A Good Day For Flounder...and snapper

 Wow what a beautiful day that greeted us when we left the Goffinsville Park boat ramp this morning! I had met high school team mates and friends Daniel Rhodes, Tony French, and Daniel's cousin and local angler Michael Green out for a "fun" day of fishing. We left the dock and headed down the Nassau to the Spanish Drop area with a the tide still having a couple of hours to go out. The trio of anglers began tossing jigs and shrimp and minnows. There was bait running and getting "busted" all over and it was just a matter of time before we had a hookup. Tony got the excitement started when he had a bite and as his drag began to sing, we knew for sure it was a Shark. Tony played it patiently and after a long battle, boated a 4' Bonnethead.

Michael had gotten in to the groove and was making excellent casts and when he felt a strange "bump" he set the hook and brought to the boat and big 18" Flounder. We worked along that edge, picked up a small Redfish or two, tangled with some Ladyfish, Jack Crevalle, and a Stingray, then moved on up the

river.

Here, Tony went to the edge of a mud flat with a cast and BAM, another keeper sized Flounder in the boat.  Michael was sticking right there with him, went to a drainage and he too brought another keeper Flounder to the box. The tide hit bottom and turned back in so we made the run over to Seymore's Pointe where we switched to jigs and shrimp, tossed up to some rocks. All three anglers put some Mangrove Snapper in the boat, with a couple of them being of keeper size. We then ran down to Broward Island and fished a nice drainage under the watchful eye of a couple of Bald Eagles. I think that was the only spot we didn't catch a fish!

After moving up the way and setting up parallel to the bank we stayed with the jigs and it paid off. Tony hooked up and landed a few nice 12" Mangrove Snapper. We also had a small Sheepshead and a couple of smaller Snapper. We then made the run back to Nassauville and fished between some docks. Here, the catching was fast and furious. Although it was a challenge to get those Mangrove's on a hook, they did it and added another good handful to the box, with Daniel, persevering, landing the last keeper. Tony had made a good cast up near rocks and BAM! He had a bump the minute it hit bottom. Tony set the hook and played to the boat a big 22.25" Flounder - a fish big enough to move him into third place in the Anglers Mark 2021 Bragging Rights Tournament-Flounder Category(scroll down the right side of this report for standings). I think we added one more keeper Flounder to make the total of six, then we headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing with friends here at Amelia Island, Florida.

In Search Of Flounder

 

Yesterday we were just trying to catch a fish and ended up catching two nice Flounder. Today we had a special request to catch a Flounder and it was nip and tuck there for a while! I had met the Mitchell family - Ryan and Christina and their two children Lucy and Ryan IV out at the Goffinsville Park boat ramp with a tide that still had about an hour or so of going out. We headed down to the Spanish Drop area and set up at a large outflow and began tossing jigs and shrimp.  It wasn't long before these anglers were catching fish. (Most of the time the adults did the casting and catching but then handed them off to the First and Second Mate to do the reeling in). We had a string of "junk" fish, but fun to catch - Ladyfish and Jack Crevalle.

When the tide changed we moved down the bank a bit and began fishing
some exposed oyster shell and sure enough, we had some good bites. Both Ryan and Christina reeled in a couple of feisty Redfish. Ryan picked up a couple of hungry Seatrout then they landed a hard fighting Black "puppy" Drum to tally an Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Seatrout and Drum.

We followed the tide in and ran around to Broward Island, fishing deeper with the jigs, and picked up some rather large Mangrove Snapper then a couple of more small Red's. Then Ryan had a "bump", hooked it up, and worked to the boat. Sheepshead to notch the "Grande Slam". After moving down the island we fished a small bend and here, after a long wait, Christina got her Flounder - a Super Grand Slam!

We finished the day back at Nassauville catching Mangrove Snapper and got enough for the family to take home and make some Snapper Taco's, so we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.

Welcome Mat

I was back to work today, this time fishing with Steve and Carron Frost after meeting them down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early. We made a short run up the Nassau River and stopped to fish a large marsh run out with jigs and live shrimp. The tide was at dead low and we noticed we had not much of a current and the fishing was slooooww. But the duo did catch a wide variety of "junk" fish - High flying Ladyfish, Jack Crevalle, Shark and Stingray. Then the tide and current changed, started back in, and we were catching small but feisty Redfish, one after the other. It was a bonanza! We fished it until the bite slowed then moved on.

Our next stop was down at Broward Island on the first of an incoming tide. Both Carron and Steve caught and landed a feisty Red, then Steve had a strong hookup and the battle was joined! This fish was ripping drag and making those deep digs and we felt sure it was an ice Redfish, but then it wrapped itself on a submerged log and the line went tight. But Steve was up to

the task, kept light pressure on it, and sure enough the fish came out and, Fish On! Steve worked it to the boat and landed a nice 22.25" copper colored Redfish.

We moved down the way, easing underneath a Bald Eagle, then set up fishing. Steve put a couple of small Reds then he pitched up into a cove. He had a hit but not a taker. Then he went back to the same spot and BAM! :He had a hookup. This fish was fighting differently and sure enough, when he brought it to the net, it was very nice 16" Flounder. 

After crossing the river se switched to float rigs and tangled with a big Jack Crevalle and an even bigger Bonnethead Shark. 

We were getting low on bait and low on time but had one more stop left in is. After getting set we these anglers switched back to jigs and shrimp and in no time they were tangling with some Mangrove Snapper. We'd lose 4-5 shrimp then catch a fish and ended up with a good handful of keeper fish. Carron had made an excellent cast off to one side and she said she had a strange bite, and a hookup. She worked it slowly to the boat and Steve was the one that saw a huge maw of a mouth. Carron brought  it to the net and landed a huge 23.25" Door Mat of a Flounder! Boy what a fish! And big enough to move her squarely in to 2nd place in the Anglers Mark 2021 Bragging Rights Tournament-Flounder Category (scroll down the right side of this report to see standings). And what a fish to wrap up a great day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Recipe Of The Month: Mangrove Snapper Quesadillas

 I had a couple of days off and had been talking to Carol about how we have been catching MangroveSnapper so she put in to take a fun fishing trip. We fished an incoming tide and it was a bit slow, although we did catch a couple of small Seatrout and a small Redfish. Then, as the tide got up, we made the short run to a Mangrove Snapper fishing hole and tossed jigs and shrimp and sure enough, they began to bite. We stayed long enough to get our limit then headed in with plans to make some Mangrove Snapper Quesadillas:

Mangrove Snapper Quesadilla

 -makes 4 Quesadilla’s

(5) Mangrove Snapper = 10 fillets

Bag of vegi-slaw

 Remoulade sauce

Jar of Salsa

Sour Cream

Quesadilla rounds

Cajun Seasoning

Shredded Mexican cheese

Butter or olive oil for frying

 

Clean and check for bones in Snapper filets. Season lightly with Cajun seasoning.

Heat butter or olive oil in cast iron skillet. When hot, fry Snapper filets for a few minutes on each side until done.

Ladle Remoulade sauce down middle of Quesadilla round. Lay 2-3 Snapper filets over Remoulade sauce. Spread sour cream. Layer vegi-slaw. Ladle Salso. Sprinkle Mexican cheese. Roll up and eat. Have napkin handy.

Kids Time To Shine

 

I wrapped the week up today fishing with two guys and their excited kids. I met Charlie Moye, his son Gray and his buddy Bo and Bo's daughter Blakely down at the  south end boat ramp early. It was a beautiful morning and a great time to get some kids out on the water fishing. We made run up thru Back River and around to Pumpkin Hill and set up along a flooded marsh line and started drifting floats and live shrimp with the current. We had a couple of quick "pecks" that stole our baits then their was a loud ripping noise and Charlie had a big one on! He was getting quite a lot of encouragement and coaching from both Gray and Blakely and he was up tot he task! I saw that his reel was getting thin so we "backed down" on the hard fighting fish as Charlie caught up to it then the battle was on. Charlie worked it patiently to the boat, let it run when it wanted to, worked it back, and eventually landed a nice 4' Bonnethead Shark. Boy what a fish!

We came back to Seymore's Pointe and fished a large drainage, had a couple of bites, but no takers, then moved around to some rocks and set up to fish close with the float rigs. There was an explosion of excitement from the kids when the  dads began catching Mangrove Snapper. They put a good handful in the box and swopped off letting the kids catch and reel in some of their own. I was real impressed how they worked the kids in to the fishing experience. Both Blakely and Gray took turns netting fish, catching fish, supplying bait and "coaching" up their dads.

After getting a good dinner's worth of fish, we moved down the way and switched to jigs for the first time of the day and caught another good handful of the Mangroves.  Our last stop was down at Spanish Drop n hopes of bigger fish but all we hooked up was a couple of high flying Ladyfish and a  hard fighting Jack Crevalle. But it had  been an eventful day and we had some good action for the kids so we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

We Had To Work For 'em But We Caught 'em

 When I saw the weather last night I was a little concerned about rain, but when I woke up this morning the forecast was a bit better. There was some wind that was going to pick up as the day went along but it was definitely fishable! I met Bob Miller and his fishing partner Lee down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early. There was just a slight breeze of 8mph and an ugly horizon south of us but I checked the radar and it all looked good for where we were going to be fishing. We ran up the intercoastal and dipped into Jackstaff and then into a smaller creek to fish a large marsh run out. The duo of anglers were tossing float rigs and live shrimp and getting good drifts and.....not a bite!

We crossed back over to Jackstaff, worked a bank with the floats for a bit, then switched to jigs and shrimp and we did tangle with a couple of high flying Ladfish, and a Catfish. Not a good start!

After running thru Horsehead and down to Spanish Drop we

stayed with the jigs and baited them up with some Mud Minnows. This helped out the "catch ratio". Lee hooked up and expertly landed a keeper sized 17" Flounder that went in the box. We eased along that bank and another and both anglers caught a feisty Redfish or two. The wind was picking up a bit  so we made the run up to some docks at Seymore's Pointe and here we caught a handful of Mangrove Snapper, a small Trout, and a small Sea Bass. 

We tried fishing down along Nassauville but the boat wasn't holding so we dropped back and fished some more dock pilings. Bob was hot on the stern, doing battle with the Mangroves and putting a keeper in the boat now and then. Lee pitched deep with a jig and shrimp and hooked up and landed a keeper sized Seatrout.  These two anglers had to work for their fish but after a half day of fishing they had a mice "mess" of fish in the box so as we headed in, we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Flounder and Mangroves Go Together!

 

I was back to work today, fishing with Suzanna Braun and her son Michael after meeting them down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early this morning. The wind was so still the sand gnats were back so we hurriedly left the dock and headed up the intercoastal to make our first stop at the mouth of Jackstaff where we deployed jigs and live shrimp to the exposed shell bank. There was plenty of bait moving along the edges and both anglers were getting excellent casts and it was Suzanna who "knocked the skunk off" with a strange hookup. She eased it to the net and landed a nice keeper sized 17" Flounder.  She picked uip one more undersized Flounder then it was Michaels turn - he had made a good cast and the minute it hit bottom, BAM! He had a bite. Michael worked it patiently to the boat and landed another keeper sized Flounder.

We then ran thru Horsehead and around to Spanish Drop to a large marsh runout and boy was there a ton of bait! But maybe too much! We eased along the bank, pitching our baits up to the

shell and slowly working them back. Both anglers caught a feisty Redfish or two along that stretch. We dropped back and cast net for some finger mullet, then moved on up to the next drainage. The duo tangled with Ladyfish, Michael picked up another small Flounder and a Jack Crevalle, then we decided to try our hand with the Mangroves. 

After switching to float rigs and getting their  baits up near the rocks it wasn't long before we had action. Suzanna was in the groove and caught some nice fish, the biggest coming in at 13". Michael was playing cat and mouse with the small ones but he hung in there and finally got one of keeper size. We blew thru the rest of our bait, but added a good handful of the 11-13" Snapper to the box, then headed back to the ramp, counting it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.  

Where Did The Drum Come From?

 I fished with Hugh and Jan Hunter today. who were visiting the island and celebrating their much deserved retirement. Although the weather forecast called for about a 60% chance of rain, we planned to go anyway! I met them up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp and we headed north and west, over to the Jolley River and set up alongside some exposed oyster beds on the first of an incoming tide. We eased along the bank, pitching jigs and live shrimp with Jan on the bow and Hugh taking up the stern. At first I thought we were in "Croakerville" because that's all we caught the first few fish that came to the boat. Then Jan had a strong hookup and after playing the fish patiently, she brought to the net a nice keeper sized Black "puppy" Drum. Then her and Hugh traded catches and landing a handful of Black Drum. Then the both put a couple of feisty Redfish in the boat then Jan added a keeper sized Seatrout to the catch.

We ran further up the Jolley, switched to float rigs and now we were in "Baitstealerville" - perch and more perch and small Mangrove Snapper.  With no big fish biting, we ran back, around the Tyger Island and up in behind them to fish the logs. Jan pulled out another Black Drum and we had numerous bites. As we drifted along, pitching to the bank, and now around at the marsh grass, Jan had a strong bite and her drag ripped, Fish On! But within secondsd, Fish Off! Ouch. But only a cast or two later she had a another big hookup and this one she worked to the net to land a nice 17" Seatrout.  After running thru and over to the Bell River we set up alongside some flooded shell beds. Hugh found a hot spot off the stern and put a couple hungry Seatrout in the boat, then Jan, who had put a nice cast up behind a grassy island, had her float "bob", then sit there. After a while she reeled it in and seemed like she might have an oyster shell. But the "shell" started pulling back and she realized she had a fish on. Jan worked it slowly to the boat and we netted a Flounder to give the couple an Amelia Island Grande Slam of Redfish, Seatrout, Black Drum and Flounder. 

We wrapped up fishing over at Lanceford Creek, fishing the last of the incoming tide and finished things off with a couple of small Jack Crevalle bites then we headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

It Was A First For Me

I've heard of anglers fighting fish and having a Shark attack the fish. I've had an angler hookup with anice Redfish on my boat, reel it in, and only half the fish be there. I've seen Dolphin "busting" bait up near the shore and even coming out of the water. But today was the first time I saw a Shark attacking Redfish up along the shoreline. I always thought it was the Dolphin that were the main predators.

I was fishing with Darryl and Tanya Gainsford, having met them down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early this morning. We had made short run up the Nassau River and stopped at Spanish Drop, turned into the tide that had just started in, and began tossing jigs and live shrimp to the bank. Darryl go things started off by hooking up and landing a hungry Flounder, then Tanya followed that up with a feisty Redfish catch. Both anglers then put a handful of those

smaller Reds in the boat before Darryl had the strong bite, a hookup, and his drag began to rip. Darryl fought the fish patiently and soon landed a nice 23" Slot Redfish. (All fish caught today were released). Tanya also tangled with a couple of  Ladfish. We had done so well on the first pass we decided to do it again. This time we didn't have near the bites but we were seeing a lot of Sharks cruising the shore line. Then, behind us there was a commotion and we turned to look  you could see a 4-5' shark "bust" a Slot sized Redfish and it came out of the water and landed up on the bank of oysters! It then flopped back in, there was a commotion and then...the water was still.  We continued to fish and then Darryl commented, "here comes that Shark", and you could see it rapidly cruising the bank, then BAM! Another huge commotion, a Shark with a Redfish in its mouth, then a bobbing Redfish tail, then the Shark circled back and the tail slowly disappeared! It was really neat to see the wild in action! I'm going to assume that the Shark was not a Bonnethead-I've never seen them do that. 

We ran further up the river, fished a marsh runout, then continued on up to a dock to fish some pilings. Here the duo caught a couple of Mangrove Snapper and a Pinfish. We then headed down to Broward Island and set up out deep, pitching to the shore with a stump as our target. Darryl got hot and put a couple of Sheepshead in the boat, a Mangrove Snapper and a Redfish or two.

The wind had picked up but not so bad that we couldn't try Pumpkin Hill and boy am I glad!  We had switched to float rigs and were tossing them up to the bank with live shrimp and getting some decent drifts. We had a few bites then Darryl's float slowly went under and started heading south. Darryl caught up the slack, lifted his rod and set the circle hook and, Big Fish On!  We knew it

was big. It didn't act like it thought it was caught and just bulled down. Darryl kept the pressure on, walked it around the boat to deep water, then back again, then up to the bow, then back to the stern, around the engine, and wore it out.  After a long and patient battle, Darryl brought to the net a big Oversized 30.5" Redfish for pictures and release. Boy what a fish! They picked up a couple of more smaller Reds, a hard fighting Jack Crevalle, and a Catfish. Tanya put a 9-spot Redfish in the boat and then followed that up with the only Seatrout catch of the day, one that measured right at 17".  Although the skies were dreary and  overcast, as we headed in  we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

FWC Redfish Summit News You Should Know About

Carol and I attended the first annual Redfish Summit hosted by the Florida Wildlife and Fish Commission (FWC) down in Ocala yesterday. It was a very informative event  and well organized Summit. The FWC, along with their sponsors (Coastal Conservation Association, American Sport Fish Association, Sea & Shoreline Aquatic Restoration and the Fish & Wildlife Foundation) did an outstanding job in welcoming attendees, their presentations, and facilitations of information and discussions. It was truly an eye opening event in more ways than one! I was surprised to receive a nice "bucket" of material - goodies to take home and handouts to read later. The entire Summit was well organized, well run and the agenda ran smoothly. Even a slight hiccup from trying to share a room with another breakout group was quickly remedied with a 3-minute move to a quieter area of our group-NE Florida.

There had to have been well over 100 people attending from all over the state of Florida. Of that large group, there were only 10-12 people representing the NE Florida Region. Of those 10-12 people, I think Carol and I were the only ones from the Jacksonville, Amelia Island area(I could be wrong on this-I didn't pole the others, but from their comments, they seemed south of us). If you are an angler in Fernandina Beach or the Jacksonville area, you really need to be aware of the following comments. If you are a Guide or Charter boat captain, You REALLY need to be aware of  them. 

There were a number of presenters who went over data that they have accumulated over the years, discussing Redfish biology, sustainability, stock assessments and Redfish management, past, present and the future. . (Click on image at right to enlarge) Amazing, eye opening stuff. For me, I have already begun to sense the dire issues down in south west Florida with issues with Red Tide, evidently a natural occurring event but compounded by human/manufacturing waste run off, and all over  south Florida with algae blooms and fish die-offs and fishing pressure. Before the trip I had had a conversation with my Ft. Myers cousin where he described miles and miles of dead lobsters during his last visit to the Florida Keys

But here in NE Florida, specifically at Amelia Island, we've had a relatively great fishery. But are the issues heading our way? According to the sentiment of the other 8 NE Florida attendees who reside just south of us in St. Johns County and Flagler County, yes, our fishery is declining. I was somewhat surprised that they were struggling to find Redfish. I know I track each trip that I do and most of them I rate as "average". Once in a rare while we will have a bad trip, and a few times in the month we will have an outstanding trip, but I haven't noticed a downward trend in our catch rates.

After the main presentations and after lunch we broke out into smaller groups and of course, we were in the NE Region. I have no idea what the much larger, south Florida and west Florida regions talked about. BUT, I was actively engaged in our NE Florida break out session. After all discussion we 11 attendees were asked take some Red Dots and rate what of the issues, comments, suggestions were most important to us. We could put one dot on each item, or 3 dots or all 10 dots on each item if that was really important to us. I took some pictures of the comment/issue boards and you can see for yourself what issues garnered the most "dots".  The top issues NE Florida attendees "voted" on were Declining Numbers, Increasing Fishing Pressure, and Water Quality. Again, most of these NE Florida attendees were south of us. I spoke personally to a few of them and they attested to the difficulty of finding Redfish to catch. I haven't experienced that here at Amelia Island, BUT I can surely see the increased pressure. I told Carol one day recently that "if I fish 6 trips a week, 4 of them have either just moved here or they're looking to buy". The boat ramps have gotten so crazy on weekends that I quit booking trips on Saturday and Sunday (I probably will pick up weekends this Fall and Winter). Sooner or later the fishing pressure will surely begin to affect our fish stock. I really hope we never see the poor water quality and fish die offs that our south neighbors are experiencing.  Again, you can "click" on the image to enlarge it.

Now for the really good stuff! As you see on the image the left (click on to enlarge), the overwhelming sentiment of the 11-12 people representing the NE Florida group "voted" to change the limits on Redfish to (1) per angler. Don't like that? You should have been there. FYI, I actually voted for that, too. If I have 4 people on my boat, I really don't like killing 8 Slot Redfish, but that's just my opinion. I take a fish home once in a while and don't begrudge others, but taking home fish to feed the neighborhood with a fish fry is a time gone by. Maybe I'm just getting old. But there were some suggestions proposed that I thought  were "off the wall", fringe, restrictive regulations, see the below, right image. This is where those of you that have interested in our fishery need to step up and participate. As you can see most did not garner any real support: Closed Season, Reduce Vessel Limit to 1 (can you imagine the march on Tallahassee?) Artificial Lures Only, Catch and Release Only(a 2nd march on Tallahassee?). But I don't laugh as much about that when I know there is a Catch and Release order right now for Redfish down in the South West area of Florida. Still, I've had a long sinking suspicion that there is a growing demographic of folks that are "anti-angler" who would rather we don't fish at all. I've seen internet videos of altercations between anglers and anti fishers and I've experienced first hand 

conversations with those that I sense would rather we not be taking fish from the sea. You need to be aware of this. Read that again. You need to be aware of it. 

And then there were comments related to Guides and Charter Boat Captains. Readers need to know that there are over 60 guides and Charter boat captains working out of Amelia Island. A third of those are strictly "off shore". Many do the jetties and rivers only. Many like myself, stay inshore/backwater. Some try to stay on the flats and a good number do tours and sightseeing trips. There's a good number that are "full time" with fishing as their main income, then there are others that have other jobs and use charter fishing as a way to fill in.  There are Guides that have retired from previous careers and now use fishing as supplement income- and because they love to fish! Each year there's a few new Guides added to the list, and then there are a handful that don't make it businesswise, or retire, or move. That  said, with over 60 it's a competitive small business we are running and with  over 60 of us, that's a substantial economic impact. As I commented at the Summit, the market will determine whether these Guides make it as a business here at Amelia Island. The State doesn't need to limit it. If the Guide can't run a small business, doesn't brand or market his service correctly, or doesn't produce a good product, he/she will eventually be out of business. BUT, as with the growing "anti-angler" sentiment, there is (and probably always have been) an anti-Guide sentiment. This was very evident at the Summit.

As a side, it's amazing to me sometimes how the every day angler will blame we Guides for their issues. I see it at the boat ramp daily. I'll be tied up at the dock, with plenty of space for another boat to come in, and they will get angry because I'm in THEIR spot. I've figured out that THEIR spot is the only place that they feel comfortable bringing their boat to. If they need to dock in any other location, they're not experienced enough to maneuver their boat to that location so they get angry at we Guides rather than learning to operate their boat. 

I see on my boat every day that experienced anglers tend to catch more fish. Even with that, there's always a chance of having a bad day. And there's always a chance that an inexperienced angler will have a good day and catch the fish of a lifetime. Either way I try to do the best job I can to ensure that all guests have a good time. THAT SAID,  just because some anglers aren't catching Redfish doesn't mean they aren't there! Don't blame it on the Guides if you're not caching fish, especially here in our area.  The way I understood one of the presenters data, the stocks in NE Florida are looking really good. My last few trips we have had handfuls of small "rat reds" caught, once in a while a Slot or two, and each week a few oversized Redfish. All in all, a good average bit of fishing.  I guestimate that half of my customers release all their fish. Many of my guests will keep  few to take home and throw others back that they could have legally kept. And then I will have a few that want to catch and keep and take as many as they can. Like I told the scientist at the Summit, "I rely on you folks to set the rules as to what is sustainable and healthy for the fish population", so if the rule is 2 Reds per person, 18-27", then that's what I'm going to go by and allow on my boat.

In the above image you can see some of the suggestions that were brought up. I was the first to speak and gave my opinion on the first three. I didn't have an issue with 1) Reducing Bag Limit for Anglers On For Hire Trips. As I already mentioned, keeping and killing 8 Redfish on 4 person trip is an overkill in my opinion. It's rare that happens on my boat, but it has happened. Our Florida fishery is under severe pressure and sustaining our Redfish stock and keeping our fishery healthy is important. We Guides have to balance providing a good product to our customers, keeping in mind that we can't place the stock in dire straits. The days of "filling the cooler" are slipping by (there were days when the old timers put EVERY fish in the cooler, and kept all the huge Bull Redfish they could keep). Truth be told, most of the Guides I know would rather throw most fish back. 

2) Limited-Entry License. This is where I opined that the market would limit the number of  Guides and Captains. There will always be Captains that get in on a shoe-string, and some will make it-it's their dream, but many will fall by the way side. That particular item evolved into Item#4 - Increase requirements for Captains/Guide license. I mentioned to the group that our Amelia Island Guides Association requires all of its Guide Members to provide proof of Liability Insurance, their US Coast Guard License, and their FWC License. I joked with Carol on the way home that it might be kinda nice for the State to take over the responsibility of gathering that information-as the Secretary/Treasurer of the AIGA it's like pulling teeth to get all the paperwork in! My biggest concern, spoken at the breakout session, was that established Guides and Captains would use the State to limit their competition with more and expensive regulations. I've seen it done, here at Amelia Island (see the $1500 fee that the City of Fernandina charges Guides to launch at the Marina). I understand the need for Liability Insurance and can't imagine a Guide business not having it. Again, if they don't, and something happens, they'll be out of business soon. In my opinion this idea came from some Guide(s) that  wanted to limit competition. Are they wanting to limit licenses? I can still remember here in Fernandina growing up there was one man that held all the Liquor Licenses and thus owned all the bars. What a limit on competition that was! Can you imagine the back room dealings as to who get's a Captain's License?

3) No Bag Limit For Captain and Crew. As I mentioned at the Summit, I already do this. I don't count in the "take" on my boat. It's only been the last few years but I quit counting my self so I wouldn't have a problem with this becoming an established law. 

Solving Issues was another topic. This image is hard to see as it was stuck on window. But as you can see down at the bottom, #6 is Improved Access to Law Enforcement and was a popular, and voted on suggestion. That was basically a suggestion of a better "hot line" or Text Line to alert FWC officers of illegal harvesting.  This was not necessarily to be used to bust an uneducated (that was a topic) angler who happens to have a 17.5" Redfish, but those that have 13 undersized, Slot and Oversized fish in their bucket. You can read the other suggestions that came up but didn't garner much support. 

Items that did have a lot of support (I suggested #9) was to have an FWC "Ambassador" program where anglers could get certified by the FWC on some of these conservation, management, stock assessment issues - basically talking points, then be available to speak at fishing clubs, association, etc. in order to educate the public on where we are with the stocks, go over the rules and regulations, etc.

Note that item #10 had some support. This idea would create some Public Service Assistants, kina like a Public Service Officer in a police department. These PSA's wouldn't have arrest or citing capability, but they would be the eyes and ears (and possibility as Ambassador's?) for the FWC at boat ramps, etc. 

That's a long read! Thank you for hanging in there. IF you got down to this paragraph note that there will be Public Workshops thru-out the State of Florida on these very topics in October. Our area is scheduled for  6pm Tuesday October 12th, at the Southeast Regional Library 10599 Deerwood Park Blvd, Jacksonville. 

As we get closer and they put links up I will post them.

If you think you would like to have some input or don't like what you've just read, then it behooves you to attend and let you opinion known. It was my observation that these FWC staff members are trying to take in as much observations, information and opinions as they can from the public, and then take into account all the scientific data that they have collected then make recommendations to the Commission and ultimately the law makers who set the rules. I mean, that's all they can do, right?  You might have an entirely different outlook or opinion than I do and that's fine. But don't be bitch'n if you haven't at least spoken up and let the FWC know how you feel!  You can also make public comments to the FWC HERE.