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.
Reading through this month’s Tournament Insider (hey, I read the magazine too!), I was surprised to see 25- and 36-pound dolphin win two big Florida Keys tournaments in May. Happy for the anglers, yes, but somehow unsettled by the numbers. One of my first jobs at Florida Sportsman was writing our Tournament Insider column. Back before widespread Internet, mid-late 1990s, each month I’d phone up tournament directors around the state for results. Some sent writeups and photos by mail. I’d sniff around for interesting stories. One thing I recall: Spring tournament-winning dolphin? Big fish. Checking, I flipped through my columns in 1996, 1997, and 1998: Across South Florida, if you didn’t have a 50-pound mahi, or at least high 40s, you weren’t in the top money. Coincidentally, a buddy recently…
If you’re looking to improve fishing off your home port, there’s no faster way than deploying an artificial reef. However, if you don’t live in Escambia, Bay or Okaloosa counties, where you can deploy your own private artificial reef, you won’t be able to go at it alone. Fortunately for you, if you’re on the coast, your county most likely already has an artificial reef program. But, in reality, you already support the state’s artificial reef program via the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Sport Fish Restoration Program and Florida’s saltwater fishing license revenues and excise taxes on tackle sales. With funds you contribute toward, Florida has approximately $300,000 available each year to spend on approved artificial reef sites. To date, Florida has distributed more than $26 million for artificial…
That big white blimp 10,000 feet above the northern tip of Cudjoe Key? Locals call it Fat Albert. I’ve run under it while staying on Summerland and Big Pine and could see it while fishing from Key West and Marathon. Albert is a Tethered Aerostat Radar System, 175 feet long. He’s changed hands among military and border security branches over the years, keeping a lookout for drug-runners, goings-on in Cuba, and who-knows-what-else. Maybe Air Force brass watching for birds on mahi? Albert’s a bit of a mystery, but Cudjoe is pretty straightforward. No crowded roads, busy marinas or charterboat row. But, what you do have is a fairly deep, accessible channel to the ocean and/or backcountry, a few good restaurants, a bait-and-tackle store and lots of affordable waterfront home rentals.…
Late summer is travel season for a lot of Floridians, and for those inclined to spend our PTO in search of billfish, tuna and mahi, Costa Rica is an attractive option. It’s a safe, stable country, geographically almost a mountainous version of Florida. The country borders two seas on west and east, Pacific and Caribbean, and today has a well-established tradition of sportfishing and associated infrastructure. Spanish is the national language, but English is spoken anywhere there’s hooks in the water. You can learn a lot down there. One thing that’s really interesting in recent years is watching how the crews deal with sharp-eyed pelagic fish in crystal clear water. Fish tend to be aggressive feeders on the upwellings, but they’re also wary. Raising fish to the baits is seldom…
Natural fish structures change as you move around the state, from red mangrove roots, to oyster bars, to spartina grass edges. There is one thing that’s found in all of these ecosystems, though, and that’s thanks to man, docks! These man-made structures hold all kinds of inshore gamefish for many reasons, and I find myself frequenting them almost anywhere I go in the state. Docks hold fish! I’ve spent many days hanging lures on pilings and cursing the world, trying to figure out the best way to break down these fish-havens from an anglers’ perspective. Although frustrating, it’s one of my favorite ways to fish. It’s obvious why gamefish like these structures—it’s just that, structure. Where structure is found, micro-organisms grow and start the food chain. Structure also breaks up…
Fly fishers seem confused about the false cast. A false cast is a forward cast on which you follow with a back cast rather than letting the line and fly fall on the water. We should make false casts, but only out of necessity. But some fly fishers make too many, out of habit. There is a time for it, and a time when it is, well, a waste of time. And a waste of precious energy. I’ve seen fly fishers false cast so much that their casting deteriorated as the day wore on. In the trout stream world, the false-cast is a “drying cast.” Two or three strokes shakes water from a dry fly, and it floats again. The old adage goes, a fly in the air can’t catch…
