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Kids Cup Kids Cup Results and PhotosResults and Photos

Page 6 & 13-15Page 6 & 13-15

InshoreInshoreTarponTarponand and other thingsother thingsPage 17Page 17

OffshoreOffshoreAJsAJs

Page 22Page 22

May 2008 May 2008 XTreme XTreme RedfishRedfish

Page 18Page 18

DivingDeeperWrecksPage 19

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Water LIFECharlotteHarbor

MagazineMichael and Ellen Heller

Publishers(941) 766-8180

TOTALLY INDEPENDENTWater LIFE is not affiliatedwith any other publicationVol VII No.5 © 2008 Water LIFE

No part of this publication may becopied or reproduced without the writ-

ten permission of both publishers Contributing Editors:

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

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

Real Estate: Dave HoferSailing Advisor: Bill Dixon

Kayaks: David AllenSea Grant: Betty Staugler

Diving: Adam Wilson

on the COVER:15 year old Booker Cothern of PortCharlotte raises the Kids Cup Trophywhile surrounded by the other Top-5

on our WEBSITE:WWW.charlotteharbormagazine.com

Realtors: Links to advertisersTide 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 1984Kids Cup Updates, Fish Tracking andTournament Information.

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The Beauty of a Free PressOn behalf of 122 junior anglers age 10

through 16, 97 guides, captains and boatdrivers, 244 parents, 488 grandparents,numerous brothers and sisters, 75 spon-sors, and 23 tournament staff and volun-teers I would like to point out that thelocal media has once again shown them-selves to be a sorry excuse for a newsgathering operation and a pathetic exampleof alleged community oriented focus. Howcould they ignore the kids?They had enough notice. Photos were

available to them on the day of the event. To be fair, the Charlotte Sun in fact did

run a brief story a day or two after theKids Cup, but they never ran a photo oreven a mention of the Kids Cup Top-5winner. Booker Cothern, the Charlotte

High School ninthgrader who won outover 121 other anglersdeserved better. He dida great job! Instead,coverage literallywent to the dogs thatday. What gets me is

that all the localmedia, TV and printtogether, profess tobeing environmentally

conscious and kid friendly and here we areteaching kids about the environment - firsthand out on the water - teaching them fishhandling, de-hooking and release tech-niques, getting them involved in a conser-vation-based sonic fish tracking projectthat is not only news worthy, but scientif-ically relevant and......nothing.Those who participated came away

smiling. There were plenty of good fish-ing stories. The weather was great. So what if the local paper ran a ‘photo

provided’ picture of birds in the Evergladeson their front page. It’s their right to beout of touch. That’s the beauty of a freepress. I just wish they wouldn’t profess tobe community minded.

Michael Hel lerKids Cup Tournament Director

Dear Mike & Ellen,Although our son was not a winner in this

yearʼs Kids Cup Tournament, the fact that heparticipated and endured the struggles of com-peting makes him and all of the competitorswinners! In every contest in life there are win-ners and losers, but to say that an angler in theKids Cup has lost just doesn't seem right. Theangler's received so many awesome gifts by thegenerous sponsors. The kid's were able tospend the day out on the water doing somethingthey love to do, most of them with their dad's.

Fishing is such an incredible sport and sucha great way for kids to stay involved in the studyof evolution, conservation and plain old fun!

Knowing that the money contributed to theKids Cup goes to the Don Ball School of Fishingto teach kid's about fishing is yet another, if notthe most important reason for kid competitors tocontinue with this great tournament. Just thinkwhat the world would be like if there were nosuch thing as a fishing rod or fish to catch?

Thanks again for the incredible experi-ence.They learned how to accept not placing inthe top five or winning for the heaviest fish intheir age category. This will only help build theircharacter. And let's not forget to mention howcool it is for them and their families to see Motescientists there implanting the surgical trackingdevices for everyone to actually see. This justdoesn't happen in the public eye. Only duringthe Kid's Red Tournament. This in itself is a realgift!! There are triumphs and tribulations inevery aspect of life. Win or lose, our son andour daughter will be there to compete in yourKids Cup next year and the year after that andthe year after that. What a great experience!Thank you for hosting such an important pro-gram for our children. Without people like you,the world would be a much dimmer place. Untilnext year,

The Galloway Family

Last monthʼs Kids Cup Captainʼs meeting dinner for 300.

LETTERS TO (and from) WATER LIFE


Michael Hel l erWater LIFE Editor

It was early April, we had been work-ing on the Kids Cup for four monthsstraight. I needed a break before the tour-nament. A quick fishing trip was in order.My friend Capt Ralph (our Kids Cupweighmaster) and I planned a late after-noon outing. “What do you want tocatch?” Ralph asked. I wanted to take outmy frustration on something big. ‘Letsgo shark fishing’ I said, and a plan cametogether.

It was a simple enough plan. Ralphhad a dry chum bag that someone at theFla Sportsman show had given him, sowith that and (in case it didn’t work) abig red frozen chum block, we headedout. I took a rod with 30 pound PowerPro on it. My normal 12-pound test-mono rod was already rigged with myfavorite bait, a gold spoon, and wasalready on the boat.

Our plan called for catching someladyfish and then using them for sharkbait.

Halfway down the harbor we spotted aschool of threadfins. I cut the motor andwe drifted toward them in the current.Figuring there could be some ‘ladys’hanging around the ‘threadies,’ when wegot close enough to cast, I threw out myspoon. The surface was alive with baitbut as soon as my spoon hit, a big – very

big, boil erupted. It grabbed my spoonfor a second and then my line went limp.We looked at each other. We both knew.

Next, right behind the boat (5 feet), atarpon came lazily to the surface rollingin slow motion with his green armor-cladbody halfway out of the water. Ireeled in and cast again ahead of him.Wham! He hit, but in a few seconds hetoo was off. Then another tarpon rolledand I cast again. Wham, again! But thistime I had him.

I think it was the same lazy fishbecause all he did was swim away, slow-ly. I had no chance of stopping him.

So Ralph fired up the boat and we fol-lowed. Jumping, peeling drag, coming inand then going out the fish kept on head-ed towards the Cape Haze bar.

I fought the fish for a half hour, tryingto shake my $4 Eppinger/Rex spoonloose so we could get on with our sharkfishing. On 12 pound test I wasn’t get-ting the lip-ripping, stress relievingfight I had hoped for, but the tarpon onmy line made me smile. Finally the tar-pon said good-bye and we were againheaded to our shark fishing hole at CapeHaze.

On station, first cast, a small jack.Into the well for shark bait. Next cast abig trout, maybe 3 pounds. Release. Castafter that: another trout, maybe the firsttrout’s brother. Then the tide went slack.

Our chum slick wasn’t moving. We hungout for another 15 minutes, pulled theanchor and left. Next plan, head up toAlligator Reef where one of Ralph’sguides had brought in a couple of cobiaearlier that day. Alligator Reef: nothing.Then up to Marker No. 7 at the mouth ofthe Myakka.

Now we were looking for bait. We net-ted a few threadies and then a pelicandropped out of the sky and hit the waterabout 30 yards away. I set the boat on adownwind drift and we slid in amongstthe pelicans, which didn’t bother them at

all. First cast. Yank! Bit right through!

Now we were into the toothy fish. Weleadered up with wire cast out and settledin. A 3-foot blacktip shot out of thewater fighting like a dog. Next castanother and so it went; 3 and 4 footblacktips mixed with mackerel 2-feet orlonger, right up until about 7 p.m. whenRalph and I agreed that enough wasenough. Maybe 8 or 10 sharks came tothe boat along with an assortment of bigtoothy mackerel and a few more bluefish.Then we jumped up on plane and I nudged

On Any Thursday

Tarpon are in the harbor. This one hit on a 1/2 0z gold Eppinger spoon, rigged on 12 poundtest. After about a half hour he broke loose and we got on with our shark fishing trip.

7.04 94 Austen Henson 156.98 100 Cody Bollinger 156.84 26 Booker Cothern 156.44 16 Dylan Daughtry 156.44 56 Brandon Varney 156.42 1 Zach Granger 156.36 27 Crosland Polk 156.34 11 Aaron Leigh 156.14 4 Taylor Hendrix 146.06 36 Jacob Bates 166.02 114 Justin Dutton 125.98 23 Brooke Conely 125.80 105 Wyatt Carter 125.70 109 Conor Peters 105.70 74 Kyle Watkins 145.66 6 Amin Mahshie 145.50 21 Dale Flocker 155.48 19 Kyle Miller 145.46 22 Mason Waters 125.32 7 Kaylin Olayer 165.26 5 Zach Lozano 164.88 38 Sayje Monning 104.88 31 Austin Taylor 134.58 15 Jeppe Bennetsen 114.54 91 Britteny Witt 134.40 61 Jeannee Hubbard 154.38 78 Robby Howard 114.30 60 Allison Warren 164.28 71 Catherine Merriman 134.28 8 Austin Oskey 154.02 119 Lauryn Llewellyn 163.92 62 Hunter Murphy 133.90 44 Jeff WatkinsJr 123.86 99 Ryan Sides 163.30 90 Benjamin Abdill 143.24 25 Joe Gilcher 143.18 70 Andrew Merriman 153.00 40 Joshua Lebron 112.72 83 Nic Marshall 142.64 80 Mason Elrod 112.50 118 Adrian Ivankovic 112.50 37 Ricky Stewart 162.44 85 Landon Collier 152.36 39 Jake Vale 142.34 120 Jesi McHale 162.32 64 Hunter Welsh 122.30 17 Brittany Morrison 112.30 98 Casey Gunnderson 122.28 3 Cody Bailey 152.26 50 Will Gaskins 112.16 108 Chad Cambern 112.14 12 Kaitlyn Legg 132.14 86 Rocco Pennella 152.12 101 Tina Flowers 162.10 97 Jimmy Flowers 112.10 106 Jeff Adams 142.08 59 Craig Smith 122.08 87 Cody Cistello 142.08 84 Joey DeVincenzo 152.06 95 Joseph Capeto 13


2.06 49 Jesse Smith 142.06 111 Eric Lewis 162.04 13 Dylan Legg 101.94 33 Mark Uebelacker 110 51 Caleb Gaskins 100 63 Riley Welsh 100 18 John Messenger 110 42 Anthony Calleja 120 52 Zane Smith 120 77 Logan Lightly 120 107 Brent Cambern 120 79 Austin Elrod 130 65 Maison Skinner 140 67 Jonathon Gander 140 89 John Reid 140 110 Austin Johns 160 46 Harlan South 100 73 Michaela Flowers 100 75 Mathew Newberry 100 92 Kaine Mackie 100 93 Danielle Cummins 100 96 Riley Mizell 100 113 Cyler McVay 100 9 Chance Galloway 110 104 Megan Malone 110 116 RJ Gross 110 47 Tanner South 120 103 Taylor Endersbee 120 34 Brenden Gorman 130 35 Conner Flood 130 55 Zack Shaver 130 66 Madeline Chavez 130 81 Christopher Savage 130 82 Trevor Harris 130 88 Brandon Stafford 130 32 Taylor Crosland 140 43 David Isaacs 140 45 Bryton Wolfe 140 48 Cody Waldrop 140 69 Michael Eisner 140 72 Tyler Browning 140 76 Dusty Newberry 140 102 Michael Endersbee 140 10 Trey Llewellyn 150 20 Nick Kaszuba 150 29 Anthony Karambellas 150 30 Justin Shafer 150 117 Tyler Lewis 150 14 Collin Mix 160 24 Jessie Daughtry 160 28 Chris Dagge 160 54 Nick Fischer 160 58 Cody Shea 160 112 Josh Jacobs 160 121 Daniele Damaseau 160 122 Sage Naeder 110 2 Frankie Mancini 140 68 Jeffrey Gander 14

Kids Cup SponsorsPalm ChevroletLaishley MarineFishin' Franks Bait & TacklePool Sharks of Lemon Bay, IncEldred's MarinaThe Turtle ClubBayshore Marine & Yacht BrokerageFantasea ScubaBennedettos RestaurantJ & C Drydock MarineKing Fisher FleetScreen Print PlusHarpoon Harry's/Captain's TableIngman MarineMercury MarineMedina Fishing ChartersBuffalo GraffixHarbor ChevronNoahs MarineShore ProtectionWest Coast TrailerPerin's Barber ShopChris McMillan / ReMax Harbor RealtyRio Villa Bait and TackleCapt. Bill's Barber ShopThe Wetter, The BetterMamma NunziaAffordable Boat CanvasSuperDay ExpressBoater' WarehouseSouthern OxygenNav-a-gatorDon Gasgarth FordMarine MaxEllen McCarthy RealtyThe Boat House at Boater's WorldS P I GalleryTom Krause / ArtisitGulf Coast EngravingStump Pass MarinaFishbites BaitShimanoClassic Fishing ProductsArc DeHookersSuffixFrabillPower ProPradco and Joe CoxCVS PharmacyStrike King LuresLowranceEppingerExudeHenry's TackleQuantumEagle ClawFlying FishermanBass MedicsPlano TackleThe Cape Coral BreezeTracking Title SponsorsMote MarineSea GrantPinnacle Employee Leasing / One More CatchWest Marine / Boat U.S.Fishermen's Village Yacht BasinCharlotte HondaCharlotte Harbor Reef AssociationSea GrantProgress EnergyKingfisher FleetWater LIFE MagazineAquatic Release ConservationSea Tow Charlotte HarborFriends for Extension FoundationIndividual VolunteersPatti PierroneRalph AllenRobert LugiewiczKristie Lugiewicz Frank HommemaTerry HommemaGene KingeryAlison HellerCatherine MilfordRobert CohnBetty StauglerJames StauglerDonna BallSheri MedinaReena KrogerJan AllenElisa AllenRonald BlagoJerry JensenKeith BennerGary StouchJulia GrangerAnd Thanks to all the parents who did what they had to do,sometimes easy, sometimes not so easy, to get their childrenfishing in the Kids Cup. Without them we are nothing.

Sincerely, Michael & Ellen Heller, Tournament Directors

2008 Kids Cup ResultsWeight # Angler Name Age Award Weight # Angler Name Age Award

Sponsorʼs banners covered the dock and ran around both corners at Fishermenʼs Village for the 2008 Kids Cup

Lightest

Age Group

TOPFIVE

Age GroupAge GroupAge Group

Age Group

Age GroupAge Group

Sptsmnship

TOP-5 Results are on Page 14TOP-5 Results are on Page 14


By Betty S tauglerSea Grant / Water LIFE

With the April 19 Water LIFE Kids Cup Tournamentcompleted, the 2008 Water LIFE Kids Cup RedfishTracking Project is now underway. As a sign of thetimes, some of these young redfish caught and released atthe Kids Cup are actually rigged with hi-tech acoustictransmitters sending unique sound codes to underwaterreceivers in the area. Other redfish, only equipped withold fashioned-but reliable dart tags and phone numbersbegin to tell the story.In the meantime, a lot goes into the planning and

implementation of this project. We actually began plan-ning for 2008 in May of 2007. Remember, this projectseeks to determine the fate of tournament caught andreleased redfish Do they survive? Where do theygo?...ect. As mentioned, our project hinges on twoimportant tagging methods. The first uses anchored darttags (streamers) coupled with angler recapture informa-tion; the second uses more sophisticated acoustic trans-mitters and tracking equipment. Tied to this are twoadditional studies, a control group study and a geneticsstudy. More on those next month.Anglers weighed in 68 redfish. Not all of them met

the slot limit, but all of them received the anchored darttags. Anchored dart tags were applied after the weight andlength were taken by Capt. Ralph Allen, the tournamentweigh master. Our dart tags came from the Florida Fishand Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). Bothsets of tags (yellow- left over from last year and orange -received for this year) were originally purchased forsnook research, but were generously donated for our proj-ect. Since researchers are generally expected to providetheir own tags for individual projects, we are grateful forFWCs continued support of our project. Anglers, if you happen to catch a tagged fish, please

write down the tag number, length of the fish and cap-ture location, and call that information into the redfishhotline. The phone number can be found right on thetag. We ask that you please release the fish with its tag

intact so that it can continue to provide important infor-mation about redfish survival, travel patterns and growthrates as it is recaptured.Twenty fish also received acoustic transmitters. These

transmitters (sometimes referred to as sonic tags oracoustic tags, about the size of a AA battery) are surgi-cally implanted into the abdominal cavity of the fish.The transmitters are powered by an internal batteryallowing them to transmit a signal that can be receivedby our equipment when the fish is located nearby. Lastyear our transmitters were much smaller with smallerbatteries, and shorter signal ranges. A fish had to comewithin 150 feet of our equipment to be detected. Thelarger transmitters used this year can be heard about 450feet away from a receiver, this is a huge improvement.This year’s transmitters can also ‘chirp away’ for 820days compared to 150 days from last year. Selecting an appropriate transmitter for the project,

included considerations of the weight of the fish in rela-tion to the weight of the tag. A great deal of researchhas been done by the vendor (VEMCO) and otherresearchers to determine the maximum size transmitterthat can be used safely with minimal complications tothe fish. On another front, our surgeons Carole Neidig

from Mote Marine Laboratory and Cindy Armstrongfrom Progress Energy, and University of Florida veteri-narian Roy Yanong ran tank trails testing anesthesia con-centrations appropriate for redfish. This step was neces-sary because the anesthesia we used last year was notavailable for use this year. Instead we used carbon diox-ide (CO2), a USDA accepted and commonly used anes-thesia. These trials examined the influence of CO2 con-centrations on differently sized redfish, under differentwater chemistry conditions. Applying this knowledge atthe Kids Cup, Carole and Cindy surgically implantedtransmitters into 20 pre-selected redfish, based on theirhealth and size at weigh-in. After surgery, redfish wereplaced in oxygenated recovery tanks, revived by dedicatedvolunteers, then released. We thank Southern Oxygen inPunta Gorda and Capt. Keith Benner for providing ouroxygen, CO2 and regulators for the event. I should alsomention that we had to obtain a special activity permitfrom FWC for all of our research activities, from thetime the fish were handed over to us until their releaseback in the water. A pod of waiting dolphins near tournament dock

Continued on facing


RedfishTrackingUnderway


23' Sea Swirl 2300 Stripper, 2000.Single 200HP Evinrude. Nice walkaroundcuddy, good for coastal fishing, cruisingand diving. REDUCED!REDUCED! $23,900

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

28' Carver Voyager fresh water cooled twin5.7L Mercruisers. Very roomy with 11'1"beam. Large flybridge, marine headw/shower, airconditioning, full galley. $18,500

26' Boca Grande Cuddy, 1986. Many recentupgrades to include new risers and oilcooler.Well maintained and cared for.PRICED TO SELL! $21,900

31' Wellcraft Scarab, 1991 with 2006 twin496 Magnum Mercriuser. This Scarab isvery well kept. New outdrives in 1997,fresh water flush system. $39,900

30' Young & Grant Sportfishing, 1983. Single350hp Caterpillar 3116 turbo new in 2000.This vessel is charter rigged and a proventournament winner. $47,500

20' Sea Hunt 202 Triton, 2004 Yamaha4stroke 150 with 150Hrs! Center consolehas an entry for the porta pottie. Storedinside in excellent shape. $18,900

23' Four Winns 230 Horizon, 2001. Fast 230HP Volvo Penta I/O, Bimini top, swim plat-form with boarding ladder. This boat is inimaculate condition. REDUCED $22,900

24' Pro-Line Walk Around Cuddy, 225Yamaha 4 stroke Will sleep two, full hardtop, salt water wash down plus color elec-tronics! REDUCED! REDUCED! $25,900 OBO

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

34' Catalina MK II,2001.Single 35HP Universaldiesel. sleeps seven in airconditioned comfort."Sea Breeze" has four sails including spin-naker. Full electronics.REDUCED $94,900

21' Hurricane, 2007 Sundeck w/fish pkge.Fuel efficient 2007 Yamaha four stroke 150,less than 35 hours. Loaded for a fishingday or just cruising with family. $34,900

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

23' Donzi 235 Sport 1998, with a 2006 220HPMercruiser 4.3. Interior like new and traileris included. $18,900

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

pageContinued from facing pagemade releases more difficult this year. Wedecided to transport all of the fish awayfrom the dock and release them in an areawhere they would have a better chance ofsurvival. To do this, we moved them inlivewells, around the corner and releasedthem past the rock wall of the marina.Once released, Fishin’ Frank and Terry wereon hand in a University of Florida boat lis-tening for the coded signals of the acoustictags with portable tracking gear. We heard19 of the 20 transmitters this way. As abonus, we also heard from a transmitterunknown to us, which I have yet to identi-fy. Roger and I picked up the 20th trans-mitter on Monday morning. Over the next year you may see Roger

and I out in the field tracking or servicingour equipment. We need to download andservice the underwater receivers on amonthly basis to prevent flooding causedby barnacles and oysters growing on theseals. We also will have volunteer anglershelping us by taking receiving gear withthem when they go fishing. Remember, aswe download equipment and receive anglerrecapture information, it will be posted onthe redfish tracking websitehttp://charlotte.ifas.ufl.edu/kidscup/index.htmlwhich should be operational for this year’stournament starting at the end of May.

Regular updates will also be available inWater LIFE Magazine, so stay tuned foranother exciting year of following the KidsCup redfish. Anglers, if you caught a fishin the Kids Cup Tournament, I’ll be send-ing you a letter with your fish trackinginformation. If you do not receive yourletter by the end of May, call me at thenumber below and I will get that informa-tion to you.Special thanks goes out to you anglers,

the team of volunteers, tag sponsors andthe captains and anglers who contributedfinancially towards our redfish trackingproject. We think this is a very importantproject and are pleased so many of you dotoo!

Betty Staugler is the Florida Sea Grant

Fishin ̓Frank and Terry tracked eachreleased fish to make sure it was swimming.This year, two fish that had implants subse-quently died. Those transmitters were recov-ered and will be reused.

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


By Capt. Ron BlagoWater LIFE Senior Staff

I finally get it. The revelation hit melike a thunderbolt right between the eyes.All month I’ve been calling and e-mailingcounty officials trying to make some headway on some of the many fishing andboating problems we have in the county.Here is the conclusion I reached: The big-ger our government gets, the more moneywe have to pay for it and the more ineffi-cient they become. If you follow this outto its logical conclusion; the taxpayerswill all wind up broke and our govern-ment will accomplish nothing. Let megive you a few examples of what I mean.We just finished the 5th annual Water

LIFE Kid’s Cup redfish tournament out ofFisherman’s Village in Punta Gorda.There were 122 kids that entered this yearand everyone had a great time. This is oneof the bigger tournaments in our area. It’sa non-profit, all volunteer enterprise withall the money raised going to the DonBall School of Fishing that teaches ourlocal kids how to fish. All the organizers,volunteers and sponsors of this tourna-ment do a great job each year and asknothing more than an opportunity to sup-port our local kids. What did our localcounty government do to help out?Nothing at all. No support, no promo-tion, no effort even to thank the peoplerunning the tournament.Here is another example. For the last 6

weeks there has been a sunken boat in themain channel in Chadwick’s Cove inEnglewood. I’ve called the SheriffsDepartment and I know other people havecomplained to county staff about the situ-ation and yet the boat is still there. Overthe last three years Chadwick’s Cove hasbecome a dumping ground for people whowant to abandon their boats. We passed anabandoned boat ordinance last year whichgives the county the authority to getthese boats out of there. The MarineAdvisory Committee has allocated in thelast two years $260,000.00 of tax payersmoney to be used to take care of situa-tions like this. What really bothers me isthat just four months ago the county staffremoved a large sunken sailboat in exact-ly the same place this new sunken boatis. This is why people are getting fed up.You throw a ton of money at a problemand government can't do something assimple as get a boat out of the water.Here’s another one. The Geo Tubes are

being removed from the north side ofStump Pass. These sand filled Gor-Textubes, were put in place to slow the sandmigration into the main pass. By mostaccounts they worked pretty well withapproximately five acres of new sandaccumulating around the tubes. It appearsthat the people who run the park are theones who want the tubes removed becausethey say that there is erosion on the Ski

Alley side of the park.Have you taken a look atwhat the people who runthe park have done to thatpark since the county gavethe land to the State? Firstthey charge you to parkthere. Then they put in awooden walkway to thebeach, which was immedi-ately (one month) washedaway by the first stormthat hit the area. Then theydemanded that the beach bere-nourished with sand thatwas dredged out of Stump Pass. And, ofcourse, there is that great job they didkilling all the Australian pines becausethey were not a native species. Now theplace looks terrible, but at least it’s allnatural.When the tubes go, all that sand built

up behind them will wind up in StumpPass; which will result in the taxpayersof Charlotte County having to spend 2 to3 million dollars to dredge the pass tokeep it open. What bothers me is that ourown board of county commissionersvoted 4 to 1 to not even to challenge theDEP’s order to remove the tubes. OnlyTom D’Aprile was smart enough to seethe big picture and realize that the taxpay-ers were going to get shafted on this deal.Here’s a trick question for you. What

is the number of live manatees in Floridathis year? Answer: we don’t know becausethe State decided not to do any aerial sur-veys this year. This appears to be a directviolation of the 1990 Florida Statute FS370.12(4) which requires an annual,impartial, scientific benchmark census ofthe manatee population. The State can-celled the survey because they said theweather was just too warm this winter.On Jan.4th of this year the official tem-perature at the Sarasota – BradentonAirport dropped to 32 degrees with inlandtemperatures dropping into the 20’s. Itwas so cold that 40-percent of the tomatoand strawberry crop was lost to frost . Itwas reported to be the worst crop loss inthe State since 1989.So why would they not do a survey at

that time. At first I thought maybeJanuary was just too early in the year foran accurate count; but a review of therecord shows they have done Jan. surveysin 91,92,95,96,98,99,2000,2001,2003and2005. I can only speculate, but rememberthat manatee deaths were down in 2007and so far in 2008 deaths are down 35-per-cent. We have had very little rainfall,which may be bad for your lawn but it’sgreat for sea grass because the water staysclear. So manatees had plenty of seagrassto eat this winter and there was no redtide. With manatees being such prolificbreeders maybe there were simply toomany to count.

The More We Pay – The Less We Get

Youʼre flying in a fixed wind airplane at 1000 feet above the ground. You are traveling at 90 mph.Quick: How many manatees do you see? And you canʼt use a camera. Aerial manatee surveysemploy that technique. No wonder boaters and fishermen questioned the validity of aerial surveys.


PROVIDED BY: Dave & Marlene Hofer RE/MAX Harbor Realty(941) 575-3777 [email protected] Recent area news i tems1. A residential development is now

planned for an 81 acre site near EnglewoodHospital. Charlotte County will have torearrange proposed density to accommodatethe change to 5 units/acre zoning from thepresent 2 units/acre.2. Lowe's has broken ground on a

170,000 sf store on 38 acres across fromthe North Port Commons shopping centeron US 41.3 .Among our more interesting develop-ments, Terra Sol, a clothing optional RVresort, is in the works on a 320 acre parcelin DeSoto County. An 18 hole golfcourse and professional quality tenniscourts are just some of the amenitiesplanned. I'll refrain from the temptationof editorial comments here.4. TEAM Punta Gorda presented the

City Council with a proposal to dredge acanal between the existing rim canal andalligator creek. Though three years ofnoble effort has gone into this proposal,the city attorney was quick to point outthat SWFMD, DEP and US Army Corpsof Engineers unlikely endorsements willbe needed before any meaningful conversa-tions can be pursued.5. Weighing the alternatives to getting

the 1% sales tax extended, CharlotteCounty Board members are considering thebenefits of a special ballot in May, ratherthan the November election to try to getthis measure passed. Smaller turnout willlikely yield a more focused electorate to tryto win over.6. Official groundbreaking for the 106

room Five Points by Sheridan took place

on April 30 on the old Holiday Inn site onthe Peace River at US 41 in Punta Gorda.7. Our local minor league baseball

team, the Redfish, officially closed itsdoors after just one unsucessful season.8. Sunloft reports that a lease is

immanent for its 6500 sf first-floor restau-r a n t .Two other retail spaces are still available,totaling about 6,000 sf. 12 of the 18,000sf of offices on 2nd and 3rd floors havenow been leased. All 4th floor condos arestill available.9. Just in case there's anyone left

that has been impressed with CharlotteCounty's real estate acumen, The Loopcommercial and residential project promis-es to be a notable case study. The Board'sinconsistent approach to impact fees hasnow caught the Loop in its web. The Boardfeels that the Loop was too late with theirdevelopment application to take advantageof the rates before they found the need to bequadrupled..... but too early to take advan-tage of the subsequent rollback to their oldrates. The Wilder Companies are beingasked to come up with $18 mil rather thanthe $4 mil that would be required undertoday's (or last year's rates).10. The unintended tax shelter known

as Skybus abruptly went out of businessand filed for bankruptcy protection thismonth. Following so quickly on theheals of Publix' cancellation of their distri-bution center, the County AirportAuthority must feel a little unloved rightnow.11. Facing a nearly $3 million increase

in the estimated cost of concrete, the PuntaGorda parking garage project took anotherstep toward the oblivion of good, butuntimely, ideas.12. The budget crunch is now jeopard-

izing the $25 milloin county jail expan-sion and the $4 million Family ServicesCenter (a/k/a dryout center). I don't knowhow we've gotten by without these itemsin the past, but it appears that we will haveto wait a while longer to enjoy these finenew facilities!13. Not so for the Environmentally

Sensitive Lands Oversight Committee.They bravely voted to spend $45 millionof their $28 million budget to buy twoundevelopable tracts. The County Boardwill now have to play "Solomon" to deter-mine whether to acquire 1655 acres ofscrub jay habitat or 10 acres of remoteswampland.14. Florida is now considering which

of the many municipal infrastructure proj-ects that it needs to subsidize. While the1800 acre Tern Bay development has beenidled with less than 2% buildout, the $58Mil CDD bonds are now in default withlittle resource for servicing the debt.Apparently, there are worse situations thanthose winning the State's attention.15. Neal Development from Bradenton

and Pennsylvania based Benderson arereportedly putting together an offer to

Charlotte County to develop Murdock vil-lage. In spite of the foundering real estatemarket, this development will probablyget done... but at substantially lowerreturns to taxpayers.

In other news: Charlotte Countypopulation declined in 2007 for the thirdyear in a row. Population peaked at 156,213 in 2004 and now stands at 152,814.Water resource alarmists estimate popula-tion increases averaging 6.7% per year overthe next 10 years. Professional demogra-phers show that growth rate to be morelike 2% per year. Hopefully, water man-agement decisions will be based on realis-tic projections... we will see.

Sales S tatistics:Lot volume has leveled off at last year's

pace of just under 100 for the month.Prices, though, are about half of last

Real Real Estate Estate NewsNews

The new 106 room Five Points by Sheridan in Punta Gorda will paralell U.S. 41 northbound.The area of the project on the river will be developed as condos in a ʻlater phase. ̓

M a y 2 0 0 8 Wa t e r L I F E M A G A Z I N E P a g e 1 3

Screaming ReelsBy Capt. Andrew MedinaWater LIFE Staff

The month of April was a greatmonth both for fishing and for me per-sonally. I got to put my nephew CodyBollinger in the Top 5 for the secondtime since he started fishing the KidsCup in 2004. The smiles on the youngangler’s faces when the trophies weregiven out, the camaraderie, the fun – itwas all great! The final day was as tough as they

come. We had a slow moving tide, itwas a one tide day, and there was a lotof pressure on the group of fish wewere on. It all proved to be too muchfor the fish and they just wouldn’t eat.This month I think we’re going to seethose fish will settle down a little withthe higher water and they will feed bet-ter earlier in the day. We failed to catchour fish on the final day, but Cody andI will get one more chance next year,before he turns 17.

Capt. Andrew Medina can be reached forcharters or for information at: (941)456-1540 or on the web at

Fishing the Kids Cup

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Cody Bollinger is interviewed by ESPNʼs KeithAllen at the 2008 Oberto Redfish Cup/KidsCup weigh in. Below with Capt. Andy in 2004

Michael Hel lerTournament Director

The Kids Cup is designed to be anintroduction to tournament fishing and assuch we as adults need to continue to setgood examples for our kids. This year we put 122 kids out on the

water in the Kids Cup. This year for thefirst time there was a question about therules. Two different boats came back withtwo fish in their well. The Kids Cup is aone fish per angler tournament. The rulesclearly say so. But I do not believe any-one tried to break the rules. One adultadmitted he simply hadn’t read the rules,the other one finally told me he thoughtwe wanted as many fish as possible forour tagging program. I explained that twofish caught and possessed at the sametime by any one angler is a violation ofstate law. The first lesson of tournamentfishing is to know all the laws and thento read the tournament rules.We didn’t disqualify any one, we sim-

ply told them we would not weigh theirfish. That was my decision. “We have toplay it straight,” I told them. “That’s thewhole idea.”Our winner, 15 year old Booker

Cothern from Port Charlotte read therules and now, this month, Booker’slearning experience takes him to a realbig-time professional tournament.After the IGFA did away with their

Junior Angler World Championship tour-nament we wanted to find another eventfor our Kids Cup winner to participate in. I met Bart Schad in Punta Gorda this

Spring. Bart is, the VP of marketing forthe Ranger Boats IFA Redfish Tour. I toldhim about our Kids Cup event. Bartagreed to give our Kids Cup winningangler and his adult guide/boat driver afree slot in the May 17 IFA Ranger BoatTournament held at Stump Pass Marinain Englewood. Booker and Terry Cookecould win a new Ranger Boat, or a cashpayout depending on what they weigh in.If you’re in the Englewood neighborhoodon May 17 stop in to cheer them on. Iknow my wife and I will be there!

My wife Ellen and I have been tourna-ment directors for the Kids Cup from thebeginning. It was our idea to use themoney we raised in the Kids Cup to helpfund the Don Ball School of Fishing pro-gram that our friend Jerry Jensen hadstarted in the Charlotte County MiddleSchools. Jerry is the head of the CharlotteHarbor Reef Association which is thenon-profit parent of the Don Ball Schoolof Fishing.Running a school program involves a

lot of legwork and preparation, A lot ofprocuring tackle and supplies, a lot ofphysically going to places; schools, class-rooms, and so forth and making sureeverything comes together. Jerry is now80-plus years young and he has asked mywife Ellen and I to take over the Don BallProgram and run the Reef Association.It is a great honor and a natural evolu-

tion for us all. Jerry will still be involvedwith everything, we’ll just transitionslowly into the future and take the weightoff his shoulders. Our plans for the future include

expanding the Don Ball program intoCape Coral in Lee County. Over the com-ing summer months we plan to develop aworkbook for the Don Ball program – amanual that the Don Ball teachers andstudents can refer to in class. This willnot be a book kids will be tested from,but a book they can look at to findanswers about fishing in Charlotte Harborand straight talk about protecting ourenvironment. We are going to have to rearrange our

work flow to do all this, so over the com-ing summer months we will share someof our new ‘workbook chapters’ in thepages of this publication. Another strength we will bring to the

school program is local photography, par-ticularly aerial photographs of specificlocal fishing areas. We plan on puttingtogether a ‘slide show’ that we can incor-porate into the Don Ball program nextyear. It’s going to be an exciting time, forus all.

Kids Cup and Don Ball School Evolution

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

LEFT: Booker Cothern, 15, and Terry Cooke pull a 6.84 poundfish out of the well and get it ready for the scale. That fishgot Booker into the Top-5. The next weekend Booker went onto win the Kids Cup.

It looked like everyone had a good time. This time the Top-5 Kids Cup anglers wereall 15 year old boys, which may explain why there were more girls entered in thisyearʼs Kids Cup than ever. Every angler got a Kids Cup Competitorʼs trophy. If youdidnʼt get your trophy, stop in at Fishin ̓Franks in Port Charlotte or call (941) 766-8180 and weʼll make arrangements to get one to you.

Top 5 ResultsWINNER!BookerCothern 5.49

BrandonVarney 5.24DylanDaughtry 3.05

AustenHenson No FishCody Bollinger No Fish

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

The Sportsmanship Award went to 10-year old Sayge Monning (above left) who wasmistakenly awarded the heaviest fish for a 10-year old and then who handed over theaward to the rightful winner Conor Peters and shook hands with him with a smile. Also awarded a special prize was Sage Naeder, 11, who was the last angler registered,and brought back the heaviest fish, which was unfortunately just a hair too long.

Everyone was smiling as the boats came back to the weigh in dock.

The staff from Mote Marine and Progress Energy (FPLʼs science lab) took fin clips and implanted 20 sonic transmitters . Our weigh master Capt. Ralph Allen affixedstreamer tags to 68 fish during the Kids Cup event. Thanks to Charlie Halley Photography and Tom Sibley – The Wetter The Better, for help with pictures


By Capt. Robert MooreWater Life Pro Guide Staff

The month of May usually marks thebeginning of tarpon and shark fishing formost fishing guides and recreationalanglers.

Tarpon have begun their migrationfrom the south and usually by May, orshortly before, they arrive in SouthwestFlorida by the thousands making a day oftargeting them worthwhile. Right on theheels of the tarpon migration are lots andlots of hungry sharks. All of these tarponand sharks seem to come together in onelocation – Boca Grande Pass.

I like to think of Boca Grande Pass ashome base. This is where a large percent-age of the tarpon will come to at onetime or another during their migration.From there they will disperse in schoolsranging from as little as 20 fish on up tolarge schools numbering in the hundreds.Some will choose to stay on the Gulfside and roam the beaches for food as theyprepare for their yearly spawn. Some willtravel up into Charlotte Harbor as far upas the Peace and Myakka Rivers to feedon the large schools of fatty baitfish thatare found throughout the harbor. Somewill stay in the pass and forage on the dif-ferent baits that get pulled in and out withthe strong currents. One thing that seems

to be a known fact is that duringthe next three months on the New& Full Moon of each month,Boca Grande Pass usually sees avery large increase in the numbersof fish in it. The tides on thesemoon phases are very strong andare known as the Hill Tides. Lotsof tarpon baits, crabs in particular,are swept through the pass. Thereis normally a tremendous feed onthese tides several days before andafter the moon phases.

As we approach a full- or new-moon phase I will usually lookcloser to the passes for concentra-tion of fish. In between the phasesI will generally look further up inCharlotte Harbor or along thebeaches.

Shark fishing is also at its best in themonth of May. Look close to the passesand beaches for the best results early inthe month. Later in the month andthroughout the rest of the summer youwill see a larger number of sharks withinCharlotte Harbor, the Gasparilla area andin the Pine Island Sound.

When most people think of fishing forshark they think of soaking a dead bait onthe bottom. A dead bait of some sort isalways acceptable, but I have found you

will increase your hits and quality (size)of sharks by using live bait or at least avery freshly caught and never frozen deadbait. I like to take the extra time to catchlive baits such as small jack crevelle orladyfish and use them live or very fresh.

Most sharks, especially the smallerones, can be nothing more than swim-ming trash cans. But larger sharks such asthe bull, lemon, blacktip and hammer-heads will be more likely to grab a friskylive bait than one sitting on the bottom

with very little scent.When used, ground up fish in pre-made

chum bags and menhaden oil purchasedfrom most tackle shops will alwaysincrease your chances in attracting moresharks into your immediate area. Capt.Marks Chum has become my favoritechum block. I have had the best resultswith this chum compared to most others.

Capt. Robert Moore can be reached at:941 624-5710 or at: [email protected]

A nice lemon shark comes to the boat Photo: Capt. Steve Skevington, Paradise Charters

May Fishing Promises Tarpon & Shark

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By Capt. Chuck EichnerWater LIFE Charlotte Harbor

The past four weeks on CharlotteHarbor have been extraordinary. Everyfishing trip has been an adventure with anew discovery of some sort each time.Our waters are exceptionally beautifulwith water clarity comparable to the flatsof the Florida Keys on calm sunny days.

My personal mode of operation on theharbor has been different than most. Theaverage harbor angler runs a fast boat andseems to run quickly to every spot.Zooming across flats, around mangroveislands and zipping through open waterwith little notice of what is really goingon. My motto is just the opposite and itpays off big. On a recent outing whileslowly cruising the open waters for tar-pon there were fantastic schools ofstingrays nearly everywhere I went. Thisis not really unusual for the spring, butmany were spotted eagle rays. Manylocals refer to them as leopard raysbecause they are typically black withwhite spots. Graceful and in harmonythey glide together forming one of naturesmost beautiful patterns in the sea.

If you take the time to study hugeschools of rays you may notice that inthe shallows (less than 10 feet) they dis-turb the bottom and in doing so they dis-lodge small aquatic creatures like shrimp,crabs and fish. For the savvy angler,patient enough to watch, a remarkablething can be seen – occasional fish dart-ing around the rays. This doesn’t happenon every school of rays but with patienceand your motor shut off (no trollingmotor either) you will be amazed at whatis really going on. On one particular daythe fish darting around the rays were tar-pon. I had shots at a 75 pound tarpon

hanging with the rays and on that sameday I also monitored a dolphin at longdistance that was involved with the rays.The closer we got to the dolphin revealedit was a monster tarpon way over the 150pound mark. So big that at first wethought it was a dolphin! This wise oldfish kept a good distance from us – how-ever patience and stealth led us to beingable to observe this remarkable fish.With a constant vigil over the shallowsand in this case it was 6 feet deep, a fami-ly of manatees was seen wallowering overa dark patch of bottom. A dark shadowappeared far from the manatees and Ipitched a large threadfin herring in thatdirection. The dark shadow was a cobiazooming over to my bait and then itstopped as if it had brakes, inspected thebait (and apparently saw the hook) and didan about face and swam off. Pretty excit-ing stuff while watching stingrays!!

One Sunday morning I woke up at4:00 a.m. This was my day off and I washoping to sleep to 9:00. Somehow itmade sense to slip the boat into the waterand ease out into the dark to get my‘religion’ before any other boat hit thewater. A beautiful morning it was, how-ever hours of a slow idle over the harbordidn’t produce a bite from free lined whitebait drifted behind my boat. At 9:00 a.m.the first signs of life were seen a hundredyards ahead. Small white birds dipped tothe surface. There were no active feedingfish but I figured a cast or two should bemade. I placed a live pilchard on a jig-head and flung it out where 3 birds hadjust dipped the surface. On the secondcast a big fish grabbed my bait and nearlypulled the rod out of my hand. I hope-lessly watched my spool being dumpedand snap! I was totally bewildered andcouldn’t believe what had happened. Myexpectation was for a fat ladyfish when Imade the cast. I grabbed another rod thathad a leader and hook on it and pitched itout. While waiting for another bite I re-rigged another jighead and cast it out.Wham! My drag was singin’ and thespool was being dumped again! The last

time my dragpoured out like thatit was a smokerkingfish. I wasstrategically locatednear AlligatorCreek, but on aquiet Sunday morn-ing who knows therange of this oceangoing fish.Fishing by myselfand having a mon-ster fish hookedwas not easy. Istarted my bigengine, shifted for-ward and hoped thefree line in theback wouldn’t getcaught up in theprop. MeanwhileI am steeringtowards the fishgaining back lineand Wham! Theline out the backnow has a monsterfish burning offdrag. Now, whatto do?,

Goal #1 was toknow what I had hooked and with over 15minutes into the fight I figured it was acobia or kingfish but no jumps or otherclues. As the fight wore on my mediumaction backcountry rod equipped with 20pound braid began to have a thumpingfeeling to it. Meanwhile the tarpon rodhung off the stern was buckled with theforward momentum of the boat, still ingear. The thumping feeling I experiencedwas familiar, one I associated with a jackcrevalle. Finally, the moment of truth, ajack over 3 feet in length and nearly 2.5feet in girth. I estimated the fish at wellover 20 pounds but had no camera to takea picture of this unusually large speciesfor the harbor. The stern rod held a kiss-ing cousin of the first fish.

Completely worn out I headed back to

the dock with a big smile on my face anda sore shoulder.

Over the past 4 weeks I have sightedmany, many sharks around the harbor.Mostly in shallow water which makes mefar less interested in wade fishing. Seaturtles have made a nice showing. Theseshy creatures only give you a glimpse ofthemselves before diving for the bottom.But perhaps the most unusual sightingwas a flying fish! While on a cruise toBoca Grande in the middle of the harbor Iwas flanked by a flying fish off my star-board side. What else is out there? Takethe slow lazy approach to boating andfishing and enjoy our harbor. The mys-teries of the harbor create enough passionfor a lifetime of fishing!

For information or to book a guided fish-ing trip with Capt Chuck Eichner call 941-505-0003 or : www.backcountry-char-

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April Rewards: Joan Eichner with a nice redfish and a nice snook.

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By Capt Ron BlagoWater LIFE Senior Staff

Right now is the peak time to go fishing in our area.The weather is great and the fish are biting. You can takeyour pick of species: snook, redfish, trout, Spanishmackerel, kingfish or tarpon - it’s all good right now.

For inshore fishermen the key to success is gettinggood bait. Shrimp will work, but let’s face it; shrimp isgetting kind of pricey, if it’s available when you need it.One of the problems in our area is that the shrimp deliv-eries to the local bait shops are sometimes late in themorning; so if you want to get out early you have tohope that there are some left overs from the day before oryour bait dealer has to be willing to save some overnightfor you. It always pays to be on good terms with yourlocal prawn broker.

Of course if you want to take control of your owndestiny you have to learn to throw a cast net and getyour own bait. It’s really not that hard to learn. All youneed is someone to teach you and a lot of practice onyour part. Both Calusa Nets and West Coast nets haveexcellent videotapes that will get you started. Beginnersalways ask me what size net they should buy. You canlegally throw a 12-foot net, but you better be a bigstrong guy to do it. Most guides and experienced fisher-men will throw a 10-foot net; but an 8-foot net willprobably get the job done for most people. The nextthing you have to decide is the mesh size you want: 3/8in. mesh works well this time of year when the bait isfairly large, it also sinks fast if you are throwing in deep

water (6 foot or more). 1/4 inmesh works well in the sum-mer when the bait is smaller;it works really well in shal-low water over grass flats andis easier to keep clean.

Rocks, old crab traps andjunk will really tear up a castnet, so try to know what’son the bottom before youmake your throw. Two thingswill really age your net-water and sunlight. After aday’s fishing, remember toclean your net with freshwater, let it dry and store itout of the sun. With propercare your net should lastmany years.

I’ve been pretty luckyfinding whitebait on thewest side of Lemon Bay,north of Stump Pass. Thistime of year I try not to betoo early. I like to watch theearly birds and see if they are having any luck findingbait. I’ll just watch them throw their nets and see if theyget any white bait. If they are having luck I’ll stay inthe area, if not I’ll move to another part of the bay. Itry to anchor next to a patch of grass in such a way as togive me the option to throw on the grass or on a sandyspot next to the grass. For chum I use Jack Mackerelmixed with chicken feed that I buy at a local hardwarestore. You can use bread, crackers or cornmeal as filler –they all work. Mix it all with a little water and start

throwing small bits in the water. You can watch yourchum drift in the water and it puts out a nice oil slick onthe surface. After a few minutes you usually see fishhitting your chum – fight that urge to throw that net,those fish are most likely pinfish and that’s not whatyou want. Keeps chumming until you see smaller fishin your chum line then throw your net. If you get a fewwhite bait just keep chumming and throwing till you fillyour livewell. Remember you can never have enoughwhitebait.

Capt Ron can be reached for questions or charters at

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

Tom Fisher and Buzzy Hayes landed this monster cobia after an hour fight on April 10.The fish was caught on 20-pound line witha greenback for bait. “We had the Power Poledown and this thing was dragging us in circles,” Fisher said.

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By Adam WilsonWater LIFE Diving

For the past sev-eral months my divebuddy Carl and I havebeen doing some tech-nical dive training with Jim Joseph atFantasea scuba. Our main goal has beento comfortably and safely explore some ofthe deeper, less visited, Gulf wrecks.

Most of our training dives were doneon the east coast where deep water ismuch closer to shore, which makes for amore controlled environment.Unfortunately, the amount of fish weobserved over there, even in deep water, isslim compared to what we have here. Sowe were excited to finally explore somedeep wrecks in our own backyard.

With our training complete and a sum-mer weather pattern starting to form itwas finally time to go deep. First on ourlist is a 200 foot freighter that sank in1992 en route to the Honduran island ofRoatan from Tampa. Laying in 180 feetand 70 miles from shore, not many diversvisit the Roatan Express wreck.

Arriving on scene it was easy to tellwe were close even without the GPS.There was a smell of diesel in the air anda small slick on the surface. Even after 15years, this wreck is still oozing smallamounts of diesel into the Gulf. This is

not uncommon as some wrecks continueto leak fuel from rusting tanks fordecades after being on the bottom.

This far out into the Gulf visibilitycan be almost unlimited. Swimmingacross the mid- ship cargo deck I couldeasily see both the wheel house on thebow and the stern through the trucks stillchained to the aft deck. Before the shipwent down it capsized, scattering its con-tainers across the sea floor, but the vehi-cles that were chained on deck remained

in place when the ship settled perfectlyupright. Off the starboard side in thestark white sand lies a lone upside downlifeboat that serves as an eerie reminderof the lives the Gulf claimed that night.

Large groupers and snappers lookedon with curiosity at the invaders to theirinner space. It was very possible most ofthese fish had never seen divers before.Goliath grouper were also abundant alongwith the usual swarms of amberjacksoverhead. Tropical fishlike angels, ham-lets, a variety of wrasse species (includ-ing hogfish) and even sea cucumbershave also made this ship their home.

A dive this deep is obviouslybeyond the limits of recreational diving.We spent weeks preparing for just thisone 20 minute dive. Careful planning ofgas mixtures and amounts is crucial fordeep diving. Necessary decompressionobligations every 10 feet on our ascentmade our return trip to the surface worldlonger than the actual time we spent onthe bottom.

On the run back in, one of our

divers, Michael Huskey, noticed a largedark blob just below the surface andimmediately yelled "whale shark!". Wewere still offshore about 45 miles in 130feet of water. As the shark skimmed alongthe top of the swells we could see a myr-iad of fish closely following. We all slidinto the water hoping to see cobia, butinstead it was a school of about 100amberjacks and remoras. It also wasMichael's 35th birthday. It was a perfectending to an exciting day. I don't knowanyone else that can say they have ridden

D e e p W r e c k s

Left: Exploring an east coast wreckAbove: Mike hangs on to the dorsal fin ofa whale shark for a ride.Right: An African Pompano. The FWCpassed down the o.k. for spearing per-mit/African pompano in federal waterslate last year.

By Bi l l Di xonWater LIFE Sailing

May is going to be a good monthfor sailors. The bitter cold of midApril will only be a memory. May 14will be a BIG day. For a lucky few, therace to Key West begins at the BocaGrande sea buoy at 12:55 PM. A skip-pers meeting for the summer serieswill be held at 6 PM at the PGI civicassociation building. Spring seriesawards will be presented at the PGSCpot luck dinner meeting at 7 PM.Check the web site at pgscweb.com fordetails of what to put in your pot.

Later in May small boat racing onthe 17th, the summer series starts onthe 18th, and Pete Welch will continuehis Saturday non–race events. Alsocruising activities will be in full swingculminating in the Memorial Daycruise to Pelican Bay on the 24th,25th. It’s the biggest cruise of theyear. As of mid April 35 boats havesigned up.

Not May, but June 28, West FloridaPHRF will be holding their annualmeeting here. Highlights will include 2 freesteak dinners for certificate holders and award-ing of the WFPHRF BOTY trophies as well as

election of next year’s officers and ratifica-tion of proposed changes to the bylaws.Details will be on the WFPHRF web site at:www.westfloridaphrf.org Check the Club web


Bob and Mary Anderson 's Journey On surfing to KeyWest in May of last year. Photo by Chuck Taylor


By David Al lenWater LIFE Kayaking

The Port Charlotte Kayakers typicallytake several long weekend trips to intrigu-ing spots outside of Charlotte County,but always somewhere in the southernhalf of Florida. We look specifically forareas that have beautiful surroundings,bountiful wildlife and of course, coolertemperatures in the summer and warmer inthe winter. And yes, mosquitoes and no-see-ums are factored into the equation.With so many wonderful and varied spotsto kayak in Florida, the choice is oftennot easy to make.

Over the last several years, our clubhas gone to Big Pine Key, the CrystalRiver Area, and Key Largo, but, as a club,we had never paddled the Everglades. Sowe decided to make the short drive (about100 miles) to Everglades City, and spendthree days kayaking in Chokoloskee Bayand the mangrove-lined rivers. EvergladesCity is in the southern part of the 10,000Islands area and on the southern edge ofthe Big Cypress National Preserve. It isan ideal spot for paddling.

The plan for this weekend began earlyon Friday, reaching Everglades City short-ly after noon, grabbing a quick bite to eat,then getting in a 2 hour paddle beforecheck-in time at the hotel. We launchedour kayaks at the Ranger Station onChokoloskee Bay and headed almostdirectly south, through Sandfly Pass, toSandfly Key. It was a beautiful afternoonwith only gentle breezes blowing from thesoutheast, and almost no tidal current.Pelicans, anhingas, other species of birds,

and several dolphins joined us for the 2.5mile trip out to the Key and back.

After checking in at the hotel, weadjourned to the pool deck for a relaxingwine/soda party with lots of food to snackon. We decided to paddle Halfway Creekthe next day, launching from the put-injust off Highway 41. We had a fine din-ner at the Seafood Depot followed bysome live music at the Rock Bottom Bar.It was a great way to end the first day ofour trip.

Saturday morning, 9 am, we launchedfrom a narrow, sandy bank of HalfwayCreek. No current and little wind, a per-fect day for kayaking. On the shore -- ifyou could call it that – were willows, cat-tails, cabbage palms, and of course man-groves. As we paddled through the man-groves and sawgrass we slowed our paceto watch several small alligators sunningthemselves along the bank.

Soon we found ourselves entering anovergrown mangrove channel, completelysurrounded by the arching trees. Thechannel was so narrow we had little roomto swing a paddle and often pulled ourway along from mangrove branch tobranch. As we made our way through thischannel it became so narrow and densethat very little light was able to penetratethe canopy. The black mangrove trunksand shoots created a very strange landscapeas we paddled south.

After about two hours, we entered amangrove area that was impenetrable.Several of us tried to find a path throughthis tight spot, but we finally gave up.As you can imagine, turning 23 kayaks

around in a narrow mangrove tunnel is noeasy task, but all of us made the turn andpaddled back to the parking area.

Everglades City is noted for the num-ber and quality of its seafood restaurants,and we checked most of them out. Allwere excellent, but we wanted to have ourlast dinner at the Oyster House; alwaysquality seafood and unsurpassed service.After a wonderful dinner and some morelive music, we returned to the CaptainsTable hotel where most of us stayed, toget ready for the Sunday paddle in theTurner River.

On Sunday morning we drove to thelaunch site on Highway 41, northeast ofEverglades City. We decided to make thisa three-hour paddle, so we could return toPort Charlotte by mid-afternoon.

The Turner River was even more beau-tiful than Halfway Creek and we remarkedthat this river felt like the ‘realEverglades’. The beauty of paddlingthrough the cattails and saw grass, withscattered cabbage palms, gave the impres-

sion that this was virgin territory, unex-plored and pristine.

As we paddled south, the creek gradual-ly narrowed and wound its way throughseveral small ponds. Again, we saw sev-eral alligators, maybe 6 to 8 feet long,either sunning on the bank or swimmingalong the mangrove edges. Through theopen areas we saw anhinga, diving andswimming birds that fed on small fish.Snowy egrets and great blue heron wereseen fishing or flying overhead. What awonderful opportunity to experience firsthand all nature has to offer. We turnedback north to the launch. We loaded ourgear for the return drive to Port Charlotte,knowing we had enjoyed one of the bestpaddling weekends we’d ever had.

The Port Charlotte Kayakers meet eachWednesday evening at 5:30 PM, at the PortCharlotte Beach Complex . All paddlers, orpotential paddlers interested in finding outmore about the sport and our club, are wel-come. For more information, contact DaveAllen 941-235-2588 or: [email protected]

Photo Skip Rasmussen, P.C. KayakersPaddling in the Everglades


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By Capt. S teve SkevingtonWater LIFE Offshore

Well, my all time favorite fish to catch, the per-mit, has shown up in all its glory. These are the verysame fish that have been taunting anglers down inthe keys for the last few months and now it’s ourturn to get into the action with one of the hardestfighting fish in the Gulf. Fishing for these guys isso simple, all you’re going to need is a livewell fullof silver dollar size pass crabs, a spinning rod fullyloaded with 15-20-pound test, and some 25-30lb fluo-rocarbon leader. We like to use 1/0 size circle hookson these fish for a good release.

Get anchored up just up-current from one of yourfavorite wrecks and free-line one of those crabs outbehind your boat. Just dont be to surprised if youcatch a lot more than permit as huge cobia and evenblack-fin tuna are in the area and they like the tasteof the frisky little crabs. We put some cobia on theboat last week and they remain a target into thismonth.

The crabs are a top bait for the cobia, buta frozen squid or live thread-fin sardine alsowork really well.

Look for them on your favorite wrecks andbig ledges, be ready to offer them anythingthey want as they can be very picky whenthey want to be.

We have been catching sharks almost everyday now some going 150-200-pounds. Theymake for some very exciting fishing andthey’re right up on the beach in as little as15 feet of water all the way out to about 55feet. We like the first light in the morningfor the best bite and then again right after sunset.

Red grouper action should really start to heat upthis next couple of weeks. Start looking at those hardbottom spots deeper than 80 feet. They should beholding some real slobs right now.

Lane and vermillion snapper are hanging out onthose same spots so have a light rod down with a bitof shrimp or squid on a small hook. That shouldprove productive.

The tarpon have been back for a while now,they’re moving up the beaches making their way upto Boca Grande. Tossing live thread fin sardines atthem early in the morning is a great way to hook up.Amberjack are still hanging out on the deeper spots

offshore. The wrecks deeper than a 100 feet have thebest fish on them. Fishing these guys with heavyjigs and live baits is proving to be a lot of fun.

When your out that deep be on the look out forsome big mangrove snapper behind your boat, ifyour chumming at all, there should be a lot of themup there in no time. There's just a lot of great fish-ing going on right now, rather you like bottom fish-ing or trolling, live baiting tarpon and permit, orchumming up monster sharks, this month and nexthave got you covered.

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

OffshoreReport

Xtreme Redfish TournamentS taff Report

The Xtreme Redfish Tournament atBanana Bay continues to grow. This timethe event drew 41 boats, weighed in 54 fishand released them all alive. The biggest fish,caught by Josh Smith, recorded an 8.53 onthe digital scale. First place went to Brett Ezell and

BoboSchwandnerwith 13.85 totaland a $1570 pay-out. They alsohad the 2ndbiggest fish, at

8.18 lbs.Second place went to Josh Smith and

Justin Davis 13.55 total .... $780.00 Theirbig fish was worth an extra $400.00

Third place went to Paul Lambert and15 year-old Brandon Varney with a 13.30total worth $380.00 (Lambert and Varneymade it to the Kids Cup Top-5 the following

The dock at Banana Bay Motel in Charlotte Harbor will be extended 200 feetJosh Smith watches as weighmaster Andy Medina checks length on his 8.53-pound redfish.

KEY WEST, Florida Keys -- Artificial reefproject organizers coordinating the cleanupand sinking of a former United States AirForce missile tracking ship off Key West,announced a postponement of the scheduledscuttling. The 524-foot Hoyt S.Vandenberg will not sink May 15 as origi-nally hoped for, said Joe Weatherby ofReefmakers. A new date will be announcedin the future, "We know many people are

planning to travel to Key West for thesinking,” Weatherby said. “We want toensure they understand the ship will notsink May 15.” Weatherby blamed skyrock-eting fuel costs and unanticipated cleanupchallenges as reasons why the project,originally estimated at $5.7 million, nowrequires another $2.3 million.Tree Huggers Foothold The SierraClub is working dilligently to grasp

footholds in both Sarasota and CharlotteCounty Governments. Jono Miller, thegrand master of all Sierrans, is making arun for the Sarasota Commission and thereare two, maybe three members vying forspots on the Charlotte CountyCommission. We fishermen and riverdwellers are the true environmentalists andtake better care of the environment than dothe professed groups such as the SierraClub. The Sierra Club tends to be environ-mental extremists who are anti everythingWe don't need the Sierrans mandating ourway of life. Known Sierra Club candidatesare: Percy Angelo (District 3) and RuthBromberg (District 1). Ray Cowen

(District 5) has, at the least, the SierraClub mentality. Cowen is rumored to bean implant of Adam Cummings who hasreceived applause from this group manytimes over.Real ly Big Snook? A 60-inch (sixty!, 5feet!) snook was said to have been caughtby a ‘youth angler’ from the Bayshore Pierlast month. We have not seen a photo.Bar of Soap in the Water FountainEveryone loves the new Bayshore LiveOaks Park, especially the area’s homeless.Said one homeless guy of the parks nicenew fountain: “Now we have some placeto wash up.” The park also has a large


Charters20–50 mile trips

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SCUTTLEBUTTSometimes Unsubstanciated, But Often True


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Pick up a copy of Water LIFE at any of these and 120+ other locations. Water LIFE is not affiliated with any newspaper or other publicationPick up a copy of Water LIFE at any of these and 120+ other locations. Water LIFE is not affiliated with any newspaper or other publicationand is distributed at select locations around the state. These free ads to our loyal distributors rotate on a monthly basis. and is distributed at select locations around the state. These free ads to our loyal distributors rotate on a monthly basis.

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The CommercialPerspectiveBy Kel ly BealPeace River Seafood Water LIFE Punta Gorda

It's getting harder and harder for thecommercial fishermen to make it. As amatter of fact, times are getting hard forall of us. The cost of fuel is insane, butfuel is just one of the many concerns forthe commercial grouper fisherman.Between the fuel cost, the mandated VMS(Vessel Monitoring Systems), yearly quo-tas and closed seasons - how does he orshe make it?

The grouper fishery is regulated at boththe state and federal waters. The statewaters on the west coast of Florida extend10 miles out from shore and are managedby the Florida Marine FisheriesCommission (FMFC). Beyond the 10mile contour is the Exclusive EconomicZone (EEZ) which extends another 200miles from shore. This area is managed bythe Gulf of Mexico Fisheries ManagementCouncil (GMFMC). As of December 7,2006 the US Dept of Commerce throughNOAA's National Marine FisheriesService, established a rule that requires allvessels holding a Gulf of Mexico ReefFish Permit to purchase, install, activateand maintain a Vessel Monitoring System(VMS). Basically, it’s Big BrotherWatching. As a society we are so over-governed, but imagine life as a grouperfisherman. Not only is this invasivedevice required, but you have to purchase

it. Typically the cost of a VMS is any-where from $1600 to $2900 and it comeswith a monthly service fee of $40 to $60.How crazy is that? And who has access tothis info? What if you worked years tolearn the floor of the gulf? Now it is afelony for a commercial fisherman to leavethe dock without a functional VMS sys-tem that records his where-abouts.Fishermen fear that information couldbecome very valuable to an unscrupulousgovernment employee who might haveaccess to it.

This year the quota for deep watergrouper is 1.02 million pounds. Thesefish are typically caught 150 miles out.This includes Snowy, Yellow Edge andKitty Mitchell among others. The shal-low water grouper fishery quota is 8.8 mil-lion pounds. Both have trip limits of6000lbs.

The deep water grouper fishery mettheir quota early last year in June, but theshallow water grouper fishery did not, sothat fishery stayed open – except for theFebruary 15th - March 15th closure.

Can your business afford to take amonth off? Commercial fishing is allabout being prepared and taking a hugegamble. Think of the costs involved toventure out. The permit - $5000, boat(average 40 to 45-foot) and gear (hooks,line, lead, spreader bars, electric motor forbandit, etc.) - $160,000, VMS - $2000and monthly service - $480 annually ,350 to 400 gallons of fuel per trip -$1600, bait -$800-$1000, and don't forgettime is money. Trips can range anywherefrom 4 to 10 days and that's if all goes


The Grouper Fishery

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Definitely May is the month forTarpon. They will be the number onepick. It’s not much good for shore fisher-men, but the tarpon are already in the har-bor and they will be dumping into thepass in really good numbers throughoutthis whole month. Jig fishermen will dowell in the daytime, live bait fishermenwill be most productive at night or hang-ing on the outside of the pass waiting forfish to come in. Live baiters off thebeaches or inside the harbor can eitherdrift using threadfins or sight-cast to fish.Small tarpon will take a large pinfish or abig shrimp. Later in the season ladyfishwill become an effective tarpon bait, butthat’s usually not until July or August. Snook is closed this month. It’s still

a good catch and release fish, but youcan’t keep them until September ...unless they change the rules on us again!Redfish is another good one that hap-

pens this month. The little rat reds thinout and the thicker slot size fish becomemore abundant. Local tournaments areseeing redfish in the 6 to 7 pound rangeconsistently. Early morning is good fortopwater fishermen and greenbacks arecoming into their own as bait. Soon theywill start to out-preform even the niceshrimp we have been seeing. But I stillwouldn’t leave home without a bag offrozen shrimp, just in case.

Another good fish this month is off-shore permit. Ideally you have to have atrolling motor or drift, they won’t standfor the noise made by a big motor. Thesefish will congregate on man made reefsand wrecks much more than they will ona natural reef structure. Preferably, pickthe calmer days when you can see themup on the surface tailing. It will look likea bunch of ‘little swords’ sticking out ofthe water. Live crabs or shrimp are thebait to use. Keep very quiet and cast fromas far away as you can when you arearound these fish. Cobia will move up into the inside of

the harbor and be on the near-shore reefsthis month. We have been seeing somereally big cobia around already this sea-son. Always have a pole with a Bomberor a live pinfish available. Cobia willusually follow around with either a regu-

lar stingray or a manatee, they never seemto hang out with the cow-nosed raysthough.

If you are bottom fishing offshorealways keep one bait free-lined on the sur-face out back. You never know what willshow up. Sometimes it will be a cobia.

Sharks are starting to show up thismonth. There have been plenty of blacktips around and rumor has it that a 12-foot hammerhead has been caughtalready this year. Bullsharks , andhammers are around now – pre-dominantly they will be all over.The little black tips can be caughtfrom El Jobean all the way to theUS 41 bridge. For the smallersharks use cut bait or sardines,jacks are good bait for the biggerfish and it would be best (if notmandatory) to rig with a length ofwire.Spanish mackerel and blue-

fish are here and should stay abun-dant for the rest of the month. Themackerel we have seen so far thisseason have been real quality fish,

nice size and toothy!The grouper bite has definitely

slowed down, but the mangrove snap-per and the lane snapper are pickingup. The full moon is still a great time togo fishing offshore at night.

Slow trolling this month could getyou hooked up on a sai l fi sh within 5miles of shore. We’re seeing more andmore sailfish close in, in our area.


Kids Cup T-Shirts for $6 !!AN ACCIDENTAL OVERRUN OF KIDS CUP T

SHIRTS HAS BEEN DONATED TO THE DON BALLSCHOOL OF FISHING

Shirts are for sale at $6 each. Various adultsizes are available at Laishley Marine in Punta

Gorda. All the proceeds go to the Don Ball School.

This over-the-slot-sized redfish went back in the water and probably headed offshore.

F i s h i n gF i s h i n gR e p o r tR e p o r tLemon Bay:Jim at Fishermen’sEdge, Englewood:697-7595Tarpon are kicking off. They are

around and increasing in numbers, butthe biggest thing has been redfish andtrout. There are a lot of redfisharound, guys are catching them onshrimp, pinfish, live bait ... what everthey are throwing at the time, Cal,Gulp Exude, some guys are using top-waters. The water has warmed up andeverything is more aggressive now.

There are a lot of snook around. Inthe (April 26) O’Bannon Tournamentthere were a lot of fish caught, butmostly medium size, the bigger fish atthe top of the slot are still hard tofind. Most everyone is using live baitfor snook, but Skittterwalks and theSuper Spook Jr have also been produc-tive.

There are a lot of tarpon in LittleGasparilla Pass and even some inStump Pass. Good quality fish becausewe’ve had clean water and a lot of baitaround for months.

I’ve had reports of super good seatrout. A guy in lemon bay got a 30incher and there have been plentycaught here in the 28 inch range.

The trout are coming on 5-inchDOA Cals and jerk baits. A big handpicked shrimp brought in the 30 inch-er. The 5-M Mirrolure or any of the

other spinning ‘prop’ baitshave been working on thetrout.

There are still pompanoaround. The sheepsheadare disappearing but thereare a lot of permit on thewrecks offshore. There arereports of cobia on thosewrecks offshore as well.AJs. The offshore wreckslike the Bayronto have beenproducing well. I’ve heard anumber of reports of smallersai l fi sh offshore, three orfour miles out. That’s beenthe pattern for the last fiveor six years, it’s a naturaloccurrence. When the bait

n May 3: XTreme RedfishSeries - Port Charlotte, BananaBay Motel, $125 sign up in a.m.456-1540n May 3: Tanner South BenefitTourney, Laishley Park, $300n May10,11: Maverick BoatsFlatsmasters Series- RedfishClassic 2 redfish, bait of choice941-637-5953

n May 17: IFA Ranger BoatsRedfish Tour, Englewood,Stump Pass Marina, info: 478-836-4266n May 31: Silver King Classic,Fish Tale Marina, Ft Myers,$150, 239 415 8973 n May 31: Charlotte HighSchool Redfish Roundup, fishon your bait of choice.

n June 14: CouplesTournament, Burnt Store(863) 245-8380n June 14: Firefighters Assn.Redfish Tournament, St. Pete,2 redfish 941-637-5953n July12,13: Maverick BoatsFlatsmasters Series- RedPlugChallenge, Artificial luresonly. 941-637-5953

BIG-4 BIG-4 Aprilʼs Target Species Aprilʼs Target Species

SHARK smaller ones in theharbor, bigger in the passes

TARPON are here already, inthe Harbor and in the Pass

REDFISH bigger fish aregathering in schools

SNOOK have been verygood this year... at night

FishingFishingRIGHT NOW:RIGHT NOW:

VeryVeryExcellent!Excellent!

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6/28/08- Pirate Redfish Tournament- Punta Gorda2 redfish on bait of choice

7/12,13/08- Maverick Boats Flatsmasters Series- RedPlugChallenge

2 redfish on Artificial lures only

7/13,14/08- Maverick Boats Flatsmasters Series- RedSnookChallenge

1 redfish and 1 snook on bait of choice

10/11,12/08- Maverick Boats Flatsmasters "No Entry Fee"Championship

1 redfish and 1 snook on bait of choice

11/8/08- North Port High Red & Snook Shootout1 redfish & 1 Snook on bait of choice

12/6/08- RedSpot "Count The Spots" Redfish TournamentMost Spots on 2 redfish

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Water LIFE MAY 2008