LI FE
Charlotte Harbor, Lemon Bay, Venice, Estero & the Gulf
The Don Ball School of Fishing
September 2015
Still More Tarpon
Fishing Report page 22-23
Kayak Fishing Dream Come True page 14
Paddling is Halted Peace River page 19
www.WaterlifeMagazine.com
Snook in Season
page 10
Always FREE!
PAGE
2
EMAIL:
WATERLIFE@COMCAST.NET
SEPTEMBER 2015
SEPTEMBER 2015
BACK ISSUES @
WWW.WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM
PAGE 3
PAGE
4
EMAIL:
WATERLIFE@COMCAST.NET
SEPTEMBER 2015
Tune in to Radio Fishinʼ anytime! Talk shows with Fishinʼ Frank @ FishinFranks.com
Water LIFE inc.
Send letters and photos to: WaterLIFE@comcast.net
FWC needs to put MORE EMPHASIS, not less, on Ethical Angling
River Debris
At the end of August the Peace River was at Flood Stage and debris from upriver was washing into the upper Harbor. Much of it is stumps and vegetation. Be extra vigilant when operating a boat in the river now. We found this tree partially submerged at the end of our canal. I tied it off to my dock and later pulled it out with my davits. – MH
waterlife@comcast.net www.WaterlifeMagazine.com
What is the single most important concept to advocate when it comes to teaching kids about fishing? I maintain itʼs Ethical Angling, one term that encompasses many concepts. Knowing the rules, identifying the species, appreciating and protecting the habitat, being courteous to others, being safe, disposing of waste properly and abiding by the law are all ʻpiecesʼ the FWC says make up an Ethical Angler. Itʼs the idea of ʻdoing the right thing even when no one else is watching,ʼ that is how I explain it. I just got off the phone with the FWC lady in charge of publications. Every year, about this time, I contact the FWC to get copies of various different FWC publications to include in our Don Ball School of Fishing workbook. The things we get include fishing regulations, and Sea Stats (individual pamphlets on different species) and environmental pamphlets on sea grass and mangroves. We also include a copy of Fishing Lines, the FWC publication that promotes the concept of Ethical Angling. The Fishing Lines publication is a species identifier and is also the place where the FWC lays out its approach to Managing Marine Resources, explains catch and release techniques, and advocates sport fish restoration. Oh, we don't print the Fishing Lines booklet any more, the nice FWC lady told me. Itʼs only online now, she added. I know times are tough and money is tight, but come on! Is there any other publication from the FWC that explains ethical angling, I asked, but the lady said no, suggesting instead a pamphlet about circle hooks and release tactics. Taking Ethical Angling out of print is not the way to advocate and teach it. Online is good, but maybe there is a better way. Maybe a separate new pamphlet about Ethical Angling, maybe a page in the fishing regulations. We urge them to re-print it somewhere. Michael Heller
Mike, Caught this (right) while fishing for bait in the Gulf yesterday. Sorry I couldn't get a better shot. Seas were rolling around 5'. Also: My fight with Whale Pump came to a happy end. I had purchased the pump for my baitwell through GO2Marine.com. When I relayed my story to Jeff Adams at their customer service he thought it was ridiculous. He told me he'd contact Brunswick (the new owners of Whale Pump). Within a week I had a new replacement pump. So all ended well. Except that during the previous week my starboard engine swallowed a valve. Lester Editor Replies: Good news on the pump, too bad about the engine and African Pompano is my guess on the fish. SHOW US YOUR KISSER This Monthʼs Fish Kisser picture is from Capt. Chris Fanelli
Michael & Ellen Heller Publishers
(941) 766-8180
217 Bangsberg Rd. Port Charlotte, FL 33952
Independant - Not affiliated with any other publication Vol XIV No 9 © 2015
No part of this publication (printed or electronic) may be copied or reproduced without specific written permission from the publishers.
Contributing Editors:
Photography: ASA1000.com Senior Editor: Capt. Ron Blago Baitshop: Fishinʼ Frank Peace River: David Stephens Charlotte Harbor: Capt. Billy Barton Diving: Adam Wilson Punta Gorda: Capt. Chuck Eichner Venice: Glen Ballinger Estero: Capt. Joe Angius Kayaking: Bob Frasier Sea Grant: Betty Staugler Offshore: Capt. Jim OʼBrien Beach Fishing: Mallory Herzog Pier Fishing: Bobby Vitalis Office Dog: Molly Brown (in memorium)
On the Cover: Bob Frasier begins
writing a regular kayak fishing column for us this month. His story is about Seanʼs first cobia. Sean is on the cover his cobia and story are on page 14
SUMMER ADVERTISING STRATEGY: one ad all month long = Cost Effective!!
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!
www.waterlifemagazine.com in print - online - and always FREE
Elegant Online: TURN THE PAGES EVERY MONTH Back Issues to 2004 Kids Charters Fishing Classes Tides Weather Sailing Kayaking Diving
Our website is Easy to Nav iga te & coo kie FR EE
One-click Links from the address in your ad to your website
Free on yourDevice too!
Your ad looks GREAT on our clean white paper with NO SMEAR ink
“Like a good day on the water”
Advice Needed SEPTEMBER 2015
By Michael Heller Water LIFE Editor Last montht, I received this letter: I am writing in hopes to find some resources for my son's new 12-foot Sea Nymph. I have grown up with 3 brothers and a dad who all loved to fish and now I have 7 young boys of my own and 3 girls. We moved to South Gulf Cove in Port Charlotte about 4 years ago and I finally saved up enough to buy my 14 year old his first boat. I also acquired a 2-stroke 15horsepower Evinrude, a small 6-gallon tank, fuel line, anchor, rope and fishing supplies. He is so excited and has been taking the on line boaters course and studying to become familiar with the water. He loves to fish with the neighborhood boys who all seem to have their own nice boats as well. As any parent would, I want him to have the best and feel proud of his new boat however, I know a little 12-foot aluminum boat is not so "wow we!" I was wondering if you know any people that may want to help a community boy and let's say ‘pimp his boat!’ I watched some you-tube videos where some people re-did theirs with platforms, added storage, bait wells etc...etc. I would love to have the top half painted. The bottom is black... they used a truck bed liner
BACK ISSUES @
it could be life altering
paint. I do not have the skills to do this or know anyone. My hopes is that one day he can fish the bay in his little boat and feel proud and not look like the Beverly Hillbillies! I know he wants to take it out by Boca when he gets experience....He will have to wash it every time and flush the motor. How ever I can keep him off the computer's, phone and video games and keep him in nature and fishing, I will try, try, try. Laurie So I wrote her back. Hi Laurie Your son is lucky to have such great family support! I'm sure he's chomping at the bit to get out on the water. What school does he go to? What grade? Our Don Ball School of Fishing program would be perfect for him! I'd like to publish your letter and see what some of our other readers have to say. Please let me know if that's OK. As for my personal opinion, less is better and simple is best. The more junk you put on a little boat, the heavier it gets. Heavy is not good. A baitwell is a good idea but a 5 gallon bucket with an aerator would work, fill it up frequently from the water. Put some extra effort into making sure that little motor is dependable - his life
WWW.WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM
PAGE 5
Anyone want to come along? Iʼm headed out to Boca Grande Pass in this boat. What do you think? I am not saying this isnʼt a nice little boat, Iʼm saying this is too little of boat for that.
might depend on it. I didn’t hear that you got life jackets and safety equipment. That's a great boat for the South Gulf Cove canals but I would restrict him from going out into the Harbor - first it is salty and that's bad for the aluminum and second, because .... he needs to be really good at handling a small boat in the Harbor or he could get sunk. He has to get the idea that this is a 'learning boat' Boca takes a bigger boat, there are BIG sharks out there!! I'd be happy to take him out in my boat and explain it all to him. Michael
Taking a boating safety course online right now, that’s a good idea. Programs like that weren’t available when I was a kid. But it’s not nearly enough. Do you remember your first boat as a kid? What advice would YOU give Laurie? What would YOU say to her son? Together we have a chance to make a difference. Please email me at Waterlife@comcast.net I’ll pass along your suggestions.
PAGE
6
EMAIL:
WATERLIFE@COMCAST.NET
Estero Bay: Off the Charts Fishing!
SEPTEMBER 2015
By Captain Joe Angius Water LIFE Estero Bay
Late afternoon showers have become normal here in Southwest Florida and are still influencing the fishing as much as they did last month. The freshwater that
enters the bBay has cooled down some of the backwaters and most of the water near our passes. Remember that the incoming tides will push salt-dense water from the Gulf of Mexico up against mangrove islands and onto the grass flats of Estero Bay. This is extremely important to know when it comes to finding active shallow water gamefish and, of course, bait. Bait in Estero Bay has been found virtually everywhere. There are plenty of
pinfish, mullet, crabs, creek chubs and white bait. The problem that a lot of anglers are facing is that they can see the whitebait on top of the water while
they’re chumming, but can’t get the bait close enough to throw a cast net over. This is primarily influenced by tide. Our outgoing tide is moving too much freshwater from the rivers onto the grass flat, forcing the whitebait to be finicky and small in size. The incoming tide will be the most effective time for netting quality sized whitebait. My only other tip to you, if you are trying to cast net bait on an outgoing tide, is to grab a handful of fresh-dry chum and spread it out in front of the boat. The dry chum will float and bring the bait from the bottom of the grass flat to the top of the water column. When searching for gamefish with a livewell full of fresh caught bait, don’t forget that salinity levels in the water will affect the bait’s survival. The majority of my fishing is done in or near the backwaters of the Bay. I’ve noticed while fishing these areas that my livebait will start to die off if the water is too brackish or fresh. To avoid my hard work of cast netting bait being wasted, I’ll fill my well and turn on my livewell recirculating pumps before leaving the bait spot. This ensures that I’ll have active livebait because of the healthy clean water found on our grass flat.
The backwater gamefish also react to low salinity levels in the water. Redfish, snook, and tarpon will become lethargic in these conditions. Patience is the key in
being successful catching them. Schools of upper and overslot redfish are being found in the Bay, primarily on oyster bars and against a few select mangrove edges. The fish are active as long as there’s water movement. For me, the redfish have been most receptive to very lively pinfish. Small snook are around these areas, with the schools of redfish. Depending on what stage of the tide we’re fishing on, larger snook have been staging at the mouths of rivers and creeks. These snook have been feeding on pinfish, grunts, and white bait. As for the tarpon, almost anything will work to catch them and I can find them all day long. With opportunities like this to catch them, I will have my
clients use artificial baits or fly fish for them.
Estero Bay is off the charts in terms of fishing. There are countless opportunities and various ways to go out and have a successful day on the water. But with Florida’s heat index and storms skyrocketing in the afternoon, try to get out on the water earlier or fish before it gets dark. Be sure to continue to follow all of our rules and regulations on the water to preserve the fishery of Estero Bay. Captain Joe Angius (727) 234-3171 Speakeasyfishing.com FlatsHQ.com Speakeasyfishing@gmail.com
SEPTEMBER 2015
BACK ISSUES @ BACK ISSUES @
WWW.WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM
PAGE 7
PAGE
8
EMAIL:
WATERLIFE@COMCAST.NET
Take Only What You Need By Capt. Billy Barton Water LIFE Inshore I've been playing and fishing in the Charlotte Harbor since I could hardly stand up on my own two feet. My home waters are a very big part of who I am today. I wouldn't take back growing up in such a beautiful place for the world. I grew up by my fathers side. My dad was a commercial Grouper and Snapper fisherman in the Gulf of Mexico. He would venture out into the Gulf for weeks on end, then come back with thousands of pounds of hand caught fish and sell them to the market. After a week or so on land to regroup, he would head back out to do it again. Conservation really wasn't an issue at that time. It was always all about how much meat we could bring back to the dock. Some of my fondest memories as a small child were made over a hundred miles out on a boat with my father. I know now as an adult that this is where my passion for fishing truly began. I'm now in my thirties and guiding full time on Charlotte Harbor. When I first became a guide I used to think it was about the size of the bag of fillets my customers were holding as they left the dock at the end of the trip. That's how I was brought up! Bring home as much fish as possible. Even when I went fishing on my own, I'd make sure I was stock piling fillets in my freezer!
My viewpoints have changed over the years. Ethically in this day and age, the way I was brought up and my old ways of thinking are wrong. It took a couple of my counterparts that have been in this
may be their only trip for the year and it's my job to give them what they want out of the day. So yes, there are still days when I look into the cooler and think to myself, "man we killed a lot of fish today." The important thing is that I as an angler can come to this realization and that I do care.
Two reds on one cast and a lip-kiss looking redfish spot
business for a long time, (whom I've looked up to for years) to really lay everything out for me and to help me see guiding in a different perspective. It's about an experience as a whole. What I've realized, is that most folks aren't expecting to stockpile their freezers when booking a charter. Clients just want to go out and CATCH fish and have a great time! Yes, you do have your crews that want to fill up the fish box, and I can still understand that way of thinking. This
Most of the folks that I fish with now, know that I'm a catch and release angler. What I truly like is that these practices are actually rubbing off on some of them. If you're reading this, then you know that exciting and anxious thrill that comes with the line screaming off your spool! Imagine feeling and seeing this come into play with the same fish twice! A year or so back we boated the same oversized redfish off of an oyster bar in Bull Bay, twice in one week! I can't express to you in
SEPTEMBER 2015
words how cool that was! The thrill that comes with fishing is in the battle, not in the freezer! When practicing catch and release, there are so many important facts to remember. The use of non stainless circle hooks is always the best method if you can get away with it. Circle hooks give you a better chance at the fish being lip hooked. If the fish ends up swallowing the hook, cut the line as close to the hook as possible before release. If the fish survives, your hook should rust out in a matter of days. This time of year with water temperatures up high, our oxygen levels are lower than normal. Big fish tend to be extremely stressed when they make it to the side of the boat. It's very important not to cause them any extra stress when landing them. If a picture is needed do your best to take it fast, and keep the fish in the water as much as you can. If you're planning on a release, do your best not to use fish gripping devices. Some fish such as juvenile tarpon, snook, and trout have a delicate jaw structure. If you break their jaw, or rip open their lip they can't eat! If you can avoid a net it's best to do so. You want to use wet hands, or wet gloves when handling these fish to protect their scales and slime at all costs. Also, it's very important to hold large fish horizontally and support the belly while presenting for a photo. These big fish live their lives in suspension. Holding them vertically can tear their internal organs
CANVAS & UPHOLSTERY
SEPTEMBER 2015
BACK ISSUES @
WWW.WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM
There was a lot of fishing in the rain going on last month. There was a lot of catching in the rain going on too!
and even dislocate their spine. Hold your fish in the water and give your fish as much time as needed to recuperate boat side before letting it go to fight another day. Good catch and release fishing is really just keeping the fishes best interest at heart. We as anglers can and do have a positive or negative impact on our fishery. It's just good ethics folks! Keep what you need and put back what you don't. What you put back, put it back in the best shape that you can. We all have someone younger than us that loves to fish. I have two little brothers who love to fish. I would love to see the both of them spend their lives fishing and catching. It's our generations job to make sure that this
beautiful place we have now isn't ruined for the generations to come. Best of luck out there!!
Capt. Billy Barton owns and operates Scales-n-Tails Fishing Charters. 941- 979-6140 http://www.puntagordafishingcharter.com
PAGE 9
PAGE
10
EMAIL:
WATERLIFE@COMCAST.NET
Fishing Here and There By Capt. David Stephens Water LIFE Charlotte Harbor When we got back home I volunteered to do a charter for the WoundedWarriorAnglers.org, not to be confused with the Wounded Warrior project. We left the ramp at 7:30 am and after catching our bait we hit a couple open water spots. At first the fishing was a little slow. Then, later in
phone call informing us we were the only boat that hadn’t reported back in. When your catching a fish every cast, time flies! The last couple weeks the black water tarpon has been at its best. The schools of glass minnows have moved into the Harbor and feeding on them have been schools of ladyfish. That makes for the perfect storm, if you
ond tarpon. We managed to jump a third and caught some jacks but by that time Mother Nature was pushing us North. After hanging at Ponce for 10-20 minutes we went back out for some snook action. Tony and myself got lost in the fishing, until we got a
the morning, the tide began to run in very good and the fish took notice. We hit a flat I have been doing very well on for juvenile tarpon. The first cast Tony hooked up on a 15-to 20pound tarpon. As soon as we landed that fish, a fish of similar size blew up on a bait by the boat. A second cast of only about 10 feet and we had our sec-
have the two I mentioned first it’s only a matter of time before the big silver guys show up. This is by far a more hands on way to catch bait for my clients and they love casting into a school of ladyfish. The hardest part that I’ve found is getting my clients to stop catching bait. When you are getting bites until you pull your bait clear from the water it keeps things very interesting. If you would like 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 you and your parties needs. Capt. Dave Stephens 941-916-5769 www.backbayxtremes.com
SEPTEMBER 2015
A R K A N S A S
My wife Rachel and I went to Arkansas for vacation last month, of course we had to do some fishing. We fished the Little Red River in Heber Springs. Me not being familiar with the ins and outs of freshwater trout fishing we hired a local guide, James Dillard of Tail Water Fish Co. One of the reasons I wanted to write about this a little trip is because I am amazed that where ever you go it’s still fishing and so a lot of the techniques we used made me think of being back home on Charlotte Harbor. For the more aggressive brown trout, we used Rapala Countdown baits and in kind of a weird way it reminded me of fishing for snook in the spring in the Peace River. Like snook, the browns are very structure-oriented fish so a good cast is very important. When we targeted the rainbow trout we used a soft rubber bait called a San Juan worm, on a small jig head. The comparison here would have to be with redfish. A perfect cast wasn’t as necessary because the fish seem to roam the open gravel bars, the same way our reds roam our open grass flats. What I’m trying to say is that local knowledge is the key to finding and catching fish in any area and after we finished up our two days of fishing we had brought over 150 fish to the boat, all on artificial and on fly.
A Manatee a Panther and a Bear Walk Into a Bar
SEPTEMBER 2015
On The Line By Capt. Ron Blago Water LIFE Senior Staff
A manatee, a panther and a bear go into a bar. Stop me if you heard this one. It's an out of the way backwoods bar, deep in the Everglades. The three sit at the bar and order drinks. Mike the manatee opens the conversation. I called this meeting as the Official State Mammal, because word has come down to me that some of your people are unhappy with some of the new changes about to take place. I figured we should get together and see what we can do about resolving some of your problems. I asked the State Organization for help and they said they would send down their personal representative to help you guys. So Bob the bear, what's your beef? The’re going to kill us, Bob says. The word in the woods is they are sending at least 100 hit men and they have been told not to stop killing bears until they bump off 300 of my members. What did we do to deserve this? Mike takes a swig of his beer and tells Bob the word is that some of your guys are getting a little too aggressive; jumping into pools, tipping over garbage cans, even mugging people in the woods. Bob jumps in; that guy in the woods started it ... and that lady walking the dog... well words were said, tempers flared and maybe one of my guys over reacted, but no one was killed. I only got 3,000 members in my local, they’re not all saints – so some of the guys like to cool off in a nice pool, it’s summer and look at the fur we carry around in this heat. We get nothing but berries and acorns to eat in the woods, so the smell of old pizza and Chinese take-out is just too irresistible for some of my guys. A few trash cans get hijacked, big deal – that's no reason to kill somebody. It's genocide I tell you. Where is the U N or the environmentalist lobby? Calm down Bob, says Mike; when the guy gets here you can lay this all out for him. My advice to you is to
BACK ISSUES @
WWW.WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM
have your people go deep into the woods and stay there until this thing blows over. Mike looks over at Pat the panthers an asks if he is all right. Pat, you look sick and it looks like you have been losing weight, what's going on? It's rough out there, we get no respect. Pat says. We hear the State wants us off the endangered list. I got 150 members and the State says that's enough. And the cars are killing us. Last year we
had 20 of our guys flattened by cars and this year I've already lost 17 members and the State gives us no protection. Things are so bad that some of the guys are raiding the pastures and grabbing a few calfs. I tell them don't do it, but a guy’s got to eat, he’s got to feed his family. Now the farmers are ratting us out to the authorities. The vice chairman of the FWC called us a nuisance, do you believe that, the mighty panther a nuisance? Somebody should remind these farmers that before they showed up we ran this entire state. We're the endangered ones, not the cows, there’s plenty of cows. We got our own license plate you don't see any cow on a license plate do you? OK, calm down. The guy is going to be here any minute so you can tell him your problems, I understand.
PAGE 11
Do you really, Mike? Bob says: Pat and I are getting killed out here and you are living large. Your membership is over 6,000 and growing. You got connections in Tallahassee and throughout the region. You even got a private club who's only goal is to save your members. You got plenty to eat, no red tide; they even warm the water for you in the winter so you don't get cold. They’re not going to let anything happen to you or your people. You know why Mike? Because you make money for these humans. You’re their cash cow and your safe as long as that money keeps rolling in. Mark my words, when the money stops they'll dump you just like the rest of us. Mike jumps in: there is no reason to get nasty, we are all in this together. Sure we are, says Pat. Sure we are. In the parking lot a large black, Ford-wheel-drive pick-up truck towing a 30 foot go-fast boat, parks near the entrance of the bar. Out of the cab comes a tall man wearing an orange hunting vest and carrying a shotgun. He walks toward the front door. Back in the bar, as if on cue, Mike gets up and says to the others: I got to take a leak and then I want to call and see what’s takin’ this guy so long to get here. Order another round of drinks and I'll be right back. Mike the manatee goes past the men's room and out the back door. He catches the eye of the guy in the hunting vest and they both nod knowingly. Then Mike hops in his chauffeur driven limo and speeds away. Back in the bar, Pat looks for the bartender but he is nowhere to be found. Pat turns to Bob and says: Mike and his people think they are so high and mighty, so much better than the rest of us. If it was up to me I'd send them all back to the West Indies where they came from. Just then, the guy in the orange vest comes through the front door, he is followed by the sound of a pump shotgun being cocked and loaded. Bob looks at Pat and says: I got a bad feeling about this. Pat replies: Don't worry, this guy is from the government, he's here to help us.
PAGE
* 12
EMAIL:
WATERLIFE@COMCAST.NET
AQUA TICA
An Asterisk IN PRESIDENTAL HISTORY
By Michael Heller Water LIFE editor Itʼs been rainy and hot and Iʼve been scanning old magazines that we published before digital archiving . Because of that, we now have a piece of our publishing included in the written presidental history of the United States. It was all about water, so Iʼll tell you the whole story is here. For those of you not old enough to remember, Richard Nixon was the 37th President of the United States and although he did numerous good things as President, the one thing which he will always be remembered for was the break in at the Democratic Party's national committee office and his attempt to cover it up. The Break in occurred at a hotel in Washington DC called the Watergate. In the end, they were all caught, and the presidentʼs aides went to jail. Nixon resigned the presidency in disgrace. One of Nixon's top aides was his lawyer, a fellow named John Ehrlichman. John was one of the guys who went to jail. When he got out he moved as far away from the Washington DC mainstream as he could. He bought a beat up old blue Ford Bronco, remarried, and moved into a small adobe house in Santa Fe New Mexico where he started writing stories for Travel and Leisure magazine. I was working as picture editor for the daily newspaper and not long after he moved to town, I met John on an assignment to photograph him. From that evening encounter at the College of Santa Fe, John and I became friends. A few years later, when my wife Ellen and I began publishing our own newspaper, Inside Santa Fe & Taos, John came to work for us as a columnist. His column was entitled The View From Here. It was always his perspective. John was an avid outdoorsman. He loved to fly fish in the Animas and the San Juan Rivers of New Mexico and his involvent with various environmental projects was something he quietly took great pride in. John's last column for us, before he left Santa Fe and moved to Atlanta, was about one such project, the return of Blue Lake from the Federal Government to the people of the Taos, New Mexico Indian Pueblo. The lake and 48,000 acres around it had been incorporated into a 300,000 acre National Forrest created by President Ro-
SEPTEMBER 2015
sevelt in 1906 and the Indians had fought since then to have it returned. It was the first time the Federal government had ever given land back to an Indian tribe. Last month, on a rainy day of scanning and filing, I came across that column. All of John's submissions were written in longhand on lined notebook paper. They stood right out in the file cabinet and called me over to look. I still have friends in New Mexico, one of them is David Gomez, an attorney who is a member of the Taos Indian Pueblo. After reading the column which I The Animas River in Northern New Mexico was one place John Ehrlichman hadnʼt seen in over 15 years, I forliked to fish. warded him a copy, thinking he would Upstream from that spot, in Colorado last month, a toxic spill from an abanappreciate it, which, of course, he did, doned gold mine turned the Animas River yellow. “There's some on the Because of the significance of Blue banks, but it looks good (above) for what it went through,” David Gomez said, Lake to the Taos tribe, and the signifia week later, while fishing there. David took the photo above. cance of the tie with the Nixon Administration, and the relationship the Tribe already had with the historian, David forwarded the column to, a friend who forwarded it to Bobbie Kilberg, who was the Keynote speaker at the Nixon Library Conference on President Nixonʼs Indian Policy. Last week, she wrote back: “Thank you for sending the draft of John Ehrlichman's column. As I told Bryant, it is an amazing document and a real treasure, adding an important perspective on John's thoughts when President Nixon and he fought for the return of Blue Lake to Taos Pueblo. I have shared the draft column with the Nixon Library and it will be placed in the Indian Policy archives. I also sent it to John's children who will be very pleased and The same area, a week before grateful to have it.” In a small way, impossible to describe, we feel blessed to have been a part of this chapter in Americaʼs history.
SEPTEMBER 2015
BACK ISSUES @
WWW.WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM
PAGE 13
The Return of Blue Lake The View From Here Inside Santa Fe & Taos magazine By John Ehrlichman October 1991
Twenty years ago, at a White House dinner, an industrialist urged Richard Nixon to use computers in the White House decision making process. "Why," he said, "I wouldn't make a move until my computers had analyzed all of my options and given me an objective evaluation." So some of us on the President's staff were told to meet with this fellow's computer experts to see how we should be doing the decision making. They brought along the Dean of U.C.L.A. Business School who assured us that these computer experts were "at the cutting edge" of the art of making good decisions. They had slides, charts and all manner of illustrations and their presentation went on for several hours. Then they took our questions. After letting my colleagues have at them for a while, I asked them how the machines might solve a problem that had been on my desk for some time: "Out in New Mexico", I explained "There is a small lake in the mountains. It is surrounded by about 40,000 acres of forest and meadows of great beauty. Eons ago a people emerged from the lake and made their home".... "Emerged?" interrupted the tall expert with the beard. "Yes, their descendants revere the lake as the origin of their forebears. Even now, the land around the lake is the sacred site of worship and ceremonies." "Aha," he said thoughtfully. "A very powerful U.S. senator supports the cattle ranchers who graze their live-stock on their sacred land, under permits from the Forest Service. The Taos Pueblo Indians want the government to give them back the land. It was theirs until 1906 when Theodore Roosevelt's administration took it away from them. The issue is politically complicated: The Senator, Clinton Anderson, is a Democrat. He is opposed by Democrats, Teddy Kennedy and Fred Harris and others, but he is supported by the President's ally, Senator Henry Jackson, a powerful Democrat. The Pueblos are supported by New Mexico's Republican Governor, David Cargo. Ask your computer which side the President should support." The expert threw up his hands. "I don't think my machine could handle that one," he said. So, without benefit of computer, with the urging of Bobbie Kilberg and some other young White House staffers, the President backed Taos Pueblo's legislation
John Ehrlichman in Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1989
because it seemed to be the right thing to do. There was a bloody battle in the Senate where, in those days, committee chairmen like Anderson and Jackson were rarely challenged. The Taos allies not only took on the barons, but decisively defeated them on the floor of the Senate. This year the Taos Pueblo is celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the President's signing of the bill restoring their sacred lands at Blue Lake. In September there were dancers, speeches and a feast to which they invited their Anglo friends who had joined the battle. La Donna Harris spoke and joined the dancers with her daughter. La Donna was a major organizer of the fight. Suzy Poole, whose late husband Rufus was a lawyer for Taos, shed tears of joy. Look in Santa Fe bookstores for a new book called The Taos Indians and the Battle for Blue Lake by R.C.Gordon- McCutchan (Red Crane Books, 1991). It's a lucid and detailed account of this spirited and spiritual struggle by disparate allies against the establishment - personified. The Blue Lake battle blessed every one of us it touched in ways that are impossible to describe. When you visit the Taos Pueblo you will see the waters of the Lake coursing through the Pueblo. Look up to the mountains then, and know that you are at a sacred place.
This is Blue Lake, high in the Sangre De Cristo Mountains of New Mexico, above the Taos Indian Pueblo. This photo was shot while on a search and rescue mission, looking for a downed private plane. The Taos Indians believe this mountain is sacred and that it posesses special power. Coincidently, a number of planes have crashed here.
All of John Ehrlichman始s columns were turned in written in longhand on lined paper
Everyoneʼs Day Was Made PAGE
14
By Bob Fraser Water LIFE Kayaking Finally, with a break from the rain, I was able to put my kayak in the water. A man from the East Coast of Florida was visiting Manasota Key and wanted to do some kayak fishing with his 13 old grandson Sean, so we agreed to meet at Stump Pass on Tuesday for a half-day fishing trip. We couldn’t have picked a nicer day. The water was muddy looking from all the rain, but the sky was blue with some puffy white clouds. There was a slight breeze, no rain on the horizon and being a weekday, little boat traffic. Both Barry and Sean had some kayaking experience which helps flatten the learning curve of fishing from a kayak. We were on the hunt for redfish today, fishing with live shrimp and cut bait. We started the day by paddling across Ski Alley to the channel that runs east and west. The tide and the wind were going in the perfect direction for drifting slowly along the mangrove shoreline. If we couldn’t find any reds, I thought at least might be able to find some snapper. The day started out slow, picking up a few grunts, blowfish and, of course, a few catfish. I don’t go on too many fishing trips without catching the annoying catfish. I’ve even caught them on a Spook Jr top water lure which I was using to avoid catching cats, but a big sailcat still attacked it. Talking to a few other fishermen we saw it was very slow for them as well. Eventually we paddled across another north/south channel and went past the marker with the big bird’s nest on top. According to a friend of mine, an avid kayak fisherman, he said, “go past this nest and paddle to the north shoreline, then drift that area for redfish.” He’s had good luck there in the past. We tried that for about an hour without much success, except for the pesky pinfish. You sometimes wonder how you can go through 100 shrimp and have nothing to show for it! We tried drifting the middle of the channel hoping to find something in the
EMAIL:
WATERLIFE@COMCAST.NET
deeper water, but no such luck. Then we anchored just on the edge of a channel and fished with cut bait for reds. The only thing we caught doing that was another big sailcat. We fished hard for about 3 ½ hours with nothing on the stringer. Most of my clients like to catch and release; these are the ones that usually catch fish that are legal size, but we throw them back anyway. Barry, on the other hand, was hoping to have a fish fry that night. We finished the day fishing in Ski Alley, just across from the kayak launch. The wind was still very calm, so we didn’t have to anchor. Sean, the 13-year-old grandson, was reeling his line in to check his bait and see if the shrimp was still on the hook when all of a sudden a fish slammed it. When I looked over to see what was going on, his rod was bent over, and the tip was in the water. I paddled over to him as fast as I could so I could help him land the fish. This was a big fish. On my way over to Sean’s kayak, his fish ran off some line and came right at me and went under my kayak. I frantically tried to paddle out of the way. I thought he had a shark hooked up because of the way it was taking out line. After fighting it for about 5 minutes and trying to get in a better position to help
him land the fish, I finally saw what he had - a nice cobia! And I thought he might have a keeper. I coached him on keeping the rod tip up and letting the fish run when he made his quick spurts, which he did as soon as he got close to the net and kayak. For another 8-10 minutes we were both going around in circles trying to land the fish. In the meanwhile, Barry was attempting to catch the action on video while paddling to keep out of the way of the cobia. Trying to net a fish for another person from a another kayak is much harder than netting one from a boat. Every time the fish came close to the surface he would dive and I would again have to paddle to get in position to land the fish. Sean was starting to wear out, his wrist and arm was hurting. I was getting tired myself trying to stay close enough to Sean. I thought about taking the fishing pole from him, but then I thought no, I’m
SEPTEMBER 2015
Most of my clients have fished before or have paddled a kayak, but very few of them have done both at the same time, itʼs different from fishing from a boat. One thing I tell everyone is to leave out enough line when you are taking off a fish or re-baiting your hook. A good rule of thumb is to leave enough line so the hook or fish is even with the butt of the rod. This way you just swing the hook back to you, so you donʼt have to reach for it. I have seen people leave the line short, so they had to lean out and reach for the hook and fall out of the kayak. The safest way is to sit back in your seat and bring the line to you.
going to let him finish the fight. For a young teenager fighting a cobia with a light/medium action rod that was more suited for catching trout, Sean did an excellent job and finally he landed it. It measured out at 28 inches, and about 10pounds. This fish made his day, it made everyone’s day! Sean was my first client to catch a cobia. I enjoy taking young teenagers out on the water and watching them get excited when they catch a big fish. Heck, I’ve been fishing the Gulf Coast of Florida for 35 years and I still get excited when I catch a quality fish. Bob Frasier is a southwest Florida kayak fishing guide – He can be reached for comments or to book a trip at: 941-916-8303 or email him at bobmfraser@gmail.com His website is www.kayakfishingwithbob.com
What Do You Really Know About Your Guide? SEPTEMBER 2015
BACK ISSUES @
Who are you trusting to take your and your kids fishing? Aiden Herzogʼs dad is his guide.
By Mallory Herzog Water LIFE Fishing The title of ‘Captain’ has been held in high regard thoughout history. It has many definitions, but the most common you will come across in southwest Florida is a Charter Captain – the master of the ship, the guy in charge. Many great captains have guided ships through treacherous seas on their expeditions, getting their crew and clients back to port safely. When you think of someone with that title, you paint a certain picture in your head. You expect that individual to be trustworthy, honest, and hardworking. Experienced in their craft, certified by the USCG. And, of course, they have to be ready to put you on the fish and help mcapture some amazing memories. What does a Captain need in order to be certified? After the initial Captain's school and required sea time they also need a Transportation Worker Identification Card or TWIC. The card comes after the intensive background check you undergo when you first receive your license. It requires you are a citizen of the USA and have no offenses the TSA would deem unworthy - such as murder, bomb threats, unlawful possession of explosives, or drug charges. You have to renew it every 5 years. You also must enroll in a random drug screening program yearly and keep your CPR and First Aid skills updated as well. Captains also need a license from the FWC for how many individuals they can have on their vessel each trip. Captains may (but are not required to) carry charter insurance covering injuries, or an accidents. Ive come across flaws in the system, pretty serious ones at that. The USCG is issuing Captains Licenses and TWICs to felons, including Registered Sexual Offenders. Say what?! Yes, you read that correctly. When I realized this, as a mother and a wife of a hard working captain, I could hardly believe it was true. So I did some investigating.
What I found was startling. The offense has to be 5-to 7-years from the time of applying. After that, even a registered sexual offender can obtain a captain's license. When a criminal conviction results in TSA issuing an "Initial Determination of Threat Assessment" -- meaning they won't issue you a TWIC, you can appeal. Almost half the people who were refused for that appealed and over 97-percent of those 47,000 appeals were granted. To me, this put a tinge on the title of Captain and is a slap in the face to all the upstanding captains I know and trust. Before I discovered how easy it was for people to get around the law, or how easy it is to "pretend" to be a Captain, I would have never consider doing a background check on someone. But Florida has seen an influx of "captains" coming from out of town, buying a boat and heading out to sea without any certification at all. If you want to take friends out for gas money that's great, but DO NOT call yourself a captain. You’re taking clients away from the guys who literally have put their blood, sweat and tears into their businesses. I expected the licensing and background checks to be more strict. In fact, I just found out that you don't NEED to carry insurance to run charters. It’s only suggested, not required, in Florida. I urge all fishing clients to do a simple internet search of your captain's name and business name before your trip. Look for arrests, look at the sexual offender lists, look for complaints others may have made about their experience. Many Captains are more than willing to provide you with TWICs and documentation showing they are USCG Licensed and Insured. You dont want to end up miles offshore with your life in the hands of a pretender ! You can contact Big Bully Outdoors Charters for a trip with Captain Andrew Herzog. Call 941-661-9880 or BigBullyOutdoors.com
WWW.WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM
PAGE 15
PAGE
16
EMAIL:
WATERLIFE@COMCAST.NET
Punks and Thugs – Fairwell to the Chief Commentary By Michael Heller Water LIFE editor Punta Gorda’s Police Chief Albert ‘Butch’ Arnal is leaving, to which I say: Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out. As a journalist, my experience with Chief Arnal has been disappointing and it has led me to conclude he was, at best, just another of the new breed of good old boy cops. I have nothing but the utmost respect for genuine police officers. My wife’s father was a State Policeman, my uncle was a cop in NYC and my entire career as a journalist has been spent interacting with and alongside the police. The good ones are easy to spot. Unfortunately, the not so good ones are too. Punks and Thugs are what a retired police-officer-friend of mine calls them. For years I had a great rapport with Chief Arnal’s predecessor, Chief Chuck Reinhart. Back then, Reinhart and the Punta Gorda Police supported our kids fishing classes and our Kids Cup Tournament. Back then, we were the good guys. Then in 2008 Butch Arnal took over and at the same time I reported on cheating, dead fish and rubber-checks in the local fishing tournament held in the city park and run by the owners of the Laish-
ley Crab House. Chief Arnal ignored my constitutional right to be in the park and was complicit in having me removed. I had done nothing wrong, my sin was telling the truth. The police chief’s job is supposed to be all about the law and the truth and setting a good example. He failed miserably. To be fair, knowing Punta Gorda, the chief was probably under a lot of pressure from the city. That’s the way it works in Punta Gorda, powerful business people tell the city what it wants and somehow it happens. The chiefs job is to set a good example and put a stop to that, but it just didn’t work out that way. Instead, the Chief to allow me to be removed from a public park, be harassed in public, he looked the other way when I was wrestled to the ground by a visibly intoxicated park manager (who I was told was the Chief’s next door neighbor) and his department kept my name on some kind of watch-list. For that and more I just can’t respect the man as a police Chief. I know there are going to be people in town who will circulate this column and shake their heads saying I am “bringing all that bad stuff up again,” but it is only the truth, coming back to illuminate those
SEPTEMBER 2015
who try to cover it up. Time doesn’t change facts or make bad deeds good. Good cops diligently seeks the truth as it relates to the written law and the Constitution. A good cop is not one who listens to the City Manager and accepts what he is told to be the truth. A good cop finds out the real truth for himself and stands up for it every time - always. I often look at the online version of a national publication titled Police Chief. In the August edition, the magazine had an interesting article entitled “Tips on Police Leadership” written by John L. Gray, Chief of Police in Arlington, Washington. Chief Gray wrote: Police executives of smaller agencies have to be generalists in police work and organization management. He then went on to list some ‘tips’ to help police chiefs be effective. The first thing Chief Gray listed was Be Honest. He wrote:
“Be honest, Your professional credibility is everything. Be absolutely honest and accurate in everything you do and say. Be consistent with the public, the council, the mayor, the media, (emphasis added) and the union. Do not fudge or shade the truth even a little bit, ever.”
Not ever. That pretty much sums it up.
Harassment, Punta Gorda Style
This Punta Gorda Police officer took me out of the public park and around the other side of the building and then kept me there, writing me a trespassing warning for being inside the building, which I never was. Then he told me I had to leave.... or be arrested...all so I couldnʼt photograph a fishing tournament that had been killing fish instead of releasing them. This wasnʼt the first time this happened so I had another photographer stake out the event and he took this picture from a distance.
Rough & Fishy SEPTEMBER 2015
Capt. Jim O'Brien Water LIFE Offshore Ha ya- all I hope you have been catchin’ lots of fish. Most of my fish'n has been from 28 to 44 miles out. We run 45 miles out on the Lemon Bay High School grouper tournament and boy did we get beat up! It wasn't bad early morning but did it change from noon on. Now it's: can you get out and get your fish before 1 or 2 o'clock? Now there have been mostly p.m. thunder storms If you can get out for a full day fish'n, the bite has been excellent for grouper and snapper. Some of the fish'n guys I talk to have been doing great from 40 to 55 miles out, mangs from 24 to 28 inches, red and gag grouper 20 to 25 pounds. If you ever get a chance to get out that far you will not regret it. You won't believe the size of the fish, if they don't get eaten they just keep getting bigger and bigger. There's not too many guys that fish that far out so it's excellent fish'n. SPANISH MACKEREL - are being caught at 7 to 15 miles out. We have been using 1 to 2 ounce diamond jigs or small silver spoons. KING MACKEREL - are out around 22 to 35 miles. Best baits, king spoons in green, blue and silver, also small skirts rigged with medium size ballyhoos. SHARKS - Black tips are chewing good off the beaches and on the reefs, good baits, bonita chunks, mullet and barracuda. BARRACUDA - are thick, thick and thicker on most of the offshore wrecks, there are some BIG-UNS in the 4 to 5 foot
BACK ISSUES @
WWW.WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM
range and they are eating anything alive. PERMIT - are hitting good on the offshore wrecks and reefs. If you can get out at daybreak on a smooth day you can usually cast a small crab to them right on the surface and hang on. MANGROVE SNAPPER, YELLOW TAIL AND LANE SNAPPER - are hitting real good over coral and hard bottom there on Novak's Reef, Charlie, Pegasus and the USS Mohawk they are all holding some BIG-UNS. The guys I am talking to said their best bites are early in the morning and later in the evening, best baits live shrimp and small chunks of fresh bonita. AJs - are on fire out on the offshore wrecks and there are some BIG BOYS Best bait live blue runners or big pin fish COBIA - I got some guys that are catching cobia in the Harbor out off the
PAGE 17
August was Good When You Could Get Out Photos of August fishing are unrelated to the text Offshore Photos By Capt. Dan Cambern Hammerhead Charters (941) 380-6226
buoys in the shipping channel at Boca Grande and out on the reefs. RED GROUPER - are hitting good if you can get out 30 to 40 miles. There are a lot of small ones being caught at 14 to 20 miles, the bigger ones are being caught at 40 to 50 miles out. Best baits live pinfish, squirrelfish, mullet-and-squid combos and sardines.
GAG GROUPER - and some nice ones are being caught offshore on rocky bottoms and ledges, there are some nice spots about 1/8 to a 1/4 mile around the Bayronto and some nice ledges out of Boca Grande. Live pinfish, squirrelfish, live threadfins, are good bait choices. Predator2Charters (941) 473-2150
Deep Water Sailboat!
Great Waterfront Deal!
Port Charlotte
185' Waterfront!
Port Charlotte
Call the Captain! Enormous Building LotHuge Waterfront Views! The ultimate in privacy Very quick access to the Harbor this huge tip lot offers privacy yet convenient to town. $219,000
Call the Captain! Newly Remodeled Waterfront Home Absolutely Gorgeous! Super quick to harbor, stunning kitchen with granite, remodeled baths, dock, lift, seawall. 3/2/2 with room for a pool. Impeccable Condition $239,000
Pirate Harbor
Punta Gorda
Call the Captain! Waterfront Building Lot 10 Minutes to Harbor! 100' of waterfront with no bridges to Harbor and 25 minutes to the Gulf. This lot boasts lots of fill and is situated between beautiful stilt homes. $96,000
Under Contract!
Punta Gorda
Punta Gorda Isles
The Ultimate Deep Water Sailboat Lot, Extra Large Frontage, Seawall and Nice View! 120 Feet of waterfront at end of a short cul-de-sac, situated amongst absolutely gorgeous homes. Come build your dream home! $179,900
Call the Captain!
Exquisite Luxury Pool Home! Gorgeous water views from this private estate, offering the ultimate in luxury. 4000sf under air, resort style pool, 4 bay garage,. High-end appointments beyond imagination! $1,100,000
Call the Captain!
SOLD!
Punta Gorda Isles
Call the Captain! Immaculate Quick Access Waterfront Home! Beautiful 3/2/2 Pool Home with magnificent water views from every room located on an oversize lot in a quiet area. $339,900
PAGE
18
EMAIL:
WATERLIFE@COMCAST.NET
SCUTTLEBUTT
Sometimes
Pinellas officers responded to a call of cast netters possessing snook out of season. When they initiated a fisheries inspection it revealed the suspects were in possession of 12 illegal snook and 11 illegal sheepshead. The 12 snook were harvested out of season, by illegal method, over the possession limit, and 11 of the 12 were undersized. The 11 sheepshead were undersized as well. Officers cited both individuals for major violations totaling $1200 in extra fines
When the defendant opened the hatch, the officers found 18 mangrove snapper, three over the daily bag limit for three people, and two undersized mutton snapper. The bag limit for mangrove snapper is 5 per person. The officers issued the defendant a Notice to Appear for the violations. This was the defendantʼs third fisheries violation in the past two years. On two separate occasions, he was charged with possession of undersized spotted sea trout and undersized mutton snapper. He will now be facing a first degree misdemeanor charge, which includes a $500 dollar minimum fine and a one year suspension of fishing privileges. While on land patrol FWC officers were approached by a restaurant
Unsubstanciated,
owner who stated a white male had just run naked through the parking lot. The officers searched the area and found a subject matching the description hiding behind a dumpster.
The patrol vessel Sentinel, along with another vessel, responded to a call of a man drifting in the Intra-Coastal Waterway on top of an over-turned dingy shortly after midnight, south of the St. Johns River. The man later stated that he was assisting a disabled sailboat at sunset when his nine-foot tender flipped over and the current started carrying him north. The 75 year-old man was in the water for three hours, but recovered quickly and was transported back to his dock. The disabled sailboat was found abandoned on a mud flat a short time later. Ferrol “Roscoe” Holley, Jr. (52) from Telogia had the honor, last month, of releasing a near-world-record Suwannee bass into the 9,200-gallon aquarium at Bass Pro Shopsʼ Tallahassee store. On June 26, Holley caught the bass on the Ochlockonee River. Holleyʼs catch was just 2 ounces shy of the world record.
Two paddle boarders were being harassed by individuals on a vessel in the area of Navarre Beach. It was reported that the operator of the vessel intentionally circled the victims, knocking them off of their paddle boards. While the victims were in the water, the vessel struck one of the paddle boards causing damage to the board. The operator of the vessel was arrested and booked into the Santa Rosa County Jail for aggravated battery. Alcohol was involved.
Last month there was a 6-foot-long Nile monitor lizard swimming in the canal behind a Cape Coral home.
But
Scientists have managed to create the coldest stable molecules in the world. They've cooled molecules in a gas of sodium potassium (NaK) to a temperature of 500 nanokelvins, which is just a hair above absolute zero and over a million times colder than interstellar space.
A car was found in Webb Lake. Officers observed a car in the water just off of a boat ramp. The Sheriffʼs dive and fire rescue teams responded to determine if there was anyone inside the car. The vehicle was identified as being stolen from Miami and no one was inside.
Often
SEPTEMBER 2015
True
Last month, an offThis is a great photo, but we have no idea what is going on here! duty police officer fishing 20 miles off an emergency 50kW auxiliary dieselCharlotte County, hooked a parcel of electric generator on board. Norwegian more than 50 pounds of uncut powfishing company Øra AS will operate dered cocaine with a street value of the new vessel tested in the demand$10-12 million. ing conditions off the coast of Northern The worldʼs first electric commercial Norway. fishing vessel is ready for commissioning in Norway. The 33-foot vessel uses 30 batteries integrated with a Siemens propulsion system. It is designed to operate entirely on battery power over a planned 10hour working day. The boat can be charged overnight by plugging into the electrical grid and has
Peace River at Flood Stage – more storms wonʼt help SEPTEMBER 2015
By Fishin’ Frank Water LIFE Baitshop NAVIGATING THE PEACE RIVER To get to where the river is fresh all year you have to go up about to where Horse Creek meets it, or 22 from the mouth, near Punta Gorda. Currently, with rain from the storm formally known as Erika, the freshwater point will be much further downstream for a while. Starting at U.S. 41 and heading north, you are in a full on salt water environment, as you pass the bridge for I-75 you move into a mangrove environment, still salt water. Now once you pass Harbour Heights you will see saw grass, this is where the transition starts, this is a true brackish water environment. Now watch the shoreline as you head up river past Harbor Heights. Take the right fork, you will see the plants are changing to more ferns and the trees are different – the mangroves thin out and the cypress tress begin to be more common. Watch for Island 33. You will know which one this is as the channel marks stop here. You have been seeing the typical red or green markers, but in front of you is a marker with both red and green on it, half and half. That is the Charlotte County line. This is also the first place with less than 4-feet of water. You have been over holes deeper than 20 feet on your way here, but in front of you is a shoal that extends all the way across the main channel of the river and at high tides there is 3 feet of water here, at low tide less than 2. You can go around the back side of Island 33 and while there is not much more water, the bottom is soft and you will have no trouble making it through. In front on the main channel the bottom is much harder and may ding your prop. Once you are past Island 33 hold to the outside of the bends in the river and there
BACK ISSUES @
WWW.WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM
The water was up at the Canoe Outpost, 8 feet above the ʻtop stepʼ which means 10 steps are underwater in this photo. A week later it was up three and a half feet more and the staff was hosing down the equipment since since the current is now too swift for paddling. Natural debris floating downriver is another problem.
won’t really be any shallow places until you get past the camp ground. The fish will also hold on these outside bends, near the shoreline. These bends get deep quick and it is a good idea to idle over a bend to see where the deep starts. Pick out a tree on the shore to guide you to the deep spotwhen fishing. When I troll I am less than 5 feet from the bank. Now the only tricky turn is at the water plant. You will be running along and then find your self in a bay. The river had just taken a hard right which you may not have seen and now you are in the bay where Charlotte County gets its drinking water from.
I would take a few minutes to fish here. In the bay there are often tarpon, and the snook tend to lay up along the shore line on your right hand side. I like to anchor out in the middle and try for some of the giant gar fish which live here and are often over 4-feet long. A shiner under a bobber with a 4/0 wide gap/ Kahle hook is the trick to fishing for them or catching them. If you are a fly person, use a 2/0 hook with a piece of red ribbon, I would make the ribbon at least
PAGE 19
4-inches long, I like 6 inches then I shred the last 3 inches. This works as the gar go to attack the ribbon and their teeth get stuck in the shredded part. Come back out of the bay and make a hard left and past the island you will see the bridge for highway 761. Go under the bridge and stay all the way to the left hand shore line. There is a sand bar which comes off of the main channel of the river. If you go straight ahead the snook fishing is great on the left hand bank, but it is a dead end. Wait to head up the river until you get right in front of the main channel coming down from the right, that will take you to the old Fort Ogden trestle, where it is deep and the fishing is good right around the pilings and in the hole just beyond. You may only get a little ways further up river from here, take this next ½ mile slow, there is no deep area and often fallen trees in the water are at or near the surface. You will make a right turn and there is a nice beach and some big pipelike pilings. I am sure at some time long ago there was a bridge or something here. At the mouth of Horse Creek, ahead of you, there is what we call the narrows, with great fishing for snook, bass, blue gills and even sometimes redfish. The main channel of the river goes off to your right but is really shallow - less than a foot deep. You can go left but there is a submerged tree. This is where I will stop as I have not been up past this spot for a year. This is about where you need to stop too. Frank@fishinfranks.com 625-3888
PAGE
20
EMAIL:
Think Outside the Box By Capt. Chuck Eichner Water LIFE Charlotte Harbor Inshore Charlotte Harbor is a masterful creation of nature. It hosts a collection of fish species like few other places on earth. Within a short boat ride from the dock you can fish for anything from monster tarpon to grouper to record-size hammerhead sharks and then move into 12 inches water to sight-fish for redfish. Along with the diversity comes complexity with multiple river systems feeding the Harbor and multiple exit points intersecting with the Gulf. Our summertime waters are affected by tides, rain and wind and baitfish migrations that prove mother nature is always in control. You may castnet baitfish on a grass flat one day only to find them gone the next. This is a challenging time of year! Part 1: With a smokey hot streak of weather preceding our fishing trip, my wife Joyce and I go fishing for back water species with a nice early start. Rains every day caused various shades of brownish water color to be encountered as we motored across the Harbor. One minute the water was clear the next muddy. With luck we got plenty of beautiful white bait and began fishing some of my more consistent spots on a perfect high incoming tide. Spot after spot proved fruitless as we entered a normally clear, now muddy bayou in Bookeelia that is always an ace-in-the-hole with no fish. With all my “A” spots being duds I decided to try something different. I figured that the fish will seek oxygen rich clear water and idled to the north end of Bookelia until I found it. A school of jack crevalle busting bait up ahead gave me a confidence boost in my strategy. Anchoring where the jacks just passed through, I rationed that fish scraps left in the water column from the feeding frenzy might be a natural fish attractant. Chumming generously for 15 minutes finally got us our first strike as Joyce leaned back
WATERLIFE@COMCAST.NET
into the super light backcountry rod! This fish was headed to Boca Grande at an alarming speed with almost all the line off until it paused. A big tug-of-war for nearly 15 minutes gave no clue as to the monster. No surface splashes, no jumps, no head shakes….nothing. Finally near the boat we see a monster snook weighing somewhere between 20-30 pounds go zinging past us! We really never had a clue it was a monster snook so now we were really nervous. Five more minutes of line zig-zagging around the motor and anchor line and then Joyce smiled at me as I screamed in joy! That was her lifetime biggest snook and bigger than any I had ever boated! For the next hour we caught nearly every backcountry fish you can imagine on every cast until we did not want to catch another fish! An incredible day for sure and I was convinced I had located a super honey-hole except that on two follow up trips to the same spot on the same tide ... not a fish! August, Part 2: Bretten Baker and his grandfather Tim Short fish with me at least once a year. If you are a regular Water LIFE reader you may remember Bretten and Tim set my all time boat record of 13 species caught in one day last year. It was an amazing August day that ended with a small tarpon for the lucky 13 fish! On about the same date this year we head out from the dock before daybreak and fill the livewell before most people have launched their boat. I had fished two days prior and found good numbers of trout, jacks and small snook in front of Bull Bay so I headed to my “A” spots on approximately the same tide. The water quality in front of Bull Bay was very murky to muddy and apparently the fish did not like it either as we caught only a
handful of small fish. My goal was to find cleaner water so I continued my westward trek to the Boca Grande area. Surprisingly the water was actually dirtier there and after four hours of fishing we had little to show for it. Frustration for me I was at wits end! Last year the trip of a lifetime this year a bust! At this point I decided to go against my own logic and head to Burnt Store Bar where four days prior the water quality was so low in salinity my baitfish were dieing in the well and there were no fish! Interesting, that 6 days earlier this same location was full of fish with no water quality issues! A 12 mile ride back, lines in the water and we have instant action on small snook until the tide went slack. Now what do I say to myself!?? I wanted action for my customers so I set anchor in about 10 feet of water in the open Harbor and started chumming. My hope was for anything to bite like mackerel, snapper, jacks…you name it. Instantly, we had small sharks and then a huge stingray. Two heavier rods were rigged and one lighter one. Next, the light rod goes off and a 75pound tarpon leaps, spitting the hook out. Talk about a confidence booster- you never know what to expect in Charlotte Harbor! Twenty minutes later and the same rod buckles over in the rocket launcher as a 100-pound tarpon leaps and jumps 6 times before we can even react! Bretten struggled to get the rod from the
SEPTEMBER 2015
holder as drag was burning off the small reel. With luck we chased down the fish gaining line and composure. I informed Bretten to “bow to the King”, if the tarpon jumped and as the words rolled off my lips the massive fish jumped with a huge splashdown, rod bowed like a pro and the battle continued. This fight was pretty much like bringing a knife to a gunfight as the fish dragged the boat northward with a stiff afternoon southern breeze helping out. A magnificent and skillful job of subduing this fish lead to the moment of truth after drifting nearly 1 mile in pursuit! First, a leader touch, then 15 minutes later Tim puts a yellow glove on his hand. With the fish laying on its side, Tim reached for the lower jaw; ‘Both fish and man made distinct eye contact,’ as Tim puts it. The fish gave a mighty head jerk, so hard that it broke the rod, broke the line and broke our hearts because we had no picture! Bretten’s reward after landing an 8-pound tarpon last year was to land a 100 pounder this year! Charlotte Harbor is full of surprises and if you think outside the box just a little bit, you may just get the surprise of your life! Capt. Chuck Eichner operates Action Flats Backcountry Charters and can be reached at 941-628-8040
Charlotte, theGulf oil spill and RESTORE SEPTEMBER 2015
By Betty Staugler Water LIFE/Sea Grant It’s been five years since the Gulf oil spill and although a lot has been accomplished there is still a great deal to do and a great deal to learn from this disaster. In 2012 a hugely important piece of legislation was passed called the RESTORE Act. RESTORE stands for Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act. I can only imagine how many hours and iterations it took to come up with a name that could be condensed to RESTORE! The RESTORE Act is important because it ensures that fines paid by companies involved in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill make their way back to the states that were impacted by the spill. Prior to the RESTORE Act, the Clean Water Act would have assured fines were levied, and although a small portion of those funds would have been set aside for future spills, nothing would have guaranteed any moneys were spent on helping the Gulf recover. Likely the funds would have gone to general budgets. Now, with the RESTORE Act in place,
BACK ISSUES @
Scallop Count
WWW.WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM
18
In spite of two weeks of rain and murky conditions in the bay, the final count was 18 scallops. This was higher than what was found in the two previous years and it was done with far fewer teams searching this year. Scallops were found in over 2/3rds of the grids surveyed. That was a very positive sign for our area since the presence of scallops indicate a healthy ecosystem. In a releted story, NOAA researchers and colleagues from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have reported what appears to be a banner year for young sea scallops off the Delaware -Maryland peninsula. NOAAʼs Hab-Cam-V4, a towed imaging and sensor platform, photographed miles of sea bottom packed with as many as 350 sea scallops in less than 1 square meter of bottom.
20 percent of the fine money goes to the future spill fund and 80 percent goes to economic or environmental restoration projects around the Gulf. The 80 percent of fine money that doesn't go to the future oil spill fund is going to a different trust
fund where it gets broken down into five buckets. Each bucket has different purposes and restrictions, but the funds are intended to go toward ecosystem restoration, economic or infrastructure projects along the Gulf or research and monitoring of the Gulf. The different buckets are managed by different councils made up of local, state, and federal officials. There are competitive funding buckets and there are buckets with distributions based on formulas. One such bucket, referred to as the Direct Component, amounts to 35 percent of the trust fund and is split evenly between the five Gulf States. In Florida that amount is then distributed to counties based on a formula. 75 percent will go to the most impacted counties and the remaining 25 percent will be distributed based on proximity to the spill and County population. Charlotte County will receive just over $724,000 in this first allocation. In anticipation of these funds, Charlotte
PAGE 21
County created a RESTORE Act advisory board made up of area environmental, tourism, and local business professionals. The board’s responsibility was to establish an application and ranking criteria for locally funded Direct Component RESTORE Act projects. The board would also rank projects and make recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners (BCC). The RESTORE Act made the board’s job pretty easy because it has a strict funding criteria already in place. The board however also felt it was important to take the BCC’s goals into consideration, so each application had to meet at least one RESTORE Act eligible activity and at least one BCC goal. The County put out a request for projects earlier this year. Seven projects were submitted and ranked by the board. The board recommended four projects for funding. They include a portion of the Harborwalk which will provide a pedestrian walkway between the US-41 bridges on the north side along with several amenities for boaters and anglers; a fisheries monitoring program for tidal creeks that will occur in conjunction with large scale restoration on two adjacent state preserves; two years of intensive bay scallop restoration largely supported by trained volunteers; and funding to support ongoing sewer expansion activities in the Port Charlotte area. These four project will go before the BCC in the form of a Multi-year Implementation Plan (MYIP) sometime this month or early October. If the BCC approves the MYIP, it will then go to the Department of Treasury for approval. And if all goes well and the Treasury approves the MYIP these projects will receive funding in the spring of 2016. It is anticipated that more funds may become available in the future. If you are interested in learning more about the RESTORE Act or Charlotte County’s process for dispersing their Direct Component funds, visit the County’s RESTORE Act website at https://www.charlottecountyfl.gov/boardscommittees/raab/Pages/default.aspx
$2 off any haircut!
PAGE
22
EMAIL:
WATERLIFE@COMCAST.NET
September – Predictions and Suggestions
SEPTEMBER 2015
Charlotte Harbor
Frank at Fishin’ Franks 941- 625-3888
Right now thousands of shrimp are boiling everywhere, it’s a cool phenomenon this time of year. The shrimp come up by the surface from Alligator creek to Bull and Turtle Bay. The shrimp aren’t very big yet, 3 inches maybe, but thousands of them come to the surface at once. This phenomenon should last a couple of weeks. It’s really something to see. You want to have shrimp for bait when you are fishing around all those shrimp. Snook season has opened and there are small fish to play with and giants to fight. Up river, at Horse Creek there are 30-inch snook. In Harbour Heights you’ll find mid 30s. The San Souci Trestle has mostly undersized fish. It’s hard to find keepers there, probably because of all the poaching. Everyone knows it is poacher’s heaven over there and by the time snook season opens they have poached out everything they wanted. What I don’t know is why they want slot fish when they are poaching - maybe they feel it’s not breaking the law as much, if they steal fish within the slot limit? At San Souci try the brown colors, go to Rattletrap or Storm swim baits there is a little more water here, you have to get deeper for the snook – count 5 on the lure before retrieving it. Snook are eating at Shell Creek. Jigs still doing well, mostly buck tails or
Above & Right: Two little guys with 3 big fish! Left: A small tarpon creates a big smile.
floater-divers, you can’t use suspending lures there because there is not enough water. The X-wrap, a No. 14-or 15 bombers will work. Use red and white or green and white. Avoid balsa lures at Shell Creek - the rocks will tear them up. At Harbor Heights you want a paddle tail shad, the old fashioned one is still doing really good there. Further down the Peace River, under the docks and up in the canals, there is a nice snook population. Trolling the canals is the plan, if you have a boat.
Editor Notes*: Both fish (or is it the same fish twice?) was (were?) released alive. Let us know what you think: waterlife@comcast.net
Charters
Offshore Fishing Trips: 1/2 day • 8hr • 10 hr • 12 hr We help put your charters together
Shark, Tarpon, Grouper, Snapper, Kingfish, and MORE! Capt. Jim OʼBrien USCG 50 ton license since 1985
941-473-2150
shad, a DOA or Slayer, the Twitch Stick and the new BX-minnow from Rapalla and even the old 3-D fingerlings are battling it out in the fight for lure dominance. Around the mangroves, the water is so high you have to hit your cast right at the edge of the trees because it’s hard to get under. Then the retrieve is a stop, 3 cranks, stop, kind of thing. Snook are around the beaches too. The fly fishermen are having a ball. The old 52 series Mirrolure, the 52MR or the 52TT18 are the rockin’ snook lures from the sand. The fish are within spitting distance of the shore. Early AM and early evening, in a foot or two of water, there are 40-inch
CAN SPOTS CHANGE ON A REDFISH? I am writing to you about 2 redfish that look very similar. I am not 100% sure it is the same fish, but they sure do look alike. On a charter last week my client caught the fish in the left picture. The smaller one on the right was caught in March 2014. They were caught in the same area of the east wall. Do the spots change size and location on the fish? Does anything effect this? Please let me know if you guys find out any information that would make me a little smarter. Capt. Chris Fanelli
Fish With A Guide!
Nighttime Trips Available
From I-75 to the US 41 bridges switch back to the Berkley Power Bait shad or the Storm swim-shad and fish out around the wooden bumpers at the bridges. That lure or the Rattletrap – you have to get either of them down as close to the bottom as possible. In the PC and PGI canals, the Storm Twitch-stick is the No. 1 lure on snook right now. The Rapala balsa-extrereme is equal or a close second. You gotta’ get them under the dock, pause, and then bring the lure back out. You can troll in the canals and fish the bridges. Out on the flats, snook have been taking a number of lures: The paddle tail
Youʼll catch fish and youʼll learn something too!
BackBay Xtremes Capt Dave Stephens www.backbayxtremes.com
941-916-5769
SEPTEMBER 2015
BACK ISSUES @
The BIG-4
WWW.WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM
September
PAGE 23
fish! Redfish are re-appearing Fish to expect in throughout the Harbor and Gulf starting to school up. September Temps is the pre-staging time for next are mid 80s month when the big redfish The Harbor is come in. From the East side to 3- or 4-degrees Two Pine, and all along the warmer REDFISH starting to congre- TARPON In the Harbor and the BLACK DRUM Try the El SNOOK are just everywhere West Wall, they are starting to Pine Island Sound gate on the Harbor bars JoBean bridge and trestle and every size school up this month, getting Rain and more rain ready for the adults in October. will keep the fish El JoBean ʻadjustingʼ There are still reds along the sandbars and some under the trees but the schooling fish are all more out by the snadbars. We still have a good shark population too. Good smaller species of sharks this month, mostly they are congregating closer to the 95˚ passes and following the tide in and out. Tarpon fishing is still phenomenal as long as you aren’t too hung up on size. We have from 90˚ two to 5 foot tarpon right now and so many it is stagering. A D.O.A., Terroreyes, a 1/4-ounce 85˚ Rattletrap and the Creme lil’ Fishy lures are the hot tickets for a tarpon show. Decent snapper are around most of the paseses, but they are starting to slow in the canals. And then there are Gars. Gars like to stay in 80˚ the first foot of water which makes it perfect for them to come down river and out into the Harbor. Right now, we have seen gars halfway down the west side of the Harbor. They lay at A nice black drum caught on a rainy August the surface and will swirl as your boat goes by – day under the El Jobean Bridge by Alycia Ringer and Konstantine Belgrade. 72˚ Try a baitfish under bobber, maybe a pinfish or Melissa Brown with her 40 inch cobia caught off the El Jo Bean Pier. a shiner. You need to use a wide gap Kahlegirl on the pier caught a huge one. I don’t 70˚ hook - that hook traps the upper jaw so the hook have any real trout stories, but they are fillets last week. 68˚ gets caught. Hold the jaw at the base, if you catching a few. Most guys give up on them for Offshore is good if you want to go really far. handle a gar. As ferocious as they look, they are summer when the meat is too mushy. Guys predict salt marlin, blackfin, and dola delicate fish. Gars are a ton of work to clean The other fish around are mackerel and phin above 35 pounds for the Old Salt Tournabut they are edible. some guys are starting to catch pompano again. ment coming up. I think it will take a blue
Jim at Fishermen’s Edge 697-7595
There are redfish. Two guys went out this morning in Lemon Bay and caught a lot of redfish. They were fishing topwaters, one guy north to Stump Pass, the other guy south-east at the edge of the oyster bars, they were fishing the new Sebille Flat shad (or some thing) about the same size as a Super Spook Jr. Snook are around the Bay. You got to find the right pod of bait to throw on first. With decent bait you can get quite a bit of fish. One guy had 15, all really nice ones that he released. Black drum are around. There have been some big ones at El Jobean, caught on shrimp, under the pier and under the bridge. Last week a
Tarpon are up in the Harbor, guys tell me marlin to win it. they are seeing some, again, in the Pass at the right stage of the tide. I guess on the falling tide, so they can fish their squirrelfish baits on an outgoing, with high water. Lot of big snapper are in the pass and mangrove and yellow tail nearshore. Some guys in the Pass limited out with 5 pounders. With all the rain coming through, a lot of fish are getting flushed out and heading into the Gulf. Grouper reds and gags are doing well. Guys are getting really A couple weeks later, last month, and this snook could have nice ones. I had some beautiful gag been a keeper. Snook re-opened on September 1.
50˚ 45˚
FISHING RIGHT NOW:
Great!
PAGE
24
EMAIL:
Bass Boat
Pro Craft
Bay Boat
Nautic Star
Bass Boat Bay Boat Bay Boat
Polar
1910 BB
2003
$11,500
CB729
Rinker
296 BR
2009
$54,900
CB734
176BR
2003
$9,500
CB676
270
2005
$45,000
CB715
Epic
Tahoe
Glastron
Sea Ray
Center Console Cape Craft Cruiser
Monterey
Cuddy Cabin
Chris Craft
Cruiser
CB735
CB732
Center Console Palm Beach Cruiser
Cuddy Cabin SeaRay
$12,000
Sea Swirl
Bow Rider
CB739
2013
Bow Rider Bow Rider
$29,000
Pro165
Tahoe
BowRider
2006
Tracker
Bow Rider Bow Rider
210 Super pro
WATERLIFE@COMCAST.NET
Glastron Glastron
22SC
2200 Sport Q4s
Q4ss
175
GX185
21 CC
16 CC 259
GS249
23始 Concept
2015
2012
2005 2009 2000
2001
2001 2004
2006
1999
1995
$44,000
$39,500
$13,000 $12,000 $8,900
$12,000
$13,000 $7,800
$31,000
$16,900
$12,000
SOLD
CB733 CB742 CB716
CB713
CB722 CB634
CB689
CB730
CB681
SEPTEMBER 2015
200 Overnighter 1993
$9,000
CB712
Dual Console Angler
204DC
$9,500
CB740
Jet Boat
160 Speedster
2005
188F
2008
Deck Boat
Hurricane
Flats Boat
Pathfinder
Deck Boat High Perf
Jet Boat Jet Boat
Pontoon Pontoon
Crownline
Commander Sea Doo
Sea Doo SeaDoo
G3 Pontoon Tracker
Walk Around
Stratos
Walk Around
Sailfish
Walk Around Walk Around Walk Around Walk Around
226 CC
2008
17T
1999
238
2300 LX
1999
$8,000
$18,000
$12,900
CB693 CB618
CB682
CB731
$9,500
CB728
Bass Buggy 18
$8,500
CB707
Utopia 205 2600
2300 WA
Grady White
282 W/A
Proline
1999
$14,500
CB615
1800 Challenger 2001
Polar
Cobia
1999
$15,000
2002
2005
1990
2005
$10,200 $9,000
$18,000
$35,900
CB737
CB699 CB683
CB655
230 W/A
2004
$26,000
CB629
20Walk
2001
$12,000
CB669
2660 W/A
2006
2001
$50,000
$49,000
CB598
CB652