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Water LIFECharlotteHarbor

MagazineMichael and Ellen Heller

Publishers(941) 766-8180

TOTALLY INDEPENDENTWater LIFE is not affiliatedwith any other publication

© 2008 Vol VII No. 3 Water LIFE

No part of this publication may becopied or reproduced without the writ-

ten permission of both publishers Contributing Editors:

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

Gasparilla: Capt. Chuck EichnerPort Charlotte: Capt Andy MedinaOffshore: Capt. Steve Skevington

Real Estate: Dave HoferSailing Advisor: Bill Dixon

Kayaks: David AllenSea Grant: Betty Staugler

Diving: Adam Wilson

on the COVER:Todd Gilbert landed this tarpon alongthe beach in February – See page 6

on our WEBSITE:WWW.charlotteharbormagazine.com

Realtors: Links to advertisersTide Graphs: For local watersWeather: Links to all of our favorite sites.Back editions: Pages of previous editionsArtificial Reefs: Lat. and Long local reefsManatee Myths: Read the original plan tocreate sanctuaries and refuges, as spelledout by the United Nations in 1984Kids Cup Updates, Fish Tracking andTournament Information.

WRITE US!e-mail (preferred)

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217 Bangsberg Rd. Port Charlotte, FL 33952

You read the magazine online at: www.Charlotteharbormagazine.com

A Waking MomentSeveral weekends ago I noted

a local Coast Guard Auxiliary Boatfull of volunteers going into a con-gested “No Wake” zone a couple ofhundred yards before coming offplain. It caused a considerablewake to be thrown at boats mooredat a nearby dock. How much wakeis a minimum wake? No one reallyseams to know. I have been alicensed captain for over 30 yearsand I asked everyone I couldbecause I wasnʼt sure. What Ifound out was no one knows thedifference between wake and nowake. So I hit the books and stillcouldnʼt find the answer.

To be honest you canʼt makeway in water without making somewake. The real important thing hereis that you are responsible for yourwake and for negligent operationthat endangers life and property.Thatʼs Coast Guard Rules! If some-one gets hurt or if boats or propertyare damaged you are responsiblefor that persons injury or propertydamages.

Chapman Piloting andSeamanship says “regulate yourspeed so that no destructive wakeresults; excessive wake can causedamage to other boats and toshore installations.

The Power Squadron teachesthat “High Speed boating inrestricted or congested areas isdangerous and against the law.Operate your boat at a reasonablespeed when close to shore or nearmoored or drifting boats, floats,docks, launch ramps, swimmers, ordowned water skiers. Your wake

must never endanger any personor property.”; and, “be careful whenapproaching other boats or con-gested areas”; “reduce wake byslowing down a considerable dis-tance before passing anotherboat.”

Rumor has it that the “NoWake” rule is being terminated andchanged to “Slow Speed -Minimum Wake.” I was told by acanal maintenance worker that hewas replacing some signs in PGIwith “Slow Speed - MinimumWake” signs. This makes a lot ofsense to me.

The other day I was fishingabout 50 feet from a mangroveisland with my Power Pole holdingthe boat in perfect position.Suddenly, a fast boat came roaringby rocking me creating a largewake on the island. The PowerPole held the boat in position butthe fishing was over.

During the winter months,Alligator Creek is a great place tofish. In addition to holding fish inthe deeper water of the creek it is asafe haven from rough conditionson Charlotte Harbor and the lowwater levels on the flats. Whilemany boats are anchored and fish-ing in the creek it can becomequite congested. Still some incon-

siderate and uneducated boatersfly by at full speed creating a verydangerous situation. Some of theseʻfly boysʼ are licensed captains whoknow better. Worse yet, someboaters are unaware of the prob-lem they are creating and will cryfowl when they themselves anchorand someone else rocks their boat.

Fishermen also need to be con-siderate of other vessel operatorsand the law. The Florida Fish andWildlife Boating Safety Courseteaches that it is illegal to anchor avessel in the traveled portion of ariver or channel that will prevent orinterfere with any vessel passingthrough the same area.

Let common sense prevail!Alligator Creek is wide enough forfishing boats to safely anchor ateither side of the channel and fishleaving ample room for passingboats to proceed safely be it at aslower speed than fast. Commonsense also suggests that you navi-gate just right of center in thechannel ready to alter your coursemore to starboard (right) and passport to port if an oncoming boatsuddenly appears.

The Alligator Creek “SlowSpeed - Minimum Wake” zoneshould be extended down to atleast Marker 17. Food for thought

maybe, instead of “no motorzones” that are being proposed ina few places in S.W. Florida. Itwould be easier to just off plane ifyou are within a 100 feet of a man-grove shore line. Perhaps “SlowSpeed - Minimum Wake.”

One of the all time great deepsea captains is Terry Morris. Hetold me the best way to avoidgoing fast in a no wake zone is tojust go fast enough to maintainbearing and safe steerage. Anyfaster and once again you probablyare going too fast. On the Venicecanal, which I proudly live, we getto see everything from full speedahead to very little wake. Yes, Isaid full speed ahead in a canal!Itʼs difficult for me to believe that aneighbor and fellow boater wouldbe so rude, not only to me but toeveryone else who lives on theVenice canal. The fact is certainboaters do it every day, the sameboats every time.

“Slow Speed - Minimum Wake”sure makes sense to me. No more“No Wake?” This could solve thiswaking problem. As I said, itʼs justa rumor. Could it be?

Safe boating and be kind outthere. Capt. Rick Kelley, Punta Gorda

Alligator Creek is a popular spot for fishing but itʼs also an access channel for many working boaters

LETTERS TO WATER LIFE


By Michael HellerWater LIFE editor

The FWC is looking intoan incident on the MyakkaRiver involving some per-son or persons who appar-ently set a snare linedesigned to entangle power-boats. “I was out fishingwith my buddies when myfriend hookedonto some-thing,” JeffCalkins said.He reeled it inand foundthey hadhooked ontosome dacronline. “At firstwe thoughtsomeone losttheir rod, sowe followedthe line. It wasbrand newline so Ithought theremight be abrand new rodon the end orsomething,”Calkins said.They followedthe line and

came to another line, a blueplastic one – and a rela-tively new plastic coveredsmall boat anchor. But theline also went on. Calkinsused his Boga Grip to slidealong the line. It went onand on, and at the end wasanother length of thick blueplastic line. “It’s almost as

if it was from a weed eater,but I’ve never seen a blueweed eater line,” Calkinssaid. And another anchor –a bigger Danfortrh, rustyand looking like it had beenout in the elements morethan underwater. But therewas still the other end ofthe line. They loaded the

Trap Line Set to Snare Boats in the Myakka?


Early Tarpon Bite

By Capt Todd GilbertSpecial to Water LIFEWe were off on the hunt for pompano.

Our first stop was Little Gasparilla Pass.Within minutes, the first fish was caught.It was only a squirrel fish, but I put it inthe well. We could use that for bait. Afterseveral more squirrel fish but no pompanowe moved out of the pass, driving alongthe shoreline continuing our search forpompano. There were numerous birds diving. I

threw the net over a school of bait swim-ming past the boat. My clients wereamazed at how easily this was done. Withmore bait in the well the pompano searchresumed. My clients did not care whatthey caught; they simply wanted to catchfish. I headed out towards another flock ofdiving birds. I told my clients with thelarge amount of bait around, there was thepossibility of cobia, kingfish, or bonita.All an exciting fight on light tackle.The school of bait was at least an acre

across. I rigged two poles with whitebait, and then cast on the outside of theschool where I could see larger fish swim-ming. The bait was not even in the watertwo minutes and the fight was on. Welanded a nice cobia 5 minutes later.While I was removing the hook, the

client fishing at the back of the boatyelled out that he had a big fish on andthat it had just jumped out of the water. Ihad not seen the fish jump so I walked tothe back of the boat to see what he had onhis line. I only use 15-pound test and 25-pound leader. I had to turn the trollingmotor on so the fish would not take allhis line. Then the fish came flying out ofthe water again, approximately 5-6 feet inthe air. I yelled to the man that it was atarpon ranging from 50-to 60-pounds.Five more jumps from the fish and 50minutes later, I grabbed for the leader to

release it. Needless to say, the fish did not like

what it saw, and took off like a jet snap-ping the 25-pound leader. “What a fight!”the man said. “That was the biggest fish Iever had on the line in my whole life!” Itold him that it was very rare to catch atarpon this time of year. It was February12th. Generally the water temperature in

February is still too cold for the tarpon.Some people say there are resident fishhere and I agree, however those fish areusually found inside Charlotte Harborwhere the water is much warmer. Weheaded back to the school of bait to seewhat else we could catch. I did have a tarpon rod on my boat that

day, so I baited it with a squirrel fish andcast it outside the school of bait. Then Iplaced the rod in the rod holder, and baitedthe light tackle rods. The squirrel fish had been in the water

about 3 minutes when the rod bent in halfand smoke started pouring off the reel. Thefish propelled itself out of the water, 8-to10-feet high. This was higher then I hadever seen a tarpon jump before. This fish was much larger. I handed the

rod to the other man and stood there think-ing to myself it was the middle ofFebruary and we already had one Tarpon tothe boat and now we had a larger one on.Twenty five minutes later, we landed thatfish. I removed the hook, took some pic-tures, and then measured it. This tarponhad a length of 70 inches, and a girth of38 inches. When you do the math, thefish is estimated to weigh 128-pounds.For the middle of February this is an awe-some catch. Whether it is a resident fishor a fish starting to move in from downsouth, all I can say is we caught two verynice fish that day. Todd Gilbert can be reached at (941) 416-




“Weʼre going to need another boat!” Jaws, the movieBy Michael Hel lerWater LIFE editorThe strike came almost as soon as we were

in position. It wasn’t 10 seconds before the tell-tale ‘dip’ of the line. Then all hell broke loose.The line went taught, the float went under andthe boat lurched backwards. There was no con-trolling it. It rolled and the transom slippedbelow the water, bow going skyward. Then theboat popped up and was dragged in a swirlingcircle. It was like the scene out of ‘Jaws’, butour fish was actually bigger than our little radiocontrolled boat – and our fish was a snook!We were laughing hard! It worked!I got the idea a year ago, that I could modify

a toy radio controlled boat and use it as a fish-ing tool. Since then, I have been told this isnot a new idea, that some guy did this on abass lake a number of years back, and ByronStout of the News Press had recently said hewas told about a company that is going to mar-ket such a device. I also heard that in Europethey use a remote controlled boat on the NorthSea to drop chum for the shore fishermen. Butfor me it was a new idea.My reasoning was, if I could design the right

boat I could use it as a bait delivery system,something that could run a big fat shrimp or ashiner right up under the mangroves. A boatthat could venture into the tiniest little creek-mouth looking for fish without any branchbreaking. Small is stealthy when it comes tofishing boats. This boat is 15-inches.The boat I picked was a cheap radio con-

trolled ‘toy’ from the Overton’s catalogue. Itcost $65. A ‘real’ radio controlled boat wouldprobably be better. When the boat came I took it into my shop

and immediately disassembled it. The electron-ics package was deep inside the hollow hull –one simple circuit board. Problem was, it wasnot sealed against the elements. A plastic onplastic screwed down cover, and a bigger prob-lem was that this particular boat was assembledwith one screw missing. I figured this was afreshwater toy so any salt incursion would befatal. I took out a fresh tube of 5200 marine ‘seal-

er’ and sealed the electronics. Then I sealed themotor housings and the antenna cable attach-ment. Then I reinstalled the deck. I sealed and5200’d the battery wire and devised a way ofkeeping the battery in a zip lock bag, pluggingthe connector right through the bag to make itwatertight. Every time I disconnect the battery Ijust use a fresh bag.With the deck on and screwed down I drilled

a few holes in it and pumped the inside of thehull full of expandable foam from Home Depot.The boat was now truly unsinkable.Next, I pop-riveted an aluminum angle

across the boat amidships and anther one at thestern. On the stern bracket I envisioned a ‘clip’of some sort to hold the line.Down at Fishin’ Franks my friend Robert

came up with the perfect outrigger clip. A $26stainless job that looked like it was made toorder for my project.I sprayed the boat’s non-stainless prop shafts

with Corrosion-X and I was ready.

The boat went to itsfirst sea trials in my pooland then on to the canalwhere I found, on a calmday, it would cross our100 foot canal a numberof times on one charge ofthe battery. I was ready forthe big time.With a couple of dozen

shrimp in the well, Ienlisted my friend CaptRalph Allen to come along. This wasnot going to be a one man fishing trip.Someone had to drive the radio con-trolled boat and someone else had tohold the rod and (hopefully) land thefish.We tried first along the seawall out-

side Fishermen’s Village, looking forsnapper. We found none and the 5-10knot wind was proving to be a littlemore than we wanted. Another problemwas we tangled the linearound the props on severaloccasions. Then we ventureddown to the calm south forkof Alligator Creek. I riggedan old Paradise Popper float Ihad on board to the outriggerclip, then we threaded a twist-ed section of the line throughthe eye of the popper’s swiveland up to the outrigger clip,so that a strike would pull theline completely free. Thissolved the prop tangling prob-lem and popper also gave ussomething to watch ‘twitch’when a fish nibbled. We had a couple of snapper

hits on the South Fork and Igot the hang of maneuveringthrough the fringe of thebushes. The snapper were bit-ing off the bait too fast and we couldn’t effect areal hook-set with the line through the clip.‘Perhaps a circle hook?’ Ralph had suggested,but we had none aboard. The battery was running low so I plugged it

into the charger and we headed up to ColonyPoint. By the time we got there the battery hada little more juice, so we anchored up in thebasin and I pointed the boat toward the concretedocks. The boat is steered by differential control.

There are two motors – one motor shuts downto make a turn. The two little plastic one-inchpropellers do a lot of churning and thrashing.From the beginning, I thought the noise wouldbe a problem. But that turned out not to be thecase. In fact, the noise of my ‘power on,’‘power off’ navigating style might have been anenticement for the snook.It all came together like clockwork. The

snook hit the bait as soon as I had the boat inposition – a snook smacking head turning hitthat rolled the boat on its side like the sceneout of Jaws, before the outrigger released. Then,while Ralph fought the fish I maneuvered the

boat up towardsit to see if itwould spookhim. It did not.He didn’t evenpay attention toit.Will radio

controlled boatsprovide thenext tourna-ment ‘edge’?Some tourna-ment rules say:no wading, that you can’t leave your boat tofish, but no tournament rules, yet, say anythingabout using a radio controlled fishing aid.Looking back, it is amazing that we actually

landed that fish,amazing becausewe were bothlaughing so hardwe could easilyhave fallen over-board!

When a 23 inch snooktook the bait our little toy

boat was swung aroundand dragged under, but it

popped up and the linereleased as planned. Right: The outrigger

release clip.

By Michael Hel lerWater LIFE EditorThe Sea Grant Agent assigned to Charlotte County is

the closest thing this county has ever had to a staffmarine biologist. I lauded the Charlotte CountyCommissioners for including the Sea Grant program inthe County plan. “Emmantely qualified,a tireless worker and dedicated beyondbelief, we’re so lucky to have her,” Isaid of BettyStaugler, thecurrent agent,and I still feelthat waytoday.Sixty per-

cent of theSea Grantposition’sfundingcomes from the University of Florida and the rest fromCharlotte county. Right now, because of budget cuts,Betty’s position is in jeopardy from both fronts.In order to decide how they should handle the Sea

Grant position, the county has now hired an outside con-sultant to assess the situation. The consultant will reportto a 15 person citizen’s committee and that committeewill then make a final recommendation to theCommissioners. It is such an ‘insulated’ process.Right now it is imperative we all make sure the coun-

ty and the consultant both understand how essential theSea Grant position is to our local and coastal economy. If

you are a charter captain licensed in the County you willbe getting a letter from me. Please mail the enclosed sur-vey card to the commissioners. There is also a petitioncirculating that everyone should go out of their way tofind and sign. Later this month a copy of the petitionshould be at most bait and tackle shops and at most local

barber shops as well. Please sign it. I’ll give you an example of what Betty is

involved in: I searched my hard drive for afull face photo of Betty to use with this col-umn and I couldn’t find one. I found a pictureof Betty diving in the pass cleanup, one ofthe back of Betty’s head in the abandoned-crab-trap-recovery project, another picture ofBetty underwater working on one of thecounty’s artificial reefs and another picture ofBetty with a salinity meter pressed up againsther face. I had numerous picture of Betty outin the thick of the mangrove devastationsupervising the planting of thousands of

mangrove propogules and I had still another picture ofBetty doing the abandoned vessel clean up and at the KidsCup helping with the fish tagging. I even came across apicture of Betty pouring over reams of grant applicationsand economic surveys in her office, but I couldn’t find adecent simple, stand-there-doing-nothing mug shot of her.That’s because she’s never standing around doing nothing.And that’s what makes her so valuable. In fact, to get thepicture we used here I had to track her down and meet heron a street corner. The other part of the two pronged attack on Betty’s

position came from J. Bernard Machen, President of the

University of Florida, who said, last month:“Agriculture is a dying industry in the state of Florida andnot worthy of the investments being made by the legisla-ture.” Machen then proposed $25 million in budget cutsaimed squarely at IFAS (The Instituter of Food andAgricultural Science) which includes the Sea Grant pro-gram. There was an immediate and loud outcry from theagricultural folks, so Machen’s reaction was to focus evenmore intently on cuts within Sea Grant.Meanwhile, ironically, Betty was voted

Conservationist of the Year last month by the local CCA. I would hope the county’s citizen panel’s recommenda-

tion would be to not only maintain Betty’s position, butto fund it fully, in the event the University decides toeliminate some or all of their Sea Grant funding. Our neighboring counties have 8 and 12 person staffs

of trained professionals used to monitor and maintaintheir waters, Charlotte has one and one assistant.

My advice to the county commissioners: Get out onthe water and see for yourselves. I know you are busy,call me any time and I’ll drop what I am doing and takeyou for a boat ride. We need to maintain a knowledgeablevigilance over our most important resource. My adviceto J Bernard Machen is this: You’re right. The future ofFlorida is not in agriculture. It’s in the water. If you wantto help Florida, give Sea Grant more, not less funding.

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

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33' Wellcraft Coastal 330 (Diesels) 1999 Priced tosell. T/300hp Cats w/395hrs, bridge freeze, plotter,AP, tabs, transom door, 5kw gen, hard top $109,000

20' Mako Flats boat, 2002. REDUCED!!Nicely equipped, Mercury 150 Optimax,trolling motor, bimini top & more. $14,995

29' Sea Ray 290 Amberjack, 2002. Twin 240hp5.0EFI Bravo 3. GPS, VHF, Lowrance 3500 DepthSounder, bimini, windlass, A/C, Tabs. Ready tocruise or fish. Lift kept under cover. $59,900

45' Sea Ray 450 Express Bridge 2003. Loaded,every option, largest available Cummins dieselswith extended warranty, hydraulic swim platform,bow thruster, Sat TV, new canvas. $349,000

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23' Everglades 230 CC Flats, 2002. 150hp YamahaHPDI, power pole, Jackplate, Lenco trim tabs,trolling motor, GPS, Chart Plotter. Low hours, greatshape, marina stored and maintained. $19,900

28' Boston Whaler Conquest 2000. Twin Optimax 225hp, A/C-heat, refrig/freezer, Plotter, fishfinder, electric windlass, outriggers. An excellentoff shore fishing or just cruising vessel. $78,900

40' Baja 405 Performance 2006. Mercruiser 496Upgraded to 850 horsepower. 7 year transferablefullr warranty! Flat screen TV, Tabs, HydraulicHatch, Captʼs. choice exhaust, Generator. $205,000.

46' Post Marine Sport Fisherman, 1983. Twin450hp Detroit diesels, AP, GPS/plotter, radar,A/C-heat, hardtop with enclosure. rcent engineupgrades, and much more. $164,900

28' ProLine Walk Around Cuddy.Twin200HP Yamaha outboards. Serious off-shore fishing, without having to invest a lotof money. $19,900

27' Cobia Center Console, 2002.REDUCED!!!for quick sale. Lift kept, low houroffshore CC ready to fish! Like new condition,head in the console,Yamaha HPDIs $41,900

34' Catalina Islander Convertible 1995 T/250hpCummins 6BTA5.9, full canvas, 5kw gen., tabs,A/C-heat, instruments, GPS and plotter. $109,900

36'Cruisers 3650 Aft Cabin1996. Two biminis,T/340hp 7.4 EFI's, 6.5kw gen., full canvas, Newmanifolds & elbows, Reduced! $79,900

33' Wellcraft 330 Coastal MAJOR PRICEREDUCTION!!!! Perfect condition and storedunder cover it's whole life. Never been fished,low hours, $99,000

31' Pursuit 3100 Offshore 2004 T/315hpYanmarsw/320hrs, A/C, Plotter, FF/depth, radar, AP, VHF,windlass, down rigger, full Eisenglass enc. $179,900

30' Luhrs 1987. RARE FIND; A Luhrs Alura withFactory Hard Top and 210hp Cummins Diesel withtrolling valve, very economical to run. $56,500

St aff Rep o rtIn 1999 the Florida Fish and

Wildlife ConservationCommission and the FloridaFish and Wildlife ResearchInstitute, in partnership withMote Marine, began ProjectTampa Bay, a large scale redfishstock enhancement designed toincrease recreational catchesand determine the best and mostcost-effective methods for red-fish stocking. To date, more than 4.2million juvenile redfish have beenreleased by the FWC, Stock EnhancementResearch Facility. Now researchers are increasingly

interested to see if any of the fishreleased in Tampa Bay have made theirway to the Bull Bay, Turtle Bay or up intothe Charlotte Harbor area. One way theycan tell is by sampling fin clips.The fin clip is then analyzed using

DNA technology to identify if the redfishwas produced by a female spawned at thehatchery. Scientists from Mote havealready taken fin clips at the FlatsmastersQualifying tournament and at the FLWevent, both held in February at PuntaGorda. Now scientists are asking that recre-

ational anglers participate in the fin clip

process. Anglers clip a nickel-size pieceof fin from the end of the second dorsal(back) fin. (the fin will grow back).Place the fin clip in the plastic bag pro-vided in your fin clip kit. Record the fishand angler information on the bag label.Keep the fin clip on ice or freeze it (pre-vents DNA from degrading) until you candrop it off at a participating bait andtackle shops.Anglers who turn in a fin clip with

complete fish capture information areentered into drawings for prizes donatedby local and national businesses and willbe mailed a postcard with information onwhether their fin clip was from a hatch-ery-reared or wild redfish. To obtain a freeFin Clip Kit, a list of bait & tackleshops, or additional fin clip bags pleasecall: Redfish Hotline 1-800-367-4461 or

Redfish Fin Clip Program

M a r c h 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

By Capt. Chuck EichnerWater LIFE Charlotte HarborSometimes you have to

wonder what is the favorite fishof southwest Florida. If you’rewatching TV fishing showsthese days you would certainlythink it’s the redfish. There aretournament anglers chasing fishfor fame and fortune with a lotof coverage on CharlotteHarbor. On the other hand thetarpon or silver king is arevered fish in our area. Thereis no other fish that fights likea tarpon and people come fromaround the world to fish forthem. Perhaps in third place isthe snook which gets a margin-al amount of fishing coverageon television and thank the lordfor that! For me, the snook isthe ultimate fish and the bestsnook fishing of the year ishere now! On any given day I have to

choose my favorite fish to pur-sue and on more days than anyother fish I chase snook andlove it. They are aggressive,fight hard, jump and are foundthroughout our ecosystem.After an extremely mild win-

ter I anticipate by the timeyou’re reading this, that thesnook bite might already beunderway. Typically March is abig transition month as the coolwinter waters gradually warm,leading to excellent fishingtowards the end of March.Huge numbers of snook willmigrate into the harbor. Theycome up hungry after lyingsemi-dormant during the winter

months. This year the scenario is dif-

ferent. The waters never cooledto their normal lows and havebeen up and down throughoutJanuary and February. Pilchards have been in the

harbor all winter (and catchable)and I have seen small fry bait-fish in the canals nearly everyday. Typically, it seems that thespring arrival of the baitfishcoincides with the first earlysnook bite. Veteran southwestFlorida anglers insist that allsnook migrate into the riversand return to the harbor in thespring. I have never trulybelieved this. Based on myobservations there are plenty ofsnook around the harbor, nearthe beaches and in all of thecanal systems throughout thewinter. Even in a cold winterthey are here however they don’tactively feed. Certainly plentyof snook migrate into the Peaceand Myakka River systems butdefinitely not all of them. Isuspect that on any given yearif there is a good source of foodin the middle of the harbor thatsnook will follow it. Though Ihave never experienced catchinga snook in deeper open waterduring the winter, why wouldn’tthey be there? So, this yearwith the bait already here inFebruary the fish should benearby and some long strings ofwarm, sunny weather should bethe trigger for the ‘official’ startof the snook season.My prediction is for fantastic

early snook fishing! I caught

many snook in mid Februaryand they fought hard and long. Fish activity is in direct cor-

relation with water tempera-tures- simply, the warmer thewater the more active fishbecome and the more they needto eat in order to sustain theiractivity. The big keys to ourfishing in March are water tem-perature and tides. Snook loveto feed around the mangrovesand they migrate to the shal-lows on the higher tide phases.Finally, after a winter of hightides occurring well after darkwe are seeing decent afternoontides. Look to the second weekthis month for the afternoontide phases to be higher and goto the bushes to fish.Afternoon tide phases are bestbecause the radiant sunlight haswarmed the waters as well. Early season snook seem to

arrive in small, medium to large‘squadrons’. I call themsquadrons because they areschools of aggressive feedersand battlers and typically youwill catch several to dozens inany one spot. They will blastyour free swimming pilchards!Their transition into a springfeeding pattern finds them trav-eling to outside islands, creekmouths, points, oyster bars andbottom rises. I find they stageat these locations as they mean-der around looking for food andcover. As April approaches thefish tend to spread out furtherinto the mangrove backcountry. The technique for snook fish-

ing is simple. A basic 1/0 to

2/0 circle or ‘J’ hook attached to18 inches of 30-pound leader isall you need. Sometimes afloat works well and occasional-ly a rattling trout float can beeffective under windy condi-tions. The clacking sound cre-ated with this float draws atten-tion in the choppy water. Thebait of choice is the pilchard orthreadfin herring. Bait catchingshould be easy in the grassbeds. The biggest fishing chal-

lenges will be finding spots outof the wind. Winds that prevailfrom the west will push extrawater into the harbor and allowfish to roam deep into the man-

grove sanctuaries. The onlyproblem is that this very windmay also stir the water up andsnook don’t like turbulentwater. Experiment with differ-ent locations if you’re favoritespot has cloudy water.Music to my ears is a

singin’ drag as a snook ripstowards the bushes. Hold yourrod low to the water to turn itshead and enjoy the magnificentfishery we have in March!

Capt. Chuck Eichner is a localcharter captain. For informationor to book a guided fishing tripcall 941-505-0003 or go to hiswebsite: www.backcountry-char-ters.com

Time To Transition To Snook

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23' Sea Swirl 2300 Stripper, 2000.Single 200HP Evinrude. Nice walkaroundcuddy, good for coastal fishing, cruisingand diving. $24,900

22' Pathfinder 2200 V tournament Series,2005. Single 200hp Yamaha HPI 2004. Verywell maintained, includes trailer. $38,500

28' Scout 280SF CC Fisherman, 2002. Twin225hp Yamaha 4 strokes. Very nice condi-tion throughout, and lift stored! $74,500

26' Boca Grande Cuddy, 1986. Many recentupgrades to include new risers and oilcooler.Well maintained and cared for.PRICED TO SELL! $21,900

22' Black Jack 224 Bay, 2006. Single 250HPYamaha 4- Stroke only 45 hours, T-topwith box and lights. Mint condition anddesigned especially for fishing. $47,900

21' Regal 2120 Deck Boat, 2005. 220HPVolvo 4.3L MPI. JUST REDUCED $3,000 -like-new with less than 25 engine hours andtransferable hull warranty. $25,900

17' Bayliner Trophy Center Console, 2001.90HP Mercury 4-stroke for 50+ mph. Mintshape and has a full mooring cover.Trailer included. REDUCED TO $11,900

30' SeaRay 300 Weekender, 1989. Alwaysbeen lift stored out of the water. 260HPMercruiser Inboards. $28,900

28' Carver Riviera, 1989. Excellent condi-tion inside and out.Twin gas motors, fullhead, galley and dinette. You'll proud tomake her your own. $26,900

23' Hurricane Deck Boat 237, 2002. Low hourson 200hp Yamaha 2 stroke. Full mooring cover,lift kept. $18,900

27' Sportcraft hard top, 1991. 270hpMercruiser. Great fishing / cruising. Lift kept,enclosed head, sleeps 2. Make offer. $19,900

28" Bertram Sportfish, 1982. Twin 260HPMercruisers 1990. Raymarine D5400XSounder/FFr/Depth finder combo, VHF,Garmin 215 GPS MAP. $29,900

34' Formula 34 PC 1998. Twin 385HPMercruisers 7.4L MPI Horizon. Built on aconstant dead rise deep V hull with moder-ate beam. Excellent condition $88,000

34' Intrepid Center Console, 1999. Twin250HP Yamis. Radar & plotter, AP, electrichead with holding tank. 1 owner, steppedhull, lift kept well maintained. $89,900

32' Luhrs Tournament 320, 1992. Twin340HP Marine power 7.4L. Well maintained& equipped, GPS,Radar, color videosounder. Salt Shaker hard top, $82,000

Screaming ReelsBy Capt. Andrew MedinaWater LIFE StaffTarpon are right around the

corner. To me that means re-spooling, cleaning, and gettingtackle in order for a busy sea-son. The end of February wasan interesting time. Love bugsmade a showing. To motoriststhat is a bad sign but for carwashes and tarpon anglers it is agreat sign. All we need now isto see the little white butterfliesand I will be happy. During thelast part of February, along thewest wall, we saw a few tarpon– this could have been a fluke,or it could mean that our fishwill show up early this year. One thing I would like to

share with you is a new form ofpass jig. We all know that tar-pon pile up in the world famousBoca Grande Pass during the

spring and summer months andwe know these fish are bestcaught with either a live swim-ming bait or a pass jig. A fewyears ago the method of jigfishing was questioned and theold style jigs actually werebanned from use in Boca Grandepass. It was changed to wherethe anglers in the pass had touse hog rings or cable ties, thesame pound strength test astheir leader, to keep the leadfrom falling off. I’m not sayingthis is a bad thing, but whenthe fish puts on an aerial dis-play (for witch a tarpon isfamous) the weight of the jigsometimes causes the hook tobe thrown from the fish. Last season some tournament

tarpon anglers used a new stylejig made by the H2O lure com-pany. The jig is a standard passjig, 5oz in weight with a rubbertail. Instead of the zip tie a large

split ring is used to attach thejig to the bottom of the hook.The large split ring allows thejig to slide up around the hookand over the eye. When the fishsurfaces the jig slides past thehook and up the leader line andit is met by a clip that isthreaded onto to line end of theleader. This clip is the secret. Itwas designed by a fellow tarponangler named James Kramer. Asthe jig goes over the one wayclip, it is held in place and cannot return to the bottom of thehook. The clip is made of astrong stainless steel wire anddoes not rust, so it can be used

multiple times. With the jighead up on the line it keepsthe weight out off the fishesmouth, allowing the anglerto fight the fish withoutinterference of the weight onthe hook. That’s one goodthing; the other is if you getbroke off at the hook you stillhave your $4 jig. Remember,be safe on the water. And enteryour child in the 2008 KidsCup – it will put a whole newperspective on ‘taking a kidfishing.’

Capt. Andrew Medina can bereached for charters or for informa-tion at: (941)456-1540 or on the

web at www.Bentrods4u.com You can reach H2O lures at (941)

794-8285 or on the web atwww.H2Olures.com

New TarponJigging Rig

Below: A hog ring on the tarpon jigstarts out around the hook, held by abait stopper. Once the fish is hooked,the jig (somehow) slides up the leader(moving from the left in the photoabove ) and over the clip.

By Capt Ron BlagoWater LIFE Senior StaffEvery once in a while I stop and take a

look at where the trend in saltwater fish-ing regulations is headed and what we canexpect in the future. I’ve been aroundlong enough to remember when therewere no laws affecting saltwater fishingin Florida. The old saying ‘take my bait,cross my plate’ was the fishing philoso-phy of the day. I remember the beginningof the fishing conservation movementback in the 80’s with the making of red-fish a gamefish and the passing of thenet-ban amendment. Most of my friends,including myself, became born again con-servationists and began condemning peo-ple for doing what we had done just a fewyears earlier. Everything was just blackand white back then.First they charged you to go fishing

with a fishing license. No one com-plained except a few of the old timerswho thought they had a God-given-rightto catch fish. The rest of us were all forit; after all, the money was going to goright back into the resource and the fish-ing would get better. And there was thatsnook stamp; but who wouldn’t spend acouple of bucks to help out our favoritefish? Then they told us what to catch andwhen to catch it. Closed seasons, baglimits and size limits started creeping inslowly at first, until now, when it hasreached a point where just about everyfish you catch has some kind of ruleattached to it. I used to pride myself onkeeping up with the latest regulations,but I can’t do it anymore. I look at the2008 Florida Fishing Regulations bookand it's like looking at the US tax codes.What is the minimum size for asheepshead? What is the maximum sizefor a black drum? How do you measure aSpanish mackerel? It’s too much, it’s toocomplicated for the average fisherman tounderstand; and don’t feel too bad because

even law enforcement officersare having a hard time keep-ing up with all the changes.An even darker cloud is

starting to fall over fisher-men. Now they want to tellyou where to fish and how tofish. The proliferation of NoFishing Zones in Florida andCalifornia has got a lot ofpeople nervous about ourfuture right to fish. Imaginelarge areas of inshore and off-shore prime fishing watersclosed off to all fishing; bothcommercial and recreational-no bottom fishing or eventrolling allowed. That seemsto be the direction we areheaded. We are told that thisis going to help our fishingstocks to improve and recov-er, so that there will be plenty of goodfishing for all of us in the future, but isthat really true?After 30 years of rules and regulations,

can anyone honestly say that fishing isgetting better. The only increase I see isin the number of scientists, researchersand regulators on the water and in thenumber of rules and regulations that gov-ern fishing. I didn’t think it was possible,but these folks have sucked a lot of thefun out of fishing. I received this revela-tion after I got a call asking me to trackdown a rumor that the State of Floridawas going to require that we all startusing circle hooks. I like circle hooks, Iuse circle hooks, and some of the biggestfish I ever caught were caught on circlehooks but they are not for everybody. Theold ‘J’ hooks still catch a lot of fish.I tracked the rumor down to the recent

hearings of the Florida Fish and WildlifeCommission on red snapper. We don’thave a lot of red snapper in our area. I’veprobably caught about a dozen in 20years. Most of your red snapper come

from north of Levy County through thePanhandle, where the fish represents bigbusiness for both commercial and recre-ational fishing. The state was consider-ing a plan to have their rules coincidewith the much stricter Federal regulationson red snapper. The trouble was that thisplan would really hurt the recreationalfishing business in the area. The FWCreached a compromise and lowered the baglimit from four to two fish per day whilekeeping the minimum size limit at 16-inches, with a closed season of Nov.1-April 14.Red snapper have been in trouble for a

long time. The biggest culprit being thenumber of juvenile red snapper that die asby-catch in the shrimp fishery, so yearsago by-catch exclusion devices wererequired on shrimp trawls. That didn’t domuch to help the situation, so they wentwith size limits, bag limits and closedseasons. The funny thing is how the newstate regulations will effect the commer-cial red snapper industry. By the calcula-tions of the fish regulators, the commer-cial harvest of red snapper by the com-

mercial fishing industry last year was2.55 million pounds and the recreationalinterest caught 2.45 million pounds. Oneof the problems is that a lot of undersized fish were caught and unfortunatelydied (it’s a mystery to me how they calcu-late that number) but since the fish isdead anyway, they always had a 15-inchminimum size limit for commercial fish-ermen – one inch shorter than for therecreational fisherman. Under the newrules they are going to lower that mini-mum limit ever further to 13-inch forcommercial fishermen only. In exchangefor that little benefit the new rules requirethat commercial fishermen and recreation-al charters have available on board ‘non-stainless steel circle hooks, venting toolsand de-hooking devices’. That should really take care of the red

snapper problem. Remember that we arepaying a lot of tax money so our regula-tors can come up with these brilliantideas. I’ll give them one more idea, freeof charge: If you really want red snapperto recover, treat it like snook and redfish.Make red snapper a game fish.


Recreational anglers like these on one of Capt. Angel Torres ̓trips last month rely more and more on pro-fessional guides to keep them informed about local and Federal regulations.

The Slow Deathof Fishing


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S taff ReportApril 19 is fast approaching.

Application forms for the 2008 KidsCup tournament are available onlineat www.kidscuptournament.com.Entries continue to come in and nowapplication forms (printed for us byBuffalo Graffix) are available at localbait and tackle shops, at LaishleyMarine, West Marine and a host ofother boating and fishing locationsaround the area. Support our sponsors!Palm Chevrolet and Laishley

Marine are the Host Sponsors of theKids Cup. West Marine and Boat U.S.are also major Kids Cup sponsors.Ingman Marine is in there too andnow this month, Fishin’ Franks hassigned on to be the the Kids Cup Hat

Sponsor. This is a major investmentand we thank Frank and Terry sincere-ly for their commitment to the kids.Fishin Franks is an especially impor-tant link in the Kids Cup because theyhelp twist the tackle manufacturersarms for the good stuff that we put inthe Captain’s Bags. Last year we fig-ured each kid received upwards of $60worth of fishing product in their cap-tains bags. Add in two dinners, twohats and two shirts (one each for thekids and the captains) and the $100Kids Cup entry fee becomes a reallygood deal.

The Breeze Publishing Companyin Cape Coral will again print ourKids Cup Program and they are alsohelping to promote the Kids Cup in

the Fort Myers area.Don Gasgarth Ford, The Boat

House and Stump Pass Marina haveagain joined the Kids Cup withStump Pass again being the competi-tor’s trophy sponsor. Screenprint Plus in Cape Coral is

again our hat and shirt provider andBenedetto’s Restaurant at the BestWestern in Punta Gorda is the host forthe April 18 Captain’s Meeting anddinner.The whole idea of the Kids Cup

tournament is to introduce kids (age10 through 16) to tournament fishingand to introduce them to hands on sci-ence directly related to eco-systemmanagement. It is our belief thatlearning by doing, by being out on


the water and ‘having a hand in it’ ourkids will grow up to be responsiblestewards of Charlotte Harbor.Once again this year Betty Staugler,

our Sea Grant agent from the Universityof Florida, and Carole Neidig, the fishbiologists at Mote Marine Laboratory,will be tagging, implanting and trackingthe fish. This year Fishermen’s Villageand Robert Gomes of Pinnacle EmployeeLeasing in Punta Gorda (Robert does theOne More Catch TV show) are the majortagging sponsors. To date we are a littlepast halfway in fundraising for the tag-

ging part of the Kids Cup. Please callme if you want to contribute to the tag-ging program. Eppinger, Frabil, EagleClaw and RipTide are also on board withtackle. And Plano just donated top of theline tackle boxes for the top-5 and falconSpeed Bags for each age group winner.There are no money prizes in the Kids

Cup, but we have great trophies. DavidApalow and SPI are contributing thebeautiful bronze redfish trophies for thetop-5 Kids Cup anglers and local artistTom Krause will once again be providingsigned framed prints as the trophies forthe heaviest redfish in each age group.In the past it seemed like every age inthe top-5 also got a trophy for the heav-iest fish in that age group so new thisyear the heaviest fish for an age groupwill go to anglers that are NOT in thetop-5. That means more kids will begetting trophies this year. And this year,for fun, we are also going to have a spe-cial prize for the SMALLEST legal red-fish as well. The Kids Cup event itself is a fun

filled weekend and this year it will runconcurrently with the Punta Gorda BlockParty so the crowd should be big!The top five kids who weigh in the

heaviest redfish go on the following

weekend to fish on the final day of theOh Boy! Oberto Redfish Cup at PuntaGorda and weigh in on the ESPN2 TVstage.Call (941) 766-8180 for more Kids Cupinformation or go towww.kidscuptournament.com

This was last yearʼs Kids Cup. Will you bethere this year? Will you win?

Kids CupKids CupRule Clarification Note **Rule Clarification Note **The FWC called to say they would like usThe FWC called to say they would like usto amend our tournament rules concerningto amend our tournament rules concerninglivewells for the culling waiver. ʻlivewelllivewells for the culling waiver. ʻlivewellsize of 2.4 cubic feet or 18 gallons minisize of 2.4 cubic feet or 18 gallons mini--mumʼ is what they want. Previously themumʼ is what they want. Previously therules stated livewell size would berules stated livewell size would beapproved by the tournament director. Weapproved by the tournament director. Wewill make that announcement at thewill make that announcement at theCaptains meeting, Friday April 18.Captains meeting, Friday April 18.

TAGGING REPORT – MOST RECENT KIDS CUP TAG RECAPTURESTAGGING REPORT – MOST RECENT KIDS CUP TAG RECAPTURESJoe Vincentʼs redfish, tag No.19926 was originally caught at Bull Bay last April in the Kids Cup Tournament. The same fish was re-caught on 26 Jan2008 at Alligator Creek. The fish traveled 3.21 nm from where it was released at Fishermenʼs Village. The fish was 489 mm when Joe caught it. When re-caught in January, 271 dayʼs later, it measured 641 mm.

A second fish that was originally caught by Haley Webb was recaught on 20 Feb 08 in the area South of Ponce Park That fish had Traveled a distance of 1.51 nauticalmiles. The fish measured 565 when tagged but the length was not recorded when recaptured. That fish had been at large for 298 days.


S taff ReportWhat a difference a year makes.

At last year’s Flatsmaster’s qualify-ing tournament it was 29 degrees andit was one of the nastiest day of theyear. This year it was 82 degrees andthe anglers were all smiles. In thisyear’s event 20 of the 42 teamsentered were vying for 10 open spotsin the 2008 FlatsmastersTournament field. “Seventeen ofthose 20 teams were from out oftown. Teams from Tampa, New PortRichey and Ft Lauderdale wereamong the entrants,” weighmasterJerry Cleffi said.

Anglers were smiling notonly because of the balmytemperatures but because thefish weighed in were big,really big. “The water hasbeen warm and the fish areeating well right now,” PaulLambert said. Lambertweighed in a 7.36 and a 6.77pound fish early for 14.13pounds and the win. “Thistime of year redfish are eatingcrustaceans and they are eat-ing hard,” he added.

In all, therewere 4 fishweighed in over 7pounds with thebiggest at a whop-ping 7.70 poundsweighed in by teamOffshorePerformance. Therewere also 14 fishthat weighed over 6pounds. Only 8teams in the fieldof 42 did not weighin.

Flatsmasters Qualifyer

full & half day charters

Kids Always Welcome!Kids Always Welcome!Capt. John C. Morrison (239) 289-3653

www. floridaflatzfishin.com

FFFF lllloooorrrr iiiiddddaaaa FFFF llllaaaattttzzzz FFFFiiii sssshhhhiiiinnnn’’’’

FLW Leads the Way in Fish Handling Technique

77

6655

4433

2211LESS FISH HANDLING IS BETTER. 1) Anglers bring fish from livewellin traditional plastic tournamentbags2) Anglers empty fish from baginto submerged plastic box inholding area.There are holes inthe sides of the box3) As the weigh in progresseseach teamʼs fish box is slidthrough the tank.4) Fish are dumped out of the box,measured and put into anotherbox.

5) When itʼs time to go up onstage each team lifts its fishbox out of the tank. Waterdrains out through the holes inthe side

6) The fish box is placed in a tank whichsits atop the weigh in scale. The fish areweighed7) After the weighing the anglers lift theirfish out of the scale tank and take themover to the release boat.Fish have now been handled once by theanglers and once by the person who didthe measuring.


By Capt. RobertMooreWater Life Pro GuideStaffAlthough March

is still winter formany, it is definitelyspring for us here inSouthwest Florida.We had a few goodcold fronts now andthen, but overall thishas been the warmestwinter I can remem-ber. And when itcomes to fishingthat’s not necessarilya bad thing. So what happens

when the winter iswarmer and it endsrelatively early? Youhave the right ingredients forsome great late-spring fishingin March. This year, bait fish like pin-

fish and whitebait never disap-peared like they usually do.

I usually start to get thecob webs off my cast net sometime in March but my castnets have not had a break allwinter long and now I’m notgoing to be putting them awayanytime soon. As for my fishing tech-

niques in this mild time, Ihave found a pretty simply anddependable approach. I mental-ly turn the calendar ahead onemonth and then fish the way Iwould that month. This year,in February, I was fishing likeI would in a normal March. InMarch I will fish like I usuallydo in April. My theory here issimple. With the warmerweather the water temperatureis much higher than it normal-ly is. Salinity is up as well.

Speed it up a little, look to thebushes, fish live bait, it allreally works.In late February my depth

finder showed water tempera-tures of 78 degrees or more onsome of the flats here inCharlotte Harbor. Usually thistime of year I would be happyif it read over 68 degrees.Consequently, snook fishinghas been fantastic and willonly continue to get better asthey get ready for their spawn-ing ritual this summer. Redfish and trout have also

been cooperative. I fully expectthat we will see a good numberof Tarpon in and around thepasses before the end of March.This can all be attributed to thewarmer weather. I think I am like most of

you and do not want to rushthe warmer summer monthsupon us, but old MotherNature has dealt us her cards sowe might as well play the handshe gave us and enjoy some

early great fishing.

5 Foot or BetterCapt. Mike Mahan and I

have been invited back for thethird year in a row to competein the 2008 Madfin SharkSeries. The Madfin SharkSeries is a made-for-TV(ESPN2) catch and releaseshark tournament where pointsare awarded for catching 5 footsharks or better. This is a greatevent to be a part of and weboth enjoy the non stop actionthat the Florida Keys has tooffer. Filming will once againtake place in Key West onMarch 19-21. The show dateshave not been announced, butthe tournament is expected toair first sometime in April.Look for my column nextmonth where I will share what-ever happens at this year’sevent.Capt Robert Moore can bereached at: [email protected]

Use Next Monthʼs Tactics NOW!By Michael Hel lerWater LIFE editorYou get a sick feeling

watching water pour inover the transom whenyour boat sinks. Last week I swung the

davits hanging my 21 footParamount boat out overthe canal and commented tomy wife, “I need to replacethese cables.” As she hangs my boat

weighs 2600 pounds. Iswitched the lever to thedown position and the boatmoved about two inches.Then there was this sicken-ing ‘snap!’ followed by abig splash. The cable onthe bow held, but the fouryear old 1/4 inch galva-nized cable holding theheavy stern end did not.Luckily, the tide was just right – deep enough to cushion the blow,but not so deep as to let the motor submerge. The stern went downand the bilge was open so enough water came in over the transom toflood the bilge and cover the aft part of the deck – in any deeper watershe would have sunk to the bottom – but the tide was just right andthe skeg dug into the mud. I had enough time to get a come-alongand a strap from the garage and bring the situation under control.With a pair of submersible pumps I had her back afloat in about 15minutes. The motor, never having gotten wet, started right up andafter a thorough freshwater wash down of all the hatches, compart-ments and connections and a spray of corrosion bloc I was under way.The next day I drove up to Ace Boat Lifts in Venice and got two new5/16-inch stainless cables made up. Once again bigger is better!I named this boat Lucky I after our seawall collapsed in 2002 trap-

ping the boat behind it. We built a platform and slid her out on asoapy carpet and dropped her back into the canal. Not a scratch.Then hurricane Charley took my neighbor’s boat – still attached to

his boatlift – and threw it 40-feet into the back wall of his house.My boat was 15 feet awayand she made it throughuntouched. We re-named herLucky II. Now, after almost sinking

or worse yet, she could havecracked in half if she had hiton the seawall, I’ve re-namedher for the third time: LuckyIII. And she sure is.

The davit crossbar lays in the motor wellafter the lift cable snapped. The boatdropped 8 feet into the water butappeared undamaged. I will still have tore-wire any electrical connections thatwere submerged.

Warm temperatures have kept redfish eating well. We are seeing plenty ofplump fish like this one caught by Linda Kasper of Flint MI while on aFebruary charter with Capt. Angel Torres.

A neighborʼs photo from across the canal


By Adam WilsonWater LIfe DivingEver since man figured out he could

sharpen a stick, we have been huntingfish and game. A lot has changed sincethe days of an arm powered javelin. Thefirst major innovation was the addition ofa rubber band to increase velocity.Probably the biggest modern marvel inthe world of spearfishing was the inven-tion of a trigger mechanism some 80years ago, or arguably earlier. This allowsthe bands potential energy to be storedindefinitely and then utilized at themoment of need with a simple pull of thetrigger.

All new guns made today are basical-ly produced with the same principledesign elements consisting of a stock,muzzle, trigger, shaft and bands. Thereare also pneumatic guns which use com-pressed gas instead of bands, but on amuch less popular scale, due to their lossof power with the increased pressures atdepth. The latest refinement to guns inthe past 3 years has been the modifica-tion of a closed track gun. Instead of theshaft resting on top of a guns stock, it isenclosed in a routered channel inside ofthe stock. This allows for very highpower loading and incredible accuracy.Daryl Wong, the Hawaiian gun maker,has by far been the top producer of cus-tom track guns for several years now.

Today in Sarasota there is a newdesigner and manufacturer of speargunsthat is sure to have the big names likeSea Hornet, Riffe, and Daryl Wongscrambling for the drawing board. hisname is Stuart Daneman and he hasrecently developed an innovative newdesign twist on the already effective trackgun.

Stuart has recently produced a double

barreled, over-under gun with the capability of shootingtwo shafts either simultaneously or one ata time. The benefits with such a speargunare obvious, whether for slowing downbig fish or a second chance on that missedgrouper. Talk of his new design is justnow starting to spread through the localspearing community and I wouldn't besurprised if he begins receiving ordersfrom across the country or even overseassoon.

Stuart's world headquarters is adetached garage just off from his house.A tall glass display showcasing his cus-tom teak and steel creations is at theentrance to his small workshop. Heavymonofilament line and steel fish stringershang from the ceiling. His bench is linedwith vices, clamps, drill presses andgrinders. Buckets with thousands of oddparts, spear flappers, springs, and stain-less snap swivels cover the squarefootage under his benches.

Watching him work with a rough

piece of teak on his six router table islike watching a mad scientist whirlknobs and dials on some unknowncontraption. The sawdust flies as hecarefully runs a new stock throughthe strategically placed jigs surround-ing each routerbit, being carefulto follow hispencil marks forthe preciseremoval of theexcess lumber.He also produceshis own plasticand stainlessparts, all receiv-ing the samespecific scruti-ny, with onlythe best partsever beingscrewed orslipped into oneof his blankstocks.

Whether he is making a new over-under gun or just a regular, single shafttrack gun, his close attention to detail isbeyond perfectionism. He is an artist andskilled craftsman in a market that todayis dominated by large corporations thatsimply stamp out adequately workingproduction pieces. Stuart Daneman canbe contacted for custom gun creations at941-232-5735, and he is always happy toshow off his workshop and talk fish sto-ries.

I had a chance to dive with Stuartrecently off Palm Beach. The area betweenthere and Jupiter to the north is known asshark alley. The sharks in this stretch ofocean associate divers, especially hunters,with food. All the divers on the boat that

day reported having multiple sharksswarm them just after pulling the trigger.One diver had two jacks eaten off hisstringer on his ascent. Whether it's fromthe past years of feeding sharks over thereor just the constant positive conditioning,most of the larger sharks there have nofear of humans.

Stuart found this out shortly aftershooting a jack on Juno ledge. With hisback to the ledge he was being harassedby five reef sharks. His dive buddydeemed the situation too dangerous. Notwanting to wait till the shark had Stuart'sleg for lunch, his buddy dispatched oneof the larger reef sharks. The other sharksquickly backed off. Seems like a littlenegative reinforcement might be goodover there.

D i v i n g ʼ sD o u b l e –B a r r e lS p e a r G u n

StewartDanaman at

work on a newspeargun in hisSarasota shop.

Far Right:Stewart with the

finishedproducts

A nice stringer from another dive last month with a traditional singleshafted gun


By Capt Ron BlagoWater LIFE Senior Staff

Spring is here and already things are picking up. Boatramp traffic is pretty heavy with all the public ramps openfor business. This is the time of year when things start toget pretty crowded, not only on our roads but also on ourwaterways. This is when you have to let common sensetake over from your emotions. There are a lot of crazypeople out there and you have to just make allowances forthem. Between the powerboats, jet skis and kyakers youreally have to keep a sense of humor about yourself.

The other day I watched three kyakers, renters Iassumed, leisurely paddling in the middle of the ICW,they almost got run over by a couple of jet skiers whowere drag racing through a no wake zone. The ironic partwas that no less than 30 minutes before, two marinepatrol officers left the ICW and came over to the grass flatI was fishing on to check my safety gear and my fishinglicense. I guess it’s as true on the water as it is on land;where are the cops when you really want them?

Fishing has been pretty good most days, except forsome extremely low tides this time of year. Already peo-ple are starting to castnet whitebait in Lemon Bay. Wehave had just enough rain to keep thing pretty green onland, but not enough rain to cloud the water. Snook sea-son doesn’t open until March 1 and then closes again onMay 1. Talk about a narrow window of opportunity – 60

days. A lot of nice fat trout are being caught on the grassflats along with plenty of sheepshead around the docks.Redfish have been hard for me to track down. There havebeen reports of people wading in shallow water to fishsandy bottom potholes and finding good numbers of reds,but I guess they caught them all because when I get therethe holes are empty.

What I have been getting are large bluefish hitting justabout anything you throw in their path. These are somepretty tough characters. I hooked a few ladyfish and hadthem sawed in half by bluefish. They will definitely hurtyou if they bite you. Pompano have been disappointingso far this year, for me. I’ve found small groups of themskipping out of the water, but nothing like last year. Ihave a real craving for the smoked pompano spread Imake.

Anyone catching any giant lizardfish? I found a holethe other day that was full of 20 inch lizardfish that hitevery jig I threw in there. I even caught one on a topwater plug. I knew an old timer who loved to use the 6inch variety as snook bait. He swore they caught thebiggest fish.

Offshore fishing is pretty good considering that blackand gag grouper fishing is closed in Federal waters untilMarch 15th and you are only allowed to catch one redgrouper in state waters. You’ve got to feel sorry for theoffshore guides. Closed seasons, restrictive bag limits and

$3.00 a gallon fuel – I don’t know how they can survivethe way thing are now, but they keep at it. A guide friendof mine in Sarasota has had good luck catching kingfishon one of the artificial reefs off shore. It’s pretty unusualto get kingfish in February. A local guy fishing out ofStump Pass caught a 78 pound cobia last month. That’sabout the biggest cobia people can remember being caughtaround here ever. Cobia in the 20 to 30 pound class arenormal size and even that size will wear out a strong man.A 78 pounder would probably kill me. It just goes toshow there are still some big fish in the ocean.

Capt. Ron can be reached at: [email protected] for

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


ScreamingReelsBy Capt. AndrewMedinaWater LIFE StaffA couple things will be

on the fishing charts forthis month. The first isthe opening of snook sea-son. A lot of larger fishare making their way intothe harbor now. There arefish on the outside of theTurtle Bay bar, and insideof Bull Bay towards theclam farms. Most of thesefish are oversized – bigfemales. The fish have been reluctantto eat, but a few have been caught onthe larger green backs that are readilyavailable now on almost every flat inthe harbor. Our harbor has so far notbeen cold enough to send the bait run-ning this year. The water has been over74 degrees already. Now is the time totake advantage of the harbor’s numer-ous docks. Remember snook do notlike to be pulled out of their ambushspots – that’s where the big tacklecomes to play – don’t give those ‘dockfish’ an inch, instead take a yard! Redfish action should also start

heating up. Don’t get me wrong, wehave plenty of reds in our harbor, but

with all the tourneys – practically oneevery weekend – the reds are feelingthe pressure and have become evenmore cautious. I recently was on thewest wall and found a school of a cou-ple hundred redfish. They hung out fortwo days and then they were gone. Aslow moved or dead-sticked bait is howwe have been catching our fish. If thebait was presented too fast the fishwould ignore it completely. PineIsland also has some very nice fish upon the flats. Try fishing along theIndian Fields at the south end of theharbor. Trout fishing has been hot with

many being caught near the 3 and 4-pound range. These fish are hanging

Bart Sciarratta with a 26 3/4 inch redfish on a Feb. trip withCapt. Andrew Medina along the west wall of Charlotte Harbor

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PROVIDED BY: Dave & Marlene Hofer RE/MAX Harbor Realty(941) 575-3777 [email protected] Recent area news items1. City Marketplace plans are still in a state of

flux. The developer, Ron Oskey, is planning to reducethe size of the project to 350,000 sf. Potential co-devel-oper, Pelican Bay, backed out of its plans to develop ahigh rise condominium on the site after seeing no hopefor getting a special use permit for the minimum build-ing height that made economic sense.2. Sarasota county balked at a $17.6 mil stadium

upgrade to keep the Cincinnati Reds in town for theirspring training. So the Reds started negotiating withGoodyear, AZ. The County is now ready to appease theReds by burdening taxpayers with 30 years of debt inreturn for a new 30 year lease commitment.3. Charlotte County's budget gap is now estimated

at $1.6 million or $450 per $100,000 of assessed valua-tion. Millage rate will have to go up for all. Thedoubling of the $25,000 homestead exemption willmute that increase for many, once again at the expenseof commercial and non homesteaded property owners.4. Punta Gorda City Council turned down an

annexation request from a newly completed office com-plex on US 17. Council will hold off until a compre-hensive plan to annex the entire area between Scott Stand Emerald Green Condominiums, a non contiguousarea, within incorporated Punta Gorda.5. The Punta Gorda Best Western Hotel will be

applying for permits from DEP to build a 500' marinaon their water front site. They are also hoping to takeover management of the mooring field to be installedwest of the US41 bridge.6. A detox center will be opening shortly on

Education Blvd in Punta Gorda. The $1.2 million facili-ty is expected to drain $900K annually in tax dollars toprovide dryout accommodations for up to 15 patients.7. Skybus announced that their great fare program

allowed their flights to be 2/3 full during January. TheCounty announced an $8/day or $1 / hour parkingcharge will be implimented at the airport. 8. Over staff's recommendations, Englewood reject-

ed a request to build a high rise building in excess ofthe 35' current height restriction. Local officials feelthat less green space is an acceptable tradeoff to avoidhaving towers that are dominating many Florida sky-lines. They want to avoid becoming "anotherSarasota" ... not much risk, there!9. Burnt Store Marina's 1922 property owners

took over management of the golf course rather thanhaving it closed and deteriorate at a cost of $400/yr perproperty. The Marina South Shore Condominium's 100owners filed suit and won their freedom from that bur-den. So the course's future has become cloudy, again.10. Sarasota County is now planning to accelerate

its infrastructure development plans. Like depressionarea WPA programs, they're hopeful that, though thecost benefit ratio is not yet evident, the constructionindustry will get a much needed stimulus from this pro-gram.11. Gabe Bove's proposal to build a new canal

access from the Vivante lake is on hold 'til April.Mixed emotions pervade PGI as to whether this planshould move forward, even if he is able to earn the sup-port of those residents that are immediately affected bythe construction of the bridge that will create harboraccess for boats moored in the lake.12. The huge Thomas Ranch development is likely

to stay in Sarasota County and not see further annexa-tions by the City of North Port. Fourth QuarterDevelopment will eventually build 22,000 homesites(7800 of them in North Port) over the next 30 years.They already have four other developments under way invarious parts of the 26 square mile ranch.

In Restaurant and Entertainment News:An English pub will open within weeks at the old IceHouse building on North Bound US41. A wine barwill occupy the former Bike Shop on Marion St. IslesCafe at Bal Harbor and Aqui Esta is now offering homedelivery within Punta Gorda Isles. Laishley Crab Houseexpects to start construction in April or May. The15,000 sf restaurant will occupy the 2nd floor while12,000 sf of retail shops will be available for lease onthe ground floor. A 40' fountain has been approved forconstruction by city on the same grounds. The PuntaGorda block party has booked the Outlaws ("GhostRiders in the Sky") as headliners for the big party thissummer. The Boogeymen will return with Ayntellen.The new Harbor Center is already booked for the firsttwo months of 2009. In the interim, Juice Newton willcome to the PG Performing Arts Center on March 28.Sales Statistics:Vacant lot sales reached 189 last month at prices that

were about 40% below a year ago but higher than recentmonths. Home sales hit 216 - almost twice what wesaw in November and December. Median prices are21% below year ago levels. Inventory has leveled off asmany properties have gone into foreclosure or have sim-ply been taken off market.

Real Real Estate Estate NewsNews

Boaterʼs Warehouse has just broken ground on a newsales and service facility across from Fishin Franks, next toWalgreenʼs off Edgewater Drive at US 41.

By Bi l l DixonWater LIFE SailingI’ve got readers. I know this

because several people complained thatI didn’t report the results of theGolden Conch correctly. DaveCleverly won the Cruising Class and,Jerry Poquette won No Spinnaker andthe regatta over all with 3 bullets. Naples Feb 2, 2008. Jerry

Poquette on Fancy Free won his class

at the 4th annualAvow HospiceCharity regatta.As one of sixwinners, Jerry wasentered into adrawing for a trip

to Annapolis and use of a boat for theJ-105 North Americans. Guess What?He won and he is going to Annapolislater this year. Here’s to ya Jerry!!Seventy sailboats from throughout

southwest Florida are expected tocompete in the 15th AnnualConquistador Cup Regatta On March8th & 9th. Competitors will be bro-ken into four classes: spinnaker, non-spinnaker, cruising, and multi-hull.

On Saturday, two courses are used;one will be west of Ponce de LeonPark and the other in the upper Harbornorthwest of Fisherman’s Village.On Sunday, all boats will compete

on the same 8.7 mile course using areverse start system. Each boat willstart at a specified time based on theirindividual performance handicap. Thisrace is designed so theoretically allboats will finish at the same time.This rarely happens but it does makefor an exciting finish right out infront of Fisherman’s Village. For additional information visit the

Punta Gorda Sailing Club’s website:ww.pgscweb.com


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Top Right: Jerry PoquetteʼsFancy Free carries a wealth of sail tothe mark in Februaryʼs PGSC localrace.

Below Right: S-2ʼs in the non spin-naker class round the mark and headfor the downwind leg.

Below: Ready on the foredeck.


By David Al lenWater LIFE KayakingWould you like to glide through the water close to

Manatees in their native habitat? And also enjoy a quiet,relaxed paddle in the Orange River? Then a trip toManatee Park will meet your requirements and more.

Manatee Park, managed by the Lee county ParksDepartment, is located 1.5 miles east of I-75 Exit 141 at10901 Highway 80 in Fort Myers, a short 30 minutedrive from Port Charlotte. The Park is on the OrangeRiver, a tributary to the Caloosahatchee River in NorthFort Myers.During the winter months, when the water tempera-

ture of the Gulf of Mexico drops below 68 degrees, themanatee seeks refuge from the cold Gulf waters by swim-ming into the Florida Power and Light warm water dis-charge canal. The discharge canal provides a winter havenfor these warm-blooded mammals. You are most likely tosee manatees during the months of December throughmid-February, although sightings vary with the watertemperature. Manatee sanctuaries are also located inHomosassa Springs Wildlife State Park and in theCrystal River, both north of Tampa.Opened in 1996, Manatee Park has expanded in recent

years to become a true nature park, with beautiful nativeflowers, butterflies and observation platforms at the edgeof the Orange River. The park even has special polarizedfilters and a hydrophone that allows visitors to listen tothe manatees "talking" to each other. All in all, this isone of the more interesting paddles our club takes duringthe year, and one that is somewhat unique to the south-west coast of Florida.In early February, the Port Charlotte Kayakers drove

south to Manatee Park in hopes of seeing some mana-tees. The day was sunny and warm, not the kind ofweather that brings the manatees up to the Orange Riverto the warm waters of the discharge canal. As welaunched our kayaks, the water in the Orange River wasquite warm, so we held out some hope of a manatee

sighting.As we entered the Orange River, about 100 yards

from the launching area inside the park, some ofthe paddlers saw two manatees along the rivers edge, butthese two manatees departed before the rest of the grouparrived.There are usually two pockets of water, along the

north bank of the river where manatees seem to congre-gate. The first is about 1/2 mile from the entrance andthe discharge canal, and the second is about 1/4 milebeyond the first. As we paddled downstream with afavorable current, we noticed that the river had manyshoal areas where the water had been deep in previousyears. Not a good sign as the manatees like deep waterfor protection and better grazing.We paddled to the Caloosahatchee River, about a mile

from the launch site, without seeing another manatee.

As we entered the Caloosahatchee River we noted that thewater there seemed warmer than normal, so perhaps themanatees were already in the larger river or out in theGulf. We paddled out to the center of the CaloosatcheeRiver and took a break beside the Dr. Jesse WhiteMemorial manatee sculpture. We saw no manatees onthe easy paddle back upstream. Everyone agreed that thiswas a very pleasant paddle even though we didn’t seemany manatees.Special Thanks to Skip Rasmussen for the photos

taken at Manatee Park.The Port Charlotte Kayakers meet each Wednesday

evening at 5:30 PM, at the Port Charlotte Beach Complex .All paddlers, or potential paddlers interested in finding outmore about the sport and our club, are welcome. For more

Paddling with the Manatees


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By Capt. S teveSkevingtonWater LIFE OffshoreThis last couple of

weeks, the fishing hasbeen more than justgood. With very lightwinds almost every dayand clear skies most ofthe time it’s real hard tostay indoors.We have been making

some long runs offshorefishing for those bigamberjack and snapper –the bite has been strongon almost every trip.There have been a fewcobia mixed in with theAJs, keeping thingsinteresting.The Spanish mackerel

have been hitting earlyin the morning right upon the beach and on thesand bars just outside ofthe bigger passes.We are already catch-

ing some big brownsharks and black tips,but these guys are just abit further offshore.The kingfish are piled

up out in fifty feet ofwater, big live blue run-ners will catch the biggerfish with some goingforty to fifty pounds this

next month.Grouper season opens

on the 15th in federalwaters, however we havebeen blessed with clearwater inside of ninemiles ("state waters") thelast couple of weeks andthat has allowed us tobox up a few nice gaggrouper already.And the best part is

I’m running filtered (1micron) reclaimed veg-etable oil mixed with mydiesel fuel to keep thecosts down.

Capt Steve can bereached for charter at (941)575-3528 or atwww.paradisefishingcharter

OffshoreReport

This photo came from Capt. Steve with the following note: Monster Grouper. That about says it!

Barbara Laishley (center above) landed this sailfish, her first, on12-pound test, fishing from the yacht Penthouse, last month atIslamorada. Right: Penthouse first-mate Casey Gardner helps 12-year old Peyton Bethel with her 33 pound trophy winning kingfish.

Penthouse View


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SCUTTLEBUTTSometimes Unsubstanciated, But Often True

Suddenly Better Last month we slammed Burnt Store,Realmark Properties and the Sudden Impact Tournamentseries for scheduling a tournament on the same day as theKids Cup. Then, shortly after we went to press, wereceived word that the conflict had been resolved and theSudden Impact Tournament had been rescheduled. We offerour deepest gratitude to Sudden Impact TournamentDirector Capt. Miles Merrideth, Burnt Store HarbormasterLloyd Henderson and to Realmark Properties for makingthe change happen. This once again proves we can allwork together in the community, doing the right thing andsetting a good example for our kids. Thank You!

PGI to Ban Fishing?A few years back PGIbanned fishing from itsbridges, now, in a pro-posed ordinance underconsideration, the city ofPunta Gorda appearsready to ban fishing from all vacant lots.According to the city ofPunta Gorda’s website’sother water related plansinclude: • Complete the mooringfield proposal process andinitiate design and per-mitting. • Explore enhancementsof Ponce de Leon Park toinclude lighthouse, beachenhancement, etc. • Pursue the cut throughfrom PGI ‘Bird Section’ toAlligator Creek.• Research potential for combined submerged land lease forentire waterfront overlay district• Create plan for waterfront area between Best Western andFisherman’s Village to include enhancements to GilchristPark, and additional dinghy docks on City property and inmarinas.• Coordinate efforts with Charlotte County regarding mari-na, dinghy and/or amphitheater uses.

When the WalMart in Punta Gorda closes it willbecome an antique car museum and there could be a restau-rant/bar/lounge(?) there as well.

Trol l ing and Pol l ing This is the first we have heard ofthis. The DEP has been working on its own version of atrolling and polling zone for over a year. They missed anappointment with the County’s Marine AdvisoryCommittee last month where they were supposed to dis-close their plan to Charlotte County. Supposedly, the DEPwill be dedicating areas as ‘poling and trolling’ zones inCharlotte County within a year. No one knows where yetand apparently there will be no public input. The DEPwill get away with this by dedicating these zones to miti-gate other environmental problems such a seagrass damageand shoreline erosion.

Marine Protected Areas There is talk that the Federalgovernment will approve and implement offshore marineprotected areas in the Gulf under the same law the NationalParks were created with in the early 1900s. There will beno public input and this could all be signed off on beforethe Bush administration leaves office.

BOOK NOWSPRING IS HERE

TARPON ARE ALREADY APPEARINGIN THE PASS

SNOOK AND REDFISH ARE BITINGThis is the time to book a Fishing Charter!

This big black drum was-caught from the seawall of avacant lot in PGI last month.


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The CommercialPerspectiveBy Kel ly BealPeace River Seafood Water LIFE Punta GordaGot any crabs? I hear it everyday.

Almost as much as “I know my bluecrabs - I’m from Maryland.” The truth ismost of the blue crabs you see inMaryland come from Florida andLouisiana. In 2004 and 2005 we shippedover 75-percent of the crabs sold to ourfishhouse to Maryland and Virginia, butcrabs are scarce this year so what we’regetting we’re keeping here in Florida. Don't get me wrong, the resource is

still healthy, it just so happens that thelandings are cyclic. The landings seemto vary every 5 to 6 years. For example,the landings in Florida in 1987 were 18.3million pounds, then declined to an annu-al catch of 9.9 million in 1991. Thecatch reached back up to 18 million againin 1996 only to decline to 7.4 million in2001. We reached 11.6 million in 2006,but we have been on a steady decline into2008. All the crabbers I talk to say its

because of this terrible drought and Iknow they're right. Nature is all aboutcycles and droughts are cyclic too!But Blue Crabs are the ‘Comeback

Kid’ of the seafood industry. Just whenyou think they have dried up, a load willcome in to save the day. They are amazing little creatures. They

reach maturity in as little as 12 months.One female crab releases 2 million eggsby the time she is five inches across.According to the Department of NaturalResources, the largest recorded crab fromMaryland was 9 inches across. Here atPeace River Seafood one of our crabberscaught a 14 inch giant!The crabbers generally run their traps

every other day. Many bait their trapswith stink shad or pokies. When thecrabbing is good they’ll go out everyday,but it's been a while since we've seenthat kind of crabbing in Peace River. Crabs are migratory. When you're

crabbing you have to move those trapsoften. It's not fun, and it's not cheap.Hauling traps from river to river and cityto city doesn't always pay off. Moreoften then not, crabbers will find them-selves in the hole. The gas prices areinsane, and then there is what they losein traps. One trap lost it’s $25 - tentraps – $250! Sometimes traps arestolen, sometimes they get run over bythose who don't see them, sometimes the

wind blows and they roll, but all thetime the crabber ends up paying for it.Right now in Charlotte County there

are about 25 active crabbers. Crabbing isa full time job. When you're not run-ning traps you are cleaning old ones andmaking new ones. There is no suchthing as a part time crabber. Even if acrabber has another job, chances are hespends more time crabbing and workingon crab traps then his job “on the hill”. Crabbers are paid by the pound of

their catch. Crabs are graded by length .Number ones are 6 1/4 and up and num-ber twos are 5 to 6 inches. They aremeasured from point to point. The crabseason is year round in Florida. Therewas a moratorium on crab licenses forthe last decade, but a recent FWC rulingallowed the licenses to be capped in num-ber and transferable. In other words, any-one can crab so long as they buy anexisting crab license. The sale of mostlicenses I've heard start at $25,000 butthat includes the boat and gear. Butbefore you contemplate leaving the secu-rity of that land job remember crabbersfall on hard times more then most.Engine breakdowns, bad weather, loss ofgear....these a just a few of the trials theyendure. Crab price, lack of buyers andthieves are some other concerns. It’s noteasy being a crabber. But for some, likemy husband Jimmy, there is no otherlife!Next time you're out boating and see a

crabber give him a wave. Show yoursupport for the local commercial fisher-man! Remember commercial boats haveright of way so yield properly - thoseboys are working hard to bring home adelicious American product for your


Where are the Crabs?

Shown here you can see the rich color onthe claws of this Peace River blue crab.Crabbers often use stainless steel tongs tohandle crabs – a big crab can pinch youhard.


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: 625-3888Weather is the issue. The Gulf was

at 73 degrees and the canals werethree to five degrees warmer. Theweather has been crazy. Now, for thenext two months the first questionwill be when is the wind going tostop. Then the next question will be –Where are the fish? We’ve skippedwinter. The fish are in a late springpattern. That means redfish havebeen steady. There have been lots ofoversized fish, primarally on the openflats. The fish seem to be especiallyheavy in the Pine Island Sound, atWhidden Creek, and on the flatbehind Millers Marina at BocaGrande. Most of these fish are hittingdead bait: a whitebait torn in half, acut mullet or cut ladyfish.

The one thing they are still hangingon to in their natural pattern is thatthey are feeding on crabs and shrimp.The smnaller fish seem to be under

the mangroves in Bull and Turtle Bay.The closer you get to the ICW thebetter the fishing will be. That’s truefor pretty much all the species too.Snook season, opens this month. A

lot of them will be losing their britch-es this week, for sure. Placida andBoca Grande have had a lot of nicesnook. The fish have not been up theriver or under the bridges, it’s beentoo warm for that, but they couldretreat after the cold front we had atthe end of February. We’ll have tosee. El Jobean has been consistent forsnook but the PGI and PC canals did-n’t seem to have had any good con-centrations of fish last month. It’s justbeen too warm. Night snook fishing at Placida on

the other hand will be the best! Theeast side of the harbor has a goodconcentration of snook right now, andthere have been good reports of nicesnook already up in Lemon Bay, inSki Alley and at Stump Pass.

Sheepshead in March are predomi-nantly plentiful. March is the bestmonth for them. The Placida pier andthe whole length of the trestle therewould be my number one pick forsheepshead fishing. The Phosphatedock and even Alligator Creek reefwould also be worth checking out forsheepshead. There have been bigschools of these fish moving aroundin that area lately. Fiddler crabs arestill the best sheepshead bait.Because it’s so warm the bigger

trout are in 4 to 6 feet of water.Useppa, and the Pine Island sound arewhere I am hearing the bigger troutare coming from. Drifting has beenthe most productive approach forcatching the bigger, quality fish.Smaller trout have been in good

numbers on the east wall and also atthe Placida Trestle.Spanish mackerel and bluefish

are showing up in really really goodnumbers now. They were in the har-bor from Boca Grande to the 20-foothole, following that bait around.

Again we’ll see what the last coldfront did to them.Cobia are showing and moving

around as well, they should be here ingood numbers for the next threemonths. The east and west side of theharbor are the best places to findthem. Tarpon will be around this month,

but the end of the month may bewhen they are in the pass in very fish-able numbers. We’ve already heardabout tarpon on the beach – pods offish.There are a lot of bonnethead

sharks on the flats outside of Bulland Turtle Bay. And there are somebigger sharks milling around in thatarea already as well.And by the end of the month we

might even see some king mackerel.They have been stacked up in thekeys all month and they chould showup here soon.

continued on facing page

MarcMarc

New on the tournament scene is the Butt Holder, a wear around your neck rod holdingdevice for inshore waders to use. The invention sold out at the Florida Sportsman show lastmonth.

Lemon Bay:Jim at Fishermen’sEdge, Englewood:697-7595I talked to a guy who

fished down by Sanibeland he said tarpon wereall over, but they couldn’tget them to bite. Itdepends on how low the tides get,if the water drops they will moveback into the Gulf. But they arehere. There have been good reports

of redfsish in Gasparilla Bay andon down to Pine Island. In theFLW tournament the guys saiddark colored Darts and RT slugswere what was working. That andthe Berkley Gulps. A local guymissed the big prize by 2 ouncesafter three days of fishing. Coteebaits, the chubby, they’re the ones.If you come in the store I’ll showyou the ‘secret color.’ There have been pretty good

trout reports of late. Nice fish inthe Pine Island sound, a couple upthis way above the Tom AdamsBridge on the big flat. Big handpicked shrimp are bringing troutover the 20 inch slot.Guys are catching some snook

here and there, there is still a lot oflive bait around. Snook on white-bait have been a popular combo.There has been so much baitaround this winter that my shrimpsales are off! And there has been a lot of

pompano around too. Guys are

telling me they are catching 40 -50 - 60 pompano a day. A guywho owed me 10 bucks wanted totrade me for pompano! Sand fleas,Silly Willys, spec rigs, and the oldjig and sand flea combo all work.Sheephead fishing has been

good at the trestle and at a lot ofthe docks. Boaters have said theyare seeing sheepshead grouped upin big congregations. I guess theymight be spawning. The only other thing is the off-

shore stuff. They have been catch-ing cobia – qiuite a few big cobia– a group of fish was spotted byone guy who came into the shop.Smaller fish in the 30 inch rangeand some 60 pounders too. Whenthey won’t tell you how many orhow big, you know the cobia fish-ing is good! I’d have an eel or abig black worm rigged up if I wasgoing out the pass. Ther are snap-per and Spanish offshore too,even some kings before the coolershot of air we had.The only other thing is the

lakes are doing good for crappieand bass, lakes in Rotonda, ditch-es along the side of the road, thefreshwater fishing has picked up.

n March 1- 2: Free Seminar onOffshore Fi shing – using marineelectronics in the Gulf, Capt. RalphAllen, Ft. Myers Bass Pro. 2:00p.m, both days. 239-461-7800 n March 6-13 & 27 : Free Fi shingSeminars at Laishley Marine, 6pm.n March 8 Lucky 7 Tournament ,six species plus most spots, BestWestern Punta Gorda, a benefit forthe Charlotte Rotary 941-544-3961

n Mar 29- Maverick BoatsFlatsmas ters Seri es - GrandSl am Plug Tournament trout, red-fish, snook on artificials. 941-637-5953n April 19: Water LIFE Magazine5th annual Kids CupTournament at Punta Gorda.Applications online NOW! atwww.kidscuptournament.com.Limited to 125 jr anglers age 10through 16. $100 entry fee supports

BIG-4 BIG-4 Marchʼs Target Species Marchʼs Target Species

POMPANO are in the Gulfpasses and along the surf

SHEEPSHEAD are movinginto the harbor

REDFISH and a slew of rat-reds are around the Harbor

TROUT are on the grassflats and in the potholes

FishingFishingRIGHT NOW:RIGHT NOW:

weather permittingweather permittingExcellent!Excellent!

C 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


KIDSKIDSCUPCUPNEXTNEXT

FISHING HOT SPOT? The deck was burned and melted where the over-heated trolling motor wire passed through on this tournament flats boat.The team still made it to the weigh in and had fish to weigh!


FMstrClassic Tournaments at 941-637-5953

2/9/08- KayakSlam Series-Cape Coral- Cape Tool & TackleKayak only tournament, trout, redfish, snook,

lures only, photo release

Flatsmasters Series

3/1/08- KayakSlam Series- Clearwater- Joe's Crab ShackKayak only tournament, trout, redfish, snook,


3/22/08- KayakSlam Series- Ft Myers- Joe's Crab ShackKayak only tournament, trout, redfish, snook,


4/5/08- KayakSlam Series -SarasotaKayak only tournament, trout, redfish, snook,


5/10,11/08- Maverick Boats Flatsmasters Series- RedfishClassic

2 redfish, bait of choice

5/31/08- Charlotte High School Redfish Roundup2 redfish on bait of choice

6/14/08- Florida State Firefighters Assn. RedfishTournament- St. Pete Beach

2 redfish on bait of choice

6/21/08- Junior Flatsmasters Tournament- Punta Gorda3 age groups from 7 to 18 years old- 1 red-

Water LIFE Mar 2008

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