water life april 2015

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

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The Don Ball School of FishingThe Don Ball School of Fishing

April 2015

FunkyFunkyFlounderFlounderpage 16page 16

MackMackAttackAttackpage 15page 15

Sharks Coming Sharks Coming page 8page 8

True BlackTrue BlackGrouper Grouper

OffshoreOffshorepage 14page 14

Peaceful River page 13Peaceful River page 13

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Water LIFE [email protected]

Michael & Ellen Heller Publishers

(941) 766-8180217 Bangsberg Rd.

Port Charlotte, FL 33952Independant - Not affiliated with

any other publicationVol XIV No 4 © 2015

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

permission from the publishers.

Contributing Editors:Photography: ASA1000.com

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

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

Punta Gorda: Capt. Chuck EichnerVenice: Glen Ballinger

Estero: Capt. Joe AngiusKayaking: WRITER WANTED

Sea Grant: Betty StauglerOffshore: Capt. Dan Cambern

Fly Fishing: Capt. Scott SichlingBeach Fishing: Mallory Herzog

Circulation: Robert CohnOffice Dog Molly Brown : in memorium

on the COVER: Nico and his True Blackgrouper, aboard Fish Galore Offshore withCapt. Joe Miller, out of Venice Page 14

PAGE 4 EMAIL: W [email protected] APRIL 2015

Send letters and photos to: [email protected]

Mike, FYI, the kid's event put on byDowntown Bait and Tackle at Laish-ley Pier last month, went off very welland was positively received. Therewere 90 youngsters involved and allseemed to have a great time. Thanksfor your help with publicity...it worked!Gene Kingery

I took on a project that I couldn’t turndown. It will keep me back and forth toJacksonville for the next number ofweeks. It’s very high tech.The St Johns River wanders through

the area, I’ll have some free time. Thereis, reportedly, good fishing up there. I’mnot exactly sure where, so there will besome exploring involved. Help me out ifyou can and I’ll let you know what I find.The regular production and delivery ofthis publication will be uneffected.

M. Heller publisher

Fish Pen Found Before TournamentI started my day out at 5 a.m like I do every day;

getting gas, ice, drinks and putting the boat in thewater so I can get bait before I pick up my clients. Ipicked up my clients at the dock everything was nor-mal as can be. We headed out into the Harbor andthey told me they wanted to catch snook. The tide waslow that day so we went to fish Turtle Bay, there aredone deep pot holes inside if you have a shallow run-ning boat you can get in there. They caught snook,trout redfish, and jacks but then the water came upand the fish were headed out of the holes and going inthe bushes looking for shade so we headed over tothe east wall where there are a lot of full green trees.

As we started to fish we came around this set of is-lands where I saw a big barrel in the water. It hadholes all over it. I pulled it up and found two redfishover 8 pounds in it along with cut pinfish, cut ladyfishand cut mullet. I immediately let both the fish go.

The only reason why those fish were in there wascause there was a redfish Flatmasters tournament thenext day and someone went out a couple of days be-fore it, caught them and put them in the pen so theycould pick them up during the tourna-ment and cheat. That didn't go wellwith me, even though at the sametime when you try and cheat you stillhave to pass a lie detector test.

Not even the best fisherman in theworld will catch fish every day andfishing a tournament is like going to acasino and gambling – you neverknow what will happen; the fish mightnot be there or they can be there andyou can look at them all day but willnot eat. So by cheating, the cheatersmake all the people that are out theredoing it the right way look bad. Capt. Karl Budigian Redfish and snook, also from that day

Barrel with 2 redfish in it

By Michael HellerWater Life editorSpectacular fishing right now –I can’t remember a month in the past

14 years, when every one of the WaterLIFE writers focused on a differentspecies and did it without planning or co-ordination. Dave: Snook, Frank: Spanishmackerel, Billy: Tarpon, Mallory: Triple-tail, Bart: Flounder, Joe: Sardines, Chuck:Redfish, Betty: Blue Crabs, Blago: Mana-tees, Dan: Kingfish and Glen: True BlackGrouper. Anglers are catching them allthis month and as long as the big rainsstay away the catching could continue.Recreational anglers are out there –Capt Chuck and I went out last week,

on a Tuesday. There were so many boatsin Turtle Bay it looked like a raft up...well, almost. We fished our way around afew spots and came to a place where aman was poling a bay boat with a fly fish-erman on the bow. They were on the leftside of a half moon cove, more than 100yards across. We headed to the right sideand boy did they get upset. Hands raisedin the air, waving ‘Hey what are youdoing? They got our attention. Chuck is amellow angler, so we motored on, but wedid talk about the assumption that theyhad a right to the entire spot. What is theright thing to do? Should spin-cast anglersor bait-casters yield to fly fishermen likepowerboats do for sailors? Do artificials

come before live bait? I guessit depends who you ask.And tournament anglers –That was also the week be-

fore the cash payout Flatsma s-ters tournament. Some of theanglers we saw that day wereno-doubt scouting fish for theupcoming event. Maybe weeven passed the guy Capt.Karl writes about on the fac-ing page. The first summertournament means moretower-boats cruising theshorelines and more addedpressure for the fishery andfor other fishermen. Everyyear I hear people say ‘some-thing needs to be done about it.’So here is an idea The state requires licenses for recreationalfishermen, commercial fishermen, crab-bers and shrimpers and the like, but theyallow the for-profit fishing tournaments,all private businesses, to use the publicfishery without requiring them to be li-censed. This is an inequitable good ol’’boy situation that needs to be brought intoline with modern reality: you have to giveback, you can’t just continue to take.This month, the local Coastal Conser-

vation Association has its annual banquet.Last year the Charlotte chapter was almostdisbanded for a lack of interest, then Capt.

Josh Greer brought it back. But since thenI have heard of nothing other than they arehosting another banquet.I’d like to see the CCA do more. I’d

like to see them lobby the state to adopt aTournament Permit program. Suggest thatpermits, like culling waivers, be issued totournament organizers for each event.Suggest permit fees be a percentage of theentry and sponsor money collected. Sug-gest the FWC require a permit before it is-sues the culling waiver. Then suggest thatpermit fees collected be used to establish astate wide restocking program. Of coursewe’d use Charlotte Harbor as the pilotsite. My idea would be to grow out com-

mercial hatchery raised redfish in sub-merged net-tanks at different locationsaround the harbor. Involve the tourna-ments and local kids with releasing thefish into the back country as part of a tour-nament event. That would be a win-winsituation and it would create an equal, eq-uitable and ethical angling balance for usall. Fund the Marine Research staff inMurdock to help guide the program. UseCCA volunteers to monitor the grow outsites. I’ll get 100 Don Ball School of Fish-ing kids to help with the program. To me, this is exactly the kind of mod-

ern day conservation that we all should beinvolved in.


BAD SCHEDULING The old East Spring Lake Waterway bridge is being demolished as part of the Edgewa-ter Drive reconstruction project. Seen here, two of the long pilings for the new bridge have already beendriven into the muddy bottom. The piling on the far side of the bridge, the one with the burn marks on top,is the piling that tied up traffic on US 41 last month when the truck delivering the oversized load to the jobsite hung it up on a street light while turning from US 41 on to Tarpon Boulevard in 5 p.m. rush hour traffic.

An Equal, Equitable and Ethical Angling Balance


By Capt. David StephensWater LIFE HarborWithout a doubt, Charlotte Harbor has

to be one of the top fishing destinations inthe world. With the water temperaturesabove 75 degrees the flats fishing is at itspeak. In the last couple weeks s nook fish-ing has been at its best. I have been con-sistently able to guide my clients tocatches of quality snook, with some dayswell over 30 fish. For the weekend anglerthis is the time of year to shine like one ofthe pros. Duringthe spring thelocal fish arehungry and will-ing to take awide variety ofbaits. If you areable to throw acast net andcatch bait, thereis an abundanceof bait in theharbor. One of the ways to locate the bait, is to

look for pelicans or terns. Once you havelocated the bait and successfully caught it,you are going to want to make the deci-sion of what to fish for. It’s not easy, inSpring time in South West Florida there is

no way you can fish for all the species thatare around in one day. If you decide that the flats is the area

you want to focus on, you are going towant to check the local tides. Knowingwhat the tides are going to be is very im-portant. If the tides are going to be low,you are going to want to focus more onthe flats and the pot holes. Pot holes areslightly deeper sandy areas on the flatsthat game fish move to on the lower tides.If the tides are going to be higher that day

you might want tofocus on the man-grove shorelinesand points. You canalso try the flats andpot holes even onthe higher tides.This is also the

time of year whenwe have a lot ofgreat fishing in thedeeper areas of theHarbor, so if you

have a bigger boat, or are not comfortablegetting way back on the shallow flats, youcan still have a very successful day on thewater. Spanish Mackerel are a migratory fish

that are found in the Harbor during the

spring and fall. They are a great fightingfish and are not bad to eat so long as youeat them the same day or preferablywithin the same half-day. Don’t try tofreeze them.The deeper holes in the Harbor are

great places to locate these fish right now.You can catch them in various ways, fromtrolling, to anchoring and chumming.Often, trolling is a very productive way tolocate schools of these feeding fish. This time of year cobia are also roam-

ing the Harbor, so if you decide to fish theopen waters of Charlotte Harbor formackerel, make sure to be ready for thebigger fish. Twice in the last week I havebeen caught by surprise by cobia, therewill not be a third time!

If you would like to experience some ofCharlotte Harbors best fishing give me a callor send me an email. All of our charters areprivate and customized to fit you and your par-ties needs. Capt. Dave Stephenswww.backbayxtremes.com 941-916-5769

Too Many Species To Fish In One Day

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


By Capt. Billy BartonWater LIFE InshoreJust like someone hit the Sun-

shine State light switch, the heathas arrived and Springtime ishere! April and May are two ofthe most exciting months of theyear in Southwest Florida - I'mtalking in fisherman's terms! Wehave big fish arriving in herds andI mean that literally! Fromschools of rolling tarpon followedby packs of hungry bull sharks andhammerheads, to cobia, triple-tailand schools of big red fish andblack drum. The time to be out fishing is now. I

suppose it's not a tough problem to havewhen you can't decide what it is you wantto fish for that day, because well, let’s faceit, everything is here at once and every-thing out there is hungry! Tarpon are by far the most exciting fish

to target for the sportsmen. There's noth-ing like seeing a monster silver fish biggerthan yourself get hooked and launch six toeight feet in the air like a rocket! It takesmy breath away every time I see it. Theanticipation is almost unbearable whenyou're out there and these fish are rollingall around the boat. It takes a little bit of work to get them

to play some days, however they are byfar one of the most gratifying fish to put in

someones hands and tarpon can make forsome absolutely memorable experiences. Pretty much every pack of tarpon that

you see is going to have bull sharksaround them. A pack of bulls can take a 6foot tarpon down to just floating scales ina matter of seconds! You may not see thesharks with your own two eyes, but theyare there, I promise you. Last year was one of the most insane

years I've ever seen or heard of when itcomes to bull sharks down here and a lot

of captains and anglers will agree with mewhen I say this. last year, the bull sharksfearlessly made their presence known, in-shore and offshore. One of the most frustrating things to

me is working hard to get a client hookedup with a good tarpon, then having thatfish taken by a bull shark. It's a common-ality though, especially the closer you getto the Gulf. Over the years, these sharks have got-

ten better and better at knowing when a

Waiting for Mr T


tarpon is hooked and in trouble. Whenthey show up it happens very quick, so it'svery important, if you can, to preventthese sharks from taking advantage of youand your fish!The best thing you can do if the sharks

are chasing your fish is to free spool yourfish and let him run with no pressure. Ifyour fish is still green, a lot of times bydoing this you can help it get away. Thenyou can catch that line back up and con-tinue the fight. I personally refuse to feedmy hooked up tarpon to the bull sharks ifI have any option. If it looks like there's very little chance

my fish is going to get away whilehooked, sometimes in the spur of the mo-ment it's better to just break that fish offand give him a fighting chance. If you are that lucky angler that day

and you boat a fish, revival is anothervery important part of the deal. If youcatch your fish in the Pass and you'reclose to the beach, take that fish to theshallows where it can be released with achance. Don't ever boat a big tarpon ei-

ther! You've pretty much assured the fish azero survival rate chance if the fish islarge and you try to bring it in the boat. Ifyou're not close to the beach and you arein the Harbor, just have someone drive ata slow idle as you hold on to the fisheslower jaw. This gets water flowingthrough your fishes gills and helps bring itback to life. A tarpon will just about fight to the

death but it is still a very delicate fish forits size. The longer that fish is on the line,

the lesser its chance of survival. I like tohave a large tarpon at the boat in 30 min-utes or less. Typically a 30 minute fightwill mean 5 to 10 minutes of revival. Theultimate goal is to boat that fish as quicklyas possible and then to release it in asgood of health as possible so that it maylive to fight another day. If you keep thatmentality, the fish Gods should be good toyou! Best of luck out there guys and gals!Catch one to remember and put her backhealthy!Capt. Billy Barton owns and operates Scales-n-Tails Fishing Charters. http://www.puntagordafishingcharter.comCall him at: 941- 979-6140He’s also on

By Lion BryanAt its meeting in Jacksonville, the

FWC designated the first Saturday afterMotherʼs Day each year to be LionfishRemoval and Awareness Day.

On this day the FWC will encourageextra effort from the public to removelionfish from Florida waters.

The FWC has several activitiesplanned for the weekend of the first an-nual Lionfish Removal and AwarenessDay, which is May 16. On the 16th and17th, divers across the state will be en-couraged to see how many lionfish canbe removed from Florida waters in oneweekend. Divers are asked to reporttheir catches via the Report Florida Lion-fish app or online at MyFWC.

Several local sponsors across thestate are also scheduling lionfish derbiesin conjunction with the weekend. A festi-val and derby will be hosted by theFWC, Guy Harvey Ocean Foundationand the Gulf Coast Lionfish Coalition.

The FWC is also rolling out its newReef Rangers Lionfish Control Program,asking members of the public to select areef and pledge to remove lionfish fromthat area several times a year.

More about lionfish:MyFWC.com/Lionfish.

Lionfish

$2 off any haircut!


CANVAS &UPHOLSTERY

By Capt. Chuck EichnerWater LIFE InshoreOnce you understand the basic

anatomy of the shallow water fishery youwill experience amazing fishing for ahuge variety of hard fishing gamefish!One of the key things about our dy-

namic fishery is that is has a strong tidalinfluence and we are in an environment ofvery shallow water that is also affected bystrong winds. The shallows are largelycovered in a wide variety of aquaticgrasses except where mangrove islands,oyster and sandbars exist. Because of thevariety of habitat and variation in tidesand weather, you have changing bottomcontours that present both opportunity andchallenge.The shallow water key to finding fish

is locating holes. The fishing hole is aclassic expression that goes back hundredsof years. As a young boy fishing in a“crick” in West Virginia, I bank fisheddeep water pockets in the stream to catchfreshwater suckerfish. When leavinggrandma’s house I said I was going to the“fishing hole.” In reality, not much haschanged.Tides move water and bottom sand and

silt. Just about every mangrove islandanywhere in Charlotte Harbor or the PineIsland Sound has depth variations. Anorth end or south end of an island on theeast side will often have a hole on the end.These are created by the tides coming in

and going out, over and over. Some ofthese bottom depressions will get deeperover time and change shape while otherswill fill in. In the 13 years that I havefished here, I have lost more spots than Icurrently have. I can have a hot spot last1-3 years, but seldom longer becauseeventually the bottom depth changes ordifferent grasses take over a spot.Another interesting feature about our

shallow water fishery is there is rollingvegetation that forms mainly in the wintermonths. It is a pillowy mass of grass thatrolls around on the flats like sage brush onthe prairies and piles up in areas… some-times in your sweet spot. When this grassfills in a trough along a mangrove or on asandbar, the fish will usually avoid it.Acts of nature like hurricane Charley,

changed bottom contours everywhere. Inone location near Hobbs Island on the eastside it cleared a bottom area revealing ahuge limestone ledge full of holes whichlooked like Swiss cheese. It removedyears of silt build up and created a mag-nificent hard bottom with 7 feet of waterin the back country. I found this rightafter the hurricane and so did the redfish!It lasted only a couple of years beforetides and winds filled it back up.To be a student of shallow water fish-

ing you must take your time, fish lots ofplaces and use the winter and springmonths to take visual note of where thereare deeper spots and bottom variations. A

deeper spot may only be 6-inches to a footwhich makes a big difference to a fish. Ifour tides shift a normal 2 feet from high tolow, a ½ foot hole on an island becomesan ambush point because it is 25-percentdeeper than the surrounding water!Other features that create shifts in the

bottom include feeder creeks and windtroughs. Feeder creeks anywhere on theharbor have deep water and shallow waterinside the creek and at the mouth. Snookand redfish use these locations to feed, butthe key is often figuring which tide to fishon and sometimes what time of year.Wind can create depth changes too attimes, often more subtle than tidal effects.Prevailing winds can funnel air in gaps in

mangroves and flats sometimes removingsilt and revealing shell bottoms that fishkey in on.Florida gamefish change locations

throughout the day as water depths in-crease allowing them to enter the shallowsand then again retreating off the shallowswith falling water. Spots will changefrom year to year, but fish are basicallyprimitive in nature and will seek ambushpoints from where they can feed. A hotspot you had last year may be gone thisyear, but likely you can find another onenearby if you put in the time.

Capt. Chuck Eichner operates Action FlatsBackcountry Charters and can be reached at941-628-8040

Understanding Our Shallow Water Fishery

It looks like there may be some moving water around the point in the distance. Moving waterand ambush points are what fish look for.


By Fishin’ FrankWater LIFE BaitshopSpanish mackerel are

in the Harbor in goodnumbers, from Marker No. 2 to the 41 bridges.Then they seem to spread out a little and startto regroup again by the reef. The largestgrouping of Spanish is at the south end of theHarbor by Marker No.5 andaround Cape Haze, with JugCreek shoals coming in second.Spanish are very well-known

for taking lures, so unlike mostfish I often tell people to trolllures they don't use any more ordon't like much. The lures need tobe smaller - 3 inches or less. andwhile it is thought that the mackerelwill bite through the line, which issort of true, it is the buddies of theone you have hooked that bite throughyour leader/ line. When one mackerelgets hooked up, its excited thrashingaround makes the rest of the school think ithas the best food ever and they come to get inon the feast. Mackerel will hit anything thatmoves or makes noise, which if you thinkabout it, if a mackerel got to be 4-foot, Iwouldn’t want to go in the water!Getting back to the point, the one hooked

gets the others excited and they start dartingabout looking for the thing which got the otherfish so excited and your swivel or the knot thatattached the leader to your line becomes a

perfect target, even where just your line is cut-ting the water, the ‘V’ it makes while you reelin is fair game to crazy feeding Spanish. If you are looking for very good lures to

troll, try the Maverick Golden Eye in thesmall version or the StormTwitch.

These lures have alip on them and do not spin when you

troll them, use a light rod. Let’s say a 6 to 12pound class 7 foot spinning or bait cast set upwith something 6 pound test or more. I troll atabout 3 miles per hour for the mackerel. Another trick I learned is to keep the rods I

am trolling in front of me. I mounted rod hold-ers on the front deck of my boat so I can watchwhere I am going and see when a fish hits. Ifthe rods are behind you, you may not find outabout what is happening until you are out ofline. Watch the tip of you rods. They should bevibrating. The lures have a lip on the front of

them which when pulled through the watercauses them to be pulled under and the forceof the water gets deflected off of the lip caus-ing the lure to swing side to side imitating aswimming action of a bait fish.

That side-to-side move-ment of your lure makes thetip of your rod bounce orvibrate. If the rod end isbouncing, or best casepulling hard, you have afish, or if pulling down abit then reboundingback up that wouldmean a very small fishor a weed has beencaught in the lure. Ei-ther way start again. If you are going

to cast for mackerel I wouldsuggest spoons or Got-cha lures. Spoonsshould be small like the Clark Squid Spoon #0or #00. The problem is, they are too light tocast, so I put a water fill-able casting bubbleon the line ahead of the Spoon to give itweight in the air, then once the bubble hits thewater it has no weight, it is just a plastic bub-ble full of water. The got-Cha lure is different. It is a jig type

bait and should be reeled in moderately fastwith a jigging action, which means while reel-ing steady you would sharply lift the tip ofyour rod. Then lower it, repeating this thewhole time you are retrieving the lures. Goodluck out there, have fun and be safe.

[email protected] 625-3888

The Mack Attack is OnEat ʻEmSpanish Mackerel are not

a fish to catch and freeze forlater, the meat is not tastyafter being frozen, so I onlykeep them if I am going tohave time to clean and cookthem that night.

I will keep 3 for two peo-ple, that seems like morethan you would want, but ifyou have a grill, some butterand McCormick brandlemon herb spice, it may notbe enough.

I butter one side of thefillet, then sprinkle some ofthe lemon herb on it andplace that side down on thehot grill. Oh, and by the way,when you fillet a Spanishwatch for bones by thebelly. Spanish are tricky tofillet properly to get out allof the bones. After remov-ing the skin rub your fingersup and down the meat. Yourfinger can feel bones waybetter than your eyes cansee them.

When the side facingdown on the grill is brown Ibutter the top side addsome seasoning and flip itover. Brown on both sidesis done. Serve with any oldside dish as you will only bethinking about eating moreof the mackerel any way.

A toothy Spanish from Charlotte Harbor


AAQQUU AATTIICCAA

By Capt. Betty StauglerWater LIFE Sea GrantIt’s that time of year.

If you haven’t noticed blue crabs areconcentrated in the Peace River; andwhere blue crabs are concentrated bluecrab traps follow. Once the rains falland salinities drop the crabs will dis-perse and so will the traps. Althoughblue crabs can live up to six years, mostlive less than two. In Florida they areconsidered an annual crop that at pres-ent is sustainable, meaning it is not over-fished or experiencing overfishing. Blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) are

found from the Gulf of Maine to north-ern Argentina. In the northern part oftheir U.S. range, blue crabs take up totwo years to mature; however in Floridathey mature by 12 months of age. Basedon tagging and genetic studies, it isthought that two genetically distinctpopulations occur in the Gulf of Mex-ico; a western population that extendsfrom Pensacola to Texas; and an easternpopulation that extends fromApalachicola to Goodland. This theory is consistent with migra-

tion patterns exhibited by female bluecrabs. Throughout most of their U.S.range, blue crab migrations are very lim-ited with movement inshore to offshore,rather than alongshore. Male blue crabsare generally found within an estuary,while females migrate to higher salinitynearshore waters to spawn. Along theeastern Gulf of Mexico however, bluecrab females migrate large distances,some as far north as Apalachee Bay tospawn. The larvae then get transportedback in a southerly direction along theeastern Gulf Coast. It’s thought thatalong-shore flow is impeded nearApalachee Bay preventing east/westtransport of larvae thus creating the twodistinct populations.

Blue crabs and other crustaceanshave an outer shell called an exoskele-ton that protects their soft body. As suchthey must molt this outer shell as theygrow in size. During molting the ex-oskeleton splits and the soft-bodied ani-mal backs out. The new outer shellremains soft until minerals from the sea-water, in particular calcium, harden thenew exoskeleton. Female crabs reach aterminal molt after which time they nolonger grow. This molt correspondswith the onset of sexual maturity whenmating occurs. Because it is their lastmolt, most females will only mate once,although evidence suggests that somefemales molt a second time after be-coming mature thus allowing them tomate a second time. Peek spawning occurs from March

through October, but evidence suggestssome spawning occurs year round. Adultfemale are normally found in the estu-ary although at higher salinities thenadult males. However, when she is readyto mate she will move into the upper es-tuary where the males are concentrated.

After mating she moves offshore tospawn. A female can retain sperm formore than a year before releasing eggs.Eggs are fertilized as they pass out of thefemale’s body and are retained in anapron under her abdomen. Although atypical egg mass contains about 2 mil-lion eggs, on average only 2 will surviveuntil adulthood. Blue crab seasonal and annual abun-

dances tend to follow habitat prefer-ences and weather patterns, in particular

rainfall and flow. Males inhabit coastalriver and estuary systems with brackishwaters; females seek out these sameareas during mating, and then lowersaltier estuary reaches, or open water tospawn; and juveniles are found in shal-low marshes or seagrass beds withbrackish salinities. A Tampa Bay studythat used seines to collect various sizesof blue crabs over different habitatsfound abundances of recruits highest inJanuary and February, juveniles highestin February through March, and adultshighest in May. Several studies have evaluated annual

rainfall and river flow patterns with bluecrab abundances. For instance, largepeaks in immature abundances wereseen in 1998 in association with in-creased rainfall and river flows during

the 1997-98 El Nino. Thepeaks extended into theadult population and corre-lated with high commerciallandings in 1998. A LaNina event that producedlower than average rainfalland river flow from late1998 through the begin-ning of 2002 correspondedto a low in the abundanceof immature blue crabs in2002. Because blue crabsare an annual crop theycan, and have, reboundedquickly from low flow

events once freshwater inputs return tonormal. That said, the salinity needs ofblue crabs drives home the importanceof maintaining minimum water flows inour coastal rivers. After all, in CharlotteCounty, blue crabs are king of our com-mercial fishery.

Charlotte County Sea Grant Agent,Capt. Betty Staugler UF/IFAS Extension, Charlotte County (941) 764-4346

Peace River Blue Crab Migration Underway

Jimmy Beall and his Peace River Seafood crew checking their crab traps last monthBelow: Having reached the "buster" or molt stage, a blue crab sheds its shell

By Michael HellerWater LIFE Peace River

I left my dock at PortCharlotte before it was lightout. By the time I was pastthe I-75 bridge there wassome unpredicted fog and itwas pretty thick. Using theGPS in my cell phone I mo-tored slowly up the PeaceRiver to the open water atHarbour Heights. There Isaw the shape of a vesseloff to the east of the chan-nel. It was Happy Meridith,fishing for catfish from hishome made pontoon boat.

“Yesterday, I already had a boat full of them bynow,” he told me.

Further up river, at Bird Island, the wood storkswere waking up slowly as the fog began to lift. Theywere clucking and whirring loudly and strangely un-afraid of my boat as I motored by and then driftedback, in slow motion. Then I timidly tied off on amangrove twig and looked away.

A few birds were transitioning back and forth tothe mainland, returning with sticks for their nests. Apink rosette spoonbill circled the island and landed.

Quietly, I slid over the side, to stand ankle deep inthe water as I tried to better see the pink bird. Twospoonbills, I found, were nesting on the island, right inthe middle of all the wood storks. The birds were alladults, mostly in pairs and sitting on their nests. In an-other month there will be fuzzy babies everywhere.

None of the birds seemed bothered by me,so I slowly climbed up on a dead tree, fromwhere I watched the male spoonbill fly down tothe water, hunt up a crab or a small fish andbring it back to his mate. There were no pink

feathers around. Spoon-bill feathers, likeflamingo feathers, losetheir color once theymolt. I took a few morepictures, got back in the boat, untied and quietly drifted off with the current. Very cool!

Further up river, near the Liverpool cutoff, the river grasses were taking on the bright green color ofspring. Jimmy Beall and his Peace River Seafood crew were out checking their crab traps. “The crab-bers down in the Harbor are the ones doing pretty well now,” Jimmy told me. I think a lot of the crabs aremoving out of the river now. (see story on the facing page). Soon the river will be populated by week-endcampers, there will be kids tubeing and swinging from ropes on trees. People will be standing in thewater waist deep along the sandy shores. Summer is coming on quick and the natives are restless.


T r a n q u i l i t y o f t h e P e a c e


By Glen BallingerWater LIFE Venice OffshoreLet me start out by describing, as best I can, what

or better who the True Black Grouper is.He is the king of the reef or ledge he resides on. He

is the baddest fish and no other fish gets in his way.At this time of year they migrate north from the

keys into an area of the Gulf where Capt. Joe Millerknows they like to live.Now to the dedicated Gulf fisherman who enjoys

the challenges of fishing for bottom reef fish: any seri-ous fisherman wants to catch a True Black sometimein their life, just once. It takes so much time and effort to make catching

the True Blacks possible. Fishing in the right places,having the proper equipment and tackle and then,when you get hooked up, just hope that you can turnthis beast of a freight train around and get it off thebottom where it is rules.A few weeks ago, a local restauranteur we call

‘Nico’ his real name is Vito Nicola Candelora andhe owns the San Marco Italian Restaurant in

Venice, (on Main street) went out on a normal offshorecharter trip with Captain Joe Miller out of Venice.They caught large amberjacks and tried to catch someAfrican pompano. Then they moved to catch man-grove snapper and the spot where maybe they couldcatch some large black grouper. Nico was up for the fight and he ended up hauling

in this awesome prize of a fish. A 67-pound TrueBlack! Anyone that fishes way offshore for groupercan appreciate what Nico accomplished and the bestpart is that he shared this fabulous experience with hisson Lorenzo.

True Black Grouper

Left: Nico with his True Black Grouper. Above another True BlackBelow: grouper snapper and amberjack allfrom Capt. Joe Miller


By Mallory HerzogWater LIFE FishingWhenever I go fishing I usually plan it

out at least the night before, getting every-thing ready and trying to be as prepared aspossible. I lay everything out, Andrewputs new leader onthe lines. We lookat the charts orgoogle earth for theperfect place tostart the day.Then there are

those completelyspur-of-the-momenttrips. The oneswhere you wake upat 8am, get coffeeand decide to takethe boat out. Get-ting to the ramp at10 am isn't ideal.Especially not inseason, but somehow these trips tendto turn out well. Captain Andrew

had heard from afriend about tripletail hanging out onthe crab buoy's sitting out in the Gulf andbigger sheepshead on the reefs. We talkedabout this being our target fish for the dayas we raced towards the bait shop and thenthe ramp. We had to get bait at a place Iwas unfamiliar with, due to the fact of itbeing on the way and there was no time towaste. Thankfully the guys had a fewdozen left and even some hooks. I neededsome super tiny hooks for sheepshead andsmaller weight for the reef. Surprisingly we get a spot at the ramp

right away, launch and head out followingthe line of boats out of the channel. An-drew asks me to dig out the new hooks webought and get everything ready. Firstmate fail! I left all of the tackle back atthe truck. This is when my pack rat prob-lem comes in handy. I was able to findenough tackle around the boat to make it

work. A lesson to always keep an emer-gency box of various tackle on board.The reef, it was easy to spot today

since about a dozen boats were anchoredon it. We hung out for a bit and caughtsome nice sheepshead on frozen shrimp.

After the actionslowed on the reefwe decided to turnour focus to thetriple tail. Thesefish are great eat-ing. They havethick fillets andare delicious.Keeper size isover 15 inches.Finding them is al-most as much funas catching them.You cruise thecrab pots on planeand look under-neath the floats.They also like tosit along the rope.In the springmonths, as yourcruising along,you will eventu-

ally see a triple tail. The first one wespotted was pretty close on the first stringof crab traps closest to the beach. We turned around and got on the

trolling motor so we wouldn't scare thefish. Turns out this triple tail wasn't shy atall, or hungry for that matter. Andrewpitched his bait at this fish over and overagain. No interest. Just as we were about

to head out and run more traps Andrewspotted a disturbance in the water comingtowards the boat. It was a school of fish, making the

water boil at the surface. They werecharged up and feeding and as they camecloser to the boat we realized it was cobia!Andrew was on trolling motor and holdinga Shimano Symetre 2500 loaded with 10lbline, 20lb fluro leader and shrimp on a 3/0circle hook tied with a loop knot. This isideal tackle for triple tail, not a cobia. Can you guess what happens next?

FISH ON! His first words to me were "well this is going to probably come un-done" This was a nice sized fish, peelingline off the light tackle reel. The trollingmotor helped him start to gain, but thisfish wasn't going to give in without afight. Every time Andrew got him close tothe surface, the fish would give an explo-sive run towards the bottom. Rubbing theleader against its body and those sharpspines, the next strong burst could break

the leader. One of the last runs the cobiamade I could see the bottom of the spool.Andrew eventually tired his catch out andI was able to get it in the net. What an in-tense fish on light tackle. Before heading in we decided to cruise

the trap line furthest away from the reef.As we were cruising by Andrew spottedan extra large triple tail. We slowed downturned around and cruised up to the crabtrap on trolling motor. Using the samereel he caught the cobia on he cast out alive shrimp. By this time the wind hadpicked up and it carried his line past theintended target. This triple tail didn’t care,he chased after his bait with vigor. An-drew was reeling up the bait to recast asthis fish took charge, inhaling the bait andgetting hooked. Captain Andrew fish ontake 2! These fish are a great fight, takingAndrew about 10 minutes to get him tothe net. Just in the nick of time too as thistriple tail turned out to be hooked justbarely. Not bad for a spur of the momenttrip out on the Gulf. Not to mention freshdinners for the next few days!

Spur of the Moment


By Capt Bart MarxWater LIFE InshoreIn March I had 6 anglers from

the Carrol family. It was a breezyday to go out into the Gulf so wefound some places to hide wherethe fish were biting inshore. Ourfirst stop was at the phosphatedock pilings where they caughtsome nice flounder - one was halfcolorless - and some sheepshead.There were cousins, aunts, un-cles, and sisters involved. Letsjust say they kept me busy takingfish off and putting on fresh baitso I had very little time to talkand get the scoop on who waswho and so on. After some time we were vis-

ited by some snorkelers and otherboats so it was time to make amove to another spot not far fromwhere we were fishing, about300 feet away, so we could fishanother area of the dock. The Dad/Husband lost something big in

this spot, it might have been a snook. Heyelled and the rod was bent and line wasgoing off the spool and then it came unbut-toned (SNAP) and the look on his face waspriceless. He just lost possibly the largestfish he ever had on a rod and reel and hewas bewildered. It took a few minutes forhim to accept that he lost that battle. Again it was time to find another fishing

area. We idled through the canal system ofBoca Grande so they could see BocaGrande Marina and the golf course wherethe Bush family played and the Inn of BocaGrande and the big yachts and houseswhere today the millionaires are gettingbought out by the billionaires. Then wetraveled over to the edge of Bull Baywhere we anchored up once again to fish. Once again they kept me busy. They

were catching lady fish, trout, jack crevelleand a few cat fish. And the sisters had adouble hookup on snook too. The Carrolfamily and I had a fun trip and there wasenough fish for fish tacos that evening.

My quick fish-taco recipe is coleslaw,shredded cabbage and Marzettis slawdressing, use the fish of your choice fried,grilled etc. Then finish it off with somemango salsa, Winner! It’s easy and tastespretty good too.

If you would like to have your own FloridaFishing adventure call Capt. Bart Marx 941-979-6517 or e-mail me at [email protected]. I can go on your boatwith you or you can come along on our boat tomake your own memories on the waters ofSouth West Florida.

One Funky Flounder

This flounder came up with half of his top side colorlesslike his bottom side.


By Captain Joe AngiusWater LIFE Estero BayThe warmer water temperatures in Es-

tero Bay havebrought in a lotof qualitythreadfins andwhitebait. Mixedin with the largethreadfins aretarpon, whichmeans it won’tbe long beforeall of the back-water creeks andflats are stockedwith them. Bait is the

name of thegame when itcomes down tocatching thesebeautiful shal-low water gamefish and the mostproductive areasto catch qualitythreadfins andwhitebait havebeen bridges. Ifbait is nowhereto be foundaround thebridges, I wouldsuggest two al-ternatives: shal-low grass flatsand open water.Find a shal-

low grass flatwith 2-5 feet ofclean water witha strong currentand anchor upon it. Chum thearea around you to bring the bait to you orwait patiently until the bait shows up.Throw an 8ft 3/8inch mesh cast net. Thiswill help filter out the grass and glass min-nows from your net. If the bait isn’t show-ing up on the grass flats, open water isnext.Open water bait searching is my last re-

sort method, but it has been productive thepast few weeks. When it is calm out earlyin the morning, it can be very easy to spota large bait school in open water. Birds willbe diving on the bait, fish may be blowingup on it, and the bait pod will make it looklike it’s raining. Anchor up in 15-20 feet ofwater, chum a lot, and wait. When the baitpod makes its way to the boat throw a 10or 12 foot 3/8inch mesh cast net. It is veryimportant to have a fast sinking net in thissituation because the bait is deeper in thewater column.Using live threadfins has been ex-

tremely productive with getting the fish to

strike, but when the bait is too large, it’sdifficult to get a hook set. Then I will cutthe threadfins in half and fish around the

mangroves onhigh water orfish lower wateraround the oys-ter bars. Snookhave been ag-gressive towardthis cut baitmethod as well.Lately, the mostproductive baitin Estero Bayfor me has beenlarge whitebaitand shrimp. The redfish

bite has beenexcellent thismonth and theyare inclined toeat almost any-thing that fallsin front of them.One of my re-peat clients andI decided earlyin the morningwe wouldchange the paceand try artificialbaits. We wereusing the newFlats HQ “FlatsWalker” in boneand goldencolor, as well asthe “FlatsSwimmer” inroot beer gold.The fish wentabsolutely crazyfor these baits,

especially the large redfish feeding high upon the oyster bars. I highly recommendthese artificial baits on days where live baitmay be too hard to find!Try your best to respect the boaters,

wildlife, fishermen and fisherwomenaround you. Remember, that the gift of theworld and the habitats around us are bor-rowed and not given. Have fun fishing andenjoy what our area has to offer.Captain Joe Angius (727)-234-3171Speakeasyfishing.com FlatsHQ.com

Bait is Always Key


April 1 ColumnOn The Line By Capt. Ron BlagoWater LIFE Senior StaffThe other day at my local watering hole, I made the

acquaintance of a gentleman who said he was a low levelemployee at the Marine Mammal Pathobiology Lab(MMPL) in St. Petersburg. This is the place where theybring all the dead manatees for a necropsy. This guy toldme an amazing story, but made me promise to keep hisname anonymous so henceforth he will be known asDeep Snoot (DS).One day last month: DS was at his favorite hiding

place, the last stall of the executive men's room, workingon his Sweet 16 bracket picks when a number of FWCexecutives and managers walked in and seemed to behaving some sort of clandestine meeting.According to DS, the leader of the group was very upsetabout the recent manatee population survey that found6,063 manatees in Florida, an all time record. He said thatthis would be the last bit of data the Feds would use todelist the manatee. If the Feds did that, the Sate wouldsurely follow and there goes the taxpayers funding for thelab. The executive said that he wanted all the managers tocome up with money saving and money making ideasthat would allow them all to save their jobs. One of themanagers spoke up and said the biggest expense they hadwas dealing with all these dead manatees. He remindedthe group that over the last 10 years there have been over5,000 dead manatees reported. Someone calls in a reportof a dead manatee and he has to send someone out to re-cover the carcass, bring it to a boat ramp and load it on atrailer and drive it to the lab. There, it is cut up in an at-tempt to determine the cause of death. Then they haul theremains to the dump.

He pointed out , that after 40 years of cutting up mana-tees they probably got as much scientific information asthere is to be had. He also reported that after all that workthe single largest category of manatee deaths is still “un-determined,” so giving up on retrieving dead manateeswould save a lot of money and not really hurt any scien-tific research. Another manager spoke up and said that hehad been contacted by a group of Asian business menwho were interested in purchasing manatee hides for pro-cessing into high end leather goods and this could de-velop into a significant source of revenue. After all,woman pay hundreds of dollars for high end leather de-signer handbags, why not shoes, wallets and belts madeout of manatee hide?The head guy thanked everyone for coming and

praised them for thinking outside the box. They left themen's room one at a time so as to not raise suspicion. After they had all left; DS packed up his things and

went to lunch.

This story may sound amazing but it does have an el-ement of truth in it. In researching this article I cameacross a Manatee Salvage Program as part of MMPL.Could this be the group in charge of finding new uses fordead manatees? Is there another program for live mana-tees? Ever since a few FWC staff members were repri-manded a few years back, for throwing a slab of freshmanatee on the barbecue, people have been wonderingabout manatee as a food source. Remember that peoplearound the world eat some pretty strange things like; dog,horse, bugs and whales; so can manatees be that far outof line? They're vegetarian, organic and free range. Iwonder how much a pair of manatee hide cowboy bootswould go for? I bet they’d be saltwater resistant.

Note from the Capt: This article is totally false and has no basisin fact. No manatees were killed or injured in the writing of this article.Happy April Fools Day [email protected] photo above was shot last month and is very REAL

An FWC officer towed a dead manatee into Pirate Harbor last month. We think the FWC used a small boatramp to transferthe animal to their trailer. With more manatees than ever before (we say there are now 7,000+) there will be record numbersof manatee deaths and eventually the largest category of manatee deaths will be attributed to old age.

By Capt. Dan CambrenWater LIFE Offshore

I used to fish for kings and Spanishmackerel using spoons and planers whichwork just fine, especially if you’re on themove and just want to load the coolerwith fish. But in reality who really needsa whole cooler of mackerel? If you don'teat them fresh, like within a day or twothey get rather fishy tasting and not in agood ‘fishy-taste’ kindof way.Several years ago I

started using more livebait and less hardwareto catch these speed-sters and I found it wasway more sporting andfun. For Spanish mack-erel it's hard to beat alive well full of friskylive whitebait. Set upon the edge of a dropoff by any of our localpasses and start chum-ming a few baits withthe current. Next put alive white bait on alight jig or a bare longshank hook and pitch itback with your chum-mers and hold on! I use40- to 50-pound fluorocarbon leader forthe Spanish macks, you'll get bit off occa-sionally but have a lot more strikes thanwhen using steel leader.Catching King mackerel is a little dif-

ferent because you'll need to step up thegear just a bit. I like to use medium toheavy spinning tackle with several hun-dred yards of line in case a "smoker" kingshows up. For bait, it's hard to beat a largeblue runner or cigar minnow. Use a sabikirig to catch these baits from just off thebeach out to 40 or 50 feet of water. Thisyear the bait has been insane and it iseverywhere right now. We've actually hadgood bait off shore all winter long, thewater stayed warm enough for the bait tostick around so we caught a few kings inJanuary before some of our stronger coldfronts came through. I use a short lengthof light wire leader with a stinger treble

hook 4 to 6 inches from the front hook.We catch a lot of kings just pitching a livebait out behind the boat while we are an-chored up and bottom fishing. I'll put a block of chum out behind the

boat and let the bigger pieces drift downto the bottom for the snapper and grouperwhile the oils from the chum float up ontop of the water and create a nice slickthat will eventually end up a mile or two

behind the boat. Thishelps to draw in allkinds of pelagics andother predators such asBlack-fin tuna, cobia,amber jack, and evenwahoo and sailfish ifyour lucky. There's noshortage of fish to becaught on a flat linedlive bait, and I put oneout religiously whenever I'm at anchor.If I'm not bottom

fishing and want tocatch more with thelive bait I'll slow trolla couple of blue run-ners or cigar minnowsaround hard bottom orother reef structure toget better action. Just

troll as slow as possible with live bait oth-erwise they'll be skipping on top andwon't look natural. I'll bump troll myboat, putting it in gear for a few secondsand then just drift the baits behind theboat so they can swim normally.

So, next time you go out, put awaythe hardware and try some live bait fish-ing. I think you'll find it a lot more sport-ing and enjoy the fight much better. Catch'em up!

Capt Dan Cambern runs HammerheadCharters LLC out of the Fishery boatdocks in Placida, Fl. Call 941-380-6226or 941-625-6226 to book your next trip ofa lifetime. Also look at our daily posts onFaceb ook @ Hammerhead Charters LLC.Like us and leave a comment. We'd love tohear from you!


KingfishTurning On

Ted Dilkens and mate Chad with a 40-pound kingfish caught on a blue runner in March


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SCUTTLEBUTTSometimes Unsubstanciated, But Often True

IF BIG SUGAR BALKS over a land dealwith the State that would help maintainLake Okeechobee and its runoff, citizensare asking why the state doesnʼt take theland under Eminent Domain? ... like itdoes from small private citizens.

AN FWC OFFICER WAS CHECKINGshoreline recreational fisherman whenshe noticed the cargo pants pocket ofone fisherman making a jerking motionoutward. She observed a bucket with alllegal fish, including a mangrove snapper,adjacent to the subjects. She approachedthe subjects and inquired if she could seewhat was in the individualʼs pocket. Thesubject produced an undersized hogfishand a mangrove snapper from his pocketand was cited for those violations.

FWC OFFICERS WERE IN BULL BAYwhen they noticed a small vessel travel-ing along the mangrove line in shallowwater. Upon contact, the operator mademention of only having a trout, howeveronce it was apparent the officers weregoing to do an inspection of the vesselthe operator admitted to also having asnook. When the snook was measured itwas found to be undersized by threeinches. Citations were issued.

OFFICERS RESPONDED BY BOAT to acitizen complaint of two individuals takinglive shells along the sandbar located in

the middle of Pine Island Sound. Undercurrent law, the taking and/or possessionof any live shell is prohibited in LeeCounty. The complainant, a local charterfishing guide, reportedly observed the ac-tivity for several minutes and then calledthe Wildlife Alert number to report it. Offi-cers were able to locate and apprehendthe subjects while still in the act of col-lecting the live shells. Both subjects, whoare locally known commercial fishermen,were issued notices to appear on the vio-lations and the operator received severalwritten warnings for boating safety viola-tions.

FISHING GUIDES ASSISTED MARINEBIOLOGISTS with a manatee rescue inthe Pine Tree Canal of St James City.The team, through a group effort, wereable to net a nine foot male manatee andload it into an air conditioned box truck.According to the biologist on scene, themanateeʼs injury was blunt trauma, be-lieved to have been caused by a vesselstrike. It was later transported to the St.Petersburg Marine Mammal Patho Biol-ogy Lab.

2017-22 OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELFOIL AND GAS LEASING PROGRAM. A group of oil industry representativeswere in North Carolina last month to talkabout what they see as the benefits off-shore energy exploration could bring tothe area. We can learn from their ap-proach. Advocates say oil and naturalgas development in the Atlantic could

create 55,000 jobs in North Carolina andgenerate $4 billion for the state budget by2035. The rewards, opponents say, can-not offset the related risks to coastalhabitats fisheries, estuaries and industry.It is interesting to note, the group metwith members of the County EconomicDevelopment Council - they are sellingthe money making potential of oil eventhough oil is at record lows. Their visitcame as the deadline nears for publiccomment on the U.S. Bureau of OceanEnergy Managementʼs environmental im-pact statement for the already in place2017-22 Outer Continental Shelf Oiland Gas Leasing Program. This also comes amid pending applica-tions for federal approval of offshore seis-mic surveys – the first step in exploringfor oil and natural gas resources, whichthe industry would like to see begin laterthis year. The oil potential extendsthrough the Gulf Stream and downFloridaʼs coast.

We think this FWC truck was sunk atthe Apollo Beach, boat ramp. The FWChas not confirmed the location

Slow Progress - Removel of the old deckingis still underway at the Port Charlotte BeachComplex fishing pier and it doesnʼt look likeit will be ready for fishermen this month.

• Jacksonville

Wanted: Kayak writer/photographer for regular monthly column email: [email protected]


Sailing Two Big Regattas Last MonthBy Peter WelchWater LIFE SailingTHE 22ND CONQUISTADOR CUPForty six boats in seven class’s had two

days of racing in winds of 15-20 knots. Thatis 5 to 10 knots above Charlotte Harbornorms and it challenged habitual sail trimand timing of maneuvers. The flip side formost was the joy of the boat at maximumspeed. This was especially true for multi-hull boats that exceed the wind speed. Andalso true for boats labeled as “slow” be-cause they have reduced sail area, better forcruising in high winds. Those with a longwaterline sailed “above their rating” andbested perennial light air winners.In some ways Conquistador is a story of

two races; overall performance for bothdays and winning the Sunday Pursuit raceto get the Conquistador helmet for a yearand your boat picture on the T-shirt thatnext year’s racers wear. Boats start the pursuit in reverse order of

PHRF rating…slowest first, and fastest last.The trimaran Kimosabi started 31 minutesafter the first boat out and finished first win-ning the coveted Conquistador’s Helmit.Skipper Phil Saunders showed over 16knots boat speed. Spinnaker A was a return contest be-

tween Still Crazy and Obsession with theoutcome reversed. With another season ofexperience with the J95 Bob Knowles andcrew on Still Crazy beat Melges 24 Obses-sion via a tie break. Bob credits use of thelarger spinnaker and improved jib trim withthe win but points out that Obsession wasover early in race 3 and had to re cross theline giving him a slim margin in that race.Spinnaker B was dominated by Soulshinewith four first place races. The class was anS2 7.9 event 1st thru 3rd place. The multi hull fleet, with their wider

tack and jibe angles, seemed to be on a dif-ferent course. And they were moving veryfast. Some seemed to have too much sailpower at times, even rounding up downwind. The slower rated Kimosabi had theright combination to win the class withthree firsts and a third.In non-spinnaker A, Fancy Free demon-

strated the dividend’s that crew and boat de-

velopment brings. Gerald Poquette hasraced the boat for 29 years and increasedthe main sail size. He says “don’t be afraidof a rating penalty if the boat sails better”!Fancy Free got the Helmet two years agoand was second in the class this year withtwo firsts. Non Spinnaker B was domi-nated by Morgan with three first places.

2015 LEUKEMIA CUP Isles Yacht Club promotes and manages

this multi event charity drive that regularlysends over $30,000 to the Leukemia Lym-phoma Society. Only the sailing events willbe covered here. If you have other interestscheck their web site, contribute to the goodcause and have fun. The March 21-22 Regatta hosted 24

boats over 20 ft long for two races on the21st and one longer race the 22nd. Windsboth days were light, subject to directionchange, and random in where it reacheddown to sail height. There is an element ofluck, but those who know the harbor pointthe boat to where the new wind is mostlikely to arrive. And for best speed gowhere the tidal current is lowest. Race 1 on the 21st. was delayed an hour

to allow fog to clear and wind build to 5knots. But the wind died about half waythru, leaving 14 boats stranded on thecourse until the time limit expired. Thoseboats got scored one place worse than thelast to finish. There was a further delaywhile the wind for race 2 built to about 10knots, but then decreased. The course wasshortened via radio instruction and mostfinished. At that point Nuzzo, Knowles, andNew were tied for first in spinnaker, andFowler and Brauer were the same in Cruis-

ing. The Next day’s Pursuit Racewas goingto decide those divisions.The Pursuit Race start was delayed an

hour while the wind clocked from NE tosouth and got up to about 5 knots. Racerscould choose to stay to the east in less ad-verse current or drive to the west wall in an-ticipation that the wind would continue toclock that way and freshen. The author andtwo others went west 17 boats chose theeast wall. Halfway up to the weather markthe west bound boats were moving andpraying for the favored shift. The east sideboats had not moved for some time and fewwere past Ponce Inlet. Then the wind fresh-ened from the south, the tree line to the eastamplified it and those boats got a lift. Thewest boats got wind from an adverse direc-tion and later. Winningthe tie went to east wallboats. The trimaranUnleaded III won thePursuit after starting 9minutes behind thesecond place S2 7.9Soulshine. Unleaded’screw reported leavingthis dock with out or-ganizing lines, stowingfenders, and then hav-ing to get untangledfrom crab trap lines!Two pursuit wins bytrimaran’s thisyear…hum?

Dee Smith swept the 2.4M class with four first and one secondplace finishes in the 14 boat fleet. Charles Rosenfield (2014 USChamp) finished second when Danny Evans failed to utilize a windshift. The Harbor has become a center of excellence for these boats.Twenty seven other small boats raced on two other circles.

Above: Leukemia Cup sailors looking for wind

Conquistador Cup sailors enjoying 15-20 knots of wind Water LIFE sailing photos: Fran Burstein

Conquistador winner Kimosabi.

Full Regatta Results at www.pgscweb.comFull Regatta Results at www.pgscweb.com

Charlotte HarborFrank at Fishin’ Franks941- 625-3888The fishing is great. March had a little

mild rain but nothing slowed down thewarming of the water. So fish are, like, inpre-spawn mode and eating. We have Spanish at the US 41 bridges

and in the Harbor from Mkr. No. 2 - toMkr. No. 5 and also in the ICW. We are in the middle of the best snook

fishing in 15 years. The only problem isgetting slot fish – most are too big. Morn-ing and night at El JoBean is great forsnook. Try a 5 inch Storm bait and walk

the pier. At the 41 bridges, try a TTR 11Mirrolure. Cast it out and bring it backalong the piling. An old red and whiteBomber is also good – just bring it back tothe pilings. Guys at the first thing in themorning are having the time of their life.We are starting to see snook on the east

and west side of the Harbor. They aregoing under the bushes looking for shadein the middle of the day. Even first thingin the morning they are only just outsideof the branches. Out at Bull and TurtleBay, fishing for big snook is on fire.

Stay outside of the sandbars – not in-side the bars – it’s like it was in the 90s –

40-inch fish abound downthere right now.For snook bait, the best

thing is a ladyfish 10inches long or a great bigthreadfin. You need bigbaits for these fish and givethe fish time to get it –don’t hit ‘em on the strike,let them take it. Out on thebarrier islands, the little rainwe have been getting ispushing the snook to theoutside of the islands.

Redfish are like the snook. They justpopped up out of nowhere. All of a suddenthere are redfish up and down both sides

PAGE 22 EMAIL: W [email protected] APRIL 2015

Capt Dave Stephenswww.backbayxtremes.com

941-916-5769

BackBayXtremes

April April –– Predictions and SuggestionsPredictions and Suggestions

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

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

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

941-473-2150

Chrissy Marie with some 7a.m. Boca Grande Snook

Mallory with a bow hunted ray

Quick hookset - Glen Balinger sent us thisspotted snake eel

of the Harbor. Look for the trough in front of themangroves. The reds are not up under the busheslike the snook. In the Gasparilla and Pine Islandsound the reds are up on the flats. There are lotsof oversized fish and the theory is those are astrain of the fish released from the hatchery. Thethinking is, they are directionally misplaced, ge-netical lost and they don’t know where to go.They act like a resident fish not migratory fish.The big reds that grow here leave to spawn andthat doesn’t happen until October. A black drum spawn is happening right now.

There are two or three big schools all spawningthrough out the Harbor, from Mkr No.1 to Mkr.No. 6, you’ll see the rolling fish. Lures, jigs,they will go after anything .... when they are inthe mood to eat. These are 20- to 60- poundfish, but when they are spawning they don’t eatmuch.I’ve heard a few kingfish stories locally, but

more up by Sarasota. Try circle trolling, troll awide circle around the reef or wreck. It seems tobe effective but be real careful with your set up.You have to have the right distance betweenyour baits.Lemon sharks of good size are in the ICW

and in the Harbor up to the middle hole. Black

tips, bonnets and black nose sharks to 4 feet,which is huge for them, are in the Harbor. If youwant sharks, April is a prime month especiallywith the temperatures up.If you are Grouper fishing, you have to have

steel leader because there are so many sharks onthe reefs. I think they know it’s time for the tar-pon so all the big apex predators are heading forCharlotte Harbor right now.There are tarpon at Estero and at Sanibel at

the south end and inside at Redfish Pass – a fewfish already and more on the way.

Lemon Bay Jim at Fishermen’s Edge 697-7595Fishing’s really good and inshore is on fire

because a lot of bait is around. Snook and red-fish are being caught pretty well. There are a lotof oversize fish around. El JoBean, Turtle Bay,the beaches and Lemon Bay all have a lot of ac-tivity.Tarpon are around. I saw some last weekend.

around Pine Island by Pelican Bay. We saw acouple of free jumpers – pretty good sized fishand we saw fish more than once in there ... andwe salso aw some by Cayo Pelau along thatshore line. A bunch of guys have told me they

caught them already. Some were small40-pounders, I havent had many 100pound stories yet, one guy on fly at PineIsland said he caught a big one. And I’vealready had some Boca Grande live bait

guys tell me theyare running char-ters now.There has

been a lot ofSpanish mack-erel and king-fish showing up.I’ve seen pic-tures of some 30-to 40- poundkings already.The mackerel arein Boca GrandePass pretty good,along the sand-bar on the northside of the Pass.There are plenty of amberjacks offshore and

a lot of red grouper. And I’ve been hearingabout African pompano. It seems like theAfrican pompano migrated up this way and theylike it here. I think all the bait we have bringsthem up or maybe ots the warm temperature.We have mangrove snapper and a whole

bunch of cobia offshore on the reefs, a lot of bigfish. Some guys are catching blue runners andthe only other thing the guys are catching areblack tips and a bull sharks here and there.They are still mostly smaller sharks, but the big-ger ones are coming quick enough.

SNOOK Staying near the man-groves or under them

REDFISH Big fish on bothsides of the harbor

SPANISH MACKEREL BocaGrande up into the Harbor

TARPON Coming up fromthe south

FISHING FISHINGRIGHT NOW:RIGHT NOW:

Incredible !Incredible !

95˚

90˚

85˚

80˚

72˚70˚68˚

50˚

45˚

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

Gulf Gulf TempsTemps

are mid 70sare mid 70sThe Harbor isThe Harbor is

3- or 4-degrees3- or 4-degreeswarmerwarmer

Above and below: Redfish from Capt. Joe Angius

Kids and grouper with Ham-merhead Charters. It doesnʼtget any better!

ABOVE: Panama City, Hathaway Bridge, redfish last month.RIGHT AND FAR RIGHT: African Pompano Capt. Joe Miller

Glen Ballinger/ Capt Joe Millegrouper, amberjack and another true black grouper


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water life april 2015

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