water life sept 2008

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SeptemberSeptember20082008

INSIDE:Still Plenty ofTarpon

Flood Barriers forPhosphate Mining?

More and MoreSawfish

PETA to PurchaseSea World?

SpearfishingThe St. Pete Open

Mr. Heller,The one sided tone in your recent article in

Water Life Magazine comes as no surprisegiven your prejudiced approach at the hearingfor a 29% reduction in Ramp and Pier hours.First, understand the proposal to reduce thepark hours was not mine; it came from Parks &Rec. We do need a plan to restrict overnightactivities of non boaters and non fishermanfrom the park from 9pm-6am. Non boaters andnon fisherman are about 85%-90% of the prob-lem. The law currently prohibits those particularpeople from entering the park but it is virtuallyunenforceable without a cop there full time. Fulltime police are too costly as is the cost of 500police visits to the park annually. Another planneeds to be worked on. I assumed the jointcommittee meeting would have the interest andbroad spectrum thinking to tackle a real prob-lem. Several solutions have been bantered butnot one committee member at the hearingwould acknowledge the park noise or remotelysuggest any remedies. Shameful.

Your publication has failed to do theresearch on facts about the Beach Complexand the issues at the Park. Look at the follow-ing facts.

Virtually every county along both coasts ofFlorida do not allow unlimited 24 hour ramps orpier activities. Charlotte County is the exceptionnot the rule. There are reasons why parks areclosed locally in Naples (Collier), Sarasota andManatee counties as well as in Punta Gorda.24/7 clearly draws undesirables. LOCALLY,THE WYSTERIA RAMP IS CLOSINGBECAUSE OF THE NOISE. By denying thereis no late night noise at the Beach Complexdoes not make it go away. The Wysteria resi-dents were well organized in their oppositionand they are to be commended for shoutinglouder than the mob.

December thru February we had 4 different(homeless) people living in their cars in thepark. You did not know because you likely arenot there in the middle of the night..

5 other Charlotte county ramps near by in

non-residential areas would still be open toservice boaters with virtually no inconvenienceto anyone.

Your challenge to me on the fact that over500 police visits to the park in 12 months showsyour journalistic skills have failed. Your inabilityto make a few calls to get the information isamazing. As a journalist I would look harder. Iwas directed to the information on the 2nd call.Your challenge to me in public was grand stand-ing and made for good controversy. “Mr.Yancey what address do you live at, what num-ber is it?” You are unacceptably biased for ajournalist.

Your claim to my loss of credibility on drunk-en kayakers is YOUR view. The drunken kayak-ers happened and what makes it disgusting isof the 4 times, underage children were withthem twice. No kayak lights, open alcohol,screaming and yelling. You made light of a seri-ous incident. It is in the police record. Readabout it.

There were 6 separate people with me atthe hearing. Only 2 of us spoke out (pro pro-posal) because of the mob mentality in theroom. (your article said I was the only one tospeak for proposal--you were wrong) The other4 people were not interested in being subject tothe harassment that went on.

Parliamentary procedure was not adhered toin the meeting. I would describe it as an unpro-fessional “kangaroo” affair.

The spot light you referred to was an aftermidnight boater who pulled into the ramp withblaring music that woke all the guests in thehouse and the neighbors. They broke about20+ beer bottles in succession in a metal barrel.Polite crowd you represent. YOU DO NOTKNOW THE FACTS.

We did our research before moving in andwere assured by the county the park wasclosed from 9pm until 6am. Please, no moreairport jokes.

Not one question was asked of me from thecommittees after my presentation other than toridicule my 1 year residency. No one wanted

the facts about the noise. Actually I have ownedproperty in Florida since the early 80ʼs.

What really was never revealed due to timeand mob constraints is that 85% of the prob-lems are the park drive-bys throughout thenight. The stereos, fights, drinking, peel outs,drug deals, dope smoking and loud trucks. Allare clearly illegal but not stoppable under thecurrent rules. A proposal to gate the park andrequire payment prior to entry would virtuallysolve the issue. I was not given the courtesy tooffer the solution.

Candidate Ray Cowen (his wife) and BobNorton who live on Colleen and spoke againstthe proposal both live on the back side ofColleen. Cowen does not live across from me,you reported it incorrectly. Cowen is furthestfrom the noise and Bob Norton (lives on theback side) a bit closer but he has hearing aids.Ray (lifetime state beauracrat) was pandering tothe fishing vote by suggesting only fishermanhelped him clear his house after the hurricane.Go ask his neighbors who helped him clear hismess.

Your statement alleging lines of boats wouldspill into the streets if the ramp was not open allnight is just wrong. Do your research like a realjournalist should. Check the boat ramp at 9pmeach night maybe 2 boats and at 11 pm usually0 boats, and 2 am you find 0 boats, 4am 0boats etc, THERE IS VIRTUALLY NOBODYTHERE AFTER 9PM, go check it sometime.After 9pm there are just partiers, drive bys,drinkers and druggies. You should be openminded to help fix the problem that exists, it isall over the county not just this park.

Bill Cameron, Sheriff Candidate was thelone outside rational voice with a potential reso-lution to the park problems. He suggested clos-ing the fishing pier after 9pm and only allowingvehicles with trailers in the park after 9pm.Interesting that you did not print that in your arti-cle. Itʼs about being fair and balanced and thisis another example that your article was onesided.

John Yancey, Port Charlotte

P a g e 2 Wa t e r L I F E M A G A Z I N E S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 8

N O W G E T WAT E R L I F EN O W G E T WAT E R L I F E O N L I N EO N L I N E F R E E AT:F R E E AT:W W W. C H A R L O T T E H A R B O R M A G A Z I N E . C O MW W W. C H A R L O T T E H A R B O R M A G A Z I N E . C O M

Water LIFECharlotte Harbor

MagazineMichael and Ellen Heller

Publishers(941) 766-8180

TOTALLY INDEPENDENTWater LIFE is not affiliatedwith any other publication

Vol VII No9 © 2008 Water LIFENo part of this publication may becopied or reproduced without the

written permission of both publishers

Contributing Editors:Fishing / Environment: Capt. Ron BlagoCharlotte Harbor: Capt. Robert Moore

Gasparilla: Capt. Chuck EichnerPort Charlotte: Capt Andy MedinaOffshore: Capt. Steve Skevington

Real Estate: Dave HoferSailing Advisor: Bill Dixon

Kayaks: David AllenSea Grant: Betty Staugler

Diving: Adam Wilson

on the COVER:Adam Wilson brought this photo back fromthe Gulf last month while they wereexploring the underside of a weedline forfish

on our WEBSITE:WWW.charlotteharbormagazine.com

This Monthʼs Edition: Send a link to afriendRealtors: Links to advertisersTide Graphs: For local watersWeather: Links to favorite weather sites.Artificial Reefs: Lat. and Long localreefsManatee Myths: Read the original planto create sanctuaries and refuges, asspelled out by the United Nations in 1984Kids Cup Updates, Fish Tracking andTournament Information.

WRITE US!e-mail (preferred)

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S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 8 Wa t e r L I F E M A G A Z I N E P a g e 3

By Capt. Andrew MedinaWater LIFE Charlotte Harbor

Late last month my nephew, Cody Bollinger calledand said he and his friend had caught another sawfish. Hetold me that was their second one. If it was anyone else Iwould question that, but Cody and the boy that was withhim are growing up like most of us charter captains did– river rats, I believe, is the technical term. Both CodyandAmin spend most of there time on the water. I havebeen fishing with Cody since he could walk. I met Aminwhen he participated in the Don Ball School and sincethen have fished both ofthem in the Kids Cup. Theirword is credible to me.Normally I would just

think it was dumb luck. Weused to catch sawfish back inthe late 70’s and early 80’s,but I have not seen a lot ofthem around in the past fewyears. I asked Cody thescoop. Maybe they figuredout some fishing-thing I didnot know. Were they actuallytargeting sawfish? Theanswer was ‘no.’ They really had no idea, both times.The first fish was caught the same way the second

was – while the boys were fishing for redfish. First onHog Island, just on the Myakka river side. They saw itswimming in a foot of water and, later it ate a cut pieceof ladyfish. The second fish, a week later, came fromAlligator Bay just across from the Port Charlotte Beachcomplex.The boys were in one of my favorite redfish holes

fishing for reds, throwing cut lady fish again, when theycaught the second one. Both fish they said were about 3feet long. Both fish were released without harm. Couldthe boys have found another use for ladyfish? We knowredfish like it, but sawfish?

I got interested in this subject and poked around tofind other anglers and their stories. My first stop was atFishn’ Franks; if they don’t know no one will. While Iwas in there one of our friends, Greg Whaley fromHarbor Heights, was showing off some pictures. What Ifound interesting about his photos were, yet anothersawfish. This one caught by his son Jacob Whaley, an11 year old angler. His fish was caught just on the northside of I-75 bridge in an area we call Bay Marsh. It is ashallow bay with a mud bottom surrounded by the grass,with one deep cut to enter. It was another three footerand while I was talking with Gregg, he said a half hourafter catching that ‘saw’ they had seen a much larger onein the same bay – probably a nine or ten foot fish. The

three footer Jacobcaught was on apiece of white bait.Greg went on to

tell me that hisbrother Geoff caughttwo ‘saws’ in oneweek in the earlypart of July, aroundBird Key in thelower Peace River.Since there were somany sawfish beingcaught around the

Harbor I called Florida Fish andWildlife ResearchInstitute and I found some interesting facts: The nose ofthe fish (the part with all the teeth) is called a rostrumand is easily entangled in fishing gear and nets. The saw-fish is in the ray family and was a popular trophy ‘backin the day.’ Unintentional overfishing caused them tobecome less commonly seen during the last century.Since 1992 the small tooth sawfish is listed on the

endangered list and is protected by law under the UnitedStates Endangered Species Act.Today, small tooth sawfish are seen primarily in an

area from Charlotte Harbor to the Florida Keys. Only afew sightings are reported elsewhere. Smaller sawfish –3 to 6 feet – are typically found close to shore. Larger

sawfish – up to 18 feet in length – are found in the deep-er Gulf waters.Juvenile sawfish use Charlotte Harbor as a nursery.

When the young fish are born they are about 2 and halffeet in length. They double in size in their first yearwhich means all the fish the kids caught in the 3ft rangewere within a year old. The sawfish’s growth slows dur-ing the second year of life. The rapid growth of thesefish keeps the predators away when they are young.Sawfish are a species we as anglers really need to payattention to. We need to be careful when returning thesefish back to the water. If you catch one or see one,please note the time, place and size and notify the FWCat 941-255-7403 or at [email protected]

Capt. Andrew Medina can be reached for charter info at456-1540 or on the web at www.fishfloridatarpon.com


Screaming ReelsScreaming Reels

Numerous Rare Sawfish in Charlotte WatersKids Catch two in one weekend, others caught thereafter

Jacob Whaley with the sawfish caught on the eastside of the I-75 bridge. He's 11 and can brag aboutsomething that a lot of other older guys can't lay claimto... he has caught a sawfish!

Numerous catches and sightings of juvenilesawfish by the public have been reported inthe Charlotte Harbor area. There have been75 encounters in the Caloosahatchee River,and 39 encounters in the Peace River sinceJanuary 1, 2008. Scientists have captured

and tagged almost 100 sawfish, including 8in the lower Peace River since May.

BY Michael Hel lerWater LIFE EditorLast month the environmental lawyers

from EarthJustice filed a lawsuit to contestpermitting for a new phosphate mine atHorse Creek on the Peace River. In relatedhappenings a couple of interesting thingscame together for me last month as well.First, a guy who distributes travel

brochures around the state said there weretons of foreign visitors in Florida this sum-mer. The pattern, he said, is they arrive inMiami to see South Beach then they drive toOrlando for the ‘theme park experience’ andthen they drive to .... are you ready?Everglades City, to take an airboat ride intothe swamp and see the Florida wildlife.“Airboat operators down there are havingtheir best year ever,” he had said.Another interesting thing happened when I

did a spot on local talk-radio promoting ourDon Ball School of Fishing kids programthat starts next month. In the last minute ofthe show a listener called in to ask me what Ithought about phosphate mining and septictanks and and the effect they have on thewatershed. I told him, in my opinion, theywere very bad things and that phosphate min-ing could be a real disaster if all that acidladen phosphate sludge got washed into thePeace River again. I said there’s not anythingwe could do if something happened at thephosphate mines. That hung with me: Notanything we could do.Then another interesting thing happened. I

got a call from Shannon Gadbois fromThomas Ryan Associates. They own a build-

ing on Marion that had some serious floodprotection installed when TS Fay wasapproaching. Shannon called me in responseto a question about the lengths his companywent to, to protect their building. He told methe devices were ‘flood gates’ and that all thenew buildings in downtown Punta Gordamust now have some sort of FEMAapproved flood protection. Flood gates, hesaid, were preferable to a raised foundationsince (in nice weather) passers-by were lesslikely to walk in to a store if they had toclimb steps.So later, I looked up ‘flood gates’ on the

Internet. What I found was a revelation.Flood gates and flood walls are being used inmany areas nationwide. The citys ofDavenport and Grand Forks and the RedRiver Valley, areas that were all hit so hardby flooding, are now showcases for new‘flood wall’ technology. I saw one city hadeven completely surrounded its garbagedump. It seemed like after they had a prob-lem they all figured out the answer.A light went on in my head. Phosphate

mining is our garbage dump, our problemarea and the environment is what touristswant to see. So why wait until there is a dis-aster? Why not surround the phosphate mineswith a flood wall now? We have to figurethere is going to be high water at somepoint. After TS Fay, the Peace River climbedto flood stage. With a little more water wecould have had a phosphate disaster rightthen. Or worse yet, they could have decidedto release water from a storm flooded mineback into the Peace River. We can’t let either

of those things happen.If we want to be known for our pristine

estuary, its rivers and all the living thingshere, then the County should be promotingour Harbor and wildlife with billboards on I-75 and going to extremes to protect it rightnow. That’s what we elect these guys for.Could Charlotte County team up with

DeSoto County and mandate a reverse floodprotection ordinance that would require phos-phate mining operations to be surrounded bya barrier-wall capable of holding back a 100year flood? That ‘metal-wall technology’exists today. Money will solve this problemand phosphate mining is very profitable. Soif they whine that it’s too expensive (whichthey will) then the county tells them theyjust can’t dig. Protecting the environmentmust be included in the cost of doing busi-ness and I think the Feds will support us.Mandating a pristine estuary should be a no-brainer, especially in an election year.


Why Not Wall in Phosphate Mines?

Above: DeSoto County workerstake water samples from the PeaceRiver twice a month, but if theyfound something ʻphosphateʼ badwhat could we do?Below: One of the new flood gatesin Punta Gorda. There is anotherflood gate photo on page 9.


By Capt. Chuck EichnerWater LIFE Charlotte HarborSummertime on Charlotte Harbor

means high tides and good fishing. Theangling challenge with the extra hightides of summer is where to find the fish.With each incoming tide redfish, snookand trout meander their way into the feed-ing grounds. Starting from the lower tidephases, gamefish will warily make a trekinto the backcountry. The middle tidalphases can be difficult because the fish arespread out over our expansive flats. Asthe flow of tide adds inches to the waterdepth, the range of exploration expands.The expanding waterline floods man-

groves, oyster beds and weedy bottomthat previously were too shallow for safefeeding. Savvy anglers need to positionthemselves to take advantage of theincoming water. There is indeed a certainstrategy that needs to be employed. Mystrategies have mainly come from exten-sive hours of not catching to fish to nar-row down short scopes of time where andwhen the fishing is hot. In short, manyfishing spots have short windows of timewhere the fish are either passing throughor positioned in a feeding mode for alength of time. There are incoming tidespots and outgoing tide spots and a rarefew are both.Incoming VS Outgoing Tide- If

you consider that fish are migrating withthe rising tide to feed then it would seemthat they would be hungrier and moreaggressive on the incoming. Conversely,on the outgoing tide the fish have alreadybeen feeding and are gearing up to migrateback out of the shallows as the tidesrecede. Which fish is going to be moreaggressive, an incoming tide fish that hasbeen led by the dinner bell of the hightide or the outgoing tide fish that hasbeen feeding for hours and is heading out?Most anglers I know love the incom-

ing tide. Obviously, this is because theycatch more fish on the incoming tide.For the high tides of summer I prefer thetop of the outgoing tides, but the last 2hours of incoming are pretty hard to beat.Perhaps some anglers are just better atunderstanding the predatory instincts ofredfish and snook on certain tide phases.The next question is where do fish go

on high tide. Generally speaking theyfollow their food source of baitfish, crabsand shrimp. The shallow water man-groves are the sanctuary for baitfish andyoung frey of our predator species. Onthe low tides they are safe, but on hightides they are in the feeding grounds. Ibelieve that the extra high tides of sum-mer provoke the baitfish and crabs toexpand their range deeper into the back-country as the tides push in. These for-age species are also in pursuit of food andfeast on small micro-organisms and freshsubmerged aquatic vegetation that onlybecomes accessible on the higher tidephases.Gamefish will follow their food

source. The angling difficulty is that fishsuddenly have many more square miles offeeding grounds. My strategies are rela-tively simple: Move further into thebackcountry with rising waters, choosefunnel areas that modify water flow andlook for shoreline irregularities that willallow gamefish to position themselves toambush prey. It sounds simple enoughbut it requires patience. There are somany great looking spots when the bush-es are flooded.A few things to look for are:� Mangroves with indentations that areflooded on high tide and void on low tide(preferably next to deeper water).� Mangroves that have adjacent oysterbeds.� Mangroves with obvious current flow.

� Creek channels leading from the back-country.� Mangroves that contain hard banks.� Baitfish activity of any kind.� Mullet jumping or swirling.� Oyster beds.My fishing techniques are basic. For

artificials, high tides are the perfect timeto become a “bassmaster”. Cast spoonsand weedless soft plastics in rapid firefashion and cover lots of water. This is agreat time to work a topwater bait aswell. Bait fishing requires more patience,but is hard to beat. Fish pinfish or cutbait on the bottom and hang on. Themost important key is to make accuratecasts with your bait tight against thebush. A cast two feet from the bush isusually a waisted cast as gamefish willusually not stray far from their waterflushed sanctuary.There are some other considerations for

high tide fishing. The huge influx of

freshwater will create extra current flowparticularly on the outgoing tide. Fishmay position themselves to take advan-tage of the extra water flow and the gro-ceries that flow out with it. With hugerainfalls you may have to consider thevarying salinity. If the water becomestoo fresh, then baitfish may avoid the areaas well as what your fishing for. Lastly,super high tides that are wind driven canbe the kiss of death for fishing. Extraflooded waters give the fish way toomuch room to roam however the lack oftide flow that usually comes with it doesmore to shut down the bite then the extrawater.Fishing is always about being in the

right place at the right time. A bent rodis the sweet sign of a well chosen spotand another great day on Charlotte Harbor.

Capt. Chuck Eichner is a local chartercaptain. For information or to book a guid-ed fishing trip call 941-505-0003 or go tohis website: www.backcountry-charters.com

Locating Fish on the High Tide

Miles Meredith and Eric Carstensen had no problem locating fish in the big water followingTS Fay last month. The Cape Tool and Tackle team weighed in this 7.22 pound red at theCharlotte and DeSoto Building Industries Association tournament, the eventʼs biggest fish .Other winners were: Trout – team Kinetico 3.80 pounds, Snapper – team Blind Squirrel 3.78pounds and Ladyfish – team Ken Rite Construction /Banks Engineering 2.28 pounds.


By Capt. Stev e Skev ing tonWater LIFE OffshoreWhen most boats are heading back into

the dock from a long hard day of fishingwe’re heading out into the Gulf. Our dayhas just begun, it’s 6 p.m., night fishingin southwest Florida is one of the bestkept secrets in the fishing world. Snapperfishing, and shark fishing – night fishingoff Fort Myers offers a great deal ofopportunity for species that are nocturnalfeeders and just don’t bite as well duringthe day.For yellowtail snapper, we are using

real light tackle with 10-15 pound testline. Yellowtails aren't really big fish.They range in size from 1-3 pounds andoccasionally bigger. We like to use asmall hook, 2/0 being about the biggest,but I prefer smaller. Fresh bait is a must.Yellowtails love cut baits such as sardines,shrimp and squid. They also love to eat cutballyhoo chunks, whole live greenbacksand even artificial jigs. The fresher yourbait, the better your chances are for themto eat your hook, instead of the guy fish-ing next to you. Don’t use too big a chunkor it is difficult for them to get it intotheir mouth. Light line and light lead (1/4ounce lead sinkers are usually more thanenough weight) are what you want to usefor yellowtail. You basically want to driftyour line back in the current with thechum, as if your bait was a piece that cameout of the chum bag naturally. They aremid-depth feeders when your chumming soyou don’t have to be all the way down tothe bottom. You just have to be in thechum trail. Yellowtails hit hard, so you’llknowwhen you get a bite from one andyou’ll be able to tell it’s a yellowtail whenyou’re fighting him. Yellowtails are ablast to catch, and when you get into aschool of them, you can catch them oneright after another. They are both a ton offun to catch and DELICIOUS!Mangrove snapper live in shallow

water, sometimes in only 1-to 2-feet ofwater around the mangrove trees in theshallows. They also live around the pil-ings of docks, piers and bridges. We catch

the ones out in the gulf on the wrecks andthe reefs. You fish for mangroves a lot likeyellowtails, same types of baits work forthem as well. Live shrimp is a great baitto use for mangrove snapper fishing. Withlight tackle you will get the best bite, butsometimes they get pretty big and will eatlarger baits as well. Whenever your catch-ing yellowtails, there are probably somebig mangrove snappers lurking nearby, sobe ready to catch them.

Occasionally we catch a few other fishwhile on our night time fishing trips.Cobias, that migrate through the FortMyers area in the fall and winter months,aren't’t caught every night trip, but we docatch a pretty fair amount of them. Cobiaswim in schools and when you catch one,be ready because there very well may be afew other nice cobias swimming with him.Cobias are excellent eating, and makegreat sushi or steaks on the grill. You usu-ally catch one when you least expect it, soyou never knowwhen one may jump onthe line, and make your night!Groupers are another fish you can catch

when snapper fishing offshore. They liveon the bottom in the reefs and typicallyswim and eat with the snapper. Gaggrouper, red groupers and scamp groupersare the species we most commonly catchout of southwest Florida. Groupers arenotorious for eating your bait and thenswimming right back into their hole todigest their meal. Once they get back intheir hole, the chances of you getting himout without breaking the line are slim tonone. That’s why, with grouper fishing,you have to get him off the bottom assoon as you hook him. If you think youmay have a grouper on the line, put a littleextra drag on the line andmake him orbreak him right off the bat. If you can gethim off the bottom just a bit, then loosenyour drag slightly and fight him up.

Give it a shot, you may like the DarkSide of fishing.

Capt Steve can be reached for charter at(941) 575-3528 or atwww.paradisefishingcharters.com

Dark SideNight FishingOffshore


By Capt. Ron BlagoWater LIFE Senior StaffBuried behind the headlines of

the Olympics and the presidentialcampaigns was a press releaseindicating that PETA (people forthe ethical treatment of animals)has been at it again. It seemsthey have made an offer to buySea World. To give you somebackground information- SeaWorld is currently owned byAnheuser-Busch (this Buds foryou folks) and is in the processof being taken over by InBev aBelgium beer company, for acool $50 billion dollars. PETAfigures the new owners mightwant to get out of the touristentertainment business and con-centrate solely on brewing beer;and may be willing to sell offone or all of the Sea World’s.PETA has sent a letter to the

president of InBev stating thatthey have an anonymous donorwho is willing to put up enoughmoney to buy at least one of thethree Sea World’s.PETA has always had a reputa-

tion for holding great publicitystunts. Everyone remembers thethrowing of blood on people whowere wearing mink stoles andbreaking into medical labs andreleasing research animals and mypersonal favorite; naked modelsand actresses walking down thestreet protesting animal fur. Ialso remember PETA showing upat a local kid’s fishing tourna-ment and carrying signs thatsaid,"Hooks Hurt" and "Fish have

Feeling Too." But PETA also hasa darker side.In 2005, two PETA employ-

ees were arrested while dumpingthe bodies of 31 dead animals ina public dumpster in NorthCarolina. It seems that PETA hadan arrangement with the Virginiahumane society to take puppiesand kittens off their hands andfind good homes for them. Itappears that wasn’t as easy asPETA thought. It turns out that75-percent of all the animals theypicked up, they euthanaized in afew days. The State of Virginia,where PETA has their headquar-ters, estimated that PETA exter-minated over 10,000 animalsbetween 1998 and 2003. Nowthat my be in poor taste for ananimal rights group, but it’s notillegal. What got them in troublewas how they disposed of thebodies. I guess PETA figured itwould not be good publicity tostack up a pile of dead puppieson the curb and wait for trashday; so they had their employeesload the carcasses into the com-pany van, and go across the stateline to North Carolina and startdropping them off in trash cansalong the way. Now that’s theiridea of ‘ethical.’Anheuser –Busch estimates

that their entertainment unit isworth about $5 billion which isa pretty steep price tag for anorganization like PETA that onlybrings in an average of $20 mil-lion a year in donations. Maybethere really is an anonymous

donor who is willing to put upthat type of money or perhaps itwas some guy they found in thetasting room at the local Budbrewery who, after 12 freeMichelob’s , promised to givethem anything they wanted.Publicity stunt or not, some

of the PETA followers are takingthis seriously. Debbie Leahy, aPETA Director said "This couldbe the end of the injustice at SeaWorld, where orca’s and other dol-phins are imprisoned in tinytanks and forced to do silly tricksfor dumb people."PETA’s plan for Sea World is

to re-train these sea creatures so

that they can be released backinto the wild. I’m sure that aftera lifetime of free food and thebest medical care available, theycan hardly wait to go out andmake it on their own in the wild– kind of like Paris Hilton beingforced to go out and get a job. Iguess PETA doesn’t realize thatfor a long time now people havebeen going out and rescuinginjured sea creatures and bringingthem to marine sanctuaries to behealed – and the name of thisplace is – duahhh -Sea World.PETA plans to get rid of all

the exhibits and replace themwith "virtual displays" kind of

like video games. I’m sure it willbe just like being right therewhen Shamu jumps up andsplashes everyone in the frontrow. I’m so excited about thatprospect, I just might send PETAa virtual donation.Whether this is a hoax or not

only time will tell, but if PETAdoes take over Sea World and youtake the family there for somevirtual fun, remember, when youstop for lunch, think about thosepoor puppies in Virginia beforeyou order your Flipper Burgers orManatee Mac Nuggets. I wonderif Budweiser would give me agood deal on a used Clydesdale.

TOTALLY INSANE PETA Offers to Buy Sea World and Set the Animals Free

WARNING ! WARNING! ––– PREPARE TO BE APPROACHED ON THE WATER!This is from a listing of new grants available to state agencies:“The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is establishing a new initiativecalled the Marine Resource Conservation Partnership (MRCP). The MRCP seeks to improve marine resource protection by implementing non-regulatory saltwater recreationaloutreach and education programs. The FWC will purchase two boats for use by volunteers to make non-threatening, one-to-one contact wi th boaters topromote boat ing safety , resource conservat ion and informat ion on related subjects . If successful, the program will be expanded to other coastal counties.”

P a g e 1 0 Wa t e r L I F E M A G A Z I N E S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 8

By Capt Ron BlagoWater LIFE Senior StaffWell it’s just about redfish time in our

area and although redfish can be caughtyear round, the peak of the season is Sept– Oct. That is when redfish school up inthe bay and harbor and make their run off-shore to spawn. During this time the fishhave only one thing on their mind andthat is to eat as much as they can beforethey head out to open water. Early in themorning and late in the afternoon, it’s notuncommon to find large schools of red-fish chasing bait in the grass flats or feed-ing on crabs and shrimp right on the oys-ter bars. Years ago when I fished SarasotaBay, the popular method to get reds wasto wade off the Ringling Flats or LongBar with live shrimp on a popping cork.Wadding was the secret. You could fish

without spooking the fish; somethingyou can’t do in a boat no matter howquiet you are. When I started to guide Isoon found out that it was nearly impos-sible to talk your customers out of theboat to stand in the water so I started tofish docks for redfish. I remember oneday Capt Walker showed me how four-inch grunts, hooked through the tail andthrown head first under a dock would

catch really big reds.When I moved to Englewood, I found

it hard to find large schools of reds on aregular basis. If you knew where theywere you could go get them, but I foundmyself spending a lot of time and gaslooking for phantom schools of fish run-ning up and down from Catfish Creek toTurtle Bay.One day I was working in a local bait

shop when an old timer came in and askedwhat kind of spoons we sold. I told himwe had the Johnson Sprit and the SilverMinnow which were the most popularsellers back then. We even had a smallspoon with a treble hook that Cotee Jigwas selling at the time. He said he wasnot interested in those, but he pointed tosome gold spoons that were in the backof the display case. These were the cheap-est spoons they ever made. They camefrom some place in Tampa and were noth-ing more than a piece of gold plated metalwith a treble hook and a small piece ofred plastic. These thing were so cheap ifyou left them out in the air, they wouldrust over night.The spoons were about 79-cents each

so I asked him how many he wanted andhe told me he would take them all. If Iremember correctly he bought about 40 ofthem. Now when someone buys thatmany of anything you just got to knowwhat he has in mind. So I asked him whyhe need so many. He told me that eachyear he and two buddies come down and

fished the West Wall for redfish and allthey used were these cheap gold coloredspoons. He told me he threw them as farback into the mangroves as he could andcranked them out as fast as he could. Isaid ‘don’t you lose a lot of spoons thatway?’ and he answered “sure we’ll lose’emall, that’s why we buy the cheap ones,

but we catch an awful lot of big redfishso we figure it’s worth it.”The spoon is probably the oldest fish-

ing lure there is and it works as welltoday as it did for the guy who first cutoff the flat part of an eating utensil andput a hook on it. Spoons have some realadvantages. You can cast them a milewhich is a big help if you are trying tolocate fish in a strange territory. You canwork that spoon slowly on the surface ofthe water until you get a strike.You can fish a spoon on the surface,

down deep or even cast it into deep struc-ture to locate fish. Let’s face it, theydon’t break or wear out. If you wash themoff at the end of the day, they will lastforever. When compared with the cost oflive bait or the cost of plugs or jigs;spoons have great value.Over the last few years manufacturers

have tried to improve the spoon. Theyhave put feathers on them, attached plas-tic tails to them and offer them in differ-ent colors and textures; but the old stand-by gold colored spoon work as good as italways has.If there is one tip I can give the new

spoon thrower it’s to use a swivel or aloop knot between your spoon and yourleader. This will allow you to get thatslow fluttering motion and help preventline twist. Now is the time to get outthere and spoon feed some redfish.Capt Ron can be reached for questions orcharters at 941-474-3474

On The LineF i s h i n g w i t h C a p t . R o n

S p o o n s

At $7 this Red Ripper isnʼt one of thecheaper gold spoons.

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PROVIDED BY:Dave & Marlene HoferRE/MAX Harbor Realty(941) 575-3777 [email protected] area news items1. New construction is all the rage in

downtown Punta Gorda these days. TheSunloft multi use building, with itsbuilt-in parking garage, is beginning inte-rior work. Site work began this month onthe new city owned parking garage site,despite the unfortunate construction sign.Last time we checked, it is NOT a felonyto squander $11 million taxpayer dollarsthat we don't have on something we don'tneed. Hopefully, the new hotels(Sheraton andWyvern and soon- to-comeHilton Garden Inn) will bring much wel-comed traffic to the area. No, don'texpect any of those new tax dollars tohelp out homeowners, they are earmarkedfor the parking garage!2. Punta Gorda's Laishley Park will

officially open the Whalley Stage onAugust 28 with a free concert by localcelebrity, Jim Morris. The Whalley fam-ily donated the funds to build this newcanopy, saving taxpayers the burden ofbuilding the originally planned bandshellon the site.3. The object of new height limit

easing, the Mercabo condo project inPlacida has been mothballed. Anothercasualty of the stagnant housing marketand hesitant second home buyer.4. Charlotte County's debt for the

acquisition of Murdoch Village's 3,000vacant lots stands at $93.3 million(including $5 Million lent by the State).In an attempt to diffuse the mushroomingcomplaints of the daily interest cost tocarry this debt, the Commissioners have

come up with a partialshell game...er... solu-tion. They will paydown the debt by $30million through the useof reserves and eliminat-ing other capital projectsfrom the budget. Thishas been a strategy thathas worked well in thepast by private indus-try... other than for thosecompanies that neededliquidity and funds forcapital investments.5. HMA, the own-

ers of both Peace RiverHospital and CharlotteRegional Hospital hassubmitted an applicationto move its open heartfacilities out of Charlotte and into PeaceRiver. Citing the need for more roomfor expansion, as the reason. Charlottewill presumably become less profitableand more likely to be sold by HMA.6. Punta Gorda will host its first

weekly open air "farmer's market" down-town on October 4. Probably not wel-come news to the vendors trying toscratch out a living at the existing marketon Cooper Street, but a good use forHerald Court and downtown businesseshoping to see shoppers come back to thearea.Local ly: Although prices continue

to decline at a rate of more than 1% permonth, volume of sales reached a 3 yearhigh last month. Representative of thenational inventory reduction, 50 of the336 recorded sales in our study were bankowned or controlled.

Statistics are intended to assist in analyzingtrends in supply and demand and not to indi-cate specific market values. Ending invento-ry is not always beginning inventory pluslistings minus sales since many pendinglistings are held over from month to month,some listings expire and are withdrawn and,therefore, do not appear as sales and newlistings includes price changes.

Outlook for theHousing IndustryThe question on everyone’s mind today

is “when are we going to get out of thishousing slump?”Before we can make an educated guess

as to the right answer, we need to get agrasp on what caused the problem andwhat are the variables that can lead tosolving the problem.Right off the bat, let’s make one thing

clear: It wasn’t subprime loans or irre-sponsible borrowers and lenders that“caused” this bubble, they were the“effects” of the bubble. The cause wasan overly stimulated interest rate environ-ment that led to widespread speculation inthe new construction industry by smallinvestors.In the normal course of events, rising

real estate prices in the existing homemarket are totally connected to the alter-native cost of replacement of those homesin the new home market. Traditionally,home builders across the country wouldbuild homes in expectation of selling tobona-fide home buyers that were beingcreated from the pool of new householdformations. Homebuilders could turnover product and raise prices as long asthe supply of new homes remained at areasonable level. From 1963 to 2003that range stayed consistently between 3and 3.7 months of new household forma-tions. Beginning in last half of 2003,builders became excessively aggressive asa perfect storm of super low interest rates,rising real estate prices and a crushingbear market in stocks caused neophytespeculators to enter the market. Notonly did builders appease that artificialdemand but increased their inventories inthe expectation of continuing demand.Inventories continued to expand exponen-tially until mid 2006 when they stood atan absurdly high 5.8 months of house-hold formations. In other words,America had more than 300,000 morenew homes than it needed to meet the

demand of new household formations!At almost the exact same time, specu-

lators, now feeling the effects of risinginterest rates, flattening constructionprices and a rising stock market abruptlyleft the party.Since then, builders have all but

stopped building and inventories havebeen liquidated at below cost. At thecurrent pace, inventory levels should beback to within the “safe” range of 3.7months of demand by early 2009. (Note,we distinguish “demand” from the moretraditionally used “supply” to describeinventory – at today’s low level of sales,the number of months of homes availablebased on today’s sales pace is meaning-lessly high). After this inventory hasbeen absorbed, prices should graduallyreturn to inflation adjusted mid 2003 pricelevels.Government Solutions

The Fed, for years applauding the innova-tive new mortgage products brought tothe market by unregulated Wall Street"hotshots", has quietly thrown in thetowel. This, little publicized, chartshows an alarming trend by the Fed toinvest its portfolio in the mortgage poolsof comatose banks to provide liquidity tothe banking community.The Homeowner's Act of 2008 will go

into effect on October 1. Will it help?The new law provides FHA type refinanc-ing of existing mortgages, normally atlower rates than the existing mortgagesrequire. So, it provides relief to thosewho have been "collaterally damaged" bythe home financing meltdown. But, itdoes not offer ANY relief to investors orthose with second mortgages, home equi-ty loans, etc., which, of course, is thevast majority of the problem loans today.It provides negligible relief to cashstrapped lenders who can get their loanspaid off, if they are willing to accept 85%of the market value of the property.Please v isit us at www.harborparadise.comto v iew any available properties from Veniceto Burnt Store Marina

RealRealEstateEstateNewsNews

The Punta Gorda Chamber of Commerceʼs building installed these metal flood gates to hold back the high water anticipatedin TS Fay but the waters never came. The new SunLoft Marketplace across Marion Ave will install similar protection. FEMAmandated flood protection for downtown Punta Gorda weʼll likely see more of these contraptions installed around town.

AAmmeerriiccaass CCuussttoomm GGaattee CCoommppaannyyFree delivery anywhere in Florida ((994411))662233--33999911 www.americascustomgatecompany.com email: [email protected] Includes powder coat and

mounting poles


By Capt. Frank CiurcaSpecial to Water LIFEWhen I first

arrived inCharlotteCounty in early2004, I imme-diately beganfishing thecanals, rivers,and estuariesleading to theHarbor. It justso happenedthat a close friendwas sharing theboat during that first week, Capt. NormBartlett. Capt. Norm is a top fishingguide from the Chesapeake Bay andSouth Florida. He is an outspoken criticof poor water quality in the UnitedStates’ largest estuary, the ChesapeakeBay. The thing that stands out fromthose first fishing trips was a noticeablealgal bloom or red tide, which many ofthe residents had been aware of for years. We also noticed additional algae

blooms in the smaller canals and creeksleading to the Harbor. Surface water canbecome enriched by nutrients such asnitrogen and phosphorus compounds

from agricultural runoff or sewage, lead-ing to algae blooms, and a process thatis called eutrophication.Charlotte County has approximately

300 miles of navigable canals, with anestimated 25,000 and 100,000 adjacentproperties, many of which use onsitesewage treatment systems, otherwiseknown as a septic tanks and drain fields. There are currently over 40,000 septic

systems which serve residents, and manycommercial businesses in CharlotteCounty. With a large number of septicsystems, it is reasonable to assume thatin addition to fertilizer and storm waterrunoff, septic discharge has a potentialto impact the waterways of the County.Studies have indicated that effluent froma septic system’s drain field can migrateto aquifers (underground rivers) and leachinto adjacent surface waters.Due to the close proximity of thou-

sands of septic systems to canals andwaterways, there became a need to deter-mine if there was an environmentalimpact. A grant entitled “The Gulf ofMexico Project,“ was obtained by theCharlotte County Health Department(CCHD) from the U.S. EPA and a minigrant from the Charlotte HarborNational Estuary Program to augment

The Gulf of Mexico Project

Capt. Frank

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funding. The grant will supplement theManaged Septic System Program current-ly being implemented by the CharlotteCounty Health Department. The programrequires a 5-year permit obtained from theCCHD for each septic system utilizing aseptic tank and mandates that each tankbe pumped out and inspected during thesame time frame. Preliminary data hasindicated that a significant number of sep-tic tanks are failing due to structuraldefects and age. Tank repair or replace-ment should assist in reducing impact ofseptic discharge on the waterways.Per the grant, principal investigator

Brettany Cook of the CCHD is currentlyinvestigating various canals that may bereceiving septic discharge and migratinginto Charlotte Harbor’s watershed, andeventually into the Gulf. By samplingand analyzing the waters of manmadecanals throughout Charlotte County formultiple parameters associated with septicsystem discharge, such as (FecalColiforms, Enteroccoccus bacteria, aswell as Caffeine, and the HumanPolyomavirus), specific canal systemsmay indicate an impact by septic systemdischarge.Currently, sampling is on-going with

results very preliminary and non conclu-sive. However, there appears to be anincreased concentration of parameters test-ed to date (although not statistical) in thearea designated as Spring Lake. Areas like

Spring Lake, which are older and moreestablished, might also show highernumbers of failing septic systems, thenin more recently developed areas. Furthertesting and analysis will be performed todetermine if there is a definable linkbetween septic tank discharges and migra-tion to canals in the area.I am often able to speak to residents

along the waterways of Charlotte County.Some who have lived in the area over 30years, have noticed a decline in the waterquality of the canals where they live. Onegentleman told me he never had to leavethe canals to catch fish 30 years ago, butnow has to go many miles and not catchas many.In future months we will look at other

environmental issues affecting CharlotteHarbor including a more in depth study ofseptic and aerobic treatment units andtheir operation, as well as the ManagedSeptic System. The results of the Gulf of Mexico

project will be discussed after the projectis finished and the samples evaluated.Many thanks to Scott Schermerhorn,Facilities Supervisor, CCHD, for theinformation on the Gulf of MexicoProject.

Capt. Frank Ciurca is an EnvironmentalSpecialist with Charlotte County Health Dept, apart time fishing guide and Outdoor Writer. He canbe reached at: [email protected]

P a g e 1 4 Wa t e r L I F E M A G A Z I N E K I D S C U P S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 8

By Betty S tauglerSea Grant / Water LIFELast month I had the opportunity to

go to Indonesia as part of a U.S. delega-tion from the Florida Sea Grant program.Our objectives were to: 1) Participate inthe 4th Annual NOAA Capacity BuildingWorkshop, in which NOAA hopes toexpand its remote sensing capabilities inthe Indian Ocean by partnering with theIndonesian Navy for ship time. TheIndonesian’s in turn are looking for assis-tance in developing a mechanism to getremote sensing information (in particular– early warnings for tsunamis) out to itsrural communities. 2) Sign agreementsbetween three of Indonesian’s publicUniversities and the University ofFlorida, which will allow graduate stu-dents to study abroad and researchers towork cooperatively. 3) Assist theIndonesian Sea Partnership Program (theequivalent of the Sea Grant Program) indeveloping its long range priorities andwith program implementation. Some ofyou may remember that earlier this year,four members of the Sea PartnershipProgram came to U.S. and visited withme in Charlotte County.This was my first trip to Indonesia.

Indonesia is a nation made up of thou-sands of islands with 33 providences(states). If you were to lay a map ofIndonesia on top of a map of the conti-nental U.S., the island nation would spanthe entire U. S. continent. My time wasspent in the cities of Jakarta, Bogor andBandung on the island of Java and inMakassar on the island of Sulawesi. Indonesia has experienced an incredible

amount of coastal habitat loss due to pol-lution and destructive fishing practices(reef bombs and poison). Pollution is afunction of the large population (Jakartais the 11th most populated city in theworld) and the nation faces an incredibleamount of poverty. Up until recentlywhen Indonesia became a major player inthe global seafood market, fishing wasprimarily conducted to put food on the

table. Because of the demand for exporta-tion, it has become more challenging forthe local fishermen who are providingfood for the families. Indonesians areaccustomed to eating seafood every dayand they waste nothing. Fish that wewould use as bait fish are all eaten. Infact, I cannot tell you how many times Ilooked down at my rice or noodles to seehundred of little eyeballs from tiny fish(maybe a half inch to an inch) staringback at me. I’ve actually acquired a tastefor little eyeballs and a whole host ofother foods, many of which remain verymuch a mystery. The language, by theway, is Bahasa, of which I know almostnone, so picking from a menu was prettymuch close your eyes, point and hope forthe best. Going to the universities was an

incredibly humbling experience. Theirpremier universities have very little inthe way of resources (no real lab equip-ment to speak of). Floor tiles were

cracked, elevators didn’t work and electric-ity in some cases was reserved for theevenings. Despite their challenges theyare doing some incredibly cool things. They took us to see is a coral reef

restoration project. The research is tak-ing place at the Hasanuddin UniversityMarine Station, located on a tiny island12 miles away from Sulawesi. The proj-ect involves building structures out ofsteel and then plugging the structuresinto low voltage electricity. In theirwater, this causes a chemical reaction cre-ating limestone which forms around thesteel. The limestone is very hard andprovides substrate to which breeder coralis attached. The resulting coral growsmuch faster and are capable of resistingwarmer water temperatures. Another small island is being convert-

ed from a community that uses intensivefishing to one that relies on sustainablefarming. This island is learning how toraise sea cucumbers. Sea cucumbers are

sold, primarily to China and for $10each, thus providing a healthy newincome source for the island community.The small island visits were really ahighlight of my trip. It was obvious thatthe island’s inhabitants do not see manyforeigners. The children, dressed in theirschool uniforms came out for high fivesand pictures. Even the island chief cameto welcome us. The experience wasrewarding…the memories unforgettable.

Betty Staugler is the Sea Grant Agentfor Charlotte County. She can be reachedat 941-764-4346.

Sea Grant News from the Far East:

The view from my room at the Hyatt...yes that is all litter. Right: A local catch

‘I’v e act ual l y acqui red a t as t e fo r l i t t l e ey ebal l s ’

WWWWeeee ʼ̓̓̓vvvveeee MMMMoooovvvveeeedddd!!!!

S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 8 Wa t e r L I F E M A G A Z I N E K I D S C U P P a g e 1 5

By Capt Robert MooreWater LIFE S taffLadyfish has become a very popular bait here in

Southwest Florida. Although they offer us no foodvalue, there is a long list of fish species that would dis-agree. Ladyfish are a very bloody and oily fish that putout a great scent.The first species on the list of ladyfish lovers would

be the tarpon. During the late summer months tarponwill cruise the back bays and harbors looking for school-ing ladyfish. Usually when the ladyfish go into theirfeeding frenzy on the abundant schools of bait frye (thatare up and down the coast). Tarpon will take an opportu-nity to dine on them. They will also eat a ladyfish dead,soaked on the bottom. Next on my list would be redfish. Taking a perfectly

healthy 10-14 inch ladyfish and cutting it up into 1 inchsteaks is a probably one of the best baits you can offer aredfish. The first key to fishing with cut ladyfish is tonot move it. It’s simply a dead cut-bait you throw outand let the scent do the rest. If you are working a man-grove shoreline and pitching baits up under the branches,not much will work better than cut ladyfish. Snook willrarely turn down a fresh cut piece of ladyfish as well.Some of the biggest snook caught on my boat everyyear comes from cut ladyfish while fishing for reds. I also try never to go offshore without a couple lady-

fish. Moreover, chunked ladyfish will be devoured bymost offshore bottom dwellers such as grouper and snap-per. Catching ladyfish is usually an easy task. They will

eat just about anything you cast to them, especially ifthey are feeding. I use nothing more than a bare ¼ ouncejig head or gold or silver spoon. Often you will loose alot of ladyfish before you actually get them into theboat. Be careful when you do, they can make one heckof a mess.The key for successful fishing with ladyfish is fresh-

ness. The fresher they are the better. I prefer to catch myladyfish the same day I am going to use them to insurethat freshness. Can you freeze a ladyfish and use it on alater date? The answer is yes, but you will lose a lot ofthe freshness and the texture will become much softerafter if thaws. Anytime I use cut ladyfish I prefer to use a circle

hook. When fishing the flats for redfish and snook Irarely feel the fish actually pick the bait up. Using a cir-cle hook greatly reduces the number of times you guthook a fish.

Capt Rob Moore can be reached at:http://www.captrobertmoore.com

Ladyfish

30' Grady White 300 Marlin 2001 with Twin225 HP Evinrude outboards. Very wellequipped and very well maintained. Trueoffshore fishing machine. $69,900

30' Catalina 1989, single 25HP UniversalDiesel. Comfortable cockpit, sleeps 6, fullgalley. Full bimini with dodger Rigged forsingle handling. $34,500

32' Luhrs Tournament 320, 1992. Twin 340HPMarine Power 7.4 liter. Hard top to the fly-bridge and half top for cockpit area.REDUCED $10,000. Only $69,900

24' Pontoon Starcraft 2005 Single 50HPYamaha 2007. Engine only has 40 hourssince new and she also has a brand new2007 trailer. $15,900

23' Wellcraft 238 Coastal 1996 Single225HP Johnson Ocean Runner. Originalowner, very low hours and lift stored.Excellent condition throughout! $15,900

30' Young & Grant Sportfishing, 1983. Single350hp Caterpillar 3116 turbo new in 2000.This vessel is charter rigged and a proventournament winner. REDUCED! REDUCED! $19,900

23' Sea Fox 230 Walk-Around Cuddy 2002.200HP Merc Saltwater.This Sea Fox is agreat all around boat for fishing, cruisingand overnighting. REDUCED!REDUCED! $19,900

32' Pro Line 3250 Express 1998. With Twin2004 FWC Marine 330 HP motors . Pricedright and ready for summer! Reduced$10,000 and still taking offers. $49,900

27' Contender Open Center Console 2006twin 300HP Yamaha. Perfect condition,fully loaded, and ready for some seriousfishing! $98,000

27' Sportcraft hard top, 1991. 270hpMercruiser. Great fishing / cruising. Lift kept,enclosed head, sleeps 2. Make offer. $19,900

28' Bertram Fly Bridge Cruiser 1979 with 1995twin 260 HP Mercruiser Bluewater IB's. Hugecockpit for fishing, diving and entertaining.Excellent condition throughout! $23,900

21' Hurricane, 2007 Sundeck w/fish pkge.2007 Yamaha four stroke 150, less than 35hours. Loaded for a fishing day or justcruising with family. REDUCED! REDUCED! $32,900

21' Aquasport 215 Explorer Walk AroundCuddy has been lift stored, owner has keptit in top condition. 200HP JohnsonO.B.Boat is an excellent value. $17,900

33' Wellcraft Coastal 330 Sportfish, 2003.Twin 350HP Volvo 8.1. One owner boat inturn key condition. REDUCED $119,900

30' SeaRay 300 Weekender, 1989. Alwaysbeen lift stored out of the water. 260HPMercruiser Inboards. $24,900

Must Sell

Work begins on Jeff Steele Reef

By the time you read this work will have begun onthe cap Jeff Stele Reef, 14 miles offshore in 65feet of water. Over 500 Tons of culverts power-poles and other material will be initally deployed.The work had been scheduled to begin on Aug 26but wet geround and weather delays related to TSFay slowed progress. Here are the numbers at thecenter: 26 55.800N 82 35.900W

Capt. Rob Moore, son, Ryan and tarpon caught on ladyfish


By Adam WilsonWater LIFE DivingThis year’s St. Pete Open went off

without a hitch. Almost every contest-ant weighed in a fish and it was greatto see hundreds of divers be able tohunt the Gulf of Mexico without any incidents. Justgoes to prove the safety of our sport when people divewithin their limits and training.

As planned, team WreckReation consisting of CarlGill, Charlie Gill, Mike "Dago" Muscato, PaulWagenseil, Heidi Schwarz and myself headed out lateFriday night with the full moon to dive our newly founddeep hole off Venice. Dropping down early Saturdaymorning visibility was choice as I could clearly see therim of the hole 160 feet below from just under the sur-face. Although the vis had increased greatly since our lasttrip, the bottom temps are still in the low 70s out deep,a little warmer than last month, but still chilly for thistime of year.

We were swarmed by big amberjacks on ourdescent, but no one pulled the trigger. I know I waswaiting to see what the bottom of the hole had to offerfirst. All of the big snappers we encountered from ourscouting mission earlier last month were gone. Scouringthe deep 5-15 foot high ledge I thought we would surelyfind a big lobster, but no such luck. The large residentgoliath groupers may explain that, they do love crus-taceans. About a third of the way around the perimeter ofthe hole a grouper shot out from the undercut limestoneand instead of bolting, stared at me head on from twentyfeet away. A shaft right between the eyes and he weighedin at 23 pounds and was our biggest grouper on the boatfor the day. The lack of monster sized bottom fish was alittle disappointing. Had we spooked them last trip orhad someone else fished the area in the passing weeks?We did have a large commercial boat working around usthat entire morning.

The amberjacks were more cooperative and with our

time to surface at over 20minutes they gave us asmany shots as we were will-ing to take all the way up to100 feet. These were goodsized jacks, with most in the50 pound range or even big-ger. These are the kind ofquality fish we usually see inthe winter and I knew we allhad a great shot at placinghigh in the tournament if wecould each land one. Ratherthan pulling anchor and com-ing in shallow to let our lessexperienced teammates hunt,we took turns escorting eachone down to where the bigjacks were hanging, givingeveryone a shot at thesestrong fish. Shooting bigfish high in the water columnpresents a whole new dangerand can be sketchy at best,but one by one we each bead-ed down on the size fish wefelt comfortable handling andfilled the fish box.

On a side note, I have to give the Gulf Councilcredit for raising the minimum size limit of amberjackto 30 inches and not taking away our one fish per per-

son. The smallest jack wetook that day was 36 inch-es and this seems to be anew regulation we can livewith. Unfortunately redsnapper season was closedearly last month and thelooming grouper limits andclosures aren't going toseem so progressive whenthey take effect early nextyear.

We spent more timethan we had plannedbounce diving down theanchor rope to take in thehuge amount of lifeswarming over the sink-

hole. On my last dive a school of stingrays each the sizeof a large picnic table came in off the sand and swamover the hole. They didn't have any cobia behind them,but just watching them fly effortlessly across the bottomwas amazing.

Your hometown crew did great at the weigh- inwith everyone placing high on the scoreboard. No topthree fish for us older guys, but 2 teammates did standout above the rest taking home the coveted glass tro-phies. Heidi grabbed 2nd place in the women's divisionand Paul took 2nd in the juniors division. I placed fifthfor a 52 pound amberjack. Jim Joseph of FantaSeaScuba, a big Open sponsor, just missed the glass with aforth place, 45 pound gag grouper taken from 200 feet.

Competition in the St. Pete Open is tough. Someguys spend months putting together a solid dive planjust for tournament day. Some just wade off the shore orunder a bridge and shoot a sheepshead. Regardless ofyour skill level, experience or preparation it's a greattournament with the highest level of camaraderie in thesport. If you have never entered a tournament but alwayswanted to, you must check out next years ‘Open.’ It isbound to be bigger and better than ever.

S p e a r f i s h i n g i n t h e S t . P e t e O p e n

clockwise from top left: Snorkeling a weedline in the Gulf, Jim Joseph of FantaSea Scubain Port Charlotte with a 4th place 45 pound gag taken from 200 feet, one of the biggerAJs, the winning lobster and Heidi Schwarz ̓2nd place sheepshead.

By Fishin’ FrankWater LIFE MentorWhat do you do when relatives come

to town and it is blowing 15 mph out ofthe west? Head up river of course. ThePeace River was picked as the back dropfor several Tarzan movies so if you like‘getting away from it all,’ go whereTarzan swam fighting fierce croc-a-gators.I swear sometimes, when I am up river, Ican almost see Tarzan swinging from treeto tree.The Peace River does not start out jun-

gle-looking, at first it is more like theCharlotte Harbor mangrove lined shores.It is not until you pass Harbour Heightsthat it starts to change. Palm trees linethe shore, marsh grass fills bays withsmall creeks that run their winding wayback for miles, the palms start givingway to the lilly pads and cypress trees.Slowly you notice vines crawling acrosstrees and stumps, gators lying in wait,painted turtles and soft shell turtles slipinto the water, wading birds nest wholeislands.The other thing that is changing as

you move up river is the bottom. It is nolonger soft sand and mud, it is rock, sand,and fallen trees. These line the bottom, sogo slow and stay close to the outsidebends of the river. Snags, or sawyers asthe old timers called them, drift downwith the current. Watch the surface forrolling dips in the current, for these aretell-tale signs of a snag,

When Robert’s (he works at the store,in case you didn’t know or have been onanother planet for the last 10 years) AuntSuzy, came in from California. Roberthis nephew Taylor and I took Suzy on atrip up river to Iron Lake. It is a lake justoff the Peace River entirely surrounded by

cypress trees. The mouth of the lake isknown for tarpon fishing, so we headedup there first to try for a bronze king –tarpon are ‘silver kings’ at the Pass butthis far up river tarpon are gold-en bronze because of the watercolor. Not finding any tarpon weheaded into the lake. It was abright hot sunny day with awind out of the west. The lakelooked like a mill pond, and allover fish were ringing the sur-face.

Every where we looked we could see afish touch the surface and make a smallring. We were casting a small you-zuri onone rod and on the other rod a jerk bait,trying to figure out what kind of fish theywere. When we finally got right overthem we could see in the water that therewere thousands of catfish. Robert tookthe landing net and held it in the waterwhile we idled forward. They were sothick he was catching them in the landing

net. But they weren’t ordinary Florida cat-fish, they were different.

This was a very cool looking fishwith a large dorsal fin and sweeping tail,and what looks like a suit of armor. Theywere the South American plecostomus,probably released into the wild by peoplefrom their fish tanks. Now, after breedingfor years, these fish are thick in parts ofthe upper river. They must create someproblems for native fish, but this inva-sive species are primarily scum eaters.

Their mouths have fine stringy filtersover them and they can suck the slime offof ... well, anything. So I guess youcould say our day on the river was great,but the fish we caught ‘suck.’ The brightside of the story is these fish have beenfound in the stomachs of tarpon andsnook, so we know they are being eatenby the game fish. It is amazing what youcan find in the waters of southwestFlorida.

Fishin Frank can be reached for questionsor to book a guided fishing trip at 625-3888


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Iron Lake full of plecostomusThick hairs filterwhat goes intothe fishʼs mouth

The fish were hanging in the water vertically, head up and tail down

Iron Lake is a left turn off the PeaceRiver above Horse Creek

The plecostomus has a large dorsal fin and sweeping tail

Kids Cup Tracking ReportFish #30. originally caught on 28 Apr., 2007 and re-released the same day at the 2007 Kids Cup Tournamentat Harpoon Harry’s, Fishermen’s Village, Punta Gorda,

was re-caught June 23, 2008. The fish was caught 1mile south of Alligator Creek. The fish had travelled adistance of 4.07 nautical miles. When released in 2007

the fish measured 552 mm but the length measurement-was not recorded when the fish was re-caught. The fishhad been at large 422 days before being re-caught.


By Bi l l DixonWater LIFE SailingOn August 23rd and 24th the Charlotte Harbor

Community Sailing Center hosted the fall season kickoff regatta for the west coast sunfish fleet. Due toremnants of TS Fay, conditions for small boat racingwere challenging to say the least. The regatta started Saturday morning with check in

from 9 a.m. till 11 and skippers meeting at 11:15. Firstrace started at 12 noon. Five races were run in condi-tions from flat calm to 30 knot gusts, all accompaniedby very strong ebb tide currents caused by rain upriver.Former local sailor Rick Pantall spent so much time inthe water next to his boat, that at the Saturday nightcook out he was presented with a set of SchwimFlugels. Sunday was a better day, but the current was still

strong, causing several boats to drift over the start lineearly. 4 races were run, the 9 total allowed one throwout.Winner was Fred Hutchinson of Ft Myers. Second

was Bob Harding from Naples,Third Dave Hillmeyer fromSarasota. Top woman wasDonna Hillmeyer in 4th overall.Top local sailor the aforemen-tioned Rick Pantall at 5th.At an after race planning

meeting, it was decided that 2day regattas were more expen-sive than the group wanted.For the rest of the year, empha-sis will be on one day events.Three more sunfish regattas will be held in our area.Dennis Peck, CHCSC president announced an undatedfall event will feature sunfish and be open to OptimistPrams. CHCSC will also host its annual ValentinesDay Massacre, also planned to be open to the Opti Class

boats.Englewood Community Sailing will host a regatta

the weekend before Easter that many of our local sunfishracers are expected to attend.

Bill Dixon can be reached at: [email protected]

Above: Three Sunfish boats fall into line while running downwind towards the U.S. 41 Bridge


By David Al lenWater LIFE KayakingEveryone who kayaks in southwest

Florida, and well beyond, has heard ofDick Pfaff. Dick has done more toadvance kayaking and to introduce moreFloridians to kayaking than anyone Iknow.From his workplace at Economy

Tackle in Sarasota, Dick has ranged farand wide, teaching beginners to paddlecorrectly, advising them on the varioustypes of kayaks to purchase, helpingorganize local kayak clubs, and healways makes himself available to helpsolve an especially knotty problem. Heregularly joins our local club on picnicsor special outings and is an enjoyablepaddling com-panion.The Kayak

and WildlifeFestival, heldannually at PortCharlotte BeachPark, is one ofhis passions.This year hereceived theEco-TourismAward from theVisitors Bureaufor his outstand-ing effort. Butwhile many of us know the "kayak side"of Dick, most of us are unaware of hisother talents and accomplishments. Dick was born in Toledo, Ohio and

grew up in the surrounding suburbs. Hisfirst love was photography, and as ayoung adult, he moved to Dallas, Texasand enrolled in a local college to pursuethat career. To support himself throughcollege, he worked as an auto parts sales-man, a second career he followed for anumber of years.After graduating fromcollege with a degree in photography, hemoved to Colorado and worked as a pho-tographer and also in auto parts.Dick left Colorado, returning to his

home in Toledo for three years, then hemoved to Sarasota in 1991. He continuedin photography and selling auto parts,but his life took a new direction when hebought his first kayak; a used, 16 foot

Romany. Dick started to

work part time atEconomy Tackleselling kayaks andequipment and hold-ing Kayak Demo’s.As he got more intokayaking, Dickimproved his ownkayaking skills tak-ing British CanoeUnion (BCU) train-ing courses whichare among the mostchallenging in thesport. He eventuallyattained a very high4 Star Ranking inkayaking and instruc-tion. He also tookinstructions fromDerek Hutchinson, aworld-class kayakerfrom Britain, and iscertified as an open-water instructor by theAmerican Canoe Association.With these credentials, Dick was now

working full time at Economy Tackleand photography was merely a sideline.He has helped build the kayak businessat Economy Tackle from a relativelysmall operation to one of the best andmost knowledgeable shops in Florida.His friendly demeanor and willingness tohelp others has made him a special friendto many kayakers. He always says thathis main interest is getting people inter-ested in kayaking and helping them getthe right equipment to further theirenjoyment of the sportAs I mentioned earlier, Dick is a regu-

lar visitor to the Port Charlotte Kayakerspicnic, moonlight paddles, occasionalmeeting and many other events. Wealways enjoy having him join us when-ever his busy schedule permits.The PortCharlotte Kayakers meet each Wednesdayevening at Port Charlotte Beach Park at5:30 PM. All are welcome. For more infor-mation, contact me at 941-235-2588 oremail to: [email protected]. You can checkout our upcoming paddles and events at:

pckayakers.org Then come join us!

KayakingKayaking

HOW LOW WAS IT? As T.S. Fay moved south and east of Punta Gorda the wind shifted around and came out ofthe north, blowing the water out of the harbor. Seen here is Ponce De Leon inlet an hour before the low tide thatmorning.

HOW HIGH WAS IT? We saw these JetSkiers launch at Lettuce Lake and then caught up withthem here at Hwy 760 bridge. They were headed up the Peace River to Zolfo Springs. “Thereis enough water for us to make it all the way,” one skier told us. “I hope it rains like hell,” headded and it did. The river was at 12 feet above normal that day, almost at flood stage. Ofinterest was the SkiDoo to the right which was a supercharged model capable of 70 mph.Only problem is, the owner said, “it burns 16 gallons per hour at high speed.” Thatʼs similarfuel consumption to a 200 HP outboard on a 20 foot fishing boat!

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Key Paddlesports Dealer – East Coast


CommercialPerspectiveBy Kel ly BealWater LIFE, Peace River Seafood The life of the Florida Lobsterman -

what could be better? Getting top dollarfor your catch, being on beautiful bluewaters daily, the taste of the salt air danc-ing around you...sounds pretty good huh?It's about half a million dollars goodbecause thats what it’s gonna’ take to getstarted on this dream endeavor! Let mebreak it down for you. First you have tohave your SPL (salt water productslicense) with your RS (restricted species)endorsement as well as your C (crawfish)endorsement. That just cost about $200.Then you have to purchase tag certificates.This is where it gets costly. The marketprice on tag certificates is between $60 and$80. That is just the tag. The trap isgonna cost about $45 dollars. Of course,you would have to find someone to pur-chase the tags from and then you have topay a transfer fee of $2 per tag as well as asurcharge fee of $5 or 25% of what youpaid for the tag whichever is greater andthat money goes to the commission. Sothat leaves you spending about $150 pertrap. Did I mention you need to get acouple thousand traps to make it worth

while? That's just the traps and tags, nowadd another 100 grand for boat and gear.Then after you spend all that cash it’s stilla gamble whether or not it's gonna be agood year! The amount of money the lob-ster fisherman has to put into his businessis just incredible.

In 1995 the Legislature amendedChapter 370 of the Florida Statues toestablish the Florida Spiny Lobster TrapCertificate Program to promote stabiliza-tion, efficiency and resource protection inthe lobster fishery by reducing the numberof permitted traps. Reducing the totalnumber of traps should increase the yieldper trap and therefore maintain or increaseoverall catch levels. The transferable trap certificate program

started in 1992. At that time there were3,696 people who held trap certificates.The landings for lobster in 1992 were 4.8million pounds. At that point there were825,170 traps involved. Fast forward to1998 and the landings were 5.9 millionpounds with 544,000 traps. At that pointthere were only 2,158 certificate owners.You may think it's strange that less trapscaught more, but remember everything innature is cyclic. The landings in 2006were 4.75 million pounds. I talked to abuddy of mine last night and he said thisyear is a banner year. The guys are doingreally good. The market price to the fish-erman is $6.75 a pound and their catchinganywhere between 500 and 1200 pounds aday. They run about 2000 traps and let atrap sit for about 4 or 5 days. Hard work,

great pay, but always a gamble.Huge conservation measures have been

established to protect this amazing species.These measures include a prohibition ontaking egg bearing females, size limita-tion, and a prohibition on taking femaleswith a "V-notch" on their tale (which basi-cally means they haven't bred yet and soonwill). Lobsters shed their hard shell whichallows them to grow and to mate. Matingoccurs soon after the shed when the femaleshell is soft. They can have 5,000 to100,000 eggs depending on her size andshe will carry these eggs for up to a yearand then attached to the underside of hertail for another 10 months. These babylobsters will shed about 10 times the firstyear of their life . Then after that the shed-ding frequency decreases. They will ulti-

mately shed 25 times over the 5 to 8 yearsit takes to reach sexual maturity.Remember this when your enjoying thosedelicious lobsters. They've gone through alot before reaching your table. Most lob-sters are harvested at about a pound butthey can grow to a weight of over 50pounds!So you're not a millionaire but you

still want a taste of the good life. Not tofear you can take a couple of days off andgo down to the keys to dive for lobsterrecreationally. You just need a saltwaterfishing license with a crawfish permit($15.50) The two day sport season isalways the last consecutive Wednesday andThursday in July. The bag limit is 6 perperson per day. Regular lobster seasonbegins August 6 and ends March 31 atmid-night. No gear that could puncturethe shell is allowed in your possessionduring the hunt. You must have a measur-ing gauge on you at all times. The cara-pace (main body, eye to beginning of tail)must be at least 3 inches. Always measurethem before putting them in your catchbag, anything in your catch bag is consid-ered in your possession. And for the loveof God - stay away from the commercialtraps, it's not only a felony to mess withthe commercial guys traps, if the fisher-men catch you you're gonna wish you gotcaught by the law instead! Be respectful, be happy and be safe.

Enjoy Florida Seafood and don't forget tostop by our fish market and restaurant onHwy 17 in Punta Gorda.

Lobstermen

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Permit Discharged President Bush signed into law"The Clean Boating Act of 2008," which gives recreationalboats a permanent exemption from the discharge permit.

Pressure Relief If the Feds were concerned with thewell being of grouper or snapper stocks they can resteasy. $4 a gallon gas is doing more to reduce offshorefishing than anything the feds could have dreamed up.

Pig in a Polk! On August 15, Polk County FWCreceived a complaint that several licensed alligator huntershad started their hunt early. An officer stopped the vesselto conduct an inspection. He observed a subject holdingone end of a buoy line that was secured to a harpoon tip-protruding from a small wild hog that was swimming in thewater in front of the vessel. The subject was charged withtaking wildlife by illegal method, the pig was released.

Ethanol Woes Local service facilities are seeing a lot ofboats with fuel related problems. Ethanol (added to ourgas by the manufacturers) attracts water in Floridaʼs highsummer humidity, eats fiberglass, aluminum and some rub-ber parts and breaks loose oxidation and crud in fuel sys-

tems. The solution seems to bebetter fuel filtration and anenzyme eating fuel additive likeStartron. High tech new-era 4-strokes and old 2-strokes all need10 micron fuel filters recommendsJohn Flowers of Dry Dock Marinein Punta Gorda. Of course thefiner filtration (10 instead of 27microns) means you will have tochange the filter about every threemonths. Keep a spare filter and afilter wrench aboard, recommend-ed Jeff at West Marine.

Crowds Panic as Flooding Threatens Ireland Theemail message that accompanied the photo at right said:This "award-winning" photograph of the recent flood watersrising in Ireland captures the horror and suffering there.The press never seems to print these photos in our newspapers. Keep these people in your thoughts and prayers.”

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F i s h i n gF i s h i n gR e p o r tR e p o r tCharlotte Harbor:Robert at Fishin' FranksPort Charlotte: 625-3888It’s gonna be a toss up between tar-

pon and redfish this month. Tarponwill be hitting the l ady fi s h pretty

good this month. September is the bestmonth for them and then they will bedone. By October they start into therivers or migrate offshore. Look forladyfish anywhere in the Harbor, therewill be schools or single fish rolling. Redfi sh will be interesting. This

month they start to school up, they arealready doing that and we should be see-ing bigger schools of them and betterquality fish this month. October is thebest month of the whole year for red-fish, but September is pretty darn goodtoo. You will look for schools of redsalone on the flats or schools mixed inwith mullet there too. You have to payattention. Some schools will be 20some 300 fish. It will depend on thetide, moving water is the most impor-tant aspect for redfish. Look anywherearound Bokeelia. The Pine Island area isthe favorable spot to look for themearly when they are schooling up. Therehas been a big school of reds on thewest side of Bokeelia on the bar there,in 3 to 5 feet of water. You have toapproach real slow and look for them to‘push.’ Those are fish in the 8- to 12-pound range, good size fish, gettingready to move, but they will hangaround for the next two months. Any top water lure thrown in the

first light will work on them. The ZaraSpook or the MiroLure, or soft plas-tics like Exude or Gulps. Work them

really slow on a lightjig head because redscan be kind ofspooky. Shrimp andladyfish chunks willwork well for bait butby mid month pinfishwill work the best,I’m sure. Juvenile pinfish

will get to the 3- to4.5-inch range andwill be great redfishbait, but you willhave to fight off thecatfi s h . Catfish havebeen everywhere. I amhearing guys arecatching 10 to 15 cat-fish for every one redfish they reel in.I’m sure they‘re are a lot of guys withstuck fingers right about now. Snook season opens this month.

The better quality snook will be concen-trated out along the beaches, earlymorning and night time will be the besttime to catch them. Live bait, smallwhiting or pinfish will work great. ThePlacida Pier at night and Stump Pass inSki Alley are really, really good snookspots now. Sight casting the fish in theearly morning is a really good way. Justbe sneaky and downgrade your leadermaterial, to say 25 pound, (no lighter ifyou’re throwing a $6 or $8 lure) you

want at least 20 pound leader. The slotand bag limit on snook is tight and it’sstill pretty warm so be gentle with yourfish. Take extreme care of any fish youwant to release this month, they arestressed by the heat. There are plenty of mangrove

snapper still around, they will beheavy in the passes and on the artificialreefs. Shrimp is still the best snapperbait, but small pinfish or small white-bait are also really good. The mangrovesnapper on the artificial reefs are thebig ones, but they are there most at firstlight, then once the sun comes up, theyare all really the small ones.

Continued on facing page

S e p t e m b e rS e p t e m b e rP a g e 2 2 Wa t e r L I F E M A G A Z I N E S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 8

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Miles Meredith and Eric Carstensen weighed in 6.97 and 7.12pound redfish for a 14.09 total and the win in the CharlotteWarriors Tournament in early August. With only 19 boatsentered the tournament weighed and released an impressive 31redfish. The event was a fundraiser for the schoolʼs athleticdepartment.

Just off the inter coastal side of Cayo CostaMichael Martindell threw a couple times withan old piece of squid that he had gotten outof the freezer.. and hereʼs what happened. thisnice snook was released alive.

F i s h i n gF i s h i n gR e p o r tR e p o r tc o n t i n u e dc o n t i n u e d

In freshwater, the bluegi l land the bass have reallyturned on with all the rain.All the culverts and spillway dams are flowingand lots of nice bluegill are being caught rightnow.

Lemon Bay:Jim at Fishermen’s Edge,Englewood:697-7595I’ve had some reports of redfish being

good. That’s the biggest thing. They are start-ing to school up in Whidden and Catfish creeksand up in Bull Bay. Some guys are buyingshrimp, some soft plastics for bait, but themajority are caught on live-bait. There arepretty decent trout reports, fish scattered in thedeeper parts of the woods. Guys arecatching some really nice trout onbaits with a spinner prop on them,like a MiroLure 5M, the Skitter Prop,or the Devil Horse. Anything with aprop seems to work, probably becausethe water is dark an it leaves a bubbletrail. There are still a lot of man-grove snapper, in the pass and thedeeper potholes throughout the bay.Snook are on the beach around thePlacida trestle and in the big pass. I’vehad pictures of guys with big snookthey have caught and released lastweek, 40 inch fish, pretty huge. Out

on the beach, a lot of guys are using muttonminnows or regular white bait or even dead baiton the bottom for snook, but you run the riskof getting a lot of the trash fish out there fish-ing the bottom. Lures like the Minnow Magiccolor baits or anything translucent are the baitsfor the beach because the little baitfish outthere now are clear. The storm bait has beendoing well at El Jobean, the wild eye shad, thebigger ones in the golden ‘bunker’ color arewhat I sell a lot of to the guys going up there. There are still scattered tarpon around up in

the harbor and some in the pass but not asmany people are fishing out there now.Snapper & red grouper are still OK off-

shore. Grouper 14, 15 miles out, snapper closerin.

� September 8, 10,11 USCGAux 3 Day Boating SafelyProgram, Lemon Bay Park,from 6:30 until 9:30 PM, $25per person. Successful comple-tion of this program will qualifythe student to receive theFlorida Boater ID Card which isrequired for anyone under theage of 21 to operate a powerboat of over 10 HP in Florida

� September 13: Hook Kidson Fishing, programFishermen's Village 1:00-3:30p.m. To pre-register call 941-639-2628� Sept 27: XTreme RedfishTournament, Port Charlotte, enter the day of the event, 456-1540� Oct 18-19: Maverick BoatsFlatsmasters Championship,

Punta Gorda, No entry fee 941-637-5953� Nov 8: North Port High Red& Snook Shootout 1 redfish &1 snook on bait of choice� Nov 15-16: Darkside,Flatsmasters Night SnookTournament 941-637-5953

BIG-4 BIG-4 Septemberʼs Target Species Septemberʼs Target Species

SHARK still plenty of smallsharks like Atlantic sharpnose

TARPON are in the harbor foranother month or so

REDFISH bigger fish areshowing up

SNOOK are in season thismonth and on the beaches

FishingFishingRIGHT NOW:RIGHT NOW:

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Kids FishingKids FishingSept 13Sept 13

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Brandon Varney and Paul Lambert with 13.72 pounds hadthe winning fish worth $900 in the August XTreme RedfishTournament in Port Charlotte. Derrick Jacobson and BobbyBunkley were second with 13.56 and Neil Hampton and IanBorn with 12.43 were third. Big fish was Josh Rhodes andRob Close with a 7.13 pound red worth $180

water life sept 2008

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