Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2020 i Florida Sportsman

Tarpon fishing is an enduring pursuit. What else can we say? Way back in 1876, hopeful Florida travelers received this advice from an article in Forest and Stream magazine: “…beware of a great and dangerous fish known to the natives as the ‘tarpum.’ A fisherman seeing tarpum should remove his bait from the water to keep his tackle from being destroyed.” Obviously, you know what that fish was. And, you know the rest of the story. Never much good at following instructions, anglers eventually figured out how to catch these tarpum without destroying (much) tackle. The operation can still be a little on the dangerous side. One night, back in the heyday of the MirrOlure Purple Demon, I was fishing in a canoe in a Miami Dade canal. I hooked…

WHERE: Lofton Creek, major tributary of the Nassau River in northeast Florida. BOAT RAMPS: Melton Nelson Memorial Park and public boat ramp on SR 200 (AIA) five miles west of Amelia Island. Creek fishermen can also launch at the Nassau Landing public boat ramp at 436 Edwards Road, good for fishing the lower reaches. After launching, you will have a short ride downriver to reach the mouth of Lofton Creek. Fishermen launching their fishing boat here will also have the option of fishing Thomas, Boggy and Mills creeks as well for both fresh and saltwater species. PADDLE TOURS: Amelia Island Kayak guides guests in Lofton Creek; they charter 4-10 kayaks almost every day that I’m fishing there. Typically they go up the creek where most boats can’t go and there…

Fishing with gear that has a weight attached to a hook, artificial fly or lure in such a way that the weight hangs lower than the hook when the line or leader is suspended vertically from the rod is prohibited when fishing for any species year-round within Boca Grande Pass (boundaries shown below). If this gear is on board a fishing vessel while inside the boundaries of the Pass, it cannot be attached to any rod, line or leader and must be stowed. Natural bait is not considered to be a weight. If the jig fishes in an illegal manner it is prohibited. Any jig that allows the attached weight to slip down the shank so that it hangs lower than the hook while the line or leader is suspended…

SNOOK are catch-and-release only from the Pasco/Hernando county line south through Gordon Pass in Collier County, including all waters in Hillsborough County through Aug. 31, 2020, as a proactive measure due to impacts of red tide in this area. FWC Public Information Specialist Amanda Nalley said the red tide recovery measures for snook, along with red drum and spotted seatrout, end May 31. However, snook’s regular annual closure runs May 1 to Aug. 31. “These temporary catch-and-release measures were put into place as an abundance of caution to help conserve this popular inshore species that was negatively impacted by a prolonged red tide that occurred in late 2017 through early 2019,” Nalley said. “Our current proposal (presented at the February Commission meeting) is for FWC to keep these three species…

Meet Captain Sam. A hard-working, personable fishing guide from Vero Beach, Sam Atwell is the new host of the Florida Sportsman Watermen TV series. Entering its second season, the series will again spotlight diverse fisheries around the Sunshine State, but with the unique FSW “hook.” Atwell and guest hosts—including guides, avid anglers and other “watermen” (and women!)—focus attention on environmental issues affecting fishing and overall Florida quality of life. Atwell, 29, grew up fishing the Indian River Lagoon and the deep blue waters off Fort Pierce and Sebastian. In many ways Atwell was the prototypical coastal kid: Talked his way into junior mate gigs on sportfishing boats; saved up to buy a Gheenoe (and sink it, and save up for another); learned classic deadbait bill-fishing from the Fort Pierce crew.…

Fishing Fever: It’s Catching Sailfish fever is in the air. From Deerfield Beach south to Ocean Reef, anybody and everybody that owns an ocean-going fishing boat has sailfish on their minds. These billfish have been feeding heavily on many different varieties of baitfish all winter and have added many pounds to their slender bodies. Atlantic sailfish stocks remain strong, thanks to conservation measures such as mandatory circle hooks in sailfish tournaments, no commercial fishing for sailfish and a widespread acceptance of catch-and-release. Sailfish are known for their exciting surface strikes and once hooked they might jump clear of the water dozens of times. They have blistering speed. Their colors are magnificent. Black backs with silver sides and a sail-like dorsal fin that has metallic blue with black dots all over…

Reigning Silver Kings April is the month that breaks the winter tarpon drought by producing the first strong tarpon action of the year. Some fish will appear in the passes but many of these early-season tarpon will be taken in other places such as in the Gulf off Knapp’s Point on Sanibel, in the river mouths, around Captiva Rocks and in the harbor’s deep holes. Shark fishing gets underway this month too. Our winter sharks, mostly bonnetheads in the bays and sandbar sharks offshore, are joined by an influx of blacktips, bulls, lemons and hammerheads in the spring. If you soak a chum block just about anywhere along the ICW this month you might hook up. April is a good month to find snook moving along mangrove shorelines where they’ll…

Pelagics Run the Beaches With the spring inshore smorgasbord coming alive just off our East Central Florida beaches, kayakers will be launching in the surf starting in late March. It’s the peak time for paddlers looking for cobia, king mackerel, tarpon, big jacks and large Spanish. Exactly when the starting gun goes off depends on when the ocean water temperature reaches the magical 67- to 70-degree mark along with the amount of mullet, menhaden, threadfin and other baits making their treks north. Those are the crucial elements. Kayaks offer a simplified and inexpensive alternative to power boats for this first-class ocean fishing and it certainly adds a degree of excitement and challenge. Relatively calm conditions are necessary for safety’s sake, so it becomes a matter of picking your days. Any…

Be Ready for Anything April can be challenging with the winds and fronts still moving through, yet it can offer a ton of diversity. Inshore, the trout, redfish and sheepshead action will continue as new species like pompano and Spanish mackerel begin to show in larger schools. Never know when a cobia or school of bull reds will show up while chasing Spanish mackerel. Having a long, moderately heavy spinning rod with a bucktail jig handy can make for great memories. The same rod will also allow you to live bait if the kings show up. If we have a lot of rain, the key to mackerel bites will be getting out past the dirty water and fishing our famous emerald-clear waters. Good clear water is also best for pompano.…

Oyster bars, mangrove islands, grass flats and grass shorelines, good ole wet-terra firma, nothing impacts the future of our inshore fisheries more than nature’s natural filters, shoreline protectors and oxygen producers. And possibly even more important, to some of you, than snook, reds and trout, are the questions we share relating to our own future quality of life, especially in the lower third of the state. With experts predicting increased coastal erosion and flooding on the horizon, there are some things we can do to begin slowing the effects of climate change, which is needed. But, in the short term there are things we can be doing right now, today, which will improve our fisheries and not coincidently will help mitigate the effects of sea level rise. And how are…

The mutton snapper bite should be strong this spring in the Florida Keys and also productive on deep reefs along the Florida peninsula. Cara Frankovich caught this one off Marathon, FL. 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 been 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…

Snook On the Move Each April, especially later in the month, droves of pre-spawn snook migrate through passes to the sandy beaches from north Naples all the way to the southern reaches of the region. With the warmer than usual winter we are having in Florida this year, this migration may already be in process as early as late March and last until the first few weeks of June. The one aspect about this migration that is unique is that you can get a few snook on the line prior to going to work in the morning. With the snowbirds retreating to their northern dwellings, the beach traffic is considerably lessened. Finding a parking spot at the beach is much easier. Pre-spawn snook migrate through passes to beaches from Naples…

Reef Fishing Heats Up, Though Some Species Remain Closed Red grouper hanging in the 80- and 100-foot range become more aggressive as water temperatures rise. A great variety of live and cut baits are effective for these fish. Beginning with cut sardines or a sardine/squid combo, grunts, mangrove, lane, and vermilion snappers and other smaller fish peck away at the offering, often luring in larger grouper to hammer baits. Live pinfish or grunts can fire up a slowing bite to keep the action going. But as the action begins to cool, live shrimp, frozen rock shrimp, sand fleas, or fiddler crabs dropped can sometimes draw in less aggressive hogfish that have been avoiding feeding during the frenzy. Keep in mind you’ll need to release any gags you might catch while…

Best of Times All of the disdain I hold for the cold, howling winds of February and March begins to subside on April first. There’s hardly a fish anywhere that’s not on the move somewhere in April, and for many species “love is in the water.” Remember: The trophy allowance for seatrout is now one per vessel. Many experts believe the biggest bass spawn last, and they’ll be doing their thing in April. It seems to me that ever since bass fishermen quit eating everything they caught, Northeast Florida’s bass have been getting better. Time was, it would be blasphemy to throw back a 10-pound bass. Now, that same bass is almost always released to continue to produce fry with superior genes. Northeast Florida has too many great bass lakes…

“I saw the bass open its mouth... close its mouth... and then I looked for the shrimp bait and I couldn’t find it!” On the day after Thanksgiving, I was staying at my grandparents’ house in Crystal River, Florida. I woke up, put on my fishing shirt, grabbed my rod with shrimp then headed for my grandparents’ dock. I spotted a huge fish I thought was a mangrove snapper. I looked at it more carefully and saw it was a huge bass! Three times I cast my bait right in front of the bass and a snapper ate it! Eventually I gave that fish up, and I cast my line into a spring. Then the bass swam right up to it. I waited a few minutes. This time the snapper…

Just because there are plenty of tasty ingredients in your tortilla wrap, there’s no reason to let the preparation of the main ingredients, the seafood, slide. Simply put, don’t put seafood into this sandwich that you wouldn’t eat by itself, as a main course. Season your seafood lightly with a bit of salt and maybe some sweet paprika, and don’t overcook. Fish, preferably from one of the firmer-fleshed species (cobia, amberjack, mackerel) is ready to take off the fire when it feels “soft” to the touch of a finger. Shrimp are best, broiled, grilled or pan-seared until they form C’s, not O’s. In any case, a tough and chewy wrap shouldn’t be the goal of any chef!…

THE GULF OF MEXICO off Wakulla County boasts a healthy grouper fishery. As testament to that, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) granted Wakulla—along with the three adjacent counties that border Apalachee Bay: Franklin, Taylor, and Jefferson—a special three-month spring recreational season for gag grouper. Whereas the statewide season for gags is June 1 through December 31, Wakulla and the other three counties maintain an April 1 through June 30 season. Part of the reason to start early: Encourage fishing at times when grouper are closer to shore and can be safely accessed by smaller boats. Also, in this lightly populated region, fishing pressure is relatively low. Recreational fishing for gag grouper in the four counties also runs from September 1 through December 31. During months when gag…

Fishing’s Great, No De-Bait Springtime fishing in the Florida Keys is as hot as it gets. Inshore and offshore, the possibilities are endless. How about running out to the color change in the early morning with some live baits and sight casting at tailing sailfish? Next, catch a late afternoon incoming tide in the channels through the Florida Keys for multiple shots at tarpon. That’s what April offers anglers in the Florida Keys. Sailfish are coming through from their annual migration to the spawning grounds off the Yucatan Peninsula. They are often gathered in numbers and feeding aggressively on the outside edge of the reef, with some coming inside the reef busting on schools of ballyhoo. Thread herring, goggle-eyes and pilchards are also among favored prey. Live baiting for sails…

Eyes Out for Mahi, Hooks Down for Muttons Come April, if you find yourself out in the blue water, somewhere in the neighborhood of 700 to 1,200 feet, chances are you’re going to find our good friend, the mahi. It’s common to find weeds adrift in this area and that’s where you’ll usually find the fish. Granted, you can come across weeds blown inshore, but chances at a big bull are less and an empty weedline, greater. A good pair of binoculars is a great tool to have when scanning the blue horizons for birds, which often signal dolphin on the feed. You might also spot sailfish finning in the distance. The more ground you cover, with your eyes and outboard, the better chance of striking gold with this run-and-gun…

State Waters Gag Opens, Steinhatchee North Like many other anglers, I often question the FWC’s reasoning for bag limits and regulations. First and foremost on my list is what’s known as the “four-county region” rule regarding gag grouper on our Big Bend. Diverging from others waters of the Gulf of Mexico, essentially it rules that gags may be harvested in Franklin, Wakulla, Jefferson and Taylor counties, from April 1 to June 30 and September 1 to December 31, in state waters. That boundary is nine miles from shore and essentially defines a large part of the Big Bend’s very shallow coastal shelf. It does include some major (Apalachicola and St. Marks) and minor (Steinhatchee, Fenholloway, Econfina, Aucilla and Carrabelle) river estuaries as well as many limestone outcrops and freshwater spring…

Troll for Gags, Run the Markers for Cobes There are no excuses for not fishing this time of the year. All of the old excuses such as it’s too cold, too hot or the migratory fish have left are not acceptable in April. Northwest Florida has an abundance of fish to target and they are all showing up this month. Besides, the weather is gorgeous! In this part of the state, gag grouper season opens April first. Bottom fishermen between Franklin and Taylor counties will be checking their GPS numbers for “secret” grouper spots to fish. We’re lucky, though, to have an abundance of public reefs that cover most of this area and they range from shallow to deep. All of the coordinates for these reefs can be accessed at…

Updates from Grand Bahama, Abaco Getting ready for an early summer Bahamas trip? Popular ports of call and services in the northern Bahamas, including Grand Bahama and the Abaco Islands, are reopening as recovery from Hurricane Dorian continues. Freeport is running at near full capacity, with the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism reporting that nearly 90 percent of all hotels and restaurants are open, and commercial flights have been running since December. Slips are available at familiar marinas such as the Blue Marlin Cove Resort and Sunrise Resort and Marina. As expected, recovery in the Abacos is taking more time. There are a handful of resorts and fishing lodges coming back online, some of which have been taking guests for a couple months now. The Delphi Club and Abaco Club are…