Water LIFE Mar 2006

Charlotte HarborCharlotte Harbor

FREE!FREE!w w ww w w . C H A R L O T T E H A R B O R M A G A Z I N E . C O M. C H A R L O T T E H A R B O R M A G A Z I N E . C O M

W a t e rW a t e r L I F EL I F E

REEF DONKEYSREEF DONKEYSand other offshore surprisesand other offshore surprises

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INSHOREINSHOREFMQ - First RedfishFMQ - First RedfishTournamentTournament Page 9Page 9

ThisThis NewNew HouseHouseProgress ReportProgress Report Page 9Page 9

Real EstateReal EstateWaterfrontWaterfrontProperty for SaleProperty for SaleInsideInside

KIdsKIdsCupCup

EntriesEntriesRolling InRolling In

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Keeping BoatersKeeping Boatersandand Fishermen InformedFishermen Informed

March 2006March 2006FREE!FREE!

P a g e 2 Wa t e r L I F E M A G A Z I N E M a r c h 2 0 0 6

M a r c h 2 0 0 6 Wa t e r L I F E M A G A Z I N E P a g e 3

Community Fishing EventsBy Michael Hel lerWater LIFE EditorContrary to a printed report which

appeared in the February 17 edition of theCharlotte Sun Herald newspaper, Oh Boy!Oberto Beef Jerky is in fact still the maintournament sponsor for the Oh Boy!Oberto Redfish Cup. “The Redfish Cuptournament is no longer sponsored by OhBoy! Oberto,” the newspaper story said.David Healy, promotional director for theOberto sponsored Redfish Cup tournamentwas livid in his response.“Who made thatup? That’s rediculous! How can those guysget it so wrong?,” Healey asked me; towhich I answered: “It’s thier specialty.”Oberto has in fact just signed a multi-yearmulti-million dollar contract with theRedfish Cup people, Healey noted.When the Redfish Cup – the Oh Boy!

Oberto Redfish Cup – returns to PuntaGorda from May 11 through May 13 thispublication will once again be directlyaligned with the event. Our Kids Cuptakes place the week before. We do it forthe love of the sport and for the kids inour community. A large number of thelocal businesses in Charlotte County sup-port the event. Look at the poster in thecenterfold, it’s chock full of sponsors andOberto is one of them. Our Kids Cuptournament will kick off Friday night May

5 with our captain’s meeting at Benedetto’sSteakhouse at the Best Western Hotel inPunta Gorda. If things hold true to formwe will have a sit down dinner for 300people. Kids Cup competitors and theiradult boat-driving partners will receivetheir captain’s bags, t-shirts and hats andthen after dinner we will go over the rulesand answer any questions the competitorsmay have. Hopefully the local paper willhave risen above our differences and coverthese events for the kids.Kids in our tournament have to be at

least 10 years old, but not yet 17 on tour-nament day. Kids must arrainge for theirown boat and every kid has to fish with anadult on board. The kids do the casting andthe catching and the adults can tie theknots and help land the fish when theleader is within reach. This is a fun tour-nament designed to teach kids about com-petitive fishing.Kids will fish for redfish using live or

dead shrimp or artificial bait only. Fishbrought in for weighing must be legal size– 18 to 27 inches as measured with thetail pinched together. It is important thefish are released alive. There will be a onepound penalty for any fish that can notswim away. Fish are too valuable to onlybe caught once so a one pound penalty vir-tually assures an angler will not win the

tournament with a dead fish.The Kids Cup tournament

takes place on May 6 atFishermen’s Village in PuntaGorda from the dock atHarpoon Harrys.Every competitor will

receive a competitor’s trophy,but the top 5 kids - thosewith the five heaviest fishweighed in – will then go onto be part of the OhBoy!Oberto Redfish Cup onthe following Saturday (May13). On that day the top 5kids will fish again andweigh in their fish on stageduring the ESPN2TVbroadcast. The one kidwith the heaviest fish on thatday will be crowned the KidsCup Champion and receivethe Kids Cup trophy, pre-sented by JM productionsand ESPN2.Entry fee for the tourna-

ment is $100. The proceeds go to supportthe Don Ball School of Fishing, a pro-gram in Charlotte, Punta Gorda, Murdockand Englewood middle schools where localfishing guides teach seventh graders aboutfishing and the environment. Businesses

who help sponsor the event receive shirtsand hats and an ad in the Kids Cup pro-gram. Tournament entry forms are nowavailable at local bait and tackle shops orcan be down-loaded from our website:www.kidscuptournament.com For infor-mation call us at 941-766-8180.

13388 Clarence Lane - Relax on yourlanai and enjoy the view of this smalllagoon on the Santa Cruz Waterway inSouth Gulf Cove. Oversized lot with sea-wall in place allows access to CharlotteHarbor and the Gulf of Mexico via theSanta Cruz or the Zephyr Waterway.

Experience thebest theFloridahas tooffer. Water....youwaiting for?? JustReduced to$314,900Call Lowell Grube 941-235-1555 or e-mail: [email protected]

15076 Leipzig Circle - This propertylocated on a sailboat canal in SouthGulf Cove offers quick access via theAquarius Waterway. Just minutes tothe lock, out to the Myakka River,Charlotte Harbor and you are on yourway to the Gulf of Mexico. $480,000.Call Lowell Grube at 941-661-5161 formore details or e-mail him at:L o w e l l G r u b e @ C a p t a i n sChoiceRealty.com.

37 Triangle - Enjoy Florida living at itsbest in this 3/2 split plan home. Totallyrenovated, it features a new metal roof,solid wood cabinets, Cambria counter-tops, Pergo floors, all new stainless steelappliances- the list goes on and on.Just Reduced to $249,000

Call Nancy Grube at 941-661-9737 or e-mail - [email protected]

321 Capri Isles - PGI - Florida living doesn't get anybetter than this. Take a look at this 4 bedroom, 3bath, 2 car garage pool home. The split floor planoffers a complete new kitchen. The large lanai is justwaiting for you to entertain your family and friends.Powerboat access to Charlotte Harbor and the Gulf ofMexico. $675,000 Call Chuck Sanders for moredetails. 941-235-1555 or e-mail Chuck Sanders at [email protected]

10371 Kingsville - Watch the spectacularFlorida sunsets from the comfort of yourhome. Uninterrupted view down theMcAlester Waterway, this sailboat lot inSouth Gulf Cove is waiting for you.Reduced to $385,000. Call Nancy Grubeat 941-661-9737 for more details or [email protected]

18874 Ayrshire Circle - $499,999Located on the ManchesterWaterway, this 3/2/2 pool homewith lift, seawall and sailboataccess to Charlotte Harbor showslike a new home. New metal roofin March 2005, hurricane ratedPGT windows and sliding glassdoors, new pool cage, new pool heater - the list goes on and on.A 15 minute boat ride to the Harbor. Call Nancy Grube at 941-661-9737

JUST REDUCED!!JUST REDUCED!!

2006 Kids Cup Competitor and Sponsor T-Shirts are ready.Entry forms this year request thet Kids Cup applicants andadult guides specify the shirt size they want to receive at thecaptainʼs meeting. All sponsors also receive Kids Cup shirts.


Water LIFEMichael and Ellen Heller

Publishers(941) 766-8180

TOTALLY INDEPENDENTWater LIFE is not affiliated

with any newspaper or otherpublication

© 2006 Vol VI No. 3 Water LIFENo part of this publication may becopied or reproduced without the

written permission of the publishers

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

Gasparilla: Capt. Chuck EichnerPort Charlotte: Fishinʼ Frank

Offshore: Capt. Steve SkevingtonTechnical Advisor: Mike Panetti

Sailing Advisor: Bill DixonLemon Bay: Don Cessna

Kayaks: David AllenLocal: Capt. Andrew Medina

Tournament Report: Capt Jerry CleffiSea Grant: Betty Staugler

on the COVER:Vinnie is all smiles hanging on to a 60 poundAmberjack. See Aaron Sutcliffeʼs on page 5

on our WEBSITE:WWW.charlotteharbormagazine.com

Tide Graphs: For local watersWeather: Links to all of our favorite sites.Back editions: Pages of previous editionsArtificial Reefs: Lat. and Long local reefsManatee Myths: Read the original plan tocreate sanctuaries and refuges, as spelledout by the United Nations in 1984Links to Realtors: Connect with our realestate advertisers

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Riveara Marina on Alligator Creek continues to stirFrom: DavidPhelen, Chairman,Alligator CreekWaterways AdvisoryCommittee

The followingresponse fromElizabeth Gillen ofFL-DEP provides anupdate related toRiviera Marina.

Mr. Phelen,Our District Director,Jon Iglehart has senta request for assis-tance to the Divisionof State Lands,Bureau of Surveyingand Mapping(BS&M). He hasrequested that theyconduct a surveydelineating theboundary of privatelyowned land andSovereigntySubmerged Lands.The manager of theTitle and RecordSection, RodMaddox, has contact-ed the South Districtand said that he iswilling to providesome assistance. Todate the Respondent

(facility owner) hasnot been cooperativein resolving theissue, so the likeli-hood of this casegoing to court ingreater than other-wise. That beingsaid, Rod wants tocoordinate his effortswith his BureauChief, TerryWilkinson, as well asour Office of GeneralCounsel, to be surethat the documenta-tion he creates willbe legally sound.So, we have set up ateleconference to dis-cuss the survey needsand procedure.Also, we havedesigned a sedimentand water qualitysampling plan for thefacility. This willallow us to assessthe sediments in thebasin to see if theyare enriched withmetals. It will pro-vide us data to com-pare the water qualityof the facility withthe ambient waterquality of AlligatorCreek. We have sent

a memo requestingassistance from ourWatershedManagement programadministrator, GordonRomeis. Initial con-versations withGordon indicated thathe is willing to helpus by conducting thesampling.If you recall theDecember 8th MarineAdvisory Committee(MAC) meeting,Calvin discussed ourcurrent situation withthe MAC members.Calvin also asked ifanyone could providethe Department withany assistance inobtaining the dataand evidence we needto move forward withthe case. Has anyoneresponded?Please feel free tocontact me with anyquestions regardingthis case. Thanks.Elizabeth Gillen

Our friend Allen from Pool Sharks Pool supply in Englewood sendsus these two photos with a note saying: Mike: I don't know if youhave seen these before --they are suppose to be real - one hella ofa fish if they are real...Is it safe to go in the water???????????Editor replies: We donʼt know, Allen, but weʼd suspect they are andthat beer somehow played a part in this fishing trip.

GiantʻGator

Gar

Conq CupComing


By Aaron Sutcl i ffeWaterLIFE Offshore StaffI hadamission to achieve. Iwantedto land

my first Blackfin Tuna of the year. I had notcaught one since early November of ‘05. Thewater hadbeen warming up far offshore in thegulf, andconditions seemed right for the firsttuna bite of the year. Fate smiled on me as Iwas invited on a long range gulf trip on myday off. Capt. Mike wanted to do a trip to anarea of broken hard bottom and depressionsthat lie 90 miles out of Stump Pass. His 31foot Jupiter is fit for the job. We prepped bystocking several dozen live baits and hun-dreds of pounds of ice. The game plan was tobottom fish the depressions and breaks forslob groupers, and troll for tuna and Wahooover large structures. The full moon was fivedays before and I had a feeling the deep waterdenizens would chew on the backside of thefull. I was right ... in a way.We met at the Jupiter at 5:30 on Friday

morning. The boat had already been loadedwith ice. The live pinfish, squirrelfish, mul-let, grunts, and cigar minnows we had swim-ming in thebait pen werewaiting patiently tobe loaded into the live well. Joe and Hankhelped Mike get his rods and equipmentloadedwhileVinny andI transferredlive baitsand prepped coolers. With the loading donewe cast off the dock lines and set out on ourvoyage.Capt. Mike navigated the Jupiter through

Stump Pass and the crewwas greetedby a pur-ple pre-dawn sky, andamirror smooth Gulf ofMexico! We cruised comfortably and quicklyto our destination 90 miles west into the gulf.Two and a half hours later, I had rigged thetrolling rods with Rapala CD18s, a squiddaisy chain with chrome jet lure, and a purpleand black Islander with a rigged Ballyhoo.The bottom sticks hadall been set with heavycircle hooks and fluorocarbon leader, withheavy egg sinkers. When we neared the firstwaypoint a large blackfin skied out of thewater off the port side. The trolling rigs wereimmediately deployed. We pulled the Rapalasand the squidchain for 5 minutes with no tak-ers, so we pulledup the rigs andmoved to ourfirst destination.As we came off plane near the first spot, I

hadalready droppeda purple andblack Rapala

200 feet of the stern. I hademptied1/3 of theline on a Tiagra-30 before I slid the drag tostrike. Vinny had the other lines out in notime, and the bottommachine lit up with fishall the way through the water column. Wepassed over a depression with solid blobs offish over the crest of the roll-off. Two hundredand twenty-two feet of water, and the fishshowwas from top to bottom!We made several passes over the crusty

piece of bottom. Every pass showedus a newpicture of what this depression below uslookedlike. Then Vinny said“I think wehavea fish on!” I saw what he meant; one of theTiagras had been stripped of almost half itsline andwas still burning off drag. I picked itup andfelt the steady pull ofwhat was certain-ly a Blackfin. I cranked several hundredyardsof line in before the fish was at boat side.Vinny saw it deep below the boat and con-firmed that it was a chunky blackfin. I gentlypulled it into view, and saw that my plug wassolidly hookedinto the tuna. I put the heat onhim then and as I cranked the tuna into gaffrange, Vinny says “I am gonna gaff it in theeyes!”True to his word, Vinny didindeedman-age to due so, thus saving the tuna’s meatfrom being piercedby the gaff.We had that scenario under control, so

went back to trolling baits around the struc-ture. We made many passes without anyaction, andthedecision was made to switch tobottom fishing. We set up to do that as Capt.Mike eased us closer to the hole. Vinny wasusing old painless, my trusty grouper digger,and I was using a Penn 6/0 on a stout standuprod spooled with 130-pound braided line.Capt. Mike positioned the Jupiter over thestructure andevery one on board firedbaits tothe bottom. Two hundred and twenty two feetof water is a long way down for a pinfish, or abutter flied tinker mackerel to descend. Ittakes more than aminute. Soon wewere all onthe bottom andwaiting for a bite.Vinny was the first to hookup, and he

soon was cranking up a quality fish. We allwhooped and cheered him on as he crankedrelentlessly on the handle of theDaiwa450H.Soon the fish popped up on the surface, andmuch to our dismay, showed to be a red snap-per that easily went 8 pounds. Vinny ventedthe fish and released it while we all waited to

get a bite.Wewaitedfor abite that never came. Mike,

Joe, Hank, and I all waited for our first bite.Vinny put on a bait and sent it deep. He wassoon hooked up again, and landed anotherout-of-season redsnapper. Wesimultaneouslycursedanddelightedin seeing the fish – it willbe a different story when red snapper seasonopens up. Then we will be all smiles. Soonafter that is when I got the bite.I was reeling in my live pinfish to check it

andsenddown a fresh bait. I hadreeledit mostof the way to the boat when it got hammered.I looked at Vinny and the expression on hisface showed that he had seen me get hit. Istopped reeling and a second later there wasanother solid strike, followed by a steadypressure.I was hooked up solid, and I felt the fish

surge and shake violently. The fish had nottaken any drag, but was bucking my stout rodbriskly. I looked into the water, and 30 or 40feet down I sawa long andsilver fish lightingup and quivering. It was at that moment Ibackedoff on the lockeddrag of the 6/0 Penn,and the fish blazed off on a smoking run thatburned 130lb braid through my Star rod’seyes.The fish moved so fast that it was going

right one second and the next haddone a 180and zipped the opposite direction. The fishcharged the boat and I cranked furiously tokeep the line tight. After the initial blisteringseries of runs the fish headed for the bow, andthe anchor line. I cleared the fish of the lineandledit away from it towardthe stern. Vinnysaid to me, “This is your Wahoo buddy!” I

pumped the fish to the surface and it breachedheadfirst, while lighting up with brilliantblue tiger stripes. TheWahoo thrashedon thesurface, throwing spray everywhere andmak-ing it hard to control and pull closer to theboat.I inched it closer. I could see my Mutu cir-

cle hook was in the corner of theHoo’s mouthand that I had a solid hookup. I pulled it clos-er to Vinny, who was waiting with the gaff,and I bellowed ‘stick that Hoo son!’ andwiththat he sunk the gaff deep in the Wahoo’sshoulder andhoisted it aboard!I had never caught a Wahoo, and this fish

was very special to me because I had landed itwith a mono leader while using bottom dig-ging gear. It goes to showyou that it pays tobe ready andmonopolize on shots at fish youwouldotherwisemiss. My first Wahoo was inthe box, and my day was already a rousingsuccess. I had the first Tuna of the year, andlandeda newspecies!

We went back to bottom fishing,which proved difficult due to the current andlight winds. We power drifted over the sweetspot and no one so much as had a bite. Thebottom bite was not producing at all so wedeployed trollers and moved to another areaclose by.Wemade it to the next spot andon the first

couple of drifts had a several bites. Then,almost simultaneously, Mike andI hookedupa double. We fought what we knew wereAmberjacks. They pulled hard and gave us aChinese fire drill before we landed them.Quality Jacks! We caught some small onesand then Vinny hookedup a moose!

Early Season Wahoo and Blackfin Tuna



Fifty Six teams competed with 29 teams trying to qualifyfor 8 remaining spots in The 2006 Maverick BoatsFlatsmasters Series. 29 teams weighed in and overall tour-nament was won by Team Bent Rods (Paul and DonLambert, and Gene Weidemoyer)

Congratulations to the 8 Captains who will be moving onto compete in The 2006 Flatsmasters.

Dan Latham, Terry Brantley, Andy Whitbread, Mark Jones,Ron Jekonski, Todd Johnson, Colby Bevis, John Landry Sr.

Captain Team Name Fish #1 Fish #2 TotalLambert, Paul Team Bent Rods 6.55 7.55 14.1Meredith, Miles Waterproof Charts 6.5 7.3 13.8Latham, Dan X 7.7 5.95 13.65Reynoso, Jason JTM Team 7.15 6.1 13.25Brantley, Terry X 6.2 6.6 12.8Whitbread, Andy Two & a Half Men 5.9 6.2 12.1Rebol, Clay Banks Engineering 6.05 5.55 11.6Jones, Mark Florida Comm. Bank 5.5 6 11.5Jekonski, Ron Shallow Balance 5.9 5.3 11.2Johnson, Todd Pool One 6.7 4.5 11.2Bevis, Colby Moon Doggie 4.65 6 10.65Stephens, Chris Redneck,Inc 4.25 5.05 9.3Landry, John Waterproof Charts #2 2.5 6.4 8.9Wallin, David X 4.3 4.3 8.6Russell, Jimmy X 4.6 3.65 8.25Blackburn. Bing Cabinets Plus 5.1 2.7 7.8Osborne, Owen EZ-Skankin 5.05 2.35 7.4Mason, Patrick Team Parcell Express 4.75 2.25 7Rowan, Tony Arctic Air of SWFL 6.6 0 6.6Withers, Jay Withers/Manis 6.25 0 6.25Taylor, Jim X 6 0 6Carlson, Derek X 6 0 6Vaughn, Tim Pit Stop Auto Repair 5.1 0 5.1Henderson, Chad Stinky Fingers 5 0 5Bevis, Lyn Re/Max Harbor Realty 2.45 2.5 4.95Eggers, Steve Vicious Strikes 4.85 0 4.85Rush, Chris San Carlos Marine 4.4 0 4.4Thayer, Greg B & R Color 4.3 0 4.3Nhume Carr X 4.2 0 4.2Pinder, Larry North Port Tire 0 0 0Tuman, George X 0 0 0Brandal, Robert It Aint Easy 0 0 0Rehbein,Randy High & Dry 0 0 0Tydings, Bryan Carter Concrete 0 0 0Morningstar, Dave Team Morningstar 0 0 0Lopez, Javier Flatsmen 0 0 0Tanksley, Joe Ft. Myers Marine #3 0 0 0Jordan, Rick Totally Plastered 0 0 0Ryck, Mike A&M Elect Heat & Cool 0 0 0Latham, Homer X 0 0 0Goodwin, Eric Goodwin Electric 0 0 0Wyman, Dave Extreme Fishing Team 0 0 0Ingman, Jordan Ingman Marine 0 0 0Fulton Jr, John X 0 0 0Diaz, Nelson X 0 0 0Liscum, Ron Harpoon Harry's 0 0 0Blake, Chris Charl. Custom Cycles 0 0 0Jones, Phil Exotic Pools 0 0 0Morris, Bruce Thomas Ryan & Assoc. 0 0 0Spalding, Joshua Spalding Fishing Team 0 0 0Griffing, Steve Red Storm 0 0 0Myers, Mike Team Gator Water 0 0 0Long, Floyd Back-N-Action 0 0 0Clark, Gary Galloway Ford 0 0 0Wedell, Mike Team Motley Crew 0 0 0Contessa, Nick X 0 0 0

2006 Flatsmasters Qual i f ier Event

St aff Rep o rtTeamWaterproof

Charts weighed in thefirst fish of the 2006 tour-nament season, a 6.05pound red that would ulti-mately help get them takethe second place spot forthe Flatsmasters quaklli-fyer tournament at PuntaGorda on Feb 11. PaulLambert and his TeamBent Rods won the event.Anumber of the teams

went out bundled up in thecalm 40-something-degree air of morning’sfirst light and came backin a blustery but warmafternoon. Many teamsmade the run down to thePine Island sound whereredfish were plentiful, butby 11:30 a.m. the windhad kicked up to 15 to 20and the ride home lookedlong.Even Capt Todd

Johnson driving a 24-foot Polar bay boat noted“it’s getting nasty outthere” as he pulled up tothe weigh in dock.Smaller skiffs like TeryBrantley’s 16-foot carbonfiber Hewes tailfisher paidthe price. “We hit bottomtwice coming back insidethe bar,” Brantley said.The tide was lowmost ofthe day and the wind did-n’t help.Lowwater kept some

anglers from getting towhere the fish were, butthere were enough seven-pound-plus fish to makethe weigh in respectable,considering this was anartificial-bait-only event.“The community is

ready for fishing,” weigh-master Jerry Cleffi said,noting that only in PuntaGorda can you have a 56boat tournament inFebruary, go out in ear-

2 0 0 6 F M Q R E S U L T S2 0 0 6 F M Q R E S U L T S

The new FWC requlations set to take effect in June require the tail to be pinched as opposedto spread when measuring. The same fish is shown here measured both ways. With a pinchedtail, a 7.5 pound fish is considered big.

Capt Danny Latham may have quit guideing but he hasnʼt quit fishing. latham finished thirdand gained a slot for the 2006 tournament season.



ANDY

P a g e 1 0 Wa t e r L I F E M A G A Z I N E M a r c h 2 0 0 6

By Capt. Robert MooreWater LIFE Senior GuideSo many soft plastic baits out there are

very productive. But what if the fish youfind are in thick vegetation and throwingartificial baits with an exposed hook(s) isimpossible without snagging a lot ofgrass. Well hook manufacturers are comingto the rescue. Here are a few different typesof weedless rigs I have used and findextremely productive in thick vegetation.

Copperhead or Butt Dragger by Daiichi

The Copperhead or Butt Dragger byDaiichi is one of my favorites. The hitch-hiker allows you to screw into the nose ofthe bait and place the hook into the baitmaking it very weedless. When a fishstrikes, the hook will come threw the topof the bait. The little hitchhiker in thenose of the bait will generally hold thesoft plastic bait so you can use it againafter the fish is released. The only differ-ence between the Copperhead and ButtDragger is the pinch on weight that isadded to the hook on the Butt Dragger. TheButt Draggerís pinch on weight allowsyou to fish deeper water where theCopperhead is weightless and is intendedfor shallow water situations.

Web site -http://www.daiichihooks.com

Power Lock Plus Hooks by Mustad

The Power Lock Plus by Mustad isanother favorite of mine. The bait gripperis inserted into the nose of any soft bait.The bait gripper works well and is the eas-iest to insert into a soft plastic, but I havefound you will lose more of your baitswhile fighting a fish. The small weightthat is attached to the hook can be movedup and down of the shank of the hookdepending on your desire of action. Set it

close to the eye, and your bait will dive

nose first. Slip it toward the middle andyour bait will fall steadily. Versatility iswhat I like the best. They come in 1/8 and1/16 ounce.

Web site - HYPERLINK"http://www.mustad.no"http://www.mustad.no

Wedgehead V Lock Jighead System byStanley Lures

The Wedgehead V Lock Jighead is newto the market. They have a similar screwin to the nose system as the ButtDragger. I have them found extremelyeffective in situations where the vegeta-tion is extreme. The weight is in a tri-angular shape and when the grass isextremely thick, this system will comeout weedless 9 times out of 10 wherethe fore mentioned will not. The onlydraw back is for now you are limited tothe hook size (5/0 & 4/0) and comes in1/8 ounce only. I fully expect in the

near future they will add more hook andweight sizes

Web site - HYPERLINK"http://www.fishstanley.com/"http://www.fishstanley.com/Make Your Own with Pinch Weights

from DOADOA Lures came out with pinch on

weights several years ago that allows youto add weight to your favorite weedlesshooks. These weights are the same

weights that come on the Butt Draggermade by Daiichi. They have an assortmentof colors and two different weight sizes(1/8 & º ounce). The thing I like the mostabout these pinch on weights is that ifyou are fishing weedless with no weightand suddenly you want to add a littleweight, these can be added & removedrather quickly and used over and over. Thelead is also soft enough to cut sections ofthe weight off with a pair of pliers allow-ing you to customize the weight youwant.Web site - http://www.doalures.com/

You can reach Capt. Robert Moore forfishing information, help with nav igationand tides or to book a charter fishing trip at(941) 637-5710 or (941) 628-2650 or youcan contact him via e-mail at [email protected]

FridayFish Fry

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Dine on the dock ~ Million $$ View! Boaters WelcomeN 26 38.040 W 082 03.958 Near Marker 55

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Weedless Applications for Soft Plastics

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M a r c h 2 0 0 6 Wa t e r L I F E M A G A Z I N E P a g e 11This New House Part 10

Hammers and Nai ls Plumbers, Framers and AC

By Michael Hel lerWater LIFE editorThings have changed. Now

when i go home at night andempty my pockets out I havenails mixed in with my change.Big nails, 16-penny framingnails. We’re out of the concretephase and into the wood. Mike ??our AC guy from Tommy's Air,noted things have changed in hisbusiness too. Used to be ACducts were metal, lined withrough fiberboard insulation.Ducting was a breeding place formiucrobes, bacteria and mold.Now the ducts are smoothe dou-ble wall plastic insulated in themidle and wrapped with amylar-reflective covering that helpsinsulate them from high tempera-tures in the attic. Ducts are hungfrom plastic straps to keep themfrom matting down the ceilinginsulation in the house and wherethe ducts attach to the 'registerboxes' the 'cans' behind thegrilles in the ceiling or wall, theyare sealed with white masticgoop. First the duct hose issealed, then tie-wrapped and thenthe outer hose is sealed and tirewrapped. This aint never comingapart, Mike said as he lathered thewhite stuff on the duct for oursecond bedroom. Even the regis-

ter boxes them-selves are better.Today they arelined with anit-microbial' surfacethet protects andinsulates.I loked around

the house, what adifference a monthmakes.The roof is on,

both upstairs anddown. Our fishingbuddy Josh Smithstarted one carpen-try crew on thedownstairs butthey 'moved on'before we had theupstairs ready soJosh made a calland hoked us upwith Wayne Kerrywho goes by thename ofConstructionProfessionals incfor the upstairs

trusses and theinteriro wall framing.I knew Wayne from

the local tournament fishingvenue and the day he arrived onthe job our first conversation wasabout his entry in the Kids Cuptournament. I can't say enoughgood things about Wayne and hiscrew. Top notch, professionsl,down to business carpenters whoknocked out the upstairs roof andinterior walls in a week. Waynehad built my friend BruceLaishley's house out on CayoCosta Island, one of theonlystructures left standing,intact after Charley passed over-head, so when Wayne wasthrough glueing every piece ofplywood onto the upstairs roofand nailing it off with ring-shenknails I knew our roof wasn'tgoing anywhere. But Wayne was-n't the only guy involved lastmonth. Before Wayne was doneinside, the guys from Superiorroofing were back to dry in theroof, nailing metal flashing intoall the valleys, flashing the roofwhere it attaches to the upstairswall and putting the metal dripedge on around the perrimiter.Then they loaded the house withshingles, ready to nail downwhen the dry-in inspectiuon wasdone.Inside I had a little 'fixin' top

do. There were some truss attach-

ments that needed additionalstraps, a few "chases' for the ACthat needed ‘opening up’ and awhole lot of picking up and car-rying out of wood scraps the car-penters left behind. Right aroundthat time Jack and his guys fromH20 plumbing in Englewoodwere back to’ rough in’ theplumbing. They ran the linesfrom the upstiars bath and got thewater supply pipes into place.But that wan't all for lastmonth’s progress. We got a callfrom PGT saying our windowswere ready so we made somecalls to find a rental truck to goup to Venice and pick them up.But there wasn't atruck to befound, so we got hold of a friendwho graciously cleared his back-hoe trailer off and we used that tohaul our windows home. Alsolast month we trimmed off thejagged end of the old garage roofand repaired it so when theroofers shingle the house theycould do the existing un-attachedgarage as well.

In the paperwork arena lastmonth I ran down too 84 lumbrerin Ft Myers and talked to mysalesman friend Jamie and got ourexterior doors on order then Icame back and met with the guysfrom two different stucco compa-nies andworked out the numberswith them.So by the time you read this

the windows will be in and I'llbe doing electric. Hopefully bythe end of the month I’ll be readyfor our framing/AC/Plumbingand electric inspection. The coun-ty likes to doo all that on onepass so there is a lot to get ready.Then we'll insulate the interiorand get ready to hang drywall.Stay tuned.

Andy Medina lays the block for the door leadimngfrom the master bed room to the upstairs patio.

From the Top:1) The upstairs roof trusses are set in place2) The R-Max wall insulation goes on3) Framing the interior walls4) Finishing off the old garage roof – note the small square win-dow in the house in the photo above. Thatʼs the ʻMolly window,ʼan under-the-kitchen-counter vantage point designed for our dogto look out on the street.Left: Plumbing for the washing machine in the laundry area.


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ScuttleButtSometimes Unsubstanciated ...

but often true!CCA: Controvercial Conversations Abound

First the good news: The CCAʼs annual banquetand auction held Feb 23 at Punta Gorda was aresounding success. Robert Heubert was the manof the year and officer Sam Cohl was selected asMarine Patrol officer of the year. With 436 peoplein attendance the event easily doubled the bestattendance in the past and could set CCACharlotte as the CCA national chapter of the year.Auctioned items including a $78,000 Contenderboat a $20,000 flats boat, numerous high dollarbird hunting and marlin fishing trips to southAmerica, outboard motors, artwork, jewelery andlots of top of the line fishing gear. In my very unof-ficial tally the crowd spent over $240,000 thatnight. Thatʼs good news for the local CCA chapter,an orginization that appeared to be flounderingover the last few years and even though the lionsshare of the proceeds will funnel back to thenational CCA office there will be significant localfish enhancement and educational projects whichonly come with the influx of hard cash. Good jobCCA! Now for the ʻotherʼ news.

Among the $1500 per table sponsors wasMatrix. Matrix for those of you you havenʼt beenkeeping up with the buy-out-take-over-bait-and-switch-to-limit-your-liability tactic is the old IMCAgro phosphate Industry, Matrix represents thephosphate mining demon on the Peace River.How could we say “No?ʼ one CCA memberʼs offthe record opinion, in commenting about sellingMatrix a table. How could they say ʻyesʼ was amore prevelant question. Tounge in cheek talk inthe more knowledgible cocktail circles that eveningbrought up other potential table sponsors for theCCA to raise even more money next year. PETA,Save the Manatee Club, Greenpeace and theMichael Jackson Boy Man Love Group, weresome on the list ...if money is all that matters whenit comes to conservation. Maybe the CCA canhelp foot the $12,00 bill Charlotte County justspent fighting the expansion of phosphate mining,one member suggested. Good thought.

Also at that dinner, a knowledgable old snookguide, whose name I shall not mention out of pittyfor his aneabriated state, approached me andthanked me profusely for putting on such a greatevent even though I had absoloutely nothing to dowith it. Then he went off about what a shame itwas that with all the local guides on CharlotteHarbor (way too many he lamented) there werenʼtmore guides (25 werenʼt enough) who donatedtheir services for the auction. I maneauvered theconversation around to our own event, the Kids

Cup, and asked if we could count on him to giveback to the community and help out with the Kids .“Oh no, Iʼm boooked up all summer, I have twokids of my own to put through college, I canʼt dothat.” he said. Talks cheap.

In another corner there was a quiet conversa-tion pondering how the Charlotte County Visitorʼsbureau was going to put together the docks, per-mits, exemptions carpenters and electricians tostage the Redfish Cup this year. Last time theevent came to town some of the cityʼs most influ-ential citizens banded together to make it all hap-pen, but this year those folks seem to have dis-tanced themselves from the CVB. It will be ʻinter-estingʼ to see what happens was the consencus ofthat conversation. Very Interesting.

And so it went. Great food, lots of drinks, a bigauction and undercurrents of controvercial conver-sations that kept the whole evening inmotion.Thatʼs the beauty of the CCA. So many dif-ferent people and so many different perspectives.

Fifth Species of Snook According a recentFWCʼs unofficial report, there could be anotherspecies of snook, the Mexican snook, to go alongwith the acknowledged four species that currentlyinhabit Florida waters: common snook, fat snook,swordspine snook, and tarpon snook.

Bayshore Drive This is a real rumor, but sup-posedly the county is considering closingBayshore Drive at US 41 in Port Charlotte and giv-ing that land over to a condo-developer who wouldbuild on both sides of the street as well as on topof the now-public roadway. Bayshore drive is arelief road carrying traffic from US 41 toEdgewater Drive.

Fishin Franks Those of you who rememberthe ʻold daysʼ remember when Franks was twostores wide, well franks is too stores wide again.watch for more stuff, probabally enough to fill threestores, at least.

CBCA After a history of do-it-yourself manage-ment, drunken brawls and being run out of severalvenues in the area, the CBCA (Charlotte Buildersand Contractors Assn) has turned over a new leaf.Now officially the Charlotte and DeSoto BuildingAssn the group has deligated itʼs tournamentduties to Capt Jerry Cleffi (of Flatsmaster tourna-ment series fame) who will ʻtighten things upʼ andbring the tournament to Harpoon Harryʼs to run asa one day only, inshore only, event on April 15.This will leave the community ʻripeʼ for a new off-shore tournament this year.

NaplesMar 13 thru Mar 23

Cape CoralMar 6 thru Mar 16

Cape Coral (7 day)Mar 20 thru Mar 28

M a r c h 2 0 0 6 Wa t e r L I F E P a g e 1 3

STUMP PASS MARINA IS ASTUMP PASS MARINA IS ATOURNAMENT STOP FORTOURNAMENT STOP FORTHE FLW REDFISH TOURTHE FLW REDFISH TOUR

MARCH 30-31MARCH 30-31AND THE FLW KINGFISHAND THE FLW KINGFISH

TOUR ON APRIL 1TOUR ON APRIL 1

WE HAVE A HUGE SELECTION OFWE HAVE A HUGE SELECTION OF

QUANTUM PT RODS AND REELSQUANTUM PT RODS AND REELS

IN STOCK AS WELL ASIN STOCK AS WELL AS

G LOOMIS, CROWDER ANDG LOOMIS, CROWDER AND

ST CROIX RODSST CROIX RODS

By Capt Tom McGil lWater Life ContributorLet’s Ask the National Academy of

Science for Help. It’s easy to be a critic,particularly when the object of the criti-cism has demonstrated some ineptness. It’stough for any of us to admit we werewrong, but there comes a time whenresisting the reality and truth of a matterbecomes self defeating. There is an oldadage: "When you find yourself deep in ahole, the best approach is to stop dig-ging." The Federal Fish andWildlifeService (FWS) and the State Fish and

Wildlife Conservation Commission(FWC) continue to put forth their posi-tions on manatee protection that are basedon untested assumptions and they refuse totest their assumptions for a very good rea-son. That’s because if the assumptionsprove to be in error they will have toadmit that their whole approach to manateeprotection over the past two decades hasbeen wrong.Most scientists continuously test their

assumptions until they are validatedbecause that is the way their understandingof the science can be advanced. It is an

iterative process when each of the underly-ing assumptions is tested for validity andadjustments are made for those assump-tions that turn out to be in error. However,the FWS and FWC don’t operate that way.They make assumptions and then avoidtesting them, and in that way their posi-tions rarely change. They act more likebureaucrats than true scientists.An example of a questionable and

untested assumption is the agencies con-clusion that a primary way to add protec-tion for the manatee is to implement slowspeed zones that require vessels to proceedat a slow rate while fully settled in thewater. Such zones add considerable transittime for the boater to the point that manyare discouraged from recreational boatingand fishing. Most of Florida has murkywaters which require the manatee to oper-ate on acoustical cues when submerged.Another example is the idea that increasedwatercraft-related manatee mortality isclosely tied to the increase in the numberof vessel registrations. However, the agen-cies seldom, if ever, address the fact thatthe increase could be closely related to theincreasing manatee population. Therequired Manatee Protection Plan (MPP)for each of the designated coastal countiesimpose severe restrictions for the siting ofmarinas and docks including the require-ment for such slow speed zones at thosesites. The criteria included in the MPP arestructured to limit the number and type ofvessels. For example, a common criterion

is that there shall be 100 feet of shorelinefor each power boat slip. This is known asthe 100:1 ratio that severely limits thenumber of power boats that can be permit-ted in the marina or dock area. The inter-esting thing about this ratio is that it hasabsolutely no basis in science, but it doeshave a basis in arbitrarily severely restrict-ing boats being harbored in the area. TheMPP has a primary purpose to restrict(reduce) the number of power boats on thewater in any given area. However, if thecausative factors involved in vessel-mana-tee collisions are not properly understoodand the rules based on untested assump-tions, then it is very possible that all suchcriteria are meaningless and perhaps evencounterproductive from a manatee protec-tion standpoint. It’s interesting that overthe past two decades slow speed zones andMPP’s have been implemented with theintent to reduce watercraft-related manateemortality, but that hasn’t happened. Thefact is the average watercraft-related mana-tee mortality has been relatively constantas a percentage of total mortality over thepast quarter of a century . That wouldseem to question the validity of slowspeed zones as a good method of addingprotection for the manatee. The othernoted assumption that increased watercraft-related mortality is due to the ever increas-ing number of vessels on the water alsofalls apart upon proper evaluation. At theend of 2004 there was a significant drop(20%) in the number of registered vessels


Water LIFE artwork by Mary Stump

M a r c h 2 0 0 6 Wa t e r L I F E M A G A Z I N E P a g e 1 5

By Capt Ron BlagoWater LIFE Senior StaffJanuary is probably the slowest fishing month of theyear here and last month was really slow. The water tem-perature is the coldest of the year and of course you havethose killer cold fronts that pass through the area. Add tothat the super low tides in the morning and the crystalclear water, and you can see that catching fish is a realchallenge. There are always sheepshead around the docksand pilings ; but even sheepshead need a little water tohide in and a little tide flow to bring them food. Themembers of my Fishing College have been strugglingso far to catch fish. Normally this time of year there arelarge schools of ladyfish and jack crevalle flying throughthe grass flats. Just the type of fish a beginner needs tobuild their confidence. They get to practice their casting,feel the fish bite, set the hook and fight the fish. Plus

they get to catch a lot of fish and just have fun. Not thisyear. No schools of fish to be found so far. We havebeen catching fish, just not a lot of them. Besides theladyfish and jacks, they caught bluefish, flounder,sheepshead, pompano and trout. The trout we did catchwere all good size, 16 to 22 inches – no shorts at all –which is unusual. Another strange thing is no pinfish.Usually if you are using live shrimp you chum up everypinfish in the grass flat, but not so far this year. Everynew fisherman in our area wants to catch a snook and thefolks in the Fishing College are anxious to try theirluck. I have been able to find a nice school of about 20snook laying next to a dock in a deep water channel. Youcan run over these fish with your boat and they won'tmove a muscle, but the minute you throw one bait atthem they fly out of there in a hundred different direc-tions. At least it's a great opportunity to show peoplethe benefit of polarized sunglasses. It’s nice to be able tosee them even if you can't catch them. I personally havehad decent action with my old standby, the 1/8oz planecolored Lunker jig head with a gold metal flake Cotteegrub tail. I have to throw it about a hundred times tocatch one fish, but at least it works. Fishing will getbetter. I know that as the water temperature gets closerto 70 degrees the bait will start moving and the fish willstart biting. In the mean time fish slow lower yourexpectations and keep telling yourself that at least youdon't have to drill a hole in the ice to go fishing.

Mark your CalendarMark your Calendar

May 6May 6 Water LIFE Kids CupWater LIFE Kids Cupthe top 5 kids fish in thethe top 5 kids fish in the ESPN REdfish Cup the following weekESPN REdfish Cup the following weekendend

ON THE LINE with Capt. RonBlago By Capt. Betty S tauglerWater LIFE / Sea GrantInterestingly, individual

species have evolved differentsolutions to these same prob-lems.Florida MangrovesRhizophora mangle, the red

mangrove is generally foundclosest to the water and isprobably best known for itsìwalkingî prop roots. Proproots support the plant inmucky anaerobic (without oxy-gen) sediments and have pores,called lenticels which allow gasexchange with the buried roots.The red mangrove separatesfresh water from salt water bysalt exclusion in a processknown as nonmetabolic ultra-filtration (similar to reverseosmosis). Red mangroves pro-duce yellow flowers. Afterpollination, a small fruit, and a12 ñ 18 inch propagule isformed. The propagule is anembryo which begins germina-tion and development whilestill attached to the tree in aprocess known as vivipary.Once the propagule breaksaway from the tree, it floatsfreely for up to a year, beforebeing washed ashore, develop-ing roots and becoming a newmangrove plant.Avicennia germinans, the

black mangrove is most easilyrecognized by its system ofshallow aerial roots, calledpneumatophores, which extendlike fingers perpendicular to thesediments. These pneu-matophores provide oxygen tothe buried root system. Blackmangroves occupy a slightlyhigher elevation than red man-groves. In these higher soils,salt deposits accumulate; there-fore, black mangroves excretemore salt than any other man-grove. Black mangrovesexcrete salt through the use ofsalt glands on the leaf surface(if you lick a leaf it’s verysalty). The leaves of this man-grove are dull green to gray,and the flowers are a creamywhite and form clusters at thebranch tips. These flowersproduce a fruit resembling alima bean which functions asits propagule. Like the redmangrove, black mangrovesutilize vivipary and propaguledispersal reproductive strate-gies.Laguncularia racemosa, the

white mangrove usually growsmore inland behind the red and

black mangroves. White man-groves are the smallest of thethree Florida mangrove species,rarely reaching 50 feet inheight. White mangroves haveyellowish green leaves thatcontain two small nodules atthe leaf stalk, which serve assugar glands. White man-groves typically do not exhibitaerial roots, however in deeperor stagnant waters; some mayexpress roots similar in appear-ance and function to the blackmangrove pneumatophores.White mangroves use the samesalt excreting and reproductionstrategies as exhibited by theirblack mangrove counterparts.Mangrove distribution and

the extent of mangrove ecosys-tem development are limited byfive principal factors: climate,salt water, water fluctuation,runoff of terrestrial nutrients,and substrate and wave energy.Mangrove distribution is limit-ed by temperature to areas withan annual average temperaturegreater than 19⁄C. Mangrovesfavor salt water, although notnecessary for their survival,because it reduces ecologicalcompetition from freshwaterplant species. Water fluctua-tions due to tidal cycles andfreshwater inflow help trans-port propagules, nutrients andclean water, while flushingaway hydrogen sulfide (thatnasty smell) and accumulatedsalt from the sediments.Finally depositional sedimentsand low wave energy allowpropagules to become estab-lished, protect the shallow rootsystem, and allow for the accu-mulation of fine anaerobic sedi-ments, an environment inwhich few plants are adaptedfor.Mangrove soils have a char-

acteristic black color and nose-turning smell.† Because man-grove soils are perpetuallywater logged, there is not muchfree oxygen available. Aerobicbacteria (oxygen using bacteria)use up any available free oxy-gen fairly quickly. Anaerobicbacteria (bacteria in soils with-out oxygen) proceed to liberatenitrogen gas, soluble iron,inorganic phosphates, sulfides,and methane, which help con-tribute to a mangrove's particu-larly pungent odor and alsomake it a hostile environmentto most plants.

Betty Staugler, the CharlotteSea Grant Agent, can be reached

Mangroves Last part in the series

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2900 PalmDr. - 1997C u s t o mBuilt Homeon oversizedcorner lot inC h a r l o t t ePark area.Some of this 3/2/2 pool homes fabulous featuresinclude: a newly redone pebble teck pool with anautomatic cleaner, new roof with warranty, new heatpump with warranty, garden tub in the master bath,porcelain tile, and newer carpet. Call me today formore details. $299,500 MLS#616642

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REDUCED!!REDUCED!!

REDUCED!!REDUCED!!


River Fishing highlites of the dayBy Jeff CalkingWater LIFE ContributorThis morning starts like many of my

fishing adventures. I call them adventuresbecause after so many planned trips havegone, shall we say, into the wind, I beganto just call them adventures. You neverknow what the day is going to bring youand it is impossible to plan for everyevent, even though you try to.

I begin by moving fishing poles fromeither the truck, or the house to the boat.Making sure I have enough gear to makeit through whatever I might come across.Is the bait still lively? Do I have enoughleader line? Two stroke oil? and so forth,on down the list I go. Drinks, ice, finallyI am ready to hitch things up and head outinto the dark.

We head to the ramp. It is always niceto have people with you that know howto drive the truck and trailer, or the boat,so that backing in is made quick and pain-less. You take this for granted until youfind yourself at the ramp alone, or withsomeone who has no clue.As we motor out from the ramp I look

at my watch. It’s 6:15 am. It will be get-ting light at about 7, so we might stillmake it. I like to get to my first spotbefore daylight, but that only actuallyhappens about one out of every fivetimes. Oh, we’re usually close, but it’snice when it really happens. And it’s evenbetter if it collides with a Solunar peakfeeding time. I have long been a believerin breakfast and dinner. There’s somethingabout being in the water first that drivesthem from deep within.Before I get the boat in neutral I see

the first line cast. We fish live bait first. Ihave always been a live bait fisherman,and whenever possible I ll use it. It hasonly been in the past four or five yearsthat I have been using artificial baits withany regularity. I have always been a‘meat’ fisherman and have only fishedlong enough to catch dinner. Then I gohome. Catch and release is a new concept.It is growing on me, but my mind stilldrifts back to the days when one could goand catch a big snook and take her homefor the dinner table! Back in ‘the day’ wecould take a big snook without breakingthe law, there was no season and most ofthe guys that took a big fish did not fishevery night. They fished enough to eat.For me it was a snook every other weekfor dinner, or if someone was coming totown from up north we would go catchone the night before they came in.Nothing like a fresh slab of Snook friedup in the deep fryer for five minutes orso.

We have had our lines in the water forprobably twenty minutes or so when oneof the bobbers disappears. One of theteam is hooked up and it sounds like a fairfish. Where we are you do not have much

time to turn your fish and fight her to theboat. This fight is ours though, and aftera fourteen minute battle the first fish ofthe day is landed. A nice thirty two inchsnook. Well done Jackson.The morning sun is just beginning to

poke through, and you can tell that it isgoing to be a sunny day, but not thatwarm. We will go on to catch two moregood sized fish on this February day. Onethirty inches, and the other thirty five. Allon live bait.We spent the day here and now sunset

is not far away. We try a different tactic.On our way back to the ramp we troll.This might not be the most glamorousway to fish, but done the right way it’svery effective. We troll for about ten ortwenty minutes when one of the rodsstarts to scream off line. Of course thiscould not be one of the poles with 25pound line and a 40 pound leader. No, it’sthe 15 pound line on the bass pole. Teammember calls out “Bottom.” I look at thedepth finder. Twelve feet deep. Nope, notbottom. I put the boat in reverse to takesome tension off. Get to the front of theboat. I turn the wheel and start in thedirection of the fish. The fish runs fromone bank to the other, trying to runbetween the shore and a large branch. Shes big. Now you can feel the adrenalinerushing through yourself, and this fish isnt even on my pole.

The heat is on to manuever the boatso that the fish does not get under it, orget so far away that it can get caught onsome unseen object under the water. Teammember Jackson-two fights the fish, andafter what seems like forever another bigsnook is in the landing net a inchfish, a little to big to take home, butmany pictures later still a nice memory.By this time darkness is upon us. Wemake our way back to the ramp, we arestill talking about the days adventure.

Water LIFE Staff ReportThe newOptiMax 300XS out-

board continues the MercuryRacing heritage of deliveringmore power and performance thancompetitors with the same horse-power rating.The heart of the new 300XS

“Stroker” is a 3.2 Liter V-6 pow-erhead featuring a stroked and bal-anced crankshaft for maximumpower and performance. Adamp-ener ensures smooth runningthroughout the engine operatingrange. New pistons feature anupdated profile and a compositecoating for improved wear life.Piston ring life is doubled,thanks to a composite chromecoating. The exhaust port, com-bustion chamber and fuel induc-tion designs are direct descen-dants from the Mewrcury Formula1 tunnel boat race engine. Airflowthrough the reed block fuel induc-tion system is enhanced due anenhanced air box design alongwith thinner reed material and theunique reed shape developed forFormula 1 racing. As with otherMercury Racing OptiMax XS out-boards, the 300XS comes with aheavy-duty direct fuel injection

air compressor featuring robustmaxi-coated mounting bracketsand hardware for enhanced com-pressor durability and reliability.The new Propulsion Control

Module (PCM) 07 microprocessorfeatures a fuel calibration uniqueto the 300XS. Thecalibration, combinedwith the combustionchamber design,results in the engineproducing peak powerfor a longer period oftime at the upper rpmoperating range. ThePCM 07 optimizesfuel, spark timing andknock control foreach cylinder inde-

pendently, enhancing engine run-ning quality and performance. ThePCM 07 also operates the elec-tronic multipoint lubrication sys-tem. The 300XS full throttle RPMrange is 5800-6300 for 20” and25” models and 5500-5800 for

25” and 30” models.Unlike other DFI systems,

OptiMax uses a two-stage fuelprocess which keeps the fuel sus-pended in the cylinder longer,resulting in a more consistent andcomplete burn. According to

Mercury, the 300XS has the abili-ty to surpass the fuel economy ofmany of today’s large four-strokeengines.Compared with traditional

two-stroke engines, the 300XSuses up to 45 percent less fuel dur-


Winter time is here and the winds arestrong. Lindyʼs assortment of DriftControl drift socks are made to slowyour boat down to allow you more timein the strike zone, especially duringwindy days. A drift sock used on the flatswill allow you more time to cast to everyspot you desire without worrying aboutboat control or speed. The new Lindy Tackle / Old Bayside Drift Sock

Old Bayside 3.5-inchshrimp in glow and natu-ral and 4-inch shadlyn in

opening night color

Gary, Larry, Larry Sr. and Bill Ross with a great catch ofsnapper, gag, and black grouper up to 30 pounds, last month.

Stroker MercBig Bad 300 2-Stroke


By. Capt Dan CambernWater LIFE Offshore Staff

Have you ever noticed how nature hasa funny way of playing jokes on us? I'mtalking about how you can catch all thefish you want of a certain species whenthey are out of season and then the firstday the season opens up you can't find asingle one. Or else they have mysterious-ly shrunken in size to one-inch less thanthe minimum legal length.Fish are not the only creatures with

this unique ability to sense opening sea-son. I have seen this happen during hunt-ing season too. While scouting some landin a hunting lease up in Georgia one yearI saw several nice bucks during differenttimes of the day and picked a couple ofgood spots to set up hunting stands. Afterthat the land was not allowed to be scout-ed for two weeks before season was toopen to keep from spooking the deer and

let them go about their business natural-ly.Sure enough, on opening day, there I

sat waiting for a nice buck to show upbut all that day no one in the club saw alegal deer to shoot. Most counties orclubs have a minimum point and spreadrule to allow the younger bucks to growand reach maturity to keep a good supplyof quality bucks on the land.Eventually we were able to get a few

bucks and several does that season, butthe big bucks that we saw before the sea-son opened all but disappeared. In themean time I saw lots of turkeys whiledeer hunting including several groups ofbig gobblers (males) but when springturkey season opened on the first day all Isaw were hens.Well anyway, it seems that now

grouper have acquired this amazing sixthsense of knowing when it is opening day.

A D V I C E : R u n D e e p , F i s h H a r d

Capt Dan put some muscle into hefting this healthy AJ up for a photo last month.

Continued on Facing Page

Ken Cook / Boats Unlimited4809 Tamiami TrailCharlotte Harbor

941-628-8250

Boat BuyingDo Your HomeworkEven buying a rowboat can beintimidating to the novice. Makesure you do your homework. Buy abook or two on the subject and talk tofriends who own boats. Attend a boat show.Become familiar with terminology, stylesand prices. As you talk to boat owners,you'll also find out what problems peopleexperience with their boats, what featuresthey find most useful and how differenttypes of boats handle. Pretty soon you'llknow what you want and recognize a gooddeal when you see one.

Area Real Estate TrendsProvided by Water LIFE Publisher and Realtor,® Ellen Heller

FROM Dave & Marlene HoferRE/MAX Harbor Realty(941) [email protected] [email protected]

Charlotte County Tentorium (above) opened with a $768K grant from FEMAto go towards its $950K cost.City Marketplace is seeking a height variance. Its proposed hotel is 78' highand condos at 53', both in excess of the City's 50' limitation. The CharlotteCounty Justice center is 110' and plans are in the works to allow 90' condo build-ings on the other side of the river in Port Charlotte. Our community needs freshnew buildings to continue to prosper.Benderson Company from Buffalo (developers of KingsGate in PortCharlotte) is planning to develop 515 acres in Harborview east of 75. They willbe seeking permits to construct 2 shallow water marinas on the property.Greg Eagle is seeking a height variance to build to a maximum of 75' in anoth-er new project on Burnt Store Road. Pinnacle Oaks will consist of 296 condo-minium and single family homes s on 95 acres north of Pirate's Harbor.Real Estate Sales S tatistics:Median home prices sl ipped in December by 1.25% for the third month in arow, while lots rebounded a little (still up 59% & 32% respectively over the prioryear levels). The number of properties placed under contract declined to 2003 lev-els for lots while house transactions remained on their steady course.Activi ty should pick up dramatical ly in the next few months as motivatedbuyers become more realistic with asking prices as seasonal buyers flow back intothe market.

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EDITOR NOTES:some locals have said the exterior of the Tentatorium resembles aline of white porta-pottys strung together.


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of red grouper (last November and December) in federalwaters, naturally we were able to catch all we wanted onhard bottom between 90 and 130 feet of water. I had beenmarking these spots on trips out to deeper ledges and whenwe got into these big red grouper I would move on afterreleasing them.One of my good clients had moved a trip he had booked

in December to the beginning of January to take advantageof the opening day of red grouper. I told him about the bigfish waiting to be caught and off we went. By now I thinkyou know where I'm going with this, but I'll finish thestory anyway. Sure enough, we caught and released all the18” to 19” red grouper you could stand before moving onto more productive spots for several nice gags and mangosto finish the trip. We just had to laugh as we talked abouthow many times this has happened to both of us on hunt-ing and fishing trips.By the end of December when I wrote my last article it

looked like things were starting to get back to normal asfar as fishing was concerned in the Gulf. We had startedcatching gags in 60 feet of water and a few kings and largeredfish and cobia had been caught. But I don't think that weare going to see really good fishing within 20-25 miles fora while.The water is still a pea soup green out to about 80’ or

so and the gags are just not showing up in their usualwinter haunts closer to shore. Last year’s red tide seems tohave done a number on the close in reefs and it may take awhile to get the number of fish and bait back to normal.Trolling for grouper has not produced well either yet as

the water has been so dirty. That's the bad news, but thereis great fishing if you pick your days between fronts andcan get out to the deeper water.The best fishing continues to be in 80 to 110 feet for

our full day trips (8-9 hours) and has been nothing short of

fantastic in 120 to 150 feet on 10 to 12 hour trips.A lot of my regular grouper customers are finding out

that the quality of fish is much better if they are willing toinvest the extra time and money it takes to get out 40 to60 miles. A couple of nice big gags or black grouper in

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By Bil l DixonWater LIFE SailingI went to the Miami Boat Show on the

West Marine sponsored bus. It was a niceride, but not as much fun as going inyour own boat. On the plus side at leastwe didn’t have to look for a parking place.If you have not gone to the Miami BoatShow, make yourself a promise to gonext year and make your travel/ accommo-dation reservations now. They haveeverything imaginable and some stuff youwould even not dream of. And it's all forsale.Whouda’ thunk that electronics prices

would go through the roof? After years offalling prices and increasing capabilities,here comes Raymarine with a color dis-play screen for $2,900. No computerpower, no data sources like depth, or windspeed, just a display!! And it was thesmall one. The larger size was $3,600!!I hadn't been to the boat show in a

couple of years, and was greatly disturbedto find $6 beer and $3 pretzels, but muchhas remained the same – when my feettired out I sat and watched a cookwaredemo that I had seenin the 70s They stillsell cheap plastic fender line adjusters andvery expensive hose nozzles that allegedly"compress" the water for more power.Under the heading of to-good-to-be-

true is TRAC Ecological's Barnacle

Buster, an environmentally friendly com-pound that "dissolves barnacle cement, sothey wash away" Yah, you betcha it does.Sail boats are getting bigger.

Remember when Tanya Aebi went aroundthe world in a 26 footer? Steve and JaJaMartin and 2 kids circumnavigated in aCal 25. A ‘full size coastal cruiser’ AKAdock candy, is now 40 feet or better. Gofigure.

Huge numbers of Multihulls had theirown Multihull Lagoon – boats fromSouth Africa even.Twenty years ago, when I was looking,

there were British cats, and homebuilt ply-wood tri's designed in California and thatwas it. Progress they call it.Always entertaining was the powerboat

stuff. Dozens of booths offered leaningposts for those who don't like to sit intheir boats, shock absorbing seats forthose who do and cushioned mats forthose who like to stand. Of course therewere a plethora of rodholders and ‘rocketlaunchers.’ This is interesting, 'cause allthe boats at the show came with rocketlaunchers and leaning posts. Do you sup-pose the 2005 models didn't include them?In a saltwater environment, what is thelife expectancy of a shiny aluminum tubeanyway?I also saw numerous ‘Electric’ fishing

reels. How lazy can a stink potter be?

Miami Boat Show Perspect ive

Sunfish Regatta - Not a day for sailing novicesWater LIFE Staff ReportThe community Sailing Center sponsored a

Sunfish Class Regatta for SW Florida areasailors on February 11, and 12. Bitter Cold andwindy days if you recall. This is a photo of thedownwind action. note the wave height at thebow of 76685. This was not a sailing day fornovices.

The finishes were as follows: 1st Placewent to Joe Blouin from the Tampa area, wholed most of the races. 2nd Place went to Danny

Escobar from St Pete. 3rd and 4th places werea tie in total points but the tiebreaker went toPaul Strauley from the Orlando Area finishingahead of local racer Rick Pantall.In addition to novice learn to sail programs,

Joint programs with the Charlotte CountyYMCA and programs with the Venture groupfrom the Boy Scouts of America, future regattassponsored by the Community Sailing Centerwill include an International Masters (OldSailors of both sexes) Regatta in 2007.

By David AllenWater LIFE KayakingSelecting the Right Kayak for YouWhich one is right for you?This is a question I encounter more and

more regularly, as new members join thePort Charlotte Kayakers, the local kayakclub. Kayaking is one of the more rapidlygrowing sports in the area because the sur-rounding rivers and creeks, and the Gulf ofMexico provide some of the best kayakingin Florida. What other sport can transportyou to another world of natural beauty, farremoved from daily urban life, with abun-dant wildlife to experience and enjoy. Andat the same time get some healthful exer-cise.The first, and most basic question that

a buyer must answer is, ìWhat kind ofkayaking do I want to do?î For example,do I want to leisurely paddle the quiet,meandering creeks and rivers, and justenjoy being outdoors and active? Orwould I like to be a little more adventure-some and explore the beautiful beaches ofthe Gulf? Are overnight camping trips onmy agenda or am I interested primarily inthe exercise provided by a long, fast paddledown the Bay? And of course there aremany fishermen who paddle to theirfavorite spot in the shallows between themangroves. Most of our club membershave a variety of interests and try to findthe kayak that is suitable, perhaps withsome limitations, for several paddlingactivities.So the question is, ì Should you buy a

sit-on-top or a sit-in kayak?î While mostof our club members have sit-in kayaks,sit-on-tops are gaining popularity amongthe casual, occasional kayaker who paddleson flatwater creeks and bays. They arealso popular with kayakers who may havesome difficulty getting into the smallercockpit of a sit-in kayak. Sit-on-topshave the advantage of simplicity and easeof use, with a minimum of extraneousequipment. The disadvantages, however,are important to note; the paddler isalways exposed to the wind and waterwhen kayaking and itís much harder tostay dry during the outing. And most sit-on-tops are not as comfortable after severalhours of paddling. Sit-on-tops usuallyhave limited stowage space for campinggear, so are not suitable for overnight orlonger outings.Sit-in kayaks are general-purpose

kayaks, suitable for all types of kayaking.

They are comfortable and dry. The lowcenter or gravity makes them quite stable,although this can vary from design todesign. Sit-ins usually have several sealedcompartments for dry stowage of gear andto provide buoyancy in case of a capsize.With the addition of a spray skirt, paddlingin open water or playing in the surf arefun options.After deciding between the two basic

kayak designs described above, the nextquestion concerns the length and width ofthe kayak.Longer kayaks, 15 to 18 feet in length,

are again, general-purpose kayaks, suitablefor almost all types of kayaking. They areeasier to paddle, faster, have more storagespace for gear, and can be safely used eitheroffshore or on the rivers. These kayaks aretypically 21 to 24 inches wide and havegood stability for all uses. The narrowdesign facilitates the use of a spray skirt,essential equipment for offshore expedi-tions. They are easy to paddle in astraight line (tracking) without a lot of tir-ing, corrective strokes. They usuallycome equipped with a rudder or skeg.They are stable, particularly in the 23-24inch wide models, yet easy to turn andmaneuver. Weight will range from 45 lbs.for lightweight models to 55 lbs. for stan-dard kayaks. The weight can be a limitingfactor when loading and unloading thekayak from the car top. Most kayaks ofthis length are either fiberglass or roto-molded polyethylene, although somenewer models use Carbon fiber or Kevlarin the laminate. Carbon fiber or Kevlarkayaks are more expensive that fiberglass,but are significantly lighter in weight. Allthese materials are acceptable, and havesuccessful history of usage.Kayaks of 13-15 feet in length, as with

their longer counterparts, are suitable formost kayaking activities. They are stable,comfortable and easy to paddle. They aretypically, 25+ inches wide. A shorterkayak is not as fast as a longer boat, andsome models do not track as well. As thekayaks wanders off the course line, tiringstrokes are needed to keep the boat headedin the right direction. Shorter kayaks areusually a few pounds lighter, making car-top transport easier. Often these kayakshave limited dry storage for camping gearand other equipment. However, our kayakclub has a sizeable number of kayaks inthe 13-15 foot range and they are more

than satisfactory for most paddling activi-ties.Price is always a factor when consider-

ing which kayak to buy. Itís hard to gen-eralize, but a new kayak, 15-18 feet long,will cost from $ 1,500 to $3,000, thehigher price for Kevlar or Carbon fiberkayaks. Polyethylene kayaks will be sev-eral hundred dollars less expensive.Shorter kayaks, less than 15 feet long,almost always polyethylene, can be pur-chased for under $1,000. Used kayaks areavailable at local outfitters or on line athttp://paddling.net.Now comes the most important advise

to anyone buying a kayak; Try out asmany different kayaks as possible beforebuying. It is absolutely essential thatyou, the buyer, feels comfortable and safein the kayak. And you will only find acomfortable kayak if you try out at leastseveral. Spend as much time in eachkayak as you need to really evaluate itscharacteristics and how it feels. Donítrush the process. Before I purchased myLegend (Nigel Foster), I tried out over 20kayaks and traveled as far as Ocoee,Tennessee and Savannah, Georgia to findmodels that were not locally available.Your best opportunity to tryout many dif-ferent kayaks is at a ìKayak Demoî held ata local outfitter. A Demo is an eventwhere a kayak outfitter brings 15 or morekayaks to a lake or river nearby for you totest paddle. They also, usually provide

paddles and PFDís. Take advantage of thisopportunity, and then test paddle as manydifferent designs, lengths, etc, as possible.Leave behind your preconceived ideas onwhat you think you ought to buy.Experiment.Local outfitters include; Laishley

Marine in Punta Gorda, Affinity Tackleand Grande Tours in Placida, EconomyTackle, Sarasota and Estero RiverOutfitters, Estero A number of outfittershave Demos at least several times amonth.Members of The Port Charlotte

Kayakers paddle kayaks of almost everysize, make and model, and so can give anewcomer good practical advise on kayakselection for this area. Come join us atour weekly meeting each Wednesday atPort Charlotte Beach Park. Meeting timeis 5:30 PM. You will get lots of goodadvice and someone may even loan you akayak for a test paddle.The Port CharlotteKayakers meet each Wednesday evening at5:30, at Port Charlotte Beach Park . All new-comers are welcome. Contact Dave Allen at941-235-2588 or [email protected] for moreinformation.


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Lovely 3/2/2 on oversized corner lot,1820 sf built 1988, dining rm., living rm.,family rm., breakfast rm. & bar, cathe-dral ceilings, new 16" tile in all areas(except new carpet in BR's) including screened entry & large lanai, great neighborhood close toshopping & schools, nicely landscaped, pocket sliders, new paint in/out, new roof, pantry, sec. sys-tem, elec. storm shutters, REDUCEDREDUCED $229,000, MLS #615776, call Lori Amaral at 941-626-9259.

Beautiful 2-yr. old North Port 3/2/2 pool home, 1537 sq. ft. split floor planw/pocket sliders to lanai/pool, living & dining rm., breakfast bar & nook, cathe-dral ceilings, plant shelves, sec. system, storm shutters, fenced back yard,

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your dream homeand watch the sun-set. $309,000, MLS#611809, call StacyScarrow at 941-916-0000.

Master suite features Roman shower& garden tub; easy access to I-75,shopping, schools. Enjoy the peaceand quiet in this light, bright home.$279,000, MLS #613763, call LoriAmaral at 941-626-9259.

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9271 PINE COVE: Truly a Boaterʼs Paradise looking out over beautiful Lemon Bay fromthe back yard, which includes room for all your boats. Completely seawalled including

a 10,000+lb horizontal lift. Will accommodate a 32+-foot boat as well as 4other boats. With no bridges to the Bay and ICW and less than

10 minutes to the Gulf, this updated 3 bedroom 2 bathsplit plan home is located on a very quiet cul-

de-sac only 4 lots from the Bay.Offered for $849,000.

NEW!NEW! Sunrise Pointe Condominiums on Manasota Key. 2 and 3 bedroom units available with garag10’ ceilings and great views. Still available at Developer Prices from $725,000 to $995,000.

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REDUCED!!REDUCED!!Looking for a nicelyupdated 2 bedroom2 bath 1 car garagehome on an over-sized corner lot?Look no further!This home has been upgraded from the wood cabinets, & tiled coun-tertops, to the custom window treatments. This home is priced to sellat $179,900. MLS # 621781 Call Ellen at 628-6954.

SPACIOUS 4/2/2POOL HOME,On oversized cor-ner lot. 2335 sq ftbuilt in 1993.Spectacular homefeatures living andfamily room, cathe-dral ceilings, break-fast bar and nook, bay windows, plant shelves, French doors, tile through-out, electric heated pool and more. $369,900, MLS # 618246. Lot next dooralso available for $49,900. MLS # 618251. Call Ellen today at 628-6954.

3/2/2 pool home, 1908 sq. ft. built 1994, very quietstreet w/few homes for privacy, home features living,dining, & family room, kitchen has breakfast bar & nook,plant shelves throughout, pool bath, sliders from livingrm., master BR & breakfast area, screened entry &garage, cathedral ceilings, skylight, oversized laundryroom, MLS # 600194 $289,900, Call Ellen at 628-6954

Sailboat, seawalled, beach complex area, end lot will milliondollar view down canal. Just minutes to the Harbor.Oversized lot to build a large home and pool. Approx. 110x125,Water and sewer. Take a morning walk to the beach complexand watch the boaters going out to fish. What a great area tolive in. MLS 480740 $499,900 Call Ellen at 628-6954

3/2/2, 1621 sq. ft.built in 2003. Homeshows like brand

new. Nothing to do but move in. Living, dining, & fam. rm.,storm shutters, storage shed, fenced yard, 20 min. to Harbor1 bridge, MLS 600193 $399,900, call Ellen at 628-6954

SaltwaterCanal Home

WHY WAIT TOBUILD!!!JUST REDUCED.Two beautifulBRAND NEW 3br,plus den, 2 ba, 2car garage, 1974 sq ft homes featuring porcelain tile floorsthroughout, except bedrooms, wood cabinets with sylestonecounters in these real quality homes. MLS # 485276 & 485277,$314,900. Call Gerry at 268-4249COME CHECK OUT

THIS SPACIOUS4/2/2 pool home inDeep Creek. Homehas 2296 sq ft andwas built in 1994,Huge gourmetkitchen, breakfastbar & nook, liv,din, & family rooms, Bay windows, intercom & securitysystem, Parquet floors in master bedroom and family room, his & herswalk-in closets, new roof and pool cage and much much more!!!. Don‚tlet this one pass you by. MLS # 619196 $329,900 Call Ellen at 628-6954.

Magnificent waterfront home in upscale neighborhood.This 3/2/2 home has 1220 sq ft, built in 2000, this home fea-tures cathedral ceilings, breakfast bar, eat in kitchen, walk-inclosets, separate dining room and more. Donʼt miss out on thiswonderful home. MLS #613536 $419,900 Call Ellen 628-6954.

Beautiful 3/2/2 pool home, built in 1996 with 2574 sq ft, inDeep Creek situated on 2 oversized corner lots. This custombuilt home has so much to offer, volume ceiling, fireplace,workshop, walk- in closets, and the list goes on!! MLS #614199$ 399,900 Call Ellen 628-6954

Beautiful home in PC. 3/2/2 built in 1991 with 2109 sq ft. Completelyremodeled, New roof, garage door, drywall, insulation, interior doors,plumbing fixtures, paint, ceiling fans, carpet and more. 4 walk in clos-ets, updated kitchen, updated baths and all new appliances. This is amust see!!! MLS # 607699 $279,900 Call Ellen at 628-6954

PEACE RIVER PARADISE….Magnificent property features 3bedrooms 2 bath 2 car garage, 6,000LB boat lift, hurricane shut-ters, security system, built in vacuum, corian countertops, woodcabinets, “TREX” no maintenance dock that stretches into thepeace river, and much much more. MLS #615532 $1,190,000.Call Gerry 268-4249 or Heather 286-6729.

JUST REDUCED!!!!!.....A BOATERS DELIGHT !!You will fall in love withthis saltwater beauty.This 3/2/2 has 1913 sq ft,built in 2002 and featuresvaulted ceilings, eat-inkitchen, new seawall with custom two level veranda dock. 6000lbboat lift and more. Call today for showing. MLS # 603783, $ 545,000Call Gerry at 268-4249

Beautiful 2/2/2 in gated HeritageOak Park, Surrounded by lovelyoaks everywhere. Home featureshurricane garage door and win-dows, upgraded carpet, woodfaux blinds, high bath counters,

plant shelves and more. Manyamenities to enjoy. MLS # 615332$ 229,900 Call Rieka 456-8866

Nice and NeatPool home in greatarea, this 3/3/2 with1696 sq. ft. built in 1982is ready for you to movein. New paint inside and

out, newer berber carpet, new hurricane code garage door andthe list goes on.MLS # 617135 $259,900 Call Ellen at 628-6954

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2 /2 /1 .5home ono v e r s i z e dco rne r l o tw i t h s i x f tp r i v a c y f e nce, home has 1176 sq ft, and was builtin 1981. Plenty of room for a pool, kitchen hasbreakfast bar, Large lanai, all rooms are nice sized.Come check it out for yourself!!! MLS # 606072Priced to sell at $199,900. Call Ellen at 628-6954.

Immaculate 3/2/2 built in 1995 with 2025 sq ft on fresh-water canal in prestigious section 15. This home featuresceramic tile, wood cabinets, walk-in closets, master bath withdual sinks & roman shower, inside laundry, oversized lanaiwith vinyl sliders for year around pleasure. This is a mustsee!! MLS#610140. $299,900 Call Rieka Gaudet 456-8866

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By Capt Stev e Skev ing tonWater LIFE ContributorMarch is one of the months I look for-

ward to fishing all year, both inshore &offshore its absolute paradise, no othermonth of the year seems to offer so manyangling opportunities.It will not be hard to take advantage of

a really generous 15 per person bag limiton sheepshead, all one needs to do is takea short run offshore to anyone of yourfavorite artificial reefs or ledges, & dropdown frozen shrimp & sharp hooks, if youreally want to bag up a bunch of theseguys, fish super tight to the structure, anddon‚t fish any deeper than 30 feet.There are Sheepshead on deeper spots

but no where near as many.The annual spring run of King

Mackerel will be in full swing, I like the‘run & gun’ style fishing on the Kings.This involves trolling hardware at five toseven knots until a fish blast one of yourlures, then slow trolling the area with liveblue runners to pull out the big boys,those of you who have fished with meknow I have the patience of a toddler witha cup of coffee, so I don‚t like too spendto much time on that Blue runner if hedon‚t pick a fight with a king within 15minutes he‚s fired and were back on therun & gun hardware.March is also known for its spectacular

fishing on Mangrove snapper, you cancatch these fish year round, but for somereason we get the really big mangs inMarch every year, my favorite way to fish

these guys is to chum them up to the topand ‘flatline’ them, a flatline consist ofthe line on your reel tied directly to yourhook, with no sinker or swivel or any-thing that will keep it fromFalling back in the current at the same

speed as your chum, it‚s a great almostnever-miss presentation.There‚s one fish that‚s going to be on

my mind a lot this month and it‚s theSpanish mackerel.These fish should be on there spring

run right now, they should be pretty easyto find just watch for the tell tail birdsdiving, and set up a trolling pattern. I liketrolling small spoons & buck-tail jigs atabout 3-5 knots, these fish are great onlight tackle, and on the grill the nightthere caught, so please try not to takemore than you can eat.If big fish is your game March is your

month, the far offshore wrecks shouldstart to hold huge schools of Barracuda,Amberjack & a few Cobia.Live bait trolling is nothing short of

deadly for all three of these fish,Another sure fire way to get those rods

bent is to anchor up and deploy a coupleof chum bags, it shouldn‚t take longbefore fish show up at the back of yourboat.At that point you can get away with

almost anything as far as bait goes, cutfish, squid, artificial lures, and you caneven bust out with the fly-rod.I said it last year at this time and Ill say

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Next Door to Laishley Marine


By Capt. Chuck EichnerWater LIFE Inshore Editor

Fisherman come with different expectations when theyboard your boat. Some are happy just to be out there, otherswant big fish and some just want to catch anything thatswims. Some folks ask for a tall order of catching fish, man-atee and dolphin sight seeing, birding and other nature experi-ences all in one day. Charlotte Harbor fishing usuallyinvolves experiences with nature that most only read about.On this day nature and fish were in unison.

A couple from Wyoming were simply wanting to go fish-ing. No unrealistic expectations but catching a few fish andperhaps seeing some of the natural environment, birds and seacreatures would be a bonus As we motored away from the dockI was boasting about the incredible wildlife and in my excite-ment told them to expect to see manatees, dolphins and hope-fully some good fishing. Admitting to myself that I may havebit off more than I could chew, I was a little worried after thefirst stop had no fish. This was a deep hole adjacent to a flatthat always holds fish on a low incoming morning tide.Typically, sheepshead, small reds, snappers and drum. Nada!!Ok, plan B was to scoot across a flat to another deeper troughfor small redfish. No reds but we did find a school of smalltrout that did take off a bit of pressure. Spot #3 was a wideshallow basin that normally had trout and reds and no fishagain. With 2 hours into the day I ran to a deeper basin andwe cast weighted live shrimp with little action. Knowing thatthere had to be fish there I switched to a pink jig under a floatand it was off to the races with trout. Imagine that, trout thathad to have just the right presentation. Small fish but aggres-sive and lots of fun. With nearly 4 hours of incoming tide anda bright sun, we set up drifts over sandy flats and blind castedshrimp. Just then we heard a loud animal like blowing soundas a large manatee popped up for a big gasp of air. Alrightythen, the captain may know a little about what he speaks or in

my case I just got lucky onthe manatee promise.Shortly thereafter, Larrygrunts and leans back on afish and his drag is scream-ing. A short battle ensueswith nearly a dumped spooland the rod goes limp!Bummer, I said. Couldhave been a cobia butmaybe a big jack. So backto casting. Casting alongwith the wind I spot a darkarea on the bottom and fig-ured it was grass. Thisdark patchy bottom beginsto move as our boat passesover it. Cobia I yell! Four of emí!! With that a shrimp ispitched in front of the scurrying fish and Larry jams one homeagain. His reel is singing sweet lucy and 15 minutes later a36î cobe comes boatside. How sweet it was!! With that itwas time for lunch and about that time a west wind picked uppushing an extra foot of water on the flats.

Redfish would be the next pursuit and Marty and Larry werequick to agree with that plan. Using the wind to push the boatpast mangrove islands shrimp were blind casted until a fishwas hooked. With a fish on, I would drop the power pole tofan cast the area for other fish. This particular day the redswere on nearly every island. Plenty of small reds but many inthe 24-27 inch class. I just donít know how it could get muchbetter than this. Marty had one complaint that she really likedto catch big fish. Larry had caught a nice cobe and several 27inch reds and she wanted something really big.A late afternoon drift past an oyster bar produced an incrediblehit. Perhaps it was luck but Marty was skillful in presentingthe shrimp in a lifelike manner. The technique was simple:drag, snap and drop- repeat. A slow cadence of this pattern Iexplained resembles a nervous shrimp that darts and drifts backto the bottom. Most find this retrieve hard to maintain but a

screaming drag at days end proved this to be the ticket. Thisfish was a freight train in 2 feet of gin clear water. The onlyproblem was that the fish was 100 yards from the boat on 8pound test. The battle went on for nearly 15 minutes when alarge, very large jack crevalle was spotted. About that time, ittook a bee-line directly towards a mangrove bush. Pull, pull,walk backwards I yelled! In her excitement Marty only want-ed to turn the real handle while the drag was screaming. No,no I exclaimed just point the rod tip into the water and walkthe fish back to break his stride. A super close call to beingcut off and now the fish was under control at the stern until asearing run towards the bow put the line across the trollingmotor and snap!! Yes, there is some truth to the big fish thatgot away.

So, on this day the recipe for fishing was experimentation,changing spots and techniques. Lady luck was at hand becausemanatees as well as dolphins were playful also. A splendid dayon Charlotte Harbor and only 2 of the big ones got away thisday.

Capt. Chuck Eichner is a local charter captain. For infor-mation or to book a guided fishing trip call 941-505-0003 orgo to his website: www.backcountry-charters.com

Hot Actionfor


March s̓ Fishing ForecastCharlotte HarborRobert at Fi shin' FranksPort Charl o tte: 6 25 -3888February is always a fun month because it’s so breezy.

Since this is the beginning of snook season we’ll hammersnook first. For the shore fishermen, generally snook areup the Myakka and the Peace River. El Jobean is a reallygood place, by far the hottest winter spot, for snook. Theevening is usually the best time to fish for them. The fishare generally active from sunset until about 1 a.m. That’sbecause the water has warmed up a little in the afternoon,but after 1 a.m. they get lethargic. The snook bait of

choice is shrimp, that’s number one, but a second preferredsnook bait right now is sugar trout.Use a small ultralight pole with little pieces of shrimp on a gold hook tocatch sugar trout. Sugar trout fishing is great fun for thekids and they can catch your sugar trout for bait all daylong. Walk either bait slow and as close to the pilings aspossible. If they have any size to them, sugar trout are realgood eating. Artificials also work well at El Jobean. Thebig Bombers and the big YoZuri Crystal Minnows are theones. Baits in the 5 and 6 inch size are just about right.Laishley pier is another good place for snook fishing atnight right now. conti nued on

This catfish was caught by Sean Connaghan age 8 in aRotonda canal. It broke the 17lb test line as it fell into thenet. Sean's birthday is March 7, we'd love to see his pic-ture in Water Life!!

For the guys who go out in aboat, there is no reason to getstarted too early. The fish will stillbe lethargic and need a chance towarm up from the cold night. Thecanals in PGI and Port Charlotte –around the boat docks – are theplace for snook. Trolling for snook is starting tomake a comeback. Quite a few guys are finding itproductive with a YoZuri or a Bomber.

Since February is generally a low water monththe fishing on alot of the articficial reefs is startingto pick up a little. Alligator Creek Reef, CapeHaze, the Placida Trestle and the old phosphate dockare all great this time of year for catchingsheepshead, mangrove snapper and the possi-bility of getting into a legal size grouper there isvery good too.Sitting on those spots the chance of picking up

a cobia or a small shark is equally good. Shrimpis the best bet for sheepshead, peeled is the way togo, or try a fiddler crab. Hook the crab through thebottom of the shell and come out through the top.

There are a lot of really big sheepshead thatdon’t get fished very hard out at the Novak Reefright now. If it’s calm enough, that trip 5 miles off-shore can be very worthwhile.On the east side of the Harbor on the outside

edge of the sandbar there are a lot of cobia. Driftfish for them and watch for the single fish or dou-bles of cobia. The cobia are hanging on the outsideof the bar because the mullet fishermen are all overthe inside – wrecking it pretty good for the recre-ational anglers. The mullet fishermen are horriblethis year, charging around, doing doughnuts aroundfishermen and charging right at some boats. It’sbest to steer clear of them if you see them nettinguntil there is some enforcement action. I have heardthe game and fish department doesn’t have anyboats that can get into the skinny water to deterthem so they are just going a little crazy. I’m allfor making a living, but these guys getting aggres-

sive with fishermen out for fun just isn’t right.Redfish with any size to them are hard to find

this time of year. If you are going to target redfish Idefinitely suggest using a circle hook. It’s notunusual to catch 50 to 100 redfish this time of year,but most of them are undersize so the circle hookwill make a live release that much more possible.Shrimp is again the best bait to use, but for a big-ger redfish try using cut mullet or cut ladyfish.Some of the bigger reds have been coming fromWhidden Creek and Catfish Creek and from thesouth, down around Pine Island.Trout of the smaller size are real prevalent in

the upper harbor around the Myakka River and theUS 41 bridges. To find bigger trout you have to beprepared to move a lot. Trout tend to school in thesame size range so if you’re into the smaller fishjust pack up and move to find the bigger ones. Driftfish for trout inside Alligator Creek and Turtle Bay.Try casting top-dog pups by Mirrolure or JohnnyRattler top water lures to find the 16 to 25 inchfish. The little fish might pop at the big plugs, butthose baits are just too big for the smaller trout.Shore fishermen looking for trout would do best atEl Jobean.Offshore, the grouper fishing is good, but a lot

of guys are finding that sharks are numerous nowand are chomping off the grouper before it gets tothe boat. A lot of the sharks that are out there rightnow are dusky and sandbar sharks.

Lemon BayJim at Fishermen’s EdgeEnglewood: 697-7595Everyone that comes into my store seems to

ask me ‘are we going to have red tide?’ I tell them

there is nothing out there now and we haven’thad any in months. The guys that are going aredoing well are telling me there are a lot ofsheephead around and quite a bit of whiting.On the beach there are a lot of big whiting , thebig females are around now and some guys aresaying they are the biggest whiting they haveseen in a while. We’ve had pompano and some nice redfish

around too. They were catching some big troutin the Gasparilla Sound on the DOA CALs(catch anything lure). Those and the Exude RTSlugs have been popular and productive. Offshore, they are catching snapper and

grouper but they have to go 15 to 20 miles.Usually the fish would be in closer now, but thefish seem to be a little farther out right now.

Aaron Stump PassMarinaOffshore grouper action is consistent 10 -20

miles out, quality gags on shallow ledges andwrecks, pinfish,Tripletail offshore as well as cobia on the

stone crab bouy lines. Further offshore goodamberjacl action wahoo and blackfin tuns. Therhas been a half dozen mako sharls caught, that Iknowe of in t the last month or so.Inshore the trout bite has been on fire. Now

that the ware has warmed up they are hitting topwaters. Redfish, upper slot sized fish, arereal consistent, hitting gold spons , Gulpbaits and exudes pitched under the LemonBay docks. Also pompano and bluefishnear the pass and on the grass flats. Snookare there but until the water wams up they

n Febuary 11: Flatsmasters QualifierFMQ Tournament, Harpoon Harrys inPunta Gorda. 637-5953n February 23: CCA Auction andDinner Tent Auditorium at Punta Gorda,5 p.m.n March 4-5: Redfish NationTournament, Clearwater, RegisterOnline at www.redfishcup.com or call888-698-2591n March 25-26: Redfish NationTournament, Fort Myers, RegisterOnline at www.redfishcup.com or call888-698-2591n May 6: Water LIFE Kids Cup

Tournament at Punta Gorda, in con-junction with the ESPN Oh Boy! ObertoRedfish Cup and a benefit for the DonBall School of Fishing. Applicationsonline at www.kidscuptournament.comphone 766-8180 for informationn May 11-13: Oh Boy! Oberto RedfishCup Tournament at Punta Gorda, BigAir Dogs and all the festivities.n August 12-13: Redfish NationTournament, Jacksonville, FloridaRegister Online at www.redfishcup.comor call 888-698-2591n October 7: Richest RedfishChallenge, benefit for Good ShepherdDay School, by Laishley Marine, at


BIG-4 BIG-4 Marchʼs Target Species Marchʼs Target Species

GROUPER are offshore and some in the Harbor

TROUT are big and on theflats and edges

COBIA are on the east sideof the harbor

SHEEPSHEAD are on struc-ture all over the harbor

C A L E N D A R O F E V E N T SPowered by

Send us your event calendar information via e-mail: [email protected]

Fishing Report Continued from facing page

FishingRIGHT NOW:

Good

The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary,Flotilla 98, Port Charlotte, Presents; ABC,

America's Boating Class (A Condensedversion of Boating Skills and

Seamanship). Tuesday and Thursdays 7p.m. to 9 p.m. beginning Feb 7th and end-ing Feb21st at the new PGI Civic Center,

2001 Shreve St., Punta Gorda, FL. Forregistration and information contact Fred

Counter (941) 505-1290.

The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary,Flotilla 98, Port Charlotte, Presents; GPSClass. Tuesday and Thursday, March 7and 9, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at thenew PGI Civic Center, 2001 Shreve St.,

Punta Gorda, cost $40 for materials.Learn how to use and set up your GPS, if

you have one bring it with you! For regis-tration and information contact Fred

Counter, FSO-PE (941) 639-3811 ext. 1.

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Water LIFE Mar 2006