| So You Really Want to Become a Guide! Don’t know why, but right around this time of year, many get the itch to become a full-time fishing guide. Just think – being able to make your living out on the water – fishing |
| Why Can’t I Catch Fish? It has been alleged that a mere 10-percent of the fishing population does all the catching – while the remaining 90-percent wishes they could. But even that’s not entirely accurate, because a goodly number of those 90-percenters couldn’t care less and are downright numb to what’s going on around them |
| Catching Bait – Not Really ‘Brain Surgery’ Despite a devastating red tide infected 2005, anglers can rejoice in a gradual return to normal. And among the most encouraging signs of the renaissance are the vast schools of baitfish percolating across our local waters. |
| Catch & Release: What a Concept! As a 40-year resident of the Sunshine Sate, I can recall the common sight of massive sharks, tarpon, amberjack and other leviathans of the deep hung unceremoniously to rot in the sun. |
| Five Tips to Prepare for the 2009 Hurricane Season With the start of the 2009 hurricane season June 1, BoatU.S. says inland boat owners should take these storms seriously and make preparations |
| Vandenberg Artificial Reef Deployed The highly anticipated placement of the world's second-largest ex-military ship as an artificial diving and fishing reef, near Key West, is finally a reality. |
| Fishing Accessories That Will Help Your Fishing There are a lot of accessories available to fisher-people. There are some pieces equipment that are permanent fixtures in my boat, and there are other items that I keep in the back of my truck |
| Grouper Digging Techniques Up until the late 1970s, grouper digging off Florida's "left coast" was a sheer joy. On several occasions, I can remember returning to Port Tarpon Marina in Tarpon Springs and triumphantly offloading hundreds of pounds of large gag grouper |
| Tarpon Tackle If tarpon tackle is all those long stout rods with 4/0’s loaded with 50-pound monofilament racked up in your garage, then you’ve been around tarpon fishing for awhile. They only get dusted off and used this time of year for slinging shad. |
| The Confidence Bait They’re out there -- hundreds, perhaps thousands of wood, plastic and metal replicas of natural baits. They represent a massive segment of the multi-billion dollar sportfishing industry. |
FWC to beachgoers: Do not disturb nesting birds |
| The Color of Fishing A lot of us anglers have favorite or confidence lures and we have at least a few of them in different color schemes. When you go to your favorite tackle shop, you are most likely presented with a dizzying array of lures in colors that represent all shades of the rainbow and everything else in between. |
| A Pair of Big Fish Stories One thing that's great about fishing in Alabama - among the many - is that you never know what you're going to catch. And that holds true from one end of the state to the other. And another thing, you don't have to be in a boat to catch big fish |
| Tarpon Tutor: Fishing with Captain Rick Murphy tarpon fishing has been a passion of mine for years. I’ve been fortunate to photograph and observe some of the best fly anglers in the business, and while I’m capturing the action digitally, I’m also asking questions to learn how the best got that way. |
| The Case for Party Boats For those who crave deep sea fishing adventures, but don’t have the wherewithal to buy the expensive fuel and maintain a proper offshore vessel, there is the popular party boat. Available at quite reasonable cost is a fleet of comfortable and secure multi-passenger vessels |
| About bananas and a bad day fishing or sailing We booked the boat "Country Girl" out of Pirates Cove with Captain "Big Al" and mate Randy and early in the morning we loaded our supplies (including bananas) on the boat and set for the open sea. |
| Drop Shot Works When Fish Won't Hit Other Lures The technique of drop shotting a small plastic worm has been around for well over a decade and Brent Ehrler has used it frequently in FLW® bass tournament competition |
| A Good Reason to Troll It is 6:30AM and still dark as my friend Mike and I pull away from the slip on the Lady Lyn with the radar helping to guide us out for a wonderful day of fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. |
| The Fish of a Lifetime There are some mornings when magic in the air, and you have a feeling that something special might happen. |
| Study Finds Drug Pollution in Wild Bull Sharks' Blood Newborn bull sharks in Southwest Florida's Caloosahatchee River carry traces of drugs humans flush down the toilet, according to the first-ever study of pharmaceuticals in wild sharks, |
| Presentation is everything I recently started working in the food and beverage department of a very high scale resort on St. Petersburg Beach. The office where I work is situated right above a 5 star restaurant. |
| Study Finds Drug Pollution in Wild Bull Sharks' Blood Newborn bull sharks in Southwest Florida's Caloosahatchee River carry traces of drugs humans flush down the toilet, according to the first-ever study of pharmaceuticals in wild sharks, |
| St. Joseph Sound: It’s our little secret It is not uncommon for a complete stranger to approach, lobbying me to “never mention St. Joseph Sound on the radio or in any article.” Why are those who fish there jealously working to keep it as a closely guarded secret? |
Biologists rescue elusive manatee in Key Largo |
| Kayak Fishing for Fun and Profit Even though prices at the pump have become more affordable, thousands of anglers are still getting the itch to abandon their power boats in search of fishing alternatives |
| Boater on-line course helps boaters protect Florida Bay The nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), announced the launch of Eco-Mariner, a free online education course designed to help boaters and anglers |
Emergency longline rule to protect ‘threatened’ sea turtles |
| Live bait rigging: It's easy when you know how One of the mysteries to the novice angler is how to rig live bait for fishing our productive inshore waters. Indeed, even some experienced fishers, could learn a thing or two |
| Fishing should be a "drag" Here is yet another feature in our "How-To" Series, designed to help you advance your fish-catching skills. In this article we deal with the very important aspect of properly setting the drag on your reel, |
| Get your feet wet - Catch fish! Wade fishing, one of the most enjoyable ways of fishing our skinny waters. Now our own wadefishing expert, the late Jay "Flats Maniac" Brewington, tells why he believes this very popular style of angling |
| Land Based Anglers Should Have No Complaints Tampa Bay - While most anglers take to boats in pursuit of life's lunkers, at least 40 percent of the rod and reel crowd would rather catch their fish from solid terra firma. |
| Some Thoughts on Rod Handles Some years ago Mark Sosin was in town to film a show with Capt. Chet Jennings. Sosin carries a lot of equipment with him – it looked like he had 20 rods on Chet’s boat. |
| CCA: "Prevent Large Scale Commercial Take Of Grouper" CCA Florida has requested the FWC to make the closures and limits for red and gag grouper the same for both recreational and commercial fishers in state waters... |
| The Future of Freshwater Fishing in Florida When you cast a lure in Florida, you are participating in a time-honored tradition in the Sunshine State. Today we all share responsibility for conserving our fisheries |
| Access and Abandonment Twenty-three percent of anglers report that one of their fishing spots has been closed to angling in the past three years, according to a January 2009 survey by Southwick Associates. |
| Some Thoughts on Rod Handles Some years ago Mark Sosin was in town to film a show with Capt. Chet Jennings. Sosin carries a lot of equipment with him – it looked like he had 20 rods on Chet’s boat. |
| Deep Water Grouper Release Problems it's a dilemma many a deep water Gulf grouper digger faces -- especially this time of year when near shore waters cool and grouper fishing is best well offshore. |
| April Fishing: Some Tips There's a fascinating transformation that occurs in each of us when the weather morphs from the choke-hold of winter to the benevolent serenity of an April day. |
| Talking Fishing on the CapMel.com Forums Over the last several years, CapMel.com has been the host for one of the most popular fishing forums on the World Wide Web. Every day, several more join the ranks of our almost 4-thousand forum members. |
FWC Removes Junked, Abandoned Vessels from State’s Waters |
| One Arm is No Handicap For Plant City Guide John Baty was a happy Plant City, Florida motorcycle cop who loved his work serving and protecting his community. He also was passionate about fishing. |
| Gulf Coast Offers Chance At "Convict Fish" Coming to a saltwater jetty or piling near you - a bait-stealing bandit nicknamed the convict fish because of its alternating black and silvery white stripes. |
| One Arm is No Handicap For Plant City Guide John Baty was a happy Plant City, Florida motorcycle cop who loved his work serving and protecting his community. He also was passionate about fishing. |
FWC Scientists Help Create Benchmark for Red Tide Research |
| Lighten Up! Not too many years ago, anglers burdened themselves with bulky and heavy rods and reels. It wasn't by choice. Most of the materials available in those days were dense and weighty. |
| Tackle Up for Spanish Mackerel Since the inshore net ban was passed in Florida, Spanish mackerel have made an incredible comeback in the waters of West Central Florida. |
| Boat Poling Made Easy Each week thousands of anglers join the ranks of flats boat owners. Before getting behind the helm of one of these skinny water vessels, there is a bit of learning curve to assimilate. |
| How About Giving Freshwater Fishing a Try? Come on, admit it. You’re a dedicated saltwater angler, but have often flirted with the idea of checking out the freshwater scene. "Right now’s a great time because bass fishing is at its peak," says ESPN’s "Bass Professor," Doug Hannon. |
Officers Remind Homeowners Their Docks Need Addresses |
| Okay, So We fished Out of an Airboat! I, along with other anglers, find our nerves frazzled when an airboat shows up. Most say that airboats spook fish, birds and other wildlife. Nevertheless, some years back when the late Canoeman and I had a chance to fish out of one of these unique craft. |
| Where Does Your Money Go? Ever wonder where your money goes when you plunk it down for a fishing license? A great way to illustrate your dollars at work requires a trip to Lake Panasoffkee in Central Florida. |
| Shark Attacks Decline Worldwide in Midst of Economic Recession The recession may be responsible for a slump of a different sort: an unexpected dive in shark attacks, says a University of Florida researcher. |
| Boat Poling Made Easy Each week thousands of anglers join the ranks of flats boat owners. Before getting behind the helm of one of these skinny water vessels, there is a bit of learning curve to assimilate. |
| Majestic Marlin Needs Our Help to Survive Imagine turning on the nightly news and seeing a story about the slaughter of 12,000 lions in Africa. Or 12,000 tigers. Or 12,000 wolves. It would be upsetting wouldn't it? Could you imagine the outrage? |
| New Red Snapper Study Offers Signs of Hope A new study by Dr. Bob Shipp, head of marine sciences at the University of South Alabama, and Dr. Steve Bortone, the new executive director of the Gulf Council, suggests that red snapper stocks in the Gulf of Mexico are far from decimated. |
| Cool Weather Lights up West Coast Fishing Snook and reds are still around, having traveled further inland to their comfort zones up rivers, creeks and residential canals. But as those fish depart, other fun species show up keeping the brisk action going on the outside. . |
| Wounded Soldiers Get Chance to Become Scuba Divers The military men had finished their pool training at Walter Reed and completed their course work online. They just had to display their skills in four open-water dives to receive their certification cards |
| Fly'n Off the Deep End Fly rods have gained popularity over the years as being effective saltwater tools for tackling a variety of species. Most often they are used in the skinny stuff to stalk redfish, snook, permit, bonefish, or even a little deeper for tarpon. |
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