Some are finding success fishing in the winter
By Rick Farren
DEMOCRAT WRITER
Leave it to a pair of snowbirds to show us you can still fish on the beach in the winter. One day earlier this week, there were two people fishing off the beach in St.George Island State Park. That's two anglers along 4 miles of beach.
The immediate thought might be they just don't know any better, except for the fact they were happily catching fish, and had been catching fish for days.
Richard and Danny Reeves, who volunteer at St.George Island State Park, are spending a month of their retirement helping to build a new pavilion while also enjoying the outdoor opportunities our area has to offer. Apparently, nobody told them our tourist season is in the summer.
A part of the growing number of winter visitors fondly known as snowbirds, they were more than happy to leave their native Virginia weather behind in favor of North Florida's "balmier" climate.
Granted, they were catching whiting, which aren't the sportiest of fish, but excellent table fare nonetheless.
No one taught them how to catch whiting in the surf, yet they figured it out with a little trial and error.
"We tried using those things," said Richard, pointing to a sand spike normally used to hold a fishing rod so the angler can sit back and do nothing. "But we had trouble telling the strikes from the wave action on the line."
Instead, they decided to apply what they already knew about fishing.
"We fish for bass back home, so we're used to moving the bait a little at a time while keeping the line tight," Richard said.
It was obviously working, since I had to keep ducking out of the way while one or the other set the hook on yet another fish.
By moving the bait a little at a time they also had discovered the best way to locate where whiting were holding in the surf. Casting no more than 30 yards offshore, they moved the bait closer and closer to shore until they got a hit.
"They're right there at the edge," Danny pointed out, while reeling another half-pound fish out of the surf and up the beach slope.
They also found that by holding the rods the fish they caught were hooked in the lip, "which makes it a lot easier to release the small ones," Richard said.
They also discovered they could catch more fish with smaller hooks and smaller pieces of frozen shrimp.
"It works better because of the way the whiting's mouth is small and turns down," Danny said.
The pull-offs, which provide boardwalk beach access in the park, are numbered beginning with No.1 just inside the front gate. The Reeves were fishing at No.1, but on previous days they had caught whiting, lots of whiting, at numbers 7, 9 and 10.
There is no size limit or bag limit on whiting, but releasing the ones that are too small to make a good filet only makes sense.
"They are good deep fried or pan fried," Danny said.
Flats fishing in Apalachee Bay
Capt. Randy Peart will repeat his fishing class on the four seasons of flats fishing in the Big Bend on Feb.4. The Jan.21 class already has filled up. The course includes tackle recommendations, fishing locations and plenty of time for questions and answers. The fishing classes begin at 6:30p.m. and are held at Jerry's Bait and Tackle, 664 Woodville Highway. Seating is limited and reservations can be made by calling 421-3248. Cost is $20 per person.
New rules for offshore species
New fishing regulations are in effect for red grouper, dolphin and wahoo. The daily recreational bag limit for red grouper is now two fish per person (within the five-fish aggregate grouper limit) in Florida state waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The minimum size limit for red grouper remains at 20 inches. The same regulations also apply in Gulf federal waters. Florida state waters extend nine nautical miles offshore in the Gulf.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has also has implemented new measures to protect dolphin and wahoo in state waters. The new rules establish a statewide maximum recreational harvest limit of 60 dolphin per vessel (except 10 dolphin per paying passenger on for-hire vessels) and create a statewide daily two-fish recreational bag limit for wahoo. The sale of recreationally caught dolphin and wahoo is now prohibited except for qualified for-hire vessels. All dolphin and wahoo must be landed in a whole condition. A 10-fish daily bag limit for recreational harvest of dolphin remains in place.
SOLUNAR
A.M. cycles P.M. cycles
Day Minor Major Minor Major
Today 9:00 2:50 9:30 3:15
Saturday 9:55 3:45 10:20 4:05
Sunday 10:45 4:35 11:10 4:55
Monday 11:30 5:20 - 5:45
Tuesday 12:00 6:05 12:15 6:25
Wednesday 12:40 6:45 12:55 7:10
Thursday 1:25 7:30 1:45 7:55
Saturday's tides, 8C
