Mention tarpon fishing and visions of fly rods and saltwater flats skiffs come to most people's mind. No one ever thinks about trolling when you mention tarpon, at least no one with any sense If you've read many of my past features you will know that sometimes my fishing exploits are a little different! Read more...

I picked up the Sunday paper this weekend, and as I usually do, I turned immediately to the sports section, more specifically, the outdoors page. Each Sunday our Outdoors Editor does a full page - sometimes two - on an outdoor activity. I was looking for some content I could use later, and this week he dealt with fishing tournaments... Read more...

Folks, this is not an unusual occurrence, and it's not just in Louisiana. Do you wonder why we all suffer smaller bag limits and restrictions? Read on:

From KALB channel 5 television in Alexandria, LA:

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Enforcement Division agents wrote over 100 fishing citations to 20 men on Bayou Fourchon located in Lafourche Parish on Monday, April 28.

Agents stopped the charter boat, “The Captain Charlie”, which was occupied by 18 paid fishermen, the captain and one deck hand. Agents boarded the vessel to conduct a creel and license check of the fish and persons aboard. Upon receiving consent from the captain of the vessel, agents allegedly found 27 ice chests holding 909 red snapper.

Agents counted and measured every fish aboard the vessel and found that of the 909 red snapper aboard the vessel, 287 of them were under the minimum 16-inch size requirement.

The recreational limit for red snapper is two per fisherman, and the captain and deckhands are not allowed to possess a limit. Agents also discovered that none of the 18 fishermen were Louisiana residents nor did they possess valid Louisiana non-resident basic and saltwater fishing licenses.

The 18 subjects that chartered the vessel (all but one from the Atlanta area), along with the captain and deckhand of the vessel were cited for 106 alleged violations. The citations included angling without a non-resident basic and saltwater fishing license, federal charges for possessing undersized and over the limit of red snapper, and taking red snapper during a closed season. The red snapper season is closed until June 1, 2008.

Agents seized the 909 red snapper, which weighed 2459 pounds and were sold for a total of $9221.25. (There was no mention of what was done with the proceeds from the sale.)

The lesson here for all of us is: REPORT GAME AND FISH LAW VIOLATORS!

I still smell the flats. I can see the mud at low tide, glistening in the midday sun. Small spikes from mangrove seeds dot the brown mud, and a long-legged, great white heron stalks its prey at the water’s edge. A school of finger mullet makes a wake in the shallow water that is now beginning to ebb. I wait as my mind tries to conjure up a big snook striking and sending these baitfish flipping on the shimmering mud. Read more...

There are many anglers who claim to never have seen a tailing redfish. I think it turns out that these anglers may have actually seen some, but just didn’t know what they were seeing at the time.

It’s springtime up and down the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and redfish are migrating from their winter haunts on near shore wrecks and reefs. They are moving into the passes and inlets after their offshore spawning, and they are hungry. These big reds work the beach under a school of menhaden, feeding at will... Read more...

In the spring, bluefish and Spanish mackerel begin making their way north up the easy coast of the United States. From Florida to New York, over time they will come up the coast and migrate into each inlet and river mouth. Huge schools of bluefish will be in the surf, chasing bait and tearing up everything in sight, including legs and fingers of less than careful surf anglers. This is a great time to catch not only some very big blues, but other fish as well...Read more...

Ah, spring! This is the time that flowers bloom, animals are amorous and most important to me, the flood tides occur. Spring flood tides are an annual occurrence caused by the relative positioning of the sun and moon in the spring, and the effect that this positioning has on tidal movement. High tides can be as much as four to five feet above normal. Add a good wind in the right direction and they can be even higher... Read more...

I was fishing with artificial lures on a mud and oyster flat at high tide. Normally I pick up a few of what I call “tide runners”. These are usually really big fish that feed right at the high tide for about an hour. They are usually also spotted seatrout. What I learned on this trip put fish in the boat and can help you catch more fish as well...

Recreational Boating and Anglers Threatened with Burdensome EPA Permits

From the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation comes this latest news:

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair, Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) introduced a bill, S. 2766, The Clean Boating Act of 2008, in March of this year. The legislation would restore the EPA exemption for recreational boats. Last May, Boating Caucus Co-Chairmen Representative Candice Miller (R-MI) and Representative Gene Taylor (D-MS) introduced H. R. 2550, The Recreational Boating Act of 2007 in the House of Representatives. The language of H.R. 2550 and the language of S.2667 will be the same in the final version.

Passage of the Clean Boating Act of 2008 by Congress would reestablish the exemption for America’s recreational boaters. Congressional action is needed prior to a looming deadline for permit applications that would apply to all recreational and fishing boats, including charter boats.

For thirty-five years, the Environmental Protection Agency has exempted recreational boaters from the regulations that protected aquatic resources from pollutants and invasive species transported in the ballast water of commercial vessels. In 2006, a federal judge overturned the exemption. If not corrected by legislation, boaters would be required to obtain onerous Federal or State permits for normal incidental discharges such as bilge water, deck runoff and engine cooling water. Boaters could also face oppressive fines for non-compliance. The ruling goes into effect on September 30 of this year, unleashing not only a layer of new regulations from the EPA, but creating a new bureaucracy to deal with 18-million boaters applying for the permits.

If you own a boat - whether you fish or not - the time to contract your congressmen is NOW!