Water LIFE March 2015

Always FREE!www.WaterlifeMagazine.comwww.WaterlifeMagazine.com

“When we have approximately“When we have approximately

12 hrs of daylight and 12 hrs of12 hrs of daylight and 12 hrs of

darkness it is technically calleddarkness it is technically called

the Spring Equinox.the Spring Equinox.For me, this time of year isFor me, this time of year is

called Monster Snook Season!”called Monster Snook Season!”

–– see Capt Chuck, Page 9see Capt Chuck, Page 9

Charlotte Harbor, Lemon Bay & the GulfCharlotte Harbor, Lemon Bay & the Gulf

WWWWaaaatttteeeerrrr LIFEThe Don Ball School of FishingThe Don Ball School of Fishing

March 2015

Regatta PerspectiveRegatta Perspectivepage 21page 21

CuringCuringthe the

CurseCursepage 17page 17

Mondays with Dad Mondays with Dad page 15page 15

Net BanUpheldPage 5

EMAIL: W [email protected] MARCH 2015

MARCH 2015 BACK ISSUES @ WWW.WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM PAGE 3

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Water LIFE [email protected]

Michael & Ellen Heller Publishers

(941) 766-8180217 Bangsberg Rd.

Port Charlotte, FL 33952Independant - Not affiliated with

any other publicationVol XIV No 3 © 2015

No part of this publication (printed or electronic) maybe copied or reproduced without specific written

permission from the publishers.

Contributing Editors:Photography: ASA1000.com

Senior Editor: Capt. Ron BlagoRiver and Shore: Fishinʼ Frank

Charlotte Harbor: Capt. Billy BartonFamily Fishing: Capt. Bart Marx

Punta Gorda: Capt. Chuck EichnerVenice: Glen Ballinger

Kayaking: WRITER WANTEDSea Grant: Betty Staugler

Offshore: Capt. Jim OʼBrienFly Fishing: Capt. Scott SichlingBeach Fishing: Mallory Herzog

Circulation: Robert CohnIn Memory of our Office Dog Molly Brown

on the COVER: Capt Chuck Eichner putthis angler on some nice fish. His storyabout Monster Snook appears on page 7

PAGE 4 EMAIL: W [email protected] MARCH 2015

Send letters and photos to: [email protected] Dear Water LifeEnjoyed the fly fishing articles. Hopethere is a continuing series on MaloryHerzog and her exploration into fly fish-ing. I'd love to see a regular column onfly fishing. There are a few of us outthere who are crazy enough to try tocatch fish on fly in Charlotte Harbor.Daniel Ferraris

Mr. Heller,Thank you for recognizing our gift to the Don BallSchool of Fishing in WATERLIFE. However we arethe Gulf Cove Fishing Club, not South Gulf Cove,which is a different community entirely.Respectfully,Neil Heisner,PresidentGulf Cove Fishing Club

Dear Water LIFEon page 23 of the Feb issue you have a

picture of Matt Barton holding what isidentified as a yellow tail, I believe it may

be a lane snapper. Orange rounded tailinstead of yellow v shaped tail (like the

one in the photo to the right).Jim Hoffman

Edfitor notes* This month Capt. JoeAngius joines the ranks of the regularWater LIFE writers and guides staff. Joewill be reporting from Estero Bay. Lookfor his column monthly and may Godhave mercy on his soul!

Water LIFEI thought your readers would be interested in thisnote from the FWC calendar:During the week of February 9-13, OfficersRuggiero, Thompson, and Price attended SpeedMeasurement training at the Southwest FloridaPublic Service Academy. This training will allowthe officers to operate RADAR and LASER inwildlife speed-restriction areas, such as Pantherand Manatee zones, to help enforce safetyregulations.Steven Burke

KIDS DAY Anglers for Conservation (AFC)a non-profit 501(C)(3) organization, in partnership with Fishermanʼs Village, iscoordinating its engaging Hook Kids on Fishing program tobe held on Saturday, April 11, 2015 from 10am until 12:00 noonat Fishermen's Village, Punta Gorda. Open to kids ages 6 to 16, must be accom-panied by an adult. The first 100 kids registered and who complete the trainingwill receive a free rod and reel to take home! Registration is mandatory. Call King Fisher Fleet at 941-639-2628.

TENT SALE MARCH 14


By Michael HellerWater LIFE editor

I was talking with Izzy, the head barber - (get it?head....barber!) - at the Charlotte Harbor Barber Shop lastmonth and we both agreed, there were a lot more newfaces around town this season than we have seen in thepast. The vote is out whether the weather up north is aninfluencing factor or not, but there are plenty of new folkshere and it looks like they are all headed for the water. If you are one of the new faces I say welcome! Please

buy a house, get a boat and go fishing, or go sailing or gokayaking. The water is what this county is all about... butyou probably know that already. In January the annual Charlotte County Boat Show was

a record breaker in terms of sales. Both new boats andused boats have been selling well. If you are new to boat-ing here, the best way to understand the Harbor is to hire afishing guide for a half day or a whole day and have himgive you a tour. You’ll find there is a lot to see here. Char-lotte Harbor is a very live estuary where many speciesspawn and grow. The full name of the Harbor is TheCharlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserve. The Harbor is also awonderland for kids and there are fishing guides who willgo out with you on your own boat to show you around.If you pick the right day, when the wind and waves

aren’t a handicap, you can work your way down the EastSide of the Harbor, maybe even check out the fishinggrounds called Two Pine, cut across the Indian Fields andPine Island. Have lunch by boat at Cabbage Key or thePink Flamingo and then go see Bull and Turtle Bay. Thencome back up along the Westwall of the Harbor to com-plete the circle. Bring sunscreen and tip your captain well,he is going to burn some gas and don’t hang out at anyone spot. Get a feel for each area - if you fish, throw a

lure or, better yet, throw a gold spoon, a lot of fish herewill take a gold spoon, then move on to the next spot. Wehave a very diverse fishery so what you want is to get thebig overall picture. The big fish will come soon enough!I still remember the first time I came here. There was

no g00gle or GIS back then. Driving across the 41 bridgeand looking out, I thought what I saw WAS Charlotte Har-bor. Boy was I wrong, the Harbor turned out to be huge!So before you get on a boat, check the Harbor out fromabove. Look at the Charlotte County GIS website whichshows highly detailed local satellite photos, better thanGoogle, to help you find interesting spots to explore.If you are new here and you haven’t already bought a

boat, think carefully. On the morning I am writing this it’sa cold 38 degrees outside and the wind is blowing 25knots from the north. There are white caps on the Harbor.If I had to be on the water today, this would be the day tobe in a cuddy-cabin boat with an I/O and a warm spotbelow, but we get, maybe, two days like this a year. To-morrow’s forecast is for 80 degrees! You don’t want toown a cuddy cabin if you plan on boating here.

Most of the perimeter of the Harbor is sandy and shal-low. For sailing, naturally, you want a boat without toomuch keel. For inshore fishing, what you want is to havean open skiff, a flats boat or a center console... and an out-board motor. If you want to get close to where the game-fish are you often need a boat that floats shallow and oneon which you can tilt the motor up. And you want a pushpole or trolling motor for quiet. If you want to go fish inthe really ‘skinny’ water, then a 16 foot or shorter boatwith a jack plate on the motor is what you need. And ifyou want to cover some distance, or run out into the Gulf,then you’ll want a bigger boat, maybe 21 feet. So ideally,you’ll need two boats! But even if you only have oneboat, get out on the water as much as you can. Lookaround, fish, relax. You can buy that second boat later.

Words For Newcomers

These are octopus eggs, developing before birth. Numerousspecies, ranging from the tinyiest shrimp to the giant Go-liath Grouper, spawn in Charlotte Harbor.

Last month the Supreme Court of Florida denied apetition by the Wakulla Fishermenʼs Association and up-held the stateʼs Net Ban Amendment that was approvedby 72 percent of voters in 1994. The ban prohibited usingentangling gill nets and limited net size to 500 square feetin order to preserve fish stocks. Last monthʼs ruling putsan end to the latest challenge brought by gillnetters whowon a sympathetic circuit court ruling in 2013 that al-lowed them to briefly reintroduce gill nets into Florida wa-ters. The Florida Fish and Wildlife ConservationCommission, with the support of CCA Florida, challengedthe 2013 ruling immediately in the stateʼs highest court.


By Capt. David StephensWater LIFE HarborWarmer weather means warmer

water and on Charlotte Harbor,when the water warms above the70 degree mark, great things beginto take place. The days are gettinglonger, the lush turtle grass hasbegun to grow back on the endlessflats and live bait, I’m talking sar-dines, or greenbacks, are showingup. We have endured cold water

temperatures for the past two tothree months and a lot of our in-shore gamefish have become slug-gish and do not want to feedaggressively. Now, as water tem-peratures begin to rise, those fishare feeding heavily to restore lost fat re-serves. Now is when their focus switchesfrom shrimp to something a little morefatty, like sardines. Catching live bait can be a little tricky

for the weekend fisherman. The key is topay attention to the birds. A lot of our birdsfeed on the same bait that we like to use ona day of fishing. The top bird you want tokeep your eyes open for are pelicans, whenthey are diving its not for the fun of it. An-other little bird to watch when you are look-ing for baitfish schools is the tern. Theylook similar to sea gulls but are smaller andhave a orange beak. One of the biggest mistakes I see people

make when catching live bait is to be usingthe wrong net. I don’t know how manytimes I have been catching bait and the guynext to me is having no luck due his choiceof nets. If I’m in water over 6 feet deep Iwill use a net that has more weight - at least1.5 pounds of lead per foot. I choose tothrow Calusa cast nets. You can visit yourlocal tackle shop and they will fit you withthe proper cast net for what you are doing. Once you’re ready to catch bait, you’ll

need some chum. There are several differ-ent recipes for chum. One of the oldest andmost proven, is Jack Mackerel and bread.

This is a very simple recipe. Mix one can ofJackMak with one loaf of bread, add waterand squish it with your hand until it’s theconsistency of oatmeal. Another chum thathas become very popular is tropical fishfood. You can find that at most of your feedstores. All you need to do is mix this corn-meal-textured powder with water. Once you have your chum and you’ve

located bait, a stealthy approach is neces-sary. If you have a trolling motor use it. Ifthere are other boats in the same area catch-ing bait, show them the same respect youwould want.If you would like to experience some of Char-

lotte Harbors best fishing give me a call or sendme an email. All of our trips are private and cus-tomized to fit you and your parties needs. Capt.Dave Stephens 941-916-5769 www.backbayx-tremes.com

All About The Bait

MARCH 2015 BACK ISSUES @ BACK ISSUES @ WWW.WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM PAGE 7

By Capt. Chuck EichnerWater LIFE InshoreMarch is the month we normally asso-

ciate with rising temperatures and the timewe begin to anticipate spring, which oc-curs on March 20 this year! Scientifically,our seasons are determined by shiftingsunlight hours. When we have approxi-mately 12 hrs of daylight and 12 hrs ofdarkness it is technically called the SpringEquinox. For me, this time of year iscalled Monster Snook Season!Snook are primarily dormant from De-

cember to early March. They take refugein deeper waters of canal systems, localrivers, basins and bays and feed sparselyon tiny minnows, shrimp and sea creaturesto sustain themselves. If there was ever any uncertainty as to where our snook re-side in the winter, it was proven severalyears back when thousands were coldshocked and died. Our local canals were

full of dying snook floating to the surface.Many think they winter in the riverswhich is only partially true.As our waters quickly warm, snook

leave their protective deep water hauntsand migrate to the closest shallows. Nowthey are super hungry and that hungermakes them vulnerable. Anglers luckyenough to catch pilchards and threadfinswill find that the first snook of the yearare easy to catch and this is the only timethat the big ones consistently make mis-takes!With a bit of logic you can figure out

where they are likely to show up first.Countless miles of canals in Port Char-lotte and Punta Gorda exit into shallowwater flats and mangrove areas. Thoseshould be your target areas. River sys-tems present the same opportunity. ThePeace and Myakka Rivers and AlligatorCreek have many miles of snook sanctu-

ary. If you look to Mat-lacha, Pine IslandSound, Gasparilla andEnglewood you have thesame scenario. Canalsand tributaries aboundwhere snook have win-tered over. They willcome peeling out ofthere when the watertemperature is right, set-ting up shop in our salt-water estuary andputting the feedbag on.The recipe for suc-

cess is relativelysimple inMarch. Weneed a consis-tent weatherpattern withtemperatures inthe upper 70sfor 5- to 10days. Afternoonsun will heat theshallows wellbeyond the airtemperature andsnook will wan-der onto theflats on highertide phases. Ar-tificial lures andlive bait willwork fantas-ticly!March is the month when I always

catch my largest snook of the year and thelargest number of big snook. For a shortwindow of time, bait is scarce in the shal-lows when they first appear and that is therecipe for hooking a monster. Your baitappears as an easy meal. Fish points and shorelines closest to the

deeper water. Snook need an exit strategy.With changing weather conditions andtidal phases, a sudden cold front can droptemperatures making them vulnerable. Assuch, they will come and go from the flatson any given day seeking refuge in thenearby deeper water.

For big snook, fish 40- to 50-poundleader as they will literally bite your lineoff. Snook have a tendency to “turn andburn” when hooked against a mangroveand will run you straight in, cutting youoff. When this happens, open your reelbail and free spool the fish. When you re-move the pressure, snook will stop pullingfor just a moment giving you time tochange your rod position and reapplypressure from a different angle. If you arelucky, you will turn the fish for a photo-opat boatside!Capt. Chuck Eichner operates Action

Flats Backcountry Charters and can bereached at 941-628-8040.

March Opens Monster Snook Season


By Capt. Billy BartonWater LIFE InshoreA lot of you folks from up North prob-

ably gave a little chuckle to this story’sheadline. I know you guys got it good upthere,which iswhy we'recurrentlyso busydownhere! Coldup north isa goodthing forthis area,but when Ihave toscrape iceoff mywindshield in the morning, before I pullout of my driveway, that's a problem andI'm wearing at least five layers of clothesat that point hurts! On a brighter note March has arrived,

and winter’s almost over. We're headinginto the Springtime. It will continue to befairly breezy throughout the month I'msure, but we should at least see an inclinein our air and water temperatures in thenext few weeks. This change will benothing but beneficial to our fishing. We call March and April transition

months. Things get pretty fishy in our in-shore waters and things get pretty fishyout in the Gulf as well.

Our sub-tropical fish love the Floridasunshine. Don't get me wrong, we loveour winter time fishing too and the fishwill be cooperative in winter if you playyour cards right, but now the fishing's just

going to get better and better! Spring iswhen you dust off the big gear and watchfor the big fish to show up by the acres.Literally acres. Pretty cool huh!? What we've been seeing in the Harbor

over the last month was major fish move-ment. Basically, our weather isn't stayingconsistent. Our temperatures are in the70s or 80s for a few days, then we hit an-other cold snap. What this does, is itkeeps the fish from staying in one particu-

lar area and settling down. Seeing someconsistency in our weather patterns shouldsettle the fish down a bit and get themmoving around a little less. You have to remember that a lot of our

fish have a low tolerance for the cold, sowhen it gets cold for a period of time, theylook for the warmest water they can find,bait-fish included. A few examples maybe a narrow, dark water canals that retainsa lot of the sun’s heat during the day. An-other example might be fish sunning inless than a foot of water above some darksand when the sun is high. I'm speaking, specifically, of snook,

redfish, and tarpon in particular... and yes,

we still have tarpon here. We call thosefish locals because a lot of them neverleave the area. You just don't hear toomany folks talking about tarpon in winterbecause the fish are hanging out up in therivers to warm up and they stay deep justlike a big snook would.It being chilly though doesn't by any

means mean you have to write off a good

day of fishin! We have several species that migrate

here for the winter, and disappear when itwarms up. Pompano, flounder, sheep-head, and spotted sea trout are our most

popular winter fish to target. These fishall come here in large numbers. They're aload of fun on the other end of a fishingpole and they're some of the most deli-cious fish you could make a meal out of.When we have cold spurts, you can betI'm out targeting them. If you have redfish or snook fishing on

your mind, you may want to start earlywith the species listed above, then move

Winter sure did bring the pain this year! Our water temps made it down into the 60s!

This tiny squid came up one morning in oneof the cast net pulls.


on to your targets when the sun’s been outfor a bit. This is what I've been doing on alot of my charters and it's proven pretty ef-fective. Your bait of choice is still a shrimp or a

crab of any sort, fished deep and slow. Pin-fish and sardines have been my secondarybaits, they also work well on a jig headfished near the bottom. The larger snook and redfish definitely

want an easy meal, they like conservingtheir energy without having to try andchase something down. Their metabolismsstill aren't at what they will be in anothermonth of so. That’s why Spring is one ofthe fishiest times of year around here.That's the gist of it for now, ladies and

gents! Expect some fantastic fishing tocome around over the next few months! The Harbor water temperature is almost

a steady 70. Hope for lots of sunshine andya'll catch ‘em up, out there. Till next time,see you on the water!

Capt. Billy Barton owns and operates Scales-n-Tails Fishing Charters.Check out his newly redesigned website at http://www.puntagordafishingcharter.comor call him at: 941- 979-6140 He’s also onAll fish shown here from February charters


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On The Line By Capt. Ron BlagoWater LIFE Senior StaffIt's been a few years since Charlotte

County began charging boaters to park attheir public boat ramps. How this cameabout is a story for another day, but I cantell you that at the time I fought like hellto prevent it from happening and gotcrushed by certain county staff members. Ironically, those people are all gone but

the parking fees remain. I thought I hadanother shot at removing the parking feestwo years ago when the county discoveredthat the parking ticket machines werebreaking down due to salt water corrosionand the constant pounding of frustratedboaters trying to get the thing to work. Once again I lost the battle when

county staff decided to double down onthe project and spend over $150,000 onnew parking ticket machines ... and to add

insult to injury, they raised the parking feeto 75 cents per hour. Let me come rightout and say I do not believe boaters shouldhave to pay to park at a public boat ramp.Tax payers have already paid for the landand the construction cost; and boaters payto register their boats and in the case ofCharlotte County, boaters pay an addi-tional surtax to maintain the boat ramps. I have made my peace with losing that

argument and now realize that getting theCounty to eliminate those fees would belike trying to remove food from a pit-bullsmouth. To prepare for the next future bat-tle I have been trying to get data on howmuch money each boat ramp brings in andhow much money the county spends tocollect it. Everyone I talked to in theCounty was sure that information wasavailable but no one knew how to get it.After three years of trying (with the helpof County Commissioner Deutsch) I wasfinally given the following summery of

parking meter revenues and cost.In 2014 Parking meters brought in

$287,077.25 at a cost of $64,801.83 for anet revenue of $222,275.42. That sure is alot of quarters and for that reason thecounty is not giving up that revenue.Most of that money does not come

from boat ramp parking but from parkingat Englewood Beach and Port CharlotteBeach Complex. Of the total they make up$164,353.50 or 57.25%. The other countyboat ramps brought in $122,723.75 or42.75% of the total. Here is the 2014 listof sites and boat ramp parking money.Placida $53,703.45Port Charlotte Beach $36,002.00Ainger Creek $11,447.65El Jobean $9,841.30Spring Lake $6,278.60Harbor Heights $4,270.80 Hathaway $1,179.95 So. Gulf Cove 0

You can see that compared to Placidaand the Port Charlotte Beach ramp whichmake up 73.1% of all the money broughtin; all the other boat ramps collect peanutsand that is why I think they should be free.I did notice that there appears to be a prob-lem with the Port Charlotte Beach boatramp figure. With the numbers I was giventhey list the entire Beach Complex asbringing in $50,938.05 in parking fees. Iserious doubt that 70.7% of that amountcame from boat ramp parking.If you are like a lot of boaters, you will

find it a lot easier to just buy an annualpass for $53.50 but remember as they sayon the County web site, “A pass does notguarantee you a parking spot”. So if youare like a lot of Englewood folks you willjust launch your boat at Indian Mounds orManasota Beach. Parking is still free at theboat ramps in Sarasota County.

[email protected]

Boat Ramp Revenues

New to area boat ramps are the life jacket loaner stands installed by Sea Tow CharlotteHarbor. The stands hold childrens life jackets which boaters can take for free and returnwhen they come back in off the water.

By Captain Joe AngiusWater LIFE Estero BayEstero Bay is an estuary

that holds trophy sized redfishand snook, but it can be a dif-ficult fishery to understand. There are five major river

systems that feed into the bay.Starting with the river farthestNorth and moving south,there is, Hendry Creek, Mul-lock Creek, Estero River,Spring Creek, and the Impe-rial River. Each of these riversinfluences water temperature,water quality and tidal flow.Knowing about where youfish is vital to your successand will determine what tech-niques work best. First and foremost, every

fishing report should alwaysstart with a bait report. As acaptain, catching quality bait isthe key to getting large stub-born fish to bite. With that said, my morn-ing starts at the beautiful Lovers Key Baitand Adventure boat ramp. From the ramp

I head south to a nearby bridge that hasbeen holding medium to large sized whitebait. If the bridges aren’t producingenough bait, I’ll begin to search for themon a grass flat in 2-to 3-feet of water. At the bridges I would recommend

using a 10’ net with a ¼- or 3/8-inchmesh. The smaller mesh net will definitelyhelp an angler catch a lot of bait if the baitis running small. In the case that they arenot small, the larger mesh net allows forthe net to sink faster and filter out any un-wanted smaller baits. On the grass flatsone should use an 8-foot or a 6-foot netwith a 3/8 mesh. Using a smaller meshsize on a grass flat will result in moregrass than bait. Though it can be done, Idon’t advise throwing a ¼-inch mesh neton a flat due to the frustration of cleaninggrass and picking out the glass minnows

one-by-one.So there’s gas in the tank and the live

well is full of bait, but where do you gofish? My first tip when you’re fishing anarea is to look for any signs of life. Thisincludes sting rays, mullet, baitfish, birds,moving water, and even the fish you aretrying to catch. Right now the most pro-ductive areas have been around oysterbars on an incoming tide, on mangroveedges with a current and deep swash andon the shallow water mud flats.A 1/8-ounce jig head tipped with

shrimp or a cut piece of white bait hasbeen extremely successful. Also, pitchingfree-lined white baits and shrimp on a 3/0Owner hook has been my go to setup. In the gin clear water I love to fish in, I

use a three to four foot 25-pound fluoro-carbon leader. In water that’s turned upfrom the wind and tide, I wouldn’t useanything less than 30-pound fluorocarbonleader. If there is a strong current I some-times use small pinch weights to keep thebait down. This also gives me better cast-ing distance.At times when I’m trolling a mangrove

edge looking for these “signs of life” I’llstumble upon a small school of redfish,sheepshead, or snook. Now if you rollover a few fish with the trolling motor orthe outboard motor, don’t panic. Slowly,pull off of the spot and then power downyour motor. Any sudden movements or ir-regularities of the motor will spook them.I recommend pulling off of the spot, pow-ering down, making sure all of your gearis rigged and ready with bait, and thenstart to position your boat at the rightangle to cast at these fish.Remember have fun fishing! Even

though it can be frustrating at times,you’re in one of the most beautiful andunique estuaries in Southwest Florida. Captain Joe Angius Speakeasyfishing.com (727) 234-3171 [email protected]


An Estuary Worth Fishing

This monster jack was caught in twenty-five feet ofwater using large whitebaits on a 3/0 Owner hook. Withthe deeper water and bigger fish, it is safe to use 30-40lb fluorocarbon leader.

This 29” redfish was sight-casted andcaught using whitebait on a 3/0 Owner hook.Itʼs crucial to use a long piece of 25lb fluoro-carbon leader when fishing in crystal clearwater.

Capt Joe and a client with a healthy sheepshead and a beautiful redfish

The recreational harvest season for snook reopenedon March 1 in Floridaʼs Gulf of Mexico state and adja-cent federal waters, including Everglades NationalPark and Monroe County. The season will remainopen through April 30.In the Gulf region, anglers may keep one snook perday that is not less than 28 or more than 33 inchestotal length, which is measured from the most forwardpoint of the head with the mouth closed to the farthesttip of the tail with the tail compressed or squeezedwhile the fish is lying on its side. A snook permit is re-quired to keep snook, along with a saltwater fishing li-cense unless you are a Florida resident age 65 orolder or qualify for one of the military exemptions from the license requirements. Onlyhook-and-line gear is allowed when targeting or harvesting snook. It is illegal to buy orsell snook and restaurants canʼt serve it unless they cook your catch.

SNOOK NOW OPEN


AAQQUU AATTICAFUTURE PLANS : Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council By Adam Wilson

Water LIFE DivingI haven't been doing much diving since October.

Every time I have an opportunity the wind is howling,but I know that will change soon. The pictures hereare from October. The shipwreck photos are from theBayronto. The goliath grouper and lionfish were deepinside the ship. I have been exploring the inside ofthis wreck for sometime now and I know it well. I al-ways love taking a shot of the rudder post. Theschool of bonita that swam by us on our ascent waspretty cool. It always leaves us looking for the sharks

that always seem to follow them. I know gag grouperseason is closed now, but it was still open in Octoberand I am alwaysamazed as to what wepull out of fish stom-achs. The partially di-gested squid washuge! When it wasalive it was probablyas long as the fish itcame out of.

In and Around the wreck Bayronto

Staff ReportThe Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council met in

Point Clear, Alabama in January to discuss a number offishery issues, including regional management for recre-ational red snapper and red snapper allocation. Here aresome of the actions they took:

Red Snapper UpdateThe Council heard an update on the Red Snapper

Stock Assessment, including information on the 2014 pro-visional red snapper catch estimates. The Council also re-ceived the overfishing limit (OFL) and acceptable

biological catch(ABC) recommenda-tions from its Scien-tific and StatisticalCommittee (SSC).

The Council thenasked staff to preparea framework action toincrease the redsnapper annual catchlimit (ACL) based onrevised ABCs usingthe 2014 provisionalred snapper catch es-timates. Because theSSC has not yet seenthe provisional catchestimates or revisedABCs, they had to re-

view those estimates and determine whether to approvethe revised ABCs. The SSC met last month. The Councilwill now hold another special meeting this month to reviewthe SSC ABC recommendations and take final action on aframework action to increase the ACL accordingly. Themeetings are being conducted via internet webinars.

Red Snapper AllocationAmendment 28The Council reviewed a revised draft of Amendment 28,

which considers reallocating a portion of the commercialquota to the recreational sector. After amending the pur-pose and need statement, the Council added 2 alterna-tives to Action 1.

• Alternative 8 – The increase in allowable harvest (dueto changes in recreational data) from the update assess-ment will be allocated to the recreational sector. The per-centage increase for the recreational sector

Grouper still doing well


AQU ATTIICCAAFUTURE PLANS : Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council

should be that amount attributable to recalibration ofMRIP catch estimates.

• Alternative 9 – The increase in allowable harvest(due to changes in recreational data) from the updateassessment will be allocated to the recreational sector.The percentage increase for the recreational sectorshould be that amount attributable to recalibration ofMRIP catch estimates and the change in size selectiv-ity. The Council will review Amendment 28 again duringits next meeting and could take final action as early asJune.

Regional Manage-ment for Recre-ational Red Snapper– Amendment 39

The Council contin-ued discussions onAmendment 39, whichlooks at dividing therecreational red snap-per quota among re-gions to allow for thecreation of differentmanagement meas-ures that better suiteach area. Staff fromthe Mid-Atlantic Coun-cil provided anoverview of summerflounder management,which the Council isinterested in exploringas a model for redsnapper regional man-agement. Staff willcontinue to revise thedocument for Councilconsideration.

Recreational Charter and Headboat Red SnapperManagement Measures

The Council took no action on a proposed frame-work that considers changing the management meas-ures for the for-hire component of the recreationalsector. Instead, the Council agreed to reconvene theAd Hoc Red Snapper Charter For-hire Advisory Panelto continue its discussions and initiated the develop-ment of an amendment that will consider managementmeasures to improve flexibility and accountability in the

charter for-hire component. The Council also will cre-ate a new Ad Hoc Reef Fish Headboat Advisory Paneland initiated another amendment that considers man-agement options to improve accountability and flexibil-ity in the headboat component.

GagLast year, a stock assessment concluded that the

gag stock was neither overfished nor experiencingoverfishing. The SSC initially recommended only asmall increase in ABC out of concern that a large red

tide event that occurred over thesummer may have had a nega-tive impact on the stock. In Janu-ary, the SSC received apresentation from the Florida Fishand Wildlife Research Institutethat modeled the impact of thered tide event. The model con-cluded that mortality of gag in2014 due to red tide was noworse than in normal years. Con-sequently, the SSC revised itsABC recommendations to include5.21 million pounds in 2015, anincrease of 67% over the currentABC. Based on the revised ABCrecommendations, the Councilasked staff to begin a frameworkamendment to increase the gagACL and Annual Catch Target(ACT) and to look at season op-tions.

Greater AmberjackThe Council continued working

on a draft framework action forgreater amberjack to adjust theACL and to consider adjusting

commercial/recreational management measures, suchas size limits and trip limits, to ensure that the stock isrebuilt and the mandates of the Magnuson-Stevens Actare met. This past summer, it was determined thatgreater amberjack remains overfished, is experiencingoverfishing, and did not meet the 10-year rebuildingplan that ended in 2012. The National Standard 1guidelines state that when a stock remains overfishedat the end of its rebuilding plan, subsequent harvestsshould not exceed either the yield at a fishing mortalitycorresponding to the rebuilding plan, or at yield when

fishing at 75% of the fishing mortality rate correspon-ding to maximum sustainable yield, whichever is less.The Council expects to take final action on the frame-work during its March/April meeting in Biloxi, Missis-sippi.

Coastal Migratory Pelagics (Mackerel)After receiving a report on the King Mackerel Gillnet

Workshop held in South Florida in January, the Councilagreed to begin working on a framework action to eval-uate alternative gillnet trip limits, accountability meas-ures, and the elimination of latent permits.

The Council also voted to scope and get publicinput on thefollowing CMPAmendments:

• Amendment26, which ad-dresses Gulfand Atlantic kingmackerel an-nual catch lim-its, allocations,stockbound-aries, and saleprovisions

and • Amendment28, which ad-dresses splittingthe Gulf and At-lantic king andSpanish mack-erel commercialfishing permits.

Data Collection

The Data Collection Committee met to discuss rec-ommendations made by the Technical Subcommitteefor Electronic Charter Boat Reporting and to hear apresentation on the NOAA Fisheries Electronic Moni-toring/Electronic Reporting Implementation Plan. As aresult, the Committee asked staff to begin developing aplan amendment to require electronic logbooks for thecharter for-hire vessels in the Gulf and South Atlantic,as well as the use of Vessel Monitoring Systems(VMS).

Sharks continue to challenge offshore anglers

Amberjack are back

photos Capt. Joe Miller, Fish Offshore Gallore, Venice


By Capt. Betty StauglerWater LIFE Sea GrantI hang out with a bunch

of runners and triathletes and when thewater is warm enough we sometimes meetfor open water swims at area beaches.Now while anglers tend to be realisticabout the risks associated with sharks,novice swimmers tend to blow the risksway out of proportion…think Jaws! So,being the Sea Grant agent I try putting theirfears at bay with sound science. If you havefriends that fear sharks here is some goodinformation to share with them.While it is thought there are over 400

different species of sharks worldwide, onlyabout 30 have been reported to attack hu-mans. In the Gulf of Mexico, only five outof the 35 or so species that inhabit its wa-ters are considered to be potentially dan-gerous to humans, mainly because of theirlarge size. The sharks that most fishermenencounter along our shallow coastal waterstend to be relatively smaller. Regardless oftheir size, sharks are predators and shouldbe handled and treated with respect.So what exactly are the chances of being

attacked by a shark? Fortunately there isjust the resource to help answer this ques-tion and many more relating to shark at-tacks...The International Shark Attack File(ISFA).The ISFA is a compilation of all known

shark attacks worldwide that is managed by

the Florida Museum of Natural History atthe University of Florida. According to theISFA, "The chances of being attacked by ashark are very small compared to other an-imal attacks, natural disasters, and ocean-side dangers. Many more people drown inthe ocean every year than are bitten bysharks. The few attacks that occur everyyear are an excellent indication that sharksdo not feed on humans and that most at-tacks are simply due to mistaken iden-tity...Worldwide there is an average of50-70 shark attacks every year. The num-ber of attacks has been increasing over thedecades as a result of increased human pop-ulations and the use of the oceans for recre-ational activity. As long as humanscontinue to enter the sharks' environment,there will be shark attacks."While Florida is considered the "shark

attack capital of the world" (with the largest

number of attacks in Volusia, Brevard andPalm Beach Counties), there has only beenone reported unprovoked attack in Char-lotte County's waters between 1882 and2014. Lee County and Sarasota Countyhave each had 7 during this same period. In addition to providing a wealth of in-

formation on shark attack incidents andtrends around the world, the ISFA also pro-vides statistics on the relative risk of beingattacked by a shark compared to other nat-ural and human-caused phenomena such aslightning strikes, car crashes, dog bites andhouse hold accidents. For instance: Be-tween 1959 and 2010, there were 459 fa-talities in Florida from lightning strikescompared to 9 fatalities from shark attacksover the same time period. From 1990-2006 there were 16 sand hole collapse fa-talities compared to 11 shark attackfatalities in the United States. Here is a

sobering one for bicycle riders, between1990 and 2009, 112,581 people were in-jured and 2,272 were killed in a bicycle re-lated accident in Florida. Over the sametime period 435 people were injured and 4killed by shark attacks. From 2002 to2013, 782 boaters were killed in boatingaccidents in Florida compared to zerokilled by shark attacks in Florida over thesame time period. Ok, this is where the toilet comes into

play… In 1996, the only year I could finddata for both topics, there were a total of 13shark attack injuries and deaths reported inthe United States, but in the same yearthere were 43,687 reported injuries associ-ated with TOILETS!!! So toilets are clearlya greater threat to you than sharks! Charlotte County Sea Grant Agent,Capt. Betty Staugler UF/IFAS Extension, Charlotte County (941) 764-4346

Swimming with the Fishes and Why You Should Fear Toilets


By Fishin’ FrankWater LIFE BaitshopLast week I forgot the

bait. Yes, I own a bait shop and I forgot totake bait on my way to go fishing. I won’tlive that down for a while. Our trip thisweek was to Pirate Harbor and the flatsjust north of there. We started out insidethe Pirate Harbor canals looking to see iftrout were still hanging out. Dad got a 14inch trout on a slip sinker rig with a 1/2once weight using a live shrimp, but wehad been there about 30 minutes beforewe got our first hit. We saw a couple peo-ple catch cat-fish and decided we wereheading out to the flats.Out on the open flats the wind was per-

fect for a drift, so we started casting infront of the boat while we moved. Thebest part of drifting is you can see if thereare fish movin, there is lots of informa-tion to be had just by looking. I can tellyou one the thing I learned, there are nofish in the open. It will be the end of thismonth before the fish are back on theopen flats.We stayed with out fishless drift until

we came to a set of islands, then using myStick-It as a push pole, I guided the boatbetween two of them. There was a nicetrough about 4 foot deep running betweenthe islands. We casted the trough then justbefore we got to the back side of the is-

land I anchored the boat and dadtossed his shrimp under a poppincork three feet from the man-groves. Blamm!! The bait musthave hit that redfish right in themouth right while it was yawn-ing. Dad’s red was headingaround the boat so I reeled in andtook up the landing net and cam-era. The fish was about 25 inchesand foot-ball fat. We fished theisland for a while more but wehad made a lot of noise and wehad spooked the fish.Why was that redfish there in

that spot? It is not enough for meto catch a fish in a spot, I want to know ifthere is a chance there will be more fishthere later. It’s crazy, but after 30 someyears of fishing the Harbor I had neverfished these islands before, so we idledthe boat along the shore line spooking outtwo more reds and looking around. Itturns out there is a nice deep hole there, 3to 4 foot deep, maybe 20 feet long and 8feet wide, right against the shore line andthat hole connects to the cut between thetwo islands, so the fish can be in the cur-rent during the incoming tide and sit backnext to the island as the water gets low. Itwas a perfect place to hold redfish orsnook. Now I have that hole in my head. Icount anything more than 6 inches deep asa hole. I figure the average water depth istwo feet, so that 6 inches is 25 % of thedepth, that to me is a hole. We fished around a couple more is-

lands spooked some more fish, and sawsome others but they were not ready to eat

so we headed backout by the sand bar. We anchored wherewe could see dark and light places in ourcasting zone. Then with our shrimp underpoppin corks we cast them out off thesides of the boat so they would drift backbehind us covering as much water as pos-sible. I decided to help the fish find us, soI took a bag of frozen shrimp and crushedthe shrimp in my fingers and started toss-ing them out in a broad pattern to getsome smell in the water. That worked and10 minutes after I started the chummingDad got a bite; it was a feisty little fishand getting it to the boat we saw it was apufferPuffers really like shrimp, They are

just the craziest little fish. They havesharp beak-like jaws and like a parrot,they are biters. But they are also so coolwhen they blow up. Suddenly the line we had a shrimp on,

the one with a sinker on one of the sand

holes, goes screaming off. I picked it upand the fish runs way off to the side of theboat. It turned out to be a cat-fish. This isthe problem when you start chumming onthe flats, it can bring in any fish, not justthe ones you want. [email protected] 625-3888

Mondays with Dad


By Capt Bart MarxWater LIFE InshoreHello fellow anglers March can be a

good month or great month depending onwhether or not it is dark and windy orsunny with a slight breeze. On one of ourtrips last month I had a group of four menspanning three generations. It was whatlooked like the start of a tough fishing dayin South West Florida. There had been acouple of cold fronts pass that week. It wasa bit windy, 10- to 15-knots with gustshigher every now and then. It limited wherewe were able to travel in a 22-foot centerconsole. We started at the Placida Park

boat launch site. We first took apeak at the Gulf through Little Gas-parilla Pass – it was all whitecapsacross the mouth of the pass, notgoing out there!We ventured into the Boca Grand

Island canal system and anchored upon a spot where we caught somesheepshead and some mangrovesnapper. It was a calm spot behindthe island and it had warmed up nicely. We trav-eled over to another area to fish and it was a bitslow there so we didn't stay long. We traveledthrough the canals around the golf course wherethe Bush families go to celebrate the Holidayson Boca Grande. This is part of the Inn on BocaGrande that has a lot of history. We also motoredby the almost new Boca Grande Marina. It islooking good with a new fuel dock and all. We found another spot to throw the anchor

and cast some shrimp up along the mangrovesfor reds and mangrove snapper. The youngest ofthe three generations caught some reds. Westayed untill the bite slowed and headed over tothe old phosphate dock pilings wherewe anchored and started casting liveshrimp which got us some good bites,a couple of sheepshead and some smalljack cravelle. The dad of the 10 yearold was fishing from the front of theboat and caught a nice snook about 24-inches, then his brother from Califor-nia (in for the weekend) caught himselfhis first ever snook, it was about 27-inches. The bite slowed there too so we

ventured to yet another spot for the lastfew minutes and then it was time tomake our way back to the dock. It stillwas pretty windy. We were travelinginto the wind so it was choppy but we all madeit back to the dock dry. These guys had a greatday catching fish and making memories.

Three Generations

If you would like to book a trip with Capt.Bart Marx and make your own fishing memoriescall 941-979-6517 or e-mail me at: [email protected]

Singing drags and tight lines make me smile!!


By Mallory HerzogWater LIFE FishingRedfish are a common species in

Florida. They are one of our state’s mostpopular sport fish. These fish dine on a va-riety of baits; crabs, shrimp, pinfish, lady-fish and mullet. They also respond verywell to spoons and artificial's. Soundseasy right? Not for me. For the last few years I have had this

redfish curse. I’ve spent hours on thewater coming up empty handed. But nowthat we bought a boat, I was determined tolearn how and where to fish for reds. Imean, if you fail so many times you haveto be doing something wrong. Ask for help. My experience in saltwa-

ter fishing has been largely off the beach.The backwater fishing is a challenge andthat makes it all the more exciting.Thankfully I have some great friends whoare familiar with our local waters and whogave me an idea where to start.

It was a cold morning with a super lowtide. I wasn't too confident the fish wouldeat with these crazy temperatures we'vehad recently. When we arrived we had towait for the water to come up a bit so weexplored a few bays and canals near wherewe would be fishing later that morning. The water was only 3- to 4-feet deep

and crystal clear. As we were trolling mo-toring along we came across a large red-fish eating right next to the boat,

oblivious to our boat until in the excite-ment began. I cast too close and scaredhim off. Well thats a good sign right?Found one, I am sure there's more. We came out of the canal to the main

flat to see a few boats already anchored upwaiting on the tide. Looks like a prettypopular area, we used our trolling motorto quietly find our own spot along the flat. These grass flats are delicate and hold

abundant sea life vital to those fish youlove catching. Sea horses, starfish, crabs,conch, juvenile game fish, all grow up inour flats. Damaged sea grass regrows atdifferent rates depending on the type. Re-growth can start in a few months to a fewyears. Paying special attention not to harmour sea grass will ensure successful fish-ing in the future.We anchored up with our Stick It pin.

We were using large live shrimp and jig

heads, hooking theshrimp in the tail soit can walk around the bottom andlook natural. We threw themnear the shoreline in some sandyspots. Some people prefer tothrow in the grass others do not. Ifigure if my shrimp has to crawlacross the sand to get into thegrass where it wants to hidemaybe it will grab a fish's atten-tion along the way! We set three lines out, two off

the back of the boat towards theshoreline and one off the side in thedeeper water. We set these in rod holdersand began to put things away and grabsome breakfast when all of a sudden myrod bent over. I rushed over to pick it up,its a jig head not a circle hook, I had to sethook and not pull it right out of the fish'smouth! Success! I saw her roll in a biggolden flash. I’ve hooked my first redfishon my own boat! Andrew had to yell atme to calm down, put my rod tip downand hide my excitement since this fishwasn't in the net yet.After I got a few snapshots with her,

she was released. I love our boat's largerelease well. Its perfect to set your catchin while you dig out your camera. I amnot much of a fish eater, so almost all mycatches are returned to the sea. WOW, my first and biggest redfish!

Not much could bring me down that day.I didn’t care if we caught anymore, I feltaccomplished. Then, as Andrew pickedup his rod to check the bait he was on a

fish as well, catching another, largerkeeper sized redfish. We caught about a dozen between

keepers to smaller rat-reds as we exploredfurther down the flat. The bite seemed tobe the best during the tide switch in theAM hours. We saw so much life on theseflats. Smaller snook not interested in mybait at all, tons of various crabs, pinfishand stingrays. I can’t wait until the windlets up this spring so we can catch a fewon fly. But on this day, in spite of 15 mphwind gusts, it was still not bad fishing onCharlotte Harbor.

Curing the Redfish Curse


By Adam WilsonWater LIFE OutdoorsThe boys and I get out when-

ever we can to hunt or fish. Bran-don really prefers the hunting, buthe also likes throwing the harpoonwe made too. The fish pictures arefrom Gasparilla sound. The har-poon/bow fishing for mullet wasin old Knights Pass. We shot sev-eral birds in Myakka State Forestduring the small game season,mostly dove, but also quail like inthe photo – a flushing covey ofquail really gets the heart rate up!Our trail cam got photos of hogs,also in the Myakka State Forest. Ihad it mounted under my treestand.We learned hunting hogs in

Myakka, although fun, is difficult.The hogs there see a lot of hunters,you can't bait them and the under-brush is so thick you can be on topof hogs and not know it! It's basi-cally sit in a stand and hope they

happen to wander by. After several weeks of chasing

hogs around Myakka State Forestwithout success, I decided to re-ward the boys patience and takethem down to Hog Heaven pre-serve in North Fort Myers where

Kids Outdoors

Brandon shot his first hog in De-cember. Christian and I left Bran-don and his dad in some tall grassnear an open game trail at the edgeof some thick brush and we circledaround to spook hogs toward him. When we were within about 100

yards of him we heard his 12gauge fire and we knew he hadone. Jalapeno stuffed, baconwrapped back-strap on the smoker,yum. We also made a bunch of

breakfast sausage out of the hamswith our new electric grinder.In the photo above, Brandon (his

last name is VanDerVeer) is usingthe Redbone rod I won in the En-glewood Open photo tourney. I puta Penn reel on it from Frank's withsome spider wire. I t is an awesomeset up, Thanks again!


Editor notes* Water LIFEdonated the rod as a tournamentprize and our writer and friendAdam Wilson won it!

SCUTTLEBUTTSometimes Unsubstanciated,

But Often True


FWC DOINGS

Officersrespondedto a com-plaint ofsomeonecutting downmangroveswhich cov-ered the en-tire lengthof theirpropertyline. Theproperty owner was not present upon arrival, howeverthere were freshly cut mangroves piled up on theownerʼs property. Witness statements were obtained andthe property owner was contacted by phone. The case ispending and was filled with the States Attorneyʼs Office.

Lieutenant Frantz was interviewed on “Fishn Franks”“Pod Cast”. The interview was concerning being awareof your surrounding area when fishing and boating.

Officers received a call from dispatch about a ves-sel that was sinking near the El Jobean Bridge. Thecaller advised that he could see two people in the waterwho did not appear to have on life jackets and that thewater was extremely rough due to the wind. Deputies,responded to the location of the sinking vessel and wereable to keep the capsized boat from sinking and towed itback to the boat ramp where it was returned to the own-ers. After warming up and drying off in the ambulance,the two occupants went home unharmed.

The Stump Pass State Park Ranger called about a

boat taking onwater in SkiAlley. Whenthe officer ar-rived on scene,the operatorhad placed themotorboat onthe serviceboat lift at thepark. The op-erator admittedthat he forgotto insert thedrain plugwhen helaunched fromIndian MoundBoat Rampand the bilgepumps werenot working.While the boatwas beingdrained, the of-ficer noticedthat there wasdamage to thelift caused by the operator. The boat and individuals onboard were safely returned to the water. The case is stillunder investigation waiting for damage repair estimates.

Officers responded to a search and rescue in theHenry Creek area of Lake Okeechobee. Information indi-cated one of the individuals was on oxygen. Officerswere able to locate the individuals from the top of thedike using binoculars. The only visible sign was a smallAmerican flag that was attached to a fishing pole they

were waivingabove thevegetation.The officersattempted toreach the in-dividuals in akicker boatbut the vege-tation was toothick. One of-ficer got onan airboatwhile the other officer spotted from the dike. They lo-cated the subjects in a head of cattails about 12-feet tall.They were able to get the vessel out to open waterwhere they cleaned the prop and water intake of vegeta-tion. The individuals were then able to motor away.

Officers received a tip in reference to a subject keepingundersized fish at Gasparilla Island State Park. Theythen observed the subject catching and keeping fish.Both officers made contact with the subject and con-ducted a resource inspection. The inspection revealedundersized sheepshead, mangrove snapper and floun-der. The subject also had an expired out-of-state fishinglicense and was issued the appropriate citations.

An FWC officer was walking the Boca Grande fishingpier and observed two subjects leaving the area withtwo buckets full of sheepshead. As the pier was busywith fisherman. The subjects stated they measured thefish using the opening of a five-gallon bucket. The officermeasured the fish using a lawstick and explained to thesubjects that several fish were undersized. Both subjectshad been issued citations for similar violations within thepast 18 months at the same location. The subjects wereissued the appropriate new citations

Checking muscles at the base of theStatue of Liberty. NOAAʼs nationwidestudy show the occurrence and sever-ity of disease and parasite infectionsin muscles to be generally low.

Transatlantic under sea cable


Sailing Charlotte Harbor RegattaBy Peter WelchWater LIFE SailingThis year’s One Design Re-

gatta in south west Florida has in-creased the variety of one designboats to 11 registered designs. Three race circles accommo-

dated 82 boats on day two andthree. The speed of Hobie 16, F18,and F16 catamarans and favorablewinds facilitated 10 races overthree days on circle 3. Circle 2Weta and Wind Rider trimaran’salso completed 10 races. Circle 1hosted 2.4M, Sunfish, Precision15, Harbor 20, Wave catamaran,and Flying Scott boats and com-pleted 6 races in two days. Eachcompetitor’s worst race finish wasremoved and low point wins. Tiedscores are resolved by lowestpoints early in the series.The 2.4M class is being pro-

moted on Charlotte Harbor by2.4M builder Tony Pocklington and sailinginstructor Dennis Peck, but for differentreasons. Tony believes it is the right budgetracer for solo sailors. Dennis likes it be-cause the boat gives disabled sailors inde-pendence. Together they provided five ofthe 14 boats entered.At the end of day one Tim Ripley trailed

Tony by one point, and Peter Eagar trailedby 4. When each had their throw out ap-plied Tim lead by 3 points and Tony andPeter were tied so the tie break put Tonysecond. The last race took place after amajor wind shift. Dennis Peck noted “ a fa-vorable wind on one side, favorable currentthe other, neither good for me in the mid-dle.” Peter Eager of Canada placed secondin that race, but the tie break rewarded earlysuccess.

Isles Yacht Club is finding their Preci-sion 15s are too wet and tippy for wintersailing by the older members. They trialedHarbor 20s against sail maker Doug Fisher.Doug had five firsts and the club sailorstraded identical throw outs and a three pointspread between second and fourth. I con-clude that the Harbor 20 can support a greatclub program. Weta and Windrider trimaran’s appeal to

those seeking a compact boat that does notrequire hiking out or a trapeze in high wind.Weta catamaran racer Linda Wright is sohooked on the boat that she will sail one inthe upcoming Everglades Challenge. Sixteen Hobie 16s shared circle 3 with

the F16 and F18s. Friday’s winds trans-formed the Hobies into dual trapeze speed-sters. Heather MacDonald crewed on aHobi 16 last year and was “hooked.” Her

best and worst summary: “Friday’s windswere awesome. The worst thing was whenthe skipper fell off the boat and we cap-sized.” Second place was decided in the lastof 10 races. There was barely enough windand incoming tide to get the boats back tothe start area where the finish order wastaken at half distance. Heather rates this astheir best sailing in very light wind “justfeeling the wind,” and passing fleet winnerDan Borg. The Borg and Sanchez boatswere 2nd and 3rd in this race, securing their1st and 2nd place overall. The nine F18 s were the speed stars of

the Regatta and raced on the longer of two

courses on circle 3. Except for the last racethey were able to fly a hull both up anddown wind and boat speed seemed to out-weigh any tactical maneuvers that mono-hull racers employed. Laura Muma andcrew proved to be the speed kings of dayone with four firsts. Charles Tomeo andcrew held that honor on day two and three,but absence from day one ruined their Re-gatta. So Ken Marshack and crew held sec-ond place.

The F18’s return to Charlotte HarborOctober 17-25 for their International Cham-pionship where we expect exciting racesfrom the world’s best F18 teams. This is abig honor for Charlotte Harbor!Proceeds of the Charlotte Harbor Re-

gatta are used to support the three youthsailing organizations on the Harbor and agraduate of one youth program sailed in theSunfish fleet. See: www.charlotteharborregatta.com

Water LIFE sailing photos: Fran Burstein

Fleet First Score Second Score Third Score2.4 Meter T Ripley 10 T Pocklington 13 P Eager 13F16 M & A Brunsvold 9 P & D Laurent 18 B Raska 25F18 L Muma 20 K Marshack 26 T Ricardi 34Flying Scot Thomas/Sherman 6 Knowles/Suter 12 Shore/Gasgarth 13Harbor 20 D Fisher 5 M Mixson 13 Holt/Sween 14Hobi 16 Borg/Giovando 12 Sanchez/Macdonald 40 Modderman/Isco 42Precision 15 C Heek/L Squire 7 J Heek/B Coyne 8 J Nuzzo/C Nuzzo 13Sunfish J Richter 5 C Whitten 10 W Sanderson 14Wave M Pederson 7 R White 7 S Woodruff 14Weta K Rice 16 K Rodgers 28 J Adams 28WindRider R&L Powell 12 J Murphy 22 J Rodenkirk 25

$2 off any haircut!

Charlotte HarborFrank, at Fishin’ Franks941- 625-3888There are a lota lota redfish around,

we’re seeing more than you could imagine– the trick is getting them to eat. The firstthing in the a.m., fish with shrimp. Thehard part is you have to stay as far back asyou can and cast to them. Any place youcan find a trough in front of the man-groves there are probably reds in it. In theafternoon you catch your reds on cut baitor find some pinfish and cut them intopieces. There are lots of redfish on theeast and west side and at Bull and Turtle

Bay, the trick is getting close enoughwithout scaring them. They are justspookey. I think with the hot, cold, hot,cold, they will eat, but it’s not like theyare really starving. It’s like what the fullmoons do to people, they are finicky andfussy.There are quite a few snook in the

canals and at Alligator Creek. They are

hitting really slow moving lures.The best thing is a 1/6 or 1/8ounce jig with a paddle tail.Don’t jig it, just reel it slowlyand let the tail do its work.Out past the bar, on the low

tides, there are trout, but assoon as the tide comes in theymove to the inside, behind thesandbar.Pompano have been pretty good in

front of Bull and Turtle and at Jug Creek.There are still quite a few hanging outsidethe bars. We are also starting to see a lotof cobia. A friend, Capt. Danny Latham,had a triple this week, with three cus-tomers all hooked up with cobia at thesame time! That’s a first, for sure. Youhave to keep your eyes out for cobia andfree line shrimp for them like Danny does.In the Gulf, there are tripletail and a

few reports of them as you come in fromBoca Grande. There are not a lot of stonecrab traps out there this year so you al-most have to find something on the sur-face and fish under it for tripletail.The red grouper are doing great 23

miles out on Swiss cheese bottom. Fish

using Spanish sardines. There are alsoplenty of snapper, porgy and grunts onthe near shore reefs.If you are on the beach you can stand

on the sand and cast out for flounder andpompano. I’m hearing good stories aboutwhiting in the passes too, not a lot, butthey seem to be much bigger than we haveseen in the past few years. And jackcrevalle are right there in the passes too.The jacks like it high and fast, so you gotto be near to the surface with a crank bait.For the pompano, you bait with a teaser. In the local canals, fish 2- to 3-feet off

the seawall where there are reds cruisingfrom dock to dock. This is best in lowlight conditions, morning or night, whenreds seem to be the predominant fish inthe canals, just put it on the bottom or


Capt Dave Stephenswww.backbayxtremes.com

941-916-5769

BackBayXtremes

March March –– Predictions and SuggestionsPredictions and Suggestions

ChartersOffshore Fishing Trips: 1/2 day • 8hr • 10 hr • 12 hr

We help put your charters togetherShark, Tarpon, Grouper, Snapper, Kingfish, and MORE!

Nighttime Trips AvailableCapt. Jim OʼBrien USCG 50 ton license since 1985

941-473-2150

leave it driftingwith the tide forredfish.Up the Peace

River we are running into some tarpon thatseem to be coming down from I-75. We’ve hadseveral reports of them moving back and forth.I think it’s silver trout they are chasing, that’swhat is by the bridge now. Maybe you couldeven try a whiting under a float. I can’t think ofwhat else they are feeding on; silver trout or

whiting. Very early or very late is when youhave a real good shot at them. Try trolling a 16-Bomber and see what happens.Shark fishing is a little slow. There are

sharks here, but we are at the slowest time ofthe year right now. If we get some more warm-ing then by the end of the month we’ll see goodshark fishing again.

There are sheephead at the usual spots, thetrestles and at Novak and Trembly reefs. Theyseem to be more toward the ICW. If you wantnumbers, get close to the Gulf.Bass are doing pretty good and the cooler

weather has brought the pan fish up. Hillsboroand Lake Betty are real good. Crappie are hit-ting little jigs and minnows. For bass, fish acrank bait or a fluke, which is a bass fisher-men’s term for a jerk bait. Fish a frog bait ifyou are on heavy weed cover. It’s slow and me-

thodical fishing that maytake 50 casts for a bite,but it’s probably going tobe a very good fish.

Lemon Bay Jim at Fishermen’s

Edge 697-7595Fishing has been good.

The best thing is if youhave a chance, get offshore. I’ve been seeingreally big fish pictureslately. African pompano,8-9 pound mangrove

snapper, cobia and yellowtail, mostly from theBayronto wreck. There was a lot of action goingon the last few days there. They got everything:red grouper, amberjack, almaco jacks andporgys. There are so many fish around it’s notto be believed. The guys say there are a lot ofbait fish showing up now. Glass minnows andsome sardines. The backcountry fishing is firingup too. Guides are showing each other picturesof big trout, keeper redfish and the occasionalsnook. They seem to have been catching themall on shrimp. There are so many permit and pompano at

the beach at Boca, it’s just lights-out crazy!The sheepshead are going pretty well still,

there are a lot of them closer to the pass and atMary’s Reef where, I guess, they go off tospawn.Along the beach there are pompano, whiting

and black drum. The shore fishing picked upbecause the water is not so mucky and dirty as itwas. There is also the occasional beach floun-der, just one guy caught one so I dont know if

there are thatmany around.And there is

quite a bit oftripletail outthere, runningthe crab pots. Aguy in my shoptoday wasgoing to dothat. He said heredfished thelast two daysand caught 20reds so now hewanted some-thing different.The water temperatures are still low so there

is not very much Spanish or kings. They’ll beback quick-snap, especially if the sardines areon the move and the cigar minnows are withthem.

Shark activity seems to be pretty steady.There is a lot of stuff offshore still getting bitoff by the sharks.In the clearwater, you canlook down andwatch them ter-rorize the AJs asyou try to getthem to the boat.That’s about it.

SNOOK Back and forth to theflats, feeding heavily

REDFISH Way back in theislands on the east side

POMPANO In the Harbor, thesurf and the passes

RED GROUPER Still on fireon hard bottom offshore.

FISHING FISHINGRIGHT NOW:RIGHT NOW:

Good !Good !

95˚

90˚

85˚

80˚

72˚70˚68˚

50˚

45˚

The BIG-4The BIG-4 GoodGood Fish to expect in Fish to expect in MarchMarchMARCH 2015 BACK ISSUES @ WWW.WATERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM PAGE 23

Gulf Gulf TempsTemps

are high 60sare high 60sThe Harbor is 3-The Harbor is 3-

or 4-degreesor 4-degreeswarmerwarmer

Jason Jones of Biloxi,Mississippi was expectingwahoo or tuna on his fishingtrip last month, but what hecaught instead was some-thing more exotic and possi-bly a world record. Joneswas fishing south of

Dauphin Island when hereeled in a 1-pound, 11.2-ounce lionfish.

“It was a normal trip myfriends and I try to makeabout twice a month. Wewere fishing at the popularMP-265 rig,” Jones told thelocal newspaper. “I didnʼthave any idea it may be a

record, but a buddy on thetrip was a professionalspear fisherman and heknew right away it had to bea record.”

If confirmed by the Inter-national Fish Game Associ-ation (IGFA), this fish wouldnarrowly push out the cur-rent all-tackle world record

lionfish caught in 2013 offMiami and weighing 1pound and 10 ounces. In-terestingly enough, the2013 lionfish was the first ofits kind ever recognized byIGFA.RIGHT: Jason and his newpotential IGFA all tacklerecord lionfish

Pending Record

Rachel Nicole played captain and push poled her sweetie Capt.Scott Sich-ling around one day last month. “For all the fish he has put me on, he de-served it!” she said. Now thereʼs a keeper!


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