Registration to begin for Cape’s Cal Ripken Baseball

July 26, 2019

Baseball registration for the Cal Ripken Baseball Fall 2019 season in Cape Coral will open from Aug. 5 to Sept. 6, for boys and girls age 4-12 (age as of April 30, 2020).Players can register at the Cape Coral Athletic Office, on the second floor of City Hall, at 1015 Cultural Park Blvd. Hours are Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., or register online at www.CapeParks.comThe cost for T-Ball / Coach-Pitch for ages 4-6, is $30 per player. For all other divisions, ages 7-12, the cost is $50 per playerFor additional information, call Ryan Robbins 242-3489 or email rrobbins@capecoral.net

Walking the beaches at night stalking trophy snook

July 19, 2019

While most on-foot summer snook anglers patrol the beaches at dawn or dusk, many old salts stay home waiting for the night beach bite.It's no secret that snook - big trophy snook - bite at night and many snook fanatics and trophy snook guides only fish during the wee hours to stack the trophy odds in their favor.For the night beach walker bite, first prepare the proper clothing - long pants, shirts, light socks, gloves, hat, even a light weight pull down buff, in other words cover up unless you want to spend the night swatting. Is it really that bad? Yes, sometimes worse and sometimes ...

We can all help keep local waters, areas clean

July 5, 2019

With the summer rains getting charged up, what will this year bring us? Listening to the radio today and hearing about 5-year plans and long-term goals, one wonders how many decades will pass before the water flows naturally south through the Everglades as was intended by nature before politicians, water "managers" and developers had their way in changing the natural flow of water in Florida.What we don't hear anything about are the diseases brought on by living close to toxic algae. All citizens should demand this information. Covered up as to not cause panic or financial real estate ...

Fish for tarpon very early or late in the day

June 28, 2019

The dark water tarpon fishery season is upon us as is the oppressive and for some, even dangerous heat. Get out pre-dawn and watch for rolling fish that have predictably moved away from the passes and into Charlotte Harbor following their food source.Don't completely shun the passes as many will shuttle back and forth from the harbor as well as patrol the beaches. Last reports I gathered still have anglers doing well to very well, in the tarpon madhouse named Boca Grande Pass.New tarpon anglers hitting Boca should first stay back and watch how the pros fish it. Get in the drift with the ...

Small tarpon are just as fun to catch

June 21, 2019

While most new tarpon anglers are focused on the often back breaking task of catching and releasing a giant tarpon, quite a few tarpon fanatics like myself find as much pleasure in a 10 to 50 pounder on downsized tackle.Similar to catching a monstrous Goliath grouper, once you've caught a few 200 to 400 pounders most folks have had enough, unless you're a real glutton for backbreaking punishment.Two or three times a year, usually early summer and again in fall, juvenile tarpon appear in my stretch of the Cape's spreader canal and stay around for a few days to a few weeks then disappear. ...

Red snapper season opens, know the rules

June 14, 2019

The tightly controlled recreational red snapper season started June 11 in Gulf state and federal waters and remain open through July 12, closing July 13. It's important to know the rules to avoid trouble and the following is worth reprinting.Anglers fishing from private recreational boats will need to sign up as a Gulf Reef Fish Angler to target red snapper and several other reef fish in Gulf state and federal waters (excluding Monroe County), even if they are exempt from fishing license requirements. Sign up as a Gulf Reef Fish Angler at no cost at GoOutdoorsFlorida.com or by visiting ...