Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2019 i Florida Sportsman

There was no reverse gear at Karl Wickstrom’s helm. During the last year of his life, I tried getting him to reflect on his success in publishing, his work promoting fisheries reform, his legacy of defending citizens’ access to waters, many other accomplishments. Nope. He would tell a funny story … and then field a phone call on plans to fix the Everglades. Doctors said heart failure took him. I figured the tides took him, as I never saw that heart give out. No doubt Karl would’ve devoted this column to proposing some fresh initiative. That the vote implementing Florida’s constitutional net-limitation amendment (his idea!) took place this month exactly 25 years ago, would’ve warranted maybe a one-liner. Sorry, Karl. I’m looking back. And, I’m assigning the work to you.…

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 people pictured, hometowns, location of catch and any key details, such as weight of big catches. NOW ON PODCAST! Florida Sportsman magazine’s READER- FAVORITE Action Spotter section has gone PODCAST. Every Thursday at 7 p.m., tune in to find out where the bite is in your backyard and across the state. EACH WEEK, host Capt. Rick Ryals will dial in on the bite across the state, mirroring the same…

Triple Scoop What is not to love about November in the 10,000 Islands region? The weather is near perfection, boat traffic is still at a minimum, water temperatures are dipping to desirable levels, and the fall migration of bait is invading the coast. All that equals a wide variety of angling options throughout the area. As the water temperatures continue to drop, on the inshore side you should continue with what October provided us: schooling redfish and tripletail. The redfish schools will continue to bunch up in the region on just about every outside point from Whitehorse Key south to Lumber Key. While that area is quite large, focus on the outside islands that have a distinct hard bottom adjacent to it, but have deeper water to at least one…

Topwater Thrills Anglers in the West Central region have a lot to look forward to over the next couple of months. Those fishing north of the Pasco/ Hernando county line still have through November to chase legal-sized snook, if a snook dinner is on the menu. Redfish and trout are also available in good numbers as we begin to cool off from a long, hot summer. Hernando County can be several degrees cooler than our southern West Central area of Sarasota. The remainder of our region south of the Hernando County line continues to be closed until further notice for snook, trout and redfish. But as the fall weather pattern arrives and water temperatures slowly drop into the mid and lower 70s, just about everything that swims will be chewing.…

Thanksgiving Seafood Feast There is so much for Northeast Florida outdoors-men to be thankful for this month. We have witnessed a lot of our fisheries rebounding this year after decades of overfishing and habitat degradation. If your freezer isn’t full of flounder, and shrimp it’s your own fault. Kingfish, flounder and redfish stayed around all summer. We should have finally seen our average temperature start to drop by November 1, and the mullet run should be starting to wane a bit. Every year this decade has seen the mullet run get better, and last longer, so the surf fishermen should be hitting the beach early and often. More and more trout fishermen are learning the magic that happens in the surf at low light with a surface lure. If the…

Lines of Help for Bahamas It’s been a couple months since Category 5 Hurricane Dorian impacted the northern Bahamas, but all indications are that it will take years to rebuild. “The first round of funds will just help the people get back on their feet. After that, our donations will be dedicated to the fishing community as well as figuring out how to restore habitats that were lost in the storm,” said Mark Rehbien of Bonefish Tarpon Trust (BTT), among groups lending support during the crisis. If you have appropriate items to donate, the facebook page “Stop off Drop Off for the Bahamas” is one source to help ensure your items find the right destination. Founder and angler Barbara Evans is a proven facilitator of recovery for the long haul.…

Below is a sample of some offshore rock ledges from the author’s files. Similar bottom features may be found off other ports on both sides of the Florida peninsula and also along the northern Gulf Coast. Sahlman’s Gulley GPS 30-40.07’N/ 81-09.34’W Ponte Vedra Ground GPS 30-12.11’N/ 81-04.52’W Nine Mile GPS 30-23.32’N/ 81-10.11’W Montgomery Reef GPS 30-26.47’N/ 81-13.12’W Haddock’s Hideaway GPS 30-34.03’N/ 81-08.26’W FA GPS 30-38.13’N/ 81-13.22’W FC GPS 30-36.35’N/ 81-10.35’W Tournament Reef GPS 30-27.47’N/ 80-55.46’W Tanzler’s Waters GPS 30-29.37’N/ 80-57.30’W Amberjack Hole GPS 30-32.49’N/ 81-03.10’W Desco Boat GPS 29-53.16’N/ 81-00.31’W Blackmar’s Reef GPS 30-21.55’N/ 80-50.05’W Harm’s Ledge GPS 30-22.20’N/ 80-53.52’W Main Flagler GPS 29-31.65’N/ 80-57.00’W Drydock GPS 30-07.05’N/ 80-33.25’W…

SUFIX ADVANCE FLUOROCARBON Sufix has introduced a new line with all the benefits of fluorocarbon (low vis, fast sink rate) minus the conventional downsides (stiff, memory). Advance Fluorocarbon has been described by pro anglers in testing as “extremely durable… extremely limp… perfect balance of stretch… super strong.” It’s made with a proprietary gel phase technology to maximize fluoropolymers, and offers a higher density index than traditional nylon lines. Available in 200-yard and 1,200-yard spools, in 4-through 30-pound tests.…

WHY THE SUDDEN SEASONAL APPEARANCE OF KEEPER-SIZE GAG in shallow waters? Rockpiles north of Anclote up to Cedar Key, on Florida’s Gulf coast, represent an important aggregation zone for pre-spawning females. Gags are what scientists term protogynous hermaphrodites. All gag start out as females. After transitioning, they get black bellies and stay year-round at deepwater spawning sites (some 150 to 250 feet deep), which the females visit during winter spawning months. Gag eggs have to be spawned at the right time and place to ride with ocean currents to estuaries 50 to 100 miles away, where they spend their first months of life. After gag are about half a year old, they begin to move to shallow nearshore habitat. All gag caught in these relatively shallow waters are female. Some…

From our experts’ input, here’s just a small sampling of some good locations to try for black crappie around Florida: NORTH • Lake Talquin • Orange Lake and Lake Lochloosa (Ocala) • Crescent Lake CENTRAL • Harris Chain of lakes • Kissimmee Chain • Lake George • Lakes Jessup, Monroe • Lake Washington (Melbourne) • Lake Harney • Econlockhatchee River (Mims) • St. Johns River SOUTH • Lake Istokpoga • Lake Okeechobee (Per Dr. Allen, the exception to the ‘cyclic’ crappie population rule ; it always has crappie due to its immense size!)…

Fishing Heats Up as Weather Cools Down Is it just me, or does it seem like the summer stretches a bit further each year? November brings us the first long-awaited taste of fall and the end of the dreaded hurricane season. It’s literally a breath of fresh air. The underwater residents of the Florida Keys are also ready for some cooler temperatures. The warm, oxygen-depleted waters that have been fueling storms and hurricanes have also become uncomfortable for many species, like groupers and snappers that live around the inshore reefs, forcing them to go to deeper cooler waters. When the cold fronts start to arrive, it allows some of these species to slowly trickle back inshore over the next few months. Live baiting is my favorite method for blackfins because…

Movers and Shakers November usually brings the first few hard fronts of the year. A few species of fish tend to ride the coattails of these fronts, making their first appearance this month. Pompano is one of the species. It seems like we usually get a good push of them for a few weeks in November, then they fizzle out until the large congregation of fish makes it down in January. If you can take advantage of this first push, the fish are usually jumbo, and a six fish limit can be easy, as the fish aren’t as pressured. Often times I will stumble across schools of pompano in the Indian River while fishing for trout and redfish around the powerplant and spoils in Fort Pierce. Sandbars, channel edges and…

The Perfect Meal I’m not going to get ahead of public opinion and science regarding the future of spotted seatrout fishing in Florida. Public meetings, sponsored by the FWC, have been helping establish some groundwork for addressing bag limits and the future of the fishery. Results and rules may or may not be finalized by now, and there are no doubt believers and non-believers in whatever comes of the meetings and research. Florida’s Big Bend waters are particularly healthy and despite frequent spells of bad weather, mild outbreaks of toxic algae and mild winters, the fishing remains excellent. In particular, the seatrout fishery remains excellent, too. But you might have to change your tactics, with regards to either taking some fish home for dinner or to just having a sporting…

Fish the Tributaries No doubt, November is a comfortable month to fish. Maybe a jacket is necessary, maybe not. This same uncertainty can make fishing a little unpredictable as well. If temperatures drop suddenly, speckled trout abandon the flats and congregate in deeper holes in rivers and creeks. Largemouth bass on large lakes leave the shallow bays for the ledges in 10- to 15-foot depths. With this in mind, anglers fishing Apalachicola Bay during an average November should try the many creeks that empty into bay above the Highway 98 causeway. Tributaries of the Apalachicola River, such as the Little St. Marks, St. Marks and East River form a network of waterways that carry nutrients from the river and the marsh into the bay. This creates the estuary that makes…

The Gulfport Geckofest attracts wild characters of every stripe and some with no stripes at all. Little did I suspect this year I’d meet a St. Pete native who had owned and read every issue of Florida Sportsman that ever was. Paul Passarella is 74 and he’s been stalking the reds and trout of Tampa Bay since the 1950s; his favorite area, Fort Desoto Park. In ’69 he found a magazine to share his passion and he has yet to put it down. We thought we’d share his uncommon perspective. First impressions last and Paul still can’t get over a day more than sixty years ago on a Gulfport bridge. He was hoping to pull up a pinfish or small sheepshead with his light outfit. Suddenly came prosperity more than…

Maybe you’ve reached a point where reds, trout, and snook just don’t do it for you anymore, or maybe your captain took you bottom fishing while free-jumping sails dotted the horizon. For whatever reason you just can’t resist the call of the sea. You’ve bought a boat, and decided to become a captain of your own offshore fishing boat. Well, guess what? If you’re going to consistently catch fish it’s time to go back to school. The old adage about ten percent of fishermen catching 90 percent of the fish, started changing when the Internet exploded with knot-tying and bait-rigging seminars. “How to” has became a lot easier to find. Be that as it may, preparation, preparation, and more preparation will put you in the minority that catches the majority…

HILLSBORO INLET LIGHTHOUSE: Go figure! The namesake of Lighthouse Point… is not actually in Lighthouse Point. But it is located on a point, on the north side of Hillsboro Inlet, important passage for boaters heading offshore. Periodic tours are offered; call 954-942-2102. Also great live web cam at hillsborolighthouse.org. CHARTER AND DRIFT FISHING: Hillsboro Inlet Fishing Center ATTRACTIONS: Dine on seafood delicacies in an old-time casino and speakeasy, Cap’s Place (capsplace.com). Accessible only by water—a launch ferries patrons from Cap’s parking lot at Lighthouse Point Marina. Also drop in at RJ Boyle Studio on Federal Highway for bluewater tackle and unique artwork. SHORE FISHING: An updated Pompano Beach Pier is slated to reopen this fall. Great spot for Spanish mackerel, snappers, and a delicious, silvery member of the jacks family…

It can be said that as the coral goes, the fishing goes. Numerous reef species rank among the top table fish for both recreational and commercial harvest. Forage for snappers and grouper, hogfish, spiny lobster and other species depend on healthy reefs and the supportive live hard-bottom nearby. University of Miami’s coral biologist Andrew Baker, whose team rescued over a thousand coral colonies during the dredging, hopes that the mistakes in Miami will force dredge contractors to drain water from sediment-loaded transfer scows much farther from shore instead of over the reefs to prevent the burying of coral. While the staghorn and elkhorn corals get all the press, it is the red-encrusting coralline algae, cut off from sunlight under sediment, that feeds the essential urchins, mollusks and smaller forage fishes…

Florida quail offer bird hunters great sport. They may not fly as fast as a dove or wood duck, nor as erratically as a snipe, but their flush is nearly always a surprise and quail in flight have a knack for using the brush or trees to cover their retreating forms. Quail populations in the southeast dwindled in the 1960s and ’70s and even into the ’80s. Development has removed vast amounts of habitat from the species. Unfortunately for the quail, their preferred habitat includes the higher, dryer parts of Florida that are also ideal for humans. Many researchers believe cats, both feral and outdoor pets, have contributed to the decline in quail populations. My observations from around my home in the ’80s seemed very much in harmony with that…

The Baits Are Back In Town What an exciting time to be fishing in South Florida! Schools of migrating finger mullet, pilchards, sardines and herring are scattered throughout Biscayne Bay and along the oceanside beaches, with all kinds of predators in tow. In the open waters of our bays from South Bay to North Bay and into Dumb-foundling Bay, jack crevalle, tarpon that can grow way over 100 pounds, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, juvenile kingfish, lady-fish, seatrout, barracudas and sharks will be feeding on the baitfish schools. In the ocean inlets at Government Cut, Haulover, Port Everglades, Hillsboro and Boca Raton on the outgoing tides you can expect snook, tarpon, jacks, Spanish mackerel, bluefish and barracudas to be jumping on every mullet school that moves through. In South Bay bonefish and…

Flounder on the Flats, Kings Offshore Flounder are usually a hit-and-miss proposition in Southwest Florida and the truth is that most flounder caught in this region are taken as bycatch while fishing for something else. But it is possible to target flounder in November by fishing the edges of the ICW on the backside of Gasparilla Island and Cayo Costa. Bounce jig/shrimp combos, small pinfish or finger mullet along the sandy dropoffs on the outside edges of the flats in about three to eight feet of water and you just might layer the bottom of your cooler with flatties. It’s definitely early in their season but some sheepshead are starting to gather into prespawn schools. Check out bigger structures for these early-season fish, places such as the Placida trestle, the…

Rockin’ off the Cape Expanding a series of new artificial “patch reefs” offshore Port Canaveral is an annual project coordinated and supported by East Central Florida fishing and conservation groups and grants from the state. The latest site created last July—known as the Cary Kresge Pyramids—consists of 23 concrete and coquina rock modules in 80 feet of water 15.5 miles due east of Canaveral. The 8-foot-tall units were positioned in a pattern of four rows wide and six deep and spaced approximately 30 feet apart. Coordinates for the middle of the cluster are: 28 23.575’N, 80 18.250’W. It was the fourth deployment on separate sites in as many years within a permitted 4.4-square mile zone known as the Brevard County Artificial Reef that is managed by the Brevard County Boating…

Offshore Hunting The seasons are changing and if you are like me, the cool air is welcomed with open arms. It’s been a pretty hot year for both the weather and fishing. This November will hopefully be just as good as the previous months. The best things going will be redfish and trout inshore, amberjack, grouper, and vermilion snapper offshore, tuna around the floating oil rigs, and hunting season will pick up a few notches at the end of the month with the opening of the first phase of duck season and first shot at whitetails with a rifle. It’s time to get out and enjoy the great outdoors and all of its delicious species. Nothing like Gulf or Field to Table! Inshore fishing can be great in November and…