Weather forecasters are calling for a large, lingering Atlantic swell to taper off this weekend, bringing a return to comfortable conditions for offshore fishing. Hard to say what will be out there on the Gulf Stream, fish-wise, but the results of a junior angler tournament held off St. Lucie Inlet last weekend suggest a pretty good dolphin bite around scattered weed patches. Sailfish action was strong off Daytona and St. Augustine last week, which could bode well for anglers fishing between Fort Pierce and Palm Beach Inlet. Normally, north swells in autumn herald the southbound movement of sailfish on the Gulf Stream.

For some inside tips on how to read bluewater clues, don’t miss the November issue of Florida Sportsman Magazine, now on newsstands. If “Less Running, More Gunning” is your creed, check out the article on page 24.

Study Completed on Marine Sanctuary
Fish move in, but won’t leave…

According to an article by Byron Stout in the Fort Myers News-Press, the question of marine sanctuaries actually working has new evidence decidedly against it. A 10-year study by state researchers supports what many recreational anglers have argued all along.

Marine protected areas — no-fishing zones some scientists have theorized could replenish nearby overfished areas with juvenile fish or spillover of adult fish — don’t really work.

It seems that adult fish have more of a tendency to move into no-fishing zones from the outside, and then stay to avoid harvest. You can't really blame the fish, but the net effect of no-take zones is depletion, not replenishment, of nearby overfished areas.

The study was done on Florida's east coast in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, where a large no-take area effectively was created in 1962 for security purposes at Cape Canaveral. For 10 years beginning in 1990, scientists tagged and recaptured seven game fish species, including snook and redfish. Their tracking revealed that the overall migration patterns in and out of the protected area were more than 10-to-1 going in, not coming out.

Meanwhile, scientists who have long promoted marine reserves are declaring great recovery in the 151-square-mile Dry Tortugas Ecological Reserves, which were closed to fishing in 2001. They say they are seeing lots more fish, a phenomenon easily explained by the Cape Canaveral study, which was recently published in the quarterly journal of the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Fishery Bulletin.

Indeed, since one marine protected area — the only MPA with a long-term study of fish migrations — was shown to effect a net loss of adult fish in nearby areas, fishery managers have little choice but to regard all no-fishing-zone claims of replenishment with studied skepticism.

Muck Removal Underway on Lake Osborne
Palm Beach County finds innovative use for excess lake substrate.

Freshwater lakes in Florida often suffer from a buildup of decaying plant life. The “muck” steals oxygen from the water, and also hinders the growth of new vegetation. Drawdowns and dredging are often needed to clear out the material. For authorities managing urban lakes, however, finding a cost-effective means of disposing of the material can be problematic.

Palm Beach County has devised a solution: Drying the muck and transporting it to the county Department of Parks and Recreation for use as a nutrient in soil applications. This advanced technology is presently at work on Lake Osborne, a popular bass lake near the towns of Lake Worth and Lantana.

Hunters Advised to Report Sickly Deer
Florida wildlife officials taking steps to prevent Chronic Wasting Disease from reaching our herd.

With Florida deer hunters already afield in many areas, the state has issued a reminder about its toll-free number for the reporting of any deer showing signs of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). So far, Florida deer have not tested positive for this fatal disease. But the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is playing it safe by alerting hunters to the symptoms of CWD, an illness which has plagued deer herds in western and midwestern states.