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More Fishing and Boating

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• Securing boats when hurricanes threaten
• Fishing report: Fay's effects giving way to great fishing

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June seems to be treating Southwest Florida anglers about as nice as it could with some productive fishing and catching on most all fishing fronts.

Our inland waters, passes, outer shoreline and flats continue to offer several species with snook, redfish and tarpon being the three most targeted followed by mangrove snapper, bluerunner, jack, some pompano, sheepshead, black drum, ladyfish and just maybe some permit – all of which should be smaller in their numbers and size.

The nearshore waters, from the passes out to 50-plus feet of water, will continue to offer some great catch and release of snook at the wrecks and fish havens intermingled with grouper, snapper and just maybe some large permit.

You need to keep abreast of the rules and regulations of all these species. If your issue is out of date you can find the latest issue at tackle shops, marinas and the tax collectors office.

Our offshore waters, from 60 feet out will continue to offer anglers the same line up of species intermingled with cobia, amberjack, shark and barracuda. Do not be surprised if you encounter a resident kingfish at the towers and wrecks offshore.

Anglers using lots of chum and live bait including pinfish, minnows, crabs, mullet, small ladyfish, bluerunner and jack will have better luck. Some of this bait is much harder to keep alive so having a live well large enough to hold plenty of water is a must.

If you want the bait to go deep use a large jig on a heavy rod and reel combo. It’s a good idea to trim the V section of the jack or bluerunner’s tail when using the larger baits. Holding you knife blade against the fin and breaking it off will not cause much bleeding and add a longer life span of the bait.

If you freeline the bait will swim in circles and should stay closer to the surface out of the deeper danger zone of the giant goliath grouper. In the event you are targeting shark or kingfish cut the tail shorter making it bleed. While there seems to be a slowdown of Spanish mackerel working the patches of bait from the passes out, it’s a good bet the bait is out there but running deeper due to the warmer water.

The wise angler will keep their eye on the fish finder on their way out to their honey hole. Some bait will be at the passes and along the outer shoreline during the high incoming tide. Fishing should be productive at these locations early in the morning or late in the afternoon.

More good news, July should be even better with the same species at the same locations.

I received several emails, phone calls and comments at the grocery store and barber shop about the 54-pound redfish angler Joe Miele caught at the Naples Pier in 1974. Several said they would like to see some more old pictures of big fish. With this in mind, I will try to get the picture taken on Dec. 3, 1981 of Harry Hays standing next to a 455 pound giant goliath grouper in Anglers Outlook.

Captain Wright Taylor reports the CCA June fishing tournament spawned 22 boats, 13 of which weighed in the target redfish. Six boats had two fish. Their monthly tournaments are held the first Sunday of each month.

The winners of the June event were: First place went to the team of Kish, Emerine and McElvey with two reds weighing in at 11.47 pounds; second place went to the team of Mullendore and Hoover with two reds weighing in at 10.63 pounds; third place went to the Pruitt with two reds weighing in at 10.28; forth place went to the team of Houlihan and Williams with two reds weighing in at 9.40 pounds; fifth place went to the team of Aldacosta and Zumfelde with two reds weighing in at 7.45 pounds; largest redfish went to the team of Eggleston with a 6.62 pound redfish.

A special thanks to Sunshine Ace Hardware for co-sponsoring and bringing the cold drinks and a $50 gift card to the store and to Kidd’s Quality Cleaning for sponsoring the Big Fish of the Year Award. The person who catches the largest redfish of the year will win $500.

Their next tournament will be on June 1. It all starts at dawn with members arriving and entering the tournament. Non members can also come, join the CCA and enter the tournament at Calusa Yacht Club & Marina in Goodland.

You may call Wright Taylor at (239)821-9203 or Terry Metzger (239)597-4973 for more information.

I hear a lot of talk about the price of fuel for the boat and how it has changed our boating lifestyle.

Some have reduced their number of fishing and cruising outings or limited the distance they travel. Others are boat pooling, sharing the fuel cost and others have just sold their boat or downsized. We are not the only ones that are buckling down on boat expenses.

A good example of the fuel problem really came to light when I received an email from Marco angler and public affairs officer of the Marco Island Civil Air Patrol Lt. Col. Richard C. Niess. They too have felt the fuel price crunch and while their operation remains steady and on target the fuel problem really hit the CAP pocketbook.

They have a fundraiser every year but it would be a great gesture to drop a little, or large, donation in the mail. You may call them at (239)389-1273 or mail it to Marco Island CAP, P.O. Box 225, Marco Island, FL 34146-0225. Visit their Web site at www.marcoislandcap.org.

Who knows it may save your life or someone dear to you. I will try to have an update on the CAP in the near future.

Have a great two weeks!

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Red Stier is a biweekly contributor to the Marco Island Eagle. Questions or comments may be directed to redstier@aol.com or 172 Trinidad St., Naples, FL 34113.