Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2018 i Florida Sportsman

My wife has grown vaguely tolerant of a red-lamped cyclops lurching around the bedroom at 3 a.m. on Saturday morning, hunting flip flops, wallet and rain jacket. She’s accepting of the fact that, somewhere around 1 p.m., I’ll hand a mackerel fillet to my cats and fall asleep on the glider. She knows I’m useless on the weekend, but government scientists seems to think I have some mental capacity remaining. Okay, I’m trying. On my limited Saturday afternoon to-do list, I’ve been logging trips on the South Atlantic Council’s MyFishCount app. First time I opened the app, I got lost. How many grunts did we catch? What kind? Spanish, French, white, what? Pictures? Of grunts? How many inches? Where was the hook, in the lip or throat? Hell, I don’t…

In the last seven years under Gov. Rick Scott and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, Florida hobbled water quality management mechanisms that had been helping Lake Okeechobee. The work of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and water management districts included water testing, creating regulations and enforcing water quality standards, and overseeing major agreements for the improvement of Florida’s water quality to limit the nutrients flowing into Lake O—nutrients linked to blue green algae and likely to coastal red tide. However, the Scott administration’s willful resistance to regulations and its blind eye to the scientific study of the sources and causes of the algae blooms and red tide have evidently contributed to the plague of pollution in Florida’s waters. First, some good news. Ever since nutrient loads in the nine…

BEST BET Some of the most popular areas throughout the Keys for blackfin tuna are the Marathon Hump, the Kendrick Wreck, and the Rubble Pile off Key West, but the best area can be off the west end of the outer bar. If your boat draws too much water and you cannot cast net your own bait, you can still chase after the tunas by trolling or jigging. Many different artificial baits will work for catching tunas. I suggest dropping back cedar plugs twice as far as ordinary trolling. Tunas will shy from the boat so the more distance you put between the lure and the boat, the better. Legends of the Fall The long awaited fall fishing is here, but in order to take advantage of it you will…

BEST BET October is one of the best months to target redfish in the southeast region. The water has cooled down a bit and these fish tend to become a little more active. Favoring the northern side of the region, the Indian River Lagoon around Fort Pierce stays consistent. Wade fishing is a fun and practical way to target these fish for just about any angler. Both the east and west side of the river have access points, such as Bear Point Park on Hutchinson Island. On the Move When hearing Lake Okeechobee, thoughts of 10-pound bass, endless cattails and lily pads come to mind for most, and rightfully so. But, be sure not to sleep on the incredible crappie fishing that the lake has to offer, which really starts…

BEST BET Gulf waters are cooling now, and spotted seatrout are in an eating frenzy, feeling the onset of cooler weather. Slot sized specimens will be moving closer to shore, to the 3- to 4-foot grassflats, and the trophy-sized ones will be cruising rocky points and creek mouths. Rock Solid No matter where you fish on Florida’s Big Bend, you likely know that we have a shallow coastal shelf and that you have to run a long way to get to really deep water. A mile of distance for a foot of depth is a local exaggeration, but not much of one. This time of year, depths of 30 to 40 feet are probably a good place to start looking for gag grouper. Rock piles and ledges, big and small,…

BEST BET October is a great month to get out on the water at night and flounder gigging is a great excuse. In Northwest Florida there are unlimited places to ease along quietly with a light and flounder gig. The numerous river mouths, endless tidal creeks and bays offer great possibilities for harvesting one of the best eating fish of all. Flounder gigging can be as simple as wading with a shielded lantern and a gig or in a fan-powered barge with platforms and stadium lights. Many anglers use a john boat, flats skiff or even kayaks to chase these flat fish. Scoping Shorelines October is the perfect month for redfish and the weather definitely makes it easy to be outdoors. The topography of Northwest Florida, with its extensive saltmarshes…

According to an account in Jack Davis’ recent Pulitzer-winner, The Gulf, a young Leonard Destin had Key West in mind when he sailed from Connecticut in the 1830s. Bad luck, in the form of a hurricane, dashed his plans. Shipwrecked, mourning the loss of a father and brother, by and by, his luck turned. Leonard found his way to a pass on Florida’s northern Gulf Coast, with deep, clear water on one side, and a bay loaded with seagrass and fish on the other. Destin, of course, was a fisherman—and in a fitting twist, the town that would bear his name would one day be called “The World’s Luckiest Fishing Village.” Locals can thank Florida Gov. Leroy Collins for that moniker: Collins, visiting in 1956, caught a 19-pound kingfish just…

Going for yellowfins, tarpon or other keen-eyed tackle-busters? Check these new hooks from Mustad. In addition to stealthy, low-shine finishes, the Triangle Concept hooks make use of the strongest shape in nature. The wire is shaped using a proprietary three-way forging process; 20-percent stronger than traditional wire, the company says. Currently offered to 10/0 sizes in UltraPoint circle hook (39950TNP) and 4X Hoodlum J-style with Triangle Point (10814TTP) and a catfish style (412TTP).…

Moving water in a tidal river often frustrates bass fishermen. After casting a variety of plugs and also soaking live baits, too often the angler comes up empty-handed. I’ve spent numerous hours trying to figure out a solid fishing pattern for tidal bass. What seems to happen is one pattern works one day, then produces minimal strikes the next. The key, I think, is establishing several patterns. That’s when days on coastal rivers can become extremely rewarding. Throughout Florida, the water depth may change from one to five feet in a bassy tidal stream. In my home waters of Northeast Florida, with big river systems such as the St. Johns and St. Marys, the tide change is more dramatic where freshwater and saltwater meet. Navigate farther up, however, and you…

Who are the anglers contributing to the program’s success? Driving across a Port Charlotte bridge in the early hours, I spied a bicyclist pedaling along the walkway. His taillight was flashing red, and a fishing rod was fastened behind his seat and waving like a 6-foot antenna. In the rear view of my car, he appeared to be about 14. In the rear view of my life, he evoked everything precious about recreational fishing, including youth, nature, discovery, and hope. I admit I felt an emotional pang as he got smaller and smaller in the mirror. I was once that boy, heading to the water at daybreak. Traveling light with limited gear, but unlimited dreams. Sustaining that same tradition is a big part of the mission of Trophy Catch, the…

BEST BET King mackerel is the best bet this month. These fish range in size from two to six pounds and travel in schools of thousands. Look for the kingfish to be in 80 to 120 feet of water. Live pilchards and threadfin herring are in good supply and make great baits for the kingfish. Use a short piece of No. 3 singlestrand wire on your hook to keep the kingfish from cutting your leader. Slow drifted, fresh ballyhoo attached to a 1-ounce jig with two extra 5/0 hooks is also a great rig for the kingfish. Fired Up The northeast and north winds with lower temperatures send millions of fish our way. Besides the baitfish schools that have already made it here, over a dozen worthy predator species are…

BEST BET October is the best month to find schools of overslot reds pushing water as they forage on the bars and flats. Some of the larger schools are well known and get fished every day, especially those in popular areas such as the Burnt Store Bar, the Turtle Bay Bar or the flats around Catfish Creek in Gasparilla Sound. But if you are lucky enough to find a smaller school of fish that hasn’t been pushed too hard then the action can be spectacular. Time spent on low tide prospecting on the bars around Captiva Rocks, around Useppa Island, or near Indian Fields in Matlacha Pass could pay off with a day to remember. Tarpon Time? Maybe we’ve got one more silver king shot this month. There should still…

BEST BET If glass minnows are along the surf, break out the fly rods for some light tackle fun with Spanish mackerel. Generally the surf mackerel are 3 pounds or less but what they lack in size is more than made up in their numbers. Simple light-colored streamers with strips of Mylar or Krystal Flash in the bodies will bring strikes. Tie your own and leave your best patterns home because the toothy mackerel will make ribbons of a fly. Watch for west winds that will knock down the surf and allow the glass minnows to hold tight against the beach. That will put the Spanish within an easy 60-foot cast, sometimes even less. Prime Time We’re coming off a summer season marked by exceptional catches of snook, tarpon, big…

BEST BET Flounder will be making their migration out of the bays and rivers to nearshore reefs and wrecks where they congregate. Whether you target them on the move in the bays or in the passes, or if you track them to where they stack up offshore, this is the season to spend some time on the flounder bite. Live baits on short leaders dragged along the bottom will get you the bites. Shrimp, finger mullet, bull minnows and Gulp! baits are all good. Secrets of the Season For the sportsman, October is the ideal month to get out and enjoy all the Panhandle has to offer. The redfish bite is hot with lots of bull reds around. Flounder are on their way out to the Gulf and if you…

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 3 cloves fresh garlic, finely chopped 24 littleneck clams 3 cups seafood stock or clam juice 1 cup water 1-28 oz. can crushed San Marzano-style tomatoes 1 cup dry white wine 1 stick unsalted butter 1 tsp. anchovy paste 2 tsp. salt 2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes 2 tsp. dry oregano 2 tsp. dried basil Fresh Italian parsley leaves ½ pound dry pasta (linguine or fettucine) In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, sauté garlic in olive oil, until lightly browned. Remove from heat and stir in tomatoes, stock/clam juice, water, wine, anchovy paste, butter and spices. Then cover and bring to a boil, reducing liquid by about 25 percent. Add dry pasta to the liquid and cook until al dente (not quite…

Take a picture of your lunker bass on a hand scale (briefly), clearly showing the entire fish and the weight. Release the fish. Send the picture to the FWC. Basically, that’s it! If your fish is 8 pounds or better, it qualifies for FWC recognition, gift cards, tee shirt and other prizes—and it also enters you for the annual drawing for a new Phoenix bass boat. For complete details, see www.trophycatchflorida.com. The website also has a gallery of catches, and a locator map where you (and state biologists) can see what Florida lakes are producing. Some of the locations will surprise you! This year’s biggest entry, as of press time, was a 15-pound, 2-ounce fish caught by Michael Donohue in a 75-acre Port St. Lucie city park lake.…

OCTOBER SPOTLIGHT Red Snapper Review Florida’s Atlantic federal waters saw two brief windows of red snapper season over the summer of 2018: August 10-12 and 17-19. Fishing was very good, according to data compiled by the South Atlantic Council’s MyFishCount app network: 93 percent of trips targeting reef fish resulted in red snapper. Biggest fish was 25 pounds; longest, 39 inches. Favorable use of barotrauma treatment/release devices, too. Good work, anglers! 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, email the Actual Size—highest resolution. Images must not have appeared or submitted elsewhere. Send photos to: photos@floridasportsman.com. Include names of…

BEST BET It is hard to beat stone crabs in the month of October. As the region deploys its traps and buoys, take advantage of the recreational season of this great and tasty resource. Traps may be placed in the water 10 days prior to the opening of the season which is October 15th, but once placed, you may not tend to the traps until the start of the season, at which time you may begin harvesting. Claws must measure 2 ¾” and you are allowed 1 gallon of claws per person or 2 gallons per vessel, whichever is less. Seasonal Game The month of October in the 10,000 Islands region marks the start of stone crab season and a rather predictable and certainly welcomed migration of schooling redfish. While…

BEST BET For those anglers who don’t have the advantage of owning a boat, one of the top catches has to be the pompano. They can be targeted by fishing from bridges and by kayaking in the bays. The time is right and they’re here for everyone, making the Florida pompano this month’s best bet. Home Waters Offshore pelagics like king mackerel, blackfin tuna and bonito, a.k.a. false albacore, will be hot. We should see a big push of fish as the first cold fronts of the year pass from the Panhandle to the south. Bonito and kingfish will hightail it to the Suncoast, stopping to feast on bait schools that push out of our estuaries and rivers and on to the beaches, nearshore artificial reefs and wrecks. Deepwater wrecks…

BEST BET Day or night, shrimp are easier to catch once they get bunched up. It’s time for them to go to sea, and whether you throw a big net into deep water in the daytime, or you bait up a dock on the river, October is the best month of the year to catch big shrimp in the river. Boats are limited to a single 5-gallon bucket (with heads on), while night timers on a dock can keep up to 5 gallons per caster. While premade fishmeal pellets catch plenty of shrimp, I’m convinced a mixture of fish meal, pogy oil, and flour will make a potent pattie that will stick to the bottom longer and draw shrimp better than pellets. Start your casting in 3 to 6 feet…

BEST BET Many fall tropical fisheries are in transition during October, making many trips somewhat of a gamble. You might have insane wahoo fishing in a handful of places and then again, you might not. This is a good time to put bonefish on that list, especially if you are fishing the Bahamas, Belize, or Puerto Rico. Many Bahamian lodges close during this month due to hurricane season, so call ahead. But if a big bonefish is on your personal list, this is the time to find a quiet tropical flat and make it happen. The overall numbers of bones will be down a bit throughout the Bahamas, but there are a higher percentage of bigger fish feeding on the flats as the waters finally start to cool. Cruise and…

Ben caught fish, but mostly catfish, hence the name. My brother Ben and I grew up in Palm City when my dad, Dr. Domingo Ngo, moved us here in 1981. Of course, we enjoyed fishing up and down the St. Lucie, pulling out barely legal mangrove snappers. We had the luck to live in a place where we were able to haul monster golf course largemouths out on a nightly basis. But we never had a boat, and we never really went saltwater fishing other than from shore. Fast forward 25 years and my brother moved back to town, and was blessed enough to buy a flats boat. Ben loves fishing but we lacked the experience early on. Ben caught fish, but mostly catfish, hence the name “Catfish Ben.” But…