From Ron Brooks,
Your Guide to Saltwater Fishing.
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Back in the early '60s I made a science of catching small to medium size jewfish. The creeks, rivers and mangroves of southwest Florida were loaded with these beautiful fish. Large fish that spent most of the year on deep water wrecks and ledges moved into the shallower estuary areas to spawn each spring. The offspring spent their first few years in these estuaries before moving out. Fish from ten up to seventy or eighty pounds could be found in almost any deep hole around the mangroves or in the creeks.

We had our holes marked, knew the tides, and knew what the fish would do on those tides. We were very successful at catching these fish. Our trademark was the Calcutta cane poles we used in the creeks.

Just as we were very successful, so too were the commercial fishermen using wenches and electric reels to completely void the Gulf wrecks and deep water reefs of the large brood fish. Up until about 1988, it was not uncommon to see a grouper boat come in with thousands of pounds of jewfish, sometimes taking all of them from a single wreck.

Florida, and a number of other states, finally put the clamps on the jewfish harvest in the early '90s. Fishing for them became illegal, to the point that if officer friendly caught you with a Calcutta pole or a rope handline, he would confiscate them. You can't prove you weren't going after jewfish with that kind of tackle on board.

Was I personally a part of the problem that caused the closed season? Absolutely. Ignorance and the feeling that the resource was unlimited led me, other anglers, and the commercial industry to overlook the obvious. These fish grow very large, and it takes a while for them to grow. Unlike Mahi Mahi who can reproduce all year and grow over a foot a year, these huge fish needed protection.

But, now that the season has been closed for quite a number of years, perhaps it is time to reconsider the closing. More and more anglers are catching good numbers of small jewfish in the creeks and rivers on snook and redfish tackle. On one particular trip we had a problem keeping jewfish off our jigs and plugs. They would hit before the red or snook we were after could get to the bait!

Perhaps a limited, one per boat, or one per person harvest of fish between thirty-six and forty-eight inches would be a good compromise. Fish that are larger than that are less desirable to eat. Fish smaller than that need a chance to grow. This size limit provides a good food source for the angler, a great fight on light tackle, and yet still provides protection to the brood fish over forty-eight inches long.

So, what do you say, FWCC, lets look at the jewfish regulations one more time and see if we can take a few of the comeback fish!