water life jan 2013

AAllwwaayyssFFrreeee

The Charlotte Harbor Reef AssociationLIFEWaterWater

www.WaterLIFEmagazine.com Online and on your device every month!

P a g e 2 e m a i l : Wa t e r L I F E @ c o m c a s t . n e t J a n u a r y 2 0 1 3

J a n u a r y 2 0 1 3 w w w. Wa t e r L I F E m a g a z i n e . c o m P a g e 3

The 2013 Southwest Florida Gulf of Mexicooffshore fishing tournament season getsunderway when the Ninth Annual Capt. JohnBreuggeman Memorial Grouper Tournament isheld on Sunday January 20.

Established in January 2005, it is a way tohonor John Breuggemanʼs life by fundinglocal scholarships. The tournament is based atthe Englewoodʼs Cape Haze Marina. Lastyears ̓event allowed three scholarships to bedonated to the John and Caroline BreuggemanScholarship Fund.

The tournament begins with a Saturdaynight captainʼs meeting followed by an earlystart on Sunday morning to the offshore fish-ing grounds. The competitors have fun fish-ing during the day and then return to theMarina for a late afternoon weigh-in of the

largest groupers to determine the winners.Last year the top three winners split $3,000 inprize money. The captains and crews share the dayʼs experiences with family andfriends during an outdoor barbecue at theMarina as the tournament festivities continue.T he award ceremony and prize raffle concludethe event. All anglers and participants receivea T-shirt commemorating the tournament. Thespirit of the tournament is to provide a chanceto fish, to have fun, to eat together, to raisescholarship money, and especially to honorthe memory of Capt. John Breuggeman. Ifyou would like to join us at this yearʼs event(as a participant, sponsor or just as a specta-tor) please visithttp://captainjohnb.com/index.html or callConnie Breuggeman at (941) 474-6586.

Water LIFE is also ONLINE free every month

ADVERTISE HEREWater LIFEʼs 1/8 page ad (this size)

still just $99$99per month!call 941-766-8180 4-4-CCOOLLOORR is alwaysis always FREEFREE

WE are the WAY to reach people who love the WATER!

The effective & economicalmonth-long advertising solution

www.waterlifemagazine.com

We don’t just count the people we reach, we reach the people that count

“Likea

goodday

on thewater”

OOOOuuuurrrr wwwweeeebbbbssss iiii tttteeee iiiissss EEEEaaaassssyyyyttttoooo nnnnaaaavvvv iiiiggggaaaatttteeeeTURN THE PAGES

EVERY MONTHBack Issues to 2004Kids ChartersFishing ClassesTidesWeatherSailingKayakingDiving

One-click Linksfrom the web addressin your monthly ad toyour website

Inshore and Offshore HeadquartersInshore and Offshore HeadquartersP a g e 4 e m a i l : e m a i l : Wa t e r L I F E @ c o m c a s t . n e t J a n u a r y 2 0 1 3

Water LIFE inc.www.WaterLIFEmagazine.comMichael & Ellen Heller Publishers

(941) 766-8180email: [email protected]

217 Bangsberg Rd. Port Charlotte, FL 33952Not affiliated with

any other publicationVol XII No 1 © 2013

No part of this publication (printed or electronic)may be copied or reproduced

without specific written permission from the publishers.

Contributing Editors:Photography: ASA1000.com

Senior Editor: Capt. Ron BlagoCharter Fishing: Capt. Bart MarxPort Charlotte: Capt. Billy Barton

Punta Gorda: Capt. Chuck EichnerSea Grant: Betty StauglerReal Estate: Dave Hofer

Inshore: Fishinʼ FrankOffshore: Capt Jim OʼBrien

Kayaking: David AllenOffice Dog: Molly Brown

on the COVER:By the end of December mullet were

stacked up in area canals and local mulletfishermen were out in the Peace Riverthrowing cast nets on them.

Letters to email: [email protected]

Dear Mike,I am writing this letter to question the

placement of the artificial reefs along ourcoastal waters. Correct me if I'm wrong,but doesn't the State give grants to helpbuild these reefs? If this is the case, whydo they get placed in Federal Waters?

As a licensed State of Florida fishingguide without having Federal permits Ican only fish 9 miles into the Gulf. If Iwant to fish passed 9 miles into Federalwaters, I must have the Federal permitsfor reef and pelagic species. As far as Iknow, they are not issuing any more and ifthey expire, they are gone forever. Thequestion is: Why don't they place more ofthese reefs closer to the edge of the Statewaters so those of us that do not have orcan't afford Federal permits can utilize theState sponsored reefs?

Sincerely,Capt. Bart Marx

Good Question, Capt. Bart. Let me lookinto it – MH

Hi Michael & Ellen,I just read your December article on

the 100,000 missing boats and believethere is also another reason for thedecline in registered boats. I priced newboats at the Fort Myers Boat Show lastmonth and came to the conclusion that ifnew car prices went up as much as boatsin the last 10-12 years Jeep GrandCherokees would cost $100,000 instead of$35,000.

Tom Stivison Redfish Yacht Brokers

Water LIFE on your DEVICE

Flip throughour pages

every monthon your

iPhone, iPador Android

device.

Breuggeman Tournament

Last yearʼs winner, Capt. TonyShaw with the winning fish

By Michael Hel lerWater LIFE editorIn 1983 European catfish got into the Tarn

River in France. The fish were already inother river systems throughout Europe, so ittook no time for them to establish a self-sus-taining population, but soon some of theTarn River catfish began to demonstrate anever-before-seen behavior. Marine predators such as killer whales and

bottlenose dolphins display intentional‘beaching’ behavior to catch prey. In manypredators extreme hunting behaviors representa form of ecological specialization that maybe displayed only by a select subset of theoverall population. In France, scientists reported the occur-

rence of a hunting behavior by catfish in theTarn River that is analogous to the intention-al beaching of marine mammals. But thealien freshwater catfish took it a step further,they were capturing and eating land birds!Monitoring from a bridge between June 30

and October 19, 2011, scientists observedthat only certain individual fish were foragingon land birds.Fifty-four beaching behaviors with partial

and mostly complete stranding were observedand filmed, among which almost one-thirdwere successful, i.e. the land birds (pigeonsthat came to the river to bathe and drink)were captured on land, pulled into the riverand swallowed. On one occasion theyobserved a complete stranding of a catfish onshore while hunting. In approximately 40%

of all observations, the catfishhad more than half of theirbody outside of the water.According to the report, thebeaching behavior was quick,lasting from less than one sec-ond to no more than 4 sec-onds. There is video on YouTube, search: catfish eatspigeons. Scientists concluded the

attacks were systematicallytriggered by active pigeons. Motionlesspigeons, even those very close to the catfish,were never attacked. Before the attack, the catfish were observed

to exhibit erected upper jaw barbels whenthey approached pigeons, suggesting thatwater vibrations, rather than visual cues, wereused to detect the prey.

Using stable isotope analyses, tissuesamples of European catfish and their poten-tial prey were collected from the observationsite to quantify the contribution of land birdsto the catfish diet.Researchers said that only some of the cat-

fish, the smaller ones, attacked the pigeons.They observed a relationship between theindividual’s body size and the dietary contri-bution of pigeons, reasoning that the smallercatfish were less successful than larger oneswhen preying upon other fish. The risk ofbeing stranded on the riverbank and the ener-gy cost of attacking a pigeon on land mightalso be lower for smaller individuals than for

large-bodiedspecimens. Scientists

reasoned thatthe costsassociatedwith display-ing this newbeachingbehavior(e.g. learning, risk of being stranded) mightbe counterbalanced by high energy returnsprovided by the consumption of the newprey. The report concluded that land birdscertainly represent a new ecological ‘oppor-tunity’ that increases the diversity of foodresources available to an introduced predator. The findings suggest this previously

unseen predatory behavior might represent anew example of of an introduced specieseasily adapting to a new food source, andthe behavior that could be an evolutionarychange.


Invasive Catfish Feed on Pigeons

By Capt. Bart MarxWater LIFE FishingThere were a few reports about some

anglers catching nice size sharks aroundBoca Grande, and Robert, at Fishin’Franks asked me if I would be up to anexperiment that he wanted to do. On mypart there was some excitement when hesaid shark fishing, Yea! that’s what Ithought about middle of December sharkfishing. We both had plenty of gear andtackle to handle a good size fish - up toan 8 footer or so. The bait that we hadwas frozen from a trip when I saved thebodies of the fish I cleaned, and we had afew mullet and bonita frozen. I had hopedthat we could find some mullet to catchfresh for bait in the cast net, not. We traveled along the beach from

Gasparilla Pass to Boca looking forSpanish or something fresh and alive. Wecaught one Spanish about 14 inches long.Then we saw a few birds splashing in thechannel at the first buoy in Boca, wetrolled and we caught some fresh blue fishand kept them alive in the well. So thiswould end our search for bait. We got out our rods and were ready for

shark encounters. This is one of thosetrips where it was not what you know butwho. Robert had us fish where there hadbeen reports of sharks being caught and it

was not too long and we had our firstrun. Robert being the great angler that heis, waited till the proper time and set thehook and it was game on. We were drift-ing so it made things a little hard- thefish wanted to see how many times itcould get Robert to walk around the boat-five or six I think. And at one point wethought that it maybe- was a big ray. This went on about 20 minutes then

there was a sighting of grey. This was a

relief because we really wanted it to be ashark, it was and a nice one at that.About a six foot black-tip shark. I mighthave not mentioned it, that fish was run-ning Robert all around the boat and it waskicking his donkey. It was about thirtyminutes when we cut the leader at thehook and released the black-tip in greatshape a bit tired though. We estimated itto be about seventy pounds and a veryhealthy looking fish. We sat a minute and laughed and made

the decision to go set back up and doanother drift. The blue fish were greatbait. I had another hit and ripped the hookloose, I was too excited and the blood wasstill pumping fast. Got another bait thenRobert had another run and offered it tome, and I asked him ‘you sure?’- it washis rod and all. Any way I took the rodand in just a few minutes I had the fishup by the boat no problems. There wasone factor that sometimes makes a differ-ence. It had swallowed the hook into itsstomach, that takes a lot of fight awayfrom them. We figured it was about fiveand a half feet long, a little shorter thanthe one Robert had fought earlier and esti-mated sixty to sixty five pounds. Thiswas a great time in the middle ofDecember to land two nice size black-tipsharks. Schedule times for family and new friends

to get on the water or it may never happen.Call Capt. Bart Marx 941-979-6517 AlphaOmega Charters Singing drags and tightlines make me smile.

Sharks inthe Winter


SHARK MANAGEMENTNMFS is amending the 2006

Consolidated Atlantic Highly MigratorySpecies Fishery Management Plan based onseveral shark stock assessments that werecompleted from 2009 to 2012. The assess-ments for Atlantic blacknose, dusky, andscalloped hammerhead sharks indicated thatthese species are overfished and experienc-ing overfishing. The assessment for sandbarsharks indicated that this species is over-fished, but not experiencing overfishing. Theassessment for Gulf of Mexico blacktipsharks, adopted in this rulemaking, indicatedthat the stock is not overfished and notexperiencing overfishing. The assessmentfor Gulf of Mexico blacknose sharks was notaccepted; therefore, the overfished andoverfishing statuses have been determinedto be unknown.

Based on the new stock assessments,and after considering public commentsreceived during scoping and on a predraftdocument, we are proposing measures thatwould reduce fishing mortality and effort inorder to rebuild overfished Atlantic sharkspecies while ensuring that a limited sustain-able shark fishery can be maintained consis-tent with our legal obligations.

The proposed measures include changesto commercial quotas and species groups,the creation of several time/area closures, achange to an existing time/area closure, anincrease in the recreational minimum sizerestrictions, and the establishment of recre-ational reporting for certain species ofsharks. The proposed measures could affectU.S. commercial or recreational fishermenwho harvest sharks within the AtlanticOcean, including the Gulf of Mexico andCaribbean Sea.


By Capt David S tephensWater LIFE InshoreDuring the winter months the

success of your fishing trip can bemeasured by feet, and noI am not talking aboutthe size of your catch.When the mercury startsto take a dive locatingdeeper holes can be keyto your success. Most ofthe time the best guideson Charlotte Harbor willtalk about the differencein water depth in inches.During the coldermonths those inchesturn into feet. Rivers area great starting point,such as the Peace andMyakka Rivers. If youhave no experience onthese bodies of water Ihighly recommend get-ting a chart not only tohelp locate deep water,but to also locate thebars. Normally the wateris darker in these areasand the shallow bars areless visible.Let’s talk species and

technique; I have caughteverything from flounder to Spanishmackerel. On a normal outing fish-ing the depths, redfish, sea trout,mangrove snapper and sheep headare among the most abundant. Someof the largest snook I have landedhave been this time of year fishingin over twenty feet of water with alittle shrimp. The habitat for fish to call home

is close without having to make along boat ride. You can fish a deepmangrove shore line and in less thanone mile fish a dock. The tides can

be much stronger due to the narrowcreeks and deeper water. When I amfishing with shrimp I prefer to use a1/8 to 1/4oz jig head depending on

the current flow. I try not to holdbottom but let my bait slowly waveon the bottom to look as natural aspossible.With a little patience and some

time locating deep water fish I amsure you will keep your rods bent.And don’t be surprised if that fish ofa life time does not come from themurky depths of our local rivers.

Dave Stephenswww.backbayxtremes.com941-916-5769

Fish Deep in January

Just loop a piece of leader around the hook

and pull it out the way it went in.... Yeah-Right!

Photos forwarded from Lou Tumoloat the Rhinebeck, NY, Animal Hospital.

Hooked on Fishing


By Capt. Chuck EichnerWater LIFE Punta GordaFishingTo catch fish you have to

think like a fish. Fish arenot as mysterious as we makethem out to be, but whenthey aren’t biting the mysterydeepens. In general, there are sea-

sonal patterns to any type offish species and that is thefirst place to start when plan-ning a fishing trip. Next,there are weather patterns thateffect how fish behave duringthe seasonal pattern. Theskillful angler studies thecombination of patterns andbreaks it down even further. Water depth, lure type, bait

type and speed of retrieve area few more things to consid-er.Fish are much like

humans in some regards. We have pat-terns to our life, rising in the morning,eating around noon and the like - that’sabout as basic as it gets. If we modifyour daily flow of life from our normalroutine, then we may not sleep well, forinstance. Perhaps we ate the wrong foodor fell asleep in front of the televisionbefore going to bed and then couldn’tsleep. The next day you are grumpy andtired and not seeing the world as gleamingas the day before. Fish behave in response to their con-

stantly changing environment with tidalshifts, wind patterns, barometric pressure,water temperature, boat traffic and otherfactors beyond what we can even think of.January is a month of continual shift-

ing patterns in the local fishing world.The fish calendar says it should be cold.Our winter fish are genetically imprintedto behave a certain way in the cold.

Trout become predictably easy to catch indeeper water as do sheepshead and otherspecies. Redfish will generally run smallbut plentiful. A few days of wonderfully warm

weather will send fisherman out on thewater, but more often than not the fishdon’t seem to react to the weather. December fishing this year was tough

for me. Many anglers and fishing guidescomplained of the same thing. The warmDecember produced predictably slowerfishing as the warmth was a shift in theseasonal pattern causing elevated watertemperatures. I figure the fish were moody because

there is some biological factor thatchanged their attitude as a result of theirsurroundings being 5-10 degrees warmerthan their genetic blueprint for December. Last month, on many trips, I would

find plenty of redfish and trout that werejust not willing to bite, even on verylarge shrimp! The skies were sunny andbright, very little boat traffic, light

winds….a fisherman’s dream-day on many outings – wherethe fish just were not interest-ed.So with shifting patterns

you have to make the best ofit. Shrimp will always be thebest bait. The slower and closeryou fish it to the bottom themore fish you will catch andthat includes trout. Steady coldtemperatures of 60s by day and40s by night will create a pat-tern for trout. Deeper grassbeds of 3-5 feet will hold

fish and lots of them. Don’t get up earlybecause the fish sleep-in and wait for thesun. Start your day at 11:00 and finish at4:00. All other Charlotte Harbor fish will

worship the sun as well - and big snookwill be seen in the shallows. Key wordis seen because they become lethargicwith colder waters and won’t eat.But there are still plenty of reasons to

go fishing. The water is gin clear, thereare a lot fewer boats and the tranquility issplendid. You can expect to catch floun-der, pompano, redfish, trout, sheepshead,blowfish, lizardfish, ladyfish, jackcrevalle, snapper and black drum.Amazingly they may all come from the

same spot! Some are junk fish but theyall pull on the line and that is a goodthing! Canals are a good place to spend time

as well as in Alligator Creek. The deeperwaters are full of fish and are the mostpredictable place to fish. Seawalls collectsolar energy from the sun and it transmitsinto the water on a cold day and fish likewarmth. Fish a ¼ ounce jighead with ashrimp, glide it across the bottom andwait for a tap. Set the hook, hold the rodhigh and thank the Lord you are not fish-ing through an ice hole on a lake inMinnesota.

Capt. Chuck Eichner operates ActionFlats Backcountry Charters and can bereached at 941-628-8040 or go to:www.backcountry-charters.com

Be The Fish

P a g e 1 0 e m a i l : Wa t e r L I F E @ c o m c a s t . n e t J a n u a r y 2 0 1 3

2002 Carolina Skiff

14' - Warranty,2011 25hp

Yamaha 4 strokew/ less than

30hrs. $5,995

2003 Sea Chaser

Bay Runner - 19'ONLY $9,495

1999 Trophy WACREDUCED!$6,990

By Capt. Bi l ly BartonWater LIFE / CharlotteHarbor If you haven't got win-

tertime fishing in CharlotteHarbor down to a science,I'm gonna try and make it alittle easier for you. Thefirst thing and most impor-tant in my opinion is thatthe winter brings us ourlowest of low tides. Iknow I've written about thisbefore but not everyone knows this andit's important to know especially in thewinter. The basic direction that CharlotteHarbor runs is north and south. Prettymuch all winter long we have Northernwinds which come with the cold frontsthat we get. Northern winds push a lot ofthe water out of Charlotte Harbor. Theymake the outgoing tides longer andstronger, and they make the incoming

tides slower and shorter. In the opposite,this is why in the summertime we haveour flood tides. Not to mention all of therain, the southern winds push a lot of thatwater from the Gulf up into the Harbor.Why do you need to know about the

tides? Because you need to know wherethe fish go, and you need to know whereto catch ‘em! Typically in the summer-time an inshore flats fisherman would tar-get the mangrove bushes, and all of the

grass flats he could ever desire.The tides would allow him todo so. In the wintertime how-ever, you may have a few dayshere and there if you're lucky tofish up against the mangrovebushes. Yes the fish would stilllove to dwell there, but there'sno water for them so the haveto change their habits. Bychanging their habits I justmean the fish go find a place

where there's enough water for them tofeel comfortable.During the winter you may see snook,

redfish, and trout sunning themselves inthe shallows. Usually when they're inlittle to no water, you could potentiallyget them to eat but for the most part theyare just there just to catch some sun raysand warm up. The fish that are going toeat in my opinion are the fish that aresuspended down in the deeper troughs andpotholes. Every sand bar and oyster barhas a trough on one side or the other. Byunderstanding the bar you're fishing, andwhere that trough is, you can understandwhere the fish are at. A pair of polarizedsunglasses is a necessary fishing toolespecially in the winter time. They willhelp you to see the troughs and the shal-low points on the bar much easier. Onceyou understand that particular bar and youthink you know where those fish are lay-ing, take yourself a nice lively shrimpand toss him in that deeper area and seewhat happens! If you aren't fishing an oyster bar or

sand bar you can also learn to fish thepotholes. Pretty much every shallowgrass flat in this harbor has potholes.Potholes are simply natural indentationsin our grass beds. Typically they're afoot to three feet deep and have a sandybottom, and they range in size. Some aresmall and some are twenty feet or soacross. When fishing the potholes I like

to stay back and fish them slowly andmethodically. You could make casts intotwenty of em on a flat and not catch afish, but with enough patience if you findthe right one it can be like hitting thejackpot at the casino! I've sat there andplucked twenty upper slot to oversize red-fish out of a pothole that was only aboutsix feet across on more than one occa-sion. Not only are you targeting redfishin these potholes, but the spotted seatrout, snook, flounder, pompano,sheepshead, heck pretty much everythingthat dwells on the grass flats will lay upin them.So in a nutshell, what I've written here

is the key to catching fish on the flats inthe winter time. Sure you're gonna’ havethose fluke weeks when we have enoughwater to fish up against the bushes, butyour success will be much greater onceyou start catching fish in open water. Well I think that's enough for me this

month. Ya’ll take my little bit’a insightand put it to good use if you wanna’upgrade your catch of the day! I promiseI wasn't just thrown off the turnip truck! I hope everybody’s Holidays were

happy ones filled with good family timesand lots of big fish! Don't forget to takea kid out fishin’ with ya!! Here's to red-fish tailin’ and sheepshead smilin! Capt. Billy Barton, Scales N Tails Charters 979-6140 [email protected]

Winter Fishinʼ Inshore

By Capt. Bi l ly BartonWater LIFE / Charlotte HarborMy customer/friend from Texas came down and

bought a beautiful 23 foot Ranger Bay boat. So duringthe month of December we worked around the winds andactually had some beautiful days offshore. I've beenschooling him on bottom fishing for grouper and teach-ing him how to use his sonar. We've also been doingquite a bit of surface fishing for Spanish, king mackerel,bonita and amber jacks. Our most recent trip was probably one of our most

exciting. I stopped and loaded up the live well withwhitebait and some good size pin fish before we headedout to the Box Cars. For those of you who don't knowthe Box Cars is an artificial reef located about 18 milesout in the Gulf in about 85 feet of water. The box carsare spread out over about a mile or so, it's a pretty vastarea. They do get a lot of pressure from fishermen anddivers, however by using the right tactics there's a wholelot of fun to be had out there. I pulled us up near my favorite section of the reef.

We set the anchor, and I began live chumming the white-bait. A lot of folks don't do this offshore, they do itinshore, but I tell you what, it really works! Just take ahandful of whitebait out of your well, a bunch at a time,give em a little squishy and throw em out behind theboat. Some of the baits will make there way down thewater column to the fish and some will flutter up on thesurface. This is how you bring them big AJs, bonitas,and kings up to the top and get ‘em excited! I like to fish with medium light spinning tackle. I'm

using 30# braid to a 40# fluorocarbon leader tipped withjust a small piece of piano wire leader and a 2/0 hook.You wanna’ talk about hearing that drag scream! Whatfun!! I remember one trip with Captain Angel when he

actually had the amber jacks going so bonkers that wewere fly fishing them! Words just can't express theexcitement! However on this particular trip with myfriend David from Texas and his mother Linda we boatedover 20 good sized bonitas, 3 legal size kings, and a halfa dozen amber jacks in the 15-20 pound range. Theseweren't giant fish, but for the tackle we were using theysure as heck were fun! The highlight of the trip was myfriend getting beat over and over by the big GoliathGroupers dwelling under the boat. Heck I let him use thebig rod and try for em over and over. I just kept rigginghim up! He just couldn't do it, so yours truly had toshow him how it's done!I ended up putting down a whole 6-8 pound bonita on

the big rod. Before it hit the bottom I felt a huge thumpthat traveled up the line and fishing rod until I could feelit in my spine. I knew what I was in for. I set thehook on the fish, and like a freight train he headedstraight to the bottom searching for his hole. I couldn'teven pick the rod up off the side of the boat! I don'tthink he hardly knew he was hooked. I was just a nui-sance. He rocked me up. I sat and waited him out.Eventually he swam out of his whole and I put it to him

again (when I say put it to him I was just doing every-thing I could to turn the handle on the reel) I still could-n't get the rod up off the side of the boat. Eventuallythe fish made it to a different hole. What did I do!? I satand waited for him to swim out again! Ten minuteslater he swam out again, and I put it to him! This timeI actually got that rod pumped up in the air, and I wascranking down on him! I had his head turned and he wascoming up! After a good 30 minutes of battling the sonof a gun I got him boat side and he came to the surfacelike a small submarine. This fish dwarfed every GoliathI've ever landed. He made me look like a midget! I esti-mated him to be at least four hundred pounds. It wasactually the biggest fish I ever caught in my life. Best aluck out there guys and girls here's to the next one! Capt. Billy Barton operates Scales N Tails Charters. 979-6140 [email protected]


Winter Fishinʼ Offshore


PPPPeeeerrrr ffff eeeecccc tttt PPPP llll aaaacccceeee ffff oooorrrr SSSSccccaaaa llll llll ooooppppssss

East of the Intracoastal, south of Catfish Creek we idled into shallower water and looked around. Charlotte Sea Grant agentBetty Staugler looked over the side. The sea grass was rich and thick. The water was only 18-inches deep. One of the teamdivers got into the water and felt around the bottom. He brought up a gelatenous sea hare (below left) and then a smallstarfish in a healthy clump of weed. The project released millions of tiny scallop ʻspats ̓into the water here, hopeing they willattach to the sea grass and grow. A scallopʼs life cycle is about 18 mos in our waters.

By Betty S tauglerWater LIFE / Sea Grant

For the last several years, I have been working on avariety of bay scallop monitoring projects. The goalhas been to get a good idea of our local condi-tions…population status, current distribution and targetareas for restoration effort. All of these efforts finallyput us in a position to launch a targeted restorationproject. And, with funding support from the WestCoast Inland Navigation District we did just that usinghatchery reared larvae.In August, bay scallops were collected for hatchery

spawning. But, due to late summer rains followed byour more recent red tide, the hatchery had to hold off oninitiating a spawn until December. And in Decemberit happened, like a Christmas present for me, 8 millionbabies, affectionately named 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,… you getthe picture. The bay scallops were raised in the hatchery for ten

days prior to release on December 16th. Two releasesoccurred, one in Lemon Bay and a second in GasparillaSound. In Lemon Bay, larvae were released into a con-struction boom that was deployed in a circle to containthe released larvae. This controlled release will aid inmeasuring success. In Gasparilla Sound, we did a freerelease (no boom). Both sites will be monitored for atleast a year. Although this is a first great step for our area, many

more releases will likely be needed. Many thanks toeveryone who has supported bay scallop projects inCharlotte County including Great Bay ScallopSearchers, Cage Gardeners, and Recruitment Monitors.And a special thanks to the great team who assisted mewith this release by collecting broodstock, setting upbooms, releasing larvae, tearing down booms, etc.They include: Hana Nardi, Jim Easton, Arielle Taylor-Manges, Curt Hemmel, Capt. John Sturm, JasonThompson, Michael Heller, Sarah Stephenson, ReneJennamen, Mike Solum, Capt. Van Hubbard, TylerWholean (and his mom & dad), John Stevely and SteveGeiger. This project could not have happened withoutyou!! Be tty StauglerFlorida Sea Grant AgentUniversity of Florida IFAS ExtensionCharlotte County (941) 764-4346

J a n u a r y 2 0 1 3 w w w. Wa t e r L I F E m a g a z i n e . c o m P a g e 1 3

Above: First two containment barriers were constructed in circles. Right & Below: Next, the team put out weighted floats with Scotchbrite sponges orcitrus bags as surfaces where the tiny, sticky, scallop ʻspats ̓can grow and be sam-pled.Bottom Right: Millions of spats suspended in water are dumped into the GasparillaSound south of Catfish Creek.

Manatee County Sea Grant Agent John Stevely helped deploy the weighted citrusbags that the tiny scallops spats will attach to and grow on. Frame of Reference

Water LIFE photographed the tiny spats next to adime, in a puddle of water on the red top of a plastic

bucket. We used an old

ʻreversal ring ̓on ourmodern digital cam-era to turn a 35mmlens backwards,greatly increasing themagnification. Wemade the hand heldshot in bright sun-light while aboard theboat. These spatsthen joined severalmillion others in thewater.

Scallop SpatsTiny, but they grow fast

Left to Right:Charlotte Sea Grant

AgentBetty Staugler,FWC asst. research sci-

entist Sarah Stephenson,volunteer Jason

Thompson and RemyJanneman from Sarasota

Co. Coastal ResourcesDept. work on anchoring

the boom.


By Capt. Ron BlagoWater LIFE Senior Staff

Each year I go through my notes and pull out 10news items that I felt didn't get enough notice bythe main stream media. They may not be headlineitems, but, the way I look at things, they shouldhave had more discussio n.10 – President Obama was re-

elected for a second term but he received3,899,003 fewer votes than he did in2008. Someone once said, a country thatis big enough to give you everything youwant is big enough to take everythingyou got.9 - Back in February , two FWC

employees Allen Nelson and MelodyOakley were found guilty of racketeeringand ordered to pay back $553,000 in resti-tution. Maybe instead of looking out forManatee Zone violators they should havebeen keeping an eye on the cash register.8 - In September a St Pete

woman was arrested for riding on theback of a manatee at Ft. Desoto Park. Itappears that the penalty for touching amanatee is a $500 fine and up to 6months in jail. Since I'm sure the statuteof limitations is up I'll admit that back inthe 70's we used to ride the manatees in

Sarasota Bay. It's not as easy as the lady'svideo makes it appear. Anyway, I hearshe will be placed on the manatee moles-ters list and can not be within 500 yardsof a manatee observation area.7 – No hurricanes hit Florida this

year even though there were 19 namedstorms and 10 hurricanes. Lets hope our

six year lucky streak keeps up. Some RedTide did show up in October and is stillbeing detected in light concentrationsfrom Tampa Bay to Lee Co., but it wasnothing as compared to past outbreaks.This outbreak definitely started offshoreand was just another common naturalevent.6 – It has been estimated that as

much as 40% of the fish you get in arestaurant is not as advertised. Thinkabout that the next time you order agrouper sandwich. According to the gov-ernment there are 56 different species offish that can legally be called grouper.But there is hope on the way; the folks atUSF have developed a portable fish testercalled the Q Pyre DNA fish tester. It'sabout the size of a cell phone and costabout $2,500.5 – With the decrease in the numberof boats registered in Florida over the lastseveral years, officials are wondering ifcanoes and kayaks should be a logicalsource of revenue to pick up the slack.

O ne thing they know for sure is thatthere are a lot more canoes and kayaks onthe water then ever before, and with thatincrease come more problems andexpense. In 2011 there were more deathsin canoes and kayaks (10) than there werein personal watercraft (8).4 – Global warming stopped 16

years ago. At least that was the headlineof the story out of London in Oct. It saidthat global warming between 86-96 wason the rise and then hit a plateau;between 1997 and 2012 there was no risein global temperature. Last month theU.N. Meteorological Organization issueda report that 2012 is likely to be amongthe top 10 warmest years on record. Whatwe now know is that the earth's tempera-ture changes a lot, all the time.3 – Economical ly speaking,

things are getting better in Florida.Unemployment rate is 8.1%, down from10.1% last year. Population in Florida is19.3 million with the state adding235,000 new residents this year. I guesswe are slowly heading in the right direc-tion. The Federal unemployment rate is7.9%; for comparison the Euro Zone hasa rate of 11.7%. Spain has the highestrate at 26.2%.2 – Looks l ike the small tooth

sawfish has beaten out the manatee forthe most annoying endangered species ofthe year. Because of new Federal regula-tions and permits requirements, propertyowners, seawall and dock builders finddelays of up to 9 months to find out ifthey will get the necessary permits tobegin work.1 – There was some good news

last year for the turtle people. Loggerheadturtles had a banner nesting year in 2012.There were 58,172 nests counted; one ofthe highest numbers since monitoringbegan in 1989. The best year was in1998with 59,916 nests found and the lowestwas 28,074 in 2007. The loggerhead isthe most common sea turtle in Floridawith an estimated 90% of all hatchingsoccurring in Florida.

Top 10 NewsStories of 2012

Everyoneʼsgone home:Nowʼs the timeto go fishing

By Capt. S teve SkevingtonWater LIFE OffshoreWell the Holidays are over, and the

Mayans got it wrong,.... Friends andfamily have gone back home and it’stime to relax and go fishing.Due to tighter and tighter fishing reg-

ulations and the highest fuel cost in his-tory, the Gulf of Mexico is seeing verylittle fishing pressure.When compared to years past, there

is almost no one out there anymore.What this means to the guys still

getting out is, lots more fish! We’re now catching more and bigger

grouper than ever before, more snapper,more kingfish, tasty hogfish and amber-jacks... some of the best fishing I haveseen in recent memory.I have sometimes thought to myself

after a hard days fishing what it musthave been like out there 100 yearsago... big huge grouper on every rock,snapper that would test the strongesttackle... surprise fish coming over theside of the boat, such as big black sea

bass and hogfish...mutton snapper in aslittle as twenty feet!How blessed am I that I get to expe-

rience that kind of fishing now.We have been leaving the dock

around 8am every day, trolling for thefirst two hours or so and landing morethan our fair share of kingfish, bonita,Spanish mackerel, black fin tuna andsuch.All we troll with is NO. 2 planers

with 3-inch kingspoons behind them atabout 8 knots. This set-up works year round. When we get to our destination we

like to bottom fish with 5/0 circlehooks on 40lb fluorocarbon leaders.

Using primaraly frozen squid and

shrimp, we are catching everythingfrom big gag grouper to lane snapperand buckets of white grunts and porgys,with the ever present fire truck sized redgrouper tossed in the mix .The amberjack will be on the deeper

reefs for the rest of the season.And of course big live baits are the

trick with those reef donkeys.Sharks are still around. We have had

several on in the last 30 trips or so.Just leave a free-lined piece of cut

bait floating out behind the boat whileyour bottom fishing, you'll be surprisedat what will show up on that.For a good time call Captain Steve at(941) 575-3528



By Fishin’ FrankWater LIFE BaitshopSorry to be blunt, but this is a new

year and I feel like we should be straightwith each other. If you are not going toeat it, don't kill it! And do handle withcare. And if you are going to eat it, getyour hands messy and do it the right way,with little or NO waste. Your insides willbe cleaner.If you Catch and Release then go out

and buy a fish, an average of 12 poundsof marine life have to die for you to eatone pound of store-bought fish. Yourhands did not get dirty and you did nothave to see the mess, but what really hap-pened is that you are saying it is OK formore things to die than necessary, as longas you can be lazy and not have to see it.Here it is 2013. I have come to the

conclusion that we have all been givenanother chance.There has been the threatof 12/21/12 hanging over our heads foryears. Even if you said you didn’t believein that junk, it was still a nagging doubtin the back of your head. Another chancefor what? To do and be the same person? I decided to make some changes. Some

are kind of well... not as nice-sounding asthey should be, but here goes.My first question is: WHERE the Hell

are the flying cars???? I was promised fly-ing cars and laser-guided fishing rods bynow, lures with on-board mini-cams so Icould see the fish as they bite, on myeye-implanted 3-D camera system. Well guess I will just have to wait,

and still put the boat to the ramp and feelthe bite, as I twitch my lure out fromthat tight little corner pocket of the man-grove bushes. – SO... it will still takepractice, skill and a dose of luck to getthat fish, which I guess is better, but alaser guided lure with 3-D imaging and anon board bait guidance system still couldbe cool.First off I am not going to believe

someone, or some group, just becausethey put "SAVE THE" in front of what-ever the heck Save the doo doo fish they

are promoting. I will look into what theyare doing and see what, if anything, theysay is for real, or if they are just trying tomake money, take you money or keepsomeone else from making money, byfeeding off of our good nature and makingus feel guilty about something, so theycan make the money. It’s strange howoften money keeps coming up, but it’salways mentioned with the word donate,which to me translates to give memoney. Maybe I am cynical?I will not promote Catch and Release

as the only way to fish, that is just plaingoofy. Fish are healthy food and eatingfish is a part of life. Every single thingon the planet kills or consumes some-thing else, why in heaven’s name wouldyou buy fish oil pills when you can getit from the source, as in the real thing? Itis time to get our hands dirty and promoteNO WASTE: if you catch it, kill it,clean, cook it yourself, you will waste aslittle as possible. (Sarcasm) I know, youdon't kill anything....you just buy a burg-er from the King.

For me, a big thing is to promise thatI will get my lazy butt down the water,so when I handle a fish I am going torelease my hands, or gloves, or rag, willbe wet. If you handle a fish with anythingdry, even your hands, it will remove theslime layer from the fish and while thefish may swim away fine, it will die in afew days from infections. It’s sad, andtrue, but only wet will do.

I also need to remember to give thefish time to get it together and catch itsbreath, so to speak, before I just toss itback in the water. Revive a fish by justholding it in the water, not shaking itback and forth. If you had just run amarathon would you like to relax aminute or have somebody shaking youback and forth, yelling ‘hey come onrelax, dang you’. A better way is just letthe fish relax, the fight is over we bothhad fun. Calm works.A promise to myself: I will only keep

one fish dinner in the freezer, I live in thefishin’ paradise. If I want a fish dinner Iwill catch one. And as Chef Ramsey

says, fresh is way better than frozen.Another thing I am going to do is,

more fishing to relax. I am going to takethe time to really look at where I am onCharlotte Harbor. All of SouthwestFlorida is a tropical paradise, we readabout in book as a kid, the fish, birdswildlife, are really second to none. I willmatch this place against anywhere. Take a boat out on the Harbor or go

stand on a pier, and just look around aminute, chances are you will see, dol-phins, pelicans, terns, schools of bait.Just being here is awesome. Try toremember what it was like the very firsttime you ventured out, how your headswiveled from side to side as each newthing came into view.Another goal of mine is to pinch the

barbs down on my lures whenever I amgoing catch and release fishing. If I amgoing to release the fish, what do I needthe barbs for? Barb-less hooks are terrible.The fish don't stay on and neither will thebait, but when you just bend the barbdown, it all works. Living cleaner, and ifI do happen to have a fish die and if it islegal, I will clean it and cook it, even if Iam tired and don't feel like it. Yes, thathas to happen to all of us. Truth be told,we are all guilty of being lazy and notdoing the right thing, The world did not end. We have a brand

spanking new year ahead of us and like Isaid, we are still here. What a gift, achance to be better people, protect whatwe love and not get sucked in with BSjust because it is wrapped up in prettywords and pictures. Life is often hard andmessy when done right.My last resolution thing is: I will not

write complaining stories about fishingand what I think you and I should do. Ivow to be happier and more forgiving,and to enjoy the company of my fellowhumans. We are a good bunch, (well mostof us) and to be honest, I really like youall and enjoy your company. Live, learn,and question the important stuff beforeyou believe it. Enjoy the day, have fungo fishing and be safe.Frank cane be reached at: 625-3888

or at: [email protected]

FRANKLY: If You Are Not Going To Eat It, Donʼt Kill It

The PTTS Tarpon Tournament is reportedly making changes in how they handle their fish

By David Al lenWater LIFE KayakingOur kayak club, the Port Charlotte

Kayakers (PCK), recently had a uniqueopportunity to be videotaped from the airwhile paddling on the Peace River. Nottoo exciting you say, just another paddle,and you'd be right, but it was a fun expe-rience for all of our group.Those of you who regularly follow

this column know that I often describethe beauty and wonder of paddling on alocal river or the Gulf. What you maynot know (or care to know) is how weselect the locations, etc. At our meetingeach Wednesday, I get suggestions fromour club members as to where they wouldlike to paddle on Sunday. We then voteon one of the locations, and the time, andhurry off to dinner at a local restaurant.Several weeks ago, one of our clubs

charter members, Skip Rasmussen, saidhe had contacted an ultra light operator inArcadia and wondered if the club wasinterested in being videotaped from the airduring a paddle. And of course, the clubvoted "Yes". Skip is a professionalvideographer who is the owner/operator ofNu-Tek Videonics in Punta Gorda and isthe official photographer of the PCK. Weall thought this would be a fun paddle, so

we picked a Sunday to launch into thePeace River at Nocatee for this event.Last Sunday we launched at 10 am

from Nocatee and began paddling north.Just a few minutes later we could hear theultra light approaching from the north andthen it swoops down and begins takingboth video and still shots of our groupbelow. As we paddled up the Peace River,the ultra light made pass after pass, andwe all smiled and waved, forgetting thatthe plane was too high to clearly showour posing. After about 15 minutes theultra light had enough footage, and hadseen enough of waving arms, and departedfor the airport at Arcadia. The Peace River in the area south of

Arcadia is quite rural and quite enchantingfor any paddle. We hadn't been to thisarea for many months and had forgottenhow beautiful this section of the river is.And even though it had not rained forsome time, there was about a knot of cur-rent down the river. It was a warm,sunny day with little wind...perfect for aphoto-shoot.

After paddling for a little over an hour,we took a snack-break on a sandy riverbank and then headed back downstream toour cars. It was not too exciting as pad-dles go, but it was a fun change in ourusual routine.Many thanks to George and Joyce

Chase of Arcadia for taking the aerialshots and to Skip Rasmussen for organiz-ing the whole adventure. The complete

videotape can be seen on Youtube at;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzWHAgrO7D8&feature=youtu.be. Hope youenjoy the still photos too.The Port Charlotte Kayakers meet each

Wednesday evening at Franz Ross Parkoff Quesada Ave. at 5 PM. All are wel-come to attend. For more informationcall Dave Allen at 941-235-2588 or emailto [email protected]


Something Different

Paddlers line the channel out of Edgewater Lake waiting for the Christmas Lighted Boat Parade to start.

Remind Your Charlotte County Commissioners we have a pristine estuaryand that Charlotte County Does Not Need Another Dump


Provided to Water LIFE BY: Dave Hofer RE/MAX Harbor Realty(941) 575-3777 [email protected]

Recent area news items:1. Quiz: What's worse than having a

government agency involved in operating acommercial real estate project?

Answer: Having TWO governmentagencies owning the same property!Sarasota County and the City of North Portjointly purchased the bankrupt WarmMineral Springs spa for $5.5 million in 2010and hired the former operators to continueits money burning management. Thatmanagement contract expires next June.Members of both boards are now in dis-agreement about the direction of the resortor even how to solicit a new manager. Thisis still another sad example of elected offi-cials with short term tenure and no businessexperience or judgment making investmentdecisions for its taxpayers.2. The proposed Calusa Green landfillproject was dealt another blow this month.The comprehensive plan for the Countydoes not permit this type of use in this area.The site is located in Eastern CharlotteCounty on 554 acres 3.5 miles north ofBermont Rd & 6.6 miles east of Rt 3. Thedevelopers unsuccessfully attempted tohave the plan changed to fit their needs.3. DR Horton, the national home builder,broke ground on its Talon Bay housingdevelopment in Warm Mineral Springs.The project is located on Oriz & Rt 41.Phase I will consist of 42 homes to be com-pleted by the end of 2013. Pricing willrange from the mid 100s to the mid $200s.4. Charlotte County foreclosure filingsincreased to 216 vs 131 in November, 2011.5. The VA will open an outpatient clinic inCape Coral greatly improving convenienceto Charlotte County vets.6. Billy Fuccillo announced plans toacquire a 77 acre bank owned site onCranberry and Rt 41 in North Port. He willlikely devote 25 acres of this site to a newKia dealership and will explore other com-mercial uses for the rest of the property.We'll soon learn how accurate the taxassessor's opinion of value at $4.4 mil wasto the actual selling price. He will likely sellthe 24 acre parcel that he purchased near41 & Toledo Blade in Murdock Village.7. As the time draws near for settlementpayouts from the BP oil spill, commissionersand council members are writing up theirChristmas lists of projects to spend thiswindfall on. Mote Marine is angling for the$4.6 million it needs to start its $38.6 projectin Punta Gorda. That, at least, has somesemblance of complying with the intent ofBP's compensation to Florida's economy.On the other hand, Punta Gorda would liketo get $32.9 million from RESTORE to starta sewer project in Charlotte Park. Theirpremise is that it would replace 1,466 septicsystems now polluting Charlotte Harbor.Yes, I know, that works out to be a $22K gift

to 1,466 homeowners who weren't the leastbit impacted by BP's oil spill...Sales Statistics: The Charlotte Sunheadlined "Median home prices spike". Thearticle implied that "shrinking supply pushesvalues up across area". They cited thatmedian home prices rose 23.5% inCharlotte County-North Port area last monthvs. 2011.That sounds exciting... wish it was true...Most of that increase was the result of thechange of mix of distressed vs. marketvalue sales. To illustrate that point, take alook at the statistics that I analyzed for asubsection of that market: North Port is agood cross section of the market to evalu-ate. The predominate home is 1600-1700square foot 3-2 home less than 15 yearsold. Our comparative statistics for NorthPort are as follows:

Nov. 2012 Nov. 2011Short sales 1 42Median sales price $155,000 $90,000Bank-owned foreclosure sales 13 24Median sales price $96,933 $81,135Market rate sales 43 42Median sales price $133,950 $127,807

This "apples to apples" analysis shows anannual increase of 4.8% for the year formarket rate homes. I believe that this is amore accurate measurement of the magni-tude of price recovery (not just mixchanges) that we are currently experiencing. Lot inventories continued to decline lastmonth with prices stabilizing at pre 2000levels.

Real Estate NewsPGSC SAILING

The windwas not co-

operative forthe start of the

Punta GordaSailing Clubʼs

Annual HolidayRegatta, but it

was a beautifulday on the

water and even-tually, they got

off in lightwinds.

The miniature golf course site in PortCharlotte is for sale for a cool 1.8 mil.

Charlotte Countycould use

a more functional work boat

What boat would Charlotte Countyuse to set a barrier across a river ifsomething happened upstream?Charlotte County uses a 12 year oldParker boat (top) for its marine proj-ects, like the recent scallop restora-tion. Sarasota helped with their LSTstyle, Munson boat, a vessel that canrapidly deploy barriers and set water-way markers. Charlotte needs a boatwith those capabilites.


Call the Captain! Call the Captain! ENORMOUS SAIL-BOAT TIP LOT 190 FEET OF WATERFRONTAND OPEN WATER VIEWS! Huge lot, privatelocation, quick access to Alligator Creek, sail-boat to Ponce Inlet, deep water $215,000

Call the Captain! Call the Captain! 4 BEDROOM POOL HOMEFRESHWATER CANAL, NEW KITCHEN! Fantasticlocation, golf courses in every direction, beach nearby.gorgeous kitchen with tile floors. Pool area is quite large& deck area overlooks the water. Nice floor plan, needs afew finishing touches. $119,000

Call the Captain! Call the Captain! KINGS GATE HOMEWITH LAKE & COURSE VIEWS! 3/2/2, 2001seldom lived in, modern great room design, soldTurn-Key, clubhouse, athletic center, gatedcommunity $185,000

Call the Captain! Call the Captain! BEAUTIFUL TOWNHOME SITUATEDIN A MAGNIFICENT TROPICAL HAMMOCK- Highlighted byHuge Glass Windows Showcasing The Landscape & Golf CourseViews. 2/2, 1600sf under air, boating, marina, golf, athletic centerand restaurants in Burnt Store Marina! $99,850

Call the Captain!Call the Captain! FABULOUS LIKE NEWWATERFRONT HOME - Florida style 3/2/2plus Den, built in 1999, over 2000sf Air, lanai,dock, large backyard, great room design, shortboat ride to harbor Only $199,000

Call the Captain! Call the Captain! AN INCREDIBLE DEALQUICK SAILBOAT ACCESS! 3/2/2 w/heatedpool; concrete seawall, 8'x31' dock & boat lift.TRULY A GREAT BUY! $179,000

Call the Captain! Call the Captain! Nicely Updated 3/2/2 HomeIn Waterfront Community! Enjoy the open floorplan, modern kitchen, fabulous master bedroom,tile floors, huge backyard and Island CommunityLifestyle Only $119,900

Call the Captain! Call the Captain! FAST HARBOR ACCESSNEWLY REMODELED 3/2/2! Beautiful wood andgranite kitchen, open floor plan, newer high eff. A/Csystem, oversize garage and HUGE waterviews fromthe living room. Immaculate Condition $265,000

Call the Captain!Call the Captain! OVER 1 ACRE with addition-al 30'x40' 4 car garage! 3/2/2 pool home minutesfrom the community boat ramp. Over 500 ft. offenced property, large concrete pad, stamped concretedriveway and pool deck. RV Parking, Close to beach$265,000

Call the Captain!Call the Captain! NICE 2BR/1.5BACONDO in the secure Rolls Landing complex.Spectacular Lake Views from lani, Walk-inpantry, breakfast bar; ceramic tile flooring;screened porch. $105,000

Call the Captain!Call the Captain! 150' Waterfront-Largelot in deed restricted neighborhood ofBurnt Store Lakes. Ready to build!$27,000

Call the Captain! Call the Captain! ELEGANT CUSTOM BUILTHOME DEEP SAILBOAT CANAL – OPEN BASINVIEW! 3/2/2, huge open floor plan. Immaculate homewith attention to detail. Gorgeous kitchen with all the spe-cial features; beautiful master suite and more! $349,900

262' WaterfrontPirate Harbor Port Charlotte

Deep Creek

Sai lboat Waterfront

Lake f ro n t Lo tPort Charlotte

Only $159, 900!

Pirate Harbor Pirate Harbor

Burnt S tore Isles

Call the Captain! Call the Captain! CUSTOM BUILT WATER-FRONT INCREDIBLE WIDE OPEN WATERVIEW! Recently remodeled with high end appoint-ments. Over sized lot, 5 min. to open water. Dock, boatlift, elevator, huge RV parking under cover. $499,900

Call the Captain! Call the Captain! WATERFRONT LOT WITHHD BOAT LIFT! No bridges to the Harbor or Gulf. -Beautiful homes, sailboats and sport-fishing boats.Immediate access to Charlotte Harbor. This propertyhas city water and sewer! $119,000

Rotonda Canal Home

Only $99, 850!

South Gulf Cove

Call the Captain! Call the Captain! Soaring Open Water Views OfCharlotte Harbor! One of a kind tip lot with adjacentlot in secluded location with immediate access to theharbor and gulf. Located in beautiful Pirate Harbor.Seawall in place and ready to build. $499,000

Call the Captain! Call the Captain! WIDE INTERSECTINGCANAL VIEW HOME, 15 Minutes to openWater! 240’ Seawall, 3/2/2, 1800sf air, pool,granite & wood kitchen, dock, lift, open floorplan, RV Parking $269,900

240” Waterfront!

Punta Gorda Isles

Punta Gorda Isles

Golf Course Home

Call the Captain! Call the Captain! CUSTOM BUILT LAKE-FRONT POOL HOME! 3/2, 2,000+ sq. ft.Numerous upgrades, Too much to list here! Whitehurricane storm panels, bevel cut glass entry.Wired for surround sound. Built in 2007. $239,000

Call the Captain!Call the Captain! RARE FIND IN A DEED-RESTRICTEDGATED, WATERFRONT COMMUNITY! Immaculate Condition,with over 2000 square feet. Built '1992', 3/2/2; custom landscaping;spacious greatroom w/volume ceilings & more. $159,900

http://www.callthecaptain.net

If you know any wounded warriors back fromAfghanistan or a disabled vet here now, they will get afull day offshore fishing trip and it won't cost them adime! My phone number is (941) 473-2150 Woodyʼsnumber: (941) 564-8778 Call Us! Capt. Jim


By Captain Jim O’BrienWater LIFE Offshore

Hey ya - all I hope you had a MerryChristmas and a Happy New Year. The38 foot Sportfish is getting a new bottomjob and we are hooking up a new 45 gal.live well and a new full enclosure on thefly bridge. We should have her back in thewater by the first part of Jan.Now let's see what the fish'n been like

this last month.

TRIPLE TAIL - has been chewing realgood out on the crab trap buoys and float-ing grass or debris shrimp is a good bait.SPANISH MACKEREL - MAN-

GROVE SNAPPER - the mangs are hotright now in 70 to 105 feet of water. I amtalking big mangs on the offshore reefsand wrecks using hank brown jigs in hotpink and florescent green 1/2 oz. tippedwith shrimp or pieces of sardine. You canalso use a knocker rig. Put just enoughweight on to go to the bottom and hold

in the current. Put the weight just aboveyour hook when your bait hits the bot-tom you can let some more line out. Itwill take your bait away from the sinker.Another method, if you don't have a lotof boat traffic, is send a chum bag downto the bottom give it a shake every 3 to 4minutes. Then bring your chum bag upabout 15 to 20 feet and shake it goodevery 3 to 4 minutes, 3 or 4 times thenbring the chum up another 15 to 20 feetuntil your chum bag is at the boat. Bythis time you should have mangs allaround your boat. Pick out a big-un andcast one of them pretty jigs tipped withshrimp and let it free line back to them.With a good pair of sun glass' you canpick the big - uns out.RED GROUPER - big red grouper are

chewing real good on the offshore wrecksand reefs. I have a picture of 2 brothersthat caught a couple of fire trucks alongwith some others a little shorter and somenice big mangs. These guys used mulletchunks tipped with squid tentacles, alsopin fish for live bait.GAG GROUPER - IS CLOSED

UNTIL FURTHER NOTICEI talked with a couple friends of mine

and they told me they limited out on bighog fish at 12 miles out. The only thingwas they were spear gun fish'n not rod anreel'n. You're allowed 5 per person. Theyhad 10 delicious fish to eat, not bad guys.Our FISHING FOR HEROS

WOUNDED WARRIORS INC. IS COM-ING ALONG GREAT. We're just waitingfor the forms from the IRS. We alreadyhave a group of wounded vets fromVietnam and 2 groups of wounded war-riors from Afghanistan waiting to go.Well folks I think it’s time to get out

of here so if you have any questions or ifyou have a good ol' fish'n story or arecipe for cooking fish that we can sharewith our readers or if you want to bookan offshore charter with us aboard thePredator 11 call us at 941- 473- 2150 or941-564-8778AND REMEMBER GET OUT ANDSNORT SOME OF THAT GOODCLEAN SALT AIR CUZ IT’S GOODFER YA !!!

Gag Grouper is Closed until Further Notice

The Olʼ Fishin HoleThe Olʼ Fishin Hole

The Dead Fish at Englewood Beach duringthe red tide incident in late December werereportedly all mullet. Talk was, that they werewhite-roe fish discarded by commercial fisher-men who only want the pricey red-roe mullet.We couldnʼt find any proof of that beforepress time.

Starboard Yachts merges with Pier OneYacht Sales “We will not be closing the officeon Burnt Store Road,” Greg Postle ofStarboard Yachts said. Pier One has itsoffices at Fishermenʼs Village. “Having bothoffices open will be a benefit for our clients,”Len Garofoli, founder of Pier One Yacht Salessaid. The former Starboard Yachts office atBurnt store will now be called ʻPier One atBurnt Storeʼ

HandfishThe spotted handfish (Brachionichthys hirsu-tus), as its name implies, is a rare Australian

fish which has hand-like pectoral fins thatallow it to walk on the sea floor. It has onlybeen found in the estuary of the DerwentRiver in Tasmania and nearby areas typically

in water 5 to 10 meters deep. The fish is clas-sified as critically endangered on the IUCN(International Uniion for Conservation ofNature) Red List as of 2002. Search YouTube for a short video showing how the fish“walks”, yet retains its natural ability to swim.

Volunteer kayakers and boaters needed tohelp conduct the shoreline survey in 2013. Noexperience is necessary. Citizen kayakersand boaters completed the first comprehen-sive mappings of the Lee and Charlotte coun-ty estuarine shoreline in 2007 and again in2010. Volunteers paddled and motored alongthe urban and residential coasts collectingmore than 5,000 important pieces of informa-tion about how much shoreline was naturalvegetation, non native vegetation or “hard-ened” with seawalls or riprap. They also esti-mated hurricane damage to the vegetation.With volunteer help, the Charlotte Harbor

National Estuary Program plans on updatingthe shoreline survey by spring of 2013. Theupdate will compare the results of all threesurveys. The 2013 survey is supported with agrant from the Florida Coastal ManagementProgram, Florida Department ofEnvironmental Protection and NationalOceanic and Atmospheric Administration. TheCHNEP will provide training and materials,though volunteers will need to have their ownwater transportation. If you would like to vol-unteer for the shoreline survey or would likemore information about the project, pleasecontact CHNEP Communications ManagerMaran Hilgendorf: [email protected],

During the Holiday weekend, Officersresponded to the Choctawhatchee River toassist two subjects who had overturned theircanoe while duck hunting. The two subjectswere unable to right their canoe and exit thewater and had requested our assistance.Upon arriving and getting the subjects out ofthe water, the officers discovered the subjectshad overturned their canoe in a large amountof submerged corn which they had placed inthe water to attract ducks. The two subjects

were short on life jackets, a state duck stamp,and a federal duck stamp. Appropriate cita-tions were issued for the hunting and boatingsafety violations.

Scientists from Cornell University,Liquid Robotics, Inc., and BioSonics, Inc.,have integrated a Wave Glider (an unmannedmarine robot) with sonar acoustic technology

to develop a new way to survey fish popula-tions. They took an acoustic tool used in fish-ery surveys – an echosounder – and added itto a Wave Glider propelled by wave motion.

The EverStart Series is headed to LakeOkeechobee January 10-12 when as manyas 300 pros and co-anglers take to the waterfor the first of four stops in the SoutheastDivision. The water is up about two feet high-er than it has been the past few years whenthe Tour and the EverStart series rolls intotown and sets up itʼs tent at Walmart.

The National Climatic Data Center reportsthat the US is struggling with its worst droughtsince 1956. About 75% of the US is in somestate of drought, 55% of the country is inmoderate drought, and 20% is facing extremeor exceptional drought. The national averageof precipitation 1.19” for November is almosthalf normal and weʼve just had the eighth-dri-est November on record in the US. Add tothis that in the past half year, 28 states eastof the Rocky Mountains set temperaturerecords and 170 all-time temperature recordswere set in June alone. The early predictionsfor waterfowl for this year were rosy. The USFish and Wildlife Service estimated the 2012waterfowl production in North America at arecord high of 48.6 million. Thatʼs 7% higherthan the 45.6 million ducks estimated in 2011and 43% above the long-term average. Buthunters are asking: So where are the birds?Ducks and geese migrate according to foodand water. The birds have been holding upnorth with warm weather, and then eithermoving toward the coasts, or just skippingnormal stopovers that have gone dry, flockingon larger lakes that still hold water, and head-ing directly south where there is more water.

Two cousins from Shelby Township in south-east Michigan were exploring a creek in 11-year-old EricStamatinʼsbackyard overthe summerwhen the pairfound a bigold bone. Thebone was justrecently con-firmed to bethe axis boneof an extinctAmericanmastodon that was 3 0,000 years old.

Talk in the bait shops is about this comingyearʼs PTTS tarpon tournament. Consensusis: if theyhold thefish in thewater nextto the boatin the mid-dle of thepass tomeasurethem, thensomeone isgoing tolose anarm. Andwe ask:who will beheld finan-ciallyresponsible?

IOS6 WarningAustralian policehave issued astatement warningmotorists to notrely on the AppleiOS 6 mappingsystem when trav-eling to the smallcity of Mildurasince the already-flawed app can be“life-threatening.”The mapping sys-tem, for whichApple has already had to issue a rare apolo-gy for its shortcomings, takes people to themiddle of the national park where tempera-tures can soar, there is no water and whereno humans live. The mapping also has trou-ble getting to Fishermenʼs Village from RettaEsplanade.


SCUTTLEBUTTSometimes Unsubstanciated,

But Often True

Fabricat ion • Spot Repairs • Major Structural Fabricat ion • Spot Repairs • Major Structural Custom work is our Special tyCustom work is our Special ty

Free Est imatesFree Est imatesMobi le ServiceMobi le Service

Professional Qual i ty Professional Qual i ty Awl Grip Finishes Awl Grip Finishes Gel Coat RepairsGel Coat Repairs www.al l f iberglassrepairs .com www.al l f iberglassrepairs .com Scott Steffe Owner Scott Steffe Owner

CustomCustomFiberglassFiberglass

ANYTHING!ANYTHING!

CertifiedMarineTechnician

Outboard, inboard & stern-drive Annual Maintenance

Major Rebuilds – Minor GlitchesCustom Electronics & Wiring

Instruments & Audio

SERVICE & REPAIRSSERVICE & REPAIRS

1 7 2 6 S t e a d l e y Av e . P u n t a G o r d a 1 7 2 6 S t e a d l e y Av e . P u n t a G o r d a S h o p 9 4 1 - 5 7 5 - 8 9 1 4 H o m e 2 3 5 - 2 2 4 3S h o p 9 4 1 - 5 7 5 - 8 9 1 4 H o m e 2 3 5 - 2 2 4 3

Charlotte Harbor: Frank, at Fishin' FranksPort Charlotte: 625-3888Today it’s raining and 65, tomorrow it’s

supposed to be 80. Everyone complainsabout the cold, but what we need are coldspells, they knock out the algae and othergrowing gunk and clean the water. Mostalgae, because of warm water, grow with-out check. The cold 30- or 40-degreenights knock it back. No one likes thecold, but we forget how important is.When you go out after the cold you willsee the water is cleaner with a lot less floating stuff. The algae and all the other

stuff just disappears. Every year this iswhat we wait for. The other thing is thecanals, being the solar collectors they are,is where the fish want to settle in to. Ifyou were a fish, where would you ratherbe? The fish, when the Gulf chills out, goback into the canals. We ended 2012 on a cold note and it

brought all the trout up. Last month wehad mackerel, pompano, redfish and snook.Now the cold brings the flats alive,because it’s warmer in the shallow water.The cold cleans the water and replenishesthe oxygen. It all comes alive and the fish-

ing reflects it. In the past couple of weeksthe fishing has taken a turn to the good.Over January we will look up on the sand-bars for the fish and not so much againstthe mangroves. If you are looking for redfish, the trick

is to understand it’s only 3-inches from aredfish’s belly to his eyes. He can hide insome grass where he thinks no one can seehim. Chances are redfish will be resting onthe bar waiting to eat. Mr. Snook want to be behind the bars.

Right now snook like lots of grass and areato move. Look for them out in front of themangroves where their dark color absorbs

sun and they can get warm. Shrimp, right now, is still really good

bait for most things. Catching livePinfish for bait will come into play bythe middle of January. Conditions should change by then.

Usually we have cold spells comingthrough regularly, later in January. Thenshrimp and pinfish are easy to catch for theredfish and snook. Slower moving bait isbest for those fish, now. Schools oftrout have been on both sides of theHarbor and both sides of the bridges. Thismonth is a great time for a poppin’ cork


ChartersOffshore Fishing Trips: 1/2 day • 8hr • 10 hr • 12 hr

We help put your charters togetherShark, Tarpon, Grouper, Snapper, Kingfish, and MORE!

Nighttime Trips AvailableCapt. Jim OʼBrien USCG 50 ton license since 1985

941-473-2150

J a n u a r yJ a n u a r yF i s h i n gF i s h i n g

F o r e c a s tF o r e c a s t

Capt Dave Stephenswww.backbayxtremes.com

941-916-5769

BBllaacckk TTiipp BBaaiitt && TTaacckklleeOur bai t i s guaranteed to catch fish or die t ry ing!

El JobeanEl JobeanOpen Every DayOpen Every DayMon - Sat: 6am - 7pmSun: 6 am - 5 pm

Live Shrimp, Pinfish, Live Crabs Ful l Line of Tackle Suppl ies (941) 627-0809

Semper Fi ChartersSemper Fi Charterswith Capt. James C Henslerwith Capt. James C Hensler

Shan Swell with: (L to R) amberjack, gagand red grouper. All were caught early lastmonth.

Photo: Capt. Bart Marx

BackBayXtremes

and a great time for kids wholike something to pull on. Shark fishing usually

slows down as soon as thecold spells come in, but itseems like the sandbarsharks and the bonnetheads are going better thanwhen the water was warmer.We’re seeing good shark fish-ing in Boca Grande right now,it’s a little unusual, but they arethere.If you want to walk the beaches,

this is a great time for banana jigs orshrimp. There are whi ting ,Spanish, an occasional pompanoand quite a few smaller snook onthe beaches right now. Fish forwhiting and flounder with shrimpand the mackerel, pompano or

snook on banana jig. Walk out kneedeep and cast up and down the shore-line. Bounce it back to you. If youonly want one hook you can put asmall piece of shrimp meat on thejig for flounder and whiting.In Boca Grande Pass there are

small red grouper. The gags arein all the passes. There have beengrunts and snapper on most of thenear reefs Out further, cobia are

still justh an g i n gout in theGulf. It’sa littleunusual ,but whenyou gog r o u p e rf i s h i n gy o u ’ l lalso findplenty ofcobia. We’ve had keeper red grouperin 60 feet of water, the reefs areloaded and it’s amazing! The kingmackerel are still here. The watertemps are still really good for them.They move south and come back upnorth. That could be going on allthrough January. To get them youhave to be 15- to 20-miles out. Alland all, the Gulf fishing has beenpretty good.In the canals, ponds and creeks

the bass fishing has been great,really great! Stingers and ribbon tailworms are the baits the bass aregoing crazy for. It’s green that is thehot color right now. In the spillways along the

Hillsboro and back off Gibraltar

canals, bluegi l l and crappie areproviding a lot of panfish activity.With them, it’s all about the beetle

spins. The greens and pinks or greenand white in 1/16 ounce weightseems to be the ones we restock themost.

Lemon Bay: Jim, at Fishermen’s EdgeEnglewood: 697-7595The low water has forced guys to

find them in the potholes. It wasnegative 4 in the morning on themoon at Christmas so there was notmuch water; that and the wind madefishing hard.Redfish and trout are pretty

decent, but you have to work forthem. In Whidden Creek, Cayo

Pelau and Gasparilla Sound guys arecatching big fish, mostly onshrimp. Some frugal guys are trying

to use pinfish, but they arestill pretty small. Artificialslike the Little John, theProvoker, or a red and whiteMiorolure... any of those in a4- to 5-inch bait will work.There are still plenty of

nice sheepshead around thedocks and piers. Trout fishing has been

OK. The guys are catchingnice ones on topwaters blad-

ed baits. Some guys I know went out of

Boca Grande offshore 7- to 8-miles,and said they were seeing porgy,mangrove snapper and still someflounder.Other guys I know went way off-

shore, like 40 miles out, and theycalled and said they were doing real-ly well. They had to let a lot of biggag grouper go. They also caughtbig snapper and red grouper.On the freshwater side there has

been crappie in the Rotonda canalsand lot of small bass . Looks likeit’s going to be another good fishingyear.

The BIG-4 The BIG-4 Fish to expect in Fish to expect in JanuaryJanuary

POMPANO Around the passes, both inside and out

AMBERJACK on theoffshore reefs

SHEEPSHEAD Under thepiers and bridges

TROUT On the grass flatsand around the potholes


GulfGulfTemps Temps in the in the

high 60shigh 60sandand

falling falling

FISHING FISHINGRIGHT NOW:RIGHT NOW:things shouldthings shouldbe changingbe changing

soonsoon

All Photos this page : Capt. Billy Barton

water life jan 2013

Documents