Ponce de Leon Inlet Tides August 2023

Live & Frozen Bait Including Ballyhoo

Shrimp 50-$14.99 (per customer)

To calculate Mosquito Lagoon (Oak Hill) tides add 6 hours to Ponce Inlet Tides

•September 16, 2023•8:30am-2pm Menard May Park Edgewater

Held in conjunction with the River Rescue Regatta & Coastal Cleanup

• Registration will open at 8:30 am and will be on a first come first serve basis.

• Fishing contest for ages 3-15 years. First 100 Kids gets a chum bucket filled with goodies!

• Free Rods & Reels will also be given out children only (while supplies last!)

• All children must be accompany by an adult.

• Catch & Release from Menard May Park 413 S. Riverside Drive Edgewater

• Education: Fish ID, Knot Tying, Casting Techniques, and much more!

• Sharks Up Close & Personal! A hands on experience with Eric Sander (Councilman of SD)

• Mobile 3D Archery Range by Gobbler’s Lodge (You get to shoot bows & arrows)

• Breakfast snacks and Lunch will be provided bring your equipment, chair, blanket etc...

• EVERYONE IS A WINNER LET’S MAKE IT A GREAT OUTDOORS DAY!!

Spiny Lobster Sport Season

Season: July 26-27, 2023 (last consecutive Wednesday and Thursday of July each year)

Daily Bag Limit: 6 per person for Monroe County and Biscayne National Park; 12 per person for rest of Florida

Possession limit on the water: equal to the daily bag limit Possession limit off the water: equal to the daily bag limit on the first day and double the daily bag limit on the second day

Night Diving: Prohibited in Monroe County (ONLY during sport season) Diving is defined as swimming at or below the surface of the water.

Regular Spiny Lobster Season

Season: Aug. 6-March 31

Daily Bag Limit: 6 per person

Minimum Size Limit: Carapace must be larger than 3”, measured in the water. Possession and use of a measuring device required at all times. Find out how to measure a spiny lobster.

Harvest of lobster is prohibited in John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park during the sport season and in Everglades National Park, Dry Tortugas National Park, no-take areas in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, in the Biscayne Bay/Card Sound Lobster Sanctuary, and in the five Coral Reef Protection Areas in Biscayne National Park during both the 2-day sport season and regular season.

Each year, NOAA Fisheries announces the season opening dates for red snapper in federal waters of the South Atlantic, in addition to the recreational season length. For the 2023 season:

The recreational sector will open for harvest on the following 2 days: July 14 and 15, 2023 (Friday and Saturday) – The recreational season opens at 12:01 a.m., local time, on July 14, 2023, and closes at 12:01 a.m., local time, on July 16, 2023. The commercial sector will open for harvest at 12:01 a.m., local time, on July 10, 2023, and will close at 12:01 a.m., local time, on January 1, 2024, unless the commercial annual catch limit is met or projected to be met before this date.

If the commercial sector closes before 12:01 a.m., local time, on January 1, 2024, NOAA Fisheries will announce it in the Federal Register and publish another Fishery Bulletin.

During the Limited Open Seasons: The total annual catch limit is 42,510 fish.

The recreational annual catch limit is 29,656 fish.

The recreational bag limit is one red snapper per person per day. This applies to private and charterboat/ headboat vessels (the captain and crew on for-hire vessels may retain the recreational bag limit).

The commercial annual catch limit is 124,815 pounds whole weight (12,854 fish).

The commercial trip limit is 75 pounds gutted weight. There are no minimum or maximum size limits for the recreational or commercial sectors.

$150,574 PAID OUT!!

1st place- Nicely Done 49.7Lb Bull

2nd place- Longshot 33.8 Lb Bull

3rd place- The Office 30.7 Lb Bull

Thank you goes out to all of the participants and sponsors. 2023 was an awesome turnout with over 100 boats. Stay tuned to Facebook updates 2024 will be even BIGGER!

By: Capt Lynda Hawkins

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) School Fishing Club Program congratulates the Chambers High School fishing team as the Grand Prize winners of FWC’s School Fishing Conservation Project Competition. The students completed six conservation projects, including cleaning up and building monofilament recycling bins for their local waterbodies.

All student anglers participating in the FWC’s 2022-23 School Fishing Club Program were required to complete at least one conservation project to qualify for funding associated with the program. Prizes from our partners were offered for the conservation project winners as incentives for student anglers to complete multiple conservation initiatives throughout the year. FWC’s Conservation Project Competition awarded points per club participation in a variety of conservation-minded activities aimed at reducing the impacts of plastic pollution.

“Congratulations to these young anglers for their dedication to conservation,” said Tom Graef, FWC’s Director for the Division of Freshwater Fisheries Management. “They are making a difference by leading the way for the next generation of anglers with these creative conservation projects.”

Chambers High School won the Grand Prize, a private in-person custom rod building class with Mud Hole Custom Tackle. Punta Gorda Middle School won the Second Place Prize, and A. Crawford Mosley High School won the Third Place Prize. Additional prizing for second and third place was provided by Toadfish and Pure Fishing.

“Supporting youth education is so important to our mission at Mud Hole Custom Tackle,” said Anthony Youmans, Mud Hole’s Education Program Director. “We’re honored to contribute the Grand Prize in this year’s competition and are always supportive of FWC’s efforts to lead conservation projects here in Florida, our home state.”

Mud Hole Custom Tackle, based in Oviedo, is the world’s largest supplier of rod building and tackle crafting goods and instruction. From rod building and repairing, to fly tying and lure building, Mud Hole is the leading e-retailer and mail order supplier to hobbyists, small manufacturers, and large OEMs, worldwide. Offering a superior shopping experience at mudhole.com, rapid fulfillment, stellar customer service, and world class online content and instruction, Mud Hole Custom Tackle is the trusted source for the rod building and tackle crafting community.

FWC’s School Fishing Club Program welcomed 38 new and 14 returning student angling clubs in Florida to the program in 2022, supported by the Division of Marine Fisheries Management, the Division of Freshwater Fisheries Management, and the Florida Youth Conservation Centers Network. The clubs committed to complete the provided FWC curriculum and at least one conservation project. Club mentors provided support and hands-on training in knot tying and fishing gear assembly, as well as assistance with the clubs’ local events to increase student anglers’ confidence in the sport of fishing.

Information about the 2023-24 School Fishing Club Program will be announced in the summer of 2023. For more information about the School Fishing Club Program, you can visit MyFWC.com/SFC.

Gulf sturgeons are in the Suwannee River and they are jumping. Gulf sturgeon are present in the Suwannee River as well as most other rivers in Northwest Florida, including the Apalachicola, Choctawhatchee, Yellow, Blackwater, Escambia, Pearl and Pascagoula.

FWC reports ZERO boating accident fatalities over Memorial Day weekend

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) officers had one main objective over Memorial Day weekend: to keep boaters safe. Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial beginning of summer and is one of the biggest boating holidays of the year. Partnering with other law enforcement agencies, FWC officers were proactive in getting boating safety messaging out to the public before the weekend and were on the lookout for reckless or impaired vessel operators.

Between May 27-29, FWC officers removed approximately 100 unsafe and impaired vessel operators across the state of Florida for boating under the influence and responded to over 30 boating accidents. There were zero fatalities reported during this time.

FWC officers were laser-focused on boating safety enforcement over the busy holiday weekend. Statewide, officers issued more than 4,000 warnings and nearly 900 citations for boating violations. They responded to more than 40 emergency calls for assistance and search and rescue.

The FWC reminds all boaters to enjoy time with friends and family but do so safely and don’t forget to designate a sober operator before departing from the dock.

For more information about boating safety, visit MyFWC.com.