish them over hard bottom, wrecks, bait pods, color changes, and the outside of the big passes, (on the strong outgoing tide's). All your going to need is a couple of No.2 planers or down-riggers.

Run No. 4 Clark spoons with 60lb80lb fluorocarbon leader, using steel leaders will save you some cut offs, but cost you a lot of bites. Don't be afraid to troll fast... about 6- to 7 knots catches a lot of fish.

The mahi mahi bite is still going strong in water deeper than 100-125 feet.

You have to weed through most of them in order to get one big enough to keep, but that's half the fun. Gone fishing!

Capt. Stev e can be reached to book a trip

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