Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2018 i Florida Sportsman

That gives you 500 billion. The number of gallons of poisonous water our two coastal estuaries are served in wet years for the benefit of polluting agriculture and its powerful allies in government and self-serving endeavors. The unnatural discharges are even more in some years, less in others, but enough to destroy countless life forms in the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee waterways. And recent scientific evidence indicates that we humans in cluster areas are dying as well, at a rate twice the national mortality for liver disease. But, hey, aren’t we hearing constantly that a big reservoir and new treatment area will solve the crisis? Sure it will, Virginia, and then we’ll sell you what may be left of North America’s most diverse estuary. That great reservoir in the endless…

Lane snappers are schooling fishes commonly associated with deep grassbeds and hard bottom along the lower Florida peninsula. Limestone ledges and wide, open patches of rocky bottom with sea fans and other low-profile growth are typical habitat. They often hang around rubble and wrecks, too. Like the mutton snapper, their depth range shifts a bit with latitude. Anglers in southern Florida fishing such as regions as Florida Bay, the Keys and the Treasure Coast commonly find lanes (muttons, too) as shallow as 20 or 30 feet. Farther north on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, 60 to 100 feet becomes the more likely range. Also noteworthy: The fabled winter Spanish mackerel run along southeast Florida is something of a lure for lane snappers: Many big lanes are caught by anglers fishing…

Along the oceanside beaches, piers and jetties, fishermen can target pompano, snook, jacks and blue runners. Farther out, within casting range on the pier or jetty, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, jack crevalle, blue runners and possibly king mackerel will be available. The offshore fleet will be targeting sailfish, king mackerel, wahoo, mahi mahi, blackfin tuna, bonito, sharks and barracuda near the surface and an assortment of snappers, cobia and amberjacks on the bottom. Remember, shallow water grouper season closes on Jan. 1. That includes black, red and gag grouper. On the calmest days, the bigger boats will venture way offshore and target monster swordfish. If night fishing is your thing there are a few party boats that target snapper, bluefish, king mackerel and a host of other bottom dwellers over the…

In cold-weather, trout like deeper water, and this means that when it’s see-your-breath chilly in the morning that you won’t have much luck looking for them on the flats. They’ll have moved into five to 10 feet of water, and this can put them on the outside edges of the flats or inside nearby canals, creeks, boat basins or waterways. Slow and deep is the key to taking winter-chilled trout and dredging along the bottom with an old-school jig-and-shrimp combo is tough to beat. Several consecutive days of balmy weather can move trout back onto the flats where that jig-and-shrimp will still work, but a popping cork and shrimp rig will work better. On the flats you can expect to catch a few bonnethead sharks, one of the few shark…

You can bet this will be a “high water” season for American shad on the St. Johns River in East Central Florida. Following near-record rainfall in September and still more rain through fall, the upper sections of the river were flooded far outside the banks to the highest point in years, causing serious problems at fishing camps and for waterfront homeowners. By late December when the first of the migrating spawners should be arriving around the Monroe Canal and the old Marina Isle area southeast of Lake Monroe, the river should be within its banks but still flowing at a high rate. The current will be a welcomed condition for the larger females that seek out moving water to deposit their eggs, which must remain suspended for the fertilization by…

Depending on where in our region you are, the rut will kick in at different times. In the far west part of our region, near Black-water, the rut will be mid-February, while in the eastern part it happens as early as December. Spending the time in the stand is the only way to make sure you are there for the action. In Panama City, Tyndall AFB, Econfina Creek, Pine Log, and Point Washington are all a short drive away. Point Washington is probably my favorite and is open until Jan. 31. In Destin, Eglin AFB is probably the best bet for deer action but the season is short, Jan. 20-28. In Pensacola, Blackwater State Forest will be your best chance at finding some solitude and action. Most hunters will stick…

As I reached down to grab it, my leaderless 8-pound line snapped. I’m a 14-year-old saltwater and freshwater angler. While my dad has always had me focus on saltwater, in my free time when he is not available I resort to riding my bike to nearby community lakes to catch bass. Earlier this year, at a lake near my Palm City home at 10 p.m., I had an unusual freshwater experience. I had fished this lake many times before. I had often seen glimpses of an unusual fish. I had no idea what it was and of course, no idea how to catch it. I had caught bass, Mayan cichlids, and tilapia out of this lake. When I had seen this fish, I’d tried a wide variety of lures with…

In two days of testing in the backwater and offshore out of Stuart, FL, the Dorado 25 proved equally at home on the east coast as she is on her home waters of the Gulf. This boat performed smartly and offered a layout that made fishing very easy on the days we tested her. Combine this with the fact that the Dorado Custom Shop will lay out and rig this boat in any number of configurations to suit your needs and it’s easy to see why Dorado has been in business for this long. The Ozona, Florida builder has been meeting the demand for this style of boat for three decades. The original 23-footer has been a popular multi-use boat for west coast guides and other anglers. With the new…

SPORTSMAN’S REGIONAL EXPERTS GUIDE YOU TO THE HOTSPOTS JANUARY SPOTLIGHT Reefline wahoo bite in the Keys Wahoo school right around reef dropoffs in winter in the Keys, and January is peak of the season for them. No one knows exactly why, but the congregrations of wahoo have grown more consistent and plentiful in the last decade. You can target these fish by livebaiting on anchor, drifting with livebaits, jigging, or simply trolling, among other techniques. Be on the spot when the tides are moving, because that’s when the bite turns on. SEND US YOUR PHOTOS We welcome your fishing and hunting photos for publication in the Action Spotter and in our online community galleries at www.floridasportsman.com. Send digital pictures, 600 KB to 1 MB in jpeg format. For smartphone photos,…

Fishermen throughout the 10,000 Islands region know that once the holidays are over, fantastic spotted seatrout opportunities await. The seatrout, along with their smaller cousin, the sugar trout, are arguably the most targeted fish this time of year for several reasons. They are generally more active in the colder water months and they tend to school up, so catching several from a specific area is common. They hit a variety of baits, are good fighters with their head-shaking antics and are also good table fare. Combine those attributes and you have a highly sought after species for anglers of all skill level and ages. Targeting the yellow mouthed sabertooths of the region is a two-fold operation. The deeper passes and grassflats are the main two areas these fish will be…

Passing cold fronts bring strong north winds that blow water out of the bays leaving many flats nearly dry except for potholes and channels. Water on the flats south of Sister Keys in Sarasota Bay leaves the flat and runs into the ICW channel to the west, like the one intersecting the ICW leading into Cannon’s Marina. Be there before the tide bottoms out to intercept fish escaping the flat. Wading birds feeding on the same things as the fish you’re trying to catch will be an indicator of a good fishing location. That same bottomed out tide leaving the flats at Fort Desoto will leave big holes, full of trout, reds, sheepshead and flounder. Don a pair of waders for some non-stop action here. Water temperatures below the low…

I’ll bet you bottom fishermen catch more fish offshore Northeast Florida in January, than they do any other month of the year. The problem is the number of days we can get offshore are often precious and few. It appears as though the active hurricane season that often proceeds great winter fishing certainly happened back in October. You can look for great sea bass and vermilion fishing within reach of small boaters. Bass could well be in as close as 60 feet while vermilions will start getting bigger around 90 feet. It appears both snapper and gag grouper will be closed during January, so deep water bottom fishing trips will mostly target triggerfish, big vermilions, red porgies and cobia. Trolling is impossible to predict for January. We should most probably…

January is all about the wahoo bite. You can catch wahoo year-round in the Florida Keys, but in January large schools show up in the area, especially around the full moon. This run is a Keys-wide event which brings in a lot of anglers and divers alike. Wahoo are pelagic predators with incredible speed and they are second to none as table fare. The only thing better than eating one is catching one on light tackle. I prefer to use live bait, like speedos, blue runners, goggle-eyes, and other baits around that size. Wire is always a must when targeting wahoo. I like to use a double treble hook rig, also known as a stinger rig. If you want the bait to stay on top, you will have to attach…

Hit the piers and beaches for a land-based grab bag of species this month. The Juno and Lake Worth piers will both have pompano, whiting and croaker traversing the bars and trough steadily. If you’re lucky, days of calm swell can even offer excellent sight-fishing for these fish, and having the high line of sight from the pier works to your favor. I personally like to fish small pink-and-white mylar jigs or Goofy jigs on light action spinning rods for these fish. A small tip of shrimp or clam on the jig is never a bad idea either. Quick hops off of the bottom will find them, as pompano and others tend to pick up their prey off of the sand. Tandem pompano rigs with clam strips, sand fleas or…

If you’ve ventured close to shore on our Big Bend you’ve learned about submerged rocks. We have plenty. In fact, legend has it that the name “Steinhatchee” in the ancient Timucua language means, “It’s time for a new lower unit.” That’s not far from the truth. Limestone rocks provide cover and shelter for marine species all up and down the food chain, and are as important a factor as our seagrass beds when it comes to the excellent fishing the Gulf waters from Bayport to St. Marks offer. Those rocks also destroy outboard motors on a regular basis. When you encounter limestone outcrops, you’re looking at millennia of geologic history. Much the soil in north Florida is merely a thin layer that covers a vast underground network of rivers, caverns…

Black sea bass and grey (aka mangrove) snapper are great fish to catch and in most cases are easier to find than the more glamorous and popular bottom fish. Both sea bass and mangrove snapper are often found in the same offshore locations as red snapper and grouper but they aren’t as heavily fished and also occur closer inshore. One of the easiest places to find both species is around the offshore “Alphabet”or lettered towers such as the K Tower, O Tower or C Towers. The K Tower is in 60 feet of water and is a little over 13 miles SE from Dog Island. The O Tower is about 20 miles ESE from the Bob Sikes Cut and is in 70-foot depths, while the C Tower is 78 feet…

JT Kenney grew up in Frostburg, Maryland, fishing the Potomac River and Deep Creek Lake. Today, he’s a resident of Palm Bay in central Florida and a veteran of the FLW and B.A.S.S. tournament circuits. These events, basically the NFL and NBA of competitive fishing, steer anglers around the country in the quest for prize money and glory. And just as stalwarts of the gridiron and courts make occasional overseas appearances, so—apparently—do the stars of the bass tournament world. When one of Kenney’s sponsors, Mercury, picked him to fish an international event in Spain, Kenney was ready. Well, almost: “Hardly anyone there spoke English, so I didn’t know what was going on much of time,” he said of the three-day Encuentro Internacional Caspe Bass (International Caspe Bass tournament), Oct. 20-22.…