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.
Captain Dave Crisp of the Seaward is one smart cookie. He was a great commercial fisherman as a young man, and has been extremely successful as a businessman. He may also qualify as a genius psychologist. I called my friend Dave a few years ago when my boat was in the yard, and one of Florida Sportsman’s best advertisers was bringing his 10-year-old son for his first offshore trip. I was delighted with the weather when we left the inlet aboard the 35 Cabo, but it was pretty obvious by the young man’s silence he was more than a little nervous about the 2-foot sea we were in. “You know Rick,” Dave chimed in, “I was looking through my logbook, and it was this month a few years ago when…
If you have a passion, odds are there’s a Florida license plate with you in mind. Your DMV will gladly even personalize it. Florida offers 120 different specialty plates for various organizations and the money raised from the sale of these plates goes directly to the organization. Judging by the popularity of fishery, conservation, environmental and outdoor plates, you’d think you and your passion as an angler are being well taken care of. Well, the answer is a mixed bag. It’s natural to like that fishing, hunting or conservation plate theme, but you might look more closely at the group behind the tag. I bought the Indian River Lagoon snook tag after moving to Stuart several years ago. Unwittingly, I’ve been supporting the very group that I’ve been banging heads…
Fishing within the city limits of a major metro area is rarely a good idea, but that’s not the case with the Hillsborough River, which sleepily winds through the downtown of wide-awake Tampa before blending seamlessly into the upper end of Tampa Bay. It’s not a big river—only 60 miles long—and for much of that length it’s more creek than river, winding through cypress swamp and pasture land much as it has for centuries. But it can provide great fishing in both fresh and salt water, as well as a pleasant wilderness paddling experience—all within minutes of the nearest Starbucks. The upper river is still as wild as ever, protected by a string of parks and natural cypress swamp, and it’s a great spot to kayak or canoe, cast a…
GAME PLAN: Launch at Davis Island Ramp or Lowry Park if you bring your own boat, or look up Captain Dave Markett if you want a guide—Markett grew up in Tampa and has been fishing the area for decades; www.captdavemarkett. com. For fishing upriver, a kayak or small aluminum skiff is the best tool, and there are numerous launch areas in state and city parks along the river. WHEN: Winter is prime time, with the cold pushing lots of saltwater species into the river, but there are fish available year-around. For fresh water, February and March produce the biggest bass. LODGING: Hotels close to the river include the Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk downtown, www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/ tpawk-sheraton-tampa-riverwalk-hotel, older but affordable at about $160 per night and with an open air bar right on…
It’s been said a thousand times that the difference between weekenders and great fishermen is hidden in a thousand little things. They are learned through time on the water, and asking the right people the right questions, over the years. That’s why it drove me crazy when I looked over at Capt. Scott Fawcett on the Off the Chain when we were live baiting sailfish off Stuart. While I was slow-trolling with one of my Yamaha 200s in troll mode, and a sea anchor deployed to slow us down, Scott was sitting dead still for a few minutes, and then bumping one of his engines in gear with no sea anchor, traveling a hundred yards or so, and then stopping. Now, there’s nothing new about “bump trolling,” but I couldn’t…
Structure: That’s where the fish are. Docks, bridge pilings, mangroves, oyster bars—snook and other fish love it all. If you’re not putting your lure in these areas, you’re missing bites, but you will inevitably snag sooner or later. It happens. That’s how you know you’re fishing it right. So, how do you get it undone? Here are three ways I have found that work the best and are quick, so you can get back to fishing. These tend to work best with single hook applications such as jig heads but can work for treble hook plugs as well. Often you go to make a cast under that perfect shaded mangrove canopy, where you know there’s a fish, but your line gets caught on one branch, leaving your lure suspended in…
