Florida Sportsman is the complete fishing magazine for Florida and the Tropics. Devoted to fishing, boating, and outdoor activities in the Sunshine State, Florida Sportsman is the authoritative source for Florida's most active fishermen.
An old saying among recreational fishermen, a good one, goes like this: "Let's release this one and let him fight again another day for someone else." But shall we release it only to have the fish taken, frozen and sold on the commercial market for peanuts? That latter scenario, in essence, is a switcheroo idea now being floated by fishing managers who seem to get nervous if every last fish under a "quota" isn't boxed. In this case, we're talking about king mackerel, whose numbers are considered fairly stable but not wildly so. The commercial fishing industry claims that recreational anglers did not take their alloted number of kings. The suggested answer? Assign a significant percentage of non-caught rec kings to next year's commercial haul. "That just doesn't feel right,"…
Ordinarily, laws designed to protect fish populations entail limits on catches. But in the case of the marauding Indo-Pacific lionfish, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) encourages and incentivizes the species’ complete removal from our waters. One initiative is the 4 ½-month Lionfish Challenge, which takes place in spring and early summer. The Challenge awards gear and prizes to divers who document the take of 50 or more lionfish. The diver tallying the most kills is honored by the FWC with the title of Lion-fish King. Last year’s Lionfish King was David Garrett of Volusia County. Garrett notched an impressive 3,324 lionfish during the 2016 Lionfish Challenge. Florida Sportsman spoke with Garrett after he received the award. Here are condensed notes from the interview: “Every one of those…
Q Of the 71 species on the Life List, which one do you think will be the hardest to catch, and how do you plan to go about it? Ethan Sonnenberg, Safety Harbor I think the mako shark is going to be the most difficult because we don’t have a boat and will have to upgrade the gear that we have. I plan to use a Tiagra 50W LRS 2-speed with 100-pound braid backing and a 130-pound mono top shot leader. I will match it to a Penn International rod and will use bonito or other oily and bloody fish. Hopefully I will catch this menacing fish. Michael Taylor, Port Saint Lucie Sailfish is definitely one of the toughest, especially from a kayak. I have hooked a couple but they…
Jupiter 25 Bay The 2017 Jupiter 25 Bay features all the amenities of a traditional bay boat with 14-inch draft while adding higher gunnels, flush decks, tournament livewells and ample storage. The 100-gallon fuel capacity offers plenty of range to accommodate any style of fishing. The 8-foot, 6-inch beam provides a stable ride. A choice of factory-installed towers and the ergonomically designed center console provides room for dual screen electronics. The standard built-in center console seat features a 130-quart cooler. Efficient cruise is 30 to 40 mph, with 55 mph at wide open throttle. See www.jupitermarine.com Hydrasports 38 Speciale The Hydrasports 38 Speciale offers many possibilities. The bow can be built in an open configuration or with seating port and starboard. A coffin box sun lounge seat is attached to…
It used to be a mark of expertise to walk down the docks with a bristling handful of baitcasting rigs because everybody knew, when it came to inshore saltwater fishing, the best anglers used revolving spool reels. They allowed flinging heavy hardware, they were more accurate than spinning gear, they handled stout lines much better—a must when snook fishing in the mangroves—and they were more durable as well as lighter. If a tarpon crashed your snook party, the baitcaster could handle it. Ditto for those times when a king mackerel ate your seatrout and headed for Galveston. Spinning gear just couldn't compete unless you made it so big and heavy it was a bear to cast. Fast forward a few decades and none of this is true anymore, except maybe…
Half the battle of surf fishing is being prepared with the right baits and the right rigs. And when the bite is hot, whether it be whiting, the revered pompano, croaker, flounder, sheepshead or other table fish, you don't want to monkey around building leaders, tying knots, and rummaging for hooks in your tackle bag. The standard Florida surf rig is the dropper rig, a multi-hook rig that allows you to fish more than one bait in the bottom three feet or so of the water column. Typical components include hooks, weights, swivels, snaps, and foam or bead attractors. Fishing more than one bait is a must because of baitstealers, and the typical “washing machine” nature of the surf zone. With two or three baits out there on each rod,…
