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.
Writer Steve Wayne makes a great case for the e-bike in this issue. I’ve been seeing them around my woods and waters in the last few years. And obviously all around town. As I suspected, and as Steve verifies, quality varies. Like a lot of things, you get what you pay for. In the world of outdoor sports vehicles, that expression describes not just the product but also the advice and service you’ll get (or not get). Me? I’m not yet sure the e-bike is for me. I’m still enjoying the heck out of a 7-speed conventional pedal bike I bought last February. Forces me to get some exercise. Also, basically zero maintenance. When your “daily driver” is a 20-year-old trailer boat parked a mile from salt water, you already…
The system for determining recreational angler effort (number of days fishing) and estimated fish caught could be overestimating by as much as 30 to 40 percent, according to recent findings by NOAA Fisheries. A pilot study revealed that simply altering the order of survey questions resulted in significant overestimations. This has big implications for fisheries management; seasons for cherished fish such as red snapper might be lengthened with more accurate counts. The Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) has been the methodology used for decades to gather catch data and regulate recreational anglers. Now, the very surveys themselves are going under the microscope. Some may argue that it’s long overdue. Stay tuned as NOAA will be rolling out a larger, more expansive test survey called MRIP FES (Fishing Effort Survey) in…
Many fishing seasons ago, I was invited to go night fishing from a dock on the St. Johns River. George Stratford’s boat dock was only a few long casts from the Mayport ferry slip and the mouth of the river where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Jacksonville, Florida. In the lights of his dock, we could see finger mullet, which George soon captured with his 8-foot castnet. “The tide is perfect,” I remember George commenting. He knew flounder, redfish and seatrout were holding down-tide from the light, waiting to ambush prey. I had brought along one of my bass rods, set up for plastic worm fishing. I left the ¼-ounce bullet weight on the line to keep my bait on the bottom, and I barbed a live finger…
When he’s not globetrotting to fish with the top billfishing crews or promoting his Fire-Tailz artificial dredge teaser baits, Mike Calabrese can be found exploring the local waters of Jupiter, Florida aboard his 1969 Bertram, C-Breeze. Calabrese took the lead in overseeing a full refit in 2017; paint, power, pipework and more. Recently, he modernized the outdated outrigger base mounts that had been simply bolted onto the hardtop. The benefits of this upgrade are many. In addition to providing smoother operation, new base mounts can handle heavier teasers and baits/lures pulled at higher speeds—they also allow fishermen to easily deploy outriggers from within the cockpit, eliminating the need to climb the gunnel. Calabrese opted for Tigress XD top mounts, which offer an impressive 24 locking positions in 15 degree increments…
It was November and time for Florida’s annual mullet run, where they gang up before moving offshore to spawn. At one of Cedar Key’s offshore islands, Amy paddled us along a mangrove shoreline. The water was three feet deep and murky, tide going out, but in the johnboat we didn’t worry. Big mullet swirled up ahead. She stopped paddling and we quietly coasted. Then it was time. With water boiling left and right, the net’s small splashdown returned time and again with nothing but grass. My castnet only has a 6-foot radius, which is supposed to open 12 feet though it seldom does. Our efforts were beginning to look bogus. Maybe they could hear us? Then it finally happened. I threw at calm water in the shade of a mangrove…
Your choice of thread can make or break your fly, and make tying a pleasure or a chore. When I started tying in the ’70s, a shop owner made a big deal about tiny, neat heads on bonefish flies, primarily tied on No. 4 or 6 hooks back then. It was the sign of a pro, he always said. The secret was using threads small in diameter yet strong enough to tie materials firmly to the hook shank. Still valid advice, and we have many choices today. Fly tying threads range from nylon and rayon to modern materials like Kevlar and GSP (gel spun polyethylene). GSP, in particular, is extremely strong. In the past, a thread’s diameter determined its strength whereas now that is not the case with materials like…
