Water LIFE June 2008

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IFA:IFA:GettingGettinginto theinto theSwim ofSwim ofThingsThings

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June 2008June 2008

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Contributing Editors:Fishing / Environment: Capt. Ron BlagoCharlotte Harbor: Capt. Robert MooreGasparilla: Capt. Chuck EichnerPort Charlotte: Capt Andy MedinaOffshore: Capt. Steve Skevington

Real Estate: Dave HoferSailing Advisor: Bill DixonKayaks: David Allen

Sea Grant: Betty StauglerDiving: Adam Wilson

on the COVER:Capt. Steve Skevingtonʼs mate gives thecamera a thumbs up as a goliath grouperis brought alongside, on a charter trip lastmonth.

on our WEBSITE:WWW.charlotteharbormagazine.com

This Monthʼs Edition: Send a link to afriendRealtors: Links to advertisersTide Graphs: For local watersWeather: Links to favorite weather sites.Artificial Reefs: Lat. and Long localreefsManatee Myths: Read the original planto create sanctuaries and refuges, asspelled out by the United Nations in 1984Kids Cup Updates, Fish Tracking andTournament Information.

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Them and UsDear Water LIFEI read the recent Scuttlebutt article in the May,

2008 issue of Water LIFE Magazine pitting environ-mental groups against fishermen touting an "us" and"them" theme. Call me naive, but I never have under-stood how polarizing and dividing people up intoopposing forces helps to come up with solutions tomajor challenges. As an outdoor enthusiast, boater,skier, hiker and biker, I am enjoying the very samewaters, the same fish and wildlife that you are.Anything either of us does to prevent red tide andkeep the waters clean, benefits the commercial andrecreational fishing industry and our overall economicvitality. We cannot afford dead zones, and we cannotafford the energy and time it takes to fight againsteach other when we need to think and act as a com-munity, with a common goal being to maintainhealthy rivers and tributaries that protect the harbor.My husband and I come from a small town inMinnesota near the Canadian border and live on asmall wild rice lake. Fishermen there boast that wehave the biggest walleye in the area and tell impres-sive fish stories about the "ones that got away." Youand I share some common ground. It's a shame towaste it.

Respectful ly, Randee LaSal leSierra Club MemberSea Turtle Patrol through Coastal Wildlife ClubShorebird Monitor for Charlotte County

LETTERS TO WATER LIFE Magazine

One of UsI propped the

old frame upagainst a stainlesssteel cleat on theseawall. Thephoto itself, whatused to be a colorprint, in a dimestore 5x7 woodenframe, was fadedinto a dark pink-ish monotone.Earlier I had triedto get it out ofthe frame, only tofind it was yet one more survivor from Hurricane Charley, one of the framed printsthat hung on the wall at Fishin Franks Bait and Tackle shop in Port Charlotte whenthe windows blew in and the storm, all 178 miles per hour of it, passed right downthe isle. “It’s awful dirty,” my wife had said when she first saw the picture, notknowing invasive moisture in the hurricane air had sealed the photo to the glasswith invisible glue. There was no taking this apart, I knew because I had tried withother framed pictures before. So I put it all back together and took it outside, intothe morning sun, to rephotograph it. It was a picture of Norman Day, ‘Mr. Snook’ they called him down at Fishin’

Franks. Norm stood behind two big snook hung on a line in the picture. The picturewas taken somewhere in Punta Gorda, maybe 25 years ago. That was before snookwere restricted in size, back when an angler could keep any fish he caught. The twosnook in the picture were pretty big. Norm, of course, made them look bigger. Norm passed away on Memorial Day weekend. As I positioned the frame in the

morning sun, Norm was sitting on the seawalll one last time. I propped the frameup against the stainless cleat, using a white seashell that was lying on the ground tokeep the bottom of the frame from from sliding. I thought to myself: Norm wouldhave like’d this. He was that kind of guy. – MH


Michael Hel l erWater LIFE EditorSaturday, May 24, Memorial Day

Weekend and for a change the tides werecoopperating. First thing in the morningthe tide was low, low enough for me tojump into the canal and hammer a newmiddle stringer under my long dock. Withthat screwed in place and then breakfastdone, I swung the boat out over the canaland lowered her into the water. Then mysister-inlaw called and my wife spent anhour or two on the phone. Actually, hertiming couldn’t have been better; by 11,when we finally left the dock, the tide wascoming in good. It was one of those hightide and higher days. We wanted a hightide. We headed down the harbor. My mis-

sion was to check on the mangroves prop-ugules that Betty Staugler and her crew ofSea Grant Mangrove Marrauders had dis-persed last fall. We ran down the outside of the west side

bar, my wife and I, towards Cape Haze.Our first Discovery: Marker ‘A’ was back.A measuring station that had been blownaway by Charley. It’s south of halfwaypoint, outside the bar, about 250 yardsfrom shore. (photo on page 23)It didn’t take long from there to find the

area where the mangrove planting tookplace. Yellow and orange streamers of tapeand vertical grey PVC pipes mark theshoreline. By now the tide was way high and we

cruised across the bar and tied up on one ofthe dead trees. A fat redfish scurried alongthe shore as we walked in the water.There’s not a lot more to say, except

good, more good and very good. Wechecked several spots that day and myreport is the area is alive and comingback. The mangrove propugules Betty’s team

planted appear to be growing, but it washard to differentiate between them and allthe naturally occuring new red mangrovegrowth. While the shoreline still looksdesolate from a distance, back from theshore there are mangroves growing every-where.And wild things abound. The best news

is we saw numerous tiny fish – chubs Ithink, swimming way back in from theshore. There were a gazillion little crabs,(probably why the redfish was there) andeven an anole, a green lizzard that is actu-ally native to Florida. We heard an ospreybeat the heavy air with its enormouswings and then dive on something off theshore. Spot after spot that we looked at, it was

all the same. Life coming back to what hadbeen one of the most devastated parts ofthe west side harbor shoreline. When we were ready to leave I just

pushed the boat off the shore and driftedout past the bar. It took about 30 minutes,all the time me throwing my trusty goldspoon. At one point, a small cobia fol-lowed it back, almost right to the boat.

Good, More Good and Very Good


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By Capt. S teve SkevingtonWater LIFE Offshore Let’s start off talking about the

great shark bite that's been going onall month. These fish are hitting allday, right on the beach. Cut Spanishmackerel and bonita seem to be work-ing best. We just anchor up and startchumming and these fish show up inno time at all. I like running 5/0 cir-cle hooks with the sharks, on aboutthree feet of 106 lb wire.Tarpon fishing just off the beach is

red hot right now too, with some fish,as everyone knows, going 150-200lbs.We are fishing these "beach tarpon"

with cut bait. Again, we are just set-ting up on anchor and running cutbaits back behind the boat then wait-ing for one to come along.The permit are still on the chew,

but for some reason they are a littleharder to find this month than last.Once you find them you get to pullon a few, then you have to go huntingagain. We are fishing them with both

live crabs and small yellow jigs.Kingfish are still around with

limits of them being caught outaround 50 feet of water. Live baithas been best on those fish – thebiggest live thread-fin's you can get.Snapper are a night time fish

right now, that is if you can pullyourself away from those full moontarpon bites long enough. Youshould get your limit of mangrovesnapper pretty quick.There's alot more great fishing

going on right now too. Offshore,the blackfin tuna are still blastinglive baits fished on top, and cederplugs dragged about 150 feet behindthe boat at around 7 knots.

The deeper wrecks are still hold-ing some respectable amberjack and‘cudas. What more could you askfor?

Capt Steve can be reached for char-ter at (941) 575-3528 or atwww.paradisefishingcharters.com

OffshoreReport

Clean Slate - A ‘log slate’ on which the courses steered by a ship andthe distances run as indicated on a log were entered during a watch. At theend of the watch, the information was entered on the deck-log and the slatewas wiped clean for the officer keeping the next watch.

It looks like Capt. Steve had some good fish last month: Clockwise from the topleft:amberjack, an 11 foot hammerhead, a number of lingering kingfish and some rod-bend-ing goliath grouper.



S taff ReportWhat do you do if you’re a guide, the wind

is blowing 30 knots and you don’t have a tripscheduled? You go fishing. Especially if you’reCapt. Angel Torrez and your friend Robert,from down at Fishin Frank’s wants to go.“It was nasty,” Robert Lugiewitz said,

accounting for the the day he and Angel andRobert’s cousin Elyse Soelinger from Indianaall went fishing. “We took several waves overthe bow,” Robert added later. Their plan was to fish the bottom and the

outside of the 20 foot hole, the one straightacross from Pirate Harbor. “We had to put out150 feet of anchor line before we could get itto stick,” Robert said. The water is about 12feet deep there. It’s in the middle of the Harbor.Angel likes the outside edge of that 20 foothole when it comes to sharks. Fishing, likereal estate is all about location.Originally the trio started out looking for

tarpon. “It was way too windy for tarpon. It was actuallyboarderline for sharks.” Robert said.

It’s always the little ones that come first ... and thenthe bigger ones start moving in. They started chumming.That’s the way it was that day too.“We caught maybe 15 Atlantic sharpnose sharks, the

little ones,” Robert said, explaining that their distinctivemark is the sharpnose and maybe some white blotcheson them. Robert knows about this kind of stuff – heworks at the bait shop and he loves shark fishing.

“There isn’t a day that I get up that I don’t love going towork,” Robert said. Then he launched off into what agreat guy his boss Frank is. “Can you say somethingnice about Frank?” Robert asked. OK; Nice Frank. Nowlets get on with the shark fishing. The Atlantic sharpnose swim in little wolf packs, so

it’s not unusual to catch several. The third shark of theday was Elyses. The drag was running out, we set the hook and as

soon as we set the hook it launched itself into the air. Itwasn’t a sharpnose, Elyse had a spinner shark on her

line. Spinners are two or three times thegirth of the sharp nose shark. They are lit-tle bulldogs, Robert explained. The spinner is a midget-version of a

mako shark: acrobatic and a really hardpulling little animal. Elyse fought it for10 minutes. “The tackle was a little big,but it was still fun,” Robert said. Angel unhooked the shark and offered it

to Elyse. “She was petrified,” Robert said.“Hold it here and here” Angel said, show-ing where, and where ... and having herehold it over the gunnel. “If it wiggles, justdrop it,” Angel said. He stepped back, itwiggled, and she threw it right onto thedeck! “We all had to jump back and makesure our feet were clear,” Robert saidlaughing as he recalled that afternoon.

Elyse finally grabbed a hold and they got some pic-tures.

Then the little sharks stopped chewing. They gottheir first big run and got broke off almost immediately. “We were using bonita for bait, we had some mullet,

but the bonita seemed to be better for the little sharks.They put out another bait, a bigger piece yet, on thesmall pole, the one with the 100 pound single strandpiano wire with 18 inches of leader on it. Within 15minutes they had their next run. The fish took it and ranwith it. “It dumped 100 yards of line and broke us off, “Angel recalled. That fish stayed deep. Bigger sharks staydeep. But usually a lemon will swim upward towards thesurface, so will a hammer. The next hit came to the sur-face. They were fishing 50 pound main line with 5 feetof 200 pound cable. Another miss. Another bait.Elyse hooked an 8.5 foot lemon shark straight away.

She was having a blast. “She caught her first tarpon lastFriday, with Capt Rob Moore and now here, her firstshark,” Angel said. “Then I hooked a 9.5 or 10 foot lemon myself,”

Robert said, and when they got that shark to the boat hehad another leader in his mouth, a small piano wire.They guessed it was the same shark that broke them offearlier. The wind didn’t matter, the waves didn’t matter “To be

a part of the day and to watch someone catch their firstbig fish, “It’s really cool,” Robert said.

Fishing, Like Real Estate is all About Location

Above: Look close and you can see the two leadersFarLeft: Elyse and a SpinnerBelow: Atlantic sharpnose


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By Capt Robert MooreWater LIFE StaffTarpon fishing in Southwest Florida is

now in full swing. The month of Mayproved to be a great start to the seasonand hopefully will be an indication ofthings to come. Whether you’re fishingthe passes, inside the bays or searchingthe beaches, June should provide youwith some great action.My preferred area for hunting down the

silver king has been in the backwaters ofCharlotte Harbor. There is not always thenumbers of fish that Boca Grande Passcan offer, but the variety of other fish youcan find mixed in with the tarpon makeup for it. Not only can I find tarpon up tothe 150-pound range, I can also battlewith a variety of sharks that are scatteredall over the harbor. Some days the sharksranging from 2-to 5-feet are so thick thatwe completely change our focus to sharksrather than tarpon. Throw in an occasion-al cobia, tripletail and mackerel and youhave all the action one could ask for.The one consistent fact about my fish-

ing is my methods. In catching anyone ofthe fore mentioned species the first thingis to obtain my number one bait of

choice – the threadfin herring. The sum-mer months offer large and numerousschools of threadfins throughout CharlotteHarbor. Throwing my 10-foot cast net ismy fastest way of obtaining a full livewell, but using sabiki rigs on a rod canalso help you obtain them. Sincethreadfin herring is so prevalent it’s theobvious food source for most species youwill encounter in Charlotte Harbor. It’sthe bait of choice right now.Next I will make way through the har-

bor looking for life. My definition of lifecan mean many things. First would beactual fish exploding or free jumping.Next are birds such as pelicans, terns orfrigates diving in the water. In order forthese birds to eat, the baitfish must be onor near the top of the water column andthe number one reason baitfish are nearthe surface is because Mr. Predator isbelow them. I will then get up tide/wind of the life

and drift. If your boat is equipped with atrolling motor like mine then you can useit to go in an out of the area you are tar-geting.

I will then deploy two lines off myboat. One will be free lined and the other

will be 2 feetunder a smallcork. Free linedmeans no weightor floatation, justa hook and athreadfin swim-ming naturally. Iwill drift the baitsbehind, usuallystaggering thelength. If onemethod of deploy-ing seems to getmore strikes thanthe other then Iwill switch overand have bothlines deployed thesame. I use 3-feet of

60-pound monoleader connected to a 6/0 Daiichi Big Moelive bait hook. If the shark or mackerelaction begins to pick up I will then add asmall 6 inch wire leader to prevent breakoffs. Try to avoid using your engine in and

around the fish for it will most times

result in the bite stopping or disappearingall together.

Capt Robert Moore can be reached forfishing information or to schedule a chartertrip at 941-624-5710

[email protected]

Tarpon Man Tells

Capt. Rob proves his technique for catching tarpon works!

P a g e 1 0 Wa t e r L I F E M A G A Z I N E J u n e 2 0 0 8


By Capt. Ron BlagoWater LIFE Senior StaffIt always amazes me how good ideas

sometimes turn into nightmares whenthey are put in effect. Take for instancelocal boat ramps. What started out as afew complaints about a few people leav-ing their vehicles at the Placida boat rampso they could avoid paying the toll to goover the Boca Grande bridge, resulted in amile of signs and everyone having to pay75 cents an hour to park at most of thecounty’s boat ramps. By the time mostpeople found out what was going on; itwas already a done deal. The moral ofthat story is: if you want to be part of thedecision making process, you have to beinvolved early. The reason I bring this up is that I

will be attending a joint meeting of theCharlotte County Marine AdvisoryCommittee, the Parks and RecreationAdvisory Committee and the Beach andShores Advisory Committee on June17th at 9:30AM at the PortCharlotte Beach Complex. A jointmeeting of three advisory boards isextremely rare and it is assumed thatsomething is wrong and a policy changeis being proposed to solve the problem.The meeting is being hosted by theDirector of the Parks and RecreationDepartment and although (at the time I’mwriting this article) no agenda is yetavailable; I’ll tell you what I know willbe discussed.There allegedly have been complaints

from local residents about loud noise atnight from public boat ramps and fishingpiers. The Port Charlotte Beach Complexseems to be the focus of these com-plaints. I’m sure one option to be dis-cussed is to close these areas at night.This is one of those conflicting rightsproblems that always pop up in govern-ment. On one hand, residents have a rightto peace and harmony in their own neigh-borhood. On the other hand, the publichas the right to use public facilities theypaid for without burdensome restrictions.How would you feel if you were forced toleave the fishing pier at 9 p.m. just asthe snook were starting to bite, or if youwanted to get in the water early, butfound a chain blocking the boat ramp anda sign that says open at 8 a.m. Not a

pleasant thought for most fishermen.Charlotte County has a historical and cul-tural heritage when it comes to using ourwaters and any restrictions blockingaccess to the water will not go un-noticed(unlike the boat ramp parking fees).Another topic sure to come up is the

fishing pier problem. Recently a plan todemolish the southern portion of the ElJobean fishing pier was voted down bythe Board of County Commissioners, butthat decision only postponed reaching asolution to a continuing problem we havewith our older piers.

The El Jobean, Coral Creek and thePlacida fishing piers are all over 50 yearsof age and are showing signs of wear andtear. Built originally as railroad trestlesused to help transport phosphate to thedeepwater port of Boca Grande they wereconverted to local fishing piers and havebecome historical fishing landmarks.Unfortunately they have a long history ofcatching fire, mostly from carelessness.Creosote soaked timbers burn pretty wellwhen ignited from a careless smoker or anunattended open flame. We can try tominimize the fire danger but the long-term future of the piers has to be planned.From a logical point of view the prob-

lem has three possible solutions:Remove, Repair or Replace. Removemeans closing them off to the public nowand ripping them out when the moneybecomes available. This was the county’sfirst solution to the El Jobean problem.Repair means improving the piers struc-turally so we get a some more good years

out of them; Replace meansbuilding a new pier out ofmaterials that will requirelittle maintenance and last100 years. Which way willthe county go? That dependson who shows up at themeeting.I’m hoping that we get to

discuss other situations goingon that will have an impact onboaters, like the removal ofthe Geo Tubes in Stump Pass. The DEPordered that they were to be removed bythe end of April, but as fate would haveit, a last minute inspection found nestingshore birds and by the time they are gone,we would be well into turtle nesting sea-son; so their the GEO tube removal hasbeen postponed until October. Someonehas to tell us what the advantage toremoving those tubes is. What will hap-pen to Stump Pass when they are gone?Another topic I hope comes up is the

future of kayaks in Charlotte County. Asboth the costs of boats and fuel have dras-tically risen recently, I’ve noticed thatmore and more people are turning tokayaks to get on the water. The MarineManufacturers Association has reportedkayaks are the fasting growing segmentof the boating industry. Where will themoney come from to accommodate thisgrowing segment of boaters?Powerboats pay boat registration fees,

which if you didn’t know, are going up50% next year and every 4 years after

that. Kyakers do not have to register theirvessels, so there is no money to provideservices for them. Our boat ramps werebuilt for power boaters with trailers;should kayaks have their own boatramps?One last item I hope is discussed is

how do you get a sunken boat out oflocal waters? I thought this problem wassimple when I asked the question fouryears ago. It appears that the simple ques-tions are the hardest to answer. We allknow that the owner is responsible forhis vessel so if the boat is registered itshould be a simple matter to notify theowner to get his boat out of there or thecounty will remove it. We have had anembarrassing situation in Chadwick Covein Englewood where a sunken boat hasbeen sitting in the middle of a navigablechannel for over 90 days, and so far theonly action taken has been a stickerplaced on the boat telling the owner toremove the boat by April 25th or else.The boat is still there. We have to do abetter job than that.

Parks and Rec Could Propose Boat Ramp Curfew

What would happen to local tournaments if anglers could not launch until after sunrise?

This sunken boat in Chadwick Cove at Englewood hasbeen posted but plans for removal are not readily at hand.

This meeting on June17th at 9:30 am, the BeachComplex is a public meet-ing, which means everyoneis invited to attend and beheard. If you find a chainacross the public boat

ramp or a No Trespassingsign at you favorite fishingpier, remember you had

your chance to participate.


PROVIDED BY: Dave & Marlene Hofer RE/MAX Harbor Realty(941) 575-3777 [email protected] Recent area news i tems

1. The Conservation CharlotteOversight Committee contracted tospend all but $2 million of the $77 mil-lion bond referendum that votersapproved in November, 2006. The bondswere financed with a 20 mil tax that willcontinue until 2025. The largest pur-chase ($27.3 Million) was the RyalsOrchard just east of Washington LoopRoad. The 1,655 acre tract is bisected bythe meandering Prairie Creek. The Beckstead family, owners of

Palm Island Resort and 30 undevelopedlots on Thornton Key will get to "baketheir cake and eat it, too". Their $1.25million investment in 2003 will bringthem $5.75 million ($192K per lot)when the County closes on this deal.Now, thanks to County taxpayers, theywill continue to enjoy the pristine man-grove view in perpetuity... and a fabu-lous return on their investment!

The County will also acquire 110acres of scrub jay habitat in Deep Creekfor $1.03 million. BendersonDevelopment, in the process of creatinga huge new development straddling I-75

and Harborside Drive, has made a pro-posal to sell 505 acres with the remain-ing cash and the balance financed by thedeveloper.

2. Charlotte County will be seek-ing to extend its 1% sales tax so thatinfrastructure projects can be completed.Punta Gorda spent $17 million fromthese tax proceeds since 1994 and havecompleted 10 projects, most notably$2.1 million for Laishley Park, $1.8Million for the government center park-ing lot and Freeman House, $3.8 millionfor Fire and Police stations and equip-ment and $1 million towards the CountyCourthouse restoration. Another 10projects have been started in expectationof a positive endorsement from voters onAugust 26.

3. On May 8, Charlotte CountyCRA Members stumbled ahead withplans to immediately expend up to $11.4million for a new parking garage/retailcenter. Despite Smith-Mooney &Weikel's recognition that justificationfor this expenditure is light years away,4 other members voted to proceed.

4. County Commissioner AdamCummings, ever the "build it now, theywill come" cheerleader, has proclaimedthat the new jail addition "...has to bebuilt" before costs "go through the roof".Peeking at Sheriff Davenport's crystalball, he found that despite currently oper-ating at less than capacity, a 15% drop incrime last year, and a three year slide inour county's total population, the jailwill be overcrowded by 2012. In a pow-erful bid to make our prisoners amongthe most comfortable in the state, tax-payer's will shell out nearly $150K perbed in the first phase of a gigantic $38.3million commitment.

5 .A pleasant respite from the typical"escalating costs" fearmongering that toooften encourages expenditures beforetheir time, the Port Charlotte MSBUscompleted 44 miles of roadway improve-

ments with the same amount of fundsthat completed only 20 miles the yearbefore!

6. Charlotte County will get $250Kless from State funds this year and expectanother $4 million in State mandatedexpenditure reductions.

7. Charlotte County Commissionersendorsed the developer's proposal to payfor its share of highway improvementsto help accelerate the Loop Developmentof more than 1 million square feet ofretail, hotel, office parks, and 500 resi-dential units to the Jones Loop area. Thedeveloper, Wilder Co., offered $6.3 mil-lion to improve US 41, the Commissioncited expected costs of $12.4 million.Wilder's promise to build faster than pre-viously promised sealed the deal.

In other news: Construction onThe Sunloft Center, Convention Centerand Weyvern Inn have all topped out andthe Harbor Inn Four Points Hotel hasbroken ground in downtown PuntaGorda. The former "Juicy Lucy's"restaurant has reopened as the SunsetGrill. The Turtle Club and Zen's haveboth closed for the summer... andbeyond?

Sales S tatistics:Sales volume picked up slightly last

month. Transactions for both lots andhouses have been concentrated in thelower price ranges.

Real Real Estate Estate NewsNews

J u n e 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

In The Swim at the IFAIn The Swim at the IFA FLATSMASTERS REDFISH CLASSIC

Xtreme Redfish

S taff ReportThe Englewood leg of the IFA/Ranger

Boats Redfish Tour saw Tom Taminni andDerek Powell (shown above) weigh in with14.48 pounds and walk away with a certificatefor a new Ranger boat and a $500 check forthe biggest fish of the tournament a 7.78pound red. The team said they used Gulpbaits all day and were dead sticking and mov-ing them to get the fish to bite. Second placewas Brady Nelson and Josh Ramsey with a14.30 that was worth $5300. That was all the14-pound total weights though, followed byone 13.77 pound total by Bob Looper and

Rick Walters good enough for the $3200 thirdplace check. Then there were a slew of 12’s orless to fill out the field. Yet another windy daymade it tough for the anglers. Of interest inthe photos above is the angler in the water -dumped by his partner as they approached andthen backed up from the dock, and the bluestepladder one angler used to get the highervantage point while not limiting access to theoverhanging creeks, as would be the case witha fixed tower. Just over half of the 107 boatfield returned to the scale with fish to weighin, 52 teams had double weights.

Staff ReportThis was the 18th consecutive

year for the live bait RedfishClassic on Charlotte Harbor and itwas another Flatsmaster’s chal-lenge, this time a boating chal-lenge. Saturday’s fishing for the 90boat field was good but by Sundaywhen the Top-5 headed out it was aslack water flood tide with strongwinds. “We took one over the bow,“The cameraman had his glassesknocked off, we were ankle deep inwater...in the boat!” Those were thekind of comments we heard at the weigh in, yet anglers waded where andwhen they could and a respectable number of fish were weighed in.In the end it was the team that qualified fifth in the Top-5 that walked

away with the top prize on Sunday. Team Ego nets,(above) Derek Carlson,Jason Dudley and Brad Brown’s 13.12pound total was all it took to put themon top of the current Flatsmasters standings.The next Flatsmasters Seriesevent is the Red Plug Challenge on July 12 at Punta Gorda.

S taff ReportLast month there was a benefit redfish

tournament for Tanner South’s trust fund. Thefund was established to help his family payfor expenses related to his traumatic dirt bikeinjuries. The tournament was a great success.Tanner received over $5000. Capt. Jerry Cleffifrom Classic Tournament volunteered to bethe weighmaster and weighed 21 redfish. Theresults are as follows:1st place: $2000, Josh Reiger and Zac

Irons for two fish weighing 7.15 and 6.45pounds.2nd place: $1000, Mike Barnes, Robert

Crafts, Dalston Crafts, and Jeffrey Parker withfish weighing 6.61 and 6.21-pounds.3rd place: $750, Ty Truett, Bob Legg and

Brad Opshal with fish weighing 6.24 and6.36-pounds.

4th place: $500, Lynn Bevis, BobbiDaughtry, Lorie and Mark Dahlkemper withfish weighing 5.44 and 5.83-pounds5th: place $300, Wesley Wells, Hunter

Wells, Matt Smith and Scott Vonetz with fishweighing 6.17 and 4.57-pounds6th: place $200, Justin Beverly and Dan

Lichtenstein with fish weighing 5.76 and4.92-poundsAll participants

donated their win-nings back toTanner South.The family saidthey would reallylike to THANKall that were apart of this tour-nament.

Tanner South Benefit Tournament

S taff ReportContinuing to make a foothold

on the Port Charlotte side of theriver the may XTreme RedfishTournament drew 30 boats andweighed in 35 redfish. “It was atough day on the water, the tideswere wrong and the wind was unco-operative. Still there were winners:

1st place: Paul Lambert andBrandon Varney 14.41 lbs $1250.00

and also big fish 7.31 $ 280.002nd place: Chris Stephens and

Tony Roan 13.21 lbs. $ 570.003rd place: Roy Lietz and Clint

Webster 12.91 lbs. $250.004th place: Tom Fisher and

Buzzy Hayes 12.55 lbs. $170.00The next XTreme Redfish

Tournament is scheduled for June 21at Banana Bay Motel in PortCharlotte.

P a g e 1 4 Wa t e r L I F E M A G A Z I N E K I D S C U P J u n e 2 0 0 8

By Betty S tauglerSea Grant / Water LIFEIt’s been a pretty active month for the

Kids Cup Redfish Tracking Project. Ouracoustically tagged redfish have beenobserved by almost all of our fixed listen-ing stations and a good number have beenpicked up on our mobile tracking unit aswell. Some of these guys have beenworld class travelers and others have beenmore of the home-body types. Below is asummary of the movements we haveobserved to date.

Fish #14, originally caught inMatlacha Pass hung out at Fishermen’sVillage until 4/28. It then explored thePGI canals showing up on our units atBass Inlet and Colony Point. On 4/29,we picked it up at Ponce Inlet, and on the30th it was recorded at the mouth ofAlligator Creek. Our last observation ofthis fish was at Hobbs Point on May16th.Taking a similar path is fi sh #8 .

This fish left Fishermen’s Village on4/21, heading over to Colony Point. Itwas observed a day later at Ponce and thenon the 24th at the mouth of AlligatorCreek. My husband and I picked it upwith the mobile tracking gear on May 9thalong the PGI shoreline north of theAlligator Creek channel. This fish was

also observed at Hobbs Point, showing upon the 14th and recorded there again on the19th of May. Also recorded by the HobbsPoint unit was fi sh # 24 (originally

caught in Pine Island Sound) on 5/19, andfi sh #s 28 and 15 (both originallycaught near Turtle Bay) and both observedat Hobbs Point on 5/3. All three of thesefish took similar paths in getting toHobbs as Fish #s14 and 8. A number of our fish, including fi sh

# 7 (originally caught in Pine IslandSound), fi sh # 25 (originally caughtnear Turtle Bay) and fi sh #51 (originallycaught near the Boca Grande Bridge) havespent a considerable amount of time in thePGI canal system. These guys have beengoing round and round being picked up atFishermen’s Village, Bass Inlet, ColonyPoint, Ponce Inlet, on the PGI Rim Canaland (fish #51) at Alligator Creek. Some of our other interesting observa-

tions include fi sh #22 (originally caughtin Matlacha Pass), which was last pickedup on the south fork of Alligator Creekon May 9th, and Fish #5 which was notheard from after he left Fishermen’sVillage on April 21st, until we pickedhim up on our mobile unit near the centerspan of the 41 Bridge on May 8th. Thisfish was originally caught at the northernend of Matlacha Pass.Two of our home body fish are Fish#

11 and Fish #27 . Fish #27 (originallycaptured near Bull Bay) has made it overto Colony Point, but keeps coming back

Kids Cup Redfish Tracking Continues ...Tournament Fish Appear at Hobbs Point!

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The second place Kids Cup team of JrAngler Brandon Varney (standing on thebow) and Paul Lambert got to fish in theEnglewood IFA tournament when Kids Cupwinner Booker Cothern had his boat break-down on the day of the captains meeting.The IFA had given the Kids Cup winner afree $400 entry in their tournament. Varneysaid they had one fish when they came backto the dock, but the team did not come tothe scale to weigh in.As an interesting ʻaside ̓to the Kids Cup, theFWC has changed the wording on theirculling waiver. The phrase ʻeach team mayposess no more than two redfish ̓has beendeleted from the waiver. The number of fishposessed is (and always has been) deter-mined by the applicable state law: No oneangler can catch and keep more than oneredfish per day.

Exact fish tracks are unknown, but thedirection and end points so far are close.Burnt Store is the next area to watch.

J u n e 2 0 0 8 Wa t e r L I F E M A G A Z I N E K I D S C U P P a g e 1 5

to Fishermen’s Village. His last record-ing continued on facing pagethere was 5/18. Fish #11 (Originallycaptured on the West Wall) has only beenobserved at Fishermen’s Village and onlysporadically have we heard it. Our lastrecording of this fish was on 5/8 whenRoger and I were mobile tracking in thearea. It came close enough to the boat tobe picked up one time, but must havebeen moving fast because we couldn’tfind himRoger is out downloading infor-mation from the equipment today and Iwill be out doing the same tomorrow.We are a little slower with the websiteupdate this year, but we should be post-ing the information soon.

Anglers , by now you should havereceived your letters indicating your Fish#. If you have not received yours, giveme a call. Captains, if you want to fol-low the fish your angler captured, youwill need to contact your Kids Cup anglerto receive their fish number.

Captains and Anglers , if you pro-vided your email address on the tourna-ment application, we will send you anupdate when the tracking maps are up onthe web. Anglers, we will also let youknow if your fish is recaptured and calledin to the Redfish Hotline (no calls onthis year’s fish yet). Also anglers, thisyear your name will be added to MoteMarine Laboratory’s Junior Fin ClipRaffle program, for a chance to win cool

prizes. Mote collected fins clips of all ofthe fish weighed in to determine if anyare hatchery reared fish. Last year all ofour redfish were from wild stock. The data we have received so far this

year is pretty exciting. The question nowis, are the fish moving faster this year, ordid we improve the study design to thepoint that we are garnering more observa-tions. Maybe a little of both, or maybeneither. At this point, only the fish real-ly know. Stay tuned for year two of theKids Cup Redfish Tracking Project.

You can Fol low Your Fish at

http:/ /charlotte. i fas. ufl . edu/kidscup/ index.html

Betty Staugler is the Sea Grant Agent

Sonic transmitters about the size of aAA battery were surgically implanted in20 Kids Cup Tournament fish.


By Capt Rick Kel lySpecial to Water LIFEWe left the dock about 1 PM with a 10

to 15 knot wind. A reasonably calm daycompared to what it’s been recently. Whenwe reached our first stop I lowered thePower Pole so that the wind was at ourback and we cast towards the mangroves.It’s been so windy the seagrass was

rolling in and snagging our lines. Charliereeled in his sardine and it had grass allover it. I told Charlie that the sardinereminds me of when I had hair.I believe the wind and grass is also a

factor impacting the royal terns and peli-cans who can’t find little fish to dive on.Since the birds can’t find food they wereattacking our baits. It was almost impos-sible to get a bait into the water withoutone or more birds diving down for a freesnack.At one point, when I was getting ready

to cast my bait, a tern dove and grabbedCharlie’s bait near the mangroves and gottangled in the line. I cast my sardine awayfrom the trees, away from the diving birdsand any lurking snook and put my rod inthe rod holder so that I could help Charliewith the bird.Charlie reeled the bird to the boat where

I carefully covered its head with a towel,folded in its wings and gently removed thehook. Then we released the bird unharmed.

Unfortunately while working on the saferelease of the tern the line became all tan-gled and knotted in the reel. Charlie askedme with a straight face, what’s the sizelimit on royal terns? I told him a littlebigger and that they taste like chicken...fishy chicken. Suddenly, I heard a reel screaming. I

looked toward my rod. It was bent overand saw a big snook jumping out of thewater where no snook should have been.Never say never! Charlie reeled in the niceslot-size snook while I untangled his reel.About this time Charlie says “looks

like we won’t get the forecasted rain.” Ithought to myself “Oh No, don’t say that!”Sure enough it wasn’t 10 minutes and therain came with a vengeance. So now wehave wind, rain, weeds, birds and tangledlines. The good news was the fish didn’tmind at all. The air pressure was droppingand they were hungry! We caught severalmore snook where no snook should be andlanded an oversize red and several slot sizeredfish where the snook should have been.Confusing isn’t it?The time had come to head back to the

dock. I started the motor, raised my PowerPole, put the boat in gear and jumped upon plane. As we headed home I mulled overa trying day with lots of problems andchallenging situations. Some of them Icould fix and some we just had to live

with. All in all we caught a lot of fish andhad a good time.I always look forward to fishing with

Charlie because he is a nice guy and fun tofish with. After all, isn’t that what it’s allabout.Here are some thoughts on how to han-

dle pesky sea birds diving on your bait:n Just before the bird hits the water give

the line a little jerk - pulling the sardine afew inches causes the bird to miss.Unfortunately jerking your line will bringyou bait closer to the surface making it aneasier pray for the next birds.

n Cast the bait under overhangingbranches giving your bait some protection.

n Give the birds an easy pick and dis-tract them by throwing out more chum(preferably dead ones - floaters). Hopefullythey will go for the chum and leave yourbait alone. Caution! - this method has beenknown to attract more birds.

n Hook the bait so that it will swimdown and away from the surface of thewater.

n Terns can dive under water. If thewater is deep enough and/or you are fishingin a current, add a small split shot to yourleader in an attempt to get your bait downbefore being scooped up by a bird.

n Switch to a weighted shrimp or arti-ficial for a while and hopefully the birds

Slow Down and Smell the Fish

Charlie with a 45” Cobia caught on one of our recent outings.


By Capt. Chuck EichnerWater LIFE Charlotte HarborFishing often evokes an image of a

relaxed angler patiently perched in hisboat. To the non-fisherman, it’s an easysport; drop a line overboard and wait forthe fish to bite. But for the casual anglermany times the fish never bites. I can’t tell you how many times I have

heard a Charlotte County resident saythey rarely catch fish when they go fish-ing. It’s hard for me to believe becausethere are more fish within CharlotteHarbor, Pine Island Sound and the sur-rounding waters than most anywhere elsein the U.S.. I believe that most folkswho live here came from a northern stateand they are not used to fishing in shal-low waters, often less than 5 feet or whatwe refer to as a deep hole of 20 feet. Ourwaters are generally clear and you wouldthink that if there are fish in the waterthen you should be able to see them.Right? Up north, 15 feet is shallow anddeep is over 50 feet. Admittedly, I dooccasionally have a skunked day on thewater, but more often it’s when I pursuethe glamorous species, tarpon, snook andredfish. But this article brings me backto my earliest southern Florida fishingexperiences. I too had a hard time catch-ing fish until I employed the basics.This article is primarily about catching

many subtropical species that do notinclude the tarpon, snook or redfish. Thefish you can expect to easily encounterwithout a sophisticated effort includesmangrove snapper, assorted bottomspecies including grunts and flounder,ladyfish, sharks (primarily blacktip andbonnethead), jack crevalle, speckled trout,bluefish, mackerel, goliath grouper, hard-head and gafftop catfish, black drum, bar-racuda and many others. There are a lot of

other fish besides snook, redfish andtarpon and primarily these fish can bepursued in open waters not aroundextreme shallows and mangroveislands.In short, to catch fish on just about

any occasion there are 3 basic stylesof fishing to employ- drift fishing,anchored bottom fishing and trolling.It sounds simple enough and the baitsto use for each style are actually sim-ple enough as well. The warm weath-er bait of choice would be liveshrimp, live baitfish, live crabs orfresh cut bait including ladyfish andthreadfin herring. Perhaps the easiestand cheapest baits are frozen squid andSpanish sardines. I find the mostrelaxed fishing is drift fishing and it isvery productive as well. The biggest thing to fishing suc-

cess is fishing in the right spot. Thebasic rule of ‘where-fish-will-be-found’ typically involves a bottomchange in depth. For example, an 8-footbottom that falls off quickly to a 12-footdepth offers the fish a breakline of depthto ambush from and becomes a fish mag-net. The second rule is current flowwhich helps fish position themselves totake advantage of an incoming or outgo-ing tide on a bottom feature. With these2 rules in mind here are 2 examples ofspots that are pretty much a sure thing:Go to the Jug Creek Bar and set up a drifton an incoming tide on the outskirts ofthe bar where shallow meets deep and youwill catch fish. Location No. 2 isJohnson Shoals just outside Boca GrandePass where you let the tide pull your boatpast the edge of the shallow water ledgeas it juts down into the channel. Theselocations are fish super-highways andthere are thousands of fish in our area.Set up a bottom rig with a light sinkerwith a snelled hook about 12 inchesabove the sinker and bait-up with ashrimp or squid. Match the hook size tothe bait size. Another approach is to usea jighead tipped with bait and drift thisbehind the boat. I promise you will not

go home skunked! This same tactic canbe employed around the harbor adjacent toheavy weedbeds or in the middle of a largeexpanse of grass. A different rig would beone that suspends your bait below a floatas you drift along. Impart an occasionaljerk as you drift along which createssound and draws the fishes attention toyour bait. A second productive fishing technique

is bottom fishing from an anchored boat.Again, being where the fish are is thekey. The many public reefs hold fishhowever less visible spots hold plentymore fish. For instance, the mouth ofthe Peace River or intersection ofMatlacha Pass with Charlotte Harbor aregreat places to throw the anchor and put afew lines out. My general riggingmethod is to place a 1/0 to 3/0 hook on 2feet of 30-pound mono leader and pitch ashrimp or cut- bait out. Have at least 2lines out so that one can be fishedweightless and the other with a few splitshots to get it the near the bottom.Heavier current flow may require moreweight. You can expect sharks, trout,jacks, ladyfish, mackerel and occasionally

a grouper, tarpon or cobia. You reallynever know what will bite. Another goodlocation is the old pilings from the phos-phate docks on the north side of BocaGrande. These pilings hold a lot of fish.Anchor up, place a chum bag over theside and get ready to reel. Goliathgrouper love this spot. Many other bot-tom fish will jolt your rod and oftenbreak you off before you can pull themfrom the structure. The key here is the structure. It offers

a place for the predator fish to stagebehind and ambush their prey. This isthe basic fundamental of the successfulangler. Visualize the bottom and anyambush point that is derived from a bot-tom depth change, or position your boatto fish man-made structure. Identify thesespots by reviewing a chart and using yourdepthfinder to locate the subtle bottomcontours.Next Month: More spots and

techniques for trol l ing.

Capt. Chuck Eichner is a local chartercaptain. For information or to book a guid-ed fishing trip call 941-505-0003 or go to

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Joyce Diliberto holding the Sheepshead she caught on April 19 in Charlotte Harbor at the three-mile reef. After the picture, the fish was released.


By Capt Ron BlagoWater LIFE Senior StaffIt’s Memorial Day and the boat ramps are packed,

that’s the reason I’m staying home this holiday weekendrather than enjoying my time on the water. Everyoneknows that holidays and weekends can be pretty crazy,just too many people on the water at one time.Considering that Florida now has over a million regis-tered boats it's not surprising that we once again we leadthe nation with 77 boating fatalities in 2007. This hasstarted a few groups to call for a statewide boat opera-tor’s license. In 1996 the state legislature passed a lawthat requires anyone born after 1980 to pass a safe boat-ing course. That means that everyone 28 or less alreadyneeds a license. Here’s a thought: instead of setting up anew department of boating licenses, how about justoffering a $10 discount on your next boat registration ifyou show proof of passing an authorized safe boatingcourse. I know .... it’s too simple.Fishing has been great lately. Tarpon action has been

hot both in Boca Grande Pass and off the beach. Thepeople working the area north of Stump Pass have beendoing really well. Now that the snook season is closedI’ve been catching a lot of snook in Lemon Bay. Thesecret has been white bait and high tides. I’ve learned afew new tricks this season. With the high cost ofshrimp-when you can get them- I’ve been working moreon my white bait techniques. The first thing I learned isdon’t always count on getting your bait first thing in themorning. If I don’t see the bait first, I start drifting the

flats fishing with jigs. Inthe flats north of StumpPass I’ve been running intosome late season pompanoand bluefish along with agood supply of trout andladyfish. Usually, if thewater is calm, I will seeschools of white bait onthe flats or moving northto south heading for thepass. You want to keepyour eyes open for flashesof silver. If you don’t seethe silver flash, the schoolis probably small mulletand not the desired-scaledsardine. Another trick I’ve

learned is to watch thebirds. Not the pelicans thatendlessly dive-bomb on thebait; but the lowly cor-morant that skims a fewfeet over the water for along distance. I’ve noticedthat as they pass over aschool of white bait, the bait will shake and sometimejump out of the water. I describe it as ‘kicking a stillbucket full of water.’ When you see this rippling of thewater head right for it with your net at the ready. It’samazing how the bait will just stay there. Just rememberto be quet.With plenty of white bait in the livewell it’s easy to

find the fish. In the mangroves, in channels next to sea

walls and under docks, all have been pretty productive.I’ve run into a lot of big jacks in these areas too.Actually too big; they have been tearing up my 30-pound fluorocarbon leaders. I’ve been reading reportsabout redfish in the flats of north Lemon Bay but I can’tfind them. I guess someone is going to have to show mewhere they are before I believe them.

Capt Ron can be reached for questions or charters at941-474-3474

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This is one of a pair of 24 inch redfish Kyle Reynolds caught while fishing with friendsCapt. Dave Stephens and Capt. Marc Miller.


By Adam WilsonWater LIFE Diving

If you've beenwaiting for warmertemperatures to getback in the water thetime is now. Usually by June 1 the bot-tom temps out to 100 feet are 80 degrees.Unfortunately, along with the warmerwater comes murky visibility, especiallyat most shallow sites less than 60 feet.Just like your pool turns green with algaemuch faster in the summer, so does theGulf.Go out further and closer to the heart

of the Gulf Stream though and the waterremains a deep indigo-blue color andincredibly clear year round. Even out in200 feet it is a lot of fun to jump in withjust a mask and snorkel to enjoy theamazingly clear water. Just because youcan't go to the bottom doesn't mean youcan't enjoy the sights. Not all creatureslive at the bottom of the ocean. Fishswarm over large structure like springsand shipwrecks and it's there you will findfish in the water column right up to thesurface. Just floating near the boat it'scommon to see huge schools of permit,pompano, every variety of jacks and run-ners, barracuda, swarms of bait and bonitaalong with possible pelagics like tuna,wahoo and dolphin.On our last trip one of our divers was-

n't comfortable diving to 180 feet, so hewaited for us on the anchor rope at 100feet. When we were back in the boat hewas thrilled because he was able to see uson the bottom from his vantage point forour entire dive, and was surrounded bymassive schools of amberjacks and color-ful rainbow runners the whole time too.Diving to shallow depths in deep water

is for more experienced divers, but can beeasily mastered, especially with the helpof an anchor rope or drop line. Althoughthe intended depth may be the same as adive on a shallow reef, not having the seafloor as a stop or for reference requiresexcellent buoyancy control and a littlepractice.

If you have been out of the water forthe winter, it's time to do a thoroughinspection of all your scuba gear. Gearthat has sat for more than a couple ofmonths has a magical way of not work-ing all by itself. I've heard "man this wasworking fine last time I used it" toomany times. Then a long anticipated dayof diving turns into a day of driving theboat around for everyone else.The biggest problem is weak or dead

batteries in dive computers and dry rottedor cracked rubber creating leaky hoses orbroken fin or mask straps. The best wayto check your gear is assemble everythingat home as if you were about to dive andput it on. It is hot, clumsy and a pain,but it's the best way to determine what isworking or not. Try it in the pool.

Diving safety has been a pretty bigtopic on most boats lately. I have a friendthat spent over 4 hours floating off KeyWest last month before being rescued bythe Coast Guard at night. The only reasonthe HH-65 rescue helicopter pilot sawthem was a small, inexpensive flashlightwaved frantically in the pilots direction.Admittedly, had they elected to tow afloating flag during their late afternoondive, the captain of the charter vesselwould have known their location for theentire dive and not lost them when theysurfaced in the glare of the setting sun. Ihate to think of the outcome had they notbrought a flashlight.

No one ever plans on getting lost atsea. Everyone should have these itemsattached somewhere to their BC for everydive regardless of proximity to land ordepth: an air driven horn like the "DiveAlert" brand that installs in line with alow pressure inflator hose, a signal mir-ror, a rolled up inflatable "see me" tube,and a flashlight. Some even go as far asvacuum bagging small hand launchedflares and keeping those in a pocket. Allthese items are easily stored out of theway on any bc and could mean the differ-ence between surviving and being rescuedor not.

S u m m e r D i v e r s

ARC REEF Clear water and bright green growth signify the start of summer. Now is thetime to get out into the water and explore the great near-shore reefs we have in CharlotteCounty

By Bi l l DixonWater LIFE SailingI got a ride on Rudy Gottschlich’s Jeanneau

36 Diva Gorda in the Key West Rendezvous.We faced almost all possible weather condi-tions from beating into 20+ knots of windand 4-6 foot seas, to being becalmed and drift-ing in circles. Looong trip down 1 day, 9hours, 9 minutes elapsed time. I discoveredthat I am no longer young and strong. I justsmell strong. Beside not taking my medication and suf-

fering mal-de-mer, dehydration, chills and con-stipation, I found out that my night depth per-ception is lousy. Atthe finish off theGalleon resort inKey West I wasfirmly convinced wewere going to crashhead on into the sea-wall, but we nevereven came close. It was a tough

race. Jerry Poquetteon Fancy Free suf-fered a broken rudder.Chuck Taylor onIronic Breeze woundup on the wrongside of a wind shift

and had to motor east for hours to get to KeyWest. Rudy did better with a second place tro-phy in the race to Key West and a 3rd in therace back to Naples.We arrived In Key West 10-ish on

Thursday, but some boats were still stragglingin on Saturday. Glad I wasn’t with them. Ohyeah. Key West was well, outlandish.June 28, West Florida PHRF will be hold-

ing their annual meeting in Punta Gorda.Highlights will include 2 free steak dinnersfor certificate holders and awarding of theWFPHRF BOTY trophies as well as electionof next year’s officers and ratification of pro-posed changes to the bylaws. Details will beon the WFPHRF web site at westflori-daphrf.org soon. Sorry, no good action pictures, I was too

busy then – Bill [email protected]



By David Al lenWater LIFE KayakingLast Sunday, one of our club members

had a birthday and invited us to paddle outfrom her home just off the ManchesterWaterway. This wasn’t just our ordinarySunday paddle; she had promised us cof-fee, donuts, bagels and more to celebratethe event. The lot adjacent to her homemade an ideal launch point for any one ofseveral good paddles, either west to theComo Canal and Highway 776, or east tothe Triple Lakes and Hog Island. Eventhough it was not high tide, and theTriple Lakes and mangroves are shallow

in spots, we elected to try the Lakesroute. So it was no surprise when about 21

paddlers showed up for the coffee, donutsand paddling. The food was good and theconversation was interesting. As, almost always, it was a beautiful

Florida day, with brilliant sunshine andvery little wind at launch time. From theput-in, a paddle of roughly one half miletakes you to the Manchester and anotherhalf mile to the entrance to the TripleLakes mangrove canal. This segment ofthe route is fairly wide open and relativelydeep – an easy paddle for most kayakers.

We moved quickly through the threelakes, touching bottom only a few times,emerging into the Myakka Cutoff, withHog Island directly in front of us. Weoften elect to paddle east into CharlotteHarbor, hugging the western shore all theway to Alligator Bay and the PortCharlotte Beach Complex. Then we usu-ally return to the Manchester Waterwaythrough the boat channel. This time wedecided to take the western route throughthe very narrow, shallow mangrove tun-nels that line the waterway.After a short break for an energy bar

and drink of Gatorade, we headed north-west toward the entrance to the tunnels.Near the entrance on the Myakka Cutoff,the mangroves are fairly open and it’s easyto get lulled into a sense of an easy dayon the water, but a few yards beyond theentrance, all thoughts of an easy paddleare quickly forgotten. The tunnels narrowdown very quickly to a width of a coupleof yard in the wide spots and even thoughwe often paddle the mangroves, those offthe Myakka Cutoff are about the toughestin the area to get through.As we paddled, you could continuously

hear the scraping of paddles on the man-

grove branches even though some of ourgroup had reduced the length of their pad-dles by separating the two halves. Aheavy tree branch had fallen across ourpath in one spot, and we all waited whileeach kayak was partly scooched and partlypaddled over the intruding obstacle. As we approached the exit from the

tunnels back into the Manchester, thewater became even shallower, mostly dueto a buildup of sediment and shell. Wehad to get out of our kayaks and carrythem the last 25 yards. It was a welcomesight to see open water again and realizethat we only had a half-mile or so to thelaunch site. I suppose many of you are wondering

why anyone would take such a paddle, sodifficult and challenging. Part of theanswer is because we enjoy kayaking andbeing on the water regardless of the diffi-culty of the paddle. Even the tough onesare enjoyable as is the good shared fun.

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-

Paddling the Daunting Manchester Mangroves

KayakingKayaking

By Capt Andrew MedinaWater LIFE Charlotte HarborJune is truly going to be a very inter-

esting month. Tarpon, sharks, cobiaalong with all the favorite inshore fish.They should all chew well this month.Redfish, snook and many others will be

on the feed and be readily available aswell. This is the time of the year I will usu-

ally start throwing crabs, not only for tar-pon roaming around the harbor, but crabsare also a great bait for bush fishing. Ihave yet to see a redfish turn down a

crack crab laid up on the bot-tom. This is part of their nat-ural diet. Crabs work reallywell for those big, hard tocatch reds.There is also plenty of

catch-and-release snook actionalong the east side. Find the‘green cuts’ and they will usu-ally produce some greataction. Another good note: Ihave noticed some really largemangrove snapper are willing to eat whitebait as well, even if it does, legally, nowhave to be on a circle hook! But the big catch this month is the tar-

pon. There are now great opportunities tocatch a king without playing around inthe pass. I truly love the pass, but if youcan find the large ‘threadies’ in the harboryour chances are just as good of getting-hooked up. A D.O.A Bait Buster stillworks miracles in this situation. Also,the Rip Tides Natural Shrimp in glow orany chartreuse combination, will workgreat on harbor tarpon. If you are a livebait fisherman your day should beginwith a livewell full of threadfins. Theyare not hard to get, as long as you arethrowing a net of appropriate size. I liketo use a 1⁄2 inch mesh with a little addedweight. Something that sinks relativelyfast. Your well should be ready for the dayin no time. Cobia have made their wayinto the harbor as well. Cut bait or livesilver trout fished around the artificialreefs is a good way to get the attention ofa ‘cruising cigar’. If you’re into fly fishing, the water is

perfect for wading. Wading is a great wayto approach fish on a flat or along a man-grove shoreline. I found with the largebait run this year, green and whiteclausers have been producing some fish.

Snook and jacks are always willing to eata clauser. Redfish have been a little trickythough. Shrimp and crab patterns are yourbest bet for reds. And larger ‘poppers’ firstthing in the morning have produced a fewfish. And this month you will also see alot of anglers in the middle of the harborthrowing flies. Tarpon are not shy whenit comes to eating a fly. If you’re outthere long enough and fish hard enoughyou will find that one not-so-smart fish.My color choices for tarpon on a fly, hasalways been the same and has neverchanged: plenty of blacks and plenty ofred and whites get the job done. Look fortarpon in pot holes south of the shacks inPine Island. The fish should show them-selves in the morning – just don’t go outthere with hopes of catching one on a 4weight rod. Ten-weight or larger is stan-dard gear for these tarpon. With a tournament every weekend and

sometimes two, it might get a little busy.Another angler might be in your favoritehole. When this happens don’t get upsetjust sit back collect your thoughts andremember that they are fish and theyswim. I have found if you put enoughchum in the water, the fish will show upin your area soon. Be safe on the waterand just have fun.

Capt. Andrew Medina can be reached forcharter info at 456-1540 or on the web at


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Screaming Reels: June will be Interesting

St Pete SharkTournament

S taff ReportWe’ve heard

it over andover: It’s‘sharkey’ outthere this year.The St. PeteSharkTournamentproved it. Tigersharks arearound. Theyare following the sea turtles, one of their favorite meals. ST PETE RESULTS: 1st place was a 431pound tiger shark

caught by Team Tunnel Vision. Second place, a 295 pound bullshark, was caught by Team Redneck. Third place was a 294pound bull shark brought in by Team Penetration Fourth placewent to a 263pound hammerhead caught by Team Southshore Thejunior division first place winner team Ital ian Navy brought backa 64 pound black tip.


The Deadly Dozen : Charlotte HarborThe Deadly Dozen : Charlotte Harbor

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.

Last Month The InteriorDepartment put the Polar Bear on theEndangered Species list giving it moreprotection. They justified the actionbased on Global warming. Global warm-ing could then account for the well-beingof the manatee, which needs to come offthe endangered list. Manatees thrive inwarm water. A Lot of Ferti l izer The local SW

Florida county ban on certain lawn fertil-izers cited the fact that fertilizer seepsinto the water table and cause... algae

and red tide. Well hello! Two Permits? Will Punta Gorda

require boaters to buy two sparate park-ing permits – one for the Laishley rampand one for Ponce Park? DeSoto Ramp Parking Is that a

boat trailer parking lot being constructedin the field next to Nava-A-Gator?This i sn’t scuttlebutt , it’s the

Gospel Truth. Starting this month if youare snapper fishing from a kayak in thebackwaters of Charlotte Harbo,r you willhave to have a venting tool aboard.

That’s what government will do to youwhen it gets in a hurry to make rules.

So we’re wondering , if you tooka circle hook and ‘reconfigured’ it with aset of pliers, or if you bent a jig into acircle, would that still fulfill the letter ofthe new law?Golden Officer Dennis Palmer

checked two fishers from Orlando at theSandy Creek boat ramp and found neitherhad the proper licenses. Officer Palmeralso found the duo were using storebought goldfish as bait.The proper paperworkwas issued. Roger’s Reprieve

The Sea GrantAssistant position,

filled by RogerDeBruler hasbeen approvedfor another year. Marker A is

back, four yearsafter Charley.It’s about 250yds offshore onthe west walljust south ofhalfway point.

We’re

SCUTTLEBUTTSometimes Unsubstanciated, But Often True

although the XTreme is a redfish tournament, weighmasterAndrew Medina took the time to weigh in Josh Rhodes 4.89pound trout, rescusitate it and then release it.


The Water LIFEWater LIFE Distributorʼs Club

Cooks Sportland

4419 So. Tamiami TrailS. Venice493-0025

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

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The CommercialPerspectiveBy Kel ly BealPeace River Seafood Water LIFE Punta GordaTo be a survivalist in today’s commercial

fishing industry you have to be willing todiversify, at least that's the case here inFlorida. If one season doesn't work out youhave the next to try and play catch up.These days it seems our fisherman arealways playing catch up and it’s getting hard-er and harder. I constantly hear the fishermensay "I won't let my son get in the business,we're a dying breed, he could never make it."Forever the optimist, I say we can make itand we will. We just have to be willing tochange ... and oh how we hate change!So how does one diversify? Here in

Charlotte County we have those that stonecrab, blue crab, chase mullet, sand brim,pompano, grouper and do both inshore andoffshore shrimping. There are also thosethat harvest ornamental fish, bait crabs andbait fish. You may specialize in one area,but that resource may be having a bad yearand the time comes when you have tochange.A bad year doesn't necessarily mean a lack

of product. This past stone crab season wasincredible! So incredible that the marketbecame flooded and the stone crabbers fellvictim to Economy 101's first lesson of sup-ply and demand. Many stonecrabbers wereput on a two day a week limit because theirbuyer couldn't move the catch. When youstonecrab you only have 7 months to makeyour money. If you go 5 times a week for28 weeks - that's 140 trips. When the 140

trips turns into 56 trips you can imagine thedrain on your income.Okay, so the stonecrabber had a bad year.

Hopefully next year gets better. Unless he'sincredibly rich, he’ll have to make up forlost time. He still has a lot of work to do,preparing his gear and boat for next season.The commercial fisherman who is gonna'make it is the one who is willing to try newthings. He might add chasing summer mul-let or blue crabbing. I even know a fewbrave souls who have added being a chartercaptain to their list of skills. Let me tellyou, every day on the water with a group ofstrangers isn’t always the greatest thing.Another creative fisherman I know startedselling bait and drinks off a barge for therecreationals and he is having a blast. Thefact is, these guys are waterman and it's theirpassion to be out there. When I married myhusband Jim my father’s advice (an old saltycommercial fisherman himself) was "Don'ttry to convince him to get a job on the hill- it’s in his blood to be a commercial fisher-man – he'll never be happy doing anythingelse." I took the old man’s advice. I wantJim to be able to commercial fish the rest ofhis life. The commercial fishing industryhas indeed suffered some big bumps in itsroad, but don't give up. Never give up! Letsbe willing to change and diversify our skillsso we can beat what obstacles are ahead.Sometimes you have to go out on a limbbecause that's where the fruit is. Just be sureto eat the Florida fruit, or in this case Floridafish. Buy local! Be healthy, be happy and be safe.... and

stop by our restaurant and store on Hwy 17in Punta Gorda.


We Gottaʼ Be Flexible

Charlotte Countyʼs CompleteSwimming Pool SupplysPool Repair and MaintenanceStore

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

Specializing in Heaters and

Pumps

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

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: 625-3888The wind hasn’t stopped and it’s going

to keep blowing (I figure if I predict it’sgoing to blow maybe it will stop. Mypredictions have been all screwed up!) The main fish this month are tarpon.

It looks like they will do nothing but getbetter and better, it should be spectacularfor rest of the summer. The Pass shouldbe good for four more weeks, then therewill still be plenty of fish, but just notas many or as heavy as they are now. Outon the beaches and into the harbor,threadfins are the bait for tarpon, especial-ly since crabs are so hard to find. Theonly place I heard of was getting $38 adozen. We need the rain for the crabs, butwe don’t need it to keep the red tide away.DOA bait busters continue top be a greatartificial for tarpon when crabs are so hardto find. The Bait Buster works becausethe lead is more in the middle of the bait.

The Strike King (It’s called shadalici-

cous ) soft plastictube-bait is becominganother good alterna-tive if you want tofish tarpon on artifi-cials. The shadali-cious can be riggedweedless, with anopen hook, with acircle hook or a Jhook.Zara Spooks or

some crankbaitswork, but tarpon arespooky and thosebaits don’t seem towork consistently. Sharks are abun-

dant, to say the least.There are plenty ofsmall sharks here inthe harbor and they should stay here forthe rest of the summer. The key thing isto bring the lighter tackle out for thesmaller sharks and have fun with them.Anchor up and chum, that’s my advice.You can also drift if you like but I like toanchor and chum. Cut bait, fresh caught ladyfish or mul-

let, or sardines, are all good bait for thesmaller sharks. For some of the largersharks try going to the nearest of the off-shore reefs. There is a lot more patience

involved in shark fishing offshore, a lotmore chumming, but it’s a lot biggerfish, you will get offshore, and when youare offshore the by-catch is usually cobiaor tarpon. Cobia is steady this year, nothot and heavy, but steady. Check thechannel markers for cobia they like tohang there. Try sight casting a threadfinor an artificial. Idle along the bars. Thecobia will be with a stingray or a mantaray or a manatee on the bar. It’s weirdthat cobia don’t seem to like following orhanging with the cow nosed rays.Tripletai l should be around in the harbornow too. They could be on the channelmarkers too, or around any floatingdebris. Bind cast threadfins or big shrimpfor the triple tail. There aren’t usually alot of them around but the ones that arehere are the bigger ones. Here’s a good one this month: Permit

offshore. They congregate more on theman-made structure than on the naturalstructure. The most important thing withpermit fishing is being very quiet. Driftup to your spot and they will hit a crabor a shrimp and they will occasionallytake a baitfish. The artificial crab baitsthat work well on these fish are baits like

Gulp or DOA crabs or the C.W. crab. Ithas soft swimmer legs and a treble hookalready imbedded in it. Check that baitout. These have worked on harbor tarpon,too.Look for the permit tail on the surface

or, if it’s clear, look for the big mirrorlike shine down below over the structure. Redfish are still happening pretty

good. A little more patience is involvedthere too. Find shade and moving waterand you’ll likely find the redfish thismonth. Live shrimp and greenbacks areworking. Cut bait just isn’t working forredfish this week. Who knows why?Usually, around the full moon, you’ll

have the hill tide and if you drop offshore


JuneJune

ADVERTISE HEREWater LIFEʼs 1/8 page ad (this size)

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Nice Permit! This 26 pound specimen wasbrought in last month by Gill Benitez on atrip with Travis Ormond on Pelagic Chartersout of Stump Pass Marina.

While cruising the west side bar, Steve Zylstra and his two boysEthan and Tyler spotted this cobia along with two manatees.After telling Tyler, age 7, to grab his pole with a thread fin as bait,Tyler brought this 33 lb. cobia to the boat 27 minutes later.

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

and the lane snapper thatwill be in their first spawn.Remember, circle hooksonly.

Lemon Bay:Jim at Fishermen’s Edge,Englewood:697-7595Most of the action right now

involves tarpon fishing. There arequite a bit more fish on the beach,and they are coming and going inand out of the pass. I had some guyslast night, catching therm on crabsbut they were dipping crabs up fromthe pass. Millers sent a plane out toLouisiana, Another shop in town hasthem for $48 a dozen. The $28 dol-lar mark is what people seem to bewilling to pay for crabs. I think theprice of fishing – the price of gas –is influencing people spending thatkind of money on bait.There have been some Spanish

mackerel around and quite a bit ofpermit of late... the wrecks and theclose to shore spots have permitaround. Snook fishing has been good at

Placida; early in the morning hasbeen good. Throughout Lemon bayredfishing has been good,.. the tar-

pon guideswho couldn’tget outbecause of thewind havebeen fishingLemon Bayfor redfish.There is

really goodshark fishingright now, allaround the lower end of theharbor and close to the pass.Blacktips, sand sharks, smallerhammerheads, guys are seeingbull sharks but they’re justnot catching them yet. Frankstournament should be good

you can get into the mangrove snapper

n June 1-8-15: PTTSProfessional TarponTournament Series, Boca GrandePass.n June 14: Couples Tournament,Burnt Store (863) 245-8380n June 14: Shark, S tingray andSai lcat Tournament, FishinFranks, Port Charlotte. Entry $30Fish all night weigh in Sunday a.m.

941-625-3888n June 14: Firefighters Assn.Redfish Tournament, St. Pete, 2redfish 941-637-5953n June 21: Destroyer EscortDay, Fishermen’s Village, PuntAGords, 11 a.m. 239-731-8917.n June 28: Pirate RedfishTournament, Punta Gorda, (941)255-1555

n July4: Peace River Swim,Port Charlotte at the US 41 Bridgeto Fishermen’s Village, on the tide.n July12,13: Maverick BoatsFlatsmasters Series- RedPlugChal lenge, Artificial lures only.941-637-5953n Aug 6-9: Sarasota S lam,multi species inshore/offshoretournament, Marina Jacks (941)

BIG-4 BIG-4 Juneʼs Target Species Juneʼs Target Species

SHARK smaller ones in theharbor, bigger in

TARPON are here already, inthe Harbor

REDFISH bigger fish are COBIA have been showing

FishingFishingRIGHT NOW:RIGHT NOW:

VeryVeryExcellent!Excellent!

C a l e n d a r o f E v e n t sC a l e n d a r o f E v e n t s

THE ALL NEW 2008 F-450 KING RANCH SUPER DUTYTHE ALL NEW 2008 F-450 KING RANCH SUPER DUTY


June 14June 14Franks? SharkFranks? SharkTournamentTournament


Water LIFE June 2008

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