Water LIFE Dec 2008

Charlotte Harbor and Lemon BayCharlotte Harbor and Lemon Bay

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P a g e 2 Wa t e r L I F E M A G A Z I N E D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8

D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8 Wa t e r L I F E M A G A Z I N E P a g e 3


Water LIFECharlotte Harbor

MagazineMichael and Ellen Heller

Publishers(941) 766-8180

TOTALLY INDEPENDENTWater LIFE is not affiliatedwith any other publication

Vol VII No12 © 2008 Water LIFENo part of this publication may becopied or reproduced without the

written permission of both publishers

Contributing Editors:Fishing / Environment: Capt. Ron BlagoCharlotte Harbor: Capt. Robert Moore

Gasparilla: Capt. Chuck EichnerPort Charlotte: Capt Andy Medina

Commercial Fishing: Kelly Beal RealReal Estate: Dave Hofer

Sailing: Bill DixonKayaks: David Allen

Sea Grant: Betty StauglerDiving: Adam Wilson

on the COVER:Bringing a redfish to a tournament weighin at Punta Gorda.

on our WEBSITE:WWW.waterlifemagazine.com

This Monthʼs Edition: Send a link to afriendRealEstate Whatʼs happening NOW!Fishing Resource Guide: Everythingyou ever wanted to know – almostDon Ball School: Classes in sessionArtificial Reefs: Projects and progress-lat/long for local reefsManatee Myths: Read the original planto create sanctuaries and refuges, asspelled out by the United Nations in 1984Kids Cup Updates, Fish Tracking andTournament Information.

WRITE US!e-mail (preferred)

[email protected] Regular Mail:

217 Bangsberg Rd. Port Charlotte, FL 33952

LETTERS TO WATER LIFE MagazineRe: Capt Rick, Circle Hooks,

Pel icans and Venting tools in theNovember Edition: See this is theproblem I have with some captains today.He is ranting on about circle hooks forinshore fish by law, but the law is onlyfor federal waters not state waters. He isalso wrong when he says that circlehooks are not good for inshore fish. Theyare great for inshore fish as long as youdon't set the hook. Just let the fish do itand start reeling. I am a guide out of Ft.Myers and I use circle hooks only foreverything. On the note of the ventingtool: What do you expect people to dowhen they bring a fish up from over 60-feet deep and it is not a legal fish? –throw it back and let it die on the surfacefull of air? What I am getting at is thathe is ranting about stuff that is not evenclose to being correct. If he reads the lawa little more he might save the embarrass-ment. If you are a captain you need toknow the laws and have a copy with youjust for spit and giggles.HooksHurtCharters@aol . comEditor Notes* Circle hooks ARE

required when targeting reef fish (likesnapper) in inshore waters. See p 22.

Re: Capt Frank Ciurca’s Septictank story in the October Edition:

Ya need to get your facts straight, Frank.First off, I want to buy one of these $115for 5 year, health dept aerobic septic per-mits. I’m currently paying $150 a year +$200 to maintain my septic for (mandato-ry yearly maintenance) and they are con-veniently the only local company (nextclosest is in Naples) to service my bull-shit bubbler-make-the-bacteria-happy sys-tem. I want to know what backroom dealsand junk science(like global warm-ing) took place tomake this happen. Icould go on and on,but what you’re rav-ing about being agreat thing is noth-ing more than localgovernment extor-tion.BTW don’t think

that a sewer systemis the cure all. Anysystems that aredumping treatedeffluent into anybody of water areallowed to open up the valves and let itgo out raw for short periods due to regu-lar maintenance. Ecks2Sea@ comcast. net

Hi Water LIFEI like your magazine and not because

it’s free! I thought I would let you knowthat not too long ago I had a nice timecatching catfish one day in CharlotteHarbor with Capt. Derrek Jacobsen. Hesure seemed to know where the fish werebiting. Sincerely Phil l ip W. Grant.

Editor notes: There has to be anotherpart of this joke that we don’t knowabout!

Water LIFE is ALL online each and every monthwww.waterlifemagazine.com

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Water LIFE is the official publ ication of theCharlotte Harbor ReefAssociation, the originator ofthe Kids Cup Tournament andthe producer of the Don Bal lSchool of Fishing.

Not per WEEK

Gift Certificates AvailableGift Certificates Available

BY Michael Hel lerWater LIFE Editor

First the Good NewsThere are some bright sides to the

downward spiraling economy. Boat dealersare anxious to sell so there are some real-ly good deals on new boats now, and theselection of used boats is more wide rang-ing then ever. Gas prices are down below$2, the Holidays are upon us and fishinghas been very good.For the last two months we have been

busy with our Don Ball School ofFishing program. We have been giving aslide presentation three nights a week toall the Don Ball classes. Seventh gradersdon’t seem to know much about the econ-omy so the classes are a refreshing breakfrom world news and economic woes.To date all the kids have received their

rods and reels and tackle bags and the classFishing Resource Manual. I have beenfinding myself smiling from ear to earwhen I leave the classroom for the driveback home. The enthusiasm of a 7th grad-er for fishing is very contagious. So it was with this new upbeat energy,

last Thursday, after our class at HeronCreek Middle School, that I asked mywife if she wanted to get out on the water.She said sure and the next day caught anice flounder, and a fat trout in the first10 minutes. Then we drifted down the barcasting with the outgoing tide. I stood on the bow watching the rays

scatter as we approached. We parted a huge

school of big jacks right around the boatbut they were spooked and ran off withouteating. Then I caught a bonnethead on ashrimp under a poppin cork.We cut across the harbor towards Burnt

Store. Bait was everywhere and birds werediving as far as I could see; pelicans, andshorebirds both, crashing on the glassminnows and other small baitfish thatstretched from Burnt Store all the way upto Alligator Creek. We moved into the area quietly and

then just sat there with pelicans kerplunk-ing into the water 25 feet away. The birdsdidn’t seem to mind us at all.And then it happened. All of a sudden,

we started laughing. It was just silly,those big gangly birds, flying crooked,dangling their fat webbed feet, and foldingtheir huge wings for the dive – kersplash!We spent a half hour that day just watch-ing and giggling. It turned out to be thehighlight of the morning. Now Some Not So Good NewsIf you look at the Kids Cup ad in the

centerfold of this month’s edition you willnotice the Oh Boy! Oberto logo is gone,replaced by a generic Redfish Cup logo.Oberto Beef Jerky pulled out as a RedfishCup sponsor last month, another trickle-down casualty of the economic dam breakwe are all downstream from. Oberto’s exitshould not adversely effect the local KidsCup tournament.Also Some Uncertain NewsA Christmas present from NOAA is

coming in the form of a proposal calledAmendment 30B. It will increase the Gulfof Mexico recreational bag limit ongrouper to 4 fish per person: 2 reds and 2gags, but it will also extend the recre-ational fishing closure on grouper from 1month to two months (Feb 1 to Mar 31is proposed). That time slot is right whenrecreational anglers and charter captains arelimited on open species and busiest withhigh-season business. And at the sametime the National Marine FisheriesCouncil says grouper is recovering well,so they propose to eliminate the closureon grouper entirely for commercial fisher-

men and reduce the 20 inch red groupersize limit to 18 inches, but again only forthe commercial fishermen. There is someconjecture that since commercial fisher-men kill a lot of the smaller fish theybring up anyway, they might as well keepthem. Either we have a grouper problem or

we don’t. The complicated new Federalregulations contradict the conclusionsdrawn in the past, and since they are pro-posed for state and federal waters they verywell could take us down a new pathtoward Federal regulation (and perhapslicenses) for state waters. Stay Tuned.


A Smattering of News

Grouper are in the news again. Here, a goliath sizes up Adam Wilson and his camera


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By Capt. Chuck EichnerWater LIFE Charlotte HarborJingle bells to me is the sound of

screeching drag, but December is a chal-lenging month for fishing. The weatherseems to be in a constant state of flux asthe season truly changes to winter. Onthe average day it’s windy and at best,there is usually a breeze. The tide levelshave moved into their historical winterpattern of very-low-water low tides andhigh tides that aren’t very high. Thewinds are often from the northwest ornortheast which have a tendency to blowwhat little high tides we have out, caus-ing exceptionally low tides on the flatsand in the backcountry. The average fish-erman starts to fish a lot less inDecember because these are challengingconditions, but the diehard anglers willadjust their angling style and keep onfishing. On average, half the day will not have

enough water on the flats to hold fish sofishing the bushes and oyster bars is outof the question. The fish love to feed onthe flats, but when the tides are low theydrop off into deeper water. In most casesthis means the area on the outside of thebar. Charlotte Harbor seems to have beenuniquely designed by nature because thereis an outside bar on both the east andwest side of the harbor. To the souththere is an outside bar on Bokeelia, out-side bars on the east & west side ofMatlacha and the south side of Turtle andBull Bay also has a series of outside bars. The Bar Crawl

You position your boat upwind toallow the wind to move you down theperimeter of the bar. This is active fish-ing as you will be in constant motion.The angler must cast ahead of the boatand slightly toward the bar as the windpushes you forward. Essentially, you arecovering lots of water, making randomcasts to various bottom features as you

push along. I prefer to start my drift inabout 5 feet of water and steer the boattowards shallower water during the crawl.Sometimes this crawl is more of a ‘slide’if the wind is really pumping. On any given day you can expect to

catch redfish, jack crevalle, pompano,cobia, sheepshead, speckled trout, lady-fish, snapper, shark and an occasionalsnook if the water temperature is up. In late November I did the bar crawl

for the better part of one day. My ideawas to craw and sometimes nearly surfthe outside of the bar as it got rougher asthe day went on. My fishing partnerChuck Taylo was new to the sport and Imade him a believer in the first half hour.We set a drift on the east side of the har-bor as the winds would not let me go tothe west wall which was my preference. On our first crawl we cast randomly to

dark spots and troughs as the boat pushedalong. I was pitching a topwater plugthat got blasted early in the game and anice 19 inch trout came aboard with aquick release. Taylo spotted a large darkfish swimming in a trough and as theboat pushed ahead it spooked and went offto our port with Taylo accurately leadingthe fish placing a hand-picked shrimp inits path. We watched as a 16 pound cobiaexcitedly swam over to his bait, shook itshead and headed off to deep water. Thecobe was too smart but that got our bloodpumping. We stopped at another locationand did more of a bar surf as the windspicked up significantly. It was clearly abalancing act as we cast plugs andshrimp. With high sun overhead I spotted some

minnows jumping and then several darkshadows appeared. I pitched a shrimp tothe shadows and got nailed! My line wasscreaming off the reel and Taylo pinnedthe boat in the sand with the Powerpoleanchor. We needed to motor after the fishas all of my line was off and the fish waspulling against the knot at the reel spool.

Once we were moving I began to retrieveline back onto the school and regainedcontrol of the fish. Suddenly, a school ofover 100 big jack crevalles appeared andTaylo bowed-up on a plug. Dueling rodsfor about 10 minutes and 2 jacks in the12 pound range were brought in. Therelease of the first jack got a dolphin’sinterest and the poor jack was crushedright in front of us! These were the high-lights from this day, but this kind ofaction can be expected. As for bait you can’t beat a live

shrimp – the bigger the better – and I fishthem 3 different ways. One method is an1/8 ounce jighead with only half ashrimp, the other is to rig a wholeshrimp weedless and lastly I like to fish ashrimp under a small popping cork.Generally, you fish these aggressively asthe fast track of the boat forces you tokeep up with your line. For artificials,any shallow water lure will work.Spoons, plugs and soft plastics are allgood. Vary your retrieve according towater depth, boat speed and fish attitude.Figuring out where to fish varies from

day to day and depends on tide height.This is a game of covering water and like

most fishing there will be certain spotsthat hold more fish than others. Deeptroughs next to high ridges are the besttargets. Sharp drops and potholes in thegrass are always good and sometimes youwill find fish wandering open sand andthese fish are in feeding mode. CharlotteHarbor winds will vary during the day.You will find that by choosing differentareas on the east, west or south bars therewill be less wind due to shoreline curva-ture and orientation. Other factors thataffect the wave chop are the size andstructure of the sand flat in front of thebar. Large shallow expanses outside thebar break down the wave height and cansignificantly ease the pitch and yaw of theboat making boat control easier.Confidence, re-positioning, stealth and

a little luck are the perfect recipe for agood bar crawl. A pub crawl at night isok for a bar crawl during the day becausethe higher the sun warms the water andfishing before 11:00am is usually a wasteof time.Capt. Chuck Eichner is a local charter

captain. For information or to book a guidedfishing trip call 941-505-0003 or go to hiswebsite: www.backcountry-charters.com

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By Adam WilsonWater LIFE DivingWhen the wind

starts blowing over 15knots dreams of anoffshore trip getdashed pretty quick.This fall seems like it has been one of

the windiest and coldest in a few years. Imarked water temperature under the TomAdams bridge one day at 60 degrees.Some years we never see temperaturesthat low all winter, and it's onlyDecember. Getting offshore has been frustrating,

but the inshore waters around Lemon Bayand Boca Grande have remained relativelyclear. The extra cold temperatures and thelack of rain runoff hinder the algaeblooms that ruin visibility, but when thevis is as low as five or six feet it isactually good enough for some incredibleinshore diving.Although the Placida railroad trestle is

pretty well picked clean of stone crabs bynow, the amount of fish there is amazing.It seems like every winter there are moreand more grouper, snapper andsheepshead. Spearfishing is off limitsthere, but it is worth a dive just to seewhat's going on. When the water is clearit is just like being in an aquarium. It isalso amazing how predictable the fish arethere too. For example, swimming south

from the old swing bridge the tres-tle is very shallow and graduallygoes from ankle deep to about sixfeet. I can always count on seeing afew redfish along this stretch.Further south and the deepest partof the trestle is about 12 feet. Hereis where there is always a bigschool of snook year round. Furthersouth again and as the depth beginsto gradually decrease. This is whereI always see monster sheephead.Just off the beaches, along the

shallow rockpiles, we have beenseeing lots of bay scallops and atthe Boca Grande range marker reef Icould have filled our boat one day.These tasty little guys are out ofseason and this is a closed area any-way, but it is nice to see the swarms ofscallops that have been missing in thisarea for a long time.Offshore, the stone crabbing has

remained pretty consistent. I have heardsome crabbers talking about getting octo-pus in their deeper traps. Octopus willusually send stone crabs scurrying intomore shallow water for cover. Recent dives at the old phosphate pier

have been less than interesting. The fishcount there has been lower than I haveever seen. Possibly the cold water temper-atures have pushed fish out to look forwarmer spots.

I was lucky enough to do somediving in Bull Bay not long ago. A fewof my buddies lost a sliding glass door offtheir houseboat one night and I had tofind it. The boat had swung on the anchorduring the night but they had been eatingoysters so I just followed the trail ofshells. Oyster harvesting has been a pret-ty good pastime for those windy days.The oysters from Bull Bay, Turtle Bayand Gasparilla sound are open for harvestand they are delicious. I like to pick oys-ters on a low tide, and even then fromknee deep water, to ensure they havealways been submerged. There is a goodlow tide coming up on Saturday the 13th

at about 8 a.m. in Gasparilla sound. Youare allowed 1 bag of oysters per vesselwhich is about two five gallon buckets.They must be three inches long. I carry asmall masonry hammer to bust off deadoysters and barnacles. It takes my fiancéHeidi and I about two hours to fill uptwo buckets and when we are done, wereally appreciate how much more inexpen-sive they are than at the fresh market!There is something fulfilling about work-ing for your own groceries, they justseem to taste better. To ensure the areayou want to work is open for harvest referto www.floridaaquaculture.com


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Top Left: stone crabs, Left: sheepsheadAbove: A clump of delicious Asian muscles

By Capt. Andrew MedinaWater LIFE Charlotte HarborAs we get into December, you will

have to change they way you approachfish in Charlotte Harbor. The first majorchange is the water temperatures, thewater is much cooler than before. Startyour day on the water a little later in themorning. Give the fish a chance to gettheir body temps up with the warmingof the sun. Fish will feed better if theyare comfortable, unlike they will rightafter a night in below 60 degree water. Start your day looking for fish warm-

ing on the flat. The water is shallow andwill warm faster there. You will noticethe fish will slow their eating patternsand are no longer eager to chase bait.What I usually do this time of year is,put the nets away. I really do not rely onwhite bait or pin fish now. Instead Iswitch over to the old-time favorite,shrimp. You will find everything eats ashrimp, and it is hard for fish to refuseeven in the toughest conditions. Down sizing your baits and tackle

will improve your chances as well. Startout by making long casts with lighterartificials or a small shrimp on a jighead. Fish in the shallower water will bewary of an angler’s presence. Long castswill be the key for sight fishing inDecember. Fish such as redfish will still move

with mullet schools. What you will findnow is that all the redfish grouped upwill be in the same size range. The flats are not the only place fish

will move to for warmth, they will alsotravel to deeper canals, where they canhunker down in a hole. If you are unableto fish the flats, because of low waterconditions, fish the canals. The last

thing you want to do is spend 4 or 5hours waiting for a tide. Try checkingcanals like the P.G.I rim canal or any ofthe deeper canals of Grassy Point. snook,redfish, and trout will often visit thesecanals and stay there till the water warmsto their liking. Shrimp bounced on thebottom are deadly.Snook season closed on December

1st, but there are still a lot of fisharound for catch and release. Look fordocks or any points of canals where amoving current is present, slow downand give the fish a chance to eat.

I would like to thank all the studentsof the Murdock Middle School whoattended my Don Ball classes this year. Itwas fun, and you guys were one of thebest classes I have had. I would also liketo congratulate Paul Lambert andBrandon Varney, for their win in the X-Treme Championship. As Director of theCharlotte Harbor Division I know youanglers have done your homework.Capt. Andrew can be reached for Charter

info at 456-1540 or on the web atwww.FishFloridaTarpon.com


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The warm late afternoon sun had this red-fish hungry for a shrimp.

By Betty S tauglerSea Grant / Water LIFEImagine reaching into your ice chest

and getting a hot sensation…or pickingup that steaming hot cup of coffee andhaving it feel cold to the touch.Temperature reversal sensation is one ofthe tell tail signs of ciguatera fish poison-ing (CFP), but there are many othersymptoms and not everyone is effected inthe same way.What is Ciguatera? Ciguatera is a form

of seafood poisoning caused by the con-sumption of contaminated reef fish foundin sub-tropical and tropical waters. Thepoisoning is the result of natural toxinsthat accumulate in the fish’s flesh afterfeeding on lower members of the aquaticfood chain. The toxins are produced by organisms

called dinoflagellates, which are a type ofmicro algae. These organisms are alsoresponsible for the toxins that cause redtide, although a different species isresponsible for those events. Ciguatera isthe most commonly reported marinetoxin disease in the world. According tothe Woods Hole Oceanographic Institutionat least 50,000 people who live or visittropical and sub tropical locations areaffected by CFP each year. The Center forDisease Control estimates that only twoto ten percent of these cases are reportedin the United States. Common areas referenced for CFP are

tropical reef waters between latitudes 35

degrees south and north, but occurrencewithin these areas is patchy. The majorityof reefs are not ciguatoxic and outbreaksare usually localized. As such, knowledgeof the ciguatoxic areas is usually based onthe local experience of fishermen and con-sumers. Our little neck of the woods isgenerally considered to be low risk forCFP. Most of the cases documented inthe literature originated from the SouthPacific and the Caribbean; specifically theLesser Antilles and Bahamas, but alsoeastern Florida. With that said, earlierthis year the U.S. Food and DrugAdministration (FDA) administered aseafood advisory to processors after ill-nesses were reported in the northern Gulfof Mexico. Those toxic fish were har-vested near the Flower Garden BanksNational Marine Sanctuary, which islocated south of the Texas-Louisianacoastline.What are the symptoms? CFP is

described as an acute neurological disease,but also includes gastrointestinal and car-diovascular symptoms. Initially victimsmay experience nausea, abdominalcramps, vomiting and diarrhea, but subse-quent symptoms can include headaches,blurred vision, joint pain, irregular pulserate, decreased blood pressure and tinglingsensations in the extremities and, themost prominent symptoms, the tempera-ture reversal sensations. Symptoms mayappear within hours of consuming con-taminated fish. They can last for days toweeks, but neurological symptoms mayrecur for months to years. Severity ofsymptoms will largely depend on theamount and type of toxins ingested andthe rate at which they are eliminated fromthe body.

Which fish can be Ciguatoxic?Because ciguatera toxins accumulate upthe food chain, larger predatory reef fishtend to be more susceptible to CFP.However, any tropical marine fishinvolved in a food chain where these tox-ins are present can become a candidate.Documented illnesses and recent analysisindicate some species tend to be worsethan others. Among those with the worsereputations in the Caribbean regioninclude barracuda, amberjacks, moray eels,hogfish, scorpion fish, and certain triggerfish, while mackerels, and certaingroupers and snappers may also be sus-ceptible. The occurrence of toxic fish issporadic however, and not all fish of agiven species or from a given localitywill be toxic.How can fish eaters protect them-

selves? Unfortunately ciguatoxic fish can-not be detected by appearance, taste orsmell. According to Dr. Steve Otwell, aseafood specialist with the University ofFlorida, raw and cooked whole fish, filletsor parts have no signs of spoilage, discol-oration or deterioration. The toxins pres-ent cannot be completely destroyed orremoved by cooking or freezing either.

Dr. Otwell suggests selecting smaller fishto consume, which are less likely to accu-mulate toxins. He also recommendsavoiding large fish of any tropical speciesthat inhabit tropical reef zones.Betty Staugler is the Charlotte County

Sea Grant Agent with the University ofFlorida Extension Service. She can bereached 764-4346.

P a g e 1 0 Wa t e r L I F E M A G A Z I N E D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8

Seafood Safety –Ciguatera FishPoisoning

The organism responsible for causing ciguat-era in fish is a marine micro algae named,Gambierdiscus toxidus (micro-photograph:Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute)

PIT TAG Follow UpAccording to Aaron J. Adams, program Manager for Fisheries Habitat atMote Marineʼs Charlotte Harbor Field Station, a PIT tag recovered inOctober and featured here last month, was from a juvenile snook tagged onDecember 2, 2005 when it was 22-inches long. The fish was released in oneof the creeks south of Punta Gorda. The fish was then recaught not far fromAlligator creek and harvested this year in October as a legal snook, measur-ing 31-inches. It wasn't a juvenile any longer and was apparently using thecreeks to ʻoverwinter.ʼ Adams told us in an e-mail.

In this blurry, super-blow up photo you can still make out a snook coming to the surfacewith a ʻgreenback ̓ (a scaled sardine or a Spanish sardine) sideways and about to go intohis mouth. According to Capt Bart Marx, the name greenback comes from old time anglers,who knew after they had a net full of these bait fish they could catch lots of ʻmarket ̓fishand make plenty of ʻgreenbacks ̓(money) when they sold them. The scales on the back of ascaled sardine or a Spanish sardine are also green in color.


S taff Report“I grew up in New Jersey and then we moved to Atlanta. I told my wife if this

doesn’t work out we’re moving to Florida,” Capt. Manny Perez said. Two years agoManny and his wifeTina and their sonManny Jr. movedto Punta Gorda.Perez and his part-ner Capt. PaulJueckstock werejust back from thelast round of theRedfish Cup inBiloxi Mississippi,back with $75,000in prize and contin-gency money. Theyweighed in 17.64 thefirst day, 15.66 the second day to get into the top-5 and then slammed the field withan 18.90 on the final dayIf the weights sound astounding for two redfish remember they were fishing in

Mississippi where state law allows for 30 inch fish in tournament venues. We fished1/8 oz Fin-tech jig heads and 5-inch Fish Bites jerk shad soft plastic baits, or a top-water from Lucky Craft, or a Lucky-Craft 1/2 oz gold spoon with a trailer on it,”Perrez said. “The first day was real good. We were on fish in 15 minutes, schools from 50 to

2- or 3,0000 fish. . The second day the weather went south and the fishing sloweddown. It was 1 or 1:30 before we had them biting,” he said. The fish were feedingon porgies and there were big schools of them so when we saw the porgies jumpingout of the water we knew there were fish below. "We only culled once and we figuredwe had close to 19 pounds," Perez said. "They were two perfect fish, just under theline."

Back home on Charlotte Harbor Perez said he liked to fish the south side ofPine Island, the creeks around Englewood and Matlachea. Under Armour, Renegade,Mercury, MotorGuide, Lucky Craft, Maui Jim, American Rodsmiths, Fin-tech are hissponsors. Manny said he would come to the Captain’s Meeting for the Kids Cup inApril and share some of his fishing expertise.

Punta Gorda Angler Wins Last Oberto Event

Paul Jueckstock (L) and Manny Perez with 18.9 pounds in Biloxi

Tournament Account: Lucky Hat Continues to ʻWork ̓for Kids Cup Top-5 AnglersSixteen year

old BrandonVarney calls ithis ‘lucky hat,’ a2008 Kids Cupcap emblazonedwith the Cup’ssignature redfishlogo and thelogo fromFishin’ Franks.Last year, the hat got Brandon into the KidsCup Top-5, just a few ounces behind the win-ner, it got him through the X-Treme Redfishtour this summer and then into the X-TremeChampionship in November. And now thelucky hat has brought Brandon and his UnclePaul Lambert the X-Treme top prize, a new173 Ranger Boat and ETec Evinrude Motorworth $30,000.

Here’s Paul Lambert’s account oftheir day fi shing the tournament:

I wanted to share with you a little aboutour wild weekend, fishing the extreme cham-pionship out of Sarasota with my sixteenyear old nephew Brandon Varney.On Saturday, day one of the tournament,

we were planning on making the long run tothe best red fishing Florida has to offer, ourown Charlotte Harbor. OK, I might be a littlepartial but three days of pre-fishing Sarasotamade up my mind. I was going south tofamiliar waters.We had two choices, run the outside in the

Gulf of Mexico or run inside in theIntracoastal Waterway. Running the Gulf both

ways would give us an extra three hours offishing so that was a no brainer. Our 21-footMaverick had no problem, it took us a littleover an hour and we pulled in GasparrillaPass. We got close to our A spot and Inoticed a small jon boat doing circles overour fish. Not good. He finally anchored andI set up just down the bar from him. Afteran hour and half without a bite, we finallylocated the school of redfish with the help ofFlipper and his buddy tossing redfish in theair. I got that sick feeling today is not goingas planned. We move to our B spot or desper-ate spot, and after an hour of slack tide Ihook into our first red, three and a halfpounds. It's a start. Five minutes later I hookup with a pig that just fits the slot. ThenBrandon hooks up to a nice red that turns outto be just over the line. We proceed to hookone more red each and both fish spit the hookjust out of netting range. That sick feeling isstarting to come back. With less than twohours left, we lost our window to run theinside. The southwest wind was picking upwith an approaching cold front and I'm debat-ing on running the Gulf and beating my boatup for ten pounds. We decide to weigh-in.There is the chance of getting big fish for dayone. Cutting it close we make it back withone minute to spare. Wow, we did end upwith big fish and a total weight of 11.13 lbs.We were over 3-pounds out of the lead and in12th place out of 68 boats. Sunday, day two, I woke up to the roar of

the surf on the beach, 20 knot winds out ofthe north and temperatures in the mid-50s.We head to the ramp and I notice nobody islaunching their boat. With weather condi-

tions, Mike Blocher, thetournament director, isdebating calling the tourna-ment off . After an hour ofmulling it over with hisdirectors they decide to goahead under the conditionthat we sign a release say-ing we were stupid enoughto fish under these condi-tions and we won't holdthem liable. Everybodyagrees and by eight o'clockhe starts letting us go. We now have a very small window to get

to Charlotte Harbor, find two fish and getback by 3 p.m. There's no choice but to runinside, that should leave us with about twohours of fishing time. As I look out intoSarasota Bay with two footers and building Iponder the idea of staying local and trying topound out two fish. I ask Brandon. With teethchattering he says “what ever you want to doUncle Paul,” He's a real trooper. We turnsouth and head to Charlotte Harbor. At 10:30we pull up to our A spot. With the negativetides and strong north winds there is no waterand our B spot looks like an island. That sickfeeling is coming back. We head to a series ofdeep pot holes off a big flat. I heard reports ofbig schools of reds up on the flat, so whenthey come off they have only a couple choic-es: stay in those pot holes or head out in theharbor. We start out fishing the pot holesclosest to the flat thinking they might belazy fish and not go any farther than theyneed to. No luck in the first two holes, butas we’re approaching the end of the second

hole I notice mullet jumping in the adjacentpot hole. With 30 feet of exposed grass andtwo inches of water between us and the hole Isling a bait over to it and instantly hook up.As I am fighting a nice red I tell Brandon tocast in there too, but he's already hooked up.We end up dragging both fish with backs outof the water to the boat. We have about 13-pounds in the boat. I'm starting to feel better.I turn the boat around and set up into that pothole. For the next hour it's the kind of fish-ing you can only dream about. We're fight-ing, netting, measuring, weighing fish afterfish. I look at my watch, 12:30, time to go!We get back with 10 minutes to spare. I'mhoping with the terrible conditions the elevenboats ahead of us didn't have our success.They didn't. We ended up weighing 14.90-pounds for a 2-day total weight of 26.03.Lucky enough for first place, and Brandoncaught the big fish for day two. I’m veryproud of my nephew Brandon. He bravedsome rough fishing conditions and we bothlearned a valuable lesson; if at all possible,always weigh-in.

D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8 Wa t e r L I F E M A G A Z I N E P a g e 1 3

Tournament Account: Lucky Hat Continues to ʻWork ̓for Kids Cup Top-5 AnglersSixteen year

old BrandonVarney calls ithis ‘lucky hat,’ a2008 Kids Cupcap emblazonedwith the Cup’ssignature redfishlogo and thelogo fromFishin’ Franks.Last year, the hat got Brandon into the KidsCup Top-5, just a few ounces behind the win-ner, it got him through the X-Treme Redfishtour this summer and then into the X-TremeChampionship in November. And now thelucky hat has brought Brandon and his UnclePaul Lambert the X-Treme top prize, a new173 Ranger Boat and ETec Evinrude Motorworth $30,000.

Here’s Paul Lambert’s account oftheir day fi shing the tournament:

I wanted to share with you a little aboutour wild weekend, fishing the extreme cham-pionship out of Sarasota with my sixteenyear old nephew Brandon Varney.On Saturday, day one of the tournament,

we were planning on making the long run tothe best red fishing Florida has to offer, ourown Charlotte Harbor. OK, I might be a littlepartial but three days of pre-fishing Sarasotamade up my mind. I was going south tofamiliar waters.We had two choices, run the outside in the

Gulf of Mexico or run inside in theIntracoastal Waterway. Running the Gulf both

ways would give us an extra three hours offishing so that was a no brainer. Our 21-footMaverick had no problem, it took us a littleover an hour and we pulled in GasparrillaPass. We got close to our A spot and Inoticed a small jon boat doing circles overour fish. Not good. He finally anchored andI set up just down the bar from him. Afteran hour and half without a bite, we finallylocated the school of redfish with the help ofFlipper and his buddy tossing redfish in theair. I got that sick feeling today is not goingas planned. We move to our B spot or desper-ate spot, and after an hour of slack tide Ihook into our first red, three and a halfpounds. It's a start. Five minutes later I hookup with a pig that just fits the slot. ThenBrandon hooks up to a nice red that turns outto be just over the line. We proceed to hookone more red each and both fish spit the hookjust out of netting range. That sick feeling isstarting to come back. With less than twohours left, we lost our window to run theinside. The southwest wind was picking upwith an approaching cold front and I'm debat-ing on running the Gulf and beating my boatup for ten pounds. We decide to weigh-in.There is the chance of getting big fish for dayone. Cutting it close we make it back withone minute to spare. Wow, we did end upwith big fish and a total weight of 11.13 lbs.We were over 3-pounds out of the lead and in12th place out of 68 boats. Sunday, day two, I woke up to the roar of

the surf on the beach, 20 knot winds out ofthe north and temperatures in the mid-50s.We head to the ramp and I notice nobody islaunching their boat. With weather condi-

tions, Mike Blocher, thetournament director, isdebating calling the tourna-ment off . After an hour ofmulling it over with hisdirectors they decide to goahead under the conditionthat we sign a release say-ing we were stupid enoughto fish under these condi-tions and we won't holdthem liable. Everybodyagrees and by eight o'clockhe starts letting us go. We now have a very small window to get

to Charlotte Harbor, find two fish and getback by 3 p.m. There's no choice but to runinside, that should leave us with about twohours of fishing time. As I look out intoSarasota Bay with two footers and building Iponder the idea of staying local and trying topound out two fish. I ask Brandon. With teethchattering he says “what ever you want to doUncle Paul,” He's a real trooper. We turnsouth and head to Charlotte Harbor. At 10:30we pull up to our A spot. With the negativetides and strong north winds there is no waterand our B spot looks like an island. That sickfeeling is coming back. We head to a series ofdeep pot holes off a big flat. I heard reports ofbig schools of reds up on the flat, so whenthey come off they have only a couple choic-es: stay in those pot holes or head out in theharbor. We start out fishing the pot holesclosest to the flat thinking they might belazy fish and not go any farther than theyneed to. No luck in the first two holes, butas we’re approaching the end of the second

hole I notice mullet jumping in the adjacentpot hole. With 30 feet of exposed grass andtwo inches of water between us and the hole Isling a bait over to it and instantly hook up.As I am fighting a nice red I tell Brandon tocast in there too, but he's already hooked up.We end up dragging both fish with backs outof the water to the boat. We have about 13-pounds in the boat. I'm starting to feel better.I turn the boat around and set up into that pothole. For the next hour it's the kind of fish-ing you can only dream about. We're fight-ing, netting, measuring, weighing fish afterfish. I look at my watch, 12:30, time to go!We get back with 10 minutes to spare. I'mhoping with the terrible conditions the elevenboats ahead of us didn't have our success.They didn't. We ended up weighing 14.90-pounds for a 2-day total weight of 26.03.Lucky enough for first place, and Brandoncaught the big fish for day two. I’m veryproud of my nephew Brandon. He bravedsome rough fishing conditions and we bothlearned a valuable lesson; if at all possible,always weigh-in.

Fishing School Students Graduate:Fishing Guides made this program a huge success

One hundred and seven 7th grade students, from 5 area middle schools, receivedgraduation certificates after completing the eight week Don Ball School of Fishingprogram. Taught by local fishing guides, each student received hands on instructionin fishing skills, a Fishing Resource Manual, a tackle bag full of equipment and aShakespeare rod and reel. On the final night kids passed an informal test and enjoyeda pizza party afterwards. Captains: Rod Walinchus (Englewood), Danny Latham(Punta Gorda) Andrew Medina (Murdock) Bart Marx (Port Charlotte)Mike Mannis(Northport) were the class instructors. Sea Grant Agent Betty Staugler and FishinFrank also donated their time. Our deepest thanks and appreciation go out to thecaptains/teachers, parents and kids for making this, the 7th year of the program,another huge success.Money raised from the Kids Cup Tournament pays for the Don Ball School of

Fishing Please consider being a sponsor this year, see our website(www.waterlifemagazine.com) for information.

TopLeft: Capt Bart Marx goes overrigging soft plastic baits with hisPort Charlotte Middle School class.Above: Capt Mike Mannis at HeronCreek Middle School with graduateD.J. Neville, who brought hisyounger brother for the cerimonyLeft: Capt. Rod Walinchus showskids how to tie an arbor know at theDon Ball School of Fishing class atLA Ainger Middle School inEnglewood.More pictures on the internet at:www.waterlifemagazine.com

By Capt. Ron BlagoWater LIFE Senior StaffIt looks like we are about to lose

another of our fishing rights. More pre-cious than the senior discount or the early-bird special is the right of a Florida resi-dent to fish from shore in saltwater without the need to buy a saltwater fishinglicense. This is one of those loop holesthat was put in the law back in 1989when the saltwater fishing license inFlorida was first introduced. There was alot of controversy back then about requir-ing a new license; after all there alreadywas a freshwater license in effect and tomost people a fishing license was a fish-ing license so why should you need twoof them? There were those folks that rea-soned that fish belong in the ocean and theoceans belong to everyone in the world;so why should the people of Florida haveto pay extra to catch fish when everyoneelse in the world could fish for free.Then there were the new groups of

fishing environmentalists who said that ifyou wanted to have fish to catch in thefuture, you had to protect the resourcetoday; and in order to get the attention ofthe people who regulated fishing you hadto standup and be counted and throw somereal money into the pot. The plan for anew saltwater fishing license was hatched.Just as sharks are attracted to blood,politicians are attracted to a new money

source and many of the state legislatorsjumped on board with promises ofincreased law enforcement on the waterand habitat restoration. This sounded goodto the legislators whose counties were onthe coastline; but for the legislators of theinland counties; the question was –what’sin it for us?Negotiations started out pretty well

with some areas of common agreement.All tourists should have to pay to fishespecially the old ones (they have themost money). Old people who are Floridaresidents shouldn’t have to pay becausethey vote. Kids under 16 don’t have topay. The same for disabled people and mil-itary personnel on leave. The big problemwas that the inland counties couldn’t seewhere a new license was going to do themany good at all; so they with held theirsupport for the new license. This prettymuch killed the idea until a compromisewas reached, that said that Florida resi-dences who fished from shore were notrequired to buy a license. Since half a fishis better than no fish, the law was passedthat basically required anyone fishing froma boat, to have a saltwater fishing license.And that’s the way it’s been for the last 19years, with the State bringing in about200 million dollars in new revenue so far.Everything was fine until the Federal

government got involved and added anamendment to the Magnuson-Stevens

Fisheries Management Act, which requiresall states to register all saltwater anglersby 2010. To a lot of the State legislatorsand to a lot of the conservation groups;that means the shoreline exemption has togo. After all, the State makes money offfishing licenses; so the more the better.And then there is the Federal excise tax wepay on all fishing and marine sales; thatmoney is returned to the states based onthe number of licenses.There is something sad about making

poor people pay to fish. It was alwaysgood to know that if you were broke andhungry you could always fish for yourdinner.I think we need another loophole. I

remember driving around south Floridayears ago and seeing people fishing with

cane poles on the canals I passed. I couldnever figure out why they didn’t use a nicespinning reel or a bait caster whichseemed a lot easier to me. I asked a guy at a local bait shop and

he told me that if you used a cane pole,you didn’t need a freshwater license. So Ilooked it up, and here is what it saysunder freshwater exemptions: “Any resi-dent fishing in the county of his or herresidence with live or natural bait, usingpoles or hand lines without a reel or otherline retrieval mechanism (cane pole), fornoncommercial purposes.”If they are going to eliminate the

shoreline exemption, I think this is oneloophole they should leave in. The waythings are going, we may all be trying tocatch fish for dinner.


Shoreline Exemption on the way OUT?

• Hands On Training• Yacht Management• Captain Services• Detailing & Britework• Bottom Cleaning

WORRY FREE BOATING

941-228-1922

• Maintenance• Consulting• Deliveries• Charters• Hurricane Prep

[email protected]

If you freshwater fish with a cane pole you donʼt need a fishing license


By Bi l lDixonWater LIFESailing

NEW stuff. The Punta Gorda Sailing Club mission

of supporting sailing in all its forms isgetting a big boost. PGSC is extendingits commitment to sail training in severalways. Pete Welch 575-8665 has organizedSaturday sailing. Boats will sail around afixed course with a gathering afterward todiscuss who passed who and how they didit. No cost, no PHRF, no bother. Justshow up. Use your boat more!! SailSaturdays!!Several S-2 7.9 owners who race in

spinnaker class are putting together a crewtraining program combining chalk talkswith on the boat training and rotationthrough all the positions on the boat.Time on the water will be followed buy an

after action review of what went right andthe other stuff. Emphasis will be on team-work and communication. The purpose ofthe program is two fold. One to develop acrew-pool of trained sailors. And two, toincrease participation in spinnaker fleetraces. It is expected that the program willbe expanded to cover other spinnaker boats,like the two Colgate 26s who race here inthe winter and also as trainees becomeavailable be extended to boats that race N/S(non spinnaker). Boat owners will donate refreshments

during training, use of their boats, andgear. Crew Trainees will make a donationto the Charlotte Harbor CommunitySailing Center. Paul Allesandroni, 941-258-7959 is coordinating this program.This crew training program will be

structured to include introducing the HighSchool Sailing Team sailors to “big boat”sailing in addition to the training of thoseof us past High School. At the other end

of High school, the Community SailingCenter now has a couple of middle schoolhot dogs sailing on O’Pen Bic sailboats.When they grow into High School, theywill already be accomplished sailors andprime candidates for the HS Sailing Team.Dennis Peck 456-8542 is the contact for

the Charlotte harbor Community SailingCenter

CalendarThe Holiday Regatta, an open Charlotte

Harbor Boat of the Year regatta is rightaround the corner. Skippers meeting willbe Thursday Dec. 4. Races will be heldboth Saturday and Sunday Dec.6, 7 Notices

of Race and entry forms are available atpgscweb.com. No details yet on the Club “Specialty

Race“scheduled Dec. 21, but I’ll bet itinvolves fat old guys like me and red suits.The Rules they are a changing. Isles

YC is sponsoring a North U. seminar Jan31 on the revisions to the Racing Rules ofSailing (RRS) taking effect in 2009.There is a link to North on the PGSC website at pgscweb.comBill Dixon can be reached at:

[email protected]

Fall Series Race # 4 - November 23, Colgate 26s, spinnakers out and wanting more wind.


PROVIDED BY: Dave & Marlene Hofer RE/MAX Harbor Realty(941) 575-3777 [email protected] www.harborparadise.com

Recent area news i tems1. Just two months after the sale of their1600 acre ranch for $26 Mil to CharlotteCounty for open space preservation, theRyals family purchased the 4900 acreranch next door for less than $18 Mil.Yes, that's right, sold to Charlotte Countytaxpayers for $16,500/acre ... then boughtnext door for $3,600/acre! Hellooooo, isanyone awake up there at the CountyBuilding?2. In a classic case of "throw the bumsout", new Charlotte CountyCommissioners Starr and Skidmorereplaced incumbents Moore & D'Aprile.Duffy, a Governor appointee and nonmember of the Murdock Five land specula-tors, won her first election. CountyRepublican fixture, Starr brings a purport-edly conservative disposition to his exaltedpost. Like a giant game of monopoly,managing the $500 million/year Countybudget will be a great learning experiencefor the twenty six year old Skidmore....and we thought things couldn't get anyworse....3. Marilyn Smith Mooney retired fromthe Punta Gorda City Council after twelveyears of service.4. National builder, Pulte Homes pulledthe plug on its Sarasota National GolfClub. They had been planned to build1,574 homes. They completed 30 and soldjust 12. The other 18 unsold homes werescheduled for auction on November 8.Sarasota National is part of Thomas Walkand West Villages on US 41 at the eastedge of Venice.5. The owners of Sunloft, the new

mixed use building in downtown PuntaGorda, opened an art gallery to display theworks of Austrian artist, Helmut Graeff.6. The Charlotte Harbor ConventionCenter officially opened on November 6.This impressive structure should attractmany new conventions to the area.7. The Wyvern Hotel on CharlotteHarbor opened for business. Rates start at$160/night until Dec 24. The boutiquehotel offers a rooftop sundeck and pool.A first class restaurant, LuLu, is housedon the main floor.8. The City of Punta Gorda and the BestWestern Hotel will jointly seek Federalpermits to create a mooring field and com-mercial marina at the 41 bridge. TheCity will be granted an easement along theshoreline to extend its waterfront path.Sales Statistics:National ly: Nationally, median homeprices fell from $221K to $202K over thepast year. Over the same period, Floridahomes fell from $225 to $175K. We canonly hope that the significantly greaterthan average drop will attract more buyersseeking greater affordability.September sales in the Orlando marketwere up 17%, Tampa 10% over last year(median prices declined 20%); Local ly: As foreclosures continue towork their way through the market place,median prices plummeted to less than$100K in the Port Charlotte/North Portarea. Lot prices fell to less than $10K inthose same markets.Please visit us at www.harborparadise.com toview any available properties from Venice toBurnt Store Marina

Real Real Estate Estate NewsNews

Lulu the Latin Fusion restaurant and bar at the just opened Wyvern Hotel in Punta Gorda

5618 Aqua Circle, So. Gulf Cove, Port Charlotte - Waterfront living withlots of privacy to enjoy the boating, fishing and nearby golf on 10courses. A beautiful home with countless upgrades including 3/16"glass and stainless steel film on all windows, 7 ceiling fans, surroundsound wiring, a huge aquarium window overlooking the pool, 27'dockwith shore power and composit decking. Only 10 minutes to theInterceptor Waterway and the lock $488,400 MLS# D5769352

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By David Al lenWater LIFE KayakingOne of the most popular kayak trips in

southwest Florida is any paddle led byJack Taylor. For the last five years or so,Jack has introduced hundreds of kayakersto the wonders of the Florida Estuaries.Reservations are required if you plan togo on one of Jack’s explorations, and thetrips are over subscribed for months inadvance. These monthly expeditions alongthe shoreline and through the mangrovesreveal a world of marine life that few ofus ever experience.Paddling a 15’-6" Cypress kayak at

what he describes as a "look and seepace", and using the latest high techequipment, a shovel and dip-net, Jack canbring more marine critters into view thananyone else in the county. And that’swhen the fun begins. With years of expe-rience, Jack knows all about the manyand varied species of marine life that hisshovel and dip-net brings to the surface.

Jack is very passionate about protect-ing the estuaries and works hard toencourage state government, local envi-ronmental groups, and even real-estatedevelopers to maintaining and improvingthe estuaries in Charlotte and SarasotaCounties. Why are estuaries so importantto all fishermen, sportsmen, boaters andkayakers? Estuaries are the "Cradle of theOcean". They are the most productiveecosystems in nature. Over 70-percent ofall recreationally and commercially impor-tant fishes, crustaceans and shellfishspend part of their lives in estuaries, usu-ally when they are young. Even smallchanges in the salinity, sediment levels,etc., that we are unaware of as boaters orfishermen can have a very dramatic andharmful effect on the life cycle of theinhabitants of our estuaries. Two ofFlorida’s largest estuaries, Tampa Bay andCharlotte Harbor, have been severely dam-aged in recent years by real-estate develop-ment and harmful runoff from rivers and

streams. Jack’s motivation is to protectand enhance these estuaries through teach-ing others, first hand, the interconnected-ness of all marine organisms and thefragility of their existence.Few individuals have the education and

experience to teach and motivate others inthe wonders and benefits of marine estuar-ies. Jack has both. After leaving the serv-ice, he entered the University of Floridaand later emerged with a graduate degreein Marine Biology. After 10 years withthe Fish and Wildlife Department, Jackbecame a Marine Consultant and workedwith a number of organizations on thewest coast of Florida over the next decade.Jack was a friend of Bill Mote, who atthat time had a marine laboratory in CapeHaze. This was several years before thefacility was moved to Sarasota andbecame Mote Marine Laboratory.Jack settled in Englewood in 1999, and

continued to take consultant assignmentsin the area. In addition to his consultingactivities, he started working for GrandeTours, a Placida kayak and boating tourcompany. Jack began his career as ateacher by taking large groups on a tour

of the local shorelines and mangroves,sharing his knowledge of marine life.After he left Grande Tours, Jack continuedboth his consulting work and his "KayakClassroom", taking kayakers out on thewater once or twice a month. Jack’skayak trip quickly became so popular thathe had to limit the trips to one a monthand required pre-registration.Jack still lives in Englewood and still

does one estuary trip a month. And histrips are still attracting more and moreinterested kayakers. He may move toSarasota sometime in the future, but untilhe does, he will remain one of our coun-ty’s most influential marine resources.Jack taylor can be reached at: [email protected]

The Port Charlotte Kayakers meet eachWednesday evening at Port Charlotte BeachPark at 5:30 PM. All are welcome. For moreinformation, contact me at 941-235-2588 oremail to: [email protected]. You can checkout our upcoming paddles and events at: pck-ayakers.org Then come join us!


KayakingKayakingMarine Biologist

and KayakerExtraordinaire

2008 JOHNSON OUTDOORS

Key Paddlesports Dealer – East Coast

Jack Taylor with the tools of his trade: Kayak, a shovel and a dip net


We are about to enter the biggest sea-son of the year - the tourist season. Iremember seeing a bumper sticker a fewyears ago that said, “ If it’s tourist season;why can’t we shoot them?” A bit harsh,but I’m sure we all had the same thoughtfrom time to time, especially whenyou’re stuck in traffic or trying to get atable at your favorite restaurant. For allthe problems that tourist season brings,this year it brings the one thing we are indesperate need of - people with moneywho are willing to spend some of it inCharlotte County. Every fishing charterthey book, every dozen shrimp they buy,every restaurant meal they eat and everytip they leave will provide much neededeconomic stimulus for a county that nowhas an unemployment rate of 9.6%. Sowhen you find yourself getting a littleimpatient while standing in line, justremind yourself that each dollar that theseout- of -towners spend is helping to keepa roof over somkeone’s head and feed oneof us local folks.Hard times are nothing new for Florida

natives. They always made it through aslong as there were fish to catch. I remem-ber back in the 70s, I used to help afriend in Sarasota cast-net mullet off the

old Ringling Causeway Bridge. He wouldthrow the net and if we had a good strike,I would help him lift it to the roadway.It was my job to break the necks of thefish and bleed them. Now this is a dirtyjob but believe me it is the secret to agood tasting mullet. Take the fresh caughtmullet in your hands with belly side up.With one hand hold onto the belly andwith two fingers of the other hand placethem in the fishes gills and push downlike you were snapping a twig. The fish’sneck will break and a stream of blood willcome shooting out like a broken waterhose.The small fish we would sell or trade

to the bait shop for bait and beer, theywould use them for cut bait; but the bigones my friend would sell door to door inhis neighborhood for a dollar a piece. Hetold me people really appreciated thosefish and for a lot of those folks it wastheir Sunday dinner. They called the mul-let cracker chicken back then and youcouldn’t go to a fund raiser or communityevent that didn’t have the traditionalsmoked mullet dinner which includedhush puppies, baked beans and swampcabbage. I mention this because I’m seeing

more and more people at the bridges andlocal canals with castnet in hand tryingtheir luck for mullet. When the coldfronts go through our area the mullet run,and now is a good time to try your luck.

You need a good sized net with at least aninch and a half mesh size. Do not use abait net or you will find out, as manyothers have, that a good size mullet willrun right through it. Night time or over-cast days seem to work best for me. Bridges are good because you are usu-

ally high above the mullet’s field ofvision. Shallow canals are good because,let’s face it, the fish have less room tohide. I am always amazed at how fast amullet can swim under a net. When I firststarted out trying to net them from mydock it seemed that every time the net leftmy hand the fish would scatter before thenet even hit the water. It took a while toget the hang of it. Now I stand away

from the edge of the dock and crouchdown and throw the net high. On a goodday I’ll get a fish every other throw.When it comes to eating, I’ll admit

mullet are no snook or grouper, but theydo have a unique flavor. You can frythem, bake them or broil them: but myfavorite is smoked mullet. If you don’thave a smoker, go get one and learn howto use it. The secret is slow, low-heatcooking. You can eat the meat right offthe bone or turn the meat into a fishspread. Those old Florida natives reallyknew how to eat well and never evenknew it was hard times.Capt Ron can be reached for questions or charters at 941-474-3474

On The Line F i s h i n g w i t hC a p t . R o n

200 yards from the Harbor, way back up a muddy creek, we found this fat mullet baskingin the sun

By Capt Robert MooreWater LIFE S taffMost days on the water for me, the

purpose is catching fish. A recent fishingtrip with my teen age son, Ryan, theother day proved to re-define my idea of aday on the water.The idea of getting out and going fish-

ing together was actually his. On the wayto school he mentioned it had been awhile since we went fishing. He wasright. Between his school and baseball

schedule and my work schedule it hadbeen a while since we were on the watertogether. So we made plans to hit thewater, just the two of us. This fishing trip started out unlike

most trips I usually do. It started some-where around 11a.m. – way past the usualpre-dawn morning hours for catching bait.We stopped by Fishn’ Franks to buy 100shrimp. Then we launched the boat andheaded out.Our first stop was on the edge of the

sandy bottom just off the bar along thewest wall. I had been catching trout and

pompano there, recently. We both riggedour shrimp on ¼ ounce jigs by rippingthe tail off and threading the shrimp ontothe hook. We began making long castsdownwind and let the jigs slowly sink tothe bottom. We would then lightlybounce them along the sand. The firsthook up was by yours-truly. I was quickto point it out to him, and he was just asquick to point out to me, it was ‘just aladyfish.’ – the same argument I wouldhave made if the first was his. The kidwas learning!The next hooked fish was more inter-

esting. Dag began to sing and after a fiveminute battle a nice bonnet head sharkwas brought boat side for a picture andrelease. Over the next two hours in theexact same spot we both landed well overa dozen bonnet heads each. Some of thesharks were small, some were large, butall bent the rod. Then we decided to moveand check out an area in the GasparillaSound.After looking the area over pretty good

we ended up anchored in Little GasparillaPass, dropping the same jigs with freshshrimp on them to the bottom. Everydrop produced a hit of some kind. Mostwere undersized red and gag grouper. None

the less, all were great fun on light tack-le. After about an hour of non stop actionthe resident porpoises came boat sidelooking for a free meal so we pulled theanchor and headed back to the dock. There is more to this story than just

going out and catching a few fish togeth-er. My son is 14 and in his prime teenageyears. When I see blue, he will see red.When I do see red he will change hismind and see blue, but on this fishingtrip our purpose was not about catchingfish, it was about getting reconnected andit worked! A day on the water can do that.

Capt. Robert Moore can be reached tobook a trip or for fishing information at:624-5710 or at www.captrobertmoore.com


CommercialPerspectiveBy Kel ly Beal , Water LIFE, Peace River Seafood Well I got the call this morning. The

first arrest of the run season. For those ofyou unfamiliar what ‘run season’ is letme break it down for you. During themullet spawning season which usuallystarts mid-November to mid-January, redroe is the female product and white roe isthe male. Basically the red roe is caviar.The white roe is milt, containing mil-lions of sperm cells that are expelled intothe vicinity of the spawning female thusfertilizing the eggs. So the mullet are allbunched together. Because of the vast amount of fish one

can catch at this time you can imaginehow active the fishermen become. Thereare more less-experienced fishermen outand about and also and there is moreenforcement. The FWC becomes veryactive enforcing net laws during run sea-son. Amendment Three of the Florida

Constitution, otherwise known as the NetBan, was approved by voter referendum inNovember 1994. The amendment madeunlawful the use of entangling nets (i.e.,gill nets and trammel nets) in Floridawaters. The use of other forms of nets,such as seines, cast nets, and trawls, wasrestricted, but not totally eliminated. Forexample, those types of nets could beused only if the total area of net mesh didnot exceed 500 square feet. The amend-

ment was implemented in July 1995, andrepresented the culmination — but notthe end — of a lengthy debate betweencommercial fisherman and environmen-tal/recreational advocacy groups. The banning of gill nets was not a

resource issue. It was the result of a"user conflict" issue. A gill net meshsize allowed the juvenile fish to getthrough. It is an extremely discriminatingnet. You only caught the size mullet youwere after. The red roe mullet is largerthan the white roe mullet so your percent-age of by-catch was minimal. Now we are left to use seine nets

which are not the best choice for mulletfishing for two reasons. Number one -you're left with a crazy amount of by-catch and juvenile fish and number two -your ratio of white to red mullet is terri-ble. Because so many are fishing withseines the fish houses get bombarded withwhite roe mullet. The price is extremelylow to the fishermen for the white roe soin some cases those fish get dumped. Iam completely against this action, but Irealize what lead up to the catastrophe.The Coastal Conservation Association

brainwashed the entire state. During thevote for the gill net ban, a TV commer-cial that promoted the ban showed a dol-phin and a turtle entangled in a net, itwas filmed on a marine research boat andthe whole thing was staged. There werebetter solutions than those ultimatelydecided upon, but lets get back to where Istarted. There are many part-time fishermen

who come out of the woodwork for runseason. Many are decent people trying tomake a little extra cash, but others are

outlaw types who give the full time com-mercial fishermen a bad name. Oftenwhen the FWC makes a bust on a fisher-man with illegal nets and, say, a 1500-pound catch, the guy is not a full timecommercial fisherman, he is a charter cap-tain who fishes ‘run season.’ He may bethe type who ventures out illegally. Thefull time commercial fishermen know thewaters like the back of their hand, theycan run in the darkest of night just likethe bright of day. These are the guys youfeel the safest with on the water. Theydon't break the law. It’s the guy down thestreet who goes out 4 times a year anddoes not have the experience or the nauti-cal intellect the commercial fisherman has– the guy who only reads FloridaSportsman or the CCA newsletter andfeels he has enough information to dictatelaw and have an opinion on commercial

fishing. That’s the problem.My wish is that those who have a

‘user conflict’ with commercial fishermanbecome a little more educated about us.There will be more busts coming as

desperate times bring more desperatemeasures, but please recognize the differ-ence between the typical law abiding fulltime commercial fisherman and the week-end warrior. If we want to remain selfreliant as a country we need to purchasegoods caught and grown in the States. Don't support groups who encourage

the consumption of imported seafood.Support our nation’s economy by buyingwhat we catch legally. We are heavily reg-ulated. The product caught locally is top-of-the-line and very fresh. Support yourlocal crabber, shrimper and fisherman.Kelly Beal owns and runs Peace River

Seafood in Punta Gorda. 505-8440

Run Season

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575-2525575-2525Located in the Punta Gorda Crossing Shopping Center Next to PublixMon-Fri 9AM-5:30PM Sat 9AM-3PM

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“Green Pool” “Green Pool” Clean Up & MaintenanceClean Up & Maintenance

A fishermen squeezes the red roe from a mullet at Peace River Seafood

Reconnecting

The Mother of Necessity: Fountain Marine, the mother of highspeed offshore powerboats is is rumored to be be closing.Manatee Aerial Surveys Last year the State bitched theycouldnʼt do aerial manatee surveys because it was too warm.This year we have had a number of good cold fronts already soyou would think theyʼd be up flying and counting manatees aswe speak. Letʼs keep an eye on what the excuse is this year. Ifthey arenʼt careful theyʼre liable to find we have 5,000 manateesnow. It could turn into an overpopulation before you know it.Oh NO! Oberto Oberto has dropped its sponsorship for theRefdfish Cup but that may not be the worst of it. According toone tournament angler they are also worried about the PuntaGorda venue because of construction at Laishley Park andbecause the new Visitorʼs Center doesnʼt have a dock. And tomake matters worse the county tourism department just had ahuge chunk (300+ thousand) cut from itʼs budge so there proba-bly wonʼt be much help for the Cup coming from the County.To make matters even worse Charlotte County floated some

bonds to finance the baseball stadium project and now it seemsthere isnʼt enough money from the projected bed tax income to

pay the interest on the bonds so a second chunk of money hasbeen taken from the Visitorʼs Bureau budget. If we get the stadi-um done, if the teams can still come up with their money to puton a baseball game, where will the county get the money to pro-mote it? Ethanol We left 15 gallons of 10-percent gas in a vented steeldrum for a month. Whenwe checked it there wasno water in it. Then weput another 15 gallons ofwater laden gas in a poly-drum and added (first)Stabil and then FuelShokto it. The pool of waterand separated ethanolremained. (photo, lookingdown into drum)Tree Snook Officer Patrick Walsh issued a citation to fishermanat the Chokoloskee Causeway after a fishery inspectionrevealed a forty-one inch snook concealed beneath a tree log.During the inspection, a group of fishermen told the officer they

had had no luck catching anything. However, one small childfishing with the group told the officer his father had caught areally big fish and tied it up. The officer followed foot tracksthrough the mud along the bank and discovered the oversizesnook secured to a post and hidden beneath the log. While theofficer was preparing the citation, the fisherman admitted he hadnever caught such a big snook and asked if he could take pho-tos of the large fish before it was confiscated. The answer: NO!That Big Black Cloud The Naples Beach Patrol encountered afisherman in possession of 46 striped mullet over-the-limit. Thesubject also had an active warrant for his arrest. He admittedthat he knew the bag limit but stated he "couldnʼt help himselfwhen he saw that big black cloud of fish going through thewater."Bait Shop Boogie The El Jobean Bait and Tackle shop whichwas formally behind the old house near the fishing pier parkinglot has now moved their shrimp tank to 4352 ElJobean Road(across the street on SR 776, where 20 years ago Cookies Baitshop used to be.) There is a jaunty red and white sign out frontthat says “LIVE BAIT” and some nights (when the fishing is hot)they are open 24 hours.


The Deadly Dozen : Charlotte HarborThe Deadly Dozen : Charlotte Harbor FISHING GUIDESFISHING GUIDES

Capt. Bart Marx, USCG Licensed & Insured Light Tackle Fishing Charlotte Harbor & SW Florida

(941) 255-3551 www.alphaomegacharters.com

email:[email protected] Day & Full Day trips.

SCUTTLEBUTTSometimes Unsubstanciated, But Often True

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

Bus: 941-475-5538 Res: 941-473-2150

This space available$40/mocall

941-766-8180

CaptainRobertMooreWhen you absoloutely positivelywant to catch fish

(941) 624-5710www.captRobertMoore.com

offshore/backcountry

F i s h i n gF i s h i n gR e p o r tR e p o r tCharlotte Harbor:Robert at Fishin' FranksPort Charlotte: 625-3888Snook are officially closed so now

they will start chewing like crazy.Sheepsheadwill be the number onetarget fish this month. They are alreadypouring in good, but they will get betterand better in December. Shore fisher-men should be at El Jobean or thePlacida trestle. The rocks off BocaGrande pass along with the Venice jet-ties are all shore spots. For the boatersthere are plenty of places, again, aroundthe trestles at Placida, Novak andTrembly reefs are where you will getsome of the bigger 5 to 7 pound fish.Fiddler crabs are the number one pickfor bait, frozen sand fleas or live orfrozen shrimp all very good bait. Fishthem close to the structure with a j-hook on the bottom or a sinker on thebottom of the rig. An owner Mu-Tulight circle hook works very well, theNo 2 or No 4 are the best sizes. It is athinner wire hook, but because it is thinit gets in between their beaver like teethand they can’t break it. Pompano arereally, really unbelievably good rightnow, there are a lot of them along the

surf fromEnglewoodsouth toSanibel. Theshore fishermencan just fish thebeaches. For theboaters, theCape Haze barand the flat inbe tween Bulland Turtle Bayon the harborside, and allthe open spotscoming insidethe pass arepompano spots.While you arerunning you willsee the pom-pano skipping.Just shut downand concentratein that area.Throw a shrimpor a small shorttailed bucktail jig tipped with a sandflea. There are wobbly jigs with bananashaped lead and long shanks that workwell on pompano.Redfi sh are going to thin out size-wizethroughout this month. The rat reds willstart moving in. Fish the west wall andthe feeder creeks off the Myakka aroundthe oyster bars. In the Peace River, theywill be scattered and heading towardShell Creek. They will be turning off toartificials now so shrimp is the bait ofchoice, but pinfish and cut sardines willalso work well. The key is to work thebait slower when it is cold. It’s not anearly morning bite, but as the waterwarms up in late morning and throughthe afternoon the fish become a littlemore aggressive. Spani sh mackerel will still be

plentiful through the month ofDecember. Look for birds diving orschools of glass minnows out in themiddle of the harbor and out along the

beaches. Bonnethead sharks are very abun-

dant now as are smal l bl ackti ps onthe grass flats.Flounder have been good on the bar

on the west side but I don’t know howmuch longer they will be here.Mangrove snapper are moving

from the inshore reefs and the passes,just jig your bait close to the bottom. Achum bag will help immensely. Chumreal heavy and you can get them tocome up off the bottom. Tri gg erfi s hwill start showing up now with and inaddition to the snapper and grouper.Trigger fish are a phenomenal table fishwith a nutty tasting meat.And Crappi e fishing is unbeliev-

able right now and it will only get bet-ter. A lot of people don’t realize howgood the crappie fishing in the canalsis. A fish 15 to 16 inches is prettycommon.

Conti nued on faci ng page


Whoʼs laughing now? “Their wives made them take those silly littlelunch boxes with them when they went fishing,” Capt. Angel Torrezsaid. “The keg of beer was their idea,” he added.

From Robert @ Fishin Franks:Winter is the time of year when grouperand snapper start to move closer toshore and even inside the harbor. Butbefore you go target those fish, ALLboaters need to be aware of a new lawthat went into effect this past June.There are three things that you mustnow have on your boat when fishingfor reef species;Non-offset/In-line Circle Hooks

The hook tip cannot be bent away fromthe shank of the hook body. There areseveral brands of hooks that are legal;Eagle Claw, Gamagatzu and Mustad.Check first to make sure they are thecorrect style.De-Hooking DeviceIn state waters

(the harbor and up to 9 miles offshore)needle nose pliers are legal. An ARCDehooker is a wonderful tool but youwant to practice with it first. It is frus-trating to learn, but don’t give up on it.In federal waters the dehooker is theonly legal tool Venting ToolThis is basically a hypodermic nee-

dle and syringe without the plunger.There are several brands available,priced from $6.50 for disposable onesup to $35 for top of the line. When fishare brought up from the depths quickly,the swim bladder expands and forcesthe stomach out of the fish’s mouth.The bladder must be deflated to givethe fish the ability to swim back down.You are still required to have this itemon your boat to fish legally for reefspecies (like snapper) in the harbor.

Snowbird Reading

F i s h i n gF i s h i n gR e p o r tR e p o r tc o n t i n u e dc o n t i n u e d .

Lemon Bay:Jim at Fishermen’sEdge, Englewood:697-7595Fishin is pretty good,

now. There have been quite a few guyscatching sheepshead. A friend caught 14keepers the other day. Pompano are com-ing through at Boca Grande, on theGasparilla Pier. A lot of guys are catchingthem on Silly Willy’s jigs. The redfish action has been pretty

good in the backcountry, shrimp in thebackcountry are catching reds. There havebeen assorted snook reports, here andthere, some of the canals were yieldingfish in the keeper slot from the warm sideof the canal, that’s where the fish are.And quite a few flounder are still

around, along with a lot of little sharks,blacktips and bonnetheads .There are some cobia around, but it

seems to be the guys fishing for pompanowith the wrong size tackle that have beeninto the cobia. I keep hearing about theones that got away. Spanish mackerel have been around,

a couple here and there and a few straggler

kings have been mixed in with them.Usually the water is right around 62degrees when the kings have moved out.The schools of the smaller fish are gonenow, but there are still some solitary bigones around. There are whiting and pompano in

the surf and some sheepshead out thereon the assorted rock outcropping.Offshore, there have been some good tripsfor grouper and snapper. Some of theparty boats have been doing reasonablywell in the 10 to 20 mile range. If you gonorth of Stump Pass they are closer in,maybe 6 or 7 miles.There’s been a little triple tai l action

on the crab pots but that’s about it. And,oh yes, quite a bit of nice trout lately,I’ve seen some 27 inch fish this lastweek. One was 6 pounds the other 4.75.the anglers that caught them thought theywere redfish, they were happy as a pig in...a polk.

C a l e n d a r C a l e n d a r o f E v e n t so f E v e n t s� Dec 6: Peace River Lighted Boat Parade, Port Charlotte toPunta Gorda, starting at Edgewater lake.� Dec 13: Inshore Hot Spots, seminar, West Marine Venice,408, 8288� Dec 20: Rim Canal, Lighted Boat Parade, through PuntaGorda Isles Canals� Jan 22-25: Port Charlotte Boat Show CountyFairgrounds� Jan 24: Flatsmasters Qualifier tournament, HarpoonHarry’s, 637-5953� March 28: Grady White Captain’s & First Mate’sSymposium and Boat Show, Charlotte Event and Confrence Center 941-347-8086� April 25: Water LIFE Kids Cup Tournament, Punta Gorda 766-8180� May 3-5 Redfish Cup, Punta GordaSend your event calendar information to: [email protected]

The BIG-4The BIG-4 and regulations covering themand regulations covering them

SPANISH MACKEREL: 12” atthe fork / 15 per day. Mackerelcoming in the harbor now

SHEEPSHEAD: 12” pinchedtail / 15 per day. May not becaught on multiple hookswith live or dead natural bait

POMPANO: Min 24” to thefork, 2 fish per harvester.No more than 2 per vessel.Found nearshore/inshore

CRAPPIE a.k.a. speckledperch, 25 per person per day. Local freshwater canals

FishingFishingRIGHT NOW:RIGHT NOW:

Great!Great!


20092009KIds CupKIds CupApril 25.April 25.

ApplicationsApplicationsonline Jan 1online Jan 1

Lighted EventsKing Fisher Fleetʼs annualDecember Christmas CanalCruises begin on December5 and run nightly throughDecember 31. Trips areapproximately one hour inlength.There are three departuresevery evening: 6 p.m,7:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. Cost is $12 for adults, $6 forchildren under age 12. Note** Cruises often sell out(especially the 6 and 7:30 trips). Call 941-639-0969 for reservations.Cruises depart from Fishermenʼs Village.

Lighted Boat ParadeDec 6 in Punta Gorda

How many spots on that Redfish? There is a spot tournament Dec. 6 at Harpoon Harryʼswith the weigh in open to the public at 3 p.m. See calendar ar right.

Water LIFE Dec 2008

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Transcript of Water LIFE Dec 2008