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- Mullet Shortage
- Tilapia Vs. Nile Perch
- Trolling Some Area Lakes
- Google Earth
- Juvenile Tarpon
- Snook Moving Out
- Beware Of Coyotes
- Jet-Ski Rental Safety
- Cut-Offs More Myth Than Fact
- The Places To Wade
- Try Gandy For Sharks
- Fort DeSoto Advice
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Frank,
After being born and raised in Tampa, I’ve taken the next step in life and relocated to the rural life of Southeast Georgia about four years ago. I never did much freshwater fishing in the Tampa area except when I was a kid fishing with my father (I’m now 54 years young). Saltwater was my passion and is still missed greatly. But I have a small pond on our property, @ 1.5 acres, that has some nice bluegill and specks. It also harbors some respectable bass. Just this evening I walked to the pond with a small Zara Spook and landed three bass in the 1 -1.5 pound class within 15 minutes. The next strike was a nice bass, in my book, of around 3-4 pounds; unfortunately after two jumps and some good pulling, my line broke. My question is how long does it take for the hooks to rust out in fresh water and do you believe that that bass will survive? I hate to lose a breeder of that caliber in such a small body of water. Maybe I should start using a leader but I like tying directly to my ultra-light with 6-pound test. If it wasn’t for TBO.com I never would know what’s happening, I read every day. Thanks, and keep fishing!!!—Earl Brown, Nicholls, Georgia
Earl:
I wouldn’t be too concerned about that fish—odds are it will survive just fine, unless the lure happens to be deep in the throat, which topwaters rarely are. I’ve caught a number of bass with plastic worms, hook and all, in their gullet, and they all seemed to be fat, healthy and hungry. If the plug is on the outer lip, odds are good the fish will eventually throw the plug as the wound opens up a bit. In future, though, you may want to flatten the barbs on your hooks a bit—this makes it easier to unhook fish for release, in any case. I’d avoid the leader with 6 pound—causes more trouble than it’s worth in fresh water; just keep that drag very light and cut off the lure and the first yard of line frequently to keep a fresh front section. Tight lines. FS
Hi Frank,
Quick question. I will be down at Casey Key this weekend and would like to do some morning fishing off the beach. What would you suggest I use for bait. If you suggest a type of lure be specific and I will go buy some. If you suggest live, I will find a bait shop when I get there. Also, do you think there is any chance of red tide for that area between Friday and Sunday? Thank you for your help. TC
A: No telling about the red tide. However, I was fishing at Nokomis Tuesday night and the inside docks were loaded with snook. I’d guess a lot of those fish may go out along the beach during the day, so I’d walk the beach at dawn and dusk and throw a DOA 3 inch shrimp, right in the surf - within 3 feet of the sand, ahead of you. Just keep walking towards the inlet - I’d guess you’ll find fish. Tight lines, FS
Hi Frank, I hope you are enjoying your summer. Here is my latest bass fishing question: I have seen where crankbaits seem to be a highly recommended technique for deeper water summer bass, and the best way to fish them is to bang them off cover which results in snags. A technique recommended to retrieve the lure when it is snagged is to use a ‘’plugknocker’’ that frees the lure. Can you explain this technique and equipment? Also one pro uses a spark plug he attaches to his line to free the snagged lure? I am not familiar with this and would like to know what to do when my 5.00-7.00 crankbait is stuck.—Chris Levicki
Chris: A plugknocker is basically a heavy weight with a wire that loops over your fishing line. It’s attached to a heavy cord so that it can be pulled back up. You put it on your fishing line, let it slide straight down and it ‘’knocks’’ the plug loose from the snag. Some are designed to tangle in the hooks of the plug and they you can pull out plug and snag at once. Spark plugs don’t work all that well—not enough weight. But the idea is the same; just something to knock the lure loose from the cover.
Q: While fishing in the middle grounds, we caught about a 10-pound gag. He threw up as we pulled him into the boat. The stench was horrible, but what he threw up was interesting. He had what looked like four small bones inside him that resembled chicken leg bones. They were about three to four inches long and gray in color. We took several pictures of them but threw them back in the deep because of the smell. We have since become puzzled as to what they could have been. Any ideas?—Ken Stumpe
A: Ken: I couldn’t say, but it’s for sure that grouper are scavengers, so they may in fact have been the bones from some terrestrial garbage tossed overboard by a tug, barge or ship. Thanks for sharing. Cheers, FS
Mr. Sargeant,
As a Florida native I enjoy all of your outdoor articles. Keep up the fantastic job. I was out at Redington Beach this past weekend and noticed there weren’t very many visitors in the water which I thought was strange. Upon further inspection, my family and I discovered the beaches were inhabited by rays. Could you please educate us public, especially our nothern visitors, on the type(s) of rays these are? I believe them to be cownose rays, but they
certainly are not stingrays. Thanks.
-- Matt Warhola
Matt: Cownose rays travel in schools, sometimes by the hundreds, and have blunt noses that in fact look a little like a cow’s nose. Stingrays typically travel alone, and have a somewhat pointed peak on their nose. They are more inclined to scoot along bottom than swim up in the water column like the cownose. The cownose is pretty benign, though they do have a small stinger that could stick someone who handled them carelessly. Best, FS
Frank,
Two observations regarding your article today on scallops—or the lack thereof.
Two groups of friends and I were scalloping out of Yankeetown last weekend. We ran first to Crystal River, but there was no visibility. We were in 5 feet of water. We ran south to Homosassa and still had no visibility. We had to run south another 5 miles to get clear water.
Then we found very few scallops. With a total of 15 people in our three boats we got fewer than 60 scallops total. Hopefully they are simply out in deeper water and will come in later on in the season.
What really disturbed me was the number of boats running up on a plane thorugh the “fleet.” On at least 8 occasions I saw boats come through areas where others were snorkling at a high rate of speed. Obviously there is no excuse for this behavior. Unfortunately, there was only one FWC boat out patrolling.
Mike Edenfield
A: Good point on people motoring through divers--a real danger. I assume everyone had dive flags up—but a lot of boaters seem not to know what those flags mean. Thanks for the update. FS
Hi Frank,
My family and I will be camping at Fort Desoto, Aug. 17-20.
We have fished Ft. Desoto on three different occasions without good results on the fishing. (My father did catch one door mat sized flounder while wading next to the gulf pier!).
My questions are:
1. Can we expect a fair amount of fish presence during the month of August?
2. Where on the island produces the best opportunity for good fishing? (Surf? Backwaters? Piers? etc.)
3. Best time(s) of day/night to fish Ft. Desoto?
Thank you - Tight lines. Lisa
A: I’d try a bit of everything; visit the piers and cast small chrome spoons for mackerel. Or, walk the beaches at dawn and dusk, casting to the trough close to the beach for snook—topwater lures, swimbaits or DOA shrimp are all good bets for this. Or, you might try wading the grass flats on the eastern tip for reds and snook—same lures as for beach fishing. Visit the park headquarters and ask to see Park Supervisor Jim Wilson, who is an avid inshore angler—he will gladly steer you to some good spots. FS
Q: I have recently retired and am now a snow bird. Having no knowledge of the local fish, I don’t know what fish are good to eat (i.e. excellent, good, fair or poor). I have fished off the South Skyway Fishing Pier a couple of times and would like a source of information about the fish, such as eating quality or what they look like. I have a list of the size regulations, but that does not give me the above mentioned information. If you could be of any assistance I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you very much.—Julio Millan
Julio: Basically, sea trout, snook and redfish, flounder, grouper and snapper are the favored eating fish here. Spanish mackerel, king mackerel and bluefish are edible but less desired by most people. Fillet all fish, skin them, and cut out the red line and you’ll make anything taste better. Florida Sportsman magazine publishes several books about fish cookery; www.floridasportsman.com. Good fishing. FS
Q: I have recently retired and am now a snow bird. Having no knowledge of the local fish, I don’t know what fish are good to eat (i.e. excellent, good, fair or poor). I have fished off the South Skyway Fishing Pier a couple of times and would like a source of information about the fish, such as eating quality or what they look like. I have a list of the size regulations, but that does not give me the above mentioned information. If you could be of any assistance I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you very much.—Julio Millan
Julio: Basically, sea trout, snook and redfish, flounder, grouper and snapper are the favored eating fish here. Spanish mackerel, king mackerel and bluefish are edible but less desired by most people. Fillet all fish, skin them, and cut out the red line and you’ll make anything taste better. Florida Sportsman magazine publishes several books about fish cookery; www.floridasportsman.com. Good fishing. FS
To: Frank Sargeant
I have a number of old issues of magazines that pertain to Florida outdoors. They seem too good to end up in the recycle bin, so I am asking as to your knowledge as to anybody who might be interested in them. I am not looking to sell, I just thought someone may want them.
Florida Wildlife Magazines: Dec. 1968 through 1977 with a few missing issues - 1969, ‘71, ‘72, ‘73 being complete.
Sea Frontiers [Natl. Oceanographic]: 1979 through 1989 with some missing issues - 1979, ‘80, ‘81, ‘83 being complete.
Oceans [Oceanic Society]: 1978 through 1989 with missing issues - 1981, ‘82, ‘83, ‘84 being complete.
Frank, I don’t know why I hung on to these publications all this time. Fond memories, I guess. While putting the issues in order, I saw a write-up on Florida minks in the Jan. 79 edition of Florida Wildlife an remembered seeing a colony of them while duck hunting south of the trail in western Dade county, probably around that year. Do these animals still exist? - Skip Lanier
A: Skip: You might find some antique tackle collectors who would like those magazines. Here are a couple of good contacts:
Norm Pinardi
(941) 792-1671
Antique Tackle Collectors
Kissimmee, Ron Gast
(407) 355-5842, 933-7435.
Re the mink: I believe they do exist here, but are rare - the otter, a much larger cousin, is common statewide, however. Best, FS
Q: Mr. Sargeant, being a reader of your column in the Tampa Tribune and your articles in the Florida Sportsman, would you please answer the following question? Is there any product that can be applied to the skin to keep ‘’no-see-umms’’ from chewing a person up? Your suggestion would be appreciated. Thank you. - Herbert Nash, Sun City Center
A: Yep. Avon Skin-So-Soft works pretty well. Put on a good layer to start, and add more any time they start to bite again. And wear a hat to keep them out of your hair. If you’re in a fixed location, an area repeller like the Thermocell works well; it puts out fumes from a little butane burner that chases both no-see-ums and mosquitoes.
Q: I live between Sligh and Hillsborough on the river and was wondering what I might expect to catch. What would a good bait be to use?—Roy Conner
A: Roy: Right now, probably not much. However, bridges in that area can be very good for snook from November through March. Live shiners are probably the top bait, and they bite best after dark. Tight lines, FS
Q: Hey Frank, could that monster hammerhead caught in Boca Grande on Tuesday be the famous ‘’Hitler’’ that has prowled those waters for years? Do we know of any identifiable marks that ‘’Hitler’ had/has? I lost half of what would have been about a 90-pound tarpon to him 7 years ago.—Tony Alt, Tampa
A: Tony, might very well be. However, I suspect there have been a number of ‘’Hitler’s’’ over the decades; as you know, there are dozens of hammerheads in the pass during tarpon season, and more and more big ones thanks to shark protection rules over the last 15 years. Several people have reported seeing a hammer in the 15-foot range in Tampa Bay the last few summers during our tarpon run here, too. I’ll write more on this for my Sunday column. Tight lines, FS
Q:Mr. Sargeant,
I have a couple questions regarding your recent article about shark fishing. I have been fishing for sharks for many years up
near the Crystal River area. I am looking at doing shark fishing here in Tampa Bay now. Some of the terms and areas are unfamiliar to me. I was hoping you could give me some extra guidance.
1. I am looking for the best places to go close to the Gandy Bridge. You mentioned the shadow line. What’s the shadow line? And is this only good after dark? What about during the day?
2. I have been told the Howard Frankland is a good area. Where? What other areas close to the Gandy would be good?
3. Are there any areas in Hillsborough Bay that have lots of sharks?
4. Most of the areas you described were flats and spoil areas. This is drastically different then what we experience up north. There the deeper holes were better as the water temps increased.
Thanks so much.
Brian
A: Gandy Bridge is by far best after dark, when you might actually see 15 or 20 bull sharks over a period of a few hours running right down the line under the bridge where the lights fall. Trick is to get in there in a boat and tie to the pilings, then throw a ladyfish in front of them as they approach. Same tactic works for tarpon, by the way. I’m not sure about Howard Frankland, but I’d bet they’re around there, too. Tie to a piling and drop a couple of big bags of cut fish chum over the side and you’ll likely draw them in, day or night, at either bridge.
Regarding fishing ‘’flats,’’ in this case I’m talking the outside edge, where water is typically 4 to 10 feet deep, rather than up in the very shallow areas. Same for spoil areas - water is typically no less than 5 feet over these areas, more commonly 8 to 10 in surrounds of 20 feet or more. The sharks lay in the deeper water, then rush into the shallows when ladyfish or mackerel get up there feeding. Again, a chum bag works wonders. Tight lines, FS
Interesting stuff from Mike in Todays paper ‘’Take This fishing To The Bank’’ (click the link below to read the entire article) - wondering if you or he could share a little insight into what’s the best type of lure to be using to fish the the area he spoke of? Thanks Frank. Andy Greene
The canal has a ‘’shoulder’’ in many areas that’s about 10 to 20 feet offshore, and a lot of fish hang on that lip. It’s a good place to throw a topwater at daylight. I’d go with a Rapala size 13 or 9 on 6-pound test clear mono for that duty. A soft plastic jerk bait might also do the job. As the sun rises, at this time of year, the fish are likely to settle into the deeper water, so switch to a weighted Texas-rig plastic worm or a diving crankbait. Keep moving - take a step, fancast the area, then another step and so on. Eventually you’ll come to a pod of fish. Tight lines. FS
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