Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2018 i Florida Sportsman

The Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir plan, born out of Senate Bill 10, looked like the one we’d been waiting for all these years. No more Toxic Summers. No more guacamole algae and disease spread along the coasts by Lake Okeechobee discharges. Built right, a dynamic reservoir could cut the discharges, send clean fresh water to Florida Bay, and rebuild three extraordinary fisheries and the lifestyles and economies they once supported. We all cheered. As it now stands, the plan is not what was envisioned. Everglades Foundation scientists published a recent evaluation before the Florida Legislature. They echoed what the Department of Interior said last fall: The reservoir doesn’t come close to living up to its promise. Even the state’s suspiciously optimistic projections offer too little relief to the St. Lucie…

Tim Altman, captain of the Jacksonville based Saltwater Challenge, lives to troll at 20 knots. His trolling weights weigh 6 pounds. His lures weigh 4 pounds. Giant wahoo are his target, and he’s very good at his game. Tim targets wahoo all year, but December through April is his favorite season. “Let it get so cold that all the water inshore of the 28 fathom ledge is below 70 degrees and the big ledge that marks the start of the continental shelf will be magic,” said Tim. “Let the temp reach 70 degrees on the beach and they are apt to be anywhere.” “I let technology tell me where to fish by using Roffs Fishing Satellite Charts, and if I need to split the day up, I’ll let the solunar…

Filming for season six of Reel Time Florida Sportsman, Capt George Gozdz and crew logged some serious miles chasing the bite. From the Everglades to Venice, Louisiana, and a dozen destinations in between, a virtual highlight reel came to life See the tuna battle that ended up on this month’s cover, in vivid HD video in week two of Reel Time Florida Sportsman. March 30-April 5 Making Waves. Catch a few waves with pro surfer Evan Geiselman in New Smyrna Beach, then head out in search of bull redfish. April 6-12 Tuna Tangle. Trailer from Florida to Louisiana in search of big tuna and redfish, an epic road trip to a destination unlike any other. April 13-19 Tarpon 101. A tribute to the “Silver King.” Everything you need to know…

What would Apalachicola be like without fishing and seafood? I thought about this as I waited to meet a local fishing guide at the City Marina boat basin. Locals call the basin the “Ten Foot Hole.” It’s in Battery Park where the seafood festivals are held. I first visited Apalachicola in the 1960s when I was in college. I remember standing in line in Battery Park to get a seafood lunch. When my paper plate was piled high with grouper, oysters, shrimp and hushpuppies, I asked a weathered local where I should pay for the food. “Everything but the beer is free,” he said. “It’s provided by the local fishermen.” Granted this was during a different time when the population of Apalachicola was well under 2,000 people, but the simple…

SPORTSMAN’S REGIONAL EXPERTS GUIDE YOU TO THE HOTSPOTS APRIL SPOTLIGHT Dolphin Season Around the State April starts one of spring’s rites of passage in Florida, dolphin season. Whether you’re fishing off the Keys, Fort Pierce, Jax, Tampa or Pensacola, warming waters will welcome the species to a rip or weedline near you. If you’ve never seen a school of dolphin swarming under your boat, make that a priority this season. Check out the photo tribute to dolphin and some great tips from professional captains on how to catch them in this month’s feature, “The Best Advice You Ever Got on Dolphin.” 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…

The earliest of migrating silver kings will push through the region this month and the first wave of fish is generally the most aggressive and often, the largest. Due to these fish being “new” to the area, there may not be a better time of the year to use artificials to catch them. In particular, casting small 4- to 5-inch paddle tail swimbaits in a variety of natural baitfish and darker hues can result in some downright knee-shaking strikes when presented naturally with the tide. Fly anglers have long relied on darker hues such as browns, blacks and/or purples and the same should be considered when choosing your non-feathered artificials. Contrary to what many anglers think, darker colored baits will actually show up better in the water due to their…

Rising water temperatures and longer daylight hours stir activity. Pelagics push north on their migrations, as local fish emerge from their winter haunts to feed on the increasing schools of baitfish that move into the bays. It’s tournament time for kingfish on the Suncoast, and it’s game on for fishing in some of the most fertile fishing waters in the state. The moderate spring weather makes for a great time to hit the Middle Grounds. The average boater may not have a boat or the experience capable of these long-range trips or the safety equipment required. It’s a perfect time to hop aboard a party boat with experienced captains and crew like those out of Hubbard’s Marina, whether it’s for a half-day trip or a multi-day venture. Big mangrove snapper,…

The tuna and wahoo that have spent the winter along the continental shelf are still here, and they’re being joined by more mahi and sailfish every day. Closer to shore, pogies have started showing on the beach, and cigar minnows and sardines are starting to stack on the reefs and wrecks. That means everything from sea bass and snapper on the bottom to kingfish and bonito on the surface will be on the uptick around area reefs. Cobia have been marching slowly west and north since late February, and typically, their numbers will increase all month. Chasing rays and checking every pogie pod on the beach can still be a worthwhile pursuit. While you’re cruising, pay attention to any floating objects you find, as there will still be tripletails in…

Seasonal changes throughout the tropics feel pretty subtle for us. Luckily, the fish don’t necessarily agree. April marks a shift in weather patterns that impact fishy behaviors—patterns of wind speed and direction, prey life-cycle changes, predator spawning behaviors. The ever-so-slight temperature variations in the tropics combine to usher in a wonderfully broad array of fishing options. Right next door to Florida in the Bahamas, April is a fine month to start hunting down Allison tuna, which we know as yellowfin. In fact, the yellowfin bite is heating up all along the entire eastern Caribbean, with peak activity all the way down to Barbados. One of the most common and successful ways to target them in tropical waters is the run and gun approach which focuses on following schools of birds…

Early this year, a friend left a message asking if I could locate a few barracuda jaws for his friend who uses them to replicate prehistoric artifacts for museums. Intrigued, I was soon introduced to Terry Powell. Terry was born in Illinois; received college degrees there in sociology and archaeology. Over the years he’s moved around a bit. He called Florida home for 19 years, living in St. Petersburg. He’s worked as an archaeologist, museum educator and director, but now replicates tools full-time as a hobby/business. Among those tools are hooks, gorges, traps, harpoons and decoys made from bones, shells and other found materials. FS: How did you get started? TP: Archaeologists usually discover parts of an object during an excavation; it’s rare to find intact artifacts. As such, I…

Yes, Cedar Key has the predictable charm of a tourist-oriented coastal fishing village. There’s a haunted hotel, art galleries and excellent restaurants for that crowd. There’s even a shallow beach. But for fishermen, the surrounding waters, dotted with low-lying islands, are the main attraction. East of town, there’s shallow Waccasassa Bay, where you’re likely to find father-and-son captains Jimmy and Jimbo Keith (fishcedarkey.com) guiding clients to reds, seatrout and snook. And to the south, near the outer islands (Seahorse, Atsena Otie, North and Snake keys), or on the shallow offshore reefs, you’ll probably see Capt. Denny Voyles (voylesguideservice.com) with guests on the hunt for a variety of species in his 24-foot Old Pro. If you’re a shorebound angler, consider soaking a piece of cut bait from the City Dock at…

At a Florida Sportsman field test in Miami, the new Quantum 2 Radar from Raymarine picked up the echo of an incoming target, highlighted in red on the Axiom 12 screen at left. The target was in fact another boat, center. We allowed the boat to overtake us to port, at which point the radar return was highlighted in green, above. This is an example of how Doppler shift technology works with marine radar. Raymarine’s Quantum 2 units are new this year. See www.raymarine.com/quantum2.…

The silver kings, aka tarpon, will flood the channels throughout the Keys. If you have never tussled with a tarpon, I urge you to put them on your bucket list. Tarpon are in a class of their own, and pound for pound, they are among the strongest fish you will come across. Some of the most common areas in which you can find the large congregations of tarpon are Channel 2 by Islamorada, Bahia Honda Channel all the way through No Name Key, Shark Key Channel, Northwest Channel, and Calda Channel off Key West. Live baits like pinfish, medium-size blue crabs and finger mullet will get the job done, but chunking with mojarra or thread herring will work as well. A 10-foot, 50-pound Vanish fluorocarbon leader is a must because…

April is a great month to target the shallow wrecks, for two species in particular, cobia and permit. Cobia are migrating through the region, holding on structure, and large schools of permit (some over 40 pounds) work their way in to spawn as the water warms. You can find both of these fish mingling amongst wrecks such as the Pipe Barge off of Stuart, the RBM Reef off of Palm Beach and the Boynton Step Reef off of Boynton. Though just about any reef or wreck from 15 to 50 feet throughout the region can be holding fish. It may take a little bit of jumping around before finding the spot that has fish on it. I generally go by the 20-minute rule when it comes to this type of…

April should bring schools of baitfish from the south onto the deep grassflats of the Big Bend. Should. But for some reason, the bait—and the Spanish mackerel that follow them, have been unpredictable in recent years. The macks come, of course, but just when is often a big mystery. Whatever the trigger, which I suspect is warm water or maybe bright moonlit nights, they can appear in droves and provide lots of easy fishing and good eating for anglers. There are a few spots along our coastline where you’ve a good chance to find schooling baitfish and striking Spanish mackerel. Atop my list is the Hook, near the southern end of Seahorse Reef at Cedar Key, especially early in spring. Other good springtime spots are the Citrus County Reefs, south…

Grouper are fun to catch and good to eat. With the state waters season opening Apr. 1 in Franklin, Wakulla, Jefferson and Taylor counties many anglers will be out on the water. There are plenty of places to drop a hook in the search for gags, but a lot of anglers will head for some of the more popular reefs. It might be the time to explore some of the smaller reefs and ones closer in shore. With a bag limit of two fish (24-inch minimum length) it’s not necessary to locate a grouper warehouse to be successful. Many of the smaller reefs have enough legal grouper to make a limit and many of them are easy to reach without burning a lot of gas. The myfwc.com website has a…

“I swam the 80 yards and attempted to untangle my trophy.” We camped at the Dry Tortugas and fished and snorkeled daily from our kayaks for three days and it was amazing. On this particular day it was howling out of the northeast 18-25 knots so I decided to walk the beach that connects Bush Key and Garden Key. The photo you see here was fish No. 6 or so for the day, and was the biggest I landed. I say landed because I had hooked what I estimated to be a 6- to 7-pound bone on my third cast of the morning, and was immediately taken for a 300-yard, drag smoking, thumb-burning run directly to the “No-Swim” buoy that marks the sea plane landing strip. That fish did a…

When you combine the depth of a magazine feature with the personal connection of video, you’ve got the true making of a “dream.” To kick off Season III of Florida Sportsman Project Dreamboat, Boating Editor George LaBonte spends a day on the water with Capt. Allan Black aboard his classic Boston Whaler Outrage 25. Take this issue, grab your remote, sit back and let the dreams roll. LaBonte, like Black, has spent his adult life on the water as a professional captain. As a host of Project Dreamboat, he combines his journalistic talents with his expertise. Viewers can expect to get the right questions asked and answered. In addition to the One Man’s Dreamboat segments, Florida Sportsman Project Dreamboat also features those in the midst of building their dreams with…

Florida anglers are split over permit. Many regard the fish as a delicious catch—right up there with pompano. Others nurture a kind of reverence for a fast-swimming, discerning sportfish known for making tidal forays into shallow water. In a nod to the regional importance of permit to the Florida Keys charter industry, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission affords special protection to the species in the “Special Permit Zone,” or SPZ. South of Cape Sable on the Gulf Coast and Cape Florida on the Atlantic, all permit must be released between April 1 and July 31 (the month of April was added by FWC this year). During the remainder of the year in the SPZ, the permit bag limit is one per person per day, with a 22-inch minimum…

Large kingfish, along with mahi mahi as big as 60 pounds, sailfish with many over 50 pounds, and bluefish and blackfin tuna will be on the move off our coast. A lot of these fish are heavy from feeding on schools of ballyhoo, flying fish, small bonito, shrimp and a host of other small baitfish that have been in our area all winter. However, at the top of the angler’s target list will be the mahi mahi that are now entering our waters from the south in better and better numbers. Often the first few runs of these fish hold some of the biggest fish of the season. The meandering Gulf Stream’s western wall often comes closer to South Florida this time of year, which is good news for offshore…

A smattering of tarpon catches are made in SW Florida through the winter, but in April the spring season really begins to ramp up. Look for shows of these early-season tarpon on the deep flats on the west side of Captiva Rocks, in the channel outside the mouth of Jug Creek in northeastern Pine Island Sound, in the northern end of Matlacha Pass, or in the mouth of the Myakka River. There will also be a few fish in Captiva Pass and in Boca Grande Pass. Action on Charlotte Harbor’s grassflats will continue to improve this month. The seagrass is growing, more and more bait is showing up, and the overall “fishiness” is increasing every week. Trout which wintered in deeper water have moved back onto the shallow grass beds…

The calming and warming Atlantic waters have the mullet, pogies, threadfins and other baits forming packs inshore and offshore over wrecks and reefs. Our list of gamesters targeting those baitfish in the coming weeks in the region between Sebastian Inlet and Daytona Beach include cobia, kingfish, tarpon and tripletail in the inshore areas, and farther offshore some early dolphin and more kingfish and cobia. My friend Capt. Scott Lum, a charter captain out of Port Canaveral, is a firm believer in changing planned strategies to fit the day’s conditions. One occasion a couple years ago in early April comes to mind. Lum’s 3-man party aboard his 23-foot Contender, the Outcast, were optimistic as they headed out of the port in calm seas and a brilliant sun in their eyes. The…

The good news is that some of the best fishing in April can be had from the safety of shore. Now is the time to get out and see all the beauty our beaches have to offer. Whiting, redfish, Spanish mackerel and pompano are all possible. It does not get much better then enjoying your own personal part of paradise and catching fresh dinner. When it comes to beach shore fishing you will have one big choice to make: the beach or the pier? The Gulf piers at Pensacola Beach, Navarre, Ft. Walton and Panama City Beach can get crowded but have a huge height advantage for sighting schools of pompano and Spanish. They also allow you to get out deeper. The beaches offer a little more privacy and allow…