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Florida Keys Dolphin Championship & Big Pine and Lower Keys Dolphin tournament

by Florida Sportsman Newswire • March 7, 2014 • No comments

Fish Two Dolphin Tournaments for the Cost of One!

This May 16-18 in the Lower Florida Keys you can fish two dolphin tournaments at the same time, with only the expenses of one! All you have to do is register and pay both entry fees and you could win over $120,000 in cash and prizes. Come fish this May in the Florida Keys Dolphin Championship and the Big Pine and Lower Keys Dolphin tournament. For more information on the Florida Keys Dolphin Championship go to www.FKDC.com. For more information on the Big Pine and Lower Keys Dolphin tournament go to www.lowerkeyschamber.com.

In test

Dade City Angler Lands State Record Brown Bullhead Catfish

by Florida Sportsman Newswire • March 7, 2014 • No comments

From FWC Press Release

Dade City resident Richard Clinton now holds the record for catching the largest brown bullhead catfish on rod and reel in Florida waters, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

On Feb. 12, Clinton was crappie fishing with his cousin on Lake Iola, a privately owned lake in Pasco County. At 9:30 a.m., something big latched onto his live minnow in 32 feet of water. When the fish surfaced, they saw that it was a huge brown bullhead.

“I was surprised at how strong the fish pulled once I hooked it,” Clinton said. “It fought harder than a 7-pound bass I also caught.”

The astonished Clinton believed his fish weighed significantly more than the existing state record, so he contacted FWC freshwater fishery biologist Eric Johnson at the agency’s Lakeland regional office.

The next day, Johnson officially certified the fish as a new state record brown bullhead. The fish weighed 7.02 pounds and was 22.25 inches in length with a girth of 15.5 inches. Unbelievably, it was just a few ounces shy of the world record.

The previous state record was a 5.72-pound brown bullhead caught by Robert Bengis on Cedar Creek in Duval County in 1995.

Per FWC state record fish certification rules, fish must be legally caught using active hook-and-line methods by an angler with a valid Florida fishing license or who is exempt from license requirements. An FWC biologist must verify the species and weigh it on a certified scale.

“I knew I had a big fish,” Clinton said. “I’m glad I was recognized for catching a state record brown bullhead.”

Brown bullhead catfish are native to the eastern United States and are similar in appearance to the yellow bullhead. According to the International Game Fish Association, the world record brown bullhead is a 7-pound, 6-ounce fish that Glenn Collacuro caught from Mahopac Lake in New York on Aug. 1, 2009.

The FWC also recognizes anglers who catch a memorable-size fish by giving them a Big Catch certificate. These certificates are issued for 33 different species of freshwater fish and are subject to less stringent guidelines than for record fish, allowing anglers to be recognized if the fish’s weight or length exceeds minimum standards.

More information is available at MyFWC.com/Big Catch and in the Freshwater Fishing Regulations Summary online.

In test

Nighttime Swordfishing Rigs

by Florida Sportsman Staff • March 7, 2014 • No comments

In the FS Seminar, Florida Sportsman editor Jeff Weakley joins Harry Schafer at Grand Slam Tackle & Marine Supply. Weakley and Schafer go over some basic rigging for catching swordfish at night.

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Advice on Managing Land for Longbeards

by Florida Sportsman Newswire • March 7, 2014 • 1 comment

Florida Sportsman Member Fish Addict (left) took this fine Osceola turkey recently in South Florida. The report is posted in the General Hunting Forum, under FINALLY bird down.

From Tony Young, FWC Outta’ the Woods Columnist

Whether you oversee a large tract of land or own a smaller parcel, there are many wildlife management techniques you can use to help attract wild turkeys to your property.

Wild turkeys, like white-tailed deer, are referred to as “edge species,” because of their need for more than one type of habitat. Most of the time, with large tracts of land, this isn’t a problem because the vast landscape is diverse enough. But in the case of small-acreage, one-habitat properties, it’s up to you as the landowner to create varied, preferred habitats if you expect turkeys to use the property.

For optimal turkey habitat, half of your property should be in mature forests and the other half in early-succession “openings,” such as fields, clearcuts or forests having between 40 and 60 square feet per basal area. Basal area is a measurement used to determine the density of trees per acre. Land that falls into the 40-60 basal range has 40 to 60 average-sized (13.5 inches in diameter at the base) pine trees per acre.

To create even better and more varied habitats for turkeys, you should offer “differing age classes” of forests and early-successional areas – and make prescribed burning a big part of your management plan.

Harvest pine trees on a different section of your land on a 10-year cycle so that after a few decades, the property consists of several sections with trees of varying sizes (ages).

Early-succession habitat can be achieved on “plantation-cut” areas with a 40-60 basal count, because the trees are spaced out enough for sunlight to penetrate the forest floor, where frequent fire enables new growth of succulent woody ornamentals, native wiregrass and goldenrod.

It also is important to keep any hardwood hammocks, drains, ravines, bottoms, wetlands and other unique habitats intact and free from timbering. Hardwoods are an essential element of wild turkey management. Thick hardwood lowlands provide travel corridors that turkeys and deer use extensively.

If there’s not any water on the property and you have the financial means to do so, dig a pond. Turkeys, as well as all other critters, need water to drink, so if you have that, then you have yet one more piece of the turkey-management puzzle.

“Buffer” strips of native grasses and woody ornamentals should be left unmowed. Hens require this thick understory cover for nesting. When possible, prescribed burning should be applied that allows for a low, woody component to be scattered throughout most of the timber stands. Periodically lengthening your burning rotations will give you this desired effect and help provide suitable nesting habitat.

In Florida, most hens begin to lay their eggs in late March or early April, but the nesting season can extend through June. After all the eggs are laid, they take about 25 days to hatch. Therefore, if you can, you may want to limit burning or mowing of preferred nesting habitat through August.

Good brood habitat should hold food in the form of seeds, insects (an invaluable protein source) and tender, new-growth vegetation for young poults to feed upon throughout the summer. It should consist of 1- to 3-foot-tall grass and weeds open enough to enable the young poults to move about, yet dense enough to provide cover from predators.

There is great interest nationally in the planting of food plots for wildlife, including for turkeys. Within extensive closed-off canopy forested areas, food plots and/or game feeders are essential to keeping turkeys on your property. Where an open forest structure is maintained by adequate timber thinning and the use of fire, such supplemental feeding is not as necessary because there is enough natural “browse” vegetation on which game can feed.

Food plots are a lot more cost-effective at feeding game than using feeders on moderate-sized pieces of property. In cases of smaller tracts, perhaps where food plots can’t be utilized because the landscape is all lowland and you have a closed canopy, game feeders filled with corn or soybeans are your only option for attracting turkeys.

Once the decision has been made to create food plots, you need to know where to put them, how big and what shape to make them and what to plant. The best ones are long and narrow rectangular shapes that follow the contour of the land. When possible, create food plots where the length (longest part) runs east to west. That way, the planted crops will receive the most direct sunlight.

For tips on food plots, go to your local IFAS Extension office or for the website, click here.

In test

Spoon Fly: Catch Florida Redfish and More

by Jody Moore • March 7, 2014 • No comments

This imitation of a successful lure works just as well when tied as a fly.

All veteran redfishermen are aware of how effective weedless spoons are on reds. Jon Cave knew this as well and wanted to transfer that success to flyfishing. He experimented with foil and epoxy with limited results. Early one morning, however, he jumped out of bed and fashioned Mylar tubing in the shape of a spoon and the Spoon Fly was born. He fished it several hours later with great results and then tuned the pattern so it wobbled without spinning.

Variations of the pattern are as varied as tyers’ imaginations. I have seen spoon flies cut from beer cans and heard of some that were fashioned from fake fingernails. Probably the most high-tech version comes from Capt. Jim Dupre: His Spoon Fly is a replica of the spoon lure, complete with a weedguard and constructed from Mylar and epoxy. Dupre’s version wobbles just like the real thing if tied properly. A Spoon Fly not tied correctly will spin, causing your flyline to twist and tangle.

While most flies require stripping to impart action, the Spoon Fly has built-in action. The fly wobbles back and forth, flashing brightly as it moves along with a tantalizing manner. The pattern can be stripped quickly, slowly or erratically, depending on the mood or species of the fish. Cave prefers to retrieve the fly quickly with long, steady strips. It is also easy to cast and can be fished on floating or an intermediate line. It is unquestionably a user-friendly fly.

Many successful fly patterns are tied to closely imitate some sort of baitfish or crustacean. The Spoon Fly at best resembles a small baitfish, but its real appeal is the action and flash it creates as it moves through the water. Anyone who has fished with live bait or has hooked a small fish only to have it swallowed by a larger predator knows the allure of a struggling baitfish.

The Spoon Fly inspires the same feeding behavior from predators because it imitates a struggling baitfish. The flash the Spoon Fly puts out certainly is part of the appeal, but many believe the movement of the fly emits a low-frequency vibration that is detected by snook, redfish and other gamefish. Injured or sick baits struggling to swim also emit low-frequency vibrations, making it easier for predators to home-in on them.

Although there are many ways to tie this pattern, the original Jon Cave version is fairly simple. Start with a 1/0 hook. Secure your thread halfway down the bend of the hook and tie in four to six 2-inch strands of Krystal Flash. Tie in a 3/4-inch clump of tail material such as rabbit fur, marabou, bucktail, craft fur or calf tail. Popular colors are red, orange, chartreuse or white.

In the same place tie in a 2-inch piece of 1/4-inch braided Mylar tubing, allowing the end to fray around the bend of the hook, forming a skirt of Mylar strands. Coat the inside of the Mylar tubing with a small amount of 5-minute epoxy, using a toothpick or cocktail straw as an applicator. Use just enough epoxy to make the inside of the tube sticky. Tie off the other end of the tube just behind the eye of the hook and cut off the excess Mylar. Wait until the epoxy begins to cure, then press the tubing into a flat, wafer-thin spoon.

Now attach some sort of bead chain or dumbbell eyes either at the back of the hook or just behind the eye of the hook. Use too little weight and the fly will spin; too much weight and the fly doesn’t oscillate properly. Cave prefers medium-size bead chain eyes attached at the back of the hook. Complete the fly by covering it with a thin coat of epoxy.

Gold and pearl seem to be the most successful colors for reds and snook, though silver and fish scale also work well, and largemouth bass seem to prefer dark blue. It can be tied in a wide range of colors and color combinations because there is a wide range of colored tubing available and the tail material is greatly variable. This versatility allows a tyer to design a pattern that can address the water clarity, bait type and species for a particular area.

The Spoon Fly is an extremely durable pattern and can take plenty of abuse before it needs to be retired. Even after the fly has been mangled beyond its ability to wobble correctly, it still gets eaten.

I have found it to be one of the most effective flies for reds and snook when there is a profusion of glass minnows or other small baitfish in the area. Reds and snook can be very particular about the size of the flies they will take when they are feeding on glass minnows. Redfish also seem to have an affinity for small patterns, especially during the middle of the day when water temperatures are often at their hottest.

I have taken a wide variety of fish on the Spoon Fly. Redfish, snook, trout and bass love it inshore, and offshore I’ve done well on dolphin, barracuda, jack crevalle, tunas and Spanish mackerel. Anything a spoon lure catches, the Spoon Fly will capture as well.

The Spoon Fly can be your first pattern to try or your last resort–either way, it’s proven to be effective, especially on redfish. Put a few in your fly box and don’t be reluctant to tie one on. FS

First Published Florida Sportsman November 1996
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In test

Sarasota Inshore Permit and Sheepshead

by Florida Sportsman • March 7, 2014 • No comments

Recent inshore fishing reports from the West Central region.

Sarasota Inshore Permit and Sheepshead

Florida Sportsman member: aaron

I saw something that looked like a massive sheepie sitting under a mangrove, so I landed my fly on its head and it ended up being about 5 medium to nice sized ones. They all swarmed my fly and I hooked up after one strip. We had to head out shortly after, but I am very curious if my method would have tricked one of those permit. I did see one school of three permit cruising along the mangroves averaging about 10 pounds, but I was being a fool and didn’t get a chance to throw to them.

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