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.
For a brief period over the summer, I thought about moving. To California. Don’t criticize me. You know you’ve done it, too. It’s in our blood, after all. That instinct that impels us to follow the sun, find what’s over the horizon, it’s there. I wasn’t serious, of course. Just daydreaming while on vacation. San Francisco does feel mighty fine in the summertime. The air is brisk. You can walk for miles without breaking a sweat. You can also drive in circles, for hours, without finding a parking space or public restroom. Yosemite National Park—it’s everything it’s made out to be. “Kids, just look at all this,” I said, breathing through my mouth, selfishly praying the radiator leak was someone else’s tour bus. “The most scenic traffic jam on Planet…
Sebastian Inlet is a rural place where ocean meets beach, with a man-made cut. Fish come and go, species appear and disappear, predictably and sometimes inexplicably. Big kings and amberjack used to swim into the inlet and fishermen saw some major upheavals under their free-lined mullet. One day they may return. If fishes tracked our whereabouts as we do theirs, we might find them equally proficient and mystified. Still walking among us are humans who drove dune buggies to the inlet from Melbourne Beach and horses there from Vero. No state park before 1971, no rules, just a prime bit of planet Earth as elemental as it gets; where we still clear our brains with the power and beauty our ancestors lived with and forged our genes on. In my…
WHERE Sebastian Inlet State Park Open 24 hrs. a day, 365 days a year. $8 per vehicle admission; 321-984-4852 WHAT Jetty and surf fishing for basically every species that swims temperate and subtropical Atlantic shores. Opening of snook season in early September may get perilously crowded; let a few weeks go by and go for flounder, reds and snapper. Mackerel and bluefish will arrive with the first north winds of a cold front. Riverside action great for spotted seatrout, reds, snook, black drum and more. Big king mackerel and tarpon lurk just off the breakers through the fall mullet run. Sharks? You bet. SURF CHECK www.Sebastianinletcam.com Easy to select different views to spot bait pods, assess crowds, check tides and other details. CAMPING The state park has 51 sites…
GARMIN FORCE TROLLING MOTOR Voted Best of Show among New Products at the 2019 International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades, or ICAST It’s currently a freshwater-only product, but the newly released Garmin Force Trolling Motor is an impressive piece of innovation. It features a quiet, powerful, brushless motor that greatly minimizes the vibration which causes some electrics to interfere with sonar returns. The motor has a built-in transducer to render Garmin CHIRP tradition and Ultra HD ClearVu and SideVu scanning sonar. The motor also has an integrated heading sensor, enabling it to it hold a precise position without drifting off the GPS mark. Wireless connectivity to the Garmin chartplotter and foot pedal make for clean installation. The wireless remote offers all the usual features you’d expect, plus something we’ve not…
Among the few axioms in fishing that always hold true: “The less tackle you put in the water, the better.” If you are bream fishing in a heavily fished residential pond, you’ll do better with 4-pound test. If you’re tournament kingfishing, the smaller the wire and the smaller the hooks, the better. What makes us think bottom fishing is any different? Why drop a double or triple chicken rig with obvious three-way swivels, when it’s easy to tie a rig with no swivels? Using the “no swivel” rig requires a little preplanning. First, understand this rig is not designed to battle giant grouper. This is a “grocery getter” that can stack up vermilions, mangrove snapper, sea bass and triggerfish. I've found the rig works best when I’m fishing with 40-pound…
TSUNAMI EVICT SPINNING REELS As many anglers are learning, there’s not much you can’t tackle in Florida waters with a few hundred yards of braided line in the 20-pound-test range. Reel manufacturers such as Tsunami have picked up on this, introducing products like the Evict reel series, available in 2000, 3000, 4000 and 5000 size categories starting at $139.99. The Evicts feature aluminum bodies, machined aluminum spools, stainless steel main and pinion gears, and sealed stainless steel main shafts for durable performance in the salt. The 4000 model holds north of 250 yards of 20-pound braid, and weighs in at 12.2 ounces. A good option for anything from jig-fishing for snappers to spot-casting for big mahi.…
