water life march 2009

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DamnDamnGators!Gators!

Page 5Page 5No! notNo! notTHOSE THOSE

GATORSGATORS

KKIIDDSS CCUUPPKKIIDDSS CCUUPPNext Month!Next Month!2-13Page 12-13

Fishing ReportPort Charlotte Tarpon

Page 22-23

WarriorsRedfish

TournamentPage 10

Jacks Couldnʼt be BetterPage 10

P a g e 2 Wa t e r L I F E M A G A Z I N E M a r c h 2 0 0 9

M a r c h 2 0 0 9 Wa t e r L I F E M A G A Z I N E P a g e 3


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Vol IIX No3 © 2009 Water LIFENo part of this publication may be

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Contributing Editors:Senior Editor: Capt. Ron Blago

Charlotte Harbor: Capt. Robert MoorePort Charlotte: Capt. Andy MedinaGasparilla: Capt. Chuck Eichner

Offshore: Capt. Steve SkevingtonCommercial Fishing: Kelly Beal

Sea Grant: Betty StauglerReal Estate: Dave Hofer

Inshore: Fishinʼ FrankDiving: Adam WilsonKayaks: David Allen

Sailing: Bill DixonOffice Dog: Molly

on the COVER:A client fishing with Capt Angel Torresholds a Spring Lake tarpon, last month.

on our WEBSITE:WWW.waterlifemagazine.com

RealEstate: Whatʼs happening NOW!Fishing Resource Guide: Everythingyou ever wanted to know – almostDon Ball School: Class ReportArtificial Reefs: Projects and progresslat/long for local reefsManatee Myths: Read the original planto create sanctuaries and refuges, asspelled out by the United Nations in 1984Kids Cup: Tournament Information.

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Not per WEEK

I Challenge the Florida Fish and WildlifeConservation Commission (FWC)November and December are two bad fishing months for

seatrout fishermen in southwest Florida because seatrout are outof season. Why? I don’t know. Hey team FWC, get real!Seatrout are everywhere. We have more seatrout in SouthwestFlorida than any other fish. We catch seatrout in the shallows,out in deep water, and on the reefs. If someone can’t catchseatrout, Should they go play golf? ...I don’t know.I’m a fishing guide and I carry an average of four persons on

my charters; that means our average bag limit on the averagecharter is 16 seatrout. Is that too many? I don’t know.FWC makes fishing regulations and needs to look at seatrout

rules. They need to rethink what they are doing to the charterindustry. November and December in southwest Florida is aprime season for us with lots of customers coming here to fish. In November and December it’s cooling down, the big

schools of redfish are gone and snook season is closed. So whatcan a fishing guide do to please his clients? If the FWC wouldthink about this, they would not like it. I don’t like it. Aroundthe Holidays we are catching baby throw back redfish and catch-and-release snook. Can you guess what fish is everywhere? Ifyou guessed seatrout, you would be correct. Think about this,the most plentiful fish in Charlotte Harbor is out of seasonwhen people come here to fish. Why? Again, I don’t know.It is past time for a change. Please FWC, change the rules

now! Open seatrout season during November and December insouthwest Florida. Let’s stop picking on throw back redfish andsnook. Will the FWC do this? I don’t know. Actually I doknow the reason for the closure. FWC wants to reduce the

seatrout take. Guess what? I do too. I am a fishing guide and yesI want to reduce the seatrout catch. Sometimes I carry six cus-tomers and that means I can legally catch 24 seatrout. Is thatway too many? I don’t know.Come on FWC, let’s do something to change this. Below are

a few of my ideas that might be acceptable to both the FWC andall anglers.• Open seatrout season during November and December then

choose ONE of the following:• Reduce the seatrout take to just two per person.• Change the slot size limit (currently 15” to 20” with 1 over

size allowed) to 16 to 24 inches with no over size seatrout.• Keep the limit at 4 seatrout per person, but with a maxi-

mum of 10 per boat which ever is least.Any of the above suggestions would work, but I believe

number three would be the best for everyone. This will work allyear, keep the catch down and everyone will have a few fish for afamily fish fry and something to show for their trip. Is this tooradical? I don’t know.I challenge the FWC to take action now, to change the

restrictions and open seatrout fishing during the months ofNovember and December with one of the above changes. Will ithappen… I don’t know.

Capt. Rick Kel ley, Punta Gorda

EPIRB FYI:As of Feb 1, 2009 EPIRB analog frequencies 121.5/243 MHzsignals are no longer monitored. All mariners, aviators, and indi-viduals using emergency beacons on those frequencies will needto switch to those operating on the newer, more reliable, digital406 MHz frequency if they want to be detected by satellites.


By Michael Hel lerWater LIFE EditorI was told that a $10,000 grant had been awarded to

Charlotte County by the Take Me Fishing organizationwith the express purpose of teaching kids in CharlotteCounty about fishing. I was also told the county had noplans for how they would spend money, so I called TakeMe Fishing and spoke with Resa Kierstein who is theirPartnership Manager for the National Recreation andParks Association. I asked her to send me a copy of thegrant requirements. I read them over. The grant requiredCharlotte County to reach out to 3500 kids under age 15and teach them about fishing before the end of March.The county had been sitting on this for 6 months priorand and time was now running out.“We’d really like to get a rod in their hands,” Kierstein

had told me, but I found out the Charlotte County Parksand Recreation Department, (the county agency awardedthe grant) had other plans for the money and that in factthey had already spent $1500 of the $10,000 grant as a‘finder's fee’ to a female county employee who filled outthe application paperwork. When I asked to speak to thatwoman I was told she quit not long after she received thecash. “They just want to do as little as possible and putthe money in the county's bank account,” a source withinthe county had told me. If they submitted their paperworkby the end of March it might have slipped under theradar. Take Me Fishing would have thought it was doneand no one here in Charlotte County would be any thewiser.According to Kierstein the county had told her they

were going to have two employees take an ‘online train-ing course’ and then teach 3500 kids about fishing at theKayak Festival. “There are no kids at the kayak festival,” I told her.

We cover the Kayak festival every year for this magazine.It's a demo-day for local kayak merchants and it happensin April after the grant deadline.

I also told her that in the past the county's reports ofattendance at the kayak festivals have been ‘grosely andintentionally over-exaggerated.’ There aren’t 3500adults there, let alone 3500 kids I told her. Kierstein had said she was working with Mike

Solomon in Parks and Rec. so I copied Kierstein andemailed Solomon a letter asking for his itemizeddescription of how the county exactly planned to teachour kids about fishing. I also asked for the name of thewoman who got the $1500, but I never heard back.Then I called him, but he never called back.I suggested to Kierstein that our group (the non-

profit Charlotte Harbor Reef Association) could use thegrant money to print copies of our Fishing ResourceManual, the book we use in our school classes. Thenwe could distribute them in the county schools to 35005th and 6th graders. That would teach them plentyabout fishing and give them a heads up for enrolling inour school classes when they hit the 7th grade. Itwouldn’t be ‘rods in their hands,’ but they would learna bunch about local fishing from our book. “You’dhave to work with Parks and Rec.” she told me, and Ilaughed. Later that week I ran into a friend who knowssome of the county commissioners and I just so hap-pened to mention the $10,000 story to him. Then, afew days later my friend called back and told me heheard the county was now going to give the $10,000grant money back. “You ought to call CommissionerRobert Skidmore,” my friend told me, so I did. I outlined what had happened and Skidmore was

immediately interested. He was upset that a countyemployee took a finder’s fee and he was unhappy thatthe Kayak Festival was being used as a sham for teach-ing kids fishing. “I’m going to look into this,” he said.And that’s where we are right now. They are runningaround covering their collective asses at Parks and Rec,and the Take me Fishing group is no doubt wiping theegg off their face. And the kids? They got cheated.

Is Parks & Rec. Cheating our Kids?

Gators in the news again! This is the third month in a rowthat we have had an alligator on this page, each photo moreinteresting than the one before. This month itʼs two Louisianaredfishermen with their ʻGator chomped ̓fish. Is that a ZaraSpook in the redfishʼs mouth?


By Capt. Chuck EichnerWater LIFE Charlotte Harbor

March is the big transition monththat marks the end of sluggish winterfishing. The subtropical waters ofsouthwest Florida will climb back intothe 70s and the tides will graduallybecome higher. Snook that have hun-kered down in the maze of canals in PortCharlotte and Punta Gorda will meandertheir way to the mouths of the canals.Snook that have wintered in the riversystems will cautiously migrate towardsCharlotte Harbor and they will be hun-gry. More redfish will begin to appearand their sizes will go up dramatically.This is a great time for the lure fish-

erman because the fish’s food sources arerelatively limited and the large schoolsof scaled sardines and threadfin herringare just beginning to arrive. I like to begin my fishing day around

11:00 a.m. to allow the waters to warmwith the sun’s radiant energy. Coldblooded gamefish will become increas-ingly active and the late afternoons willbe best. For the first part of the dayplastic jerk baits make a good choicebecause you can cover a lot of water andvary the retrieve. The basic colors ofwhite, rootbeer, green or clear-fleck aregood choices to fish on a weighted weed-less jighead. This is the perfect bait tocast beyond potholes and then twitchyour way back to a slow descent into thepothole. An aggressive redfish sensesthe weakness of the prey and will pounceon it. The jerkbait is also a good lurefor open water fishing across sand flatsand around mangrove edges. Vary theretrieve to find what works. The othercomponent to vary is color. The influ-ence of largemouth bass fishing has car-ried over into the saltwater world and thecolor choices are now endless. Naturalcolors seem the natural choice but oddcolors like bubblegum, chartreuse, limesand a combination of bright colors canwork like magic. They are especiallygood in murkier water which often hap-

pens when the afternoon westwind pushes extra water ontoour shores. Your bait size needsto be experimented with as wellbecause schools of baby glassminnows and small shrimpmay be the local prey whereyou are fishing. A three inchbait will out perform a 5 inchbait in this situation.With the sun higher on the

water in early afternoon I loveto throw a crankbait.Specifically shallow divingplugs like a Rapala X-Rap orYozuri in a white or silver pat-tern will draw lots of reactionstrikes. You can cover waterfast working fishy habitat. Inearly to mid-March I lookfor shorel ines and basins thathav e protected shorel ines onnortherly banks. These areas are pro-tected from the wind but more impor-tantly the water warms much quickerbecause of the leeward protection againstnortherly winds. The snook and redfishwill follow the baitfish that are attractedto these same warmer areas. Areas withdark mud bottoms will also becomewarmer because dark colors absorb moreultra violet radiation. These are the sameareas that will become void of fish inMay because the waters get too warm.When fishing shallow lipped plugs yourretrieve is paramount in triggeringstrikes. One method is to retrieve yourplug moderately fast and incorporate amomentary pause once or twice on theretrieve. This pause simulates a weak-ness to a hungry fish and usually thestrike comes right after the pause.Another technique is to start yourretrieve very quickly and then stopallowing the plug to come to rest on thesurface. This keeps your plug in thestrike zone longer and when you resumeyour retrieve the fish senses it is escap-ing and often triggers a strike. Liplesscrankbaits like rattletraps have their

place, but I only prefer them if there is agood chop on the water or when thewater is murky. This lure is an atten-tion getter and under quiet and calm con-ditions it will usually send fish running.Late afternoon with the setting sun is

the time to pull out the topwater plug.The Zara Spook or Zipping Ziggy are acouple of my favorites. The simplewalk-the-dog cadence will help youlocate fish. If they swish at your topwa-ter bait follow up with a jerk bait andoften you will complete the deal! There are lots of other lures to try and

a silver or gold spoon will put fish inthe boat throughout the day. I prefer afast retrieve with an s-shaped spoon withno other imparted action. Sometimes ithelps to increase the speed up and downto stimulate strikes. A Johnson SilverMinnow is a good weedless alternative.Add a small piece of twister tail in whiteor chartreuse for extra appeal. For thepatient fisherman, a plastic shrimp on aweedless hook or jighead will workaround just about any type of habitat.This is primarily a redfish tactic, butsnook and plenty of trout will nail aslowly dragged bait. A few other tips arein order: Outside islands and points aregood stop over spots as snook begin to

migrate around the harbor. Sometimesthey will congregate in open water overoyster beds as well. Another tip is toswoosh your lure at boat side if a snookfollows you up to the boat but doesn’tstrike. Swooshing or swishing as it’sknown, is done by sticking your rod tipinto the water with 3-4’ of line out toyour lure. Move your rod tip in a figureeight pattern repeatedly until you start tohere the swoosh sound. Trust me, thesnook will hear it too. Sometimes yourlure will be savagely attacked as thissound can invoke an instinctive strikeresponse. Your response will be to holdon for dear life as the fish tries to rip therod out of your hand on the short line.Musky fishermen up north are familiarwith this technique and it is worth a tryhere when a snook stops short of yourlure at boatside. Occasionally, I havedone this only to have a large jackcrevalle come out of nowhere and freighttrain my lure. Lure fishing has its chal-lenges and rewards and March is the timeto go.

Capt. Chuck Eichner is a local charter cap-tain. For information or to book a guidedfishing trip call 941-505-0003 or go to hiswebsite: www.backcountry-charters.com

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Lure Time for Redfish and Snook


By Capt Robert MooreWater LIFE S taffMarch is the beginning of live bait season. Charlotte

Harbor is known for its abundance of live bait such aspilchards. Pilchards are a group of several types of small,oily fish related to herrings. Some people say if the fishis under 4" long it is classed as a sardine, and if larger than4 inches it is classed as a pilchard. FishBase, a compre-hensive database of information about fish, lists at leastsix species called just "pilchard," over a dozen called just"sardine," and many more with the two basic names qual-ified by various adjectives.In the Charlotte Harbor area pilchards are considered to

be Spanish sardines, scaled sardines, and threadfin herring.Although you can catch them throughout the winter itisn’t always the bait of choice. But usually starting inMarch the entire Southwest Florida area begins to comealive with pilchards, making it the unanimous bait ofchoice. At times, finding and catching pilchards can be the

hardest part of the fishing day, especially in the earlyspring time. What can make them hard to locate is theyhave a tendency to be in deeper water, especially right aftera cold front passes. Locating bait in deeper water can be like looking for a

needle in hay stack. The best opportunity at locatingpilchards in deep water is around some sort of structurelike a channel marker piling such as at a bridge. Bait fishare pretty much at the lowest part of the food chain so theyare always under attack by some predator. This is why theyschool together in numbers and gather around any type ofstructure. This is their only defense from a predator fish.

Most of the markers in 10 feet of water or more through-out the Harbor hold bait at one time or another during theyear. Sometimes you can see the baitfish dimpling on the

top of the water around the structure when it’s calm; othertimes you will see them flashing several feet down. Thenthere are cloudy and windy days you won’t be able to seethem at all. On these days you must do what is referred toas blind casting. The quickest and most popular way to catch bait is

with a cast net. Chumming is the best way to concentratethe bait so you can throw your net on them. There aremany recipes for chum you can use. Some anglers go togreat lengths to make their chum; others have very basicand simple recipes. I personally fall into the simple cate-gory. I use a powered chum made by Purina that can befound at most local feed stores (like Crossties on Rt 17).I then mix the dry powdered chum with sea water and men-haden oil. I usually mix about three cups of dry chum, onecup of sea water and a splash of menhaden oil. The con-sistency I look for is a mixed chum that will squish

between my fingers. If you havetoo much water or not enoughwater this will not occur. I prefer to anchor my boat 10-

15 feet down current of the struc-ture. I then begin tossing smallballs of chum (about the size of aquarter) up current so it will sink

and flow past the structure. My main goal is to have thepilchards catch the scent of the chum and follow it awayfrom the structure so I can throw a cast net on them. Youwant to make sure you toss each ball of chum in the samearea as before. This helps concentrate the bait and makesit easier to throw your net on them. The key to keeping your bait lively once you do catch

it is to have a live well with fresh circulating sea water. Ifyour boat doesn’t have a built in livewell there are sever-al store bought live wells that can be installed into yourboat. The size of your live well and the amount of water you

can circulate will dictate the amount of bait you can hold.Pilchards never stop swimming so in return they need alot of oxygen. The more water that flows in and then outof your live well the more bait you will be able to hold.Sardines are more hearty than threadfin herring. Don’t overfill your live well with more pilchards than it is capableof holding. Remove the bait that dies. You want your baitto be lively and frisky when you use it. Fishing with live bait such as pilchards is a proven

successful tactic in catching quality fish. The more skilledyou become at finding and catching your own bait themore opportunities of catching quality fish will comeyour way. Good luck and tight lines!Capt. Robert Moore can be reached to book a trip or for fish-

ing information at: 624-5710 or atwww.captrobertmoore.com

Pilchards

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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 9

By Capt. Andrew MedinaWater LIFE Charlotte Harbor

In the world of saltwater fishing, somedays seem to be slow and others are justpicture perfect, with the reward of a fish onalmost every cast. This past month provedto be no exception to the rule with frontsthat blew in following days of perfectweather. We had a few days that felt likefish would knock the guts out of the baitas soon as it hit the water and then a coldfront would hit us from the north, not alarge front just a kiss from the north wind,and the fish would fall into their lethargicstate once again. This month you will startseeing fewer cold fronts and hopefully awarming trend. We are gearing up forspring and the warmer water temperatureswe desperately need. To me, that magicnumber is 82 degrees. A lot of anglersmight argue my thinking on this one, but Iseem to do my best when the fish arewarm and happy. We’ve already started see-ing more redfish milling on shore lines andout on the open flats, but once again wehave not had a cold snap in a few weeks tosend them running.

Both sides of the harbor are holdingfish. Redfish are on the west wall and ifyou catch them feeding it could be spectac-ular. Fish all tailed up on the low water areeager to eat a bait if you can get in overthe bar and within casting range withoutspooking them. The same is true on theeast side just south of Alligator Creek.Fish seem to be bunched up in their

springtime haunts already. Snook fishingis open now and the bite has been prettygood on white bait and artificials.Topwaters are doing well, such as the sil-ver and black Skitter Walk by Rapala orthe old faithful bone color Zara Spook. TheZara Spook is an old top water that has notchanged in shape, size or anything elsesince I can remember. The old saying don’tfix it if it ain’t broke, seems to hold truein the lure world.

Trout fishing has been incredible with alot of spotted sea trout running in the 3- to4-pound range. These fish have been southin the harbor, but we’ve also got somearound Turtle Bay.

In the Port Charlotte canals a lot ofanglers overlook a fish that can be a worldof fun when the wind blows. Big jacks arecruising the canals that lead to Spring Lakeand are also around the AckermanWaterway. Some of these fish are uparound 20-pounds. With screaming runsand pure digging power, these fish can savea trip when the weather and low tides leaveyou in a stich. When they are on the feedthey will eat just about any lure or plasticthrown in front of them.

Soon the water will warm and allanglers will once again remember why theylive in sunny Florida. Until next month,get out and fish and take a kid with you,the Kids Cup is right around the corner.Capt. Andrew can be reached for charter

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

Screaming ReelsScreaming ReelsWarrior Tournament

Zac Anaskey with his first snook caught with Capt. Andrew Medina last month

Above: Lyn Bevis (C) and his Team Re Max Harbor Realty took home the honors at theCharlotte Warriors Catch the Spirit Redfish Tournament at Laishley Park. They weighed in5.18 and 4.88 for a 10.06 Below: Kyle Potts won the spots with a 7 spot fish.


By Capt. Ron BlagoWater LIFE Senior Staff Let me start out by freely admitting

that I am not versed in global warming,long term climate change, or greenhousegasses. What I do have, based on my ownmeager scientific background, is a firmbelief that at any given moment the earthis getting either colder or warmer and isnever staying still for very long. Over thecourse of time the earth has been a lotcolder and a lot hotter; and it got that waywith no help or fault of man. In short I’mno expert; as a matter of fact I’m still try-ing to use up the last of my Y2K emer-gency supplies.Recently I reviewed a copy of a report

by the Florida Oceans and CoastalCouncil entitled The Effect ofCl imate Change on Florida’sOcean and Coastal Resources ,www.floridaoceanscouncil.orgThe Council is made up of 5 represen-

tatives each of the Florida DEP, FloridaFish and Wildlife and the Florida Dept. ofAgriculture. They in turn reviewed thereport of the Intergovernmental Panel onClimate Change (2007) as it relates toFlorida. This is the UN sponsored groupthat has former Vice President, Al Gore astheir spokes-person. I always get nervouswhen politicians get involved in interpret-ing scientific research and the openingsentence of this report confirmed myfears. “It is widely accepted that humanactivities can impact global climate pat-terns.” I really don’t know if that’s total-ly true; but I do remember that at onetime it was widely accepted that the worldwas flat.The Florida Council took a novel

approach to reviewing the data on globalwarming be dividing it into three sec-tions: what we currently know- what ispossible- and what is probable-. Forexample; we know that every week thereis a Lotto drawing; and if we buy a ticket

it is possible to win; but probably that’snot going to happen to you. All too oftenwe hear only the most pessimistic possi-ble effects global warming will have onthe world, not the most likely outcomebased on our current knowledge.The report addressed four aspects of

global warming. 1) The increase in green-house gases. 2) The increase in air tem-perature. 3) The increase in ocean tem-perature and 4) The increase in sea level. Greenhouse gases are made up of basi-

cally four components – the most abun-dant being water vapor (clouds). Notmuch humans can do about clouds. Thenext largest component is carbon dioxide(CO2), the product of combustionwhether it be from forest fires, volcanoes,breathing or running your boat. CO2concentrations in our atmosphere havebeen increasing about 1% per year.Methane is the next largest component.Think cow farts. For that matter think ofall the farts produced by all the livingorganisms on earth every day; all puremethane, shooting off into the atmos-phere. No wonder things smell bad aroundhere lately. The last major component isozone, which I thought was solved whenwe all had to change our auto air condi-tioners. It turns out lightning is a largeproducer of ozone and with all thoseclouds- well you see where this is going.They say the earth is heating up at a

rate of 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade.That’s hard to swallow after goingthrough our last winter, but what I wantto know is, if you are going to take thetemperature of the earth, where do youstick the thermometer? Think about howdifficult it would be to record the tempera-ture on every place on earth at the sametime and come up with an accurate aver-age temperature. Too many variables; toomuch chance for error. That is why theylook to sea temperature as being moreaccurate. “Global average sea surface tem-

perature has risen 1.1 degree Fahrenheitover the past 100 years. How significantis that? Here is what the report says“coastal air temperatures around Floridasince 1830 do not show any statisticalsignificant trend. They even say that“There is no clear, long trend in the num-ber of tropical storms.” in Florida. The last aspect in the report is raising

sea levels. It appears that “around Florida,relative sea level has been rising at a rela-tively slow but constant rate of about aninch or less per decade.”

Compared to most reports this onewas pretty interesting and gave me a lotof things to consider. I guess you couldsay that the weather is changing and thatcould be either good or bad depending onhow you look at it – but I still believethere is not much you can do about it.One of the best lines in the report was“the secondary impact of climate changecan include higher prices, reduced incomesand job losses.” Don’t we have that now-...and I guarantee you it isn’t because ofthe weather.Reach Capt. Ron at: [email protected]

Will Global Warming Change Floridaʼs Future?

A number of waterways around the Triple Lakes area of Port Charlotte have been closed offwith pilings. According to the contractors doing the work, the closures to powerboats wasa requirement of the DEP permit issued to remove the old Manchester Waterway Lock. “TheDEP permit required us to make the creeks in the area accessible only for kayaks andcanoes,” a workman told us. What boaters now want to know is under what rule does theDEP get the power to close navigable waterways? This issue may be far from over.

By Michael Hel lerKids Cup Tournament DirectorIf you are thinking about fishing in the

2009 Kids Cup get your application innow! The Kids Cup tournament is comingin April and the field is now half full. Youcan still mail a check with your applicationand we can also take a credit card. You don’t have to be a pro to fish in the

Kids Cup, you just have to like to fish.The Kids Cup is a one-fish tournament soluck plays a big part in getting into theTop-5 or being one of the 7 age group win-ners. A fun-kid, fishing with his dad off apontoon boat backed up against the man-grove with a live shrimp on the hook, hasas much chance of catching a big redfish asa seasoned young angler fishing with a proguide. Sponsors are coming back as well.

Laishley Marine has again committed tobeing a Kids Cup sponsor, as has DonGasgarth Ford.

Screenprint Plus has sent us a proofof the 2009 T Shirt image and it’s a winner!Tom Hansen at the BoatHouse atBoater’s World should love the stealthyblack ShearWater boat pictured in the middleof this year’s shirt. He’s the boat sponsor!

S .P. I. will again (for the 6th year!) beproviding the beautiful bronze redfish tro-phys that go to ourTop-5 Kids Cup com-petitors. If you arenot familiar withSPI’s artwork checkout their website atwww.spihome.com. There will be

Quantun/Boca

combos for the Top-5 again this year, thisis the 5th year Quantum has donated rodsand reels and this year there will also beShimano combos for the 7 age group win-ners. More on that next month. EagleClaw, Fishbites and Mustad have allsigned back on as donors for tackle thatgoes into the Kids Cup Captain’s Bags, andFlying Fisherman has donated 5 pairs ofsunglasses again this year. Gulp andXTools have now come to the Kids Cupin a big way with Gulp Baits and a pair ofX-Tools plyers for every Kids Cup competi-tor AND another 125 of each for each of thestudents at this coming fall’s 7th grade DonBall School of Fishing. Thank you PureFishing and Gary Z.!And, thanks to Russ Schmidt, one of the

cool new Kids Cup sponsors we have thisyear is Anchor Pins , a manual version of

the electric-pole-style anchoring system. Soalong with Frabi l l landing nets for theage group winners this year, we will haveAnchor Pins for each of them as well.I’m going to take one on my boat thismonth so I can tell you how they work.

Sea Tow of Punta Gorda is back as aKids Cup sponsor again this year and thecaptain’s bags will again be in fashionableSea Tow yellow. Mamma Nunzia’sRestaurant, Marine Dynamics,Eldreds Marina, and Dry DockMarine in Punta Gorda are all now inas Friends of the 7th Grade sponsors.Captain Bi l l ’s Barbershop in PuntaGorda is back with coolie cups for the cap-tain’s bags and the Punta GordaChamber of Commerce is a junior levelKids Cup sponsor for the first time thisyear. Thanks John. This new alliance with

the Punta Gorda Chamber is especiallyimportant to us and we at Water LIFE lookforward to working with the Chamber topromote the rebirth of Punta Gorda’s beauti-ful new downtown.Noah Perry of Noah Marine in

Englewood is also a friend of the 7th gradesponsor and in addition he has agreed to beour on-the-water photographer this year, solook for Noah in his new Skeeter boat whenyou are out fishing. Noah promises not toscrew up your fishing and will try to getgood photos of the kids for this magazine.

I have two dozen new Shakespearefishing rods that are still in their originalpacking. We’re going to give them out atthe captain’s meeting dinner so study thetournament rules and I’ll tell you how toget one. As far as hats go, thank Fishin’Franks for the hats again this year. We’retrying to get the same high quality hat wehad last year. More on that next month too.

If you were a sponsor last year we needyou back, if you were not a sponsor, ...weneed you now! Be a Kids Cup Sponsor and wear your

Kids Cup sponsor shirt - every sponsor getsone - wear it proudly all over town. Call941-766-8180 for more Kids Cup sponsorinformation. You can be a Graduate, Senioror Junior level sponsor or you can be aFriend of the 7th Grade, just go to ourwebsite: www.kidscuptournament.comlook at the sponsor form and call it in to766-8180.The Kids Cup is part of the Don Ball

School of Fishing and the Charlotte HarborReef Association. All contributions are taxdeductible.The Kids Cup will be held on April 25,

2009 at Harpoon Harrys in Fishermen’sVillage. The captain’s meeting dinner isFriday April 24 at Benedetto’s at the BestWestern, Punta Gorda. See You there!


Gearing Up for the Kids Cup More and more stuff for the captainʼs bags.

941-627-5777 23269 Bayshore RdCharlotte HarborConsignment Boats Wanted

www.bayshoremarinefl.com [email protected]

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release well. live well.Ready to fish!!

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2003 Sea Pro 25'05'' CC T-Toptwin Yamaha 150 Ox66, Alum.trailer. Retails over $38K!

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2004 Sweetwater Pontoon,Tuscany 200 Edition. Full cover, fullenclosure, 4 stroke Yamaha & trail-er Ready for the Harbor! $12,900

By Michael Hel lerKids Cup Tournament DirectorIf you are thinking about fishing in the

2009 Kids Cup get your application innow! The Kids Cup tournament is comingin April and the field is now half full. Youcan still mail a check with your applicationand we can also take a credit card. You don’t have to be a pro to fish in the

Kids Cup, you just have to like to fish.The Kids Cup is a one-fish tournament soluck plays a big part in getting into theTop-5 or being one of the 7 age group win-ners. A fun-kid, fishing with his dad off apontoon boat backed up against the man-grove with a live shrimp on the hook, hasas much chance of catching a big redfish asa seasoned young angler fishing with a proguide. Sponsors are coming back as well.

Laishley Marine has again committed tobeing a Kids Cup sponsor, as has DonGasgarth Ford.

Screenprint Plus has sent us a proofof the 2009 T Shirt image and it’s a winner!Tom Hansen at the BoatHouse atBoater’s World should love the stealthyblack ShearWater boat pictured in the middleof this year’s shirt. He’s the boat sponsor!

S .P. I. will again (for the 6th year!) beproviding the beautiful bronze redfish tro-phys that go to ourTop-5 Kids Cup com-petitors. If you arenot familiar withSPI’s artwork checkout their website atwww.spihome.com. There will be

Quantun/Boca

combos for the Top-5 again this year, thisis the 5th year Quantum has donated rodsand reels and this year there will also beShimano combos for the 7 age group win-ners. More on that next month. EagleClaw, Fishbites and Mustad have allsigned back on as donors for tackle thatgoes into the Kids Cup Captain’s Bags, andFlying Fisherman has donated 5 pairs ofsunglasses again this year. Gulp andXTools have now come to the Kids Cupin a big way with Gulp Baits and a pair ofX-Tools plyers for every Kids Cup competi-tor AND another 125 of each for each of thestudents at this coming fall’s 7th grade DonBall School of Fishing. Thank you PureFishing and Gary Z.!And, thanks to Russ Schmidt, one of the

cool new Kids Cup sponsors we have thisyear is Anchor Pins , a manual version of

the electric-pole-style anchoring system. Soalong with Frabi l l landing nets for theage group winners this year, we will haveAnchor Pins for each of them as well.I’m going to take one on my boat thismonth so I can tell you how they work.

Sea Tow of Punta Gorda is back as aKids Cup sponsor again this year and thecaptain’s bags will again be in fashionableSea Tow yellow. Mamma Nunzia’sRestaurant, Marine Dynamics,Eldreds Marina, and Dry DockMarine in Punta Gorda are all now inas Friends of the 7th Grade sponsors.Captain Bi l l ’s Barbershop in PuntaGorda is back with coolie cups for the cap-tain’s bags and the Punta GordaChamber of Commerce is a junior levelKids Cup sponsor for the first time thisyear. Thanks John. This new alliance with

the Punta Gorda Chamber is especiallyimportant to us and we at Water LIFE lookforward to working with the Chamber topromote the rebirth of Punta Gorda’s beauti-ful new downtown.Noah Perry of Noah Marine in

Englewood is also a friend of the 7th gradesponsor and in addition he has agreed to beour on-the-water photographer this year, solook for Noah in his new Skeeter boat whenyou are out fishing. Noah promises not toscrew up your fishing and will try to getgood photos of the kids for this magazine.

I have two dozen new Shakespearefishing rods that are still in their originalpacking. We’re going to give them out atthe captain’s meeting dinner so study thetournament rules and I’ll tell you how toget one. As far as hats go, thank Fishin’Franks for the hats again this year. We’retrying to get the same high quality hat wehad last year. More on that next month too.

If you were a sponsor last year we needyou back, if you were not a sponsor, ...weneed you now! Be a Kids Cup Sponsor and wear your

Kids Cup sponsor shirt - every sponsor getsone - wear it proudly all over town. Call941-766-8180 for more Kids Cup sponsorinformation. You can be a Graduate, Senioror Junior level sponsor or you can be aFriend of the 7th Grade, just go to ourwebsite: www.kidscuptournament.comlook at the sponsor form and call it in to766-8180.The Kids Cup is part of the Don Ball

School of Fishing and the Charlotte HarborReef Association. All contributions are taxdeductible.The Kids Cup will be held on April 25,

2009 at Harpoon Harrys in Fishermen’sVillage. The captain’s meeting dinner isFriday April 24 at Benedetto’s at the BestWestern, Punta Gorda. See You there!

M a r c h 2 0 0 9 Wa t e r L I F E M A G A Z I N E P a g e 1 3

Be a $100 Kids Cup Sponsor!Every Friend of the Seventh Grade sponsor

receives a 2009 Kids Cup T Shirt and a color card-ad in the April Kids Cup Program

Promote your Business / Help the KidsAnd Your donation to the Don Ball School of Fishing is Tax Deductable!

call 766-8180or log on to

www. KidsCupTournamernt.com

The 2009 T Shirtshows two competi-tors with one adult.That is an acceptableconfiguration for theKids Cup.

What you CAN NOThave is two adultswith one kid.

The only way twoadults can be on oneboat is if there are two(or three) kids.

Weʼll go over all thisat the mandatory cap-tainʼs meeting FridayApril 24 atBenedettoʼsRestaurant in PuntaGorda.


By Adam WilsonWater LIFE DivingFor the next few

months, probablythrough the end ofMay, we should havesome of the best visibility our area of theGulf has to offer. With little or no rain,algae stifling cold temperatures and fastmoving fronts that follow up with daysof light east winds, offshore visibility upto 60 feet will be common. The longerthe winds stay light and out of the eastthe better. Great vis could even be foundas close in as the Novak and Tremblyreefs. Somedays even making these reefsgreat for snorkeling and freediving, soalways make sure to keep a mask andfins onboard.Out deeper, you will find the usual

mix of fish including grouper, snapperand of course those big winter amber-jacks. Gag grouper are closed throughMarch and will be incredibly common onmost reefs. I have seen some very nicegags in the 20 pound range recently, onlyto have to watch them swim leisurelyback to their holes. Some fish seem to really be affected

by the colder water temps, especiallywhen it dips down into the low sixties.The few large goliath grouper on the bigartificials move very slowly this time of

year. In warmer waters they are quick topounce on any wounded fish, whethersick or just injured from a misplacedspear. This time of year they just seemhunkered down and really look cold – likea kid at a bus stop, on a blustery morn-ing, with no jacket.Amberjacks seem to be just the oppo-

site. They are more frisky and fasterswimming now than at any other time ofyear. It's not unusual to have a schoolblast by you so quick you hardly havetime to raise your gun and get a shot off.They are especially good at surprising adiver when they ambush from behind andyou don't see them until they are allshooting past you. Winter amberjacksseem to even taste a little better too.They have been gorging on the thickschools of very fatty bait for monthsnow and some develop a thick girthalmost like a tuna fish, looking roundlike a football. When filleting these fishthe swirls of fat running through theamber colored meat are very apparent andmake a sushi lovers mouth water.If you are on a large reef in water

deeper than 60 feet the amberjacks shouldbe there. If you know the jacks are thereand they just aren't showing themselvesit is easy enough to bring them in. Theyare one of the most curious fish in thesea and are attracted to any commotion.

Beating an empty stringer or knife onyour tank, banging on the wreck, sound-ing a dive or sub alert or even shoutingthrough your reg seems to be enough tomake them fly by and check out what'sgoing on. These fish are delicious if gut-ted, iced and cleaned properly, and notjust smoked. If the red meat along thespine is removed it is great on the grill,fried, or (my favorite) tataki style. Thefillet is seared on both sides and left coolin the center like a choice piece of rarebeef. It's then sliced thin and served withponzu sauce, a vinegar, soy sauce with

citrus. More Japanese recipes can be easi-ly found with a quick online search or anight out at a local Japanese sushi bar.Inshore, the fossil diving off Venice

Beach is going to be great whenever thewater is clear. After months of strongnorthwest winds the bottom has beencompletely rearranged. Tons of fossilsthat were laying just beneath the clay andsand are now up right on top just waitingto be found. For the next few monthssome very nice megladon teeth will comeright off Venice, from the public beachall the way south to the pier.

Clear Water Now

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Visibility is great now so this goliath grouper casts his watchful eye on the camera.

By Fishin’ FrankWater LIFE Senior StaffFront after front, it seems like twice a

week another front comes through, and themore the fronts come the worse the fishinggets. It is true. A week without a front willimprove the fishing dramatically, it takesstable weather patterns to have good fish-ing. Being on the water fishing while astorm front approaches is the absolute besttime to be fishing. It is also most likely areally dumb time to be on the water in aboat: “Hey a storm is coming!” but if youwant to catch a lot of fish that's the besttime, and who wants to live forever. Thegreat fishing will continue right up to thetime when the front passes overhead. Yousee it come, you see it pass and you willsee the fish stop biting. Would you like toknow why? Here is the best guesstimate I have:Everything effects everything. Air pres-

sure effects water pressure. Why? How?Well, the air pushes down on the water, thehigher the air pressure the more it presseson the water. That increases the pressureunderwater. The more shallow the water,the more effect it has.What difference could that make? Well

you go up in an airplane and the change inair pressure, will make your ears hurt, stop-them-up, so to speak. The pressure changehurts and it makes your ears ring, or just bevery uncomfortable. In some people it evenmakes it hard to walk. Some people evenget sick. They really do not want to eat,they just want to lay back and let it goaway.Many people hold their nose, and blow

to get their ears to "pop" It is a way toequalize the different pressure in your ears,the same way you do when diving underwater or the pain can become unbearable.But what if you did not have fingers to

hold your nose? Guess what? Fish do nothave fingers. So there is no way for themto equalize the pressure. I am not sure aboutfishes ears and pressure, but I am certainthey have a swim bladder and that bladderholds air inside. When a fish squeezes thebladder it makes them go down, and byexpanding the air in the bladder they floattowards the surface. It is just micro pressurechanges that allow a fish to stay where theywant in the water – like at 12 inches or 14inches or 50 feet. A scuba diver uses a BC(bouyancy compensator) to adjust air in or

out to keep them floating, sinking or risingin the water column, Air pressure changes that occur rapidly

like a storm front, change pressure in thewater rapidly, which changes the pressure tothe swim bladder in the fish. This suddenchange will often make it hard for the fishto hold in the water maybe even more diffi-cult to stay upright. And fish like peoplewill not eat much when they are sick or donot feel good. They will not quit eatingaltogether, but for hours or days feedingwill be at minimal amounts. Think of itthis way: If you have to fight to stay inplace in the water or just to stay upright itis really difficult to catch food. During the winter time when we have

cold front after cold front, not to mention astorm front sometimes even twice a week,the fish never really get a chance to settlein. The pressures keeps changing and theycan not recover quickly enough, but after acouple of days go by and we get a week ofno fronts the bite turns back on. They willbe making up for lost time and feedingheavy. So weather it is hot weather or coldall we need is time between the fronts.So when is the very best time to fish?

Right before the storm as the air pressure isfalling. The falling pressure starts aninstinctive feeding response, I guess theyknow it will be harder for them to catchfood after the pressure change. You can watch the front coming in and

the fish are biting like crazy. As the frontpasses over head, the fish shut off like theyhad a switch.If you have a question about fishing E-mailfrank@fishinfrank s.com Frank can bereached at 625-3888


Will Fishing Stink Today?Weather Fronts

Is it Stainless Through and Through?

LET THE BUYER BEWARE We thought when we bought stainless steel braid-ed throtle and gearshift cables, with stainless steel ends, we were buying the rightstuff. Apparently not! Although the cable was in fact stainless and the ends werestainless, the cable ‘shroud’ was not. So after some years, when the plastic cablehousing split and water seeped in, Mr Rust came to visit. At first it wasn’t too bad,but then time took its toll, and one day when we looked at the cable we saw theimage above. The lesson here is that salt is unrelenting and unforgiving, and ifyou’ve ever bought cheap Tiwan stainless products or Chineese stainless you knownot all stainless steel is the same. We’ve now replaced the cables and we’re good for,hopefully, 5 more years. Time:Under 2 hrs Cost: Under $50


By Bi l l DixonWater LIFE Sailing

South WestFlorida’s biggestregatta, the

Conquistador Cup will be March 7 and 8. Alloff water activities this year will be at HogHeaven in Harpoon Harry’s at the water end ofFisherman’s Village. There will be racing classesfor Spinnaker, Non-Spinnaker, Cruising andMultihull. Planning is well underway to makethe 16th running of this event, the biggest andbest one yet. Bob Knowles, regatta organizer(505-4583) hopes to get 100 boats for this event,so he is having the first ever ConquistadorSale, A Special Deal for Non SeriousRacers. Come out Sunday for the reverse startof the Conquistador’s race. It’s a chance to win

custody of the Conquistador Helmet for a year, getyour boat pictured on next year’s T shirt, race and,this year only, win an expense paid trip to exoticUseppa Island. Sunday Race entry fee plus admis-sion to the registration party Friday night at 6,plus after race party Sunday at 3, awards, doorprizes, beer, and munchies is only $10. NoPHRF handicap needed, we will assign you a nonnegotiable one time only rating and individualstart time. And you’re off!

Notice Of Race, entry form, and provisionalrating application (further down the page click onthe “Racing” button then click on ProvisionalRating in the upper right hand corner) are allavailable on the PGSC web site at pgscweb.com.

There will also be a second regatta in March.Isles YC is sponsoring a LEUKEMIA CUPREGATTA, with races for big and small sailboatson March 21, 22. Saturday after the races GaryJobson, Halsey Herreschoff and the Colgates ofColgate sailing will be speakers at a BarbequeBash. Awards will be presented Sunday at IYCafter racing.

Every year over 40 Leukemia Cup Regattas areheld at various locations around the Country rais-ing money for research and assistance for victimsof Leukemia and Lymphoma. For more informa-tion or an entry form go to www. islesyc. comFor other sailing questions Bill Dixon can be

reached at: [email protected]

By Capt. MarkBennettWater LIFEInshoreEarly spring can

be some of themost rewarding andat the same timemost challengingtimes of the year.With cold frontsand highs in the60’s one day thenhighs in the 80’sthe next a lot ofplaces that wereholding fish lastweek might not be today. I’dlike to share some insight onhow I cope with changing condi-tions and scout locations to fishin the future.Rapidly changing barometer

and water temperatures willalways move fish around. After acold front a few fish will still bein some of the same places, mostwill seek deeper water to wait outthe change. Then as the flatsstart to settle down the fish willsettle in to a new pattern accord-ing to the available food andwater temperature. Even thougha recent front makes being out-side a little more comfortable,these fronts give our tropical flatsquite a shock. This is all fine and good, but

where do I look? The answer iseverywhere.Fishing, just as with any kind

of hunting, requires scouting.My scouting trips are very differ-ent than regular fishing trips. Itry to cover as much ground as Ican in the time I have on thewater. I want to locate groups offish that I can fish for anotherday. Live bait will, most of thetime, out fish artificial offerings.But unless you know where to

cast your bait you might spend alot of time sitting and waiting toget skunked. Instead of using live bait I

will go to a couple of differentartificial lures to allow me tosearch the flats fast and efficient-ly. How I choose them is basedon water depth, current/tidal flow,speed of the lure and confidencein the lure. Also, I want a lurethat will catch all of the species Itarget. Not just catch snook; Iwant lures that might catchsnook, redfish or trout. Scoutingmissions are not the time I liketo try new baits and lures. I goto old stand bys. In the shallow-est of water I like to start withlong casting top water baits suchas the Top Pup, Top Dog Jr. orthe Super Spook Jr. These lurescast like a rocket and will allowyou to cover a lot of water fast. Pay attention to detail when

you are working these lures. Notonly to the fish that smack it ontop, but for subtle wakes of waryfish curious to see the offeringbut not ready to rush right in andtake it. This will often give youa clue to where a group of fish is

Scouting For Fish

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Continuedon Facing Page

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

Sales S tatistics: Home sales totaled415 last month, second only toNovember, 2005 when 436 homes wentunder contract!Recent area news i tems1. Charlotte County approved a mixed

use center to be developed by DennisFullenkamp on 1200 acres west of GulfCove and south of SR 776 at SailorsWay and Cattle Dock Drive. Densitywill rise to 3962 residential units fromthe current 1831 while commercial devel-opment will be reduced from 3 millionsquare feet to 1.5 Million. Actual devel-opment of the site will be delayed due tothe current economic situation.2. The Southwest Florida Water

Management District instructed PuntaGorda not to bother with submitting anapplication to increase allowable home-owner sprinkler usage. As long as thedrought is in effect, reservoirs are notproviding needed overflow to the down-stream ecologically sensitive areas.3. State Farm Insurance company offi-

cially announced that it will be phasingout all Florida homeowner policies.

4. Governor Crist exercised his lineitem veto privileges to remove proposedbudget cuts. At a cost of $100 million tothe budget, he preserved 118 probationofficer jobs, a promote Florida tourismprogram and the EnvironmentallySensitive Lands Oversight funding. Heleft in the cut of $1.3 billion in aid foraffordable housing.5. Sarasota County rejected plans for

a 1/4-percent increase in their bed tax tohelp fund incentives to attract theBaltimore Orioles spring training pro-gram.6. The recently enacted federal eco-

nomic stimulus package authorizes bil-lions of dollars to be returned to stategovernments with earmarks for specificincentives. Governor Crist has his eye oncapturing $4.26 billion of funds to offsetmedicaid costs. If successful, this willgo a long way towards balancing the statebudget. Florida wouldn't qualify for aidto education funding because of its rela-tively low aid paid by it to local schooldistricts. The bill does not appear to pro-vide direct relief to Florida's housing cri-sis, but does appear to have some mean-ingful incentives for homebuyers. The oldTARP program provided for a tax "loan"to first time homebuyers of $7,500 ifused before June 30. The new law raisesthat benefit to $8,000 (up to 10-percentof the purchase price) and extends it toDecember 1, but allows it to be forgivenif the buyer lives in the home for 36months. Puzzling to me, it is limited tohomebuyers who have not owned a home

during the past three years.7. In Punta Gorda, work began on

Aqui Esta Drive. It will ultimately bewidened from 18' to 24' and a 5' sidewalkwill be installed on the north side of thestreet. The road level will be raised to aminimum of 5' above sea level from thecurrent 2.5'.8. Although not officially terminat-

ed, the Environmentally Sensitive LandOversight Committee (ESLOC) will bemothballed. They have spent all but $4.8million of the $51.8 million voterapproved budget. The controversial acqui-sition of the Ryals ranch soaked up morethan half of the fund.9. Punta Gorda City council awarded

local real estate agent, Thomas Ryan &Associates, the formidable task of findingtenants for the 17,000 square foot com-mercial investment in the parking garage.The garage is scheduled to open in July.

In other news: The FloridaUnemployment rate reached 8.1-percent... still well below the 9.7-percent recordreached in 1976. Obama's housing plansuggests cutting current FannieMae/Freddie Mac loan payments to nomore than 31-percent of the borrowersincome, allowing many working home-owners to stave off foreclosure. He'salso pushing to permit bankruptcy courtjudges to permit "cramdown" mortgageadjustments to allow homeowners to reor-ganize their debts and stay in theirhomes. Although this benefit hasalready been available to corporationsseeking bankruptcy reorganization, theconsumer lending lobbyists are likely toprevail at preventing this option.Please visit us at www.harborparadise.com to view any available properties from Veniceto Burnt Store Marina


Real Real Estate Estate NewsNews

holding on this part of the tide in this area. Then youcan try a live bait or subsurface lure to get one of thesetimid fish to pull your string. I always have a secondrod rigged with a soft plastic, usually a ¼ or 1/8 oz. jighead with a root beer or smoke colored rubber tail. Thiswill work well from very shallow water to deeper dropoffs. It is also great for those short striking fish I talkedabout earlier. If a fish wakes up on your top water orshort strikes and misses it, set the top-water rod downand quickly pitch a jig in there. This tactic will often

add a few fish to the box by the end of the day. Pick an area instead of a spot.When choosing where to fish, think of the big pic-

ture. I like to start at the deepest water in any area Ichoose to fish. Using a push pole or electric motor I start working

the edges of the deep water heading shallower, casting allalong the way. Using “confidence” lures I talked aboutearlier. Scouting a new area is not the time to experi-ment with new lures. Keep your eyes open; notice thecuts and natural channels and how the current is follow-ing. Go with it. Work the whole area and follow thewater. I think you will be surprised how many fish you

overlooked in the past and how many new spots you findusing this approach. When you do catch a fish, takenotice of the tide, wind and weather conditions. Thismight clue you in to when and where to look on a daywith similar conditions and tides. Some of the best fishing of the year happens on the

flats this month and tarpon season is right around thecorner, it will only get better from here.Till then, keep the line tight and bow when they

jump,Capt. Mark Bennett can be reached at [email protected] or at (941) 474-8900Website: www.tarponsnook.com

Scouting for Fish Continued

Over 100 tires litter the shallow harbor bottom along the new RiverWalk in front of theConvention and Visitorʼs Center. What message to visitors does this send?

By Fishin’ FrankI was out fishing whiting (southern

kingfish) with my Dad. We have a prettygood spot up by I-75, there are some deepholes there (some 12 feet deep) and thismakes for good whiting fishing as well ascatching. Maybe I have been in this new

age free-line-your-bait thing a little toolong. My Dad is using 10 pound testmono, line on a standard 7 foot fishingpole. For rigs he is old schooling it, witha 1/2 oz sinker slid up the line, and tokeep it away from the hook he has a No.7 swivel and 18' of 20 pound leader tiedto a No. 4 gold hook. Dad takes a shrimptears it in half, threads it up the hook andhe casts.

Me, I have a 5 foot ultra lite with 4pound test, tied to a 20 pound monoleader and for weight a No.7 split shot. Icast out. Now, my dads line goes right to the

bottom and he gets hit; targeted specieson board! An 11 inch whiting is headedinto the cooler, really nice fish – oh, didI mention? – this ain’t a catch and releasestory, when you fish for whiting it’s allabout the groceries.

Anyway, dad re-baites and cast backout and again right to the bottom andright in the hole. Dad has to wait almost2 minutes before his next fish, whichturns out to be a silver trout – kind of afirst cousin to the spotted sea trout, butDad doesn't care for them, so back hegoes into the drink. Well, what do yaknow? There is a catch and release part ofthis story after all! Now back to thecatching.After an hour the score is 8 to 0 and

not in my favor. I knew what was wrongbut I was being stubborn. I was notgoing to change rigs. When I cast, mybait was not hitting the bottom so it justdrifted along with the current. So I addeda couple more split shots to hold my bait

to the bottom. That was good for holdingthe bottom but now all I was doing waslosing bait. By the time the fish movedthe sinkers and I could feel the bite mybait was gone. I had an empty hook and ared face. Finally I caught a fish. The godsof Poseidon were kind and gave me a cat-fish. Hey a fish is a fish! So I proved Icould catch a fish my way... then Ipromptly switched over to dad’s rig withthe sinker that the line passed freely thru. When the fish tried to steal my bait we

found out about each other at the sametime. The fish would bite, I would set thehook and we could get together to discusshis future. After three hours of fishing wehad about thirteen keeper size whiting andhad let go many smaller ones, as well as15 silver trout, a few catfish and two real-ly stubborn sting rays – rays are bottomsticking, going a circle, hard pulling, lit-tle buggers, when you catch them onultra light tackle. All in all it was a great day spent with

my dad re-learning why they make slidingsinkers and swivels – because they work! Oh, and by the way, five of the 13

were mine. I did not get whooped toobad.


By Michael Hel lerWater LIFE PublisherTippecanoe Bay is a body of water off the mouth of the Myakka River.

Coming up the harbor it’s on your starboard side just before you get to the ElJobean bridge. It’s mostly shallow with a number of marshes and muddy flats.On a high enough tide, with the right wind and in the right boat you could makeyour way up to Knight Creek and come out at hwy 776 just past the Sports Park(a.k.a. Ranger Stadium). The water in the Biscayne canal in Northport actuallyconnects with the hartbor through an underground pipe and Tippecanoe Bay. Years ago this was a popular wilderness area where kids rode motorcycles and

partied in pick up trucks and ATCVs. Today it is a 340 acre environmental parkcalled Tippecanoe Park. The county has put in a canoe and kayak launch onFlamingo Creek, there are wide marked trails, boardwalks over the marsh, smallfoot bridges and some big ‘spoil mounds’ which you can climb to get a panoram-ic view. It is a friendly place to pedal, paddle or walk and the trails are all marked.To access Tippecanoe Park from Port Charlotte go west down 776 towards the

Sports Complex and turn left on Tea Street. (Tea street is just past Flamingo).The park is located at the end of the road. Currently there is a locked gate so youhave to park on Tea Street and walk in through the pedestrian access to the left ofthe gate. Don’t block the gate. In a month there will be an automatic gate openerthat will allow parking inside the park and make kayak launching easier, but ifyou have a boat you can carry, you can launch it there now. This area is nice,unspoiled, wide open and hardly anyone knows about it. There are usually trailmaps available at the site and on the Charlotte County website.

Tippecanoe Park

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The marsh overlook. Follow the main trail from Tea Street, keeping to the left at every junc-tion until you see the large spoil mound which they have named Mt. Tippecanoe.

Learning fishing againfrom the old man

Great Place to Peddle, Paddle or Walk

By David Al lenWater LIFE KayakingOne of the most pleasant experiences

that kayaking provides is the fun of explor-ing new creeks and rivers with goodfriends, and afterwards, having a wonderfulmeal together at a unique restaurant. Atone of our recent meetings, a club mem-bers brought an intriguing newspaper arti-cle describing the experience of paddlingthe Braden River and eating at the LingerLodge. Well, we were instantly sold! Howdo we get there and when are we going?Forgetting the paddle for a moment, let

me describe my impressions of LingerLodge. To put things into perspective, AlRoker called Linger Lodge "One of the topfive weirdest restaurants in the country."The resort includes an RV campgroundsand a restaurant specializing in somewhatunusual Florida dishes, in addition to amore typical menu. The unusual fareincludes such delicacies as alligator chow-der, frog legs, a gator rum-runner and riverbottom pie. And you eat these unusualdishes surrounded by stuffed rattlesnakes,bobcats, a panther and you are greeted atthe door by a stuffed Florida black bear. AJackalope sits in its case near the bar, notfar from a Blue Billed Ortholock and anAlaskan Fur Fish.

But enough talk of foodand drink, the paddle is reallywhat we all came for. At theLinger Lodge launch area, theBraden River meanders pasttall majestic oaks withSpanish moss hanging fromevery branch. The area is richwith wildlife and as we paddlewe spot a couple of alligatorssunning on a muddy bank.Turtles are resting on a logpartly submerged in the river.Birds are always diving andswooping overhead as we pad-dle down the river. Tanninsstain the water a reddish brown, but youcan still see the bottom in the shallowspots. One of our party, Bill Mango,spots a bird on the river bank that hasbecome entangled in fishing line. As thekayak moves toward the shore, the birdfrantically tries to escape. With some diffi-culty, Bill removes the fishing line andfrees the bird.The Braden River is one of the more

beautiful rivers we have paddled and Iwould highly recommend it.There is little current as a dam severalmiles downstream retards the flow, so thepaddling is easy in either direction. The 4-5 miles between Linger lodge and the BillEvers Reservoir are very quiet and peace-ful, except for the section where the riverpasses under the I-75 bridge. Althoughthere are houses along a portion of theriver, on one bank, the area generallyremains untouched by time and is the habi-tat for many "critters."The paddle downstream and back was

very enjoyable, but we were anxious tosample some of those exotic dishes at theLodge. Both the paddling and the eatingwere delightful, and the trip can best bedescribed as charmingly weird

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


KayakingKayakingLinger LodgeA Kayakering Treat and a Cullinary Delight

Kayaking on the Braden River and the interior of Linger Lodge


The CommercialPerspectiveBy Kel ly Beal , Water LIFE Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of

Lent. Lent is a time of soul searching andrepentance. For myself, I find it to be agood time to get more in touch with mybody and soul. I often give up meat dur-ing this time for health reasons as well asspiritual. Many Catholics give up meatfor the forty days that lead up to Easter.This is an excellent time to take advantageof the plethora of seafood Florida has tooffer.Those who know me, know I'm all

about crab! Right now we have untilApril 15th to partake in the deliciousStone Crab. It has only 60 calories per 3oz serving and 15mg of protein. BlueCrab, a little bit sweeter, is 90 caloriesand 19 mg of protein, plus has a signifi-cant amount of Omega 3 fatty acid.Omega 3 fatty acids are essential to us butour bodies can't manufacture them. Theyhelp prevent heart attacks by calminginflammation and it has been proven thatkids who get Omega 3 Fatty Acids areless likely to having learning disabilities

or behavior problems. So we are so luckywe have Blue Crab readily available here.Buying local can be tricky. The main

grocery chains don't always carry localproduct. The Department of Agriculturehas a campaign going right now toencourage you to Go Native. With over80 local seafood varieties you are sure tofind some favorites to savor! Look for theGo Native sticker where you buy yourseafood. One place to find local seafood isat the farmers markets. We currently havetwo going on in Punta Gorda - one indowntown on Taylor St on Saturdaymornings and another at FishermansVillage on Wednesday in the courtyardfrom 9:30am till 1pm. There are manyseafood markets as well. In Punta Gordawe have Peace River Seafood on Hwy 17,Laws Seafood on Rio Villa and PuntaGorda Fishery on US 41. You can alsobuy shrimp right off the "Mystic" atFishermans Village or the Iron Ox atLaishley Park. Speaking of Florida shrimpyou can enjoy 4 ounces of the sweet stuffand get 23mg of protein and only 120calories. What about fish?? My all time favorite

is cobia. It has 20 mg of protein and 235calories per serving. I prefer it grilled, butit can also be served fried, poached, braised

or in a soup. Look for flesh that is firm,moist and has a pleasant fresh smell. Youcan keep cobia in the fridge for up to 3days. When buying fish you should budg-et for 3/4 lb per person. Mullet is a very close second on my

favorites. You can cook it a hundred ways,but most people prefer it smoked or fried.Of course it depends on how you cook it,but mullet has 130 calories and 21 mg ofprotein per serving. It’s extremely high inOmega 3 fatty acids. Locally the threefish that are the highest in Omega 3s arebluefish, swordfish, and tilefish. It's no joke you get brain power from

eating fish! And apparently long life. InOkinawa, a place that is classified as a

blue zone because of the amount of peoplethat live to one hundred, their main stapleis fish.Another alternative to meat is oysters.

They also are super rich in Omega 3 fattyacids and only 80 calories a serving. Theyare great in soup, grilled or straight off theshell and they are fresh around here.So eat fish and live better! Take advan-

tage of living in this beautiful place andbuy the local seafood. Long life and greathealth to you!Kelly Beal can be reached at 505-8440.Her husband Jimmy is a commercialcrabber in Charlotte County. Together theyown and operate Peace River Seafood.

Call the Captain! Call the Captain! It should read:Sailboat Waterfront Key West stylehome with upper and lower deck.3/3/2, 2184sf air, approx. 3800sftotal living space, 1986, RV pad,dock & 2 boat lifts. $489,000

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oversized lot, dock, brick paver drive, barrel tile 50 yearhurricane proof metal roof and much, much more! $425,000

Call the Captain! BeautifulCall the Captain! BeautifulWaterfront Home Wide Basin View!3/2/2, 1910sf Air and 2717sf total.Incredible condition!!!! Modern design,Parquay floors, kitchen is like new withnew counters and newly remodeledmath rooms. A remarkable price for ahome like this in PGI. $329,000.

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EAT THIS! Capt. Steve Skevington (L) and client with a great-to-eat cobia.

C O W S During the mad cow epidemic our governmentcould track a single cow, born in Canada almost threeyears before, right to the stall where she slept in the stateof Washington? And, they tracked her calves to theirstalls. But they are unable to locate 11 million illegalaliens wandering around our country. Maybe we shouldgive each of them a cow.The New Drink in N.Y. Bars: The Sully That's two shotsof Grey Goose, over ice, with a splash, never shaken andonly slightly stirred.ShoreLine Exemption This time it could go – If the stateof Florida does not repeal the shoreline exemption thenshoreline fishermen as well as inshore/offshore fisher-men, will all have to buy a $15-$20 federal fishinglicense. For inshore/offshore fishermen that would be inaddition to the cost of the Stateʼs saltwater license.But If the shoreline exemption is repealed, then theshoreline fishermen will have to buy a Florida Fishinglicense. What it comes down to is this: do we want to

give more money to the Feds or do we want to keep ourmoney here in Florida? Either way itʼs going to cost.Offshore Oil and Gas We have now had two reports ofa large vessel 14- miles offshore, accompanied by a tugat the front and what appears to be a work boat following6 miles behind. According to Capt Dan Cambern whotalked to the tugʼs operator, they are towing a 6-mile longcable being used to look for underwater deposits of oiland natural gas off Boca Grande.

CCA Dinner (Right) Last month the annual CCA Banquetand auction was held for the first time at the newCharlotte County auditorium. The event drew 251 people,down a few from the year before. In what we see as acontinuing alliance of ʻstrange bedfellows,ʼ Mosaic, thephosphate mining giant, was a Silver level sponsor forthe Coastal Conservation Associationʼs event.

Free Press Ainʼt Free No More Thelocal daily paper has been chargingextra for their Boating and Fishingsection. Their Sports section, wehave heard, may follow soon.


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

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Capt S teve SkevingtonWater LIFE offshore

Snapper, snapper and more snapper, That about sums upwhat we have been doing for the last few weeks. I am, forthe most part, fishing ledges in 50-65 feet of water. The fishon these spots are mostly mangrove snapper in the 1- to 6-pound range, the larger of them are almost always very hookshy.

We are using live shrimp on 3/0 circle hooks with abouttwo feet of 20-pound fluorocarbon leader, rigging as light aswe can, with sinkers as small as 1/2 oz. These light rigsseem to get the most bites.

Moving offshore a bit farther into about 75-80 feet ofwater the mangrove snapper out here have been responding tochum very well. They are coming right up behind the boat

mixed in with some nice yellow tail snapper and every nowand again a big cobia or two will show up. We are fishingthese guys with flat lines. We just take the sinkers off andfeed the bait out behind the boat at the same speed the chumis falling. Do this right and you’ll have more fish than youknow what to do with.

The deeper wrecks are where I really like to fish thismonth. Amberjack and cobia will be out there just waiting topick a fight with anyone willing to toss them a large livebait.

Trolling is picking up, we are starting to see a lot of bigSpanish mackerel and bonita now – the king fish should beright behind them. We are dragging blue and white skirts ontop water and No.2 planers down deep with No.4 Clark-spoons behind them about seven- or-eight feet. Don't be

afraid to troll em fast, we have been trolling about 9 knotsfrom spot to spot and picking up fish just about everywhere.

They can swim but they can’t hide.Capt. Steve can be reached at: 575-3528 for fishing informa-tion or to book a charter trip.

F i s h i n g R e p o r tF i s h i n g R e p o r tCharlotte Harbor:Robert at Fishin' FranksPort Charlotte: 625-3888March is the time when the seasons start to

change to the upward spiral into spring. March andApril are the windiest months of the year and thisis when everything starts to shift around – fromsmall fish to the bigger sizes. Snook seasonopened this month. They never moved into therivers real heavy this year, but there are still somefishable fish a little way up the river and downaround El Jobean. At night, El Jo still holds thebest success for snook. Fish with live shrimp,small sugar trout, pinfish or the larger swim baitslike the Bomber 16 and 17 series, or try theCalcutta Flash Foil. Placida is another good placefor snook right now from shore. In a boat, down around Bull and Turtle Bays and

up in Lemon Bay are the places for snook thismonth. Those fish will be going into the springtime mode so they will be moving around quite abit. The same school won’t stick around, but theycould be replaced with other fish when they allmove down toward the passes.

Redfi sh has been tough this year. They arestarting to move a little more now, start lookingfor reds to be bigger and to start schooling uptowards the end of this month. There should be big-ger bull reds and barely slot-legal fish moving outalong the beaches both by day and by night. There

have been mixed reports of big reds at JohnsonShoals, 15- to 20-pound fish around dusk and atdaylight. Big redfish on the near shore reefs are notuncommon right now. Shrimp is still a good choiceas redfish bait, but we are starting to see whitebait,now and so cut ladyfish or sardines will work well.The water temperature has dropped enough to get

trout to the northern part of the harbor, butAlligator Creek and the mouth of the Myakka areholding nice trout now as well. Some of the biggerfish, in the 20- 26-inch range, have been aroundfrom Lemon Bay down to the Pine Island area alongthe intracoastal. Drift the flats with a Gulp shrimpunder a poppin cork, or fan cast a shrimp on a jighead out on the flats. You will find them or theywill find you.

Whi ti ng are doing very well, along withsheepshead out on the beach. The near shorereefs and the Placida Trestle are all reporting bignumbers of sheepshead and mangrove snapper.They will get better this month until April whenthey start to thin out. All it takes is for the waterto hit 70 degrees and they will be moving out.

Tripl etai l are starting to show now. We are get-ting mixed reports, this is especially true nowwhen the water clarity reaches its peak. Go offshoreand run the crab trap lines. Englewood to Venice isthe area now, but they should be moving south asthe month goes on.

Blackti ps , s andbars , bonnetheads even afew bul l s harks are mixed and scattered, but theyare definitely also starting to move around.

Continued on facing page


TWO BY TWOAbove: Capt Dan Cambern of Hammerhead charters sent us thisphoto of Robert Hudson from Tampa with 2 double digit gagscaught and released under the new federal program “we are beingforced to adhere to.” Below a gobi and a tiny crab from inshore.

Buy 1 Get 1 Free!

6 a.m. – 10 p.m. Sun – Thurs6 a.m. – midnight Fri & Sat

941- 623-5883Dozen Shrimp:

$2.50 Regular $4 Hand Pick$5 Jumbo

Buy One Dozen Regular Shrimp and get 1 Dozen FREE Please mention Water LIFE magazine Offer expires April 1, 2009

El Jobean Bait & TackleNext to the Marathon Gas station at the north side of the El Jobean Bridge on hwy 776

Offshore Report from Capt. Steve

Amberjacks are on the offshore wrecks.

F i s h i n gF i s h i n gR e p o r tR e p o r t .

Continued from facing PageThere has been a little

amberjack action offshoreon the closer deeper reefs, AJsmixed with bonita have beenhere already showing as closein as three miles. There have already beena few kingfish and by the end of thismonth it looks like it will be time to trollthe inshore reefs. The wide passes likeBoca Grande and Captiva should attractthe kings late this month.

Spanish mackerel will be right withthe kings. There are some ‘scouts’ outnow, but by the end of the month the wolfpacks of Spanish mackerel should be here.

Time to get ready for tarpon. Maybelate this month or early April. The juve-niles and resident adults are going good inthe PGI and Port Charlotte canals alreadyfeeding on bait. The bigger guys on theupper Peace and Myakka River will take acut catfish tail, a ladyfish or the old stand-by, a D.O.A. bait buster.

Cobia are starting to appear offshoreand should move in if the water warms uplater this month. Early April will be primecobia time. School bus, boxcars all thedeeper water wrecks is where they show upfirst when the flood gate of cobia opens.

Lemon Bay:Jim at Fishermen’s Edge,Englewood:697-7595

Guides are telling me they are havinggood luck. I’ve had reports of big snook,over 20 pounds, at Whidden Creek andaround Cayo Pelau. There have been somenice redfish in the cut at Whidden Creekas well. It seems like there have been quitea few reds caught on Exude baits, butmostly everyone is throwing jigs. Theguys throwing shrimp are catching tons of

pinfish. There are more ‘pins’ than I haveever seen, they’re even out on the beach.

Big trout, in the mid 20s, really nicefish, have been caught on hand pickedshrimp under a cork, There are also quite afew success stories on sheepshead and avariety of mangrove snapper at theBoca Grande side of the Placida Trestle.Guys are fishing shrimp, crabs, tubeworms or sand fleas.

And there have been a few little pom-pano on Englewood and Stump Passbeach. Mackerel and a few kings are outthere already and the Shrimp Boat wreckhas been a good spot for permit. One guytold me he caught a nice triple tai l lastweek. No one talks much about tripletailbecause they don’t want everyone runningthe crab pots. I usually don’t hear abouttripletail until after they are gone.

C a l e n d a r C a l e n d a r o f E v e n t so f E v e n t sb r o u g h t t o y o u b y :b r o u g h t t o y o u b y :

� March 7: IFA Redfi sh Tour, Laishley Park, PuntaGorda� March 14-15: Flatsmas ters Tournament: LaishleyPark, Punta Gorda� March 14-15: Seafood Fes ti v al : Laishley Park� March 21: XTreme Redfi sh Tournament , PortCharlotte, Banana Bay Motel, sign up in the a.m. on tour-nament day. 456-1540� March 21 & 28: USCG Aux. Flotilla 87 Two dayBoati ng Safety cl as s , Lemon Bay Park, Englewood,8:30 – 12:30 p.m. Will qualify for the Florida Boater Card.$25p/p or $20 feach or 2 family members. 941-697-9435 � March 28: Fi shing Sympos ium, West Marine,Port Charlotte, inshore snook and reds, harbor tarpon,offshore fishing, new regulations. Limited space625-2700� March 28: Grady Whi te Captain’s & Fi rs tMate’s Sympos ium and Boat Show, CharlotteEvent and Confrence Center 941-347-8086� April 1: Flo ri da Fi shing , 6 week introduction with Capt.Ralph Allen. Wednesday evenings 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. $40, advance registra-tion, call 637-1655� April 25: Water LIFE Kids Cup Tournament , Fishermen’s Village,Punta Gorda 766-8180� April 30: Redfi sh Cup , Net Gains Kids fishing program and seminar,Laishley Park.� May 1-3: Redfi sh Cup , Punta Gorda

The BIG-4The BIG-4 Fish to expect in MarchFish to expect in March

SNOOK: Out in the canalmouths and at the El Jobeantrestle at night

SHEEPSHEAD: around thePlacida and El Jobean Trestlesand the old phosphate dock.

SNAPPER: Still thickoffshore in 30 to 60 feet ofwater

TROUT: Moving up theharbor or hanging on thegrass flats when itʼs warm

FishingFishingRIGHT NOW:RIGHT NOW:

StillStillGreat!Great!


20092009KIds CupKIds CupApril 25.April 25.

ApplicationsApplicationsAvailableAvailable

4265 Tamiami Trail, Port Charlotte941 - 625-2700

Capt. Angel Torres (R) back at the dock.

water life march 2009

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