Saturday, December 22, 2007
Friday, December 21, 2007
A New Review of Jan's "Fishing Florida's Flats"....
Captain Ted Lund, Editor of Fly Fishing in Salt Waters Magazine says, " Fishing Florida's Flats" is perhaps one of the finest books on regional angling nuances ever written. Jan Maizler has put together a talented stable of writers willing to bare their secrets to success in the Florida Shallows. It is a worthwhile addition to any angling library even the least bit concerned with Florida's flats environment."
Monday, December 17, 2007
Recent News on Jan's Newest Book, "Fishing Florida's Flats"
" Fishing Florida's Flats" by Jan S. Maizler is Now Published...
My latest and most thorough book on flats fishing on and in the bountiful shallows of Florida is now available for purchase on the University Press of Florida web site(UPF.com) as well as Amazon.com, Borders.com, Barnes and Noble and a majority of online as well as brick and mortar booksellers.
World-renowned shallow water angling expert, author, writer, and columnist Frank Sargeant of the Tampa Tribune says, " Fishing Florida's Flats is a book loaded with information on the fine points of flats fishing for bonefish, tarpon, and permit, among other species. Author Jan Maizler taps the expertise of some of the nation's top flats guides and adds his own decades of knowledge to it. Whether you're a beginner or expert, you'll find lots of tips, tricks, and knowledge here."
The contributors of the images and story content are impressive:
* Bass Pro Shops
* Tim Borski
* Vaughn Cochran
* Pat Ford
* Heritage Kayaks
* Ranger Boats
* Angling Destinations/ Scott Heywood
* Captain Butch Constable
* Captain Jon Cooper
* Captain Bill Curtis
* Captain John Kumiski
* Captain Mike Locklear
* Captain Greg Poland
* Captain Tom Rowland
* Captain Robert "RT" Trosset
* Jan S. Maizler
I decided long ago that the "dream team" concept of flats fishing experts from all over the state of Florida was the most effective, thorough and realistic approach to this vast, varied, and wondrous fishery. The University Press of Florida embraced this idea and decided to publish the book. It's been a long process, but now the release date has arrived!
The University Press of Florida describes the work thusly:
"An extremely detailed and thorough book that no serious shallow water angler will be able to pass up."--John D. Brownlee, Editor-in-Chief, Center Console Angler Magazine
"Excellent. . . . Maizler has compiled a world of interesting detail."--Jim Hardie, freelance writer for the Miami Herald, Stuart News, and Florida Fishing Week
Shallow ocean, or "flats," fishing is one of the most popular coastal activities in Florida. No other place has such a large combination of different shallow water species. In Fishing Florida's Flats, world-champion angler Jan Maizler draws on the expertise of numerous "flatsmasters" who share their wisdom on how to land a trophy catch.
Their advice--suitable for a range of first-time and experienced anglers--includes tackle selection, techniques, and directions to "hot spots" for each flats species. From habitat, biology, and feeding patterns to spotting tactics and state records, each flats fish is covered in detail. Maizler offers invaluable knowledge of the many vessels available, the different kinds of flats and the best ways to wade them, and important weather safety information. Maizler also reviews the recent technical and electronic developments in flats fishing, such as websites, software programs, and Global Positioning System devices that are now necessary additions to the Florida flats angler's arsenal.
For the large and growing number of anglers who have chosen flats fishing as their sport, this is the ultimate guide for catching bonefish, tarpon, permit, barracuda, sharks, redfish, seatrout, and snook in the state. Get hooked on Fishing Florida’s Flats.
Jan S. Maizler is a journalist and former IGFA world-record holder for bonefish on two-pound line and permit on four-pound line. He is the author of seven books.
You can click or check out the URL's below for this book, which promises to be an exciting and a highly significant contribution to the wonderful world of Florida flats fishing.
http://www.fishingfloridasflats.com/
http://www.upf.com/book.asp?id=MAIZLS08
http://www.amazon.com/Fishing-Floridas-Flats-Bonefish-Florida/dp/0813031451/ref=sr_1_7/002-9917567-2288056?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1180759209&sr=1-7
My latest and most thorough book on flats fishing on and in the bountiful shallows of Florida is now available for purchase on the University Press of Florida web site(UPF.com) as well as Amazon.com, Borders.com, Barnes and Noble and a majority of online as well as brick and mortar booksellers.
World-renowned shallow water angling expert, author, writer, and columnist Frank Sargeant of the Tampa Tribune says, " Fishing Florida's Flats is a book loaded with information on the fine points of flats fishing for bonefish, tarpon, and permit, among other species. Author Jan Maizler taps the expertise of some of the nation's top flats guides and adds his own decades of knowledge to it. Whether you're a beginner or expert, you'll find lots of tips, tricks, and knowledge here."
The contributors of the images and story content are impressive:
* Bass Pro Shops
* Tim Borski
* Vaughn Cochran
* Pat Ford
* Heritage Kayaks
* Ranger Boats
* Angling Destinations/ Scott Heywood
* Captain Butch Constable
* Captain Jon Cooper
* Captain Bill Curtis
* Captain John Kumiski
* Captain Mike Locklear
* Captain Greg Poland
* Captain Tom Rowland
* Captain Robert "RT" Trosset
* Jan S. Maizler
I decided long ago that the "dream team" concept of flats fishing experts from all over the state of Florida was the most effective, thorough and realistic approach to this vast, varied, and wondrous fishery. The University Press of Florida embraced this idea and decided to publish the book. It's been a long process, but now the release date has arrived!
The University Press of Florida describes the work thusly:
"An extremely detailed and thorough book that no serious shallow water angler will be able to pass up."--John D. Brownlee, Editor-in-Chief, Center Console Angler Magazine
"Excellent. . . . Maizler has compiled a world of interesting detail."--Jim Hardie, freelance writer for the Miami Herald, Stuart News, and Florida Fishing Week
Shallow ocean, or "flats," fishing is one of the most popular coastal activities in Florida. No other place has such a large combination of different shallow water species. In Fishing Florida's Flats, world-champion angler Jan Maizler draws on the expertise of numerous "flatsmasters" who share their wisdom on how to land a trophy catch.
Their advice--suitable for a range of first-time and experienced anglers--includes tackle selection, techniques, and directions to "hot spots" for each flats species. From habitat, biology, and feeding patterns to spotting tactics and state records, each flats fish is covered in detail. Maizler offers invaluable knowledge of the many vessels available, the different kinds of flats and the best ways to wade them, and important weather safety information. Maizler also reviews the recent technical and electronic developments in flats fishing, such as websites, software programs, and Global Positioning System devices that are now necessary additions to the Florida flats angler's arsenal.
For the large and growing number of anglers who have chosen flats fishing as their sport, this is the ultimate guide for catching bonefish, tarpon, permit, barracuda, sharks, redfish, seatrout, and snook in the state. Get hooked on Fishing Florida’s Flats.
Jan S. Maizler is a journalist and former IGFA world-record holder for bonefish on two-pound line and permit on four-pound line. He is the author of seven books.
You can click or check out the URL's below for this book, which promises to be an exciting and a highly significant contribution to the wonderful world of Florida flats fishing.
http://www.fishingfloridasflats.com/
http://www.upf.com/book.asp?id=MAIZLS08
http://www.amazon.com/Fishing-Floridas-Flats-Bonefish-Florida/dp/0813031451/ref=sr_1_7/002-9917567-2288056?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1180759209&sr=1-7
Chilly Winter Front Launches Kingfish Expedition...
Treasure Coast Royalty
By
Jan Stephen Maizler
As Captain Jon Cooper and I made the drive from Miami to Jupiter, we’d concluded that in some way, there’s always an epic aspect to the excitement of fishing for kingfish. True to form, the morning of our fishing trip with Jupiter Captain Butch Constable was larger than life in many ways. The sun rose on possibly the coldest day of February: thirty-nine degree winds howled out of the northwest over the incoming tide at Jupiter Inlet. The severe temperature contrast between the icy air and warmer water gave off large billowing clouds that briefly engulfed the fishing boats that were cautiously heading out to sea.
The seas were green at the inlet and featured three-foot waves. But it was the dark blue offshore waters all humped-up with huge swells that made my neck hairs tingle! Big seas, cold winds, and dreams of smoker kings all made good ingredients for undeniably thrilling adventure.
Even the mandate-ritual of beginning the day with catching live bait was exciting in these conditions. Ice-cold swirling winds were not enough to keep Butch from flinging his live bait net from the get-go. As soon as Jon and I had boarded Butch’s twenty-five foot center console, the Whiz Kid from Jupiter made a perfect unfurling cast with his bait net right on top of a big school of minnows alongside his boat. Two additional casts filled his livewell with loads of the tiny silvery baitfish. When Butch saw my puzzled expression, he made it clear that minnows would be the chum for the blue runners that would serve as the actual bait for the large kingfish we’d be trolling for.
Butch cranked up his vessel and headed up one of the creeks that abutted Jupiter Inlet. After idling along the shoreline for about one hundred yards, he eased up to a dock and tied off his vessel. Although Jon and I weren’t sure what Butch intended, it soon became clear what his intentions were when he jumped on the dock and pulled up a locked live bait cage twenty feet away. After he opened the trap’s top door, he netted about a dozen blue runners and transferred them to our boat’s livewell. He looked at us and said, “ It always pays to have some insurance.” It was clear that his kingfish mantra could not have been truer, particularly when today’s rough weather might hamper catching live baits for kingfish.
After that essential offloading, we eased away and from the dock and slowly headed out to sea. Although my personal requirements gave Butch only a few hours, it gave us plenty of time to watch him employ, demonstrate, as well as discuss all the important tactics for successful kingfishing off the Treasure Coast.
It was a wild and wooly time on those high seas. Butch was kept quite busy piloting his vessel into the large swells while at the same time trying to rig up the live blue runners and deploy them at different lengths off our transom. At times the baits would get nervous and panicky and we poised for strikes that did not materialize. As we headed south past Juno Pier, Butch pointed his boat southeast and headed for the famed “Zoo” grounds. Our goal was to reach the sixty-foot depths where larger kings were expected to show any day.
On the way out, we saw huge rafts of flying fish –locally called “fliers”- take to the air as they evaded predation from below. Butch felt that the culprits chasing them were small bonitos that had no interest in our large trolled baits. He turned out to be right. In what seemed like no time at all, it was necessary for me to get back to the dock. Reports by radio and cell phones from other boats indicated that no huge kings had come to the baits that morning. As we headed in, it seemed to me that the hit and miss challenge of huge kingfish constitutes its glory.
Different Size Kings Need Different Tactics-
One of the first things good kingfish anglers learn is that big kings and smaller school kings have different habits and preferences. The first distinction to understand is that smaller kings school in larger numbers than their larger counterparts: this is true for other Florida gamesters like bonefish and seatrout.
Large kingfish –often called “smokers”- can reach over fifty pounds. Expert kingfishermen off the Treasure Coast know that smokers are creatures of green inshore waters. This generally covers habitat from right off the beach out to about eighty feet of water. In addition to depth, there are generally four likely areas where larger kingfish gather to feed.
*The first areas- not surprisingly- are the edges of inshore shallow ocean baitfish schools like pilchards, greenies, mullet, or pogies.
*The second likely areas are aggregations of small predatory fish that feed on baitfish. These include schools of blue runners, small jacks, bluefish, and small Spanish mackeral, all of which can make excellent baits. It’s essential to realize that big kings strike these smaller gamesters with relish and make short work of them in seconds. Oftentimes, trolling a double-hooked bluefish is the secret bait-weapon of tournament kingfish anglers.
*The third key to finding smoker kings in the greater Treasure Coast area is to look for hard structure like wrecks, reefs, or irregular bottom configuration that draw baitfish and small predator fish. Getting the coordinates on some of these wonderful hotspots can make all the difference between success and failure. One such spot is called “ The Zoo”. It lies between Juno Beach and West Palm Beach.
*The fourth and final key is to focus angling efforts around such “soft structure” as color edges, current edges, and thermal edges. Some excellent results often await anglers that slow troll live baits along “clean-dirty” edges of green water. If this coincides with groupings of baitfish in forty to fifty foot depths, you’d do well to brace yourself for a jarring smoker strike!
Smaller kingfish position themselves just like their similar sized brothers up and down Florida’s east coast- yet this behavior is not the same as smokers. One major difference between smaller and larger kingfish is that the former-often referred to as “snakes”- tend to bunch up in large schools in ocean depths from eighty to one hundred twenty feet. Captain Butch advises anglers searching for smaller kings to keep a constant lookout for clusters of fishing boats, particularly commercial hook and line boats trolling in circles.
Some of the most crucial factors for kingfish anglers to consider are seasons and time of year. Additional factors on the Treasure Coast that are considered significant are weather patterns and even moon phase.
According to Captain Butch, the larger kingfish from twenty to forty pounds have seasonal peaks of activity.
The first occurs during the winter season when substantial cold fronts push the smokers southward from Sebastian and Fort Pierce into the Treasure Coast. One reason these fish are moving south is to stay in water temperatures that do not drop below the low seventies. Smoker kingfish that arrive on these fronts can often be caught in waters as shallow as thirty to forty feet with prime waters featuring a “bright” green tint. If the frontal weather features high winds that “chop up” the water surface to the point where the water is dirty, consider trolling live baits below the surface on a downrigger. This period generally last from December to March.
The second peak time occurs approximately from April to May when the larger kings spawn from Jupiter to perhaps as far south as Boynton Beach. One tip from Captain Butch is coordinating angling efforts by the time of day or night with moon phase during spawning season. During the full moon, Butch begins his fishing in late afternoons and continues into dusk and nighttime. During the new moon, he switches his tactics to fishing early mornings around bait schools and small predators. Butch said that he feels that the spring tide effect of the full and new moons create a better kingfish “bite” during their spawning season. On single outings during this period, he has logged in catches of thirty large kingfish from twenty to forty pounds. He also added that at this time of year all the large fish are loaded with roe.
After years of fishing for schoolie and smoker kings off the Treasure Coast, Captain Butch was able to discover a secondary smaller period of spawning from July to August during spring tide periods. He employs the same tactics and techniques that were used for the primary April spawn. Butch also advises anglers to look for green water that has a little tint or “smoke” in it: kingfish tend to be a bit more wary striking angler’s baits in the extremely clear water that summer seas seem to feature. If ultra clear water predominates across the habitat, anglers should consider night fishing to reduce the fish over-scrutinizing leader material. This is especially so for the wire leaders that are necessary in double-hooking big live baits for smokers.
Peak periods of activity for large schools of smaller kingfish persist during the same periods already noted. However, smaller kings can be active during any time of year at the aforementioned depths. Since school fish can be caught in such huge numbers, word about a run of smaller kings gets around the Treasure Coast fishing community very quickly.
Different Size Kings Need Different Baits-
Although dead baits can be successful offerings for kingfish, they simply do not give the same outstanding results as live bait. The simple fact is that many top kingfish anglers will not even begin fishing until their vessels are carrying an adequate supply of live bait.
The key to understanding live bait choices is to begin with practicing the old adage, “ big bait…big fish.” It also involves realizing that small kings up to ten pounds must restrict their feeding to smaller baits in ways a huge fifty-pound smoker does not. Therefore, use smaller live baits for schoolies and larger live baits for smokers.
Since live bait needs to be obtained, the three ways to accomplish this are by netting, hook fishing, or purchasing. Which of these choices you’ll make will be determined by the species of live bait that is available, your own skill levels in throwing a net, reading a recorder and deploying Sabiki rigs or the presence of live bait boats. If the nettable baits like greenies, sardines, and pilchards prove hard to net, consider going to jigging with Sabiki rigs.
Blue runners and goggle eyes also are slightly larger baits that are caught by jigging tiny feathers or fishskins. The largest baits for smokers are small bluefish and mackeral. These small game fish are caught with the usual lures employed for them. Bluefish can be quickly unhooked and can survive in the livewell for a period of time. Spanish mackeral, however, must he quickly unhooked and rigged on a two-hook rig and be put overboard for trolling in “pit-stop time” for an optimal presentation.
Consider a smoker kingfish an oversized warrior with a heck of an appetite. All big fish want the maximum protein reward as they are solitary or “pack predators” chasing bait and the best way for them to do this is to get the biggest swallow possible- hence, their proclivity for big baits. In contrast, large schools of small kingfish have the numbers to corral huge schools of small baitfish- again, big kings do not have this advantage.
Moderate-sized live baits for smoker kings include goggle eyes, and pogies. Larger live baits include mullet, blue runners, bluefish, and small mackeral. It’s a wise practice to double-hook all larger live baits designed for either trolling or drifting for smoker kings. Captain Butch always uses coffee-colored wire leader for all his kingfishing. On double-hooked baits he uses lighter (and more fish-friendly) number four wire from his running line to the first hook. Since the body of the bait often hides the wire from the front hook to the back hook, he feels he can use heavier number seven wire with less concern about reduced strikes.
Different Size Kings Need Different Tackle-
Captain Butch is very specific about the specific tackle requirements for large kingfish versus small kingfish.
Smoker kingfish tackle onboard his center console is simple, yet it does the job quite well. He has a quartet of thirty-pound conventional outfits. The reels all hold at least three hundred yards of line to deal with the long blistering runs of huge smokers. One of his reels with hold braided line: this is the outfit he uses when he has to troll live baits far behind his transom in ultra-calm conditions. Like many other guides, Butch knows that the miracle of non-stretching braids permit solid hookups on far-back baits in a way monofilament cannot. Butch obtained reels with high-speed retrieve ratios of either 6:2 or 5:1 that have the capability to take up line quickly when a smoker turns and takes a sizzling run towards his boat.
As to terminal rigging of smoker outfits, Butch suggests a pair of highly sharpened 6/0 to 7/0 hooks along with the aforementioned coffee-colored wire leader setup. He also advises that when a smoker hits the live bait, strike the fish smartly to effect a good hookset. Once the fish begins its run, allow the fish to tire itself out by running a long distance on a light to medium drag setting. Too much pressure on kingfish with thirty-pound tackle-particularly braids- runs too high a risk of pulled hooks.
Tackle for smaller snake kingfish need not be of such heroic specifications. Butch uses twelve-pound class spinning tackle. The reels have a fast retrieve, smooth drags, and hold about two hundred fifty yards of line. After doubling his line, he adds a fifteen-inch leader of number four coffee-colored wire and a 4/0 or 5/0 hook. He finds these lighter rigs work well with the smaller live baits –greenies, sardines, pilchards- that snakes eat with such relish. Oftentimes, he’ll use a single hook. Regarding hook placement, trolling calls for a nose hook, top drifting calls for a dorsal hook, and deeper kingfish strikes call for belly hooking. Butch has also found that throwing smaller live chum like pilchards into the troll wash or upwind drift side of the boat can get smaller kings quite excited.
If anglers decide to troll for either small or large kings, it’s important to remember that that a good spread of lines from close in to far out maximizes the chances for strikes while alerting anglers onboard which presentations are getting the most strikes.
Kingfish have now become the most popular offshore tournament fish. They range from the Gulf of Mexico through the southeastern seaboard of the United States. The reasons for this are their accessibility, fighting prowess, and edibility. You’ll find that Florida’s Treasure Coast is a perfect place to give these speedsters a try!
CONTACT DATA:
Captain Butch Constable
Phone: 1-561-74-SNOOK
Seasport Marina
Jupiter, Florida
By
Jan Stephen Maizler
As Captain Jon Cooper and I made the drive from Miami to Jupiter, we’d concluded that in some way, there’s always an epic aspect to the excitement of fishing for kingfish. True to form, the morning of our fishing trip with Jupiter Captain Butch Constable was larger than life in many ways. The sun rose on possibly the coldest day of February: thirty-nine degree winds howled out of the northwest over the incoming tide at Jupiter Inlet. The severe temperature contrast between the icy air and warmer water gave off large billowing clouds that briefly engulfed the fishing boats that were cautiously heading out to sea.
The seas were green at the inlet and featured three-foot waves. But it was the dark blue offshore waters all humped-up with huge swells that made my neck hairs tingle! Big seas, cold winds, and dreams of smoker kings all made good ingredients for undeniably thrilling adventure.
Even the mandate-ritual of beginning the day with catching live bait was exciting in these conditions. Ice-cold swirling winds were not enough to keep Butch from flinging his live bait net from the get-go. As soon as Jon and I had boarded Butch’s twenty-five foot center console, the Whiz Kid from Jupiter made a perfect unfurling cast with his bait net right on top of a big school of minnows alongside his boat. Two additional casts filled his livewell with loads of the tiny silvery baitfish. When Butch saw my puzzled expression, he made it clear that minnows would be the chum for the blue runners that would serve as the actual bait for the large kingfish we’d be trolling for.
Butch cranked up his vessel and headed up one of the creeks that abutted Jupiter Inlet. After idling along the shoreline for about one hundred yards, he eased up to a dock and tied off his vessel. Although Jon and I weren’t sure what Butch intended, it soon became clear what his intentions were when he jumped on the dock and pulled up a locked live bait cage twenty feet away. After he opened the trap’s top door, he netted about a dozen blue runners and transferred them to our boat’s livewell. He looked at us and said, “ It always pays to have some insurance.” It was clear that his kingfish mantra could not have been truer, particularly when today’s rough weather might hamper catching live baits for kingfish.
After that essential offloading, we eased away and from the dock and slowly headed out to sea. Although my personal requirements gave Butch only a few hours, it gave us plenty of time to watch him employ, demonstrate, as well as discuss all the important tactics for successful kingfishing off the Treasure Coast.
It was a wild and wooly time on those high seas. Butch was kept quite busy piloting his vessel into the large swells while at the same time trying to rig up the live blue runners and deploy them at different lengths off our transom. At times the baits would get nervous and panicky and we poised for strikes that did not materialize. As we headed south past Juno Pier, Butch pointed his boat southeast and headed for the famed “Zoo” grounds. Our goal was to reach the sixty-foot depths where larger kings were expected to show any day.
On the way out, we saw huge rafts of flying fish –locally called “fliers”- take to the air as they evaded predation from below. Butch felt that the culprits chasing them were small bonitos that had no interest in our large trolled baits. He turned out to be right. In what seemed like no time at all, it was necessary for me to get back to the dock. Reports by radio and cell phones from other boats indicated that no huge kings had come to the baits that morning. As we headed in, it seemed to me that the hit and miss challenge of huge kingfish constitutes its glory.
Different Size Kings Need Different Tactics-
One of the first things good kingfish anglers learn is that big kings and smaller school kings have different habits and preferences. The first distinction to understand is that smaller kings school in larger numbers than their larger counterparts: this is true for other Florida gamesters like bonefish and seatrout.
Large kingfish –often called “smokers”- can reach over fifty pounds. Expert kingfishermen off the Treasure Coast know that smokers are creatures of green inshore waters. This generally covers habitat from right off the beach out to about eighty feet of water. In addition to depth, there are generally four likely areas where larger kingfish gather to feed.
*The first areas- not surprisingly- are the edges of inshore shallow ocean baitfish schools like pilchards, greenies, mullet, or pogies.
*The second likely areas are aggregations of small predatory fish that feed on baitfish. These include schools of blue runners, small jacks, bluefish, and small Spanish mackeral, all of which can make excellent baits. It’s essential to realize that big kings strike these smaller gamesters with relish and make short work of them in seconds. Oftentimes, trolling a double-hooked bluefish is the secret bait-weapon of tournament kingfish anglers.
*The third key to finding smoker kings in the greater Treasure Coast area is to look for hard structure like wrecks, reefs, or irregular bottom configuration that draw baitfish and small predator fish. Getting the coordinates on some of these wonderful hotspots can make all the difference between success and failure. One such spot is called “ The Zoo”. It lies between Juno Beach and West Palm Beach.
*The fourth and final key is to focus angling efforts around such “soft structure” as color edges, current edges, and thermal edges. Some excellent results often await anglers that slow troll live baits along “clean-dirty” edges of green water. If this coincides with groupings of baitfish in forty to fifty foot depths, you’d do well to brace yourself for a jarring smoker strike!
Smaller kingfish position themselves just like their similar sized brothers up and down Florida’s east coast- yet this behavior is not the same as smokers. One major difference between smaller and larger kingfish is that the former-often referred to as “snakes”- tend to bunch up in large schools in ocean depths from eighty to one hundred twenty feet. Captain Butch advises anglers searching for smaller kings to keep a constant lookout for clusters of fishing boats, particularly commercial hook and line boats trolling in circles.
Some of the most crucial factors for kingfish anglers to consider are seasons and time of year. Additional factors on the Treasure Coast that are considered significant are weather patterns and even moon phase.
According to Captain Butch, the larger kingfish from twenty to forty pounds have seasonal peaks of activity.
The first occurs during the winter season when substantial cold fronts push the smokers southward from Sebastian and Fort Pierce into the Treasure Coast. One reason these fish are moving south is to stay in water temperatures that do not drop below the low seventies. Smoker kingfish that arrive on these fronts can often be caught in waters as shallow as thirty to forty feet with prime waters featuring a “bright” green tint. If the frontal weather features high winds that “chop up” the water surface to the point where the water is dirty, consider trolling live baits below the surface on a downrigger. This period generally last from December to March.
The second peak time occurs approximately from April to May when the larger kings spawn from Jupiter to perhaps as far south as Boynton Beach. One tip from Captain Butch is coordinating angling efforts by the time of day or night with moon phase during spawning season. During the full moon, Butch begins his fishing in late afternoons and continues into dusk and nighttime. During the new moon, he switches his tactics to fishing early mornings around bait schools and small predators. Butch said that he feels that the spring tide effect of the full and new moons create a better kingfish “bite” during their spawning season. On single outings during this period, he has logged in catches of thirty large kingfish from twenty to forty pounds. He also added that at this time of year all the large fish are loaded with roe.
After years of fishing for schoolie and smoker kings off the Treasure Coast, Captain Butch was able to discover a secondary smaller period of spawning from July to August during spring tide periods. He employs the same tactics and techniques that were used for the primary April spawn. Butch also advises anglers to look for green water that has a little tint or “smoke” in it: kingfish tend to be a bit more wary striking angler’s baits in the extremely clear water that summer seas seem to feature. If ultra clear water predominates across the habitat, anglers should consider night fishing to reduce the fish over-scrutinizing leader material. This is especially so for the wire leaders that are necessary in double-hooking big live baits for smokers.
Peak periods of activity for large schools of smaller kingfish persist during the same periods already noted. However, smaller kings can be active during any time of year at the aforementioned depths. Since school fish can be caught in such huge numbers, word about a run of smaller kings gets around the Treasure Coast fishing community very quickly.
Different Size Kings Need Different Baits-
Although dead baits can be successful offerings for kingfish, they simply do not give the same outstanding results as live bait. The simple fact is that many top kingfish anglers will not even begin fishing until their vessels are carrying an adequate supply of live bait.
The key to understanding live bait choices is to begin with practicing the old adage, “ big bait…big fish.” It also involves realizing that small kings up to ten pounds must restrict their feeding to smaller baits in ways a huge fifty-pound smoker does not. Therefore, use smaller live baits for schoolies and larger live baits for smokers.
Since live bait needs to be obtained, the three ways to accomplish this are by netting, hook fishing, or purchasing. Which of these choices you’ll make will be determined by the species of live bait that is available, your own skill levels in throwing a net, reading a recorder and deploying Sabiki rigs or the presence of live bait boats. If the nettable baits like greenies, sardines, and pilchards prove hard to net, consider going to jigging with Sabiki rigs.
Blue runners and goggle eyes also are slightly larger baits that are caught by jigging tiny feathers or fishskins. The largest baits for smokers are small bluefish and mackeral. These small game fish are caught with the usual lures employed for them. Bluefish can be quickly unhooked and can survive in the livewell for a period of time. Spanish mackeral, however, must he quickly unhooked and rigged on a two-hook rig and be put overboard for trolling in “pit-stop time” for an optimal presentation.
Consider a smoker kingfish an oversized warrior with a heck of an appetite. All big fish want the maximum protein reward as they are solitary or “pack predators” chasing bait and the best way for them to do this is to get the biggest swallow possible- hence, their proclivity for big baits. In contrast, large schools of small kingfish have the numbers to corral huge schools of small baitfish- again, big kings do not have this advantage.
Moderate-sized live baits for smoker kings include goggle eyes, and pogies. Larger live baits include mullet, blue runners, bluefish, and small mackeral. It’s a wise practice to double-hook all larger live baits designed for either trolling or drifting for smoker kings. Captain Butch always uses coffee-colored wire leader for all his kingfishing. On double-hooked baits he uses lighter (and more fish-friendly) number four wire from his running line to the first hook. Since the body of the bait often hides the wire from the front hook to the back hook, he feels he can use heavier number seven wire with less concern about reduced strikes.
Different Size Kings Need Different Tackle-
Captain Butch is very specific about the specific tackle requirements for large kingfish versus small kingfish.
Smoker kingfish tackle onboard his center console is simple, yet it does the job quite well. He has a quartet of thirty-pound conventional outfits. The reels all hold at least three hundred yards of line to deal with the long blistering runs of huge smokers. One of his reels with hold braided line: this is the outfit he uses when he has to troll live baits far behind his transom in ultra-calm conditions. Like many other guides, Butch knows that the miracle of non-stretching braids permit solid hookups on far-back baits in a way monofilament cannot. Butch obtained reels with high-speed retrieve ratios of either 6:2 or 5:1 that have the capability to take up line quickly when a smoker turns and takes a sizzling run towards his boat.
As to terminal rigging of smoker outfits, Butch suggests a pair of highly sharpened 6/0 to 7/0 hooks along with the aforementioned coffee-colored wire leader setup. He also advises that when a smoker hits the live bait, strike the fish smartly to effect a good hookset. Once the fish begins its run, allow the fish to tire itself out by running a long distance on a light to medium drag setting. Too much pressure on kingfish with thirty-pound tackle-particularly braids- runs too high a risk of pulled hooks.
Tackle for smaller snake kingfish need not be of such heroic specifications. Butch uses twelve-pound class spinning tackle. The reels have a fast retrieve, smooth drags, and hold about two hundred fifty yards of line. After doubling his line, he adds a fifteen-inch leader of number four coffee-colored wire and a 4/0 or 5/0 hook. He finds these lighter rigs work well with the smaller live baits –greenies, sardines, pilchards- that snakes eat with such relish. Oftentimes, he’ll use a single hook. Regarding hook placement, trolling calls for a nose hook, top drifting calls for a dorsal hook, and deeper kingfish strikes call for belly hooking. Butch has also found that throwing smaller live chum like pilchards into the troll wash or upwind drift side of the boat can get smaller kings quite excited.
If anglers decide to troll for either small or large kings, it’s important to remember that that a good spread of lines from close in to far out maximizes the chances for strikes while alerting anglers onboard which presentations are getting the most strikes.
Kingfish have now become the most popular offshore tournament fish. They range from the Gulf of Mexico through the southeastern seaboard of the United States. The reasons for this are their accessibility, fighting prowess, and edibility. You’ll find that Florida’s Treasure Coast is a perfect place to give these speedsters a try!
CONTACT DATA:
Captain Butch Constable
Phone: 1-561-74-SNOOK
Seasport Marina
Jupiter, Florida
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Looking Forward to Ocean Club Resort...
I've always wanted to explore and fish the Turks and Caicos, and it appears that possibility lays in store. Ocean Club Resort (www.oceanclubresorts.com ) lies in beautiful Grace Bay and appears to be an excellent resort and a wonderful fish and diving base of operations. I hope to be reporting on this in the near future.
Jan Maizler
http://www.flatsfishingonline.com
http://www.fishingfloridasflats.com
http://flatsfishingonline.blogspot.com
Jan Maizler
http://www.flatsfishingonline.com
http://www.fishingfloridasflats.com
http://flatsfishingonline.blogspot.com
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Loxahatchee Snook Slam....
Loxahatchee Snook Slam
By
Jan Stephen Maizler
Captain Butch Constable eased his twenty five-foot center console towards a seemingly solid wall of mangroves about fifty yards away. As his onboard anglers, Jon Cooper and I looked at each other as if to mutually wonder where Butch would find an entrance. As we got closer, the wall dematerialized into groups of bright green mangrove islets that rose out of the coffee-colored backcountry water. Butch chose one opening out of a maze of possibilities.
As we passed through, the aperture gave way to a meandering canal. As we turned the first corner of our serpentine path, we spotted a large heron perched on a jagged dead tree limb. In moments, the bird saw us. It gave a disgruntled shriek, crouched, and lifted off into the air- no doubt, to fly to more peaceful parts of this jungle. Jon chuckled at the bird’s histrionics.
As Butch piloted his vessel into another turn, he said, “look”, and pointed to a mud bank forty feet off in the two o’ clock position. We were delighted to see a huge alligator sunning itself on this radiant afternoon. Since the tide was falling, it would have plenty of time to rest and warm itself. As we watched the armored creature in this wild world, I had a feeling that this moment could easily be occurring a million years ago: a humbling yet exciting feeling for any angler!
Butch started talking and this popped me out of my reflections. He noted that it was a bit of a surprise to see a ‘gator in such brackish water, but understandable given that the salt water was pushing further into the backcountry due to the lack of rain. He said we’d be reaching our honey hole in about ten minutes and we could be sure that we’d have all the action we wanted. I could feel my heart start pounding at this prospect and I looked longingly at one of the overhead fully rigged ultralight spinners and I readied myself…
As we traversed the final distance, I thought back on the inspirations, challenges, and details of our quest. While Butch and I had caught and released hundreds of large common snook in his home waters of Jupiter Inlet, the topic of the “other” kinds of snook had not come up. One night when we were discussing our mutual plans for the spring and summer fishing, Butch mentioned he’d caught over forty snook that very morning. Since this was only April, I pressed him for further details. He told me that he was fishing the brackish mangrove-lined waters of the Loxahatchee River. He added that he was fishing further inland because the common snook were still on the “inside”- this was particularly so since the absence of rain and “invading” saltwater allowed the fish to stay deeper in the brackish backcountry. But the most interesting topic was his mention of the fat snook and tarpon snook he’d caught amongst the common snook.
This really got my attention, since my only experience with the rarer species of snook was limited to an occasional tarpon snook in north Biscayne Bay. I asked him if he could repeat those fantastic “ three-snook” results and he said he could do so without any difficulty. Butch mentioned that the fourth species of snook- swordspine snook- were scarce, but they could be found at times under brackish water boat docks. I decided to organize this snook trip immediately and so, the Loxahatchee Snook Slam was born. It took little convincing to lure my friend Captain Jon Cooper away from his drafting table and flats skiff to join us a photographer and fellow adventurer.
A week later, we were boarding Butch’s boat at Jupiter’s Sea Sport Marina. We’d timed the trip to coincide with a full moon spring tide and an afternoon ebb tide. The optimal conditions of a fast tidal flow and dropping water would hopefully combine to assemble concentrated numbers of snook feeding on forage that pours out of the backcountry.
As we idled away from Sea Sport Marina, Butch said we had one last step, which was filling his huge livewell with live bait for chumming and fishing. He opined that his number one choice when using bait for a snook slam was live minnows. Firstly, minnows “matched the hatch” that existed in the brackish mangrove waters of the Loxahatchee. Secondly, minnows are just the right size as bait for the rarer and smaller snook species: fat snook generally top out at about seven pounds and tarpon snook do not exceed four pounds. Butch was convinced it made sense to use live bait small enough for the above species, while acknowledging that common snook up to twenty pounds gladly gobble up these tiny baits with relish. Lastly, live minnows last longer on the river than scaled sardines, which often prefer highly saline bays and beaches.
Butch eased his boat over to the shoreline pilings that supported the bridge next to the marina. He pointed to countless small flashes going off in the water column barely six feet from the shoreline. Butch opened up his minnow cast net, got in position and threw a perfectly unfurling “strike” over the hapless baitfish. As he pulled in the cast net, it was clear from the countless silver flickers in the “bag” that he’d be hauling a load of minnows into his livewell. After apprising the numbers of baitfish, he made two more throws of his cast net, thereby filling the livewell with minnows numbering in the thousands.
After this was accomplished, Butch told us we’d have about a half hour ride westward on the Loxahatchee River as well as another half hour ride through the mangrove backcountry. The first portion of this ride would be routine and would give him a chance to tutor Jon and I on the differing characteristics and habits of the different species of snook that we’d be catching.
Butch made it clear that the most important factor for having ongoing and viable as well as large snook populations was optimal habitat. This always consisted of having the longest possible stretch of salt water that begins as fresher brackish water with mangroves far inland, then transitions into an intermediate huge bay or river in between, and culminates as extremely salty water at an open ocean inlet or cut with surrounding beaches. He continued: “ the more the habitat conforms to these guidelines of lots of miles of water with a big and rich salinity transition, the higher the chances that you’ll have not only all the species of snook, but potentially huge numbers of them.”
Butch theorized that Lake Okeechobee and some of the canals of the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) create the heart of the fresh water feed that transitions into long rivers and canals of brackish salt water where Florida’s snook populations begin. He cautioned that the SFWMD can hurt the snook distributions that are poised for feeding and spawning when they dump (disproportionately) sudden huge quantities of fresh water into transition areas to prepare for the flooding of an approaching hurricane. He believed that the secret to a great snook area is a stable salinity transition. He felt that three of Florida’s best areas were Stuart and the St. Lucie River, Jupiter and the Loxahatchee River, and the Fort Myers region with its Caloosahatchee River. He said, “ these are the places you’ll likely find the best chances for all the species of snook.”
He then told us to try to visualize the different snook species having a different and specific range along the water transition from inland out to the open ocean.
Butch started with the common snook, which has the highest capacity to spend and tolerate the saltiest of salt waters. That’s why this large snook – which can grow to over fifty pounds in Florida- is found quite often under ocean piers all the way out to artificial and natural reefs offshore. When the common snook seeks warm waters as winter approaches, some of the fish travel inland, yet some of the fish seek refuge in the offshore depths. The common snook is the one snook species that spends the least of its time in the fresher parts of brackish water: this is obviously a guideline and there will be exceptions. Common snook gather at the ocean inlets during the summer months to spawn.
The next snook species Butch discussed was the fat snook. This species is the second largest species with most of the fish in the three to six pound range, although an occasional and rare fat snook can range from seven to ten pounds. Fat snook habitually live farther inland than common snook and they are encountered on inside marine waters rather than the open ocean. Butch has observed that fat snook often move towards the ocean inlet to spawn some time in January and February. He mentioned that he used to catch huge numbers of them on live shrimp during the winter at the very same bridge that we’d netted our minnows. On a year round basis, fat snook are often taken further up brackish marine rivers than are common snook. A fat snook looks simply like a common snook that is very fat- hence, the name.
Tarpon snook are smaller than common snook and fat snook. They rarely exceed four pounds, yet they are larger than the much rarer swordspine snook, which is generally no larger than two pounds. Tarpon snook are extremely distinctive as a snook species and they actually do look like a cross between a tarpon and a snook. Their bodies are tarpon-like, featuring a thin slab-sided body that gives way to an enormously upturned jaw that is set off by an extremely huge eye. Tarpon snook have the largest eye of any of the snook species. Butch felt that the tarpon snook’s eyes made it a very predatory snook that loved to feed in the dark at very focal ambush points. He also mentioned that tarpon snook seemed to be the species that was most comfortable foraging into the most inland parts of brackish marine rivers. Like fat snook, there are times of the year when tarpon snook travel into open bays to feed around docks and other cover.
Butch began to slow down as the open river portion of our trip ended and a solid wall of mangroves appeared in the distance. He said, “ that’s all you need to know about the different snook for now…soon, we’ll be entering the wilderness where I’ve been finding these fish.”
These recollections served me well as a foundation for our adventure as we took in the marvelous sights we saw on the way to his hot spot. Butch shut off his engine and drifted towards a large dead tree that hung over and into an undercut bank of rock, mud, and shells. As we got within twenty feet of the target area, he made his vessel fast to the bottom with his wishbone style anchor.
Butch laughed at the way I’d been staring longingly at his ultra light spinning rods. “Now’s the time”, he said. He handed an outfit to each of us. The rods were graphite and would aid in strike detection as well as load the power of the strike directly to the fish. The reels were new Penn spinners loaded with six-pound monofilament line. Butch mentioned he chose these reels for their fast retrieve ratio: this was an essential quality that would help get the snook away from their protective cover when we hooked up. The terminal tackle on these rigs sported a short leader of twenty-pound fluorocarbon and a very thin wire #2 hook. Butch wanted the business end of our outfits to be a light as possible so we could make a short cast with live minnows as bait. The aforementioned leader material would also keep our presentations as natural looking as possible.
He flipped open the hatch to his livewell and netted about forty minnows. After he gazed at the pace of the outgoing tide, he flipped the live chum upstream of the tree. As the baits were carried under and alongside the tree, Jon and I were astonished as the whole area exploded with slashes, splashes, and pops of snook gone wild!
Butch baited up our rods with live minnows and cautioned us to cast our baits very gingerly. He told us to wait until he flung out more live chum and to place our baits in its midst. Both Jon and I followed instructions and were hooked up within seconds. My fish smartly ran about twenty feet into the center of the canal then made a half-jump out of the water. It was a nice common snook of about ten pounds. Meanwhile, Jon was struggling at the stern with a bulldogging fish that took him close to the engine prop. He quickly stuck his rod tip into the water and steered the fish away from the sharp blades. As the fish surfaced, its’ huge girth to length ratio made it clear Jon was tight to a fat snook of about six pounds. In another minute, both of us had our fish alongside Butch’s boat for photos and release. As Butch continued live-chumming, the snook got closer and closer to the boat: we actually reached the point where casting a live bait was no longer necessary, since the marauding snook were literally under our rod tips! The mix of snook was about sixty percent fat snook and forty percent common snook. After we caught about forty fish, we were thoroughly sated- but we still longed for our Loxahatchee Snook Slam.
Butch seemed to read our minds as he said, “ there’s another spot you’ll be able complete your slam with as many tarpon snook as you like.” As we gave Butch a “what are we waiting for” look, he smiled and weighed anchor. He cranked up the engine and eased around yet another corner. He pointed to a fallen tree log that extended into the canal for about twenty feet and said, “ there’s our spot.” He again anchored about fifteen feet away from the log. Butch said he’d only chum with a handful of minnows this time, since these were smaller fish that were highly predatory and needed less exciting. His chum landed on and around the log. In a replay of the first spot, the water around the structure became a maelstrom of boils. We both cast right against the log and were hooked up in moments. Rather than the hard pulls and runs of the fat and common snook, the tarpon snook took to the air and thrashed themselves around the surface in half-somersaults. As we released these beautiful specimens, we toasted our snook slams with handshakes and ice water under the hot springtime sun. After we caught another twenty tarpon snook, we were exhausted and more than happy to call it a day.
We topped the day off feasting on fried and sautéed cobia that Butch had brought to Schooners restaurant near Jupiter inlet. We finished our Key Lime pie and coffee, and said goodbye to Butch. It was time to head home as the Florida sun dropped over the western horizon on a day two happy anglers and one great fishing guide would surely remember.
CONTACT DATA
Captain Butch Constable
1-561-74SNOOK
Jupiter Sea Sport Marina
Jupiter, Florida
Jan Maizler
http://www.flatsfishingonline.com
http://www.fishingfloridasflats.com
http://flatsfishingonline.blogspot.com
By
Jan Stephen Maizler
Captain Butch Constable eased his twenty five-foot center console towards a seemingly solid wall of mangroves about fifty yards away. As his onboard anglers, Jon Cooper and I looked at each other as if to mutually wonder where Butch would find an entrance. As we got closer, the wall dematerialized into groups of bright green mangrove islets that rose out of the coffee-colored backcountry water. Butch chose one opening out of a maze of possibilities.
As we passed through, the aperture gave way to a meandering canal. As we turned the first corner of our serpentine path, we spotted a large heron perched on a jagged dead tree limb. In moments, the bird saw us. It gave a disgruntled shriek, crouched, and lifted off into the air- no doubt, to fly to more peaceful parts of this jungle. Jon chuckled at the bird’s histrionics.
As Butch piloted his vessel into another turn, he said, “look”, and pointed to a mud bank forty feet off in the two o’ clock position. We were delighted to see a huge alligator sunning itself on this radiant afternoon. Since the tide was falling, it would have plenty of time to rest and warm itself. As we watched the armored creature in this wild world, I had a feeling that this moment could easily be occurring a million years ago: a humbling yet exciting feeling for any angler!
Butch started talking and this popped me out of my reflections. He noted that it was a bit of a surprise to see a ‘gator in such brackish water, but understandable given that the salt water was pushing further into the backcountry due to the lack of rain. He said we’d be reaching our honey hole in about ten minutes and we could be sure that we’d have all the action we wanted. I could feel my heart start pounding at this prospect and I looked longingly at one of the overhead fully rigged ultralight spinners and I readied myself…
As we traversed the final distance, I thought back on the inspirations, challenges, and details of our quest. While Butch and I had caught and released hundreds of large common snook in his home waters of Jupiter Inlet, the topic of the “other” kinds of snook had not come up. One night when we were discussing our mutual plans for the spring and summer fishing, Butch mentioned he’d caught over forty snook that very morning. Since this was only April, I pressed him for further details. He told me that he was fishing the brackish mangrove-lined waters of the Loxahatchee River. He added that he was fishing further inland because the common snook were still on the “inside”- this was particularly so since the absence of rain and “invading” saltwater allowed the fish to stay deeper in the brackish backcountry. But the most interesting topic was his mention of the fat snook and tarpon snook he’d caught amongst the common snook.
This really got my attention, since my only experience with the rarer species of snook was limited to an occasional tarpon snook in north Biscayne Bay. I asked him if he could repeat those fantastic “ three-snook” results and he said he could do so without any difficulty. Butch mentioned that the fourth species of snook- swordspine snook- were scarce, but they could be found at times under brackish water boat docks. I decided to organize this snook trip immediately and so, the Loxahatchee Snook Slam was born. It took little convincing to lure my friend Captain Jon Cooper away from his drafting table and flats skiff to join us a photographer and fellow adventurer.
A week later, we were boarding Butch’s boat at Jupiter’s Sea Sport Marina. We’d timed the trip to coincide with a full moon spring tide and an afternoon ebb tide. The optimal conditions of a fast tidal flow and dropping water would hopefully combine to assemble concentrated numbers of snook feeding on forage that pours out of the backcountry.
As we idled away from Sea Sport Marina, Butch said we had one last step, which was filling his huge livewell with live bait for chumming and fishing. He opined that his number one choice when using bait for a snook slam was live minnows. Firstly, minnows “matched the hatch” that existed in the brackish mangrove waters of the Loxahatchee. Secondly, minnows are just the right size as bait for the rarer and smaller snook species: fat snook generally top out at about seven pounds and tarpon snook do not exceed four pounds. Butch was convinced it made sense to use live bait small enough for the above species, while acknowledging that common snook up to twenty pounds gladly gobble up these tiny baits with relish. Lastly, live minnows last longer on the river than scaled sardines, which often prefer highly saline bays and beaches.
Butch eased his boat over to the shoreline pilings that supported the bridge next to the marina. He pointed to countless small flashes going off in the water column barely six feet from the shoreline. Butch opened up his minnow cast net, got in position and threw a perfectly unfurling “strike” over the hapless baitfish. As he pulled in the cast net, it was clear from the countless silver flickers in the “bag” that he’d be hauling a load of minnows into his livewell. After apprising the numbers of baitfish, he made two more throws of his cast net, thereby filling the livewell with minnows numbering in the thousands.
After this was accomplished, Butch told us we’d have about a half hour ride westward on the Loxahatchee River as well as another half hour ride through the mangrove backcountry. The first portion of this ride would be routine and would give him a chance to tutor Jon and I on the differing characteristics and habits of the different species of snook that we’d be catching.
Butch made it clear that the most important factor for having ongoing and viable as well as large snook populations was optimal habitat. This always consisted of having the longest possible stretch of salt water that begins as fresher brackish water with mangroves far inland, then transitions into an intermediate huge bay or river in between, and culminates as extremely salty water at an open ocean inlet or cut with surrounding beaches. He continued: “ the more the habitat conforms to these guidelines of lots of miles of water with a big and rich salinity transition, the higher the chances that you’ll have not only all the species of snook, but potentially huge numbers of them.”
Butch theorized that Lake Okeechobee and some of the canals of the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) create the heart of the fresh water feed that transitions into long rivers and canals of brackish salt water where Florida’s snook populations begin. He cautioned that the SFWMD can hurt the snook distributions that are poised for feeding and spawning when they dump (disproportionately) sudden huge quantities of fresh water into transition areas to prepare for the flooding of an approaching hurricane. He believed that the secret to a great snook area is a stable salinity transition. He felt that three of Florida’s best areas were Stuart and the St. Lucie River, Jupiter and the Loxahatchee River, and the Fort Myers region with its Caloosahatchee River. He said, “ these are the places you’ll likely find the best chances for all the species of snook.”
He then told us to try to visualize the different snook species having a different and specific range along the water transition from inland out to the open ocean.
Butch started with the common snook, which has the highest capacity to spend and tolerate the saltiest of salt waters. That’s why this large snook – which can grow to over fifty pounds in Florida- is found quite often under ocean piers all the way out to artificial and natural reefs offshore. When the common snook seeks warm waters as winter approaches, some of the fish travel inland, yet some of the fish seek refuge in the offshore depths. The common snook is the one snook species that spends the least of its time in the fresher parts of brackish water: this is obviously a guideline and there will be exceptions. Common snook gather at the ocean inlets during the summer months to spawn.
The next snook species Butch discussed was the fat snook. This species is the second largest species with most of the fish in the three to six pound range, although an occasional and rare fat snook can range from seven to ten pounds. Fat snook habitually live farther inland than common snook and they are encountered on inside marine waters rather than the open ocean. Butch has observed that fat snook often move towards the ocean inlet to spawn some time in January and February. He mentioned that he used to catch huge numbers of them on live shrimp during the winter at the very same bridge that we’d netted our minnows. On a year round basis, fat snook are often taken further up brackish marine rivers than are common snook. A fat snook looks simply like a common snook that is very fat- hence, the name.
Tarpon snook are smaller than common snook and fat snook. They rarely exceed four pounds, yet they are larger than the much rarer swordspine snook, which is generally no larger than two pounds. Tarpon snook are extremely distinctive as a snook species and they actually do look like a cross between a tarpon and a snook. Their bodies are tarpon-like, featuring a thin slab-sided body that gives way to an enormously upturned jaw that is set off by an extremely huge eye. Tarpon snook have the largest eye of any of the snook species. Butch felt that the tarpon snook’s eyes made it a very predatory snook that loved to feed in the dark at very focal ambush points. He also mentioned that tarpon snook seemed to be the species that was most comfortable foraging into the most inland parts of brackish marine rivers. Like fat snook, there are times of the year when tarpon snook travel into open bays to feed around docks and other cover.
Butch began to slow down as the open river portion of our trip ended and a solid wall of mangroves appeared in the distance. He said, “ that’s all you need to know about the different snook for now…soon, we’ll be entering the wilderness where I’ve been finding these fish.”
These recollections served me well as a foundation for our adventure as we took in the marvelous sights we saw on the way to his hot spot. Butch shut off his engine and drifted towards a large dead tree that hung over and into an undercut bank of rock, mud, and shells. As we got within twenty feet of the target area, he made his vessel fast to the bottom with his wishbone style anchor.
Butch laughed at the way I’d been staring longingly at his ultra light spinning rods. “Now’s the time”, he said. He handed an outfit to each of us. The rods were graphite and would aid in strike detection as well as load the power of the strike directly to the fish. The reels were new Penn spinners loaded with six-pound monofilament line. Butch mentioned he chose these reels for their fast retrieve ratio: this was an essential quality that would help get the snook away from their protective cover when we hooked up. The terminal tackle on these rigs sported a short leader of twenty-pound fluorocarbon and a very thin wire #2 hook. Butch wanted the business end of our outfits to be a light as possible so we could make a short cast with live minnows as bait. The aforementioned leader material would also keep our presentations as natural looking as possible.
He flipped open the hatch to his livewell and netted about forty minnows. After he gazed at the pace of the outgoing tide, he flipped the live chum upstream of the tree. As the baits were carried under and alongside the tree, Jon and I were astonished as the whole area exploded with slashes, splashes, and pops of snook gone wild!
Butch baited up our rods with live minnows and cautioned us to cast our baits very gingerly. He told us to wait until he flung out more live chum and to place our baits in its midst. Both Jon and I followed instructions and were hooked up within seconds. My fish smartly ran about twenty feet into the center of the canal then made a half-jump out of the water. It was a nice common snook of about ten pounds. Meanwhile, Jon was struggling at the stern with a bulldogging fish that took him close to the engine prop. He quickly stuck his rod tip into the water and steered the fish away from the sharp blades. As the fish surfaced, its’ huge girth to length ratio made it clear Jon was tight to a fat snook of about six pounds. In another minute, both of us had our fish alongside Butch’s boat for photos and release. As Butch continued live-chumming, the snook got closer and closer to the boat: we actually reached the point where casting a live bait was no longer necessary, since the marauding snook were literally under our rod tips! The mix of snook was about sixty percent fat snook and forty percent common snook. After we caught about forty fish, we were thoroughly sated- but we still longed for our Loxahatchee Snook Slam.
Butch seemed to read our minds as he said, “ there’s another spot you’ll be able complete your slam with as many tarpon snook as you like.” As we gave Butch a “what are we waiting for” look, he smiled and weighed anchor. He cranked up the engine and eased around yet another corner. He pointed to a fallen tree log that extended into the canal for about twenty feet and said, “ there’s our spot.” He again anchored about fifteen feet away from the log. Butch said he’d only chum with a handful of minnows this time, since these were smaller fish that were highly predatory and needed less exciting. His chum landed on and around the log. In a replay of the first spot, the water around the structure became a maelstrom of boils. We both cast right against the log and were hooked up in moments. Rather than the hard pulls and runs of the fat and common snook, the tarpon snook took to the air and thrashed themselves around the surface in half-somersaults. As we released these beautiful specimens, we toasted our snook slams with handshakes and ice water under the hot springtime sun. After we caught another twenty tarpon snook, we were exhausted and more than happy to call it a day.
We topped the day off feasting on fried and sautéed cobia that Butch had brought to Schooners restaurant near Jupiter inlet. We finished our Key Lime pie and coffee, and said goodbye to Butch. It was time to head home as the Florida sun dropped over the western horizon on a day two happy anglers and one great fishing guide would surely remember.
CONTACT DATA
Captain Butch Constable
1-561-74SNOOK
Jupiter Sea Sport Marina
Jupiter, Florida
Jan Maizler
http://www.flatsfishingonline.com
http://www.fishingfloridasflats.com
http://flatsfishingonline.blogspot.com
Saturday, November 24, 2007
The Bountiful White Bucktail.....
The Bountiful White Bucktail
By
Jan Stephen Maizler
If I were compelled to fish with only one lure in my tackle box, it would surely be the white bucktail. Whether in a survival kit or a tournament bag, this venerable lure has the pedigree of an incredibly long history of popularity- and the reason is simple: versatility in all kinds of marine settings from the inland flats to the cobalt depths while sporting a “universal” color that mimics so many of our baitfish.
I like to think of this lure as kind of a Superhero or X-man- basically magnificent, but when given a new quality or feature, capable of even so much more. Therefore, the white bucktail is inherently perfect, but may take on “another form” based on how and where it will be used such as different head shapes and different hookeye placements for different action as well as different head sizes for different sink rates and operating depths. Remember, though it may be slightly altered for each unique piscatorial purpose, it’s still the same Superhero!
It’s extremely important to choose a white bucktail of the highest quality where the materials and construction are of the finest kind. Be sure that your white bucktail has an abundance of skirted hair material that is sufficiently wrapped to the jighead. It’s even a better sign if the hairs look “overwrapped” and that said wrapping has a clear coating of some sort binding it together.
There are two essentials of the jighead construction itself. Firstly, the hook must be of the finest grade wire and must feature a point that is “sticky-sharp” right out of the box. Secondly, the finished details of the jighead itself should be as life-like as possible- this is particularly true of well-designed eyes. For these reasons, I choose a white Backbone bucktail for the flats and a white Spro Prime bucktail for bay, bridge, and ocean applications.
WHITE BUCKTAIL BASICS-
The white bucktail is basically some hairs tied to a jighead, which is the essence of simplicity itself. This lure has the striking white coloring that matches or mimics that vast majority of scaled baitfish around the world like minnows, shiners, whitebait, sardines, mullet, and balao. Even the darker forage fish that live in the offshore weedlines have white bellies, which is exactly what gamefish like mahi are aiming for as they attack upwards in the water column!
While it’s often claimed this lure has no built-in action, thoughtful consideration will reveal this conjecture as only partially true. Fast-reeling a white bucktail creates a streaking presentation that no feeding kings, mackeral, mahi, jacks, or barracuda can resist- ask these fish whether that white bucktail has no action! Perhaps it’s more accurate to convey that a jigging or bouncing retrieve allows this marvelous lure to attract more of the same species of fish (as well as other species) in a larger window of water, weather, and feeding conditions.
You’ll find white bucktails are available in sizes ranging from 1/32 ounce to 5 ounces. Water depth, degree of current, size of the forage fish, and size of the target gamefish will determine the size of the bucktail. The basic rule is to keep the size of your white bucktail as small as possible, which allows the smallest of your target species (as well as the largest) to partake of your irresistible and somewhat generous pseudo-meal.
The above factors as well as the actual action of the drop and retrieve of the jig in the water column determine your choice of jighead shape and style. The hookeye placement in your white bucktail will determine its retrieve action as well as its retrieve in relation to the actual bottom, be it mud, grass, sand, reefs, or wrecks.
It will always pay to rig your bucktail with a loop knot to give it maximum action: this is regardless of whether you use a leader or not. As to knot choice, either the Uni-Knot or Homer Rhode loop knot are fine.
WHITE BUCKTAILING THE FLATS AND SHALLOWS-
You’d be hard-pressed to find a more universal lure for the flats and shallows than the white bucktail. Because of the brevity of the water column, choose smaller white bucktails from 1/8 ounce to 3/8 ounces. You’ll also find it prudent in your skinny water tactics to choose a flat skimmer head that will sink a tad more slowly than other jighead shapes. The flathead skimmer also retrieves up and over grass clumps and beds most effectively as well.
When you fish “deeply-forested” grassflats, be sure to use a white skimmer jig that features a weed guard accessory. These monofilament devices project outward and ward off grass blades that might entangle your hook. They also bend quite easily and nicely to maximize your hookup as your quarry gobbles up your bucktail. BackBone lures come with a standard weed guard.
When you’re casting on very shallow flats, as soon as your bucktail lands, keep your rod
high and begin retrieving. Make sure your retrieve style includes frequent and gentle upward sweeps of the rod, particularly when you’re blind casting to flat bottom. When you blind cast to structure like potholes, pause your bucktail so it sinks into the depths of that hole briefly.
On ultra shallow flats where you see your quarry-such as tailing bones off Abaco or redfish off Flamingo- make your cast in front of but beyond your quarry. This achieves two things. Firstly, it won’t plop next to the fish on the landing and blow them off the flat. Secondly, the retrieve you make will take your bucktail on an intercept course where the feeding fish will see it a reasonable distance in front of them and go after it.
When you’re casting to tailing or “heading” permit, you have two choices. The first is to cast it in front of the fish, reel it past the fish until it sees it and begins its pursuit and then drop it to the bottom dead-still like a hiding crab. The other choice- particularly with schooling permit- is to cast to the periphery of the school in front of them or alongside them and bring it back with short, hopping jigs. I used this latter technique recently off Belize River Lodge and broke the Club Record with an astonishing nine permit in one day with my bucktail.
When it comes to rolling tarpon, it always pays to retrieve your bucktail with a slow sweep of the rod and then retrieve the line, much like a slow motion of pumping a fish back to the boat. Tarpon seem to like a pause and retrieve effect, not a jig-and-hop style.
My tackle choice for bucktailing the flats and shallows is spinning tackle featuring a nine-foot steelhead rod for the longest casts as well as a super-fast retrieve spinner loaded with eight-pound test mono line. Braided line is not needed as strikes are obvious, the fish are not far away, and braided line is too unforgiving on the soft mouth of seatrout.
WHITE BUCKTAILING THE BRIDGES AND BAYS-
For starters, change your tackle over to stouter tackle. This includes seven-foot long graphite spinning rods combined with reels loaded with 8/30 braided line, such as PowerPro. Baitcasting tackle should utilize similar graphite rod and braided line profiles. Understand that bay waters begin “deeper water” applications where braided lines’ strike detection and power loading features for solid hooksets far outshine monofilament.
Now is the time to consider changing jighead shapes to peahead, beanhead, and “smiling fish” types. Bridge and bay white bucktails usually range in size from ½ ounce to 1 ½ ounces.
Bucktailing these areas is best served by using a longer-interval lift and drop slow-jigging technique that is always oriented to the bottom where most inshore fish spend their time. Even mackerel will blast a bucktail flying up off the bottom. If you see a fish like this following your jigged bucktail, speed it up!
White bucktailing bridges, always should orient to the bottom when the fishing starts. Start working your lure in slow hops right off the bottom, where more snook and tarpon “suspend” than you could possibly realize. One special accessory is the addition of a plastic bait to your white bucktail. I particularly like to add a long red or glo-white plastic worm that extends a few inches past the bottom of the bucktail skirt. Working this rig deep under nighttime bridge shadows has taken countless snook as well as tarpon in my angling history.
DEEP JIGGING WITH WHITE BUCKTAILS-
As you go deeper, more modifications are in order. Jighead shape should be bullet-headed to allow for a fast descent. Spinning tackle and bait casting tackle should continue to emphasize graphite rods, and fast-retrieve reels. It’s a given that the reels be loaded with braided line because its’ thin diameter allows for a faster drop or descent as well as the previously mentioned advantages over mono.
The precise methods of deep jigging are already well known. Specifically, there are two important features to remember. Firstly, your white bucktail often gets hit on the drop and a fast pickup and come-tight strike is needed for a solid hookup- this is where graphite rods, fast-retrieve reels, and no-stretch braided line all shine quite brightly with deep jigging. Additionally, getting hit “on the drop” is often signaled by the line “stopping” too soon relative to the depth as well as by the line suddenly flying off the reel far too quickly in the free-spool tempo. Secondly, it will always enhance your catch rate to adorn or “dress up’ your white bucktail for deep jigging. My personal choice is to hang a six-inch long pearl-colored Culprit worm on the hook. My next step is to give a scented squirt of Rip Tide Blast Shrimp Spray to the worm and let it out. I’ve never been disappointed by the results, as I’m sure you won’t be either!
.
CONTACT DATA:
www.spro.com
www.backbonelures.com
www.culprit.com
www.riptidelures.com
www.powerpro.com
By
Jan Stephen Maizler
If I were compelled to fish with only one lure in my tackle box, it would surely be the white bucktail. Whether in a survival kit or a tournament bag, this venerable lure has the pedigree of an incredibly long history of popularity- and the reason is simple: versatility in all kinds of marine settings from the inland flats to the cobalt depths while sporting a “universal” color that mimics so many of our baitfish.
I like to think of this lure as kind of a Superhero or X-man- basically magnificent, but when given a new quality or feature, capable of even so much more. Therefore, the white bucktail is inherently perfect, but may take on “another form” based on how and where it will be used such as different head shapes and different hookeye placements for different action as well as different head sizes for different sink rates and operating depths. Remember, though it may be slightly altered for each unique piscatorial purpose, it’s still the same Superhero!
It’s extremely important to choose a white bucktail of the highest quality where the materials and construction are of the finest kind. Be sure that your white bucktail has an abundance of skirted hair material that is sufficiently wrapped to the jighead. It’s even a better sign if the hairs look “overwrapped” and that said wrapping has a clear coating of some sort binding it together.
There are two essentials of the jighead construction itself. Firstly, the hook must be of the finest grade wire and must feature a point that is “sticky-sharp” right out of the box. Secondly, the finished details of the jighead itself should be as life-like as possible- this is particularly true of well-designed eyes. For these reasons, I choose a white Backbone bucktail for the flats and a white Spro Prime bucktail for bay, bridge, and ocean applications.
WHITE BUCKTAIL BASICS-
The white bucktail is basically some hairs tied to a jighead, which is the essence of simplicity itself. This lure has the striking white coloring that matches or mimics that vast majority of scaled baitfish around the world like minnows, shiners, whitebait, sardines, mullet, and balao. Even the darker forage fish that live in the offshore weedlines have white bellies, which is exactly what gamefish like mahi are aiming for as they attack upwards in the water column!
While it’s often claimed this lure has no built-in action, thoughtful consideration will reveal this conjecture as only partially true. Fast-reeling a white bucktail creates a streaking presentation that no feeding kings, mackeral, mahi, jacks, or barracuda can resist- ask these fish whether that white bucktail has no action! Perhaps it’s more accurate to convey that a jigging or bouncing retrieve allows this marvelous lure to attract more of the same species of fish (as well as other species) in a larger window of water, weather, and feeding conditions.
You’ll find white bucktails are available in sizes ranging from 1/32 ounce to 5 ounces. Water depth, degree of current, size of the forage fish, and size of the target gamefish will determine the size of the bucktail. The basic rule is to keep the size of your white bucktail as small as possible, which allows the smallest of your target species (as well as the largest) to partake of your irresistible and somewhat generous pseudo-meal.
The above factors as well as the actual action of the drop and retrieve of the jig in the water column determine your choice of jighead shape and style. The hookeye placement in your white bucktail will determine its retrieve action as well as its retrieve in relation to the actual bottom, be it mud, grass, sand, reefs, or wrecks.
It will always pay to rig your bucktail with a loop knot to give it maximum action: this is regardless of whether you use a leader or not. As to knot choice, either the Uni-Knot or Homer Rhode loop knot are fine.
WHITE BUCKTAILING THE FLATS AND SHALLOWS-
You’d be hard-pressed to find a more universal lure for the flats and shallows than the white bucktail. Because of the brevity of the water column, choose smaller white bucktails from 1/8 ounce to 3/8 ounces. You’ll also find it prudent in your skinny water tactics to choose a flat skimmer head that will sink a tad more slowly than other jighead shapes. The flathead skimmer also retrieves up and over grass clumps and beds most effectively as well.
When you fish “deeply-forested” grassflats, be sure to use a white skimmer jig that features a weed guard accessory. These monofilament devices project outward and ward off grass blades that might entangle your hook. They also bend quite easily and nicely to maximize your hookup as your quarry gobbles up your bucktail. BackBone lures come with a standard weed guard.
When you’re casting on very shallow flats, as soon as your bucktail lands, keep your rod
high and begin retrieving. Make sure your retrieve style includes frequent and gentle upward sweeps of the rod, particularly when you’re blind casting to flat bottom. When you blind cast to structure like potholes, pause your bucktail so it sinks into the depths of that hole briefly.
On ultra shallow flats where you see your quarry-such as tailing bones off Abaco or redfish off Flamingo- make your cast in front of but beyond your quarry. This achieves two things. Firstly, it won’t plop next to the fish on the landing and blow them off the flat. Secondly, the retrieve you make will take your bucktail on an intercept course where the feeding fish will see it a reasonable distance in front of them and go after it.
When you’re casting to tailing or “heading” permit, you have two choices. The first is to cast it in front of the fish, reel it past the fish until it sees it and begins its pursuit and then drop it to the bottom dead-still like a hiding crab. The other choice- particularly with schooling permit- is to cast to the periphery of the school in front of them or alongside them and bring it back with short, hopping jigs. I used this latter technique recently off Belize River Lodge and broke the Club Record with an astonishing nine permit in one day with my bucktail.
When it comes to rolling tarpon, it always pays to retrieve your bucktail with a slow sweep of the rod and then retrieve the line, much like a slow motion of pumping a fish back to the boat. Tarpon seem to like a pause and retrieve effect, not a jig-and-hop style.
My tackle choice for bucktailing the flats and shallows is spinning tackle featuring a nine-foot steelhead rod for the longest casts as well as a super-fast retrieve spinner loaded with eight-pound test mono line. Braided line is not needed as strikes are obvious, the fish are not far away, and braided line is too unforgiving on the soft mouth of seatrout.
WHITE BUCKTAILING THE BRIDGES AND BAYS-
For starters, change your tackle over to stouter tackle. This includes seven-foot long graphite spinning rods combined with reels loaded with 8/30 braided line, such as PowerPro. Baitcasting tackle should utilize similar graphite rod and braided line profiles. Understand that bay waters begin “deeper water” applications where braided lines’ strike detection and power loading features for solid hooksets far outshine monofilament.
Now is the time to consider changing jighead shapes to peahead, beanhead, and “smiling fish” types. Bridge and bay white bucktails usually range in size from ½ ounce to 1 ½ ounces.
Bucktailing these areas is best served by using a longer-interval lift and drop slow-jigging technique that is always oriented to the bottom where most inshore fish spend their time. Even mackerel will blast a bucktail flying up off the bottom. If you see a fish like this following your jigged bucktail, speed it up!
White bucktailing bridges, always should orient to the bottom when the fishing starts. Start working your lure in slow hops right off the bottom, where more snook and tarpon “suspend” than you could possibly realize. One special accessory is the addition of a plastic bait to your white bucktail. I particularly like to add a long red or glo-white plastic worm that extends a few inches past the bottom of the bucktail skirt. Working this rig deep under nighttime bridge shadows has taken countless snook as well as tarpon in my angling history.
DEEP JIGGING WITH WHITE BUCKTAILS-
As you go deeper, more modifications are in order. Jighead shape should be bullet-headed to allow for a fast descent. Spinning tackle and bait casting tackle should continue to emphasize graphite rods, and fast-retrieve reels. It’s a given that the reels be loaded with braided line because its’ thin diameter allows for a faster drop or descent as well as the previously mentioned advantages over mono.
The precise methods of deep jigging are already well known. Specifically, there are two important features to remember. Firstly, your white bucktail often gets hit on the drop and a fast pickup and come-tight strike is needed for a solid hookup- this is where graphite rods, fast-retrieve reels, and no-stretch braided line all shine quite brightly with deep jigging. Additionally, getting hit “on the drop” is often signaled by the line “stopping” too soon relative to the depth as well as by the line suddenly flying off the reel far too quickly in the free-spool tempo. Secondly, it will always enhance your catch rate to adorn or “dress up’ your white bucktail for deep jigging. My personal choice is to hang a six-inch long pearl-colored Culprit worm on the hook. My next step is to give a scented squirt of Rip Tide Blast Shrimp Spray to the worm and let it out. I’ve never been disappointed by the results, as I’m sure you won’t be either!
.
CONTACT DATA:
www.spro.com
www.backbonelures.com
www.culprit.com
www.riptidelures.com
www.powerpro.com
Friday, November 23, 2007
Angling Travel and a Personal Thanksgiving....
It's a great time to reflect over the year at all my angling travel experiences that
began in the early spring and are just beginning to settle down- briefly, I hope. Many of the guides, resorts, and lodges gave it their best and took their chances on stories that reflected exactly what happened and what I experienced.
*Captain Butch Constable/SeaSport Marina, Jupiter,Florida. Butch took on the challenge to ply deep into the Loxahatchee River to go for a grand slam day of all four snook species. When the dust settled, Capt. Jon Cooper and I lost count of all the common, fat, and tarpon-snook we caught and released. We were thoroughly satisfied with Butch's expert guiding and would probably would have gotten the usually-tiny swordspine snook if we plied the backwater docks in the dark with tiny lures.
*The Island of Curacao, Netherland Antilles- This experience would take a book to describe, but I'm sure one day I'll be back again.
*Belize River Lodge, Belize- Thanks, Mike, Margueritte, Misha, and a big high-five to Raul Navarette, an incredible guide. In the five days photog. Art Blank and I spent there, Raul was able to find the habitat to match the weather conditions, which kept us deep in snook, tarpon, bonefish, permit, or ladyfish. Grand slam days were possible in two of those days, but we bypassed that thrill for the thrills right in front of us! Owner Mike Heusner gave me a hackle jig to use on the flats for permit and on the last day, I broke the Club's record with nine - that's right- permit caught and released. This was a day I'll never forget!
*Bimini Bay Resort and Casino, Bahamas- Bimini is enhanced by the development of this fine resort. I was satisfied that they were sensitive to preserving the mangrove ecology and flats. The resort's rooms, dining, and services are excellent. Guide Bonefish Tommy Sewell gave Jon Cooper and I a fantastic day of bonefishing. Jon and I spent the balance of the time light-tackling -via the cast and jig method- loads of snappers, 'cudas, and some big horseye jacks.
*South Seas Island Resort, Captiva Island, Florida- Captain Tom Walsh had to contend with 25 mph northeast winds, yet his strategies in the open Gulf kept us deep in spanish mackeral, ladyfish, and blacktip sharks. We topped off the trip with two large snook on a Captiva canal. South Seas Island Resort is an exquisite full-service resort that has everything for angler and non-angler alike.
*Kingfisher Fleet/Fishermen’s Village, Charlotte Harbor, Florida- We spent some real quality time in an area that deserved my attention for a long time. Thanks to the expert guiding of Captain Ralph Allen of Kingfisher Fleet, we had an action-packed day with mackeral, ladyfish, seatrout, redfish, and quantities of snook that were mind-boggling! At the days end, we worked a school of dock snook that was huge, but had to leave to avoid a storm. Fisherman's Village is a perfect one-stop resort for anglers and their families in Punta Gorda.
*Gamboa Rainforest Resort, Panama- Thanks to Holly, Edgar, Benjy, Nodiel, and Katarina for such a memory-making trip. Gamboa is like a Shangri-La right in the midst of Gatun Lake and the surrounding tropical rainforest. Special thanks to local fishing legend and new friend Horacio "Chicho" Clare for helping me to prepare for the trip. Gamboa's lodgings, grounds, cuisine, and services are superb and is a short boat ride with one of their guided boats to some incredible peacock bass fishing mixed in with some whopper snook and tarpon.
*Captain Butch Moser of Delray Beach is one of the top live bait freshwater guides on the Gold Coast. He's got me totally spoiled as we hit the "century mark" with peacocks to five pounds and largemouths to eight pounds.
*Grande Tours, Placida, Florida/ Captain Dave Loger- Thanks so much, Captain Marian, G.M. Mary, and Captain Dave Loger for showing me the world of inshore marine kayak fishing. I have an indelible memory of a 2 a.m. trip into the nightime mangrove cathedrals that were almost frosted by a cold front. Despite that, Captain Dave put me in the right spots and with my DOA shrimp, Spro bucktail, and Rip Tide Blast shrimp scent, I caught a big red, big snook, and 15-pound goliath grouper.
*Island Vista/ Captain Dicks/ Captain Smiley, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina- It has not been long since I've returned from this great destination. Island Vista was a great place to stay in Myrtle Beach. Photog. Art Blank and I would stoke our furnaces with hearty breakfasts while we watched loads of porpoises feed and cavort in the ocean. Captain Jonathan tried hard the first day, but a severe cold kept it to two flounder. The next day warmed, and Captain Patrick Kelly kept our rods bent with flounder, redfish, black drums and bluefish. I callled Patrick this morning and he told me he had a charter yesterday that released over fifty reds on the flats- I wish that charter would have been me!
Thanks to Everyone!
Jan Maizler
http://www.flatsfishingonline.com
http://www.fishingfloridasflats.com
http://flatsfishingonline.blogspot.com
began in the early spring and are just beginning to settle down- briefly, I hope. Many of the guides, resorts, and lodges gave it their best and took their chances on stories that reflected exactly what happened and what I experienced.
*Captain Butch Constable/SeaSport Marina, Jupiter,Florida. Butch took on the challenge to ply deep into the Loxahatchee River to go for a grand slam day of all four snook species. When the dust settled, Capt. Jon Cooper and I lost count of all the common, fat, and tarpon-snook we caught and released. We were thoroughly satisfied with Butch's expert guiding and would probably would have gotten the usually-tiny swordspine snook if we plied the backwater docks in the dark with tiny lures.
*The Island of Curacao, Netherland Antilles- This experience would take a book to describe, but I'm sure one day I'll be back again.
*Belize River Lodge, Belize- Thanks, Mike, Margueritte, Misha, and a big high-five to Raul Navarette, an incredible guide. In the five days photog. Art Blank and I spent there, Raul was able to find the habitat to match the weather conditions, which kept us deep in snook, tarpon, bonefish, permit, or ladyfish. Grand slam days were possible in two of those days, but we bypassed that thrill for the thrills right in front of us! Owner Mike Heusner gave me a hackle jig to use on the flats for permit and on the last day, I broke the Club's record with nine - that's right- permit caught and released. This was a day I'll never forget!
*Bimini Bay Resort and Casino, Bahamas- Bimini is enhanced by the development of this fine resort. I was satisfied that they were sensitive to preserving the mangrove ecology and flats. The resort's rooms, dining, and services are excellent. Guide Bonefish Tommy Sewell gave Jon Cooper and I a fantastic day of bonefishing. Jon and I spent the balance of the time light-tackling -via the cast and jig method- loads of snappers, 'cudas, and some big horseye jacks.
*South Seas Island Resort, Captiva Island, Florida- Captain Tom Walsh had to contend with 25 mph northeast winds, yet his strategies in the open Gulf kept us deep in spanish mackeral, ladyfish, and blacktip sharks. We topped off the trip with two large snook on a Captiva canal. South Seas Island Resort is an exquisite full-service resort that has everything for angler and non-angler alike.
*Kingfisher Fleet/Fishermen’s Village, Charlotte Harbor, Florida- We spent some real quality time in an area that deserved my attention for a long time. Thanks to the expert guiding of Captain Ralph Allen of Kingfisher Fleet, we had an action-packed day with mackeral, ladyfish, seatrout, redfish, and quantities of snook that were mind-boggling! At the days end, we worked a school of dock snook that was huge, but had to leave to avoid a storm. Fisherman's Village is a perfect one-stop resort for anglers and their families in Punta Gorda.
*Gamboa Rainforest Resort, Panama- Thanks to Holly, Edgar, Benjy, Nodiel, and Katarina for such a memory-making trip. Gamboa is like a Shangri-La right in the midst of Gatun Lake and the surrounding tropical rainforest. Special thanks to local fishing legend and new friend Horacio "Chicho" Clare for helping me to prepare for the trip. Gamboa's lodgings, grounds, cuisine, and services are superb and is a short boat ride with one of their guided boats to some incredible peacock bass fishing mixed in with some whopper snook and tarpon.
*Captain Butch Moser of Delray Beach is one of the top live bait freshwater guides on the Gold Coast. He's got me totally spoiled as we hit the "century mark" with peacocks to five pounds and largemouths to eight pounds.
*Grande Tours, Placida, Florida/ Captain Dave Loger- Thanks so much, Captain Marian, G.M. Mary, and Captain Dave Loger for showing me the world of inshore marine kayak fishing. I have an indelible memory of a 2 a.m. trip into the nightime mangrove cathedrals that were almost frosted by a cold front. Despite that, Captain Dave put me in the right spots and with my DOA shrimp, Spro bucktail, and Rip Tide Blast shrimp scent, I caught a big red, big snook, and 15-pound goliath grouper.
*Island Vista/ Captain Dicks/ Captain Smiley, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina- It has not been long since I've returned from this great destination. Island Vista was a great place to stay in Myrtle Beach. Photog. Art Blank and I would stoke our furnaces with hearty breakfasts while we watched loads of porpoises feed and cavort in the ocean. Captain Jonathan tried hard the first day, but a severe cold kept it to two flounder. The next day warmed, and Captain Patrick Kelly kept our rods bent with flounder, redfish, black drums and bluefish. I callled Patrick this morning and he told me he had a charter yesterday that released over fifty reds on the flats- I wish that charter would have been me!
Thanks to Everyone!
Jan Maizler
http://www.flatsfishingonline.com
http://www.fishingfloridasflats.com
http://flatsfishingonline.blogspot.com
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Back from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina...
Photographer Art Blank and I had never fished the coast of South Carolina: it's a big habitat composed of beaches, inlets, rivers, creeks, and marshlands. When we got an assignment to do a piece on the fall fishing there, we jumped on it! Due to other trips, I wasn't able to commit until mid- November, a time well after the fall mullet run. It's also a month for the advent of cold fronts.
The day Art and I arrived, a cold front moved through the Grand Stand and Myrtle Beach that night. We were cozy in our digs at the Island Vista, but we wondered what this would do to our fishing plans the next day with Captain Jonathan Stevens aboard Captain Tom Swatzel's 25-foot center console. We arrived at the dock and saw the sign for Capt. Dick's(www.captdicks.com). We spotted the vessel "Fish Finder", climbed aboard, and were soon fishing. The water was ice-cold, but we did miraculously manage two nice flounder thanks to Jonathan's tireless efforts.
The next day was much warmer, and prompted the old adage "what a difference a day makes" which proved so true when we fished with Captain Patrick Kelly the next day in the Little River area. He's also known as Captain Smiley because of his upbeat mood; indeed, his website is www.captsmileyfishingcharters.com. Patrick runs a 21-foot custom Carolina center console boat which draws only 12 inches of water.
In the improved conditions, we fished every imaginable habitat and caught fish whereever we went. I came close to a Grand Slam with a bunch of redfish (locally called spot tail), a few flounders, a black drum, and a bluefish. I could have caught the final "card" in the royal flush- which was a seatrout- but a late afternoon redfish bite was too hard to resist.
I'll be telling this story in full form in the coming months.
CONTACT DATA:
Captain Dicks- 866-557-3474
Captain Smiley (Patrick)- 843-361-7445
The day Art and I arrived, a cold front moved through the Grand Stand and Myrtle Beach that night. We were cozy in our digs at the Island Vista, but we wondered what this would do to our fishing plans the next day with Captain Jonathan Stevens aboard Captain Tom Swatzel's 25-foot center console. We arrived at the dock and saw the sign for Capt. Dick's(www.captdicks.com). We spotted the vessel "Fish Finder", climbed aboard, and were soon fishing. The water was ice-cold, but we did miraculously manage two nice flounder thanks to Jonathan's tireless efforts.
The next day was much warmer, and prompted the old adage "what a difference a day makes" which proved so true when we fished with Captain Patrick Kelly the next day in the Little River area. He's also known as Captain Smiley because of his upbeat mood; indeed, his website is www.captsmileyfishingcharters.com. Patrick runs a 21-foot custom Carolina center console boat which draws only 12 inches of water.
In the improved conditions, we fished every imaginable habitat and caught fish whereever we went. I came close to a Grand Slam with a bunch of redfish (locally called spot tail), a few flounders, a black drum, and a bluefish. I could have caught the final "card" in the royal flush- which was a seatrout- but a late afternoon redfish bite was too hard to resist.
I'll be telling this story in full form in the coming months.
CONTACT DATA:
Captain Dicks- 866-557-3474
Captain Smiley (Patrick)- 843-361-7445
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Back from Grande Tours in Placida, Florida...
It was a wonderful weekend to travel to the preeminent southwest Florida leader in kayaking, Grande Tours (www.grandetours.com). Their facility sits on Coral Creek in Placida and just inside of lovely Gasparilla Sound. Although most of my experience with marine fishing vessels was from pushing skiffs with a pushpole since 1962,it was clear that a gaping hole in my shallow water stealth arsenal was the mastery of kayak fishing- so I came to Grande Tours as a student.
I was in the best of hands: Captain Marian Schneider, the owner of the facility, and Mary Cordero, the resident general manager put me in the hands of their finest kayak guide, Dave Loger (www.adventurekayakfishing.com). The weather featured bluebird skies with light northerly winds. However, a cold front had cooled the waters to the point where fishing would have a bit more of a challenge.
On the night of my arrival, Captain Dave took me out for my first kayak fishing experience in the wee hours. Under star-filled skies, we traveled through mangrove creeks, tunnels, and intersections. The silence of the night was occasionally broken by the plop of a large mullet jumping,the cranky croaks of blue herons, and the welcome pops of feeding snook.
Within the first hour, using a DOA shrimp and a white SPRO bucktail, I(respectively) caught an 8- pound redfish and a 12-pound snook. I also had an excellent surprise as I jigged the channel in front of Grande Tours with my Spro when I hooked and released a nice goliath grouper around 15-pounds: this is a fine catch on 8-pound spinning in such close quarters to oyster bars and mangroves. It would have been easy with an expert like Captain Dave to have a guided "paddle" into the Sound at dawn and nail a seatrout to complete my west coast slam, but the beckoning of a hot shower and warm bed proved irresistable.
I'll be reporting much more on this experience, which proved to me that a sit-on-top kayak is the apex of flats fishing access-creation and stealth.
CONTACT DATA:
Grande Tours- 941-697-8825
Jan
www.flatsfishingonline.com
www.fishingfloridasflats.com
I was in the best of hands: Captain Marian Schneider, the owner of the facility, and Mary Cordero, the resident general manager put me in the hands of their finest kayak guide, Dave Loger (www.adventurekayakfishing.com). The weather featured bluebird skies with light northerly winds. However, a cold front had cooled the waters to the point where fishing would have a bit more of a challenge.
On the night of my arrival, Captain Dave took me out for my first kayak fishing experience in the wee hours. Under star-filled skies, we traveled through mangrove creeks, tunnels, and intersections. The silence of the night was occasionally broken by the plop of a large mullet jumping,the cranky croaks of blue herons, and the welcome pops of feeding snook.
Within the first hour, using a DOA shrimp and a white SPRO bucktail, I(respectively) caught an 8- pound redfish and a 12-pound snook. I also had an excellent surprise as I jigged the channel in front of Grande Tours with my Spro when I hooked and released a nice goliath grouper around 15-pounds: this is a fine catch on 8-pound spinning in such close quarters to oyster bars and mangroves. It would have been easy with an expert like Captain Dave to have a guided "paddle" into the Sound at dawn and nail a seatrout to complete my west coast slam, but the beckoning of a hot shower and warm bed proved irresistable.
I'll be reporting much more on this experience, which proved to me that a sit-on-top kayak is the apex of flats fishing access-creation and stealth.
CONTACT DATA:
Grande Tours- 941-697-8825
Jan
www.flatsfishingonline.com
www.fishingfloridasflats.com
Friday, November 02, 2007
Captain Butch Moser, Part 2
When I fish with captain Butch Moser far inland in south Palm Beach County, we have a mind-meld as to what we like- and that's action and plenty of it. With Butch's live shad baits and ultralight spin tackle, we always have a ball. Fall is a great time for peacocks and bass in those canals and lakes and today was a winner.
In 4 hours of fishing between us, we released over 100 peacocks and bass. The biggest peacock was about 5 pounds and the biggest bass topped 8 pounds. Days like this are the norm with a great live bait guide like Butch. I personally love that kind of fun-packed day rather than flailing away with a fly or lure at a big bedding peacock and harassing it half to death. Captain Butch can be reached at 1-561-254-2790 cell phone and 1-561-732-5996 home phone.
Jan
In 4 hours of fishing between us, we released over 100 peacocks and bass. The biggest peacock was about 5 pounds and the biggest bass topped 8 pounds. Days like this are the norm with a great live bait guide like Butch. I personally love that kind of fun-packed day rather than flailing away with a fly or lure at a big bedding peacock and harassing it half to death. Captain Butch can be reached at 1-561-254-2790 cell phone and 1-561-732-5996 home phone.
Jan
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Charlotte Harbor/Gulf Islands Adventures...
Charlotte Harbor/ Gulf Islands Attractions for Fishing Families in Florida
By
Jan Stephen Maizler
INSHORE FISHING THRILLS-
My first experience with Charlotte Harbor showed me what truly immense Florida marine habitat looks like- I simply was not used to losing sight of two opposite enclosing shorelines while I sat midway in the "bay" as mackerel struck with abandon and skyrocketed into groups of minnows and whitebait. I was out on Captain Ralph Allen's 18- foot Hewes Redfisher, which is one vessel out of his nine-vessel cruise and charter King Fisher Fleet (1-941-639-2628, 1-941-639-0969 www.kingfisherfleet.com).
As the mackerel "footballed" - a Captain Allenism- we caught half a dozen fish for pictures and moved down -way down!- to Cape Haze Point. This was for the purposes of acquiring the four kinds of bait that was to make this a banner day with multiple slams of snook, redfish, and trout.
Captain Ralph used a jack mackerel, bread, and seawater combination chum to net small whitebaits, large whitebaits, and small pinfish. We moved closer to the Cape Haze Bar to jig up some ladyfish to use as chunk baits.
After the bait catching was done, we fished about five miles of the straight Cape Haze shoreline. Captain Ralph would motor his skiff to one hundred yards off each of his hotspots, then pole his skiff the rest of the way. His next step was to chum the shoreline where snook would be holding on “structure”- this very same shoreline would provide the travel contours for cruising “high water” redfish.
The specific chum baits were bits of ladyfish and small whitebait. While we kept the live pinfish as back-up baits, it was never necessary to use them as the large live whitebaits caught numerous snook, trout, and small redfish, while the ladyfish chunks resulted in some big redfish that fought like junkyard dogs.
We ended our day live-chumming a dock a few miles from Fishermen’s Village and had the snook at a constant boil. We had many strikes, loads of cutoffs, and one released snook before a thunderstorm drove us back to our homeport at the Village.
CHARLOTTE HARBOR’S ONE-STOP RESORT-
My base of operations was Fishermen's Village Resort (1-941-639-8721, 1-800-639-0020 – www.fishville.com) in Punta Gorda. I loved this destination, which truly is one-stop shopping for anglers arriving with or without boats. It boasts a huge marina, launching ramp, full boat services, the entire King Fisher charter fleet, tennis court, pool, well-appointed and beautiful waterfront rooms, multiple boutique shops, and five restaurants- there was simply no need for me to leave this facility in five days! There were also many non-anglers and their families I met at Fishermen's Village who were thoroughly enjoying their stay. The day I left, this resort facility filled up with tournament redfishermen who were headquartered there.
INTO THE BUSH-
The next day, we traveled inland to catch the Swamp Buggy Eco-Tour at Babcock Wilderness Adventures (1-800-500-5583
www.babcockwilderness.com).
This tour took about ninety minutes and featured environs, flora, and fauna that were stunning, educational, and downright enjoyable. The tour is set in the heart of inland Florida inside the 74,000 acre Crescent B Ranch.
The Swamp Buggy took us through four types of eco-systems: open prairie, pine flat-woods, cypress swamp, and fresh water marsh. We spotted anhingas, cormorants, alligators, historic cracker cattle, deer, wild pigs, and wild turkeys in our tour through the bush.
Of some note is that the Sean Connery movie, “Just Cause” was filmed at the Crescent B Ranch. I found that this destination was just perfect as a place where a fishing family could spend a novel day “off.” It’s also a great place for non-angling friends and family while the fishing guys or girls are busy catching gamesters in Charlotte Harbor.
AN OLDE FLORIDA DINING AND ART EXPERIENCE “ON THE HARBOR”-
After our inland eco-experience, we traveled northeast to the city of Placida, which fronts a coastal stretch of Cape Haze. Conveniently located on the shores of Gasparilla Sound, the Fishery Restaurant (1-941-697-2451 www.sunstate.com/fishery/) welcomes “drive-ins, walk-ins, swim-ins and float-ins.”
The Albritton family of Placida –north of Charlotte Harbor- has done far more than simply construct a landmark Olde Florida eatery. They also offer visitors and locals family-built arts and crafts, collectibles, and Florida memories through their Placida Cove Gifts and Crafts, Margaret Albritton Gallery, and the Placida Museum. The Albritton’s also own the adjacent Placida Fish Market where fresh shrimp, and seasonally available scallops, oysters, crabmeat, and stone crabs are sold to patrons desiring to create their own mouth-watering meals.
The meal was memorable and began with fried Gator Bites served with key lime mustard. The balance of our repast consisted of the Famous Fishery Gumbo, sautéed scallops, mahi-mahi sandwiches, and key lime pie- all the dishes were well-presented, subtly cooked, and delicious.
This entire complex is perfect for land and water-based anglers and their families to drive right up- as we left, I saw anglers tying off three bay boats at the dock and then enter the Fishery. In addition, there’s a funky Floribbean bar at the entrance for adults to enjoy a libation before their meal.
PADDLING INTO THE MANGROVES-
I was thoroughly excited at the prospect of kayaking the afternoon away through the mangrove creeks of Gasparilla Sound and Coral Creek. The expert(s) who would provide us and guide us were Captain Marian Schneider’s Grande Tours
(1-941-697-8825, www.grandetours.com, 12575 Placida Road, Placida, Florida).
While Grande Tours offers five other experiences- Captain Marian’s Choice, Don Pedro State Park, Sunset Tour, Watchable Wildlife, and Kid’s Fishing- it was the last tour
I was really interested in, which was the fishing excursion. The time and timing of our arrival would make the fishing tour less successful, so the afternoon was devoted to the exploration of the Coral Creek complex.
In a perfectly executed example of “never say never”, our trip through Coral Creek yielded sightings, blowouts, and boils of loads of redfish and snook...and there I was without tackle or lures! Though it was frustrating, it was primarily enticing and gives me yet another reason to return as soon as I could to this vast, fruitful, and pristine area.
I was also glad to see that my recollections of Hurricane Charley were merely that. I saw no substantial evidence of its’ passing. To the contrary, the entire Charlotte Harbor/Gulf Island area of southwest Florida is thriving and growing, while at the same time preserving the untouched wilderness that makes this area such a paradise for fishing families.
Jan Maizler
www.flatsfishingonline.com
www.fishingfloridasflats.com
By
Jan Stephen Maizler
INSHORE FISHING THRILLS-
My first experience with Charlotte Harbor showed me what truly immense Florida marine habitat looks like- I simply was not used to losing sight of two opposite enclosing shorelines while I sat midway in the "bay" as mackerel struck with abandon and skyrocketed into groups of minnows and whitebait. I was out on Captain Ralph Allen's 18- foot Hewes Redfisher, which is one vessel out of his nine-vessel cruise and charter King Fisher Fleet (1-941-639-2628, 1-941-639-0969 www.kingfisherfleet.com).
As the mackerel "footballed" - a Captain Allenism- we caught half a dozen fish for pictures and moved down -way down!- to Cape Haze Point. This was for the purposes of acquiring the four kinds of bait that was to make this a banner day with multiple slams of snook, redfish, and trout.
Captain Ralph used a jack mackerel, bread, and seawater combination chum to net small whitebaits, large whitebaits, and small pinfish. We moved closer to the Cape Haze Bar to jig up some ladyfish to use as chunk baits.
After the bait catching was done, we fished about five miles of the straight Cape Haze shoreline. Captain Ralph would motor his skiff to one hundred yards off each of his hotspots, then pole his skiff the rest of the way. His next step was to chum the shoreline where snook would be holding on “structure”- this very same shoreline would provide the travel contours for cruising “high water” redfish.
The specific chum baits were bits of ladyfish and small whitebait. While we kept the live pinfish as back-up baits, it was never necessary to use them as the large live whitebaits caught numerous snook, trout, and small redfish, while the ladyfish chunks resulted in some big redfish that fought like junkyard dogs.
We ended our day live-chumming a dock a few miles from Fishermen’s Village and had the snook at a constant boil. We had many strikes, loads of cutoffs, and one released snook before a thunderstorm drove us back to our homeport at the Village.
CHARLOTTE HARBOR’S ONE-STOP RESORT-
My base of operations was Fishermen's Village Resort (1-941-639-8721, 1-800-639-0020 – www.fishville.com) in Punta Gorda. I loved this destination, which truly is one-stop shopping for anglers arriving with or without boats. It boasts a huge marina, launching ramp, full boat services, the entire King Fisher charter fleet, tennis court, pool, well-appointed and beautiful waterfront rooms, multiple boutique shops, and five restaurants- there was simply no need for me to leave this facility in five days! There were also many non-anglers and their families I met at Fishermen's Village who were thoroughly enjoying their stay. The day I left, this resort facility filled up with tournament redfishermen who were headquartered there.
INTO THE BUSH-
The next day, we traveled inland to catch the Swamp Buggy Eco-Tour at Babcock Wilderness Adventures (1-800-500-5583
www.babcockwilderness.com).
This tour took about ninety minutes and featured environs, flora, and fauna that were stunning, educational, and downright enjoyable. The tour is set in the heart of inland Florida inside the 74,000 acre Crescent B Ranch.
The Swamp Buggy took us through four types of eco-systems: open prairie, pine flat-woods, cypress swamp, and fresh water marsh. We spotted anhingas, cormorants, alligators, historic cracker cattle, deer, wild pigs, and wild turkeys in our tour through the bush.
Of some note is that the Sean Connery movie, “Just Cause” was filmed at the Crescent B Ranch. I found that this destination was just perfect as a place where a fishing family could spend a novel day “off.” It’s also a great place for non-angling friends and family while the fishing guys or girls are busy catching gamesters in Charlotte Harbor.
AN OLDE FLORIDA DINING AND ART EXPERIENCE “ON THE HARBOR”-
After our inland eco-experience, we traveled northeast to the city of Placida, which fronts a coastal stretch of Cape Haze. Conveniently located on the shores of Gasparilla Sound, the Fishery Restaurant (1-941-697-2451 www.sunstate.com/fishery/) welcomes “drive-ins, walk-ins, swim-ins and float-ins.”
The Albritton family of Placida –north of Charlotte Harbor- has done far more than simply construct a landmark Olde Florida eatery. They also offer visitors and locals family-built arts and crafts, collectibles, and Florida memories through their Placida Cove Gifts and Crafts, Margaret Albritton Gallery, and the Placida Museum. The Albritton’s also own the adjacent Placida Fish Market where fresh shrimp, and seasonally available scallops, oysters, crabmeat, and stone crabs are sold to patrons desiring to create their own mouth-watering meals.
The meal was memorable and began with fried Gator Bites served with key lime mustard. The balance of our repast consisted of the Famous Fishery Gumbo, sautéed scallops, mahi-mahi sandwiches, and key lime pie- all the dishes were well-presented, subtly cooked, and delicious.
This entire complex is perfect for land and water-based anglers and their families to drive right up- as we left, I saw anglers tying off three bay boats at the dock and then enter the Fishery. In addition, there’s a funky Floribbean bar at the entrance for adults to enjoy a libation before their meal.
PADDLING INTO THE MANGROVES-
I was thoroughly excited at the prospect of kayaking the afternoon away through the mangrove creeks of Gasparilla Sound and Coral Creek. The expert(s) who would provide us and guide us were Captain Marian Schneider’s Grande Tours
(1-941-697-8825, www.grandetours.com, 12575 Placida Road, Placida, Florida).
While Grande Tours offers five other experiences- Captain Marian’s Choice, Don Pedro State Park, Sunset Tour, Watchable Wildlife, and Kid’s Fishing- it was the last tour
I was really interested in, which was the fishing excursion. The time and timing of our arrival would make the fishing tour less successful, so the afternoon was devoted to the exploration of the Coral Creek complex.
In a perfectly executed example of “never say never”, our trip through Coral Creek yielded sightings, blowouts, and boils of loads of redfish and snook...and there I was without tackle or lures! Though it was frustrating, it was primarily enticing and gives me yet another reason to return as soon as I could to this vast, fruitful, and pristine area.
I was also glad to see that my recollections of Hurricane Charley were merely that. I saw no substantial evidence of its’ passing. To the contrary, the entire Charlotte Harbor/Gulf Island area of southwest Florida is thriving and growing, while at the same time preserving the untouched wilderness that makes this area such a paradise for fishing families.
Jan Maizler
www.flatsfishingonline.com
www.fishingfloridasflats.com
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