My earliest fishing memory (and the one that is most responsible for getting me hooked) took place about 15 years ago off a seawall in my neighborhood. I took the advice of local fishing guru, Larry Mastry, and purchased a red and white Zara Spook and a pair of polarized shades, and was told to check under and around the docks. Well, lets just say that first topwater explosion was all it took. I became instantly obsessed, with regard to fishing in general, but especially stalking inshore game. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind, when it comes to hunting the shallows, that the most important weapon in my arsenal is a quality pair of polarized sunglasses. You can break the bank on tackle, but if you can't spot the fish, you might as well go buy lottery tickets. As a matter of fact, I’d rather sit on the couch and watch bowling (no offesnse to bowlers out there) than hit the water without my trusty friend.

A few years back, Costa Del Mar came out with something that revolutionized my fishing world - the 580 lenses. For those of you who are not familiar, let me drop some knowledge. The 580's are engineered to cut down on yellow light, or glare. Their patented technology not only significantly reduces this unwanted glare, but it also enhances contrast which is crucial for determining whether or not that shape you’ve spotted from 100 feet away is a slow moving fish or a patch of weed.

Last year, Costa unveiled the much anticipated Zane Grey sunglasses (ICAST 2009 Best in Show winner) which were named after the infamous Zane Grey reef located in Pinas Bay, Panema. Zane Grey, the author and angler, discovered the reef in the 1920’s. The Zane Grey reef is actually a seamount, and is home to some of the finest fishing grounds in the western hemisphere. While the shades haven’t been around for quite as long as the reef, they do live up to their name by offering anglers around the world with a productive, stylish, durable, and extremely comfortable solution. Being a native Floridian, I became an instant fan of the co-molded hydrolite temples, which are designed to hold tighter the more you sweat. This feature is a must for our ridiculous summers!

After you're all finished buying presents for loved ones this holiday season, you should take a minute to check out the Zane Grey 580's.

A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) investigation into the staged capture of a 14-foot-long Burmese python has resulted in charges against the professional nuisance-animal trapper who perpetrated the public hoax. 

On Nov. 4, FWC Investigator James Manson arrested Justin Matthews (DOB 07/30/62) of 7416 41st Ave. East, Bradenton, on charges of a single, third-degree felony count of “Misusing a 911 Emergency System” and a second-degree misdemeanor violation of “Maintaining Captive Wildlife in an Unsafe Manner - Resulting in Threats to the Public’s Safety.”

On July 25, Matthews called Tampa Bay area media to a Bradenton neighborhood to witness the capture of a large Burmese python from a drainage pipe. Matthews told the media he was performing a public service by capturing a large snake residents had reported seeing over a period of months. Matthews also claimed the python posed a threat to nearby schoolchildren. In fact, Matthews had purchased the snake legally from a properly licensed reptile dealer in Tampa a month earlier. He purposefully, and illegally, let the snake go in the drainage pipe and then staged its capture for the media. The story made national headlines.
Manson contacted Matthews after following up on leads that Matthews had legally purchased a large python a month prior to the incident.  Matthews admitted to Manson, and publicly, that he released the snake and had staged the event to call attention to a growing problem of irresponsible pet ownership. 

However, the release of the snake in the wild and a subsequent call to 911 to request emergency help have Matthews in trouble with the law for the very reason he says he sought publicity.

Burmese pythons have a well-established breeding population in South Florida and are a threat to native wildlife and the state’s delicate environment. Burmese pythons are listed as a “reptile of concern,” along with five other reptiles.

To own a reptile of concern, owners must have a permit prior to acquiring the animal, pay a $100 fee, complete a questionnaire, and meet caging requirements. The reptile must be microchipped, and the owners’ facilities are subject to unannounced onsite inspections. Owners must have a disaster plan for securing and evacuating reptiles. These rules apply to anyone who possesses a reptile of concern – no matter when it was acquired. It is illegal to release any nonnative animal in Florida.

For more information on reptiles of concern, rules and permits, visit
MyFWC.com/Rules, click on “Captive Wildlife.”

The recreational harvest seasons for vermilion snapper in the Atlantic Ocean and spotted seatrout in South Florida will close on Nov. 1.  These closures are intended to reduce overfishing and increase the population of vermilion snapper in the Atlantic and help maintain the abundance of spotted seatrout in Florida waters.

The recreational harvest and possession of vermilion snapper is prohibited beginning Nov. 1 in all Atlantic waters off Florida.  Recreational harvest of Atlantic vermilion snapper will reopen on April 1, 2010.
For spotted seatrout, all harvest and possession is prohibited from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31 in all waters south of the Flagler-Volusia county line in the Atlantic and south of a line running due west from the westernmost point of Fred Howard Park Causeway, which is 1.17 miles south of the Pinellas-Pasco county line in the Gulf of Mexico.

The recreational harvest of spotted seatrout will remain open until February in northeast and northwest Florida waters.

More information regarding Florida recreational saltwater fishing regulations are available at MyFWC.com/Rules.

The recreational harvest and possession of greater amberjack in or from federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico will be prohibited from Oct. 24 through Dec. 31.  Federal waters extend beyond nine nautical miles from shore in the Gulf off Florida.  The National Marine Fisheries Service announced this closure because an established annual recreational harvest quota for greater amberjack in the Gulf has been met.

In addition, a person aboard a vessel for which a federal charter vessel/head boat permit for Gulf reef fish has been issued must also abide by this closure provision in Florida state waters.  This action is required by regulations implemented under the Fishery Management Plan for Reef Fish Resources of the Gulf of Mexico.

However, all other recreational anglers may still harvest 1 greater amberjack of at least 30 inches fork length daily per person in Gulf state waters off Florida (within nine nautical miles from shore) under Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission rules.

The Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF) and the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) today announced the publication of a quarterly fishing license sales index to track trends that have an impact on the industry and the entire recreational fishing community.

“Not since the 1970s have we seen a single-year increase in fishing license sales like we’ve seen so far in 2009,” said ASA President and CEO Mike Nussman. “Understanding how the needle moves in terms of sportfishing participation is important not just for the sportfishing industry, but for the entire outdoor recreation community. This new license metric will provide everyone with important sales and participation information.”

“Our recent research shows that fishing is the number one gateway activity for introducing children and their families to the outdoors,” said RBFF President and CEO Frank Peterson. “We believe that national campaigns such as Take Me Fishing™ and state-based sportfishing marketing and direct mail are also having a positive effect.”
As of September 1, 2009, state fish and wildlife agencies reported a 7.7 percent positive change in the number of licenses sold year-to-date compared to the same months last year (January - July 2009 vs. January - July 2008). The same states also saw a seven percent increase in the number of licenses sold in July 2009 compared with July 2008. 

According to Southwick Associates, the firm analyzing the data, fishing license sales increased at a faster rate in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the second quarter. Increases of 20 percent or more were common in the first quarter. However, a larger volume of sales occurred in the second quarter – the peak period for license sales nationally – and had a greater effect on the year-to-date sales trend than first quarter license sales. After standardizing the July index to contain the same states as previous months, license sales increased nearly a full percentage point over May and June sales. In general, more fishing licenses are sold during the second quarter (April, May, June) than any other time of the year.

“Reasons for the 2009 license sales increases range from a slow economy, which may allow people more time to engage in outdoor activities, to recreational fishing being a lower cost alternative to other forms of recreation,” said Peterson.

“When the index moves by just a tenth of a point, 40,000 anglers have entered or quit sportfishing. Considering the typical angler spends $176 a year on just fishing tackle alone, and contributes over $40 annually to conservation via license dollars and excise taxes, a small change in the index represents big changes on the ground,” said Nussman.

Percentage Change in the Number of Licenses Sold Year-to-date
In 2009 Compared to the Same Months in the Previous Year

Ultimately, anglers, and other sportsmen and women, are the most significant funding source for conservation and recreation in the United States. Through the purchase of fishing licenses and special excise taxes on gear and motorboat fuel, hundreds of millions of anglers’ dollars each year are collected or funneled to states for conservation and recreation. In 2008, $720 million of these excise taxes were distributed for fisheries management and recreational boating enhancement. In addition, fishing license sales generated $600 million in revenue for state fish and wildlife agencies. 

State fish and wildlife agencies reporting license sales numbers include Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas and Utah. They were selected on their ability to provide consistent license sales data to illustrate both a national and regional perspective. As more states expand their data reporting capacity, the number of reporting states will increase.

Notes and Considerations:
1) The license sales index is designed as a timely metric of fishing license sales. It is not an exact measure of all fishing license sales nationally.
2) Results are based on a weighted average of trends among participating states. States with larger angler populations have a greater impact on the results than smaller states.
3) Due to confidentiality considerations extended to participating states, license sales trends are not available on a per-state basis.
4) This is the first in a series of planned fishing license sales indices. Future indices will be released on a quarterly basis.

Biologists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) Fish and Wildlife Research Institute and the University of Florida need assistance with a statewide largemouth bass research study. This year-long project is an interactive way for the public to help biologists obtain critical information necessary to manage the largemouth bass fishery for quality and trophy-sized fish.

From this study, biologists hope to learn how frequently bass are caught and harvested. They also hope to learn more about the size range of fish caught. Beginning this month, biologists are tagging largemouth bass with small, yellow tags along the back of the fish just below the dorsal fin. These tags carry a printed telephone number, e-mail address, tag number and reward value.  Anglers should carefully examine all bass caught in Florida lakes for reward tags, as biologists will tag fish in numerous lakes throughout the state.

Biologists encourage anglers to remove these tags by cutting them as close to the fish as possible and then treat the fish as they would normally. Once anglers remove a tag, they should immediately report it to the FWC Angler Tag Return Hotline at 800-367-4461 or e-mail TagReturn@MyFWC.com.

Anglers participating in the study will receive a reward for each largemouth bass tag they return to the FWC.  When reporting the tag, anglers should provide the following information: the species of fish, tag number, fish length, date and time of capture, name of the lake where the fish was caught, and whether the angler kept or released the fish.
Anglers should mail the tags to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Attn: LMB Tagging Study, 601 W. Woodward Ave., Eustis, FL, 32726. 

To learn more about FWC research projects, visit http://research.MyFWC.com.  

The Snook Foundation is urging anyone who fishes in the state of Florida to take immediate action in regards to a proposal made by the National Park Service and Biscayne National Park.

The Park Service, in direct defiance to its own working group, which was comprised of recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, divers, scientists and environmental groups is proposing a plan that would incorporate marine reserves, or no-fishing zones, in Biscayne National Park as part of updating the park’s Fisheries Management Plan. None of the working group’s recommendations included marine reserves in its review of the park.

The proposal is also contrary to a Memorandum of Understand between the park and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). The FWC has repeatedly stated that marine reserves are overly restrictive and less restrictive management measures should be implemented before considering marine reserves.

The public currently has the opportunity to comment on the draft Fisheries Management Plan, through October 6. The Snook Foundation urges you to send a letter of your own and get the word out to local anglers any way you can. As we well know, once they take away one fishing zone, it’s not long before others begin to disappear as well.

Biscayne National Park experiences about 10 million angling trips per year. According to the park's Web site, the goal of the FMP is to "manage fish and shellfish within the parks to help ensure that the tradition of fishing can continue for generations to come."

There is a definite difference between managing fish and shellfish to ensure the tradition of fishing for generations and keeping all anglers out of specific areas of the park.

A sample letter can be found by clicking here.

Click here to comment.

Other parties to contact include Governor Charlie Crist, Senators Bill Nelson and George Lemieux, your local House of Representative member and the Commissioners of the FWC.

Thank you for your effort to help us to protect Florida’s anglers’ rights.
Click Here to easily share this letter from snookfoundation.org

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has scheduled a series of public workshops regarding possible changes to Florida permit regulations.

The FWC wants to hear what people think about establishing a commercial permit trip limit, extending state regulations for permit into federal waters, establishing a     permit-tagging program, eliminating the commercial harvest and sale of permit, and making permit a catch-and-release-only fishery.

The Commission encourages everyone interested to attend the workshops, which all take place from 6-8 p.m. as follows:

Monday, Sept. 28
Vero Beach City Hall Council Chambers
1053 20th Place
Vero Beach

Tuesday, Sept. 29
IGFA Fishing Hall of Fame and Museum
300 Gulf Stream Way
Dania Beach

Wednesday, Sept. 30
City of Key Colony Beach
City Hall Building - Auditorium
Mile Marker 53.5
600 W. Ocean Drive
Key Colony Beach

Monday, Oct. 5
FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute
3rd Floor Conference Room
100 Eighth Avenue S.E.
St. Petersburg

Tuesday, Oct. 6
Joseph P. D’Alessandro Office Complex
2295 Victoria Ave.
Fort Myers

Anyone requiring special accommodations to participate in the workshops should advise the FWC at least five days prior to the workshop by calling (850) 488-6411.  If you are hearing- or speech-impaired, please contact the FWC using the Florida Relay Service at 800-955-8771 (TDD) or 800-955-8770 (voice).

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) on Thursday proposed rules to enhance its long-standing policy to protect stressed shark populations in Florida waters. Sharks have been strictly regulated in Florida since 1992 with a 1-fish-per-person/2-fish-per-vessel daily bag limit for all recreational and commercial harvesters, a prohibition on nearly two dozen overfished or rare shark species, and a ban on the cruel and wasteful practice of harvesting only shark fins – called finning.

The Commission is proposing to bolster these rules to further protect sharks in Florida waters and comply with recent management measures that have been implemented for sharks in coastal waters from Florida to Maine. The FWC’s proposed rules would prohibit harvest of sandbar, silky and Caribbean sharpnose sharks from state waters. Sandbar sharks are considered overfished and are experiencing overfishing, which means that fishing pressure is too high to be sustainable. Silky sharks are highly vulnerable to overexploitation, and Caribbean sharpnose sharks do not occur in waters off Florida, so adding this species will have no effect on harvesters in state waters.

The proposed rules would also establish a 54-inch fork length minimum size limit for all sharks except Atlantic sharpnose, blacknose, bonnethead, finetooth and blacktip sharks and smooth dogfish. This would help 14 species of sharks reach maturity before they are taken in Florida waters. The species for which no size limit is required are considered to be at healthy population levels or don’t warrant a minimum-size limit. In addition, the proposed rules would prohibit the removal of shark heads and tails at sea, allow only hook-and-line gear to harvest sharks, and make other technical shark rule changes. The Commission also directed staff to work with stakeholders and develop options to possibly add other shark species to the prohibited list, especially lemon sharks, and to require the use of circle hooks to harvest sharks in state waters.

“Florida has controlled the harvest of sharks for nearly 20 years and is recognized as a pioneer and a leader in shark-management efforts,” said FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto.  “We are now proposing to add further protections to sharks to help ensure the sustainability of our marine ecosystem that relies, in part, on maintaining healthy shark populations.” A final public hearing on the proposed shark rules will be held during the December FWC meeting in Clewiston.

Many moons ago, in my early fishing days, my favorite after school ritual was drifting the flats with my buddy Captain Turtle (not really a captain) aboard his 13' Whaler. We’d throw soft plastics on 1/4 jigs for trout like it was our job, and it was not uncommon for us to have 30-50 fish days. Occasionally, one of us got lucky and stuck a fat ling, which made for a pretty serious battle on our ultra-light trout setup.

Our old “Mr. reliable” bait was a Bass Assassin curly tail in what we liked to call "titty pink". Back then, to us, those baits were like crack to an addict. When a certain sporting goods store would run out (I’m pretty sure we were 99% responsible) we’d get pretty distraught and had to revert to the same bait in the nearest color - red tail white body, or a chartreuse Maverick diving plug. Realistically, we’d go through dozens of soft plastic baits every trip – compliments of my good buddy the puffer fish! In fact, those little bastards probably cost us a cool grand over the years.

By now, you’re probably wondering why I’m rambling on about trout fishing 10 years ago with titty pink soft plastic baits. Well, thanks to some prudent scientific breakthroughs along with corporate policy changes reflecting environmental stewardship, I have begun to rethink the powers of non-biodegradable soft plastic baits in general.

Even though the excerpt below may only be focused on freshwater brook trout, and this is mostly a saltwater community, the question remains quite practical. What, if any, impact does using soft plastic lures (SPL’s) have on fishing mortality rates? According to The North American Journal of Fisheries Management (2009; 29: 352-360) it appears the impact is pretty significant.

“Thirty-eight brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis were fed a commercial trout diet mixed with a free-choice assortment of soft plastic lures (SPLs) over a 90-day period. Fish growth was recorded and compared with that of a control group. The brook trout readily ate the SPLs from the water's surface as well as from the tank bottom. At the conclusion of the study, SPLs were recovered from the stomachs of 63% of the test fish. Several fish stomachs contained multiple lures. Twelve percent of the fish voluntarily ingested more than 10% of their body mass in SPLs. These fish lost a significant amount of weight during the study, had a significant decrease in body condition factor, and began displaying anorexic behaviors. For these reasons, anglers should be discouraged from discarding used SPLs in trout waters.”

Not much after learning this piece of information, I had the opportunity to go fly fishing for stripers in Maine with my good buddy and senior PR guy for L.L. Bean, Mac McKeever. On this trip, Mac and i were talking about the issue of SPL's and he broke some news to me. Starting August 1, 2009, L.L. Bean would be discontinuing the sales on non-biodegradable soft plastic lures. At first i was quite concerned that titty pink would no longer be in my fishing arsenal, but Mac assured me the biodegradable fishing bait industry would come up with something to satisfy my fix. My hats off to you Mac and L.L. Bean! I personally want to take this chance to say thanks for an unforgettable day of fishing and for taking such a bold stance on this issue. Hopefully, many fishing retailers and distributors will follow in your wake.

Equally, if not more, important as the retailers and distributors, is the fishing community at large.  Without your assistance, by adopting eco-friendly fishing practices, this will be a tumultuous uphill battle. But just like anything worth fighting for, if you believe you can make a difference, you will. So get out there and share the knowledge. Ask your local fishing shops to do what L.L. Bean has done. Write your favorite bait company and make a formal request for them to focus all efforts at being eco-friendly. You may have to sacrifice fishing with your secret weapon, as i have, but in the end it will be worth it.

“By August 1, 2009, L.L. Bean Retail Stores will no longer be offering traditional soft plastic lures and will be proud to only offer biodegradable alternatives which cost roughly the same, are just as effective and durable and breakdown naturally in water within 60-90 days and within 30 days in a fish's stomach. The new assortment of biodegradable alternatives also closely mirror the broad assortment previously represented by the traditional soft plastics L.L. Bean was offering.” – Mac McKeever

By: Captain Jon Brett