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Articles and Features from 2003
09/21/03
He Was My Dad
I never knew anyone who loved to fish as much as he. I still don’t.
I take that back. Maybe my son reaches that level of passion. I
thought I did for a long time, but I can’t hold a candle to either of
them. Oh, I love to fish, but on days when he would launch the boat in a
gale, I now stay home.
08/20/03
Questionable Tournament Rules
As I headed for the bait shop on my last trip, I remembered something I
thought I had read earlier in the week. I seemed to remember something about a
redfish tournament going on somewhere, and the thought stuck in my mind.
08/31/03
That's Why They Call Them Snapper!
For a country boy, raised in the hills of Tennessee, the first trip to the
ocean must have been exciting. For me it was just another day; I was raised on
the water. But for Jim, it had to be something special.
08/26/03
A Reader's Response
I received this e-mail from a wildlife biologist in San Diego named John
Martin. I thought it would be only fair to present his point of view. Perhaps
I'm as much a radical on this side as the anti's are on their side!. Of the
hundreds of e-mails I received about the article in question, this one was
rational.
08/24/03
Heading Offshore Presents Problems
It’s the time of year right now, when small boaters begin to get
brave. After fishing inshore or near shore over the last couple of months
and watching the seas flatten out, as they normally do during late summer,
people begin to get brave.
08/17/03
The Right Bait
Finding bait, other than at the tackle shop of course, is not always the
easiest thing to do. We can spend the twenty or thirty dollars for a variety of
live bait and not worry about finding any, but lots of us have a better use for
that money.
08/17/03
Save a Fish to Catch a Fish
At one time, I had a souvenir of sorts in my tackle box – a memento of a
past fishing trip. I took it out and put it in a safe pace a while back after I
read an article on the sawfish. My prize, you see, is the saw-toothed bill from
a small sawfish.
08/10/03
Changing Tactics Can Find Fish
Adverse conditions, whether weather, temperature or anything else, can
plague all of us at any given time. The anglers that know how to deal with these
conditions will continue to catch fish despite the adversity. See what we did
this past week to overcome some of our strange weather patterns. It can work for
you as well.
08/03/03
Pounding the Flounder
Summer fishing, among other things, means flounder. Whether catching them on
hook and line or gigging them at night in shallow water, flounder are making an
otherwise ho- hum summer fishing season interesting. We fished the Intracoastal
Waterway (ICW) this past week and found good numbers of flounder willing to eat
mud minnows and plastic grubs.
08/03/03
Freedom to Fish
We may well be loosing our freedom and our right to recreational fishing if
the tree huggers and “antis” get their way.
07/27/03
Cold Water Chases Fish
Cold water thermoclines can change fishing patterns overnight.
Sometimes they hang around too long!
07/20/03
Kingfish is King in Jacksonville
The unofficial results are in for the 2003 BellSouth Greater Jacksonville
Kingfish Tournament, and a first time entrant was the winner. Scott Routh, from
Sarasota, Florida, was is the winner in the big fish category with a 45.5-pound
fish he caught on the second day.
07/06/03
Fishing Rights Bill
The Right to Fish Bill is pending before congress as we speak. No fish zones
are popping up everywhere. It is time to take action!
06/22/03
The Commercial Fishing Debate
I know that most of you reading this are recreational anglers. But, I also
get regular mail and questions or comments from commercial fishermen, so I know
there is a mixture of fishermen out there reading this.
06/15/03
Amberjack - The Captain's Friend
Some days there would be
grouper, some days snapper, and in the winter there would be kingfish. But on
every trip, whether there were other fish or not, there would always be
amberjack.
06/15/03
Do Fish Feel Pain?
PETA’s web site
has a section on fishing – or rather stop fishing – wherein they teach
little kids that fish feel pain. What a shame it is that the parents of these
kids can be duped in this fashion.
06/08/03
A Fishing Father
I don’t remember many specific Father’s Days. As I remember it, they
took a back seat to other holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving and Mother’s
Day. Maybe it was a macho thing – who wants a holiday named for them?
06/01/03
Vent for Safety and First Aid!
Ever have a need to just vent and get it off your chest?
06/01/03
Northeast Florida Redfish Hotspots
Let Capt Kirk Waltz or Capt Kevin Faver take you after Northeast Florida
redfish. You will never regret it!
05/25/03
Georgia's Year-Round Redfish
Redfish,
red drum, puppy drum, red bass, channel bass, or spottail bass, whatever you
call them, these coastal marauders spell plenty of great year round fishing for
the Georgia angler savvy enough to follow their habits.
05/18/03
Finding Silver at Golden Isles
Catching tarpon - Georgia style - is an exciting way to spend a hot day!
05/11/03
The Versatile Jig
Ask a freshwater bass fisherman what his choice would be if he were limited
to fishing with only one lure and his answer would likely be a plastic worm. A
saltwater angler when asked the same question would likely say a jig.
05/11/03
The Everything Fishing Book
About's Freshwater Fishing Guide Ronnie Garrison has a new book out that
literally covers everything fishing. A great resource for every angler.
05/04/03
Learning to Fish
Okay, so you decided you want to learn to fish. And you need to know who,
what, where, when, and why on just about every aspect of fishing. There are a
number of ways to learn, not the easiest of which is trial and error,
05/04/03
The Founding Fish
A book review on a great read by John McPhee. Follow the American shad
through its spawning run and through history.
04/27/03
Crowding Out the Fish
So, where do you go to find fish when every boat in the world is on the
water?
04/27/03
Going Back to Basics
I’m thinking of going back. I really am. I’m giving up on all this “look
good” fishing and getting back to doing what works.
04/20/03
Cobia on the Beach
Cobia will begin to show themselves up and down the beaches in the spring,
and if you can find their moving structure – the manta rays – you can catch
them with relative ease. If you have live mullet or menhaden shad, they will do
well for bait. But that black jig with a ten inch black plastic worm does
wonders for me.
04/13/03
The Annual Shad Run
American and hickory shad are on the move and catchable each spring. Their
annual spawning rite takes them upstream in every river with saltwater access.
This spring is no different, and the run appears to be larger than normal.
04/06/03
Bluefish
Smorgasbord in the Surf
With the spring migration of baitfish and the always-following predator fish
comes an opportunity that happens only twice each year. Baitfish move south in
the fall and north in the spring. As they move up and down the coast, surf
anglers have a heyday casting and catching a smorgasbord variety of fish that
feed on this bait.
03/30/03
Bluefish and Mackerel
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.
03/23/03
Hooked on Fishing
I’ve have hooked myself, my fishing parties, and both of
my sons during my fishing career. Each
time it was accidental, and each time it could have been prevented. I have also been hooked a number of times by other anglers
in my boat. My father was one of
the worst offenders in this arena, having hooked me in the head, ear, shoulder,
and just under the eye over the years.
03/16/03
Blue Water Sushi
Powerfully
fighting some fifty blue water feet below in ever decreasing circles was a
blackfin tuna - a sushi lover's delight! Although only twenty pounds, this
one, like all tunas I have ever caught, fought like a fish three times its size.
03/09/03
Line Size Does Make a Difference
How many of you
out there use the same tackle with the same line for all of the fishing you
do? You never change equipment or line size to accommodate a different
fishing situation. Line size, in particular, does make a difference.
2/16/03 Fishing Without Bait
How many of us have
ever left the dock and headed out to fish only to find you left the bait in a
cooler on the dock? It’s a long ride back to the dock, and at the price
of fuel today, it makes it very expensive to head back and retrieve it.
02/09/03 Approaching Storm
The wall of rainwater from the storm that we were watching, approached from
the west at a surprising rate. Dark, heavy, rumbling clouds poured out
their contents and made the horizon under them a blur. We could not even
distinguish the water line.
02/02/03 When Cabin Fever Strikes
Cabin fever.
Everybody gets it eventually, and we all succumb to it at some point. It’s
a debilitating condition. It makes us do things that any sane person would
avoid. There is no known medicinal remedy. Therapy is the only
solution. That therapy would have you venture into the elements seeking a
cure.
01/26/03
Update on PETA and the Anti's
If you follow
my pages very often you will read an article or two regarding our fishing
rights. Folks, it is getting serious enough now that I am instituting a
monthly update to keep all of you informed on the Anti's - the anti-fishing
movement.
01/19/03
Can We Stop "No Fish Zones"?
No Fish Zones
(NFZ) are cropping up or being considered by virtually every coastal state in
America. Vast areas of open ocean, bays, estuaries, and coastal rivers are
all being considered for closure not only to fishing, but in some cases for
closure to all human presence.
01/12/03 What About a Leader
Leaders. Some people swear by them; others swear at them.
Freshwater anglers rarely use them. Kingfish, bluefish and mackerel demand
their use because of the sharp teeth. But, are they really necessary on
other types of fish?
01/05/03 Still Waters Don't Run Deep
Still waters run deep. That's a wonderfully catchy phrase - maybe even
a book title - that essentially describes a deep thinking person. I'm here
top tell you that from a fishing and boating perspective, still waters don't
run deep.
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