Water LIFE Oct 2013

Wa t e r LIFE

Keeping Fishermen and Boaters Informed since

1997

The Don Ball School of Fishing

October 2013

Wonderful Black Drum Letters Page 4

Fishing Report Page 22-23

Fat Reds and BIG snook

Beach Complex Sand Grab Page 16

Page 12-13

Family Outing page 22

w ww ww. w.Wa Watte er rlliiffe 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

C Ch ha ar rllo ot tt te e H Ha ar rb bo or r a an nd d L Le em mo on n B Ba ay y

ALWAYS FREE!

PAGE

2

EMAIL:

WATERLIFE@COMCAST.NET

OCTOBER 2013

OCTOBER 2013

WWW.WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM

PAGE 3

PAGE

4

EMAIL:

LETTERS

WATERLIFE@COMCAST.NET

email: WaterLIFE@comcast.net

Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny... Problem

Editor Notes* Keeping everyone happy is often impossible. While the boys at the baitshop loved the girl in a bikini on last month’s cover we had one advertiser write in saying our September cover was “too much,” adding “I assume you think that sex sells." We also had a Punta Gorda restaurant owner tell us “some of his older lady customers were complaining.” To us it was a good sign so many people were reading our magazine, but we don’t want to unintentionally offend people. Just to be sure, we contacted Shannon Friday, the girl in the tiny green bikini to see if she had any problems or negative feedback. Below is (most of) her response.

OCTOBER 2013

Water LIFE inc.

www.www.WaterlifeMagazine.com Michael & Ellen Heller Publishers

(941) 766-8180 email:

WaterLIFE@comcast.net 217 Bangsberg Rd.

Port Charlotte, FL 33952

Not affiliated with any other publication

Hi Michael! Honestly, you have done nothing but make me famous. Lol! Seriously, I've heard nothing but positive and I'm not sure how many copies you usually go through but some of the places I frequent say they've been goin’ out quick! I wanted to thank you as I had no idea you meant to put me on the cover! Hopefully there has also been positive feedback.. if they want more fish, I caught a 35 in snook two weeks ago!! – Shannon

Transient Mooring Survey

Special to Water LIFE From John Good Southwest Florida Marine Industries Assnociation.

In 2009, the Florida Legislature enacted a temporary pilot program to explore potential options for regulating the anchoring or mooring of non-liveaboard vessels outside the marked boundaries of public mooring fields.

Several cities were granted temporary authority to regulate mooring in their jurisdictional waters through local ordinance. All ordinances enacted under authority of the pilot program will expire on July 1, 2014 and will be inoperative and unenforceable thereafter, unless reenacted by the Legislature.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Con-

servation Commission (FWC) is seeking help from cruising boaters, local boaters, and residents in evaluating the effectiveness and fairness of the temporary ordinances and the pilot program.

FWC has created and posted a survey at http://www.myfwc.com/anchoringsurvey which should take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete. and must be completed by October 7 Should these vessels be regulated?

Are they good for business or are they a hindrance to local boaters and waterfront property owners?

This is the kind of issue that we all tend to ignore until it becomes a problem in our own backyard. SWFMIA is making an effort to keep you informed, but to have an impact, you need to respond! john@goodeventmanagement.com

Vol XII No 10 © 2013

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

Contributing Editors:

We Like Wonderful!

Subject: Pictures for the wonderful Water Life Magazine From: Raven Ali (above) & Tommy Ali (on the cover) Big black drum. These were 38 & 40 pound fish caught in a PGI canal. Live blue crab were used as bait on a 7/0 gamakatsu octopus hook, the fish were caught on an incoming tide. – Raven

In Print & ONLINE free every month

ADVERTISE HERE!

$99 per month!

Water LIFEʼs 1/8 page ad (this size)

still just

call 941-766-8180

The effective & economical month-long advertising solution

4- C O L O R is always FREE WE areTHE WAY to reach people who love the WATER!

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 Sea Grant: Betty Staugler Offshore: Capt Steve Skevington Offshore: Capt. Jim OʼBrien Kayaking: David Allen Circulation: Robert Cohn Office Dog: Molly Brown

“Hey! Take my picture. I want to be in the Water LIFE!” this happy fellow working on a Charlotte County Seawall barge at the Beach Complex dredging project said ... So Here You Go! More dredging info on Page 16

on the

COVER:

Tommy Ali with a beautiful 40-pound black drum from one of the area canals.

See facing picture, this page

www.WaterlifeMagazine.com Online: TURN THE PAGESEVERY MONTH Back Issues to 2004 Kids Charters Fishing Classes Tides Weather Sailing Kayaking Diving One-click Links from the web address in your ad to your website

Our we bs it e is Eas y t o nav iga t e

Water LIFE on your Device too!

We don’t just count the people we reach, we reach the people that count!

“Like a good day on the water”

Frogs Bring Rain, Or Vice Versa?

OCTOBER 2013

By Michael Heller Water LIFE editor Some people say frogs are synonymous with rain? I always thought ducks were the animals that went along with the wet.

Last month on a trip out to Denver to see my daughter, I bought a small gift, a white Hopi-Indian Frog Fetish. It was for my wife. A fetish is handcarved object that represents the spirit of an animal or a force of nature. I liked the tiny turquoise dots on its bulging eyes and the smooth white frog felt good in my hand. I paid for it and put it in my pocket. Then my daughter Alison, her dog Sammy and I took off on a road trip to the north.

We headed up through Wyoming to Alliance Nebraska to check out CarHenge, an assembly of old automobiles, most of which are stuck hood-first into the dry Nebraska dirt.

It’s the MidWest’s version of StoneHenge, only with cars. The term ‘henge’ denotes things arranged in a circle.

“Don’t confuse Carhenge with Cadillac Ranch in Texas,” a man in a gas station in town told me, without me even asking.

WWW.WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM

“Cadillac Ranch is just a bunch of old Caddys in a straight-line,” he said with a half-henged frown.

It was 7pm when we arrived at CarHenge. We were the only ones there.

The surrounding corn fields were all withered and dry. The paths through the henge were dusty and well travelled. Sammy ran off, happy to be out of one car and free to pee on many others.

In the distance there were some dark clouds with grey slanted stripes hanging below them, mostly virga – bands of rain you can see which never actually reach the ground. It was eerily quiet, there was no wind, no traffic, no people and no rain – no rain for a long time.

I remember standing there and thinking about the woman in the store telling me that a Hopi Frog Fetish is associated with rain, but there was no rain anywhere we were, that day.

The next morning we headed farther north, through the Custer National Park, filled with huge herds of wild buffalo looking for water. Then we made our way up to South Dakota and through the Black Hills to Mount Rushmore.

PAGE 5

Dark sky but no rain at Carhenge, in the dry open fields outside of Alliance Nebraska

It was very dry and very hot everywhere we went. Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska and South Dakota were all sweltering in temperatures above 95 degrees. Marching across the boring granite walkway at Mt. Rushmore I thumbed the little white frog in my pocket like a worry stone. ‘So much for the Hopi magic,’ I thought to myself.

But, oh me of little faith! On the way back home, the rain coulds began to form south of Cheyenne and they followed us down into Denver. The next night, leaving dinner at the Flagstaff House, in the mountains overlooking Boulder, it began to rain. “Maybe it just takes time for the frog magic to work,” I said to Alison on the ride home.

It rained on and off in Denver, right through the weekend and into the next week. Boulder Canyon flooded, the streets

in Denver were flooded, creeks and rivers began to overflow. We had dinner with a friend in Broomfield, it rained all night there too. Neighbors evacuated.

On Thursday we headed south, down to Santa Fe, with the rain on our heels. We drove out of it, but it caught up and rained and rained some more. I have to admit, I did give that Hopi Frog Fetish a second thought walking Sammy in the rain in Santa Fe one night.

When I got back to Florida it was still raining. I gave the frog fetish to my wife.

She laughed when I told her the story.

“The only magic frogs we have around here are the frogs that chirp in the puddles outside after it rains,” she told me.

I thought about that for a minute.

“Do you think, maybe, the little black frogs are really there first?” I asked her.

There was no reply.

Belly Up for Charlotte CCA PAGE

6

EMAIL:

WATERLIFE@COMCAST.NET

OCTOBER 2013

MAC Position Now Vacant

ON THE LINE

By Capt. Ron Blago Water LIFE Senior Staff With great surprise and sorrow, I must announce the demise of the Charlotte chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association. I found out at the Sept meeting of the Marine Advisory Committee that the county attorney had received notification that the local CCA would no longer be eligible for membership in the MAC. The local CCA chapter has always been an active member of MAC representing all fishermen and boaters in the county and since they were part of the Florida CCA which is associated with the national CCA, their opinion carried great weight on local matters.

I just couldn't understand how an organization, who's membership fluctuated between 300 and 400 hundred members could go belly up. They always had great meetings with interesting speakers. Their annual banquet was always one of the best in the state. Many people I know were able bid on fishing trips in Costa Rica, the Bahama's and Alaska at their auctions. I had to find

out what happened.

I made a few calls to some of my CCA friends to get their perspective on the issue. At one time, anyone who was interested in saltwater fishing was a CCA member.

The opinions were pretty much the same; everyone loved the chapter but no one was willing to volunteer to be on the board of directors or on the subcommittees that did the work to keep the chapter moving forward.

I guess everyone was waiting for the other guy to step up, but he didn't; so after two year of unsuccessfully trying to get new blood into leadership positions, the existing board resigned in mass. This leaves the over 300 Charlotte members as orphans who must decide whether to go to Ft Myers, Sarasota or Arcadia for their next CCA meeting.

Clearly the Best!

Summer Special!

Pool Deck Remodeling Aqua Cal Heat Pumps Diamond Brite Surfaces Auto Pilot Salt Generators Helio-Coil Solar Panels Rheem Heat Pumps

Chlorine $6.99 two refills!

Acid

$7.99

two gallons!

941-255-3348 Monthly Service Chemicals Parts Supplies

3527 Tamiami Trail Port Charlotte, 33952 www.fivestarpoolsfl.net

As sad as the Charlotte CCA situation may be, it does present an opportunity for some other organization. This is only the second time in my 20 year association with the MAC that there has been an opening for an organization to be a member of the MAC. The MAC is a 20 member board appointed by the Charlotte County Board of Commissioners that advises the board on matters concerning boating, fishing and waterway matters.

It is the largest and oldest advisory board in Charlotte County. If your organization is interested in shaping the future of boating and fishing in Charlotte County this is your chance and it won't be here for long. For more information contact Pam Alexander@Charlotte.com or call 941-764-4909

OCTOBER 2013

REDFISH SCHOOLING

By Capt David Stephens Water LIFE Inshore After what seems to be an eternity, fall is here. Fall on Charlotte Harbor is the time of year when large schools of redfish can be found roaming the open flats and cruising along the bars. The days are getting shorter, the nights cooler. This is a sign from Mother Nature for multiple species of fish to change their habits.

If you fish the back country of Southwest Florida it’s hard not to focus on redfish. While there are plenty of quality reds still taking up residence in the roots of mangrove islands, the flats and bars are being invaded. So going out and finding a large school and pulling on reds till your arm falls off should be easy, right? Well yes and no, depending on how you approach the situation will make or break your day on the water. Spotting a school of reds on the flats takes a little getting used to, most people get them confused with mullet. Once you see the difference a few times it becomes very clear. Red-

WWW.WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM

fish schools will push a larger wake and tend to move in one direction together while a school of mullet will not flow as well together and scatter.

Once you spot a school there are a few things that are frowned upon. The number one thing is chasing the school.

Not only does this greatly reduce your chances of success but it also messes it up for future anglers. Once a school is pressured from being chased they become very spooky and often times break apart. The preferred technique is to see which way they are traveling and position yourself so that the school will come to you. If you are a live bait angler toss out a few chum baits to get them excited, once they begin to feed on the freebies toss out a bait with a hook.

If you are unable to keep the school around you, once they have passed try to get back in front of them. If you are unsuccessful you may have to locate a different fish in a different area. For the anglers out there that prefer to use artificials it is equally important to get in front of the school. When you present your lure to the fish try to cast in front of them and never cast in the middle of the school. Hopefully some of these little tips will help you have a successful day of fishing the flats for schooling redfish.

If you want to experience some of Charlotte Harbors best fishing give me a call or send me an email. All of our charters are private and customized to fit your party’s needs. Capt. Dave Stephens 941-916-5769 www.backbayxtremes.com.

PAGE 7

PAGE

8

EMAIL:

WATERLIFE@COMCAST.NET

Thank You! to the supporters of the 2013 Don Ball School of Fishing Itʼs never too late and the gift is never too small ... to help a kid learn to fish! 941-766-8180

New Outboard Prop Promises 10% Increase In Fuel Economy Water LIFE Staff Report

In a release on September 23, Mercury Marine said the related topics of increasing fuel costs and environmental stewardship have led them to introduce the Enertia ECO propeller, specifically designed for high-horsepower outboardpowered boats. Mercury claims a whopping 10 percent increase in fuel economy at cruising speeds while also living up to the already high performance

and reliability standards already associated with all other Mercury propellers.

To maximize the fuel economy Mercury Marine engineers designed the new propeller with a broad 16-inch diameter, large blade area and a high progressive rake, a combination made possible only by using Mercury’s proprietary X7 stainless steel alloy. While the Enertia ECO design results in reduced hull drag through increased bow lift at cruising

speeds, it still matches the performance of other Mercury propellers such as the Enertia and Revolution-4 on bite.

At cruising speeds, the Enertia ECO posts a minimum of 10 percent fuel economy gain compared to Mercury’s alreadyefficient line of offshore propellers. The new props will be available to consumers beginning in January in right- and lefthand rotation with pitches of 17, 19, 21 and 23 inches. All are 16-inch diameter.

OCTOBER 2013

Frank Thinkinʼ About Weather OCTOBER 2013

By Fishin’ Frank Water LIFE Baitshop What a crazy year, record rain fall, hot temperatures and fish in the Harbor. These things just do not go together! This year has been one to scratch your head about, with the Harbor brown as it could be and mostly fresh water, yet there have been schools of Spanish mackerel, lady fish, cat-fish, jacks, even sea trout, along with lots of tarpon in the Harbor.

In times like this I expect the reds and the snook to be here, they like the fresh water – both species will go into the fresh/brackish areas when they are small, to avoid the saltwater predators, but the other fish should not be here with these conditions.

The rain causes run off which adds to the flow of the rivers, the leaves and plants stain the water brown making it absorb more radiation from the sun making the water hot; it’s a solar collector. The hotter the water gets the less oxygen is in the water: combine that with the heat of the fresh water and the fish should be outa-here.

But upon further examination was the water really as hot as it should have been?

The answer is no. For some reason the water temperatures are in the low to mid 80s? hmm what’s up with that? I was talking to Capt. Cayle one day, just in from a fishing charter and on that sunny day the Harbor was only 84 degrees. That just does not make sense, the Harbor should have been be in the 90s pushing 100 degree surface temps, that would be the normal temperature for the Harbor in late August or September. OK, I scratch my head some more. Capt. Cayle and I are starting to debate the issue.

Could it be that the excessive rains and

WWW.WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM

Plenty of rainy weather this year! This image is one of over 250 on the Water LIFE facebook Canal View link, all showing different weather from this Port Charlotte canal perspective.

cloud cover have kept the water temps much lower than normal? This is the only thing that makes sense. The rain falls, hits the surface of the water and splashes. The splashing is important as it adds oxygen to the water, and while it splashes the rain is also cooling the water. Rain coming from high altitudes is cool to cold, and combine that with the extra cloud cover we have been having and the sun just does not have as much time to cook the water.

I was reminded of the time before 2000, maybe even the 1990s, when what we are having this year was the normal summer time weather. The water did not reach the extreme temps it has over the last 20 years, each summer. The rain coming every day is what it takes to keep the fishing good all year round. How easy it is to forget what we once knew and start thinking short term: this did not happen last year, so why is it happening this year?

But sometime you have to think back 20 or 30 years to get the perspective.

One of the things I enjoy most about this job, is the discovery of the new or rediscovery of something old and putting it into prespective of how it effects our

lives, and our fishing. Rain will slow business down as Florida’s main fuel for business activity is sunshine. Our State runs on warm sunny weather, people go out and spend money. However the rains have positive effects on the state and health of our fishery. The Peace River and the Myakka running at flood stages flush out and clean out the river beds and the Har-

PAGE 9

bor. The fresh water can kill noxious Salt water algae, even tiny things like sea lice can be killed by the fresh water, this is a good thing for the fish. Lots of good can come from this over-rainy year, I hear a lot about the water coming from Okeechobee effecting the fishing, but to be fair, the way the Harbor is set up, the vast amount of fresh water coming down the Caloosahatcee River only effects the bottom of the Harbor around the south half of Pine Island and the Sanibel area. That water is going out of Punta Rassa or Redfish Pass with little of it coming into the main upper body of Charlotte Harbor north of Pine Island. This can turn out to be a very bad thing for the lower islands of Charlotte Harbor. When it comes to water coming from Lake Okeechobee, we are paying for mistakes which were made before we were born.

So if you live in Port Charlotte or Punta Gorda, or around El-Jo-bean, look to our rivers as the cause of brown water not Lake Okeechobee.

Learning and re-learning our Rivers, Harbor and Gulf is one of the best things about fishin here. Determining what causes this or that can be as interesting as finding the motive in a detective novel, but like in a novel, the thing you first see as the most obvious is not always the final answer to the question. Still, how cool is that?

Frank@Fishin’ Franks 625-3888

PAGE

10

EMAIL:

WATERLIFE@COMCAST.NET

Cashing in on the

OCTOBER 2013

$ea Cow

This product came from a store in Colorado. The box says he始s 驶Everybody始s Favorite Floridian.始 Fill the food-grade silicone manatee with your favorite tea and float it in your cup. Stir your spoon slowly, it will be in a ManaTEA zone.

$2 off any haircut!

Now offering appointments with IZZY!

Many Encounters OCTOBER 2013

By Capt. Chuck Eichner Water LIFE Charlotte Harbor

Leaving a dock in Punta Gorda to go fishing presents unlimited opportunities found in very few other places. You could choose to pursue a hundred different species depending on whether you were fishing the river, Harbor or Gulf.

With the Gulf of Mexico as our destination, my good friend Duncan invited neighbors to fish off his beautiful Viking Sportfisherman, named Grizzly. With a 3 hour boat ride ahead the captain breezed through a choppy Harbor and entered some sloppy seas in the Gulf. Pinfish splashed around aimlessly in the livewells and boxes of sardines, squid and chum completed the recipe for an exciting day.

When the diesel engines slowed we anxiously awaited the captain’s word to drop into 150 feet of water and in short order red grouper of various sizes rose to the surface with some making it to the ice chest.

The choppy seas made drift fishing a challenge so we anchored, fished and moved until the best spots were found. Moving another 10 miles out, the captain peered into the screen identifying large fish in the upper water column.

Lines in the water, dropped to an estimated 30 feet off the bottom produced bone shaking action as our friends put the heat on Amberjack. This has got to be one of the hardest fighting fish in the sea and rod harnesses were strapped around the waist. A few big ones got away this day but a 35 pounder made it into the box.

The day before Duncan and his two sons Will and young Duncan were on board, along with the neighbor’s son Collin and they fought out some monster amberjack.

One fish pushing 60 pounds was landed and was actually bigger then young Duncan!

As our day continued we eventually pursued large mangrove snapper and before dropping a chunk of sardine to the bottom, the captain hoped that red snapper would not beat the mangs to the bait.

At first red snapper sounded good to me!

I chose a knocker rig which is basically an

WWW.WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM

egg sinker sliding against the hook, rigged on a heavy spinning rod. Floating the bait into the chum line produced a huge strike and a 12 pound American Red Snapper came aboard, my first of this species ever. I was proud as a peacock until I was instructed to release the fish as the season was closed.

By day’s end, we had many encounters with grouper, barracuda, snapper, kingfish and amberjack: some that made it aboard and some bitten in half by sharks.

With the 100plus species to pursue this day, we tangled with only six powerful ones. Had the weather been better I would guess we would have doubled the specie count, but all fish were real brutes on the end of a fishing rod. The ultimate reward was grouper fillets, some incredible mouth watering smoked amberjack and the young angler’s smiles!

Capt. Chuck Eichner operates Action Flats Backcountry Charters and can be reached at 941-628-8040 or go to www.BackCountry-Charters.com

Charlotte Harbor Sailboat Racing Resumes PG Sailing Club Race Schedule October 6: Race #3 October 12 -13 Summerset Regatta October 19 - 20 Moonlight Regatta

November 3: November 7: December 1: December 7 - 8

PAGE 11

Race #4 Race #5 Race #6 Holiday Regatta

(Above) Twenty young local sailors in the YMCA Sailing program competed in a regatta from the sailing center in Punta Gorda late in September.

Now that the snowbirds are returning and the sweltering days of summer are (mostly) behind us, sailing in Charlotte Harbor returns. Monthly races from the Punta Gorda Sailing Club and several other local sailing orginizations make Charlotte Harbor one of Sailing Magazineʼs top-10 sailing venues in the Country.

12

EMAIL:

WATERLIFE@COMCAST.NET

Keep a Low Profile for Big Fish PAGE

By Capt Billy Barton Water LIFE Inshore.

I know, last month, there were a lot of folks on the hunt for their first keeper snook in years and I was one of them. Snook is probably one of the hardest fighting inshore species we have to offer here in our area and they're at the top of the list as far as the tastiest as well. Right now the majority of our snook are moving off of the beaches where they spawn during the summer, they're on the early fall move back up into the Harbor and the ICW, headed to the grass flats, creek mouths, troughs and sand holes they love.

Another thing we are seeing inshore right now is massive schools of big breeder redfish.

This is their time of year to spawn and this is the only time we're able to see big quality oversize redfish in massive numbers. Throughout the month of October and into November these fish will be on the move back into the Gulf where they spend most of the year. Needless to say, many of us have been taking full advantage of this while it lasts. As far as light tackle catch and release sport fishing goes, it just doesn't get much better than big bull redfish.

As a full time charter guide, education is part of what we do. I'm approached all the time by folks who are struggling on the grass flats and not catching quality fish, or not catching fish in numbers. One of the most important things that I preach is Stealth. There's one thing you have to understand if you're gonna’ be an inshore fisherman around here; our fish get an extreme amount of pressure, especially the redfish. Every week of their fish-lives they hear outboard motors and get run over by flats boats. And when I say every week I mean, literally, every single week. The affect of this is a spookier population of adapting fish.

Let’s say I was on a charter and we wanted to fish a specific shoreline or sandbar. First off, it's always nice having the wind at your back while fishing a spot. This allows you to stay as distant as possible and get a long cast at the fish with the wind’s assistance. I always shut my outboard down a good 50-plus yards away from the place I'm going to fish. Then I'll use my trolling motor to creep us in there at a slow, stealthy pace until we are a long cast away. When I feel like the boat is close

enough, I'll silently anchor the boat from the stern, so the bow swings with the wind towards the fish. It's always good to stay as distant as you possibly can from the fish and nine times out of ten your larger fish are gonna’ be caught on some of your most distant casts.

Here are three things that can blow your chances at a great time.

1) Don't ever pull up to a spot on the flats and throw out your anchor with six foot of chain, making a crazy loud splash! This disturbs EVERYTHING. There's no worse thing you could do as far as spooking the fish goes.

Believe it or not, I see it all the time and when I do, I just laugh!

2) Loud "thumper" footsteps never help. It's always good to walk on the boat quietly when your in "stealth mode." Personally, I go barefoot just about everyday of my life (excluding wintertime). I'm not saying that you have to go barefoot to catch big fish, but walking on the deck of that boat lightly is in your best interest.

You definitely don't want to stomp your feet if you "horn" that big one! Tip toe back to the live-well, get yourself another bait and make another shot! He, or one of his fish-associates may still be waiting there for some more food!!

3) Letting hatches and live-well lids fall is another way you can spook these larger, wiser fish. Talking is fine. You don't have to whisper. They can't hear you talk. They may be able to hear you yell however if you're way up in the back country. Sounds and vibrations travel through water very well and they go pretty far. The larger, wiser fish know what noises they should and shouldn't be hearing in their habitat. By practicing distance, keeping a lower profile, and getting yourself into "stealth mode" you will definitely increase your chances at a great day fishing.

I wish everyone luck. Get out there while the gettin’s good and get you a big one!! If you're struggling and you have any questions at all, feel free to call me at (941) 979-6140 and I'll give you whatever insight I can. Or on the other hand give me a call and book yourself a trip. I'll do everything in my power to make it a fish filled day, and a memorable experience at that. Tight lines guys and gals. Good luck out there. Now go get in stealth mode, and go rip some major lips!! Signing out, Captain Billy Barton/Scales N' Tails Charters.

OCTOBER 2013

OCTOBER 2013

WWW.WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM

All photos are of anglers and fish caught last month on inshore charters with Capt. Billy Barton

PAGE 13

#1Helluva Slam!

Capt. Billy wrote: All caught on 10-pound braid and 25-pound flouro!! The snook was 20-pounds and 40-inches, Linda始s trout was 28-inches and 6pounds. Dave始s red was 27 on the button and right at 8-pounds.

PAGE

14

Tempestuous Lucy Hi-PERFORMANCE –

EMAIL:

WATERLIFE@COMCAST.NET

OCTOBER 2013

Car turns 50 this month!

By Michael Heller Water LIFE Editor Lucy is my hot rod.

She turns 50 this month.

Many of you know about my fast Paramount boat from previous performance stories ( I call the boat Lucky-3, but that’s another whole story), but how many of you know about my car Lucy?

When I got this car in a trade with my friend Mike in 1994, in New Mexico, the name Lucy had already been scratched into the left steering wheel spoke with a pen-knife by a former owner or occupant. I traded Mike an old Porsche transmission for her. That’s another long story!

Mike had picked up Lucy (literally, with a tow truck and a chain) from her last owner after the transmission split open in a field and the car ended up high-sided on a big pile of boulders. When I got here, the drivetrain was shot. The right lower control arm was mangled and I could see a quarter pannel had been replaced somewhere along the line. The passenger’s door had some dent filler coming off, but all in all, the car was pretty straight and very solid. Mike always thought he’d find a donor car, salvage the drivetrain from it and make one complete car out of Lucy, but he never did and Lucy sat for almost 20 years.

When I got her there were a few bullet

Counter clockwise from top left: We pulled the car out of its 20 year resting place. An old engine block was used to fabricate the new motor mounts. The floor was cut out for the new scattershield and 5-speed transmission. The engine is installed. Mike squirts the base coat/clear coat

holes in the windshield but the rest of the car, all the little stuff, the stuff that’s hard to replace - like original window and door cranks, seat trim, kick pannels and the top-bows were all perfect. Under the hood Lucy had a run-out anemic little 4-cylinder engine that Pontiac made by cutting one of their V-8s in half. I could see there was plenty of room in the engine bay for an engine much bigger.

Lucy is a 1963 Pontiac Tempest. The build date on the tag under the hood says she was built during the third week of October. There were only 2655 Tempests built that year, (many more LeMans mod-

els were produced) and Lucy is in the still smaller subset of Tempest convertibles.

She weighed just 3250 pounds.

Lucy was rough when I pulled her out of Mike’s lean-to and brought her home on a rickety tow-bar to my (then) house in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I still remember the look on my wife’s face when she saw Lucy for the first time. “You’re kidding?

Another car?” Ellen asked, having already seen me through several high performance car projects and one 15 year love affair with a complex airplane.

But I wasn’t kidding. Lucy was a dry, high desert car. There was little significant rust and the chrome and brightwork were all in good shape. The floorboards and fenders were solid. I could see beyond the obvious. I could see a sweet, solid, little lightweight car with a 500 horsepower big-block Chevy hidden under the hood.

Lucy would make what we, as kids in the horsepower-crazed 60s called a ‘sleeper.’

A stock looking car with enormously unstock acceleration. And she was a convertible to boot!

For the next two years I spent my spare time working on Lucy, stripping the body down to the shell, fixing what needed to be fixed and fabricating all the new mechanical stuff like engine and 5-speed transmission mounts, coil over rear shocks with a 4-link suspension, custom front disc brakes, linkage, cooling, exhausts and on and on. I had her running in a year and then it took another four months to smooth her all out and get her primed for paint. In 1997, just a month before I moved back to Florida, Mike and I painted Lucy the original factory blue in his garage and put her on a flatbed truck three weeks later for her trip down to Port Charlotte.

My plan was to finish the car in Florida. I still remember the day the flatbed truck arrived at our new house and I climbed into Lucy. I pumped the gas and started the engine. There were no mufflers on the 500+ cubic inch engine. It was antiretirement loud. Neighbors came out into the street to see what all the deep concussive noise was. I backed the car off the truck and drove it into the garage. The little kids visiting down the block ran away in fear. God knows what our new neighbors thought about us moving into their quiet neighborhood 16 years ago.

Editor Notes* Let me know if you’re interested in cars and want to hear more and see more of Lucy. This story is just getting started and 500 horsepower isn’t going to be enough! Text me: 457-1389 or email me at: waterlife@comcast.net Let me know how you feel about Smokey Burnouts and FAST in your Water LIFE.

OCTOBER 2013

WWW.WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM

AQUATICA

By Michael Heller Water LIFE Aquatica Charlotte County Sea Grant Agent Betty Staugler is studying what they have been doing in Australia. The scallop represents a potentially valuable wild-caught fishery in Australia and the Australians have been releasing scallop spat (gelatinous clumps and strings of microscopic developing scallops) into their wild, to boost natural scallop populations, just like Staugler has been doing here in the Gasparilla Sound.

Without proof of recapture rates the Aussies were finding it difficult to justify their efforts and like the Australians, Betty also needs proof of recapture rates.

Last year Betty released 5 million scallop spats in Gasparilla Sound. And last month Betty released another 6-million. Stauglerʼs annual Great Bay and Sound Scallop Survey in late summer helps determine if scallops are around, but not where they came from.

When Betty asked “How do you tell the hatchery grown scallops, like the ones I am releasing, from the ones occurring naturally in the wild?” Australia had an answer.

In a Queensland Australia scientific paper published in the Journal of Shellfish Research in 2008 entitled Marking the shell of the saucer scallop for sea ranching, the authors discuss using certain antibiotics to track scallops. The idea that certain antibiotics color a scallop shell 'pinkish' when viewed under a HPS light is the key. The coloring gives researchers a way to differentiate between the scallops from a commercial scallop grow out facility and those occurring naturally.

The science of mark-recapture provides for quantification of mortality, growth, population size, age-at maturity, and movement. Such biological information, the Australians found, is necessary for a responsible approach to stock enhancement and is critical for further development of sea ranching.

Steve Geiger, a research biologist specializing in scallops at the Florida Marine Research Institute in St. Pete told us: “Basically the scallop larvae will be exposed to very dilute tetracycline

solution (200 mg/liter will be a starting trial) for a short time (1 hr to 1 day) in the hatchery. In theory, a small quantity of tetracycline will be incorporated into the shell. It will only be visible with a microscope and an ultraviolet light source.”

Geiger said they are working on this in the lab now, adding “Before we do this for any scallops that would be released, we would try it in the hatchery in tanks isolated from those scallops intended for release. We would like to know if the released larvae subsequently grow and can be confirmed to be from the hatchery.”

Geiger said they are also working on genetic based tracking.

“The animals Betty released were not tagged chemically, but we are going to try to track them with genetic methods. If we can collect DNA from the parents, and offspring retained in the hatchery, we may be able to identify 1st and or 2nd generation offspring in the wild. The trick is in clearly identifying the genetic material in this batch and finding unique traits to separate them from the remainder of the local population – both residents and immigrating larvae. That part may take us several years.”

When asked about humans consuming scallops marked with antibiotics Geiger said: “Currently, there is no legal harvest allowed in these (any local) areas so none will be legally consumed. I am not a medical doctor, but if you search the web you will find that this drug is used in humans to treat acne. The amount retained in the shell of the larvae would be vastly lower than what is used for such treatment.”

6,000,000 spats fit n three buckets

PAGE 15

Using Antibiotic Marking to track Scallops

A cluster of Scallop Spats is compared to the edge of a dime

PAGE

16

Real Estate News

EMAIL:

WATERLIFE@COMCAST.NET

OCTOBER 2013

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

1. Punta Gorda's new budget calls for 5.1% more expenditures than last year. tTaxpayer's won't notice the increase since reserves are adequate to fund it.

2. Building permits issued in Punta Gorda have totaled 81 during the past fiscal year vs. just 52 in the same period of 2012. Charlotte County has issued 295 permits in the past 10 months vs.

228 a year ago. Notably, the cost of those houses has risen from $33.6 million ($147,000 avg) to $62.4 million ($212,000 avg).

3. The Punta Gorda Airport will be adding 25,000 square feet to its terminal to accommodate new routes being started by Allegiant Airlines. Airline traffic increased more than 58% for August vs. last year.

4. North Port and Sarasota County are contemplating the offer to operate Warm

County dredging at the Port Charlotte Beach Complex is widening the approach channel and deepening it inside the boat ramp basin.

The dredged out sand will be dumped back on the Beach Complex beach. We始ll have to see what this does to snook fishing in the cut.

Mineral Springs by the adjacent land owner, Dr. Gregory Pogrebinsky. His proposal is to compensate these sad owners, 24% of the gross profits generated.

5. The Mote Aquarium feasibility study for 3 possible sites including City Marketplace in Punta Gorda, was due to start September 9 and will take between 8 and 12 weeks to complete.

6. The Yamaha/Kawasaki dealership will spend $2.5million for acquisition and improvements to their new home at 1110 Tamiami Trail in Punta Gorda.

7. The Burnt Store Isles canal mainte-

nance program now calls for widening the opening at the former lock to Alligator Creek from 17 to 21 feet. The improvements should make the subdivision more attractive to owners of large boats that were challenged by the narrow opening.

8. The median income for Florida residents was revealed to be just $45,000.

This represents a drop of more than 10% since 2000.

9. A new government program aimed at stabilizing households that find that their mortgages exceed the market value of their home. Taxpayers will reward banks that foolishly overlent on homes at the peak of the real estate boom. Up to $50K will be reimbursed to lenders on behalf of owners as long as they are current on mortgages, mortgages are more than 25% above market value of the property, and other restrictions. Affected homeowners won't have to repay the new loan if they remain in the home for five years.

10. Sarasota's Benderson Park has been selected to host the 2017 World Rowing championships. This will be the first time in 20 years that the event has been held in the U.S. 11. Charlotte County's unemployment rate fell to 7.1% from 7.4% in July.

Sarasota County registered a rate of 6.8%.

In other news: The much troubled Gators Restaurant, surviving bankruptcy and a health department shutdown, is up for sale. The retiring owner hopes to recoup $1.4 million of the $2.0 million invested. Cindy Murphy learned about the difficulties of raising $200K by issuing prepaid credit vouchers. While restaurants have achieved modest success by offering discounted vouchers of 25 to 75% on line through websites like Restaurant.com, she offered a discount of 0% to try to raise money to relocate her Pies and Plates restaurant to the Punta Gorda Parking Garage. Even with tons of free publicity, the effort came up empty.

Sales Statistics: PC PG NP Board of Realtors president, Sharon Neuhofer was quoted as opining that "The numbers look awesome". Not sure what "numbers" she was looking at. But, distressed sales are definitely exiting the mix, distorting year over year median sales price increases. Foreclosures fell to 54 last month from 214 last year.

OCTOBER 2013

WWW.WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM

Cooling off just a little

By Capt. Bart Marx Water LIFE Fishing Hello fellow anglers, it’s Red October.

This is the time of year that the reds/reddrum are in full feeding mode and they are in schools scattered all over the Southwest Florida waters. Some of these schools are well over 100 fish and they are in the upper slot size or well over it. This is the time of year I like to carry my fly rod so when you find these large schools you can cast a fly at them and have a great time.

Years past, we would go to the phosphate dock on the full moon in October for big snook and reds using boat rods with 40- or 50-pound line and 80-pound leader and pin fish and pig fish that we would catch with small rods using squid or shrimp. Some baits were the size of your hand. I recall one trip, my dad Harpo, Gary Spalding and myself caught a dozen or so baits and that evening we caught that many reds over 36-inches.

Last month I got the privilege to take

Custom Fiberglass

my mom, Diane South, and her sister Dawn, fishing. We started at Pineland Marina and went to the phosphate docks looking for a keeper snook for Mom. There were enough fish to sink my Action Craft, but do you think they would bite? No! We had pin fish, green backs, finger mullet, and Fishin’ Franks’ special shrimp. I even threw some lures at them. They wanted nothing to do with any of it. There were logs to peanuts.

We could see them and they could see us. They were just not eating. We traveled over to the pilings of one of the old shacks that was burned down close to Cayo Costa and the ICW. We found some snapper that were hungry, we caught a nice mess for a meal. Then it was time for us to eat. We went to Cabbage Key for lunch, the lunch rush was over. We opted to go inside and find a

ANYTHING!

Fabrication • Spot Repairs • Major Structural Custom work is our Specialty

1726 Steadley Ave. Punta Gorda

Free Estimates Mobile Service

Professional Quality Aw l G r i p F i n i s h e s Gel Coat Repairs

Shop 941- 575-8914 Home 235-2243

www.allfiberglassrepairs.com Scott Steffe Owner

ceiling fan in the green back room that is papered with dollar bills.

Waiting refills on our iced tea, there was a rumble in the distance.

We were about half way into our eating when the wind and rain and lightning came in full force.

We were there for an hour and a half, it cooled down and we had a nice chat and some family time together.

When we returned to Pineland we had fish to clean – 15 snapper and one lonely Spanish mackerel, a great time was had by all, thanks Mom and Dawn.

I also had a trip with the neighbor, their grandson, his dad and grandpa. They met me at Port Charlotte Beach ramp where we started our trip down south to the Pirate Harbor area to fish. There were some of those bait robbing pin fish and little snapper tearing it up. We fished in around that area for a while and moved a couple of times before they caught some reds and snook and bagged a few snapper for lunch. They had a great trip, all three generations of

PAGE 17

fishermen together.

This month there should be some good offshore fishing for snapper and grouper when we get cooler weather moving in.

If you would like to make some of your own memories call Capt. Bart Marx at 941-979-6517 or e-mail me at: captbart@alphaomegacharters.com For your personal Florida fishing adventure always remember singing drags and tight lines make me smile.

The Olʼ Fishʼn Hole

PAGE

18

By Captain Jim O’Brien Water LIFE Offshore Hey ya - all how have you been doing this month? Hope ya - all got out an got some fish'n in. It seems lately trying to get out fish'n and dodge storms at the same time is like a game.

Man I tell ya we had a charter out a couple of weeks ago and all the weather men and NOAA said 10 to 15 kt winds and 2 to 3 ft. seas out of the east. Well we left the docks at 7:30 and headed out to our fish'n grounds 30 miles out. After we got there we ended up in 4 to 6 ft. seas. It was not pretty but we were there and made the best of it. So we started fish'n in 100 ft of water trying to keep our bait on the bottom and it wasn't easy. When the guys hit the bottom the boat would pitch one way and then the other and it would yank their baits off the bottom 5 to 6 feet.

It was like jigging with stink bait, Ha! One of our other charters after that one went from one extreme to another. This day was total calm all day no wind no breeze no current, the gulf was like a sheet of ice. I had to start the boat up to move and we didn't have to anchor all day. The chum fell straight to the bottom 20 to 25 ft from the boat not enough current to take the chum back 50 to 75 yards.

It was too perfect of a day. On this charter we had Bud Keefer, Greg Schnider, David Forbes, Rick Waley, Betty Thomas and her husband Tim Thomas. I tell ya that day the ice cold ac felt pretty DAG -UM GOOD. In our picture for this month I could only get 3 out of 6 people to hold fish up everyone else was camera shy or

EMAIL:

WATERLIFE@COMCAST.NET

wanted HA! We got red grouper, biggest was only 24-inches, some mangs to 20inches and a lot of lane snapper. We went to 8 different places from 70 ft to 106 ft and we had lane snapper and porgies at every spot we went.

Well let's see what other people are catching.

SHARKS -- big bull sharks are in an around the deep holes in Charlotte Harbor and the pass's black tips are being caught around the mouths of lil Gasparilla Pass and Stump Pass and they are being caught on the inshore an offshore reefs an wrecks.

COBIA -- no one I talked to caught any cobia.

AJ'S -- greater amberjack are chewing good on the deep water wrecks an reefs. Try D-9 or the Bayronto, use big lively blue runners.

GAG GROUPER -- there are some being caught in 60 to 80 ft of water but most of these are small. The BIG UNS are out deeper 85ft to120ft of water.

OCTOBER 2013

Gulf Red Snapper Opens Recreationally State & Federal Waters Have Different Window

RED GROUPER-- we caught 24 in. reds in 70 ft of water out to 100 ft.

YELLOW TAIL SNAPPER AND MANGROVE SNAPPER are being caught in 80 to 100 feet of water.

LANE SNAPPER AN PORGIES are all over the place every spot I stopped at from 70 ft of water to100 ft of water. My fish finder screen was loaded with these guys. We used chicken rigs on them.

I think it's time to get out of here so if you have a good ol fish'n story or a recipe for cooking fish that we can share with our readers send it 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

Heritage Oak Park

Port Charlotte

Call the Captain! BEAUTIFUL VILLA IN WOODED AREA! Two bedroom with Den, nearly 1400sf Air and 2 car garage, wonderful community amenities in this well kept home. $123,900

Pirate Harbor

Immediate Harbor Access

New Listing

Call the Captain! BEAUTIFUL SOUTHWARD FACING LOT with dock, boat lift and rip-rap seawall. Very quick sailboat access, no bridges to Harbor. $79,000

Punta Gorda

Call the Captain! SECLUDED SAILBOAT LOT, immediate harbor access in top neighborhood with views of the estuary. New 100' of seawall, dock and fill. Ready to build $145,000

Sailboat Waterfront

The recreational harvest of red snapper will open Oct. 1 in state and federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. In state waters, which are from shore to 9 nautical miles in the Gulf, the season will remain open through Oct. 21, closing on Oct. 22. In federal waters, which are from 9 nautical miles out to 200 nautical miles, the season will remain open through Oct. 14, closing on Oct. 15.

These supplemental recreational red snapper seasons are for 2013 only. The minimum size limit in state and federal waters is 16 inches, and the daily bag limit is two per harvester, per day. There is a zero daily bag and possession limit for captain and crew on forhire vessels.

Anglers are required to use circle hooks and dehooking devices when fishing for any reef species, including red snapper, in Gulf of Mexico state and federal waters.

The requirement to use venting tools in federal waters was removed on Sept. 3. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will consider adopting similar changes at a future meeting. The intent of these rules is to help conserve fishery resources by increasing the chances for a fish to survive after being caught and released.

Charlotte Harbor Access!

Punta Gorda

Call the Captain! DRAMATIC EXECUTIVE STYLE LAKEFRONT HOME With 4 Car Garage! Custom home builder’s home with Million dollar appointments. Like new '2006', over 2600sf Air $449,000

Port Charlotte

Call the Captain! DEEP WATER SAILBOAT LOT With Dock & Seawall, super fast access to harbor, close to Beach Complex and near beautiful homes $169,900

Sailboat Waterfront

Port Charlotte

Call the Captain! REMARKABLE VIEWS from

this large custom pool home, 3/3/3 with over 2700sf under air. List $599,000 Sold $575,000

OCTOBER 2013

WWW.WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM

PAGE 19

Paddle Through Tippecanoe

By David Allen Water LIFE Kayaking Several of my recent columns have focused on interesting, and sometimes, little known paddles close to Port Charlotte.

These launch sites include Allipatchee Park, Sunrise Park, Shell Creek and Lettuce Lake. But there are other enjoyable paddles in the area that are infrequently visited by paddlers and some of them offer more than just a good paddle.

One such location is a launch that is close to the Tippecanoe Environmental Park located just south of the Charlotte Sports Park on 776. The Environmental Park itself, is a preserve of some 350 acres of coastal flatwoods, mangrove swamps and salt marshes that is home to many species of water birds, turtles, and even a family of Florida Scrub Jays. The park is a maze of improved trails and boardwalks which takes visitors deep into the area and provides an opportunity to view the wildlife first hand.

Less well known, is a kayak launch site that, while not actually part of Tippecanoe Park, is located on the northeast corner.

The creek leading from the launch, runs along the east side of the park.

Access is easy. Take 776 (the El Jobean Road) toward the Sports Park and turn left on Tea Street. Go to the end of Tea Street, past the County Maintenance

area and you’ll find the launch. There is a good parking area, but no restroom facilities.

There are several different paddles, some longer than others that you can take from the Tea Street launch. Our club paddled this area recently, and shortly after the launch, divided into two groups taking different routes. We all paddled southwest for about three-quarters of a mile, until we reached the portage into Flopbuck Creek.

See the included map for directions to the portage. The portage is short, about 10-15 yards over a raised bank. Flopbuck Creek is a narrow, winding tidal creek that leads to the north end of Tippecanoe Bay. Don’t try this route at low tide or you’ll be dragging your kayaks over the low spots.

And there are lots of those.

Tippecanoe Bay can also be a difficult paddle at low tide, but once you get to the Myakka River, about 1 mile from the Flopbuck entrance, you’ll have your choice of going up the River or toward Charlotte Harbor and Hog Island.

The other half of our club paddled down the north-west end of the Manchester Waterway, continuing toward the main

channel. On our paddle last month we stopped at the home of a club member for a little R & R before continuing, but we usually proceed down the Manchester Waterway to the entrance to the Triple Lake area or we continue on east into the southwest corner of Alligator Bay. I personally like the Triple Lakes paddle better than the Manchester, as it takes you through mangrove areas with lots of wildlife and water birds to see. This route, about a mile in length, takes you through the three lakes and into the Myakka Cutoff along the north side of Hog Island. Then either track back up the

Myakka to Tippecanoe Bay, or out into Charlotte Harbor for a round trip back through the Manchester.

Any of the many possible paddling routes in this area will lead to an enjoyable outing on the water.

The Port Charlotte Kayakers meet each Wednesday evening at Franz-Ross Park, adjacent to the local YMCA, at 5:00PM. All are welcome to attend. For more information, call Dave Allen at 941235-2588 or email to dlaa@comcast.net.

PAGE

20

By Michael Wright Special to Water LIFE Loretta Joyce understood the potential difficulties with a full day fishing offshore, but she also relished the adventure.

Loretta boarded Glen Ballinger’s boat Outcast in Venice during the predawn hours of a warm September morning along with four seasoned veterans of off shore fishing in the Gulf. Loretta, from Portland Oregon, was the only woman on board the 32 foot HydraSport and the only novice. The Outcast was greeted by smooth seas out of the Venice Inlet and the adventure was underway.

Loretta was interested in catching a big fish and the most likely candidate in September was an amberjack, a fast swimming and muscular fish affectionately known as “the reef donkey” for its willingness to fight stubbornly from the time it is hooked until it is boated or it wrestles itself free. Live bait is preferred for these predators. Within minutes the bait well was full and Captain Glen headed for the fishing grounds.

More than an hour after land disappeared they settled over the first fishing spot. This was a grouper location and Loretta was ready. She dropped a frozen sardine to the bottom and it was instantly consumed. She fought the red grouper to the surface and after a quick measurement confirmed Loretta had caught the first

EMAIL:

WATERLIFE@COMCAST.NET

Fishing with the Boys

keeper of the day. The boys caught a few more grouper and a couple of nice mangrove snappers. Then the anchor came up and the Outcast was headed still further into the crystal blue Gulf.

By noon Loretta found herself more than 50 miles from shore. The ride out was interesting as a large pod of spotted dolphin rode in the wake. There were no other boats to be seen. Flying fish skimmed the tops of the water and a large Loggerhead turtle surfaced near by.

Glen decided to drift across an area he knew held amberjack. The first drift was

disappointing as several of the anglers were bitten off by barracuda. Soon the prospect of a free meal was drawing a small crowd of barracuda to within a few yards of the boat. Eventually on the second drift a barracuda was hooked, but it broke off just before it could be netted.

The other barracuda seemed to get the message and they scattered.

Loretta chose a live blue runner for the third drift and that proved to be a good decision. The reel screeched as an amberjack grabbed the bait and made its first run. Loretta leaned back on the rod and

OCTOBER 2013

set the hook. The fight was on. Every time Loretta gained ground the opponent would return the favor and strip line from her reel. Slowly but surely Loretta worked the fish closer and closer to the boat. The amberjack seemed to shift to a new gear every time the boat was within sight.

Loretta arms and legs were aching, but Glen encouraged her to hang on. One time the fish was near the boat but too much line had rolled up on one side of the reel and the amberjack was allowed to strip more line. The boat had drifted nearly a mile from where the battle began, but finally with just about her last bit of energy Loretta guided the opponent close to the boat. Glen gaffed the amberjack and hoisted it over the gunnels. Success!

Off to the east the clouds had gathered during the battle. It was time to head home quickly, but the rain could not be avoided. Everyone on board was drenched by the time land was in sight.

The previously calm seas became choppy so it was a slow and rough trip home. As the Outcast cleared the inlet into the relative calm of the intracoastal waters an exhausted, disheveled and soaking wet Loretta contemplated having her photo taken with her prize amberjack. She looked at her fishermen friends and asked “How does my hair look”? Loretta was now one of the boys but she was still a lady.

Water LIFE Distributorʼs Club

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

locations

Cooks

Sportland

4419 So. Tamiami Trail S. Venice 493-0025

Water LIFE Distributorʼs Club

We say ʻthanksʼ to our major distributors with these free card ads!

OCTOBER 2013

ON THE OPENING NIGHT OF SNOOK SEASON, Officers in Lee County received a complainant reporting that four males were keeping undersized snook at a nearby creek. As Officer Raczek approached the truck, he saw two snook in the bed of the truck. One of the snook was still attached to a lure on a fishing pole and flopping around. When asked about the snook, one of the men said that he bought his snook stamp and thought anything over 12 inches was ok. The man was cited for possession of undersized snook and for being over the daily bag limit of snook.

KAYAKER GETS FREE HELP Officers responded to the call of an 80-year-old woman who had fallen out of a kayak and was in the water. The officers, along with Charlotte County Fire Rescue, launched a Jon boat in the small but swollen Prairie Creek.

The woman was located and they were able to return the woman and her kayak safely to shore.

WORLD RECORD 777-POUND bluefin tuna landed by a New Zealand fishing crew.

WWW.WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM

SCUTTLEBUTT

PAGE 21

Sometimes Unsubstanciated, But Often True

EATING OF THE SCHREWS At 19 inches long, this rainbow trout caught in Alaskaʼs Togiak National Wildlife Refuge is unremarkable on the outside. What was found in its stomach, however, has researchers scratching their heads. When they opened up the fish, park biologists found nearly 20 half-digested mouse

sized shrews inside. “[It is] an awful lot for one fish to put down,” fish biologist Mark Lisac said. The biologists caught the fish while placing radio transmitters in the Kanektok River as part of a study to understand fish movements.

CASH STRAPPED Last month the Acquisition and Restoration Committee appointed by Gov. Scott and the Dept. of Environmental Protection convened to consider selling off parcels of state owned land on Cayo Costa's Pejuan Point (south

end) and North Captiva (Upper Captiva) RECORDS ARE OUT THERE While visiting the beautiful and

remote Christmas Island in the Pacific Ocean, Singaporean angler Kelvin Ng landed a potential All-Tackle record yellowmargin triggerfish (7 lb 11 oz).The current IGFA record is 2.75 kg (6 lb 1 oz).

ITʼS YOURS TO DO WITH AS YOU CHOOSE To win a bet, Brian Bickell of the Chicago Blackhawks took the Stanley Cup fishing with him last month.

RECESSION? WE DONʼT WANT NO STINKING RECESSION! In June a new (almost) wonder of the world opened in Singapore. Sky Park, Marina Bay Sands is located 200-meters up, spanning the roofs of three skyscrapers, as if it were on three pillars. The complex houses high end casinos, bars, restaurants; a huge 150 meter long outdoor swimming pool and even the Singapore Museum of Modern Art.

Peddle Faster! Being ʻone with natureʼ has its associated risks.

PAGE

22

EMAIL:

WATERLIFE@COMCAST.NET

October Fishing Forecast

an Aqua-Dream there are smaller snook, under slot fish; spoon, one with there just aren’t as many slot sized fish as a pinfish pattern we thought, but there are still plenty. On the (or weird as it is, west coast of Florida the State says we’ll the pink one), he catch and release 1,000,000 snook a year takes off the tre- on average.

On the River, the Texas Chicken, a 15ble hook it came with and re- Bomber or a SIG lure are the plan, but places it with a when trolling the lure has to be 100 yards 3/0 red Mutu behind the boat. It’s a difficult pull. When circle hook. It you are casting on the river, switch to a Rathas to be red. tletrap. At I-75 or on the deep holes by The hook will Harbour Heights I’m casting a red or orcorrode rapidly ange Rattletrap. You want to land it 2-to 4if the red chips feet from the bank. Then let it fall a good 4 off, so as soon seconds before you reel. Spanish mackerel as the hook gets are all along the beaches. There are nice Chrissy Moesley shows off a fine Myakka River redfish chipped you schools up to Alligator Reef. Look for the have to replace birds. Fish poppin’ corks like you do for the hook - when the hook starts turning trout, a small spoon or little jigs for the Frank, at Fishin’ Franks gold it no longer works. But until then it’s Spanish.

941- 625-3888 I don’t know what’s going on, but along killer. The guys are using them in the canals Now is the time to fish the dams along and along the mangroves down south of the east side bar, down to Jug Creek and out US41. Go whereever the freshwater is Ponce. It’s apparently new to redfish and to Boca Grande and then along the beaches falling into the saltwater and you’ll get the they are eating it. there are still pompano. You have to be tarpon and snook you’ve heard about.

Snook fishing is working out to be tricky for them. If you use a bucktail you Those dams are the hottest thing going right great. You can use that same Aqua -Dream, have to trim the hairs back. The craziest now. or the tongue-slapper soft bait which looks story this month is guys off of Hobbs Point In the Harbor, we’ve had some of the like ... a tongue, but it’s a soft plastic spoon and also at the mouth of the PGI canals are best summertime fishing we have had in which is being made in Murdock. You have reporting small snook are hitting on bare decades. On an incoming tide, south of Al- to give this lure those little ‘rips’ when you red and green jig heads! ligator Creek Reef, the Pirate Harbor Hole retrieve it, you can’t just slow reel it in.

Freshwater is all about green and brown or the Middle Hole there have been schools Pitch one next to a seawall or under the colors in soft plastic. The Rapalla scatter of ladyfish, catfish, trout and some Span- dock. Use a weighted worm hook and let it wraps are doing well, bass fishing is hot. ish mackerel. For catching tarpon that’s settle down. We’ve already had 30-to 40- I’ve had good reports on bluegill too and the best place, from there to about Cape inch snooks caught on this. as soon as the water cools off a little more Haze. The tarpon have picked up on all the On the east side of the Harbor the snook the crappie will be eating. smaller fish around the area and the feed- fishing is great. The average snook right It is a great time if you can get out being frenzy is on. I’ve heard of more tarpon now is over slot. Closer to Pirate Harbor tween the raindrops and the wind. hooked in the last half of September than Continued on facing page the whole rest of the season combined.

Right now the technique is to use a medium-heavy to a heavy rod to catch the ladyfish or trout or Spanish or cats that are schooling there...and when you reel them in you have a very good chance of a tarpon keying in on the struggling fish. Fight the schooling little-fish longer, don’t get in a hurry to bring them right back in. This is not catch and release. It’s more catch and catch again. They are your bait. Use a little oversized hook for the little fish. If you use a 2/0, go to a 4/0.

We are going through a ton of jigs at the store right now. Soft plastics and pre-rigged paddletails are popular to catch a variety of fish. White, brown and purple are all doing Offshore Fishing Trips: 1/2 day • 8hr • 10 hr • 12 hr very well. The funny thing is gold should We help put your charters together be good, but it’s not as good as the whites Shark, Tarpon, Grouper, Snapper, Kingfish, and MORE! and purples right now. For redfish, there is Nighttime Trips Available a new star on the horizon, we’re calling it Capt. Jim OʼBrien USCG 50 ton license since 1985 the Jacobs rig for Dave Jacobs who came 941-473-2150 up with it, probably by accident. He takes

Charlotte Harbor:

Charters

OCTOBER 2013

FAMILY OUTING

When sheʼs not fishing, Paula Rakauskis runs the office at Port Charlotte Middle school. These pictures are from a family trip, last month, with Capt. Eric Mannino.

Paula is in the bow chair here, and on the cover this month with a tiny pinfish.

Paulaʼs Dad and sister Lilia Huesmann are shown here. Paula is one of the people who help us out with the Don Ball School of Fishing program at her school.

BackBay Xtremes Capt Dave Stephens www.backbayxtremes.com

941-916-5769

OCTOBER 2013

The The BIG-4 BIG-4

SPANISH MACKEREL moving in and around the Harbor

WWW.WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM

Fish Fish to to expect expect in in

SNAPPER still lots of snapper inshore and off

October October

SNOOK coming up the Harbor towards the rivers

REDFISH big redfish schools still in the Harbor south

PAGE 23

Gulf Temps are 83 o

and cooling off from all the rain

Capt Billy Barton with a blactip shark (below) and one of his clients with a gag grouper above, last month.

Lemon Bay:

Caitlyn & Brooke Lowery with oversize reds, caught and released last month

Jim, at Fishermen’s Edge Englewood: 697-7595

With all the rain not a lot of guys were getting out fishing. I’ve been doing a lot of re-spooling, guide and reel repairs. Some guys that were in here said they did well on redfish at the bridge.

One guy had a 30 inch red on a finger mullet off the pier. He comes in at 6:15 a.m. and heads right out to the pier to get a couple of hours of fishing before work. Night fishing for snook has been good, casting at the boat docks working a plug or throwing a fly.

Out under the bridge at Buck Creek they were casting swimming plugs in the hole under there.

Rich Obrien aboard the Magic Wacker with capt Jim magic Metz slayes one huge grouper after another.

Was it the LUCK OF THE IRISH, or just skill?

That’s a good spot a lot of times. As the water cools off the fish can get up further into the creek and the fishing gets better. They have a floating barrier and the fish line up there where the fresh water comes out of the canal and runs over the spillway into Buck Creek. They get baby tarpon a lot of times, there, too.

I’ve also had reports of redfish and snook in Gasparilla sound around Catfish and Whidden Creek. There have been some schooling redfish down that way on the points and in the cuts – real nice trout and small sharks along with snook and redfish. They are casting jigs and plugs, 3inch paddletails and the H&H Cocahoe and Bull minnows from Louisiana. The lure has a really nice knobby little tail and they work for snook

and redfish here too!

There are still big tarpon around up in the Harbor and guys are still throwing Bait Busters.

Throw it as far as you can, let it sink and reel it back. It’s an easy lure and you’re liable to catch cobia on it too.

Snapper and mackerel are here too.

Everybody says the water FISHING is really fishy RIGHT NOW: now and Awesome! something is always biting Austin Phelps is into the ju-ve tarpon on your hook.

This Space Available!

Guide Card Ad Space $40/month www.fishingpuntagorda.com

call 941-766-8180

PAGE

24

EMAIL:

WATERLIFE@COMCAST.NET

OCTOBER 2013