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.
This month I’m heartened to learn I’m not the only guy who thinks a dead sardine with a hook in it is still just about the best bait in the sea. Writer David Brown interviews a couple of ace charter captains over in St. Petersburg, where the fleet is gearing up for grouper season while eyeing warming water and offshore bait pods. Florida’s peninsular Gulf Coast has been a lively spot to be an offshore fisherman in the last few years: With the explosion in 30- to 40-foot center consoles, satellite fish-finding services and ultra-crisp sonar, anglers are finding the tuna, wahoo and billfish action every bit as good—hey, maybe better—than Florida’s traditionally dominant East Coast ports. I had been expecting David’s article to relay how the boys are tinkering…
No and Bad, that’s what we have in Tallahassee, and the 2021 session, right now. No new legislation, or amendments, to stop or curtail pollution to our local watersheds. And a bad piece of legislation that will make waters worse. No and Bad. The bad legislation (Senate Bill 426 and House Bill 267) is what we need to sink. The companion bills are designed to remove control of our state’s 15 seaports from local municipalities, who have been perfectly fine managing their ports for 200 years, and create a blanket, one-size-fits-all, law. “You may finally see Key West secede from the Union if this passes,” exclaimed Key West fishing guide Will Benson. Key West’s population is just 25,000 and in recent years, the 5-square-mile island received over 400 cruise ships…
When pronounced correctly, the name Matlacha rhymes with “sashay.” This tiny fishing village doubles as a haven for artists, whose colorful galleries dot the main thoroughfare. Visitors will find Matlacha a world apart from the drab, repetitive suburbs and strip malls of mainland Cape Coral. Out here, shrimping and crabbing are just as much a way of life as casting a line is for many of the residents. Dubbed the “Fishingest Bridge in the World,” the bridge onto Matlacha sits alongside the Bridgewater Inn, a colorful, bungalow-style inn surrounded by a porch overlooking on the water. Shore fishing is good here, yes, but for owners of paddle craft or outboard skiffs, Matlacha is a convenient port of entry to one of Southwest Florida’s best inshore fisheries. With numerous mangrove islands…
WHERE: Matlacha is in Lee County in Southwest Florida between Cape Coral and Pine Island. GAME PLAN: The bridges are popular for fishing, as are the docks out back of many of the inns and cottages. Not many wadable areas in town, but a kayak or small boat is all one needs to reach the flats and mangrove islands. Navigation is pretty simple with Navionics or other chart software, with a glance now and then at Google Earth. If boating, be aware that areas can be extremely shallow, some with shell mounds exposed, especially at low tide. LODGING: Tiny Village (www. matlachatinyvillage.com), Matlacha Cove Inn (www. matlachacoveinn.com), Bridgewater Inn (www.bridgewaterinn. com) FOOD: Olde Fish House Marina restaurant offers fresh, local seafood; Bert’s Bar & Grill; Blue Dog Bar & Grill…
MERCURY V12 600-HP VERADO Mercury Marine has introduced the world’s first V12 outboard—and the word's largest outboard. In addition to its considerable 7.6L displacement and industry leading horsepower output, the new V12 features a unique design for steering: an electro-hydraulic steerable gear case that turns independently from the top end of the engine. This lower unit can turn outward to 45-degrees in either direction with the joystick engaged for better agility. Steering orientation is monitored via a rudder angle indicator at the helm. Another innovation is a two-speed automatic transmission which begins acceleration in low gear for easier start up and shifts into a higher gear at running speed for efficiency. Behind the two-speed drive is a contra-rotating dual propeller system. This massive power plant is designed to meet the…
Remember when manta rays coming up the beach meant we would soon all have a freezer full of cobia? I do. Back then, the manta rays far outnumbered the boats pursuing them. Times have certainly changed when it comes to pursuing cobia. At least until the stock rebuilds, I’m afraid the days of easy limits of legal cobia on the beach, under the manta rays, are mostly a thing of the past. Captain Steve Szczepanik of Luckybird Charters in St. Augustine has advanced another method of finding cobia, one which I started trying many years ago off Northeast Florida. In this part of Florida, we have an abundance of pogies on the beach starting in April, and I found the easiest way to catch cobia was to punch a half…
