There are three basic groups of anglers

February 23, 2018

With spring fast approaching, inshore anglers usually divide into three basic groups.The first group likes to anchor up and relax. Turn on the game, bait the hooks, toss them in and let 'em soak on the bottom.The second group works hard at the beginning of every trip working with cans of mackerel and cat food enticing baitfish on the flats to come close enough to be captured in a thrown cast net. The captured baitfish are then transported to the reputed hot spot and cast close to shoreline cover and allowed to swim freely in the kill zone till inhaled by a hiding snook or redfish.The ...

Snook are hungry and on the move

February 16, 2018

Snook are hungry and on the move earlier due to near summer-like temperatures and they're eating lures as well as live and dead bait lying on bottom.This week, suspending MirrOlures flipped and pitched into shoreline cover did damage to smaller snook with a surprise 35-inch fish going for a pink and chrome MirrOdine, fighting like crazy then jumping high into the mangrove branches, hanging there by one hook.This is a great time of year to catch a true giant snook. Catching a real monster requires planning, the right equipment and the right baits.First pick your target area then return at ...

‘Stuck bad — send help!’

February 9, 2018

The occupants waved frantically as we approached, obviously looking for help. A nice new go-fast metal flake cruiser with at least two thirds of the hull sitting high and dry on top of lots of broken rock and oyster rubble, maybe 30 paces from the channel marker - no man's land. Amazingly no one was injured due only to their slow speed at the time of impact.Winter in Southwest Florida and especially south in the Ten Thousand Islands area means much lower than normal tides and real danger if you stray off course. Over the years I've seen a dozen or so boats stranded on the first main ...

Will ‘global cooling’ bring ice fishing here?

January 19, 2018

I just finished up my ice fishing shanty project in time for the big freeze. I'm going to truck it out to Pine Island Friday and use a 4-wheeler to skid it across Pine Island Sound and position it over my favorite winter seatrout hole.Having spent lots of time in Canada chasing a very unpredictable fish called the muskie, I've seen lots of ice fishing shanties but I was usually heading south by the time they were brought out for the season.There were a few times I stayed long enough to fish in one. Seemed to me it was just an excuse to fish (drink) without crashing a boat. Four men ...

Save money by doing your own maintenance

January 12, 2018

Even if you are not a talented do-it-yourselfer, there are many very simple boat maintenance chores you can easily perform at home saving you tons of money and time.One of the easiest things to do is to check propellers shafts to see if they have picked up yards of fishing line discarded by careless anglers. Check not only the propeller shaft on the gas engine but check the trolling motor prop shaft as well.Fishing line, especially super strong braided line, can cut into your seals letting saltwater into your lower unit eventually ruining it, which equals big bucks, or damaging the seals ...

‘No, I’m fine … you go outside!’

January 5, 2018

It was a wet, cloudy and cold afternoon on the third of January 2018 in Southwest Florida.It's official - my blood has thinned out and I get cold very easily. That's what I was told happens when a Yankee moves south and stays in Florida for more than a couple years."Your blood will thin out so you can tolerate the heat."It's true, after 20 years of living here, I do get cold rather quickly but I'm still waiting for the heat tolerance part to kick in.This is fireplace time when the dog cracks opens one sleepy eye looks at you and says, "No, I'm fine, I don't want to go outside, I'm going ...