Coastal Angler Magazine | May 2022 | Northeast Florida Edition by Coastal Angler Magazine

NORTHEAST FLORIDA EDITION

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LONG DISTANCE LURES

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VOLUME 27 • ISSUE 326

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The Workingman’s Drum By CAM Staff

Young angler Hayes Grinnell did battle with this big black drum while fishing the Texas coast with Slinging Mullet Guide Service and Get Em Guide Service.

n some circles, black drum don’t get the respect they deserve. Maybe it’s their appearance? With weird chin barbells and a humped head, they hug the bottom, looking like the hunchbacked cousins of the sleeker redfish inshore anglers adore. Or maybe it’s their reluctance to take a lure? Black drum feed primarily by scent, and while you might catch one slinging a spoon, targeting them requires bait, which is more effort than plug and paddletail aficionados are willing to put forth. However, for anglers who aren’t too prissy to get their hands dirty, black drum have a whole lot to offer. They are the workingman’s drum, found nearshore and inshore throughout the Gulf of Mexico and up the Atlantic seaboard to New England. Black drum pull hard, with powerful bulldogging runs regardless of size. And they grow quite large, reaching weights well over 100 pounds. On top of that, they provide consistent action in a wide range of areas where they can be caught. Shore-bound anglers can target them from docks, bridges, jetties and piers, where drum hunt crustaceans around structure. Surf anglers often connect with them on quartered blue crabs cast outside the breakers. From a boat, passes and inlets are prime feeding grounds as is nearshore structure. Shallow-water anglers find younger specimens way up in the estuaries tailing like redfish for fiddler crabs in tidal creeks.

Their movements are seasonal, but as long as you’ve got bait, you can pursue black drum pretty much anywhere you choose. Like most fish, they bite best on a moving tide, when your bait’s scent disperses over a wide area. They’ll eat halved blue crabs, whole fiddler crabs or mud crabs with backs cracked to let a little scent out, and also live or dead shrimp or fresh cut bait. On the northern end of their range, anglers add clams, mussels and blood worms to the array of baits a drum will eat. As long as your bait is on the bottom and smelling like food, it’s likely to draw the attention of a drum. Rigging and gear are pretty simple. A classic Carolina rig with just enough weight to keep the bait on bottom will get the job done in most situations. Up in the creeks, where you’ll be doing more casting and maybe even sight fishing, baits can be fished on a jighead or even a simple hook with a split shot. Tackle in the 20-pound class is a good starting point, and it’s wise to beef up to pull big drum off structure. They do get big. The IGFA world record, caught in 1975 off Delaware, weighed 113 pounds, 1 ounce. Fish in the 40- to 50-pound range are regular catches across the drum’s range. Those big fish aren’t good to eat, though. The meat is often full of worms by the time fish reach weights heavier than about 15 pounds. Smaller drum are excellent table fare. For more information, go to coastalanglermag.com.

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IT’S GROUPER TIME AGAIN! By Capt. Quinlyn Haddon

ay is finally here, opening grouper season for fishermen on the Atlantic Coast. For the past several months of the season closure, charter captains in the Florida Keys have been boasting incredible throw-back grouper catches. The reopening of this species enriches each fishing trip with an extra opportunity for a great fighting fish, which is also excellent tablefare. Grouper fishing can easily be peppered into a day of fishing by dropping a bottom rig down while yellowtail fishing, trolling lures or stopping offshore to deep-drop for snowy grouper while on the mahi hunt. While the fishery in the Keys may not be famous for its bottom fishing, there is no reason it shouldn’t be. Red, black and gag grouper are plentiful and close to land. Snowy grouper aren’t too far either, and can be reasonably reliable to target. Snowy grouper are found within 1,000 feet, and can be targeted with electric or hand-crank set ups. Electric reels are advisable when mahi season is in full swing, as to make quick work of the one-per-boat limit of snowy grouper. The trek offshore for a single fish might seem like a waste of time, but there is a little more to it. Snowy grouper can get quite large and yield impressively sized, excellent tasting fillets. There

are also the welcomed bycatches of rosies, barrelfish and tilefish while deep dropping in these areas. Furthermore, there should be ample opportunities for mahi fishing on the way to and from the spot. Another reason the electric reel is preferable is an 8-pound weight should be used to keep your bait on the bottom in the heavy current. Keep your weight as close to the bottom as you can and utilize a chicken rig, with multiple hooks along the leader, baited with just about anything. Continuously recheck the bottom to make sure it hasn’t gotten away from you, and bring a spare weight or two, as it isn’t overly difficult to lose one while fishing this way. Targeting red, black and gag grouper on the reef can be a little different than typical grouper fishing on the west coast of Florida. Heavy weights can easily get snagged on the rocky bottom in the heavy current, potentially making inexperience quite expensive in terms of lost tackle. There are also plenty of smaller reef fish waiting to pick apart your bait. Over-baiting can be a good tactic, but the most reliable way to bypass these conditions, is to simply freeline a live bait on a jighead. After breaking client’s hearts by releasing trophy grouper throughout the closed season, we are thrilled to be able to add these tasty critters to the icebox yet again. Right now is an excellent time to visit the Florida Keys and enjoy our full fishery. Capt. Quinlyn Haddon guides with Blue Magic Charters out of Marathon, Fla.

LURES

CASTING FAR: THE DYNAMICS OF LONG DISTANCE LURES

PATRICK SEBILE

’ve enjoyed fishing from the shore since I was a teen angler, and one thing that became obvious to me very quickly was there are numerous situations when casts are a tad bit short to reach targeted fish in specific situations. This is a constant truism when fishing from the bank, the beach, a pier or jetty, but it also applies to boat anglers. Quick, long casts are often required for fastmoving fish like tuna. Long casts are also useful when it’s necessary to keep the boat away from reefs, boulders and breakers for safety or to avoid spooking fish. Long ago, I began making sure to always have lures in my possession that

were especially efficient for reaching out long distances. These lures sometimes trade realistic swimming action for distance, yet there are also a few that find a balance between great range and great action. When you read the packaging of a saltwater lure, and especially a surffishing lure, it often mentions how good the lure is for longdistance casts— or how good it is supposed to be. The problem is, there is no scale. There is no quantifiable reference for comparing lures that honestly presents the real numbers of yards any given lure will deliver. Marketing promises do not

always translate into real performance. To make things more complex, there is theoretical and real distance. A lure that casts great on a parking lot with no breeze can turn into a disaster when casting into an onshore breeze at night, which are conditions many serious fishermen face in the surf. There’s no magic, and what makes some lures reach farther distances than others is a mix between their concept, their balance and, to a certain extent, the gear used to throw them when the goal is to reach a little bit farther than other anglers. This conversation is all about the physics that translates to longer casting distance for better fishing results. The key points that will help you pick the proper lures to do the job are shape, buoyancy, the position of weight on the lure, the total weight and sometimes extra appendages, such as side wings that really help a lure fly as far as possible. These elements are just a primer to a discussion on lures designed for distance. Next month, I plan to go in-depth on ways you can select lures that will truly help you cast super-long distances to reach fish other lures cannot. Arming yourself with a longcasting arsenal gives you an edge in catching fish, simply because you’ll be able put a lure in front of them.

Legendary angler Patrick Sebile is a world record holder and an award-winning designer of innovative lures and fishing gear. Check out his creations at abandofanglers.com.

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Shiner Fishing for Giant Florida

LARGEMOUTHS

ass tournament anglers get excited about 20-pound five-fish limits, and a 30-pound tournament sack is a lifetime achievement for most. It takes a little bit more to impress hawg hunter Sean Rush. Rush makes a living guiding clients to trophy largemouth bass, mostly on Rodman Reservoir in north Florida. The best five fish haul his boat has seen weighed 61 pounds, 9 ounces. Think about that. That’s a more than 12-pound average. Rush said it was the best fishing day he’s ever witnessed, with two fish well over 13 pounds and the smallest of the five weighing a measly 11 pounds, 1 ounce. Most bass anglers across the country spend a lifetime seeking out a single 10-pound-plus largemouth. Rush’s anglers did five lifetime’s worth of trophy catching in a single day on April 26 of 2021. “And we probably lost between three and six fish that were that big or bigger,” Rush added after rattling off the astounding statistics. “Those guys were from New Jersey. They had never done any Florida shiner fishing before. I told them it was all downhill from there.” The downhill slide, however, is not too steep. Even a decent day using Rush’s techniques on Rodman produces results that would impress just about anyone. When it comes to catching big largemouths, he’s got several advantages over your average angler. Location is a big factor. Rodman is a 9,500acre giant bass factory. It is a 15-mile long stump field with a deep river channel running down the middle of it and the matted vegetation Florida

By Nick Carter

fisheries are known for. In more than three decades guiding, Rush said his clients have boated close to 1,000 bass better than 10 pounds. He landed 73 10-plus-pounders last year alone and has overseen the landing of eight fish on FWC’s TrophyCatch Hall of Fame list, which is for fish heavier than 13 pounds. He does 95 percent of his trips on Rodman. “If fishing is good, we commonly catch 30 to 60 fish a day,” he said. “The average size at Rodman is pretty solid. Usually we’ll have fish in the 8- to 10-pound class on the top end of that range.” Tactics are everything when it comes to catching fish like that. Live bait provides a huge advantage over the lures tournament anglers must fish. Rush fishes exclusively with live, wildcaught shiners, which he keeps lively in a huge bait tank on his custom-built, 22-foot Prodigy Razor. The tournament guys can keep their fiberglass glitter rockets. Rush’s sturdy aluminum boat is rigged out for the style of fishing he does, and it’s powered by a 150 hp Mercury with a power-assisted hand tiller. The tackle is also sturdy. Rush pairs heavy duty Daiwa 300 Lexa baitcasting reels with super heavy 7 ½- and 8-foot rods he said are essentially musky rods. He fishes straight 20-pound Berkley Big Game in green, which is thin enough for low visibility and strong enough to get the job done. He hooks his shiners through the tail above the anal fin with 3/0, 4/0 or 5/0 Eagle Claw 84s, which

are standard J hooks with a slight offset. In a typical spread, his anglers will work shiners under bobbers set 3 to 5 feet deep, and he’ll throw out one or two shiners on freelines to swim up under the vegetation. For big fish, he prefers shiners 7 to 9 inches long. Rush’s big-fish reputation has gotten around, so he stays booked 300-plus days a year. His favorite time of year is fall, before the December through February spawn. “It’s prespawn, the fishing pressure is lower and the fish are feeding up that time of year,” he said. “The fish are also big then. They look like gorillas.” Late spring and summer are also good, once fish settle back into normal patterns after the spawn. Most of the year he targets them around floating mats of vegetation and deep river bends. The exception is during the spawn, when bass push up on the flats. Rush does not bed fish, though. He’ll set up on mats near known spawning flats and try to catch big females staging. One more thing: don’t call Rush if you want to eat bass or have a trophy mounted. Rodman is managed under regular Florida regulations— which allow five fish, with one fish longer than 16 inches—but Rush’s trips are catch-and-release. “I’m up front and honest about it on the phone,” he said. “If they even talk like they want to keep one, I just won’t take them.” Contact Capt. Sean Rush and Trophy Bass Expeditions of Central Florida through the website at www.floridatrophybass.com.

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Monster Blue Cat Smashes Mississippi Record By CAM Staff

he Mississippi River near Natchez, Miss. has a history of producing giant blue cats. The most recent monster catfish, caught on April 7, weighed 131 pounds and absolutely crushed the existing state rod-and-reel state record. Eugene Cronley, of Brandon, Mississippi, had just set up in a 90-foot-deep hole downstream of Natchez. About five minutes after making his first cast, the big fish took the cut skipjack he was using as bait, according to a report in the Mississippi Clarion Ledger. “He hit the rod and started pulling drag,”

Cronley told the Clarion Ledger. “We had to untie the boat and float down the river. “I couldn’t move him. I’d pull on him and take in a foot of line and he’d pull and take 10 feet. I just sat there like I was hung up.” After a 40-minute fight on 30-pound line, the angler’s exhaustion made hauling the fish into the boat a chore. Cronley has caught 50-pound fish from the area before, and he didn’t

realize exactly how big this fish was until he put eyes on it. Then, it was time to start looking for a certified scale with the capacity to weigh such an enormous fish. Cronley’s fish waited on ice for three days before he was able to get a certified weight. Fish lose weight when they are out of the water. The Clarion Ledger reported that the fish had an initial weight of 138 pounds on uncertified scales. Even out of the water for three days, Cronley’s blue cat shattered the previous rod-and-reel state record of 95 pounds, caught from the Mississippi near Natchez in 2009. In 1997, a 101-pound Mississippi trophy record blue catfish was caught in the same stretch of river. The IGFA all-tackle world record for blue catfish is 143 pounds. It was caught from Kerr Lake, Buggs Island, Virginia in 2011. Cronley’s catch, if certified by IGFA, would possibly be a new 30-pound line class record. The 30-pound line class record stands at 111 pounds. It was caught in 1996 from Wheeler Reservoir in Alabama. For more Mississippi fishing records, visit mdwfp.com.

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Permit Monitoring Funded for Western Dry Rocks

PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVE POWELL

ast year, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), initiated an annual total fishing closure from April through July at a popular fishing location off Key West known as Western Dry Rocks. Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT) recently announced a $600,000 investment to monitor the effectiveness of the closure in protecting spawning permit. Western Dry Rocks is an area of reef and rock about 10 miles southwest of Key West that hosts large spawning aggregations of permit and various snapper and grouper species each year. Its proximity to Key West and the dependable nature of the fishery make it a popular spot for bountiful half-day trips. The intent of the closure, which bans fishing in a 1 square-mile area from April through July for seven years, is to protect populations of several species

by allowing them to spawn unmolested by anglers. Permit, yellowtail snapper, mutton snapper and gray snapper are all known to aggregate at Western Dry Rocks from April through July. These spawning aggregations, along with the swirling currents that sweep past Western Dry Rocks are thought to play a role in the distribution of fish eggs and larvae throughout the Florida Keys and up the Atlantic coast of southern Florida. BTT’s investment will fund a monitoring program for three years. “We can’t overstate the importance of this analysis for fisheries management and how appreciative we are to our partners at Bonefish & Tarpon Trust,” said FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto. “Working together on this important research initiative helps to ensure Florida’s status as the Fishing Capital of the World.” FWC is requiring updates on regulation effectiveness at three, five and seven years, with a sunset clause at seven years if the closure is not meeting expectations. BTT scientists expect the spawning-season closure will have positive impacts on the behavior of permit at Western Dry Rocks, resulting in more relaxed schooling behaviors and enabling spawning fish to remain at the site longer. BTT will work with collaborators from previous permit research projects to test these predictions by comparing data collected at Western Dry Rocks (WDR) with data from other known permit spawning locations where fishing is allowed. “The monitoring will build on datasets that measured depredation, spawning permit aggregation characteristics, and permit spawning migrations at key spawning sites prior to the closure,” said Dr. Ross Boucek, BTT Florida Keys Initiative Manager. “By studying permit at WDR and comparing the WDR data to information gathered at other permit spawning sites that aren’t protected, we’ll be able to assess the effectiveness of a spawning season closure at WDR as a management tool.” The monitoring program will utilize acoustic telemetry, sonar technology and laser-mount underwater cameras to monitor permit spawning behaviors, estimate permit abundance and estimate permit size. The program will also employ methods previously used at WDR to determine rates of depredation at spawning locations that are still fished. For more information, visit myFWC.com.

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here’s a whole lot of gift-card money out there for the lucky anglers who catch one of 10 pink-tagged largemouth bass that were distributed around Florida waters this spring. To celebrate the tenth season of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) TrophyCatch program, biologists stocked 10 trophysized largemouth bass with bright pink tags into 10 different freshwater fisheries. Each angler who catches and documents a pink-tagged bass will score a $5,000 gift card to Bass Pro Shops, $1,000 to shop at AFTCO, and secure a chance to win an additional $10,000. “Our freshwater biologists tagged 10 huge bass across the state – just about everyone is within a day-trip’s distance to fish for one of these tagged bass from a boat, kayak or even the bank. Now comes the fun part for anglers!” said TrophyCatch Director KP Clements. “Get out there and catch one! Tag, you’re it!” FWC’s TrophyCatch program is a valuable tool for freshwater fisheries research and management. It provides reward incentives to encourage anglers to catch, release and report trophy-sized (weighing 8 pounds or more) largemouth bass in Florida. The program develops public-private partnerships to protect trophy bass, promote fishing and support fisheries conservation programs. TrophyCatch anglers with approved bass receive rewards from program partners while FWC biologists learn more about producing and sustaining the best trophy bass fishery in the world. Here’s a list of the waters where pink-tagged bass are swimming: • Newnans Lake, Alachua County • Lake George, Putnam/Volusia counties • Lake Talquin, Gadsden/Leon counties • Lake Walk-in-Water, Polk County • Tenoroc Fish Management Area, Polk County • Lake Trafford, Collier County • Lake Istokpoga, Highlands County • Lake Griffin, Lake/Orange counties • Lake Rousseau, Levy/Citrus counties • Johns Lake, Orange County For more information, visit www.trophycatchflorida.com.

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ecently, federal fisheries managers approved cuts to cobia harvest in federal waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. At the May 4 meeting of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, FWC staff will recommend regulations for state waters that are consistent with the new federal regulations. The proposed rule would: • Increase the minimum size limit from 33 to 36 inches fork length in all state waters. • Reduce the commercial bag limit from two to one fish per harvester, per day for Atlantic state waters. • Reduce the recreational and commercial vessel limit from six to two fish per vessel, per day for Atlantic State waters. These regulations changes were spurred by a recent stock assessment that shows cobia are undergoing overfishing. According to the proposal, a substantial portion of Florida’s cobia harvest comes from state waters. Staff is recommending the commission adopt these new regulations without further hearing. For more information, go to MyFWC.com.

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Summer-Long Statewide Fishing Competition Launches May 28 F or the first time in the history of Florida STAR, CCA Florida, will launch the annual STAR competition presented by Yamaha with a Title sponsor. CCA Florida STAR is proud to announce West Marine as the Title sponsor of the 2022 competition. West Marine began its support of the STAR competition in 2016 and each year has stepped up to a greater level of sponsorship. For 2022, West Marine has chosen to title the competition in order to increase awareness of the company’s commitment to the conservation of our fisheries resources for future viability which is so important to the future of its business. The West Marine CCA Florida STAR competition kicks off on May 28, the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. The 101-day, summerlong event invites anglers and non-anglers to participate and win their share of prizes valued at almost $500,000, including boats, motors, scholarships and more. Launched in 2015, STAR focuses on conservation with its technology-based, catch-photo-release format. STAR’s dedicated smartphone app promotes the proper handling of species and allows participants to upload competition photos, eliminating the requirement to harvest or capture and transport fish. CCA Florida also uses data collected from the app to educate the public on the importance of protecting Florida’s marine resources. This

10 FLORIDA

MAY 2022

important data is also available to other conservation organizations and universities for use in their studies on conservation, habitat and stock assessments. “In the past seven years, it’s been amazing to see STAR participants support conservation by embracing the catch-photo format and picking up garbage during the annual competition” CCA Florida STAR Director Leiza Fitzgerald said. “Even more exciting is the participation of over 7,000 registrants annually and awarding more than $2.1 million in prizes, with $700,000 specifically awarded in youth scholarships.” The 2022 STAR competition is comprised of 17 divisions targeting 12 inshore and offshore species plus the cleanup of trash. STAR’s signature Tagged Redfish Division offers winners the choice of a Contender Boats 22 Sport, Pathfinder Boats 2200 TRS or Spyder Boats FX19 Vapor, all powered by Yamaha Outboards. For the first two youth anglers who win this division, prizes include two tiller boats powered with Yamaha Outboards, trailers, Minn Kota trolling motors and Humminbird electronics. The best opportunity to catch this year’s tagged redfish will be in Brevard, Citrus and Charlotte counties, STAR’s 2022 Destination Counties which each have eight tagged redfish in their coastal waters. There will be on average four STAR tagged redfish in every other coastal county of Florida for a total of nearly 170 released

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tagged fish. There is one tagged fish that is worth $50,000 cash. This special tag is sponsored by Alta Equipment Company. For offshore anglers, the Tigress Outriggers and Gear Tagged Dolphin Division offers one winner a $10,000 cash prize. The first STAR registrant and CCA Florida member who catches one of the tagged dolphin will win. These dolphin will be tagged and released in the coastal waters of Florida for STAR by the Dolphin Research program implemented by the Beyond Our Shores foundation. STAR is a family-friendly competition, and CCA Florida youth members (ages 6 to 17) can participate for free. Kids are encouraged to submit entries in the Youth Scholarship Division presented by Realtree Fishing for an opportunity to win one of 12 scholarships totaling $100,000. Other divisions include ladies, kayak, conservation, guides and many more. Since most division winners are determined by a random drawing, it is not about catching the biggest fish. Any size fish can win. Registration is open throughout the competition, but anglers who register before May 28 will be entered in the Engel Early Bird Drawings for weekly prizes. To register for STAR 2022 or receive additional information on divisions, prizes and more, visit ccaflstar.com or Facebook.

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ACGFA - May By Steve Stombock

he meeting in May is held at the St. Augustine Shrine Club 250 1st st, st Augustine fl 32080 Our Annual Awards banquet is coming up in the month of June. That’s the time we give out our 2021-2022 Awards and renew our membership. We have dinner and a social meet and greet at this event. For more info on dates and events we have them listed on our ACGFA website. and payout this year. Look for more Our June Month Long Tournament details next month.. is a 1 day Kingfish shootout. Where members can fish the same day and www.acgfa.com have fun on the water. Our general membership party will be Tuesday May 17th @ 6 pm May’s in club Month long Tournament is our Ladies Tournament. The Winner of our March In club Black Drum Tournament was Joe Driscoll he won $150.00 There were no Young Anglers for the month of March. Chuck Dykes won Inshore Angler of the month with 45pts. No off-shore winner The challenge Tournament dates are July 7-9th. Both The Kingfish Challenge and Redfish Challenge. There have been changes to the tournament format

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Fishing Report NE Florida Freshwater By: CAM Staff

he spawn is gone. That hasn’t slowed the bite on Rodman Reservoir or the St. Johns River south of Lake George. If you’re a bass nut both are well worth the easy drive for world-class bass fishing. The BASS Tour doesn’t come here just for kicks and giggles boys and girls. As always most big fish, meaning anything over 7 or 8 pounds, have come predominately on wild shiners. Yes they cost more but, well worth it. Expect to pay $18-$20 a dozen. Be darn sure to call around to reserve them if possible and make sure the bait shop you plan to use has them. Domestic shiners will work, just use smaller tackle like a 1/0 hook and smaller float. You want to work

the matts and let the bait get under it for heaven’s sake! The biggest mistake most clients and other anglers make is not allowing the bait to swim under the vegetation and into the smash zone. I like to set the depth of the bait to float at half the water depth I’m working. I always make sure to take at least one pole as a free line. If the baits on the floats aren’t working try pulling the floats off and send the baits out for a swim. With warmer temps coming I expect to start seeing schooling bass and everyone’s favorite, a strong top water bite. Bust out the frogs, surface walkers, and buzz baits early in the morning and in the late afternoon. By the way it’s never a bad idea to troll a shiner along as you work the pads, docks and grass beds. Well, if you can find a grass bed, don’t get me started. As we move more and more into a summer pattern you’ll want to lean on your maps and start finding the bends in the old river and creek channels in Rodman with plastics, The most productive artificial baits have been 7.5 or bigger plastic worms. The best colors are june bug or red shad. Rodman is known for its stumps and timber as much as big bass. I like to switch to a jig working the timber and stump field or creature type bait.

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Cleaning up Florida Waters By Mark Feagle s President of the Coastal Conservation Association’s Northeast Florida Chapter, I want to personally invite you to join us May 19, 2022 for our annual BBQ event. This year it will be held at the Yards in Ponte Vedra. This event is a family fun event and all are welcome. Tickets are $80 each $150 couple and will include FREE BBQ and BEER and your Coastal Conservation Association Membership. With your membership you can also register for the CCA Star Tournament. Check out the details of the tournament by visiting ccaflstar.com. We are looking to do some amazing conservation efforts in our NE Florida Region this year and with the help of the local anglers we can do more. Just a tidbit of what’s going on first is Release the East where CCA will release 100,000 juvenile redfish along the east coast of Florida including our area. There are also a couple of shoreline restoration projects in the works with UNF and CCA to help protect our eroding high wake shoreline areas. By anglers and water enthusiasts joining us at our events we can dedicate more funds to local projects. As a volunteer for our chapter, I encourage anyone that would like more information or has concerns about conservation efforts in Northeast Florida to contact me anytime. Fishing… The Seminar Series is not done yet. I am working on an idea for the summer that will make the seminars bigger and better than ever. I am trying to put together a small fishing expo that will feature small local businesses to sell their products, as well as have local captains teach seminars throughout the day. Keep checking Westbank Group Facebook page or my website for details when they come out. Also please take a minute of your day to email the FWC about stopping

the increased limit of redfish in our big bend region. To ensure our Redfish remain plentiful in our waters keeping strong limits will help ensure generations to come will have this fun fighting fish around. Voice your concerns at marine@myfwc.com. Real Estate With the Real Estate market going crazy and wild, we thought it would be a good time to take a break and give back to the environment. Your local REALTORS, NEFAR and REALTORS from around Florida are taking to the waters the month of July. This will be the third annual #CLEANUPFLORIDAWATERS and will be amazing. Locally we ask for the public to join us on July 23 and let’s clean up the ST. Johns. We will have many locations for land and boat volunteers that want to help. Our goal for the year is to have over 1000 volunteers in one day clean up thousands of pounds of trash from Black Creek to the Beaches. We will provide all supplies necessary to join in the fun. Once we get off the water there will be a fun after-party event featuring food trucks, music and a great time for all. For more information, please contact me at 904-607-1139 or check my website mfeagle.watsonrealtycorp.com.!

COASTALANGLERMAG.COM • THEANGLERMAG.COM

MAY 2022

NORTHEAST FLORIDA 9

RED SNAPPER SCIENCE Does the SEDAR stock assessment have it wrong? By Jimmy Hull

s Abundance more important than Age in Red Snapper productivity? larger fish have reached their maximum length. The stock is rebuilt in Has the The NMFS mis Interpreted the age structure, life history and terms of size/length of animals. productivity of our Red Snapper stock? The public comment below from Capt. Jimmy Hull a lifetime Red Snapper fisherman out of Ponce Inlet explains why the stock is rebuilt and the fishery needs to be opened for harvest to learn more about this amazing natural resource and properly Manage it.

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Thank-you SAFMC SSC members for giving me, Captain Jimmy Hull, current Chairman of the SAFMC Snapper-Grouper (SG) Advisory Panel (AP) the opportunity to provide a written comment on the Atlantic Red Snapper (ARS) final SEDAR 73 results. Having been a commercial fisherman landing Atlantic Red Snapper for over 45 years from offshore of Ponce de Leon Inlet Florida, I have seen many changes in the abundance of the Red Snapper population during those decades for various reasons. RED SNAPPER ABUNDANCE Many years of abundance followed by some years of decline, then increased abundance again has been a normal cycle for the fishery. But never in my 45 years of fishing off Ponce Inlet, Florida has there been as many Red Snappers in the population of all sizes than over the past several years. Now every piece of bottom habitat has been populated with Red Snapper of all sizes. Now in the Summer, every piece of bottom is a spawning site with animals from the bottom to the surface. It was never like this before. In the past we used to find random spawning aggregations many miles apart. In 2010 the Red Snapper fishery was closed. Since then, we have had little opportunity with only mini seasons to harvest the stock, however we encounter Red Snapper on every trip and every bait drop for other species. Red Snapper have reached their rebuilding pinnacle, there is no more room and their numbers can only decline from here. In the terms of abundance, the stock is rebuilt.

WHA Ac of 20 p

AGE/RECRUITMENT Red snappers reach their maximum length at about 10 years old. We now have a stock full of 10 years old animals. Red Snapper are sexually mature at 2 years of age, that is very early for a supposed long-lived animal. When they are born, they burn the candle at both ends. Very few fish will ever live past 20 years of age. The assumptions prior to 1978 of larger proportions of 20 plus older animals is not proven by any observed data and does not fit the life history of this animal. Very aggressive and fast growing, they can overwhelm other species and take over habitat. Now they have taken over the habitat and the recruitment from millions of spawning animals on all the bottom fishing reefs is what we see in the abundance success of the stock. The stocks

SIZES In the past 45 years we have had red snapper of all sizes, but with the most abundance in smaller sizes. Now we have a lot more abundance of larger animals equal to the huge number of smaller sizes. Most of these 10 NORTHEAST FLORIDA

MAY 2022

COASTALANGLERMAG.COM • THEANGLERMAG.COM

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d. We ually d Very o by Very d take ment

recruitment is that of a rebuilt stock. In the past 42 years and with 30,705 fisheries dependent samples that have been taken, and this only yielded 141 animals over 20 years of age. That is a very small percentage that has done nothing to stop this stock from rebuilding. It is clear that abundance is much more important than old age for a stock to reach high levels of recruitment, abundance and sustainability. The red snapper stock is rebuilt and is able to have an open year-round fishery at harvest levels of maximum sustainable yield.

you interpret this red snapper stock to have overfishing when it is has more recruitment during the past 6 years than ever before? And now the red snapper population has more animals in abundance than ever before! This includes assumptions from prior to 1978. How can you interpret the red snappers to be overfished because of the assumed proportions of older aged animals are not high enough? Yet this red snapper stock is full of maximum length fish about 10 years old that are producing this record recruitment and abundance. If this stock is not opened for harvest now, it will never be opened for harvest. You do not even have a chance to intercept the few older animals unless the fishery is open. You need to open the red snapper fishery. Sample it year-round, monitor it, observe it and increase our knowledge of this amazing red snapper rebuilt resource. Clearly you can see a much closer to reality model result from the SEDAR-73 high recruitment sensitivity run below. Here with high recruitment projected forward we have a rebuilt stock by 2024. This is based on high abundance of younger animals, not older age animals. This is a much closer to a realistic outcome than the chosen base run. Please bring us closer to reality after 10 years of a closed fishery.

WHAT IS THE END GAME? A closed fishery until we can intercept enough assumed proportion of 20 plus age animals to consider it sustainable for harvest. How can

Captain James G. Hull Jr. SG/AP Chairman Appointed SEDAR 73 Panelist Its very important to voice your opinion and or comment. Go to the SAFMC website and click on public comment. Then telling them how you feel.

The NMFS response and Interpretation is below in a link to a youtube video presentation: https://youtu.be/PGUqdbRs0CY

COASTALANGLERMAG.COM • THEANGLERMAG.COM

MAY 2022

NORTHEAST FLORIDA 11

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Fishing Report & Forecast St. Augustine Offshore By Capt. Robert Johnson

Spring is Here

pring is here and so are everyone’s favorite fish! Normally that means Mahi Dolphin Dorado or whatever you would like to call them. May is the peak month for Mahi. It also is the time of the year that we start to get less wind and calmer seas. I look for Mahi on temperature breaks and current edges. Water temp needs to be 74 or warmer. Weed lines or

any floating debris will also hold Mahi. In May anything deeper than around 136 ft is a good place to start looking. If there isn’t any visible change then structure is, you next best bet. Medium Ballyhoo pulled naked or behind a smaller skirt is the bait of choice. Mahi are not picky and will eat just about anything you put in the water. In addition to Mahi there will still be plenty of Black fin Tuna, Wahoo and Billfish around. If trolling is your thing May is the peak month. May also is the best month to target large Gag Grouper. Groupers are still out near the shelf edge where they have been spawning. This is full contact fishing with heavy tackle being a must. I like 80# mainline with around 6 ft of 100# monofilament leader. Larger baits are the best way to go. A slab of cut bait or a live grunt or pinfish on the bottom is sure to get noticed. Whatever your target species is May is the month.

“Let’s Go Fishing” Captain Robert Johnson (904)540-2628 Jodielynncharters.com Jlfishing@bellsouth.net

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MAY 2022

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Fishing Report Pier and Surf By: Noel Kuhn

he bite is on in the surf and on our piers! Everything is running early this year. Even the bait called glass minnows. Of course they have drawn the predators to the beach early also. Since mid April, I have witnessed clouds of glass minnows right in the surf wash. The Spanish Mackerel showed up first at the beginning of April. Bluefish, Seatrout, Flounder and Ladyfish have also joined in on the tiny minnow buffet. If you want to get in on this action with lures, go small. The Gotcha plug or Kastmaster spoons are two excellent choices. On days with a

west wind, for farther cast, and clean clear water you can have a blast. Just sling it as far as you can. Then with your tip up as high as possible, this keeps your lure off the bottom, just a steady fast retrieve will get your lure slammed! The Jack Crevalle will show up very soon so hold on tight to that rod-n-reel! For the bait and wait method, I tie double droppers out of 50 pound mono. Then add two 5/0 circle hooks which are tipped with cut strips of fresh whiting. The Blacktip sharks have also shown up very early. The picture below was taken on 4/2/2022. On that day, the water was 68 degrees by my digital thermometer at South Ponte Vedra Beach! She ate a half of a Whiting and gave my angler, Steven Reynolds, a 25 minute fight on a 12 foot surf rod! These sharks are following the annual migration of Pompano and Porgies. If your want some, get you some. May will be on fire! The Pompano run and the Whiting bite should be most excellent this month. It has already been a banner year for them both. As the water warms above 75, most of them will be gone by mid June on their journey north. The last chance for a great catch will be Fernandina and Fort Clinch. Since Pompano are sight feeders, I really like to have baits in the water by sunrise. Now get out there and put your toes in the sand. The dog days of summer will be here very soon. See you on the beach! Noel Kuhn Surf fishing guide and long distance casting coach. 904-945-0660 www.TheSurfAngler.com

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MAY 2022

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Fishing Report & Forecast Nassau Sound By Capt. Tony Bozzella

ay is a good time to plan your species, many different ones around, Spanish Mackerel, Jack Crevall, trout, Bluefish, Redfish, ladyfish, & over the years we have even been successful on some tarpon. Often, afternoons are filled with strong winds or heavy sea breezes. I like to get out early when the day is calm. I make a decision based on the tide what would be best to target, If the tides low, I will target redfish. Morning is still 14 NORTHEAST FLORIDA

a good time to catch a backing red. Most schools are broke up on the flats, and single & doubles or very small groups can still be had. At this time, mullet, shrimp, mud minnows or crab can all be great baits. However, if the tide is incoming or high, could be a good time to use popping corks, top-waters and diving lures, over structure, rocks, grass lines, oyster mounds etc. at this time of year, with many different species around to stretch a line. Another great tip, “Any point, no matter what it is, that gets divided by moving water, is a potential good spot” hrow your bait, lure, corks, up current, and bring it through the rips, & eddies. Take accurate notes, tide, time of year, place, lure….,. As years go by, this will separate fair anglers from great Anglers. lso, there are no magic lures. Pick a couple of baits and cover the water column. Learn to master a few lures, and know what that lure is doing at all times, staying in tune with it so your ready for the bite!! Talking lures, we are still in the window for a gator trout. Again, everything I just talked about fishing points, high clean cooler water, over structure. The river and inter coastal waterway should do well this month. Many fish will follow Bait moving south in the river. Until next month, tight lines.

Capt. Tony Bozzella / TBS JIGS www.tonybozzella.com 904 651 0182

MAY 2022

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he Nassau Sport Fishing Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to develop and promote saltwater fishing in the Nassau County area while adhering to state, federal and local regulations, to encourage compliance with rules of water safety by club members and the general public, and to promote youth related community activities. Come and see us at the 2022 Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival. NSFA will be manning our food booth and cooking up some of the best low country boil and grilled shrimp known to man (IMHO). This year NSFA will be assisted by the Yulee High School Swim Team. Proceeds go to fund the NSFA Johnny Thrisk Memorial Scholarships. NSFA awards 3 rising high school seniors a $3000 scholarship paid over the first 2 years of their enrollment. The deadline for seniors to apply for a scholarship is fast approaching. Students in Nassau County high schools should discuss this with their counselor and download the

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application form the NSFA website. Our SKA sanctioned and 39th Annual Kingfish Tournament and Fishing Rodeo has been approved by the City of Fernandina Beach as one of only 5 city sponsored events in 2022. The tournament will be held on Saturday 6-August. If you or your company are interested in becoming a sponsor for this event, please contact us at Info@nsfafish. net. Our early bird registration page will be up shortly if you plan to fish this event with us. Our next Fish of the Season contest season begins 1-May as our anglers go after cobia, kingfish, and pompano. Pompano have arrived in Fernandina, so get out there and weigh some in. NSFA meets 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month at Kraft Athletic Club on Amelia Island. Join us on 28-April for our monthly social gathering. If interested in joining, please visit our website at NSFAFISH.NET or stop by one of our meetings. As always, Stay Safe, healthy, and we will see you on the water!

MAY 2022

NORTHEAST FLORIDA 15

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Fishing Report & Forecast St. Augustine Inshore By Capt. Tommy Derringer

he Spring fishing has been awesome, but summertime is coming. Yeah, it’ll be hot out there, but the fishing will be hot as well! We have some big changes in our fishing patterns coming up over the next couple of months as the water starts to really warm up inshore and the beach fishing action really starts to fire off. Redfish and trout will be blasting top-water plugs at first and last light and the cobia, tarpon, and sharks will invade the beaches. You have got to love summertime fishing in Northeast Florida! Some of the best inshore/backcountry fishing for redfish and trout will occur right at sunrise and again at dusk this time of year. Top-water plugs are one of my go-to lures during those times of day. The fish will be heavily feeding, and they’ll be more than willing to crash your lure on the surface. Mullet should be invading all the creeks and flats in our area by now and the adage “match the hatch” couldn’t be truer. I like to use a “walk-the-dog” type plug in a baitfish pattern to perfectly mimic an injured mullet. If you do opt for the “walk-the-dog” type lure mentioned above be sure to practice making the bait walk side to side. I’ve seen many fish ignore a topwater if it’s just dragged past them, only to have them smash it the next time the lure is properly “walked” by. Once the sun is higher in the sky you may want to switch to a sub-surface lure or bait. My clients have been 16 NORTHEAST FLORIDA

MAY 2022

having great success using the Saltwater Assassin paddle tails rigged on a 1/8oz jighead or a weedless style hook. It looks just like a small mullet or minnow and can fished in a bunch of different ways. The tail on the Saltwater Assassin produces quite a thump when worked through the water. With murkier water being the norm heading into summer, this can be a huge advantage as the fish will be able to home in on the lure much easier. This is also a great month for the Bull reds at the inlets, bridges, and nearshore reefs. Half a crab or a piece of cut mullet on the bottom will work great. Just make sure to give those breeders a healthy release. Just as the mullet will be invading the inshore areas look for the pogy (menhaden) pods to be all over the beach. The pogies bring in all kind of fishing opportunities this time year. The cobia should be hanging around depending on what the water temps do, and the tarpon should start to show as well (They have been here since last month, but more should be on the way!). Sharks, huge jacks, kingfish, and more will all be pulling up a chair to feed on the bait pods. A great way to fish the pods is to slowly idle around looking for the ones that have some pogies getting thrown around. The biggest mistake I see while fishing the beach is when anglers get too close or charge right up to the bait while the outboard motor is still on. Try using the trolling motor or just drifting within casting range. You’ll see a lot more fish and more importantly catch more too. While you’re out there along the beaches don’t forget to check out the shrimp boats and their by-catch… There’s almost always something BIG lurking around those slicks to play with! .

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Capt. Tommy Derringer 904-377-3734 • www.InshoreAdventures.net

Old School is New School By CAM Staff

he 3rd Annual Old School Kingfish Shootout will be held June 1012 in St. Augustine. This unique tournament has quickly become a favorite of the fishermen, leveling the playing field and allowing smaller, family fishing teams to compete with the Pro’s for a tremendous prize and payout at fraction of the cost of a traditional tournament. In the 1990’s, Kingfish tournaments were a huge deal. Families fished together, live pogies and ribbonfish were the bait of choice and rarely were the winning fish caught out of sight of the beach. As the boats and equipment advanced in the early 2000’s, Captains expanded their horizons, fishing up and down the beach more than 100 miles from checkout at times. At that time, it became more difficult for the blue collar “Mom and Pop” teams in smaller boats to compete with the big boys making the long runs. In the mid 2000’s, live bait trucks began bringing Blue Runners and Goggle Eyes up to Northeast Florida from South Florida and selling them for $100 a dozen($150 a dozen today). Teams again expanded their horizons, taking a well full of prime live baits down the beach or 40-50 miles offshore catching more and bigger Kingfish than the boats fishing the beach. Quickly Captains learned that if you weren’t south of Ponce Inlet or offshore of 100 feet of water with a livewell full of Blue Runners and Goggle Eyes the odds of winning were stacked against them. These things along with the recession of 2008 crippled local tournaments cutting participation at it’s peak up to 75%. In 2011, Paul Dozier founded the Northeast Florida Kingfish Shootout. The tournament was designed for boats to choose their fishing days over an extended period of time allowing small boats to trailer to places on good weather days to hopefully fish areas out of their reach otherwise. The Kingfish Shootout was successful for several years but was becoming a bit stale in Doziers eyes. “The Kingfish Shootout was great but some of the luster was coming off. The same teams seemed to be winning and placing year after year, mostly in big boats and again the smaller boats were becoming

discouraged.” Dozier said. In 2019 while on vacation with friends on a fishing trip, Dozier floated the idea of the Old School Kingfish Shootout to them. “I just felt like we had to try it. Grassroots effort. Everyone seems to have a Bay Boat and people still love Kingfishing but choose not to enter tournaments because they feel like they can’t compete.” In 2020, the Old School Kingfish Shootout was born. Dozier wanted to truly make it Old School. The rules were simple. Fernandina to Ponce Inlet, no more than 3 miles off the beach (Florida State Waters) and boats can not buy or pen up live bait. Dead bait is permitted but teams must catch their own live bait on tournament day. “That’s the way I grew up. You caught your own bait and fished the beach. Sometimes you got lucky and sometimes not but if you didn’t it wasn’t going to break the bank.” With a modest early entry fee of $250 (before May 31) and a guaranteed first prize of a 21’ Yellowfin Bay Boat, a 200hp Yamaha Outboard and Ameratrail trailer valued at $100,000 and a cash payout to 25 places the fishermen came out in droves the first 2 years with more that 500 boats competing each year. “We had no idea it would be as popular as it is. It has been awesome to see all of the families fishing together and not taking it too seriously.” The Old School format has worked. Each of the first 2 years, the winning fish has been caught by family teams fishing in Bay Boats. Casey Riley and family won in 2020 and Bill Endres and his Grandson took the first place prize in 2021. The Old School Kingfish Shootout not only features a cash payout for the top 25, but also Lady and Junior Angler Divisions. Also, each boat that catches a Kingfish and submits an on the water photo to the tournament will be entered in a “Lucky Ticket” drawing to win $10,000 from the Nimnicht Family of Dealerships! “We are so lucky to have great sponsors that make all of this possible.” Dozier added. “We really appreciate all of them and the fishermen that make this tournament what it is. We can’t wait to see what this year brings!” For registration and more information please visit www. oldschoolkingfish.com.

Riley family rewards! COASTALANGLERMAG.COM • THEANGLERMAG.COM

MAY 2022

NORTHEAST FLORIDA 17

Fishing Report & Forecast Fernandina / Amelia Island By Terry D. Lacoss

he month of May starts off with a bang as kingfish, cobia, Spanish mackerel and a variety of striking game fish migrate into our offshore, inlet and beaches. Offshore fishermen will find cobia following hooked bottom fish up to the boat, completely catching fishermen off guard. Jetty and bay fishermen will also hook up with hard fighting cobia while fishing on the bottom with blue crabs, menhaden, mullet, and large shrimp as well. Beach fishermen will also hook up to excellent cobia fishing action while locating rays just off from the beaches. Cobia historically will swim right under the rays where skilled fishermen will cast a variety of plugs including bright colored bucktail jigs tipped with squid.

Excellent sea trout and redfish fishing is also available during the month of May in the back country. Timing is critical as fishing is best when a good running tide is flooding oyster beds where huge concentrations of finger mullet are present as well. A flooding early morning tide is key, particularly when arriving around mid-morning. As days grow older the heat of the day seems to slow down the trout bite. Some of the larger sea trout and redfish are taking surface plugs fished along the edges of finger mullet schools. A local favorite is the Storm “Chug Bug” head and white body color pattern. The popular trout lure also has a sound chamber where led balls rattle against their

One of the better areas when targeting cobia includes the deep jetty waters of the St. Mary’s inlet during the last of the in-coming tide. Anchor your fishing boat just south of the very tip of the south jetty rocks and fish back towards the inlet and right on the bottom. Gag grouper season opens on May 1st where bottom fishermen will be targeting these hard fighting, delicious eating bottom dwellers with heavy fishing gear. Fifty-pound terminal fishing line and a four-foot section of 100-pound fluorocarbon shock leader is a must. A 4 to 6-ounce egg weight is threaded onto the shock leader and is allowed to rest right on a 7/0 kahle hook. This bottom rig is commonly referred to as a “Knocker rig”. Best bottom fishing baits includes live pinfish, grunts or fresh squid. Shark fishing also improves during the month of May both at offshore wrecks, ledges and nearshore inlets too. Large bull sharks have been harassing offshore fishermen, especially when a good fish is reeled in close to your fishing boat. Some of the best shark action comes while drifting dead baits with behind a working shrimp boat that has just cleaned it’s catch. Shrimp boats discarding their bi catch will also attract hard fighting tarpon, cobia and fast swimming kingfish too. Offshore live bait trolling at the “Amberjack Hole” and “East FC” live bottoms will produce king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, cobia, barracuda and the occasional blackfin tuna. A solid game plan is to jig up a live baitwell full of Spanish sardines and cigar minnows at a nearby live bottom and rig them to your terminal trolling tackle. During the early morning hours striking fish are more apt to feed close to the surface and then deep during the heat of day.

plastic chamber, which ultimately imitates croaker grunting. Also, the loud popping sounds created by the “Chug Bug”, imitates game fish smacking live shrimp right on the surface. When mullet schools are not numerous, a variety of sub surface plugs work will for summer sea trout. Include the Mirror Lure’s S25MR/ Catch 5 in the mullet color pattern. And don’t overlook casting a ¼ ounce led head jig rigged with a 3-inch Berkley Gulp shrimp in the white, or new penny color patterns. Finally drifting a 3 to 5-inch live finger mullet, or pogy under a small float is also a deadly fishing tactic for summer sea trout and redfish. Surf fishermen will be targeting excellent eating whiting, pompano, yellow mouth trout and more. Fishing with fresh shrimp, or sand fleas during a flooding tide is key. Look for some of the best surf fishing action to come where shallow bars offer an ambush point for game fish. Beach fishermen will need to obtain a free shark fishing license when targeting sharks along the beaches. Sharks must be released right away and can not be dragged up on the beach. For more shark fishing information, please visit www.myfwc.com.

18 NORTHEAST FLORIDA

MAY 2022

For more information and charters, call Amelia Angler Outfitters (904) 261-2870, or visit www.ameliaangler.com

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Fishing Report & Forecast Mayport By Capt. Kirk Waltz

he spring run should be on the go before the ink dries on this report. Warm weather and fairly calm skies should have the fish wide open. The big rocks at Mayport will hold good numbers of sheepshead, reds, drum, trout, blues, jacks, ringtails, and Spanish. Throw lures early in the clear clean water before the boat traffic shows will produce some really nice trout and reds. My go to baits are the gulp swimming minnow, mirror lure, Shimano lures, and a bomber long-a. Go early or stay late when things are quiet seems to produce the better results. Fresh live bait like fiddler crabs, shrimp, mud minnows, finger mullet thrown on jigs are almost a guarantee that you’ll get a strike. Look for diving birds to locate schools of pogies/ menhaden. Get out the cast net for a live well full and the fish will hammer these with a vengeance. Again, I really look for clean outgoing water or incoming for the better bite of fish. These fish have been cold and are eager to feed on this weather change. Sheeps ,

reds, drum, and ringtails will devour the fiddler baits. Trout, blues, jacks, reds ,and Spanish love those fish baits. Float rigs are a great method for taking fish at the rocks too worked on the clean tide changes when the water is the clearest. Find that clean water and you will locate the fish. The huge black drum should hang around for the month but as it gets hot the number will drop. Remember to release these big bruins but, find them in deep water by soaking ¼ blue crab chunks on the bottom at the end of both rock piles. Spanish will feed in good numbers around the inlet at high tide and can be caught with small Clark spoons or sea hawks trolled or thrown and pulled quickly thru the water. Oh, and those bait pods that are off the beach…make sure you check them for bull reds, cobia, and huge jacks for some fun in the sun. Grab a few baits from the pod and pitch them back into the foray using an egg sinker rig, big jig, or a Cajun thunder float and watch out! Make sure you bring big rods and small ones cause anything can happen, be prepared for battle! The offshore scene will start to heat up as bait moves in on the reefs and wrecks. This change will bring in the striking fish. Look for kingfish, cobia, sharks, cuda’s, sailfish, and bonita to follow. Grab a few baits with a Sabiki rig and either troll or flat line these for some hefty strikes. Drop them to the bottom for snapper, cobia, grouper, sea bass, and triggers. A strong back and a stout rod is the order of the month. Check the regs for what you can and cannot keep!. Bookings for charters can be done by email or phone. Go to Enterprisefishingcharters.com for more info or call 904-626-1128

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Fishing Report & Forecast Flagler/Palm Coast By Captain Shane Stover

ay has finally arrived with the waters heating up, fish are becoming more active. Look for trout, flounder, black drum, red fish, Jacks, bluefish, ladyfish, etc. to be arriving around the Matanzas inlet and the ICW up to the Palm Coast bridge. Waters are getting murky from the heat and the rain that summer brings, so a top water plug along the ICW at first light, or a popping cork with a live shrimp will work well to bring more action to your pole. Also this month why not try out some near-shore fishing as the action heats up? Typically in May, the ICW will be holding great numbers of large Trout. To target this species, fish the creek holes, on the first of an incoming tide, using a free-line shrimp, live croaker, or live mullet rigged on a number 3 circle hook.Trout tend to be exceptionally more active in the early mornings or late afternoons, first light or last light. Another fun method of catching these fish, as well as a great option for snook fishing, is by fishing dock lights and bridge lights after the sun goes down. Flounder are starting to show up as well in the mouths of creeks. Look for pods of bait fish on the outgoing tide to be flushing out of the creeks and that is where you should find these fish holding. Use a mud minnow, or live mullet on a quarter ounce jig head, throwing up-stream until you feel that notorious thump that

means you’ve got a “flatty” on the line. One of my all time favorite inshore fish to catch, are the local Redfish. As the day goes on and the water further warms, I personally, like to switch to a quarter ounce jig head, rigged with a chunk of crab, live mud minnow, or cut mullet, around the oyster bars and grass lines to catch some Reds. You can also fish for these guys at first light, using your favorite top water plug. Look for schools of bait, that are still typically near oyster bars and grass lines, and you can expect to find the redfish lurking under them. Use a slow, walk-thedog motion. My favorite go-to plug for this method, is a Zara Spook. Starting your morning off this way, is a sure fire way to be in for a good time. May is also the perfect time for near-shore fishing. Look for schools of Pogies along the beach line in the Matanzas inlet area, and expect to find huge Jacks, Sharks, Kingfish, and a possible Tarpon or two starting to show up. I like to use a number 6 circle hook rigged with 60 pound fluorocarbon leader baited with live Pogie to get hooked up but make sure to use a piece of wire leader if fishing for the Kingfish or Sharks, so that they don’t cut you off. To conclude, May is the perfect time to get out, enjoy our beautiful Florida sunshine and enjoy inshore and near-shore fishing whether it be, first light, or when there is no light at all, anytime is a good time to get out and go fishing this month.. CAPTAIN SHANE STOVER (386)931-1219 CAPTAINSHANEFISHING@GMAIL.COM

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The Inshore Slam - an entertaining challenge By Frank Gregg

he FWC describes an Inshore Grand Slam as catching and releasing a Red Drum, Spotted Seatrout and Flounder all in the same day. In N.E. Florida the locals refer to catching all three as a triple challenge. The challenge I presented to my old friend and professional saltwater angler Captain Bob Morris was to catch all three species on artificial baits in a time frame of four hours. Such a challenge would require knowledge of the area, the tides and a test of our own various skill sets, using top water lures, sub surface baits along with jig and soft plastic combinations. We left the dock that early spring morning with perfect weather conditions, overcast skies and a full moon just days away, we both realized this could be a banner day. As we approached our first fishing area, a spartina grass flat with submerged oyster bars we could see the bait fish flashing, a sign that says predator fish are not far away. As I set up our first drift, Bob was quick on the draw throwing a Top Dog Jr. ( Halloween color) attached to 7’ bait caster rod and reel combination, as he walked the dog gently thru the marsh grass, you could almost feel a strike was just seconds away. On his second cast the anticipation was over, a giant crashing strike devoured his bait, after several minutes the brutal fight was over and a 31” redfish came to the net, it was hard to determine who was more tired, the fish or the angler, as Bob released the fish I was happy to hand him a cold bottle of water as he just completed step one of the our triple challenge. Overcast conditions that morning, dictated we stay with top water baits, as we both landed two additional redfish. Bob caught another 31 incher

and I throwing a Whopper Plopper (mullet color) on my favorite 7’ spinning rod a reel combo, boated and released a perfect 27” bruiser that weighed close to eight pounds. Before we lost those perfect overcast conditions we motored a few miles up the intracoastal to a spot that had produced several Gator Trout above five lbs. in the past. It would be a test including some luck and many hours of time on the water to catch such a fish. Bob began by attaching a Bomber long A floating hard bait to his 7’ spinning rod and reel combo and I remained on top with the same Whpper Plopper, after several casts Bob hooked up with a nice 16” trout and I did the same with one about the same length. As the sun started to peek out from the cloud cover, we new are time to catch that big gator trout was coming to an end, we pressed on only landing a few more trout and several lady fish . That big female spawning gator trout had avoided our breakfast presentations that morning but we did complete step two in our challenge by catching a few legal trout. With the tide falling quickly and with one hour left before our challenge would come to an end, we left the river and headed to the end of a creek that had been holding some nice big flatties, catching one would complete our slam. Bob tied on his favorite stand up 1/4 oz jig head with a Gulp soft plastic attached, I on the other hand like a standard unpainted 1/4oz jig head with a Gulp swimming mullet attached, both soft plastics were chartreuse in color. It wasn’t long until Bob was reeling in a nice 16 “ flattie, we followed the creek out, fishing the mouths of the smaller feeder creeks pouring into the larger creek we were on. As our magical four hour challenge was coming to an end, I netted Bob’s final catch of the day a nice 18” flounder. Mission accomplished our total catch in four hours, three reds to 31”, four trout to 16” and 5 flounder to 18”, plus several lady fish jacks and blue fish. Catching a slam, all on artificial bait is a challenging achievement but with good preparation, the right tackle and the right focus, I challenge you to try slamming your next time on the water..

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t was a little bit of a change of pace for us but April meetings went well as we transitioned out of our old Clubhouse into our temporary home as our new clubhouse is built in the Ft Caroline Community Center at 4131 Ferber Road. Drive-by and see the progress across the street from the Mayport boat ramp. The old clubhouse that most of you know has been cleaned out and probably by the time this goes to print it will probably be bulldozed as well. We are hoping to have our meetings at the new location around June but we don’t want to make any promises and will update as any progress is made. Our fishing boards are getting some fish on them but there is plenty of room to knock someone off the board with some of the monsters that are offshore and inshore right now. One of our members Lynne posted some pictures of her personal best cobia weighing 33.75lbs. Many of the fish that qualify for the boards are

22 NORTHEAST FLORIDA

being loaded on the club TV so they can be seen during meetings, keep an eye out for pictures of her fish. We also learned that the collection of cobia carcasses that FWC was going to pay $50 each for is only being collected from south of Ponce Inlet to the Gulf and not collected in our NE Fl areas. Our tournament director has been announcing declared days for tournaments on our club members-only Facebook page and it is been great to keep track of who is participating and going to give you a little competition. Upcoming Events: May 2nd - JOSFC Board Meeting May 5th- Meeting. Cinco De Mayo May 19th- Club Business. Dinner. May Club TournamentInshore: Redfish Tournament Offshore: May Trolling Tournament Keep up with upcoming events, schedules, or any changes @ www. JaxFish.com

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D 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3

TIDE CHART - May

Mayport Degaussing Structure 30.3967° N, 81.3950° W Date Day Time Hgt 01 Sun 03:26 AM -0.25 L 02 Mon 04:06 AM -0.13 L 03 Tue 04:46 AM 0.08 L 04 Wed 05:28 AM 0.34 L 05 Thu 06:13 AM 0.61 L 06 Fri 12:31 AM 4.75 H 07 Sat 01:17 AM 4.63 H 08 Sun 02:07 AM 4.54 H 09 Mon 03:01 AM 4.48 H 10 Tue 03:57 AM 4.47 H 11 Wed 04:53 AM 4.49 H 12 Thu 05:46 AM 4.55 H 13 Fri 12:32 AM 0.18 L 14 Sat 01:22 AM -0.22 L 15 Sun 02:10 AM -0.56 L 16 Mon 02:58 AM -0.78 L 17 Tue 03:47 AM -0.85 L 18 Wed 04:39 AM -0.78 L 19 Thu 05:34 AM -0.60 L 20 Fri 12:10 AM 5.72 H 21 Sat 01:09 AM 5.48 H 22 Sun 02:09 AM 5.23 H 23 Mon 03:12 AM 4.99 H 24 Tue 04:14 AM 4.78 H 25 Wed 05:14 AM 4.60 H 26 Thu 06:08 AM 4.46 H 27 Fri 12:50 AM 0.20 L 28 Sat 01:39 AM 0.08 L 29 Sun 02:23 AM -0.01 L 30 Mon 03:04 AM -0.04 L 31 Tue 03:43 AM 0.02 L

Time 09:36 10:17 10:58 11:39 12:22 07:00 07:50 08:41 09:29 10:17 11:03 11:49 06:37 07:26 08:15 09:05 09:56 10:49 11:44 06:32 07:33 08:33 09:29 10:23 11:14 12:02 06:58 07:45 08:29 09:11 09:52

AM AM AM AM PM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM AM PM AM AM AM AM AM

Hgt 4.39 H 4.24 H 4.10 H 3.98 H 3.88 H 0.84 L 0.99 L 1.03 L 0.95 L 0.76 L 0.47 L 0.12 L 4.63 H 4.71 H 4.76 H 4.78 H 4.76 H 4.71 H 4.64 H -0.39 L -0.22 L -0.10 L -0.05 L -0.05 L -0.08 L -0.13 L 4.33 H 4.23 H 4.14 H 4.05 H 3.97 H

Time 03:21 04:00 04:40 05:22 06:07 01:06 01:54 02:46 03:41 04:36 05:28 06:17 12:35 01:21 02:07 02:55 03:44 04:37 05:35 12:42 01:42 02:46 03:50 04:51 05:47 06:37 12:48 01:32 02:14 02:54 03:34

Approximate Correction Times Palm Valley ICW: H: +2:20 L: +2:00 +/- for Other regional Locations JAX Beach: H: -:29 L: -:20 Bings Landing: H: +2:57 L: +2:44

Hgt PM -0.21 L PM 0.02 L PM 0.31 L PM 0.62 L PM 0.90 L PM 3.83 H PM 3.82 H PM 3.89 H PM 4.06 H PM 4.33 H PM 4.69 H PM 5.09 H PM -0.25 L PM -0.57 L PM -0.80 L PM -0.89 L PM -0.84 L PM -0.66 L PM -0.40 L PM 4.58 H PM 4.56 H PM 4.59 H PM 4.70 H PM 4.86 H PM 5.04 H PM 5.19 H PM -0.17 L PM -0.18 L PM -0.14 L PM -0.04 L PM 0.13 L

St. Augustine Beach: H: -:07 L: -:15 St. A City Dock: H: -:04 L: +:09

Time 09:47 10:26 11:06 11:47

Hgt PM 5.37 PM 5.23 PM 5.07 PM 4.90

H H H H

06:58 07:54 08:52 09:49 10:45 11:39

PM PM PM PM PM PM

1.12 1.24 1.24 1.13 0.90 0.57

L L L L L L

07:05 07:52 08:40 09:29 10:20 11:14

PM PM PM PM PM PM

5.48 5.80 6.02 6.10 6.07 5.93

H H H H H H

06:39 07:46 08:53 09:57 10:59 11:57

PM PM PM PM PM PM

-0.12 L 0.12 L 0.28 L 0.36 L 0.36 L 0.30 L

07:22 08:03 08:43 09:22 10:01

PM PM PM PM PM

5.29 5.31 5.27 5.18 5.07

H H H H H

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FWC CONSIDERS STATEWIDE REDFISH MANAGEMENT CHANGES

t the May 4 meeting of the Florida Wildlife Resources Commission, staff plans to propose several changes that will alter the way redfish are managed statewide. This initial presentation is a first step that seeks to obtain approval to publish the proposed rule changes and begin public workshops for stakeholder engagement. Here are the proposed rule changes: • Modify the redfish management regions • Prohibit captain and crew from retaining a bag limit during for-hire trips • Reduce the off-the-water transport limit from 6 to 4 fish per person • Increase the bag limit for the Big Bend region from 1 to 2 fish per person • Reduce the 8-fish vessel limit in each of the proposed management regions: » Panhandle, Big Bend, Northeast: 4 fish » Tampa Bay, Sarasota Bay, Charlotte Harbor, Southwest, Southeast: 2 fish • Only allow catch-and-release fishing for redfish in the Indian River Lagoon region Along with altering bag limits, these rule changes would allow FWC to utilize smaller regional units and annual reviews to evaluate redfish fisheries using six metrics: habitat, harmful

Figure 1. Proposed redfish management regions.

algal blooms, escapement, relative abundance, fishing effort and stakeholder feedback. A summary of the proposed changes reads: “Anglers primarily target redfish inshore, so an angler’s redfish fishing experience is closely linked to local environmental conditions as well as local fishing effort. Given this link and stakeholder feedback in support of a new management approach, the FWC is using a new approach that incorporates a holistic review of ecological and human factors. Applying the new approach, staff

evaluated the nine proposed management regions (at left) and prepared the first Annual Reviews.” Jumping out ahead of the proposal, CCA Florida has issued a call to its members to oppose the increase in bag limits from one fish to two in the new, smaller Big Bend region, which would stretch from Wakulla County to Pasco County. The current region covers this area, but also includes Escambia County. CCA Florida commended FWC for its other management redfish management efforts. These rule changes will be introduced at the May 4 FWC meeting beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the Hilton University of Florida Conference Center in Gainesville. The meeting is open to the public. For more information, see the “Commission Meetings” link at MyFWC.com.

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The 2022 Central Florida Shootout features a weekend of fun, from the Captain’s Party to the Awards Ceremony & Angler Ticket Drawing. OVER $20,000 in cash prizes will be paid out for the Tournament! Award categories include 10 different species, a general entry category, as well as entry categories for Lady Anglers and Juniors. You can also purchase tickets ($50) for a chance to win a brand new 2022 Avid Magnum w/Yamaha VF250 V MAX SHO, aluminum trailer, and T-Top VALUED AT $70,000. Winner will be drawn at the Awards Ceremony. You do not have to fish in the tournament to participate in the drawing.

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LIONFISH REMOVAL EVENTS MAY 8-15 M ay is Lionfish month in Florida. In a continuing effort to raise awareness and combat this invasive pest that populates Florida reefs, there’s a host of activities centered around Destin this month. The 2022 Lionfish Removal and Awareness Day Festival will be held May 14-15 at HarborWalk Willage in Destin. The two-day festival includes lionfish tastings, fillet demonstrations, conservation and art booths, an interactive Kids’ Zone and more. For more information on the festival, go to FWCReefRangers.com. The Emerald Coast Open, the largest lionfish tournament in the world, will be held in conjunction with the Lionfish Festival. With big cash prizes as well as tens of thousands of dollars in gear prizes, divers will compete for most, largest and smallest lionfish. There will also be raffles for gear. Pre-tournament runs through May 12. The tournament will be held May 13-14. Final weigh ins will be held at AJ’s Seafood and Oyster Bar in Destin at 11 a.m. on May 15. Registration is $100 at emeraldcoastopen.com. May 8-14 also brings on Emerald Coast Open Restaurant Week, when the chefs of Destin-Fort Walton Beach’s featured 18 FLORIDA

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restaurants will highlight lionfish in unique and delicious dishes. Here’s the daily line-up of featured restaurants: DEWEY DESTIN’S - MAY 8 CRAB TRAP DESTIN - MAY 9 HARBOR DOCKS - MAY 10 LA PAZ - MAY 11 BROTULAS - MAY 12 AJ’S SEAFOOD & OYSTER BAR - MAY 14

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he Florida Fish and Wildlife Conser vation Commission will seek final approval for regulations changes to facilitate management for trophy largemouth bass at Fellsmere Water Management Area, also known as Headwaters Lake, in Indian River County. Fellsmere, which was designed to become a trophy bass fishery when it was impounded more than a decade ago, is already renowned as a trophy bass fishery. It is believed custom regulations will help the fishery grow bass 15 pounds and larger. Special regulations for Fellsmere would include catch and release of all largemouth bass and circle hook requirements when fishing live bait greater than 3 inches in length. These measures were previously approved at the December 2021 meeting of the commission. FWC staff will request final approval at the May 4 meeting of the commission in Gainesville.

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REPORT YOUR COBIA CATCH

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f you catch a Florida cobia, scientists want to know. FWC is researching reproduction and movement of cobia in Florida waters, and anglers are being asked to help by reporting their cobia catches through September. Cobia along Florida’s coasts have been fitted with conventional dart tags and surgically implanted with acoustic transmitters. Data collected by acoustic receivers along the coasts allows researchers to track cobia movements and learn more about the spawning migrations of the Gulf and Atlantic stocks. Scientists are also working with the public to sample the reproductive organs of harvested cobia. This data will allow scientists to determine if and where cobia are spawning along Florida’s coasts. If you catch a cobia from now until September, call (561) 882-5975 to arrange for a biologist to meet you and get a $50 reward. Fish must be kept whole or filleted with the carcass and organs intact on ice. If you catch a tagged cobia: • For the purpose of this study, harvest of tagged cobia is discouraged. • Photograph the tag. • Record the tag number, fork length, date and general location of catch. • Release the fish in good condition with tags still intact.Call (561) 8825975 to report the cobia and get a reward and shirt. Releasing tagged cobia will allow researchers to continue gathering valuable data. If you harvest a tagged cobia: • Report all information listed above for tagged cobia. • Return both the internal acoustic transmitter and plastic dart tags to: Attn: Jim Whittington Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Tequesta Field Laboratory 19100 SE Federal Hwy. Tequesta, FL 33469 The internal acoustic transmitter can be found implanted just inside the body cavity on the underside of the fish. This will provide valuable information to researchers. E-mail questions to Joy.Young@MyFWC.com or Jim.Whittington@MyFWC.com.

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n Illinois angler broke the Missouri state record for paddlefish in March. He snagged a 140-pound, 10-ounce paddlefish at Lake of the Ozarks. It beat out the previous record— set in 2015 at Table Rock Lake—by just one ounce. Record-breaking angler Jim Dain, of Pittsfield, Ill., was on a family fishing trip and almost decided not to take the boat out because of shifting weather conditions the day he caught his monster fish. “The forecast was calling for storms, and then it changed to no rain, so we went out, but it just kept getting colder,” Dain said. “We weren’t having much luck, but decided to fish for another hour. So we took another turn, and that’s when the drag on the reel started. It felt like a tree was on the line!” Paddlefish are an interesting target for anglers because they are filter feeders and will not take lures or baited hooks. The most popular method for catching them is to troll large, un-baited treble hooks to cover water and hopefully snag one. “We got 16 one-gallon bags of meat out of this catch,” laughed Dain. “We’ve fried it, grilled it and made paddlefish tacos the other night. We’ll be having paddlefish for a while!” Missouri’s paddlefish seasons run March 15-April 30 on its major paddlefish snagging waters: Lake of the Ozarks, Table Rock Lake, Truman Lake and their tributaries. There is a minimum length limit of 32 inches. The paddlefish season for the Mississippi River is March 15 through May 15 with a fall season of Sept. 15 through Dec. 15. For more information, see the Missouri DNR website at dnr.mo.gov.

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FLEXIBLE LIMIT

PROPOSED FOR MAKOS

OAA Fisheries has proposed establishment of a flexible retention limit for shortfin mako sharks with a default limit of zero in commercial and recreational highly migratory fisheries. This measure follows a 2021 approval to ban mako shark harvest in the North Atlantic in 2022 and 2023 in a decision handed down by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). ICCAT’s juridiction is over highly migratory species, like sharks, which cross international boundaries. NOAA’s flexible retention limit would fulfill ICCAT’s recommendation, while allowing flexibility if conditions change. During the fishing year, NOAA Fisheries could increase the shortfin mako shark retention limit from the default, or subsequently decrease the retention limit, for the commercial fishery, the recreational fishery, or both, based on regulatory criteria and retention allowed by ICCAT. Strict conservation measures have been on the table for mako sharks since 2017, when a stock assessment indicated the species was being overfished. Annual take from both sides of the Atlantic ranged between 3,600 and 4,675 tons, mostly caught with commercial gear. ICCAT warned that catches must be kept below 1,000 tons to rebuild the population. Off the U.S. east coast, Atlantic shortfin mako sharks are found from New England to Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico from Florida to Texas, and in the Caribbean Sea. For more details or to comment on the proposal, see www.fisheries.noaa.gov.

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t’s tarpon time, and as big fish flood the channels, bays, flats, beaches and passes up the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, every angler with a monster silver king on the bucket list hopes to get a piece of the biggest show on water. Most of the time, all they’ll get is the aerial show. Whether it’s a thrown hook from a head-shaking leap, a sharp gill plate that cuts the line, or a big hammerhead that makes the line go slack, hooking a big tarpon is a lot easier than putting hands on one. Studies have shown less than 40 percent of hooked tarpon make it boatside to have their photo taken. Here are a few tips to help you turn a hook-up into a great release photo.

TARPON FIGHTING TIPS By CAM Staff

1) Bow to the King:

If you have any interest in tarpon at all, you’ve heard this one already, but let’s just get it out of the way for those who don’t know. When a tarpon jumps, stop reeling, drop your rod tip and point it at the fish. When the fish is doing all its head shaking and tailwalking, a slack line doesn’t provide as much leverage to throw the hook. When the fish lands, lift the rod tip back to about 45 degrees and reel quickly to take up the slack.

2) Predict the Jump: Watch the fish’s behavior and you can often predict when it will go airborne. A hard run usually culminates with a big jump. Also, when you see the line angling up, it means the fish is headed to the surface. Pay attention and you won’t be caught off guard.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CAPT. JEFF MAGGIO

3) Go Hard on Them: Tarpon are big and powerful. If you don’t break their spirit quickly, they just might break yours. Use heavy tackle and do everything you can to get them in quickly. Use an anchor buoy to quickly unhook and chase fish down. This allows you to gain line and maintain the upper hand. By adjusting the drag, you can let the fish tire itself out more quickly. Start with the drag lower in the early stages of the fight, when the fish is still making long powerful runs that can break the line. As it begins to tire from running and jumping, start ramping up the drag pressure and continue pumping and reeling. If you’re good enough, palming the reel allows you to manually control drag pressure without committing to a higher setting. This can save you if a fish has a sudden second wind. Keep the heat on a big fish from start to finish. If it runs to the right, swing your rod to the left and vice versa. By keeping constant pressure against the direction the fish is trying to go, it is sometimes possible to convince them to give up.

4) Don’t Feed the Sharks: Sharks always seem to show up when there’s tarpon fishing going on, and it’s a pity so many big tarpon end up getting sharked on the end of a line. When sharks show up, ethical anglers pull lines up and move. Reeling in half a fish is worse than reeling in no fish at all. If a big shark shows up during the fight, clamp down on the drag and try to break the line. For more, go to coastalanglermag.com.

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Tim Barefoot

s you should know by now if you read my articles or subscribe to my YouTube channel, I like to fish for everything with fins. From offshore in 300plus feet of water to creeks, there is one thing that makes us more effective now than we were years ago: electronics! When I was very young, we went to the very first mark off the beach and loaded up on sea bass, gray trout (weakfish), flounder and whatever else would bite a crude chicken rig with cut mullet. Those days are gone. Now, we have evolved to using the most advanced electronics available to locate and stay on fish. We’ve got side imaging and live imaging technology, which is not (almost) cheating, to… screw it… It’s cheating, and I’m doing it. I love a gag grouper like Peter loved the Lord, and I also like to fish for bass as well as drum, trout and snook. Electronics like side scan make me dangerous. They are the difference between being close to a good place on a ledge or wreck versus being ON THE SPOT. It’s now possible to see whether you’re close to a stack of baitfish or on it. The stack of bait is the key to catching instead of just soaking baits. Look for the giant stack of bait, because that is what holds

predators, bottom fish below and pelagics above. For example: The video link at the end of this article as well as the blue photo on this page are a prime example of electronics telling us what’s below us and how deep. The marks near the bottom are African pompano and other bottom fish. The marks in the 100-foot range are blackfin tuna. The other photo is of crappie in a creek. I was watching them in real time using Garmin LiveScope. Regardless if you’re fishing in 300 or 15 feet of water, having the correct electronics will make a huge difference. We rely on our fishing instincts to catch fish. I’m a believer in the “cleanest” terminal tackle being the most effective tackle. The most important thing of all, though, is to position your boat on top of fish. For this, proper electronics have become essential. Check out barefootcatsandtackle.com, and watch this video https://youtu.be/qGzW6QFZHKE on using electronics offshore.

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MAY 2022

NATIONAL 19

Making Memories M

ay is a great month to take or introduce a child to the sport of fishing. The summer crowds haven’t arrived, the weather is tolerable, and there should be a nice breeze to keep it comfortable. If your child is already catching more than you, this is a great time to teach them some new techniques or how to use a new lure. Jetties, piers or docks are great locations to target this month, and sheepshead can be an entertaining target for the beginner. They can be corporative, and a nice trophy for a child. At times, they can be easy to catch and will provide a solid fight for the saltiest of anglers. Sheepshead love structure. Focus your attention on the most barnacle-encrusted structure you can find. At times you can hear them munching on those barnacles! If it is legal in the area you are fishing, scraping barnacles off the structure is a great way to chum for sheepshead and really gets them fired up. Small live or fresh dead shrimp are great, readily available bait. Small jacks, croaker, pinfish and whitting are also good options to give young anglers a strong tug and a good time. Once again, live and dead shrimp are a good choice to lure in these aggressive feeders. Beach fronts, jetties and structure are good areas to target them. If your child is up for a challenge and wants to learn something new, like my 11-year-old, May

By Capt. Michael Okruhlik

is a good month to explore. With optimal water temperatures that keep fish aggressive, May is ideal. My son and I were in our favorite local tackle shop one day, and he picked up a custom painted lure and showed it to me. The owner, Mike, had painted these and they are renowned for catching big trout. My son had never fished one, but wanted to learn and catch a big one! For a few weeks, every time my son walked into the lure room and saw the Corky hanging on the rack, he would say, “Dad let’s go fishing.” He wanted to use the lure from Mr. Mike and catch a big trout. When we finally had a chance to hit the water, conditions were not ideal. We went to learn how to work the lure, if nothing else. My son did accomplish catching his first fish on a Corky. Even though it was not the big trout he planned on, it gave us a good laugh and memories that will last forever. This photo shows his first fish on that style of lure… the first of many I am certain. Go grow up little pinfish. Hopefully the next time we meet you are in the belly of a big trout! Take a kid fishing, leave the electronics at home, and everyone will have fun learning something from each other!

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conversations. Satellite phones are an option but are cost prohibitive for most of us. Luckily, the satellite network has created a new choice with two-way texting devices like the Garmin inReach Mini, which I find offers a great mix of features, affordability, size and peace of mind. All these devices require a subscription plan, but most are affordable and allow you to pause them during off seasons. There are several manufacturers and options on the market, and they have many different features. Some have built-in keypads for easy composition of messages, but that makes the size larger. Most will pair with your cell phone, making it simple to create and send messages. They all also have SOS buttons that send a distress message along with your location to a communication center. Like EPIRBs and PLBs, they will continually transmit your location to By Will Schmidt search and rescue, helping them to find you quickly. Unlike the others, you are notified when your SOS is received. You can also communicate the nature of your emergency and answer vital questions from rescuers via text. The small size and waterproof rating means you can clip these devices to a life vest and continue sending and receiving information should you need to abandon ship. Furthermore, you can send non-emergency messages to check in with others. The inReach Mini allows you to create three preset messages that can be quickly sent and have unlimited sends on each of their data plans. This is a great feature for sending useful updates and non-emergency messages such as: “Just checking in, everything is fine.” Or “Everything is ok, but we are running late.” Other features many of these devices offer are waypoint navigation, tracking and weather reports. If navigation features are of primary importance to you, a larger device with a bigger screen might suit you better. Since mine is a backup navigation device, the connection to my phone is sufficient. I can even pair my inReach with my chart plotters to quickly send and read messages while underway. Whether you travel offshore, into the backwoods or to a remote island ith technology helping us get farther away from shore, it is lodge, if you want the ability to summon help or just check in at home when imperative that we have a reliable way to communicate with others. off the grid, these satellite devices offer great usability in an affordable easyIt’s not unheard of for people to take a bay boat 40 miles offshore to-use option. where VHF might not be heard. While Emergency Position Indicating Will Schmidt is a seasoned tournament angler who has been writing Radio Beacons (EPIRB) and Personal Locator Beacons (PLB) are a great about fishing from more than two decades. way to request assistance in an emergency, they lack the ability for two-way

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IT MIGHT JUST BE CRAZY ENOUGH TO WORK! Berkley played a pretty good gag for April fools that likely sent a group of very specialized anglers to the store looking for a product that doesn’t exist. The company, which produces scented and flavored artificial baits, announced the release of the Berkley PowerBait Noodling Glove. “Infused with PowerBait, this glove is designed to give noodlers a way to successfully wrangle catfish and give the fish a flavor so good, they’ll never let go,” read the press release. Berkley went on to tell sportsmen the following: Originally designed to withstand the fight of giant catfish, the team at Berkley Labs quickly discovered that the PowerBait Noodling Glove can be effective on more than just catfish. Extensive field testing proved that the PowerBait Noodling Glove increased angler catch rates for bass, trout and other species. The team even tested the glove with local hunters and found it’s just as effective in luring white-tailed deer as it is in luring catfish. There is nothing that can’t be caught using the PowerBait Noodling Glove. The Berkley PowerBait Noodling Glove may also get its time to shine on the bass tournament trails this year thanks to Berkley Pro Angler John Cox. Cox says, “The way I fish is very similar to noodlers; they go down the bank and look for holes. Well, I go down the bank looking for a 5 or 6 pounder either on a bed or chasing bluegill. So, when I heard about noodlers using the Berkley PowerBait Noodling Glove, I thought ‘Hey, this might work really well for me.’ Noodling is definitely not for just catfishing anymore. That was a pretty good one, Berkley.

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