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Sarasota Saltwater Report Updated December 25, 2009

Pompano are getting thicker on the Stephen's Point grass-flats just a little south and off of the Ringling home. Although the fishing has been improving throughout December, we had a slow start Wednesday afternoon. Due to the wind, I opted to fish the east side of the bay for a slower drift and less chop. We fished with live shrimp on and around the Stephen's Point grass-flats for two hours and hardly lost any bait. Then the wind slowed just a little and the fish started to chew. Pompano, large Spanish mackerel, 3 to 4 pound bluefish and some nice seatrout made our afternoon.
We also caught some large ladyfish in the mix. I am sure that my D.O.A. and Silly Willy jigs would have worked just as well as the live shrimp but I didn't want to take the time to re-rig or change our luck.

Earlier in the week I found a large school of Spanish mackerel just outside of New Pass by the small red and green markers. The birds were diving and the fish were boiling as they fed on the schools of baitfish. The macks were mostly small but keeper size. We did well with Silly Willy jigs, especially when we tipped them with a small belly strip from the mackerel we kept. Of course live bait was also working. Over the past few weeks, some the biggest mackerel we caught were in Big Pass, some almost 30" long.

There have been reports of some keeper size gag grouper being caught on the bay. I have not targeted them myself lately but I plan to do so soon. My favorite bait for them is fresh caught pinfish, not over night baits from the bait shop. Pinfish will almost always dive to the bottom, so no lead is needed. Most of the water depths you may fish on the bay are only 10 to 20 feet deep. When a pinfish dances on top of the water it is a good sign of predators below. If it is grouper below, you will see your bait simply disappear under the surface, not a surface blast like a bass would do. If your bait disappears, don't wait more then a few seconds and start cranking like mad until you feel the weight of the fish. Then set the hook hard and keep the fish moving away from the structure. I never like to fish over the structure on the bay. I cast to it so that I don't run off the larger fish.
I may mark a structure by dropping a marker to the side or behind it, out of my way but still giving me a reference point for casting. To have any consistency at bringing keeper size grouper to the boat, you need to use at least 20lb test line, 60lb test mono leader, stout 4/0 to 6/0 hook and lock down your drag. With grouper, you don't have the option to let them run.
Remember, this is for large bay grouper and not deep water offshore grouper.
This is a good starter method but not the only method for grouper on the bay.

Enjoy & Protect

Enjoy and Protect Capt. Bob Smith
sarasotafishing@verizon.net
2529 Temple Street, Sarasota, FL 34239
Phone: (941) 366-2159,
Cell: (941) 350-8583, Fax: (941) 362-4040
 

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I got serious about bass fishing the first minute I did it. After more than fifty years of serious bass fishing alot of experience and information has come my way. Alot of it through tought times and tough doings. Alot of it through the pure pleasure of pursuiting my favoritest pastime to its fullest. In the late 1960's bass fishing began to take leaps and bounds in popularity and in the sharing of information. Competition began! Not only did competition begin on the water but in the boating industry, tackle industry and clothing industry.

Those "jump suits" Ray Scott tried to put us all in are another story. My first bass boat was a pair of sneekers I used to wade the streams of Missouri in. Then came those 20" john boats that floated the streams. And one day we got a three horse to push that thing up a shoal. WOW! That was a treat back then. I guarantee you it was alot better than pulling a 20' john boat up a shoal. Later a 5 hp, then a ten, one day a hundred, and so on. Well, boats grew and finally trailers did.

I remember the first time I saw a Wonder State Trailer. Here was a trailer with a huge frame, giant 14 inch wheels and bearings you could lube from the outside. No need to take the wheel apart to lube the bearings. And.... YES!!! You DROVE, I say again...You DROVE the boat on the trailer. It was in the early 70's that I saw this trailer. If you were someone you had one of theese. That trailer set the prototype of design for other trailer manufacturers to follow. While Wonder State Trailers fell by the way side and is no longer manufacturing trailers, their original concept of a solid frame, large wheels, and a drive on platform remains the standard of trailer manufacturing.

Over all the years I have been in the public eye, or out dealing with the public I can't possibly imagine how many times I have been asked about bass boats. You know every one has an opinion and every one has a favorite. I do not remember ever answering a trailer question. The wrong trailer, or an improper trailer can lead to a world of problems. Most trailers are well made and will do the job. You can go to any boat dealer and select the boat of your choice. But, guess what, unless you special order a boat you get what ever trailer is under the boat. That should get you to thinking. Not that it is usually a problem. But there are some things to consider.

I have two bass boats now. So, I have two trailers. One boat is a 20 foot...all boat.... boat. And the other is a little shy of 18 feet with lots of back and a pointed front. Not as much weight. But, a well built boat. Each comes with the manufacturers trailer. Each trailer made to fit the boat it is under. Each trailer was manufactured by the boat manufacturer. There are trailer companies that manufacturer trailers for several different boat manufacturers.

I know your boat is important. One dealer can reduce the price of a boat package by short changing you on a trailer. You pay less and get less. Does it make a difference. Yes. A trailer is important. Think of a boat trailer as a frame. You would not put a subcompact frame under a pick-up truck body.

What to look for in a trailer. Things I have found in my years of pain and gain to be of importance. Does the trailer have enough guts to hold up the boat? Is the freame strong enough? Is the frame treated for the kind of water you will put your boat into? There is only one trailer tire to put on a boat trailer. If you go any where or do any towing, at all, the only trailer tire you should allow on your boat trailer is a Goodyear Marathon Trailer Radial!!!! These tires carry 50 lbs of pressure. I have NEVER had a problem with one. Some manufacturers put tires that look pretty on the trailer. Well.....my tire is supposed to hold my boat. It needs to be the best.

Was the trailer made with my boat brand and model in mind? If so, that is AWESOME! If not, look for another trailer. Does the trailer offer any kind of protection for occupants in a vehicle in the event the vehicle has a head on? Or if the boat is hit from the rear? Boats have been known to come through the back window of vehicles in head on collisions or in the event the boat is hit in the rear. What kind of protection is awailable? If the front eye of the boat is BELOW the front roller and the hook to the winch hooks on to the bow eye below the roller you are set. If not, there are chains and ties available that go from the trailer frame to the bow eye of the boat. Back tie downs are essential and valubale but, not very helpful in a collission. Back tie downs are designed to hold the boat on the trailer as it travels down the road- basically- to keep the boat from bouncing on the trailer.

Brakes!!! Essential!!! I HIGHLY reccommend disc brakes. They are easier to maintain and easier to take care of. They also work better and work longer. Years ago Chevrolet had an advertisement on television with a Chevy Luv Truck towing a railroad car. AWESOME display of power. Well...... they never showed you the truck trying to stop that railroad car. Think of your tow vehicle as the Luv Truck and the railroad car as your boat. What is the relationship of weight to weight? Your tow vehicle better be way more than what it is towing. Brakes help on the trailer, but, there is a limit. A four wheel drive goes great in the snow and ice, but, it stops the same as a two wheel drive. The best vehicles have four wheel disc brakes- most of the stopping power comes from the front brakes- front brakes on almost all vehicles are disc brakes- why not disc brakes on the trailer that carries your prized possession?

Look over the photo carefully. You will note that the axle and tires are gone. Where did they go? The trailer owner never found them. This trailer dissentigrated from under the boat. The owner had gone off to buy a new trailer while the pieces of the old trailer and boat laid on the road waiting for his return. Oh, they had to gather the pieces of the old trailer and put them by the boat that was dropped on the road.

Legendary Professiona Angler and Guide, Hugh Crumpler, takes his clients out catching in Stick Marsh and Farm 13, Florida. Hugh' website, www.HughCrumpler.Com offers guide service, photos, lake maps and more.

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Jacksonville Fishing Report Updated December 4, 2009

Ahoy there Anglers,

Well they said it wouldn't happen , couldn't happen and it would be unbelievable if it ever happened in our lifetime. Guess what, it happened.

NOAA Fisheries Service filed and published a final rule implementing interim measures to reduce overfishing of red snapper in the South Atlantic. The final rule will publish in the Federal Register on December 4, 2009, today, and becomes effective January 4, 2010 already. Not even a month notice. Talk about a rush job. The interim rule will be effective until June 2, 2010, and could be extended for another 186-day period.
The final rule establishes a prohibition on recreational and commercial harvest of red snapper for 180 days in federal waters off Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. However, provisions specified in the interim rule would also apply to a person on board a vessel for which a federal commercial or charter/headboat permit for the South Atlantic snapper-grouper fishery has been issued, regardless of whether the fish are harvested or possessed in state or federal waters.

Electronic copies of the final interim rule or Environmental Assessment may be obtained from the e-Rulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council’s Web site at http://www.safmc.net.

It's a good thing we have associations like the Recreational Fishing Alliance. The RFA is filing suit today in Jacksonville to stop or put a hold on this unreasonable ban. Let's hope the judges who will hear this have a little common sense about taking thousands of people's livelihood away from them at the stroke of a pen with known flawed surveys.
This is what really got to me. I attended the meeting held here in Jacksonville on November 12th and saw all the photos of the huge snapper being caught right off our coast recently. The same photos that the South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council saw in that same meeting and yet here's what Roy Crabtree, Southeast regional administrator for NOAA's Fisheries Service said;
"Most of the remaining population consists of smaller, younger fish who produce fewer eggs than older fish. The Magnuson-Stevens Act requires us to manage fish populations so they grow to a size that can sustain the larger average catch possible for the long term. Unfortunately, the red snapper population has not been able to reach that size, therefore, closing the fishery is the first step toward protecting this species, rebuilding the stock and ensuring fishing for generations to come." WHAT ??? Did you NOT see the huge snapper photos everyone else saw? What were you doing during that meeting? Playing solitaire on your laptop?

It's real funny that they say they're mandated to make a decision within a year and so they rushed this closure thing but they were also mandated by Congress do come up with a better research system by January 2009 and I guess they just can't get to that. So, I'm guessing that means that they think they have more power than Congress.
Keep us tuned in to our WOKV Just Fishin Radio Show each Saturday morning from 6:00 am til 8:00 am on stations AM 690 and 106.5 FM and I'll keep you caught up on how the lawsuits are going. We need more anglers to join the RFA to show what kind of numbers of anglers they represent.

JETTIES:
Sheepshead are what's really happening in full force out at the rocks. These tasty fighters are so fun to catch and man, are they great on the table. There's not a better fish to eat than a tasty sheepshead. They're picky about what they eat and that's what makes them so sweet. No dead fish for them, only crabs, clams, fiddlers, oysters and shrimp. All the good stuff. So get out there while you can and catch a mess of these guys. You'll absolutely love it. Black drum to 30 pounds are being caught out at the rocks right now also. I tell people we need to release the ones over 15 to 17 pounds and let those 25 to 30 pounders spawn for our next batch. Black drum are also get to eat as they eat the same things as the sheepshead. Redfish to 45 pounds are still being caught along with a few slot-sized ones too. Ringtail porgies are biting good and they're really a looked-over fish. A member of the porgie family just like a sheepshead, good eating and no size limit, (I had better not say that too loud). Whiting in the sand at the jetties along with some nice yellowmouth trout. A couple black margates here and there while sheepshead fishing. A lot of people don't know what they look like but they look like a cross between a sheepshead and a drum. More teeth than a drum but not as bad as a sheepshead. Spotted trout just outside the south jetty on the incoming tides. Try a live shrimp on a slip-float rig.

CREEKS:
Redfish are doing real good in the creeks. Especially when the wind isn't blowing 25 knots like it has been. I'm so glad November is over and let's hope this wind is almost over too. Redfish being caught on top waters worked slowly along the grass during the higher tides and on the mud flats during the lower tides. They're also being caught on live mud minnows and cut blue crab. Another way to target them is to drift a live shrimp with about 15" of mono leader, 25 to 30# test and a 2/0 Eagle Claw Kayle hook under a Cajun Thunder float. With this rig you'll also catch small black drum, some keepers, redfish, spotted trout, sheepshead and flounder. Spotted trout hitting my favorites, the Bomber Long A's and also hitting top waters and jerk baits. The flounder have shown up a little. Not a lot of them but a few nice ones. This has been a real slow year for flounder.

RIVERS:
Bull redfish and black drum on bottom fishing. A few nice croakers but I'm not really targeting them this year because it's been tough catching some big enough to keep. I hear they're still catching the larger croakers down at the Buckman Bridge and South. Whiting are doing good on the sandier areas of the river and in Nassau Sound they're tearing it up. Yellowmouth trout are also hitting but the larger ones seem to be closer to downtown Jax. Spotted trout up and down the river along rock banks and grass edges with structure under the surface during the higher tides. A few flounder on the sloped banks but not like they should be. This year was just a loss on these guys. Hopefully next year will be on target.

MILL COVE:
Spotted trout and redfish are what's the best things going on in the Cove. A few flounder but they're hard to find. When you do, you can catch a few in the same areas. Black drum from 10" to 18" in the Cove. Remember, they have to be at least 14" to be keepers. Yellowmouth at the entrance of the Cove at both ends.

SURF:
Whiting are the hottest biters right now. Nice whiting up to 2 pounds are being caught. I guess since the net boats haven't been hitting them this year they're making it to the beach better. I used to see loads of net boats going out when I was fishing at the jetties in previous years but haven't seen them in quite a while. Black drum and sheepshead are even in the surf now from what I'm hearing. A few pompano are mixed in with the whiting but I don't look for that to last long. Get out there before it gets too cold.
The best time to fishing is,,, when you can !
You can say what you want about the South but,
you never hear of anyone retiring and moving up North,,,
Captain Vic Tison

Captain Vic Tison, USCG Licensed
P. O. Box 122
Jacksonville, Florida 32219
Phone Number: (904) 765-4936
or pager (904) 636-4987
VIC2FISH@aol.com
 

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