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.
I’ve reported in this column on the fishing exploits of the neighborhood kids. We’ve had kayak armadas in the backyard lake, skate-fishermen shredding the cul-de-sac, bass tournaments, Easter Egg hunts for lures. I’ve seen kids build a trolling motor out of a weed whacker and a fan blade that would hold with the best of them. So, I figured I’d update on our latest. Wake-surf-fishing. Say what? On calm days, fishing up the beach on my 20-foot center console is one of my favorites. I’m looking for Spanish mackerel, pompano, cobia, jacks, tarpon, all sorts of fish that cruise just outside the breakers. It’s kind of hyper-mobile surf fishing. The other day it hit me. I’m running and gunning for fish. Why not take the kids wakesurfing while I’m at…
Just like last year, and the year before—and the year before that—I’m creating a Call To Action with Florida’s legislative session in the crosshairs. I continue to do so because your success, or lack of, fishing inshore state waters depends on it. “All healthy fisheries rely on healthy water,” says Jessica Pinsky, director of public affairs & policy for Captains for Clean Water. This should go without saying. However, it seems frustratingly clear that a number of our state representatives don’t get it, nor see the direct line between healthy water, healthy fisheries and the $10 billion economic engine that runs on it. Instead of opening doors to anglers and experts in an effort to improve water quality, our lawmakers are working on bills that slam doors shut. Alarmingly, there…
If Yeehaw Junction seems remote to you, you’re getting warmer. If the small lake a few clicks northwest on Google Earth looks like bass fishing paradise, that’s because it is. Or was. Or will soon be? A 1,020-acre lake in rural Osceola County, Lake Jackson is accessible by unpaved road through the Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area. Three Lakes refers to Lakes Kissimmee, Marian and Jackson; Jackson is the smallest of the three—but it fishes big! The FWC’s TrophyCatch files contain numerous records of 8- to 10-pound bass caught from little Jackson. The records trail off in 2021…and that’s because the lake itself trailed off. Capitalizing on low water, in the fall of 2021, the FWC kicked off a habitat restoration project, reducing dense vegetation and accumulated muck along 80…
Short of possibly a blue marlin, I’m not sure any fish creates more panic in the crew of a bluewater fishing boat than a stout wahoo. The blistering first run of a big wahoo has startled many an angler so much they reach for the drag lever, afraid they would run out of line. Equally bad, the scream of the reel has caused a captain to commit the fatal mistake of taking the boat out of gear. If you’ve prepared your reel properly (100 yards of mono top shot, backed with a mile of braid) you are not likely ever to run out of line. First off, let’s look at all the things that go wrong when you stop the boat with a hot fish on. For one, all your…
I will never forget my first solo fishing trip on the Gulf. Anchored in calm seas, I was giddy, catching a chunky whiting with nearly every cast of a yellow jig off the back of my 18-foot boat. When I finally turned toward the bow, I was startled by a wall of fog headed my way. By the time I weighed anchor and fired the engine, I was completely enveloped. Visibility was barely twenty feet, and I landed the Sea Pro on the nearest beach and hiked across a golf course to get home. When I returned for my boat the next day, it was leaning on its side, high and dry, ten paces from the water. It took three days, and a cram course in ocean tides, before I…
Nothing sickens a flyfisher’s stomach like the cracking sound, or outright KA-POW! of a fly rod during a battle with a good fish. (Or while casting or simply pulling line from the tiptop for that matter.) Most rods that “blow up” during battle do so because the angler allowed for too much bend in the rod, particularly the top third of the rod. It’s known as high-sticking. And it usually happens toward the end of a fish fight because of the decreased distance between the rodtip and the fish. I’ve suffered this mishap, and as a former fly guide, I was especially watchful over clients who allowed that “severe C” in the rod as a fish dug deep under the boat. The key is to fight with your reel, not…
