Home//Florida Sportsman/March 2017/In This Issue
Florida Sportsman|March 2017Who Ya Gonna Call?Normally a department for environmental advocacy and investigative journalism, this month’s “On the Conservation Front” and “Openers” take a look at the lighter side of fish and wildlife law enforcement. Featured are some of the zany and ironic cases of 2016, with a special emphasis on circ*mstances that would seem improbable if not outright fictional had they not taken place in our gloriously weird Sunshine State. Hence, “Only in Florida.”Editor Jeff Weakley provides the back story, which is that Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) administers a Division of Law Enforcement whose 853 sworn personnel and support staff are vital to the protection of our state’s natural resources—of which citizens and visitors are also numbered. Officers daily (and nightly) hazard all kinds of conditions on our state’s lands and…2 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017GEAR FOR THE SPORTSMANSimms Challenger Boat ShoeGreat arch support, study heel support and non-slip as advertised. Wear ’em on the boat, on the town, rinse and dry and do it again. That’s the new Simms Challenger Boat Shoe. The company strategically placed TPU reinforcements providing rigidity in key areas to maintain stability. Siped non-marking rubber soles include innovative built-in drainage in the footbed, midsole and outsole for quick water release. Suggested retail price $119.95, in Boulder white or Anvil gray. See www.simmsfishing.com .Lowrance Elite Ti 9 and 12Standalone fishfinder/chartplotter combos are a good solution for bay boats and smaller center consoles where space is a premium. The 9-inch screen size has been tough to find for under $1,000, but that appears to be changing. Lowrance has added 9- and 12-inch models to the…2 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017Fly Fishing is for GirlsLadies are weighing-in fly rod catches in unprecedented numbers, due to more vacancies in the annals of the International Game Fish Association (IGFA). According to IGFA Outreach and Education Manager, Jack Vitek: “We’re definitely seeing an uptick—especially with freshwater species.”Here’s one reason:Several years back, the IGFA decided to separate freshwater fly world records according to gender, as well as by tippet test. This was already the case with salt water fly records.One effect of this change? The year 2016 saw a larger-than-usual crop of women’s fly world records.Several of this year’s recipients are veteran anglers, while at least one, apparently, is just getting started. Among the former is Roberta Arostegui, wife of IGFA trustee, Dr. Marty Arostegui. Roberta—no stranger to world records—has a total of 58 on fly. She’s also…3 min
Florida Sportsman|March 201710 Tips for Better Dolphin Fishing➊ Always keep a dolphin in the water on a rod off the bow to draw the school toward your boat. The drag should be tight but not completely locked down and you can rotate that fish out with a fresh, lively one after 10 minutes.➋ For big dolphin, use a big bait, such as a big horse ballyhoo, naked or on a lure. Big dolphin will hang below the school and have been known to take smaller dolphin on the hook. See tip No. 1.➌ Check down deep for dolphin, too, especially around productive surface rips and structure, as many fish won’t rise to the surface. Use leads or planers to troll deeper.➍ Use a sea surface temperature chart service to know where the productive temperature breaks, currents and…2 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017A Big Bend Paddle AdventureRudely, a harsh wind punched us right in the face. We rounded the point, paddled into the Gulf, and BOOM! The four miles we had to go straight into this stiff breeze seemed a daunting task. Mother Nature chose to test our mettle from the beginning. No laid-back first day of the trip here! At least the sun shone.The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) maintains a series of campsites along a 105-mile length of the Gulf Coast in the Big Bend region, from the Aucilla River to the town of Suwannee. The sites are reserved specifically for paddlers who wish to make a trip like the one Mike Conneen and I were on. You’ll find the campsites placed about an easy day’s paddle apart. An easy day’s paddle,…9 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017Only in FloridaThe following tales are taken from actual news releases issued in 2016 by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Division of Law Enforcement. Some have been edited for brevity. Headlines are our own. Enjoy.— Jeff Weakley, EditorCAUGHT BY DRAGNETHillsborough County, January 2016Just before midnight, FWC officers observed a commercial net boat operating without navigational lights just north of Simmons Park. The officers observed the boat make a large circle and could hear what appeared to be a net being deployed from the vessel. After several minutes the two subjects on the vessel were observed retrieving, what the officer believed, a large illegal net. The officers then attempted to stop the vessel with blue lights at which time the vessel fled and attempted to elude the officers. The fleeing…9 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017Flats to Blue WaterExpect the sailfish bite to continue getting hotter as the month progresses. My favorite place to be is in the neighborhood of American Shoal Light, to the east of Key West. Look for the color change, where nearshore water meets the blue water, just outside the reef and stay on it. Up and down the Keys, you’ll often see boats already working that color change, and if you do, get in line for a chance at the sailfish and also cobia and dolphin.Live bait is the way to go, but you can also troll for them. Expect some blackfin tuna in the area with some scattered dolphin showing up as well. March can be a windy month so have the kite ready. Flying kites near the color change this time…5 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017Switch it UpLake Okeechobee can produce some big bags of bass right now, depending on any late season fronts pushing through. The fish are typically found in one of three places, moving up to bed, on the bed, or pushing off bed to feed on shad schools. Target the fish making their way up shallow by working the outside grass lines and points with spinner-baits and swimjigs. Once up in the shallows, switch over to a weedless swimbait or speed worm. It’s never a bad idea to pitch a weightless Senko into the cattails or holes either.Once the bass have spawned, they push off and it’s time to eat. Find the schools of shad and you will find the bass. Lipless crankbaits in shad colorations are killer. A lot of the time…4 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017A Green Beer WagerConvict fish is what sheepshead used to be called, back in the “olden days” when bad guys were outfitted with a striped jumpsuit on their first day at the state penitentiary. And in the “not so olden days,” maybe 20 years ago, winters in north Florida were colder and weather was more predictable than now. Back then, bitter cold fronts howled in from the northwest well into March and were usually followed by two or three days of cold water and air. With that cold weather, big sheepshead gathered for their spawning ritual often into April. Now, we’re experiencing warmer winters, and it’s a crapshoot to predict how long winter will last, or how cold it will get. But I’d bet you a green beer the sheepshead will remain prime…4 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017Signals of SpringMarch is a great month to be outdoors whether on the water or in a turkey blind. In fact, some ambitious sportsmen do both, hunting in the morning and fishing in the afternoon. Even if the gobblers don’t cooperate there are almost always some fish that are biting in either salt or fresh water.Spanish mackerel are one of the first migratory gamefish to return to this part of the state. The warming water temperature and the schools of small bait fish both work together to lure the mackerel farther north. Anglers looking for the early arrivers typically key in on the pods of bait as a starting point. The seabirds are masters at finding the bait so anglers need to look for seagulls, terns and pelicans. Any birds diving or…4 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017The Legend Continues in West Palm BeachBillfish tournaments, for all intents and purposes, fall into one of two categories: charity events and “money gigs.” Few of either is cheap to enter anymore, so if you are planning a charity deal, you’d better at least have some history under your belt.The West Palm Beach Fishing Club probably wasn’t planning 80 years ahead when they started the Silver Sailfish Derby in the 1930s, but having eight decades of the highest level of sailfish competition certainly puts them in a class of their own. For this reason, every fishing team with aspirations of being the best would love to win it.This past January, the competition was typically strong as 40 boats fished the event. After two days fishing, 173 sails were released, and 21 boats were within five fish…4 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017Karma WahooWe caught our biggest wahoo to date due to karma.The decision was to go “boating” with a couple of friends off Port Canaveral. Julie, my wife, and I met Kathy and Chris around 9:00 a.m. at the port to head out to our usual hunting grounds, 8A Reef. As we started out of the port, we were being waved down by five people on a trawler-type vessel, about 28 feet long. Chris immediately said, “Today is supposed to be my day off.” We all chuckled, as Chris is in the Coast Guard. Their twin outboards had issues, one engine shut down and would not restart; the other one had lower unit trouble.We asked if they had Sea Tow and they didn’t. We towed the boat back to the ramp. As…2 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017Light Up the NightOn some of my earliest Tampa Bay explorations, I'd wade the Courtney Campbell Causeway flats at night with a cheap plastic flashlight hung across my neck and shoulder with a sling fashioned from an old electrical cord. Did it work? Yep. But was it convenient, efficient, comfortable? Not so much.Today’s illumination options offer a broad array of functionality; also a broad array of features and terms to get straight.Lumens — Measurement of the intensity of the light throughout the entire beam, on the highest brightness setting and powered by new batteries (more accurate measurement than “candlepower”).Beam Distance — How far the light will shine before brightness diminishes to the equivalent of a full moon.Light Emitting Diode (LED) — More efficient, brighter and longer lasting than incandescent bulbs, an LED gives…3 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017Wave WiseFlorida anglers assessing offshore conditions have long depended on the network of data buoys maintained by the NOAA/National Buoy Data Center (www.ndbc.noaa.gov) and other private concerns. These buoys provide valuable data such as wind speed and direction, along with wave height and dominant wave period. This, along with other weather info, is reported at the buoy site, providing a look at real time conditions before we saddle up.Unfortunately, buoys have a habit of breaking loose during heavy weather, as occurred last fall with the Cape Canaveral 20-mile weather buoy, a victim of Hurricane Matthew. Turnaround time to repair and redeploy the buoys can seem painfully slow. An east coast surfer with an engineering and oceanography background recently dove into a solution. Surfers also use buoy data to check wave heights…3 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017BIG SNOOK BATTLE BACK ON TAMPA BAYBig snook are profoundly proficient at two things: Eating big meals and stretching the arms of anyone who fools them into gobbling the wrong meal.Tampa Bay lost a heartbreaking number of giants during the historic freeze of 2010; but thanks to several years of favorable conditions blanketing some of the state’s finest snook habitat, the big dogs are barking. In fact, Capt. Chris Wiggins says he caught more snook of 27-plus inches last year than in any year prior.“I think it’s a combination of things; you have extensive habitat, lots of food and we’ve had mostly mild winters since the freeze and there’s been plenty of bait,” he said. “In 2016, the bait never left; we had whitebait [a.k.a. pilchards, or scaled sardines] all year.”Snook of any proportions are exciting…9 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017Topwaters on the ReefPerhaps you think reef fishing is merely an exercise in rod-watching. You’ll stick to casting lures on the flats or lakes. You’ll take the fury of the top-water strike, the satisfaction of duping a fish on an artificial lure. A useful first step outside your comfort zone might be hauling a box of plugs and your favorite casting tackle to the nearest artificial reef.I thought about this as I watched Rhett Nelson wrestle a 20-pound amberjack on spinning gear. The jack had blasted a topwater chugger right next to our boat. Rhett had made figure-eights with his big plug, trying to entice the jack away from a bonito. The bonito itself had been reeled to the boat harnessed by treble hooks on my own plug. For a good hour, some…10 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017Shrimp Au NaturelFollowing up on last month’s Sportsman’s Kitchen recipe for whole, head-on fish, I’d like to move on to another species that works well head-on—shrimp.Despite the fact that most shrimp that show up on your plate in restaurants are headless, it’s sometimes unfortunate if they’re cooked like that. There’s lots of flavor to be had by cooking the shrimp with the heads and shells intact. Yes, shrimp can be messy if you have to dig in with your hands to shell the cooked shrimp. And it can involve some knife skills if you must be prim and proper. But when you cook your shrimp “au naturel,” they’re going to taste better.Lots of folks say they don’t like shrimp, and that’s likely due to the fact that their “shrimp experience” is based…2 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017Dawn to DuskThe wrecks and reefs from 40 to 300 feet will all have some fish on them.Surf, jetty and pier fishermen will target pompano, snook, tarpon and bluefish with shrimp, sand fleas, cut baits and live baitfish from the trough inside the sand bar to just outside the sand bar. In just a few feet of depth farther offshore, Spanish and king mackerel; jacks, snapper and cobia become the targets. This is easy fishing that doesn’t cost an arm or a leg to participate. To fish from the surf is free as long as you can find a piece of beach that allows surf fishing. The best surf fishing beaches are in Broward County or farther north. Jetties are free to fish from but not as easy due to the uneven…4 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017Wise MovesThe flats are coming alive as spring approaches. Seagrass which thinned out during the winter is sprouting anew. Crabs and small shrimp are moving in, and the first hatch of baby pinfish won’t be far off. Trout which had moved off the shallowest flats into deeper water for the winter are returning to those flats and they’re sharing digs with pompano, bonnethead sharks and a few newly-arrived cobia. There are dozens and dozens of productive flats in Charlotte Harbor where you might find all this activity. For starters you can check out the flats around Jug Creek Shoal near Bokeelia, near the mouth of Turtle Bay, around Captiva Rocks east of Captiva Pass, and those surrounding Devilfish Key near ICW Marker 7 behind Gasparilla Island.Eager anglers have been waiting all…4 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017Honest John’sMore than once we’ve spotlighted the Honest John’s Canals, four miles of man-made cuts off the east shore of the Indian River north of Sebastian Inlet known for seatrout, snook, redfish, sheepshead and black drum. It bears repeating that these same canals offer East Central Florida anglers as good a sanctuary as they’ll find from the March winds that can blow out many a trip this time of the year. The Indian River can be a whitewash but rest assured it’ll be calm and sheltered for those plying the canals that are protected by natural windbreaks of tall mangrove and thick Australian and New Zealand pines.What’s more, reaching the canal system doesn’t require a rough ride across open water. You can launch at Honest John’s Fishing Camp on the adjacent…4 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017The Inside TakeThe changing weather and multiple fronts will make it tricky to match your time off with the good days. The payoff is that the fishing can be phenomenal if you know what to look for and where. The decent offshore days are seriously limited this time of year making inshore/nearshore fishing a better bet. With species like redfish, sheepshead, pompano and cobia there are plenty of options.Cobia will be making their yearly migration up the coasts and across the Panhandle towards the Mississippi River. Cobia can be caught a variety of ways, with the favorite being sight fishing them from a pier or the tower of a boat. The ideal rod and reel combo will be a little heavier than the usual inshore gear. My setup is a heavier king…4 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017NEW BOATS AND POWERSailfish 236CC The new Sailfish 236CC combines the 30-year Sailfish legacy with a sixth generation Variable Degree Stepped hull. The 236CC should be ideal for both offshore and inshore fishing. An 8-foot, 6-inch beam makes her easily trailerable and a hard top frame integrated into the console creates generous deck space. Leaning post with built-in tackle storage and a second live well are among options. The 236CC features multiple rod holders, two 120-quart fish boxes, a 27-quart console seat cooler, in-deck bow storage, and fold-up aft seating. Each Sailfish is built using the company’s Sail-Tech construction techniques. Kevlar reinforced hull, carbon fiber prisma-beam supports in the deck, aluminum backing plates, chrome-coated stainless steel hardware and high-definition gel coats round out this package. See www.sailfishboats.com .SeaVee 270ZThis offering from SeaVee is…2 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017Delicious FishI was gobbling my umpteenth piece when the mate informed me it was bonito.Not many of us treat our meat fish as we should, and there are steps you can take to improve the dinner you make for your family.First off, understand it’s the blood and body fluid that make fish taste “fishy.” Generally speaking, pelagic and other bloody fish such as red snapper taste stronger than deep water bottom fish whose flesh is firmer and carries less blood than most shallow water species. That doesn’t mean there’s not a lot you can do to make your fish taste better.For starters, you need to understand that fish bruise just like you do. Drop a fish to the deck, and you’ll often be able to see the bruises afterwards at the…4 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017Dolphin ProspectsFirst of the season forays for dolphin are a rite of spring around the state. Few ventures in the year hold as much excitement and anticipation for anglers as finding that first wide weedline of the season that holds an early wave of migrating fish. When your crew is the first on the scene, before word gets out about the depths where the fish are moving, it’s that much better.There’s been a lot of talk in the last couple of years about that ideal scenario happening less and less often. On the bright side, good dolphin catches are happening throughout the year more often, but the traditional patterns just aren’t holding up. That, at least, is a strong perception among a sector of anglers, if not a widespread view.Don Hammond,…10 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017RIVER ROAMERSSnook wintering in coastal rivers; that’s common knowledge. But the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) suspects that a considerable number of linesiders spend a full calender or more inside these brackish-to-freshwater arteries.Fisheries biologist Alexis Trotter says that preliminary data from a 4-year FWC study, now in its final year, has found snook living well inside Tampa Bay rivers throughout all seasons. And not just the juveniles; electrofishing has turned up multiple snook to 40 inches.Consistently, the biggest fish have been found in the deeper outside pockets of river bends.Snags (a.k.a. “laydowns”) are a common river snook preference and the larger the better for both quantity and quality. Here, the fish prey on native river forage like shiners and bluegill, as well as non-natives like tilapia and Mayan cichlids…2 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017Spring Gobblers and Traditional Bows“Travel corridors hold the chance for a bird to show up at any time.”The yelps, cackles, and gobbles of the wild turkey are music to the hunter’s ears, especially in the early morning as they shatter the background chorus of insects and frogs.Most hunters know the plan; roosted turkeys are located the evening before or in the predawn darkness by their gobbles. The well-camouflaged hunter sets up in a bit of cover or against a tree trunk after arranging some decoys near where he or she suspects the birds will fly down. Then, as day breaks and other birds are issuing their chirps and songs, the hunter yelps, clucks and cackles in hopes of enticing either the gobbler directly or luring a group of hens that have gobblers in tow.…9 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017ACTION SPOTTERSpring Ventures“Offshore anglers are targeting sailfish, dolphin, Spanish and king mackerel, bonito, skipjack tuna, blackfin tuna, cobia and more. Great depths to target this time of year are 40 to 160 feet of water. Down deep near the bottom large grouper, snapper and an assortment of large jacks will test your strength.”—South SpotterSend us your photosWe welcome your fishing and hunting photos for publication in the Action Spotter and in our online community galleries at www.floridasportsman.com.We prefer digital pictures, 600 KB to 1 MB in jpeg format. For smartphone photos, email the Actual Size—highest resolution shot. Images must not have appeared or been submitted elsewhere. Send photos to: photos@floridasportsman.com.Include names of people pictured, hometowns, location of catch and any key details, such as weight of big catches.…1 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017Search and CaptureMarch in the 10,000 Islands region has anglers dreaming of the first day of the month, as this marks the re-opening of snook season in the region. Anglers get a short window each spring to harvest a keeper snook as the spring “season” is from Mar. 1 through Apr. 30, before closing again May through August. The keeper slot is always a tight one, as snook must not be less than 28 inches in total length or more than 33 in total length.When tackling linesiders in March, look to current-rich areas with some deeper cuts, such as Sandfly or Dismal Key Pass. Some of these areas are similar to rivers, where the current has eroded away one side of the pass and the banks are generally deeper on one side.…4 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017Strike FastThe fishing action approaching spring can be hit-or-miss based on temperature. One of those lingering dingy, dark, windy days that cold fronts are noted for can shut things down. But give it a few days of solid sunshine on the Suncoast and we’re golden.Winters here in the West Central Region for the past two years have had anglers feeling like it was fall or late spring. Water temperatures that normally sit in the low 60s were hovering near the 70-degree mark. A decade or so ago I recall fishing in similar conditions. I was fishing out near the mouth of the Manatee River on some hard bottom patches in about 10 feet of water when a small pod of dark amber tarpon sauntered around the area, feeding on a school…4 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017Some of the Year’s BestIf I was a dedicated freshwater fisherman, most of my sick days from work would happen in March. Bass are solidly in spawn mode, and you will get shots at fish that you would swear had moved out of the lake the rest of the year. KP Clements from FWC’s extremely successful “Trophy Catch” program revealed that there are more 8-pound-plus Trophy Bass caught and released in March than any other month of the year. To target bass in cooler water, your best bet is to fish shallow lakes where the water is likely to have warmed. Deep-water lakes like Kingsley warm more slowly, but will certainly have their day.March is also my favorite month to drift through the lily pads in lakes like Orange and Lochloosa. The fat, spawning…5 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017Deep in the AmazonA recent offer to fish wild waters deep in the South American jungles had me excited to fly back to Manaus, Brazil, known as the Gateway to the Amazon. American Airlines offers a direct 5-hour flight from Miami to Manaus. After a night in the very comfortable Blue Tree hotel near Manaus’ largest shopping mall, we hopped on a domestic flight for an hour and arrived at Barcelos, the jumping off point for all the smaller rivers that feed into the huge Rio Negro. After an hour drive on a jungle road, we were close to the fishing grounds.I chose to go with Eduardo Rumbos, based out of Doral, Miami. He runs Peaco*ck Bass Expedition along with his Brazilian partner, Marlon Otero. They offer regular trips to four Rio Negro…5 min
Florida Sportsman|March 2017Quick-Change ArtistNotwithstanding possible temperature fluctuations, we can always count on windy conditions in March. As Bass-master Elite pro Bernie Schultz notes, breezy to downright blustery conditions typically plaguing the month compel him to plan his day with spots in various sections of the lake.“Wind will affect water clarity, so anglers should be conscious of what the wind direction might be going into a multi-day event,” Schultz said. “I always try to find fish on different shorelines, just in case. This time of year, the most active fish are generally in clear water, if they have that option.”Throughout this month, Schultz said he’s not surprised to find fish in prespawn or postspawn stages. That’s why he relies on a selection of baits that’ll tempt bass whether they’re coming or going. The lineup…2 min
