Catch fish for science

The waters surrounding Fort DeSoto are among the best fishing areas in Tampa Bay when it comes to snook and spotted sea trout. The flats are a favorite hunting ground for waders and kayak fishermen as well as anglers in traditional flats boats.

But as you fish the grass beds this fall keep an eye out for fish that look like they have had some stomach surgery. Sixty fish - 30 snook and 30 trout - have been implanted with sonic tags that enable scientists to track their spawning patterns.

These tags are not like the one many fishermen are familiar. Unlike traditional tags, which are usually implanted along the dorsal fin and are clearly visible with the naked eye, the sonic tags are inside the fish. Anglers may notice some sutures or a scar pattern along the skin, but that is it, because many fish lose the more obvious dorsal fin tag.

Anglers who catch and release a tagged snook or trout can report the the catch to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg by calling 1-800-367-4461 or by e-mailing the report to tagreturn@myfwc.com.

Please include the tag number found on the tag dart (if available), fish length, capture date, location and time, as well as the angler's name, address, phone number and e-mail.

Although anglers are encouraged to release tagged fish, if a fish is kept, please leave the internal organs intact so a biologist can pick up the carcass and the sonic tag.

Terry Tomalin, Outdoors Editor

Largest salt marsh planting in history

More than 350 volunteers will plant a record-setting 30,000 marsh grasses on 34 acres of the Terra Ceia Aquatic Preserve today. Salt marsh grasses such as Spartina alterniflora (smooth cord grass) help stabilize the shoreline, which in turn allows mangroves to take root.

The trees, along with the salt marsh and sea grass beds, are critical habitat for most recreational and commercially valuable fish and crustaceans. Habitat restoration (and protection) should be the number one issue for recreational anglers in the State of Florida. Closed seasons, bag and size limits will only do so much to protect our sportfish. If we really want to secure the future of our fisheries, the answer is as one senior state biologist put it: "It's habitat, stupid."

Volunteers will be planting the marsh grass on the a series of restored and created tidal ponds and islands in the state preserve  which is located in Manatee County, just north of Palmetto.  While it is too late to help on this project, you can do your share in the future by contact Tampa BayWatch at www.TampaBayWatch.org.

Restoring lost sandbars

Many anglers may curse sandbars, especially after one rips off the lower unit of an outboard motor, but these ever-changing features may just be the key to good fishing.

The Tampa Bay Estuary Program is spearheading a $700,000 project that will restore sandbars to areas of the bay where they once existed. Rebuilding sandbars may help restore sea grass beds, which in turn will provide valuable nursery areas for valuable sport fish such as spotted sea trout, snook and red drum.

During the three decades between 1950 and 1980, Tampa Bay lost nearly 20,000 acres of sea grass due to poor water quality. Tampa Bay also lost about 30 miles of longshore bars during the same time period. These sandbars helped absorb the impact of waves, allowing seas grasses to take root and flourish.

This spring, the Estuary Program will install four 100-foot long bars near MacDill Air Force Base. Researchers will monitor the different designs, which include riprap and geotubes filled with dredged materials, to see which ones work best. Researchers hope to restore 50 acres of sea grass in Hillsborough Bay. If successful, the project will be expanded to other areas of Tampa Bay.

For more information on this and other restoration programs, go to www.tbep.org.

Going Deep for Grouper

What's hot: Grouper fishing has been the most consistent in depths of 90-120 feet. The edges of hard bottom and potholes hold red grouper 8-15 pounds. Live and frozen baits are producing about the same, though most of the larger fish have been attacking the bigger live baits. Since the water temperature is still quite warm, gag grouper action remains slow. Concentrate on ledges and rock piles in these depths and have a well full of frisky live baits.

Tactics: Fall means king mackerel, blackfin tuna and sailfish. While fishing for grouper offshore, it is a very good practice to have a flat-line rod deployed behind the boat. Live baits can be caught quickly on the way offshore in the morning. If the tide is running or there is enough wind, just pitch the bait off the transom. When the wind and tide are slow, deploy this rod with a small balloon.

Tackle: Flat-line rods should be loaded with at least 300 yards of 20- to 25-pound mono in case a big wahoo or king mackerel is hooked while bottom fishing. A high-speed reel with a gear ratio of 5.8-1 or faster also assists you if these fish make their well-known run at the boat.

Steve Papen charters out of Indian Shores and can be reached at fintasticinc.com or at (727) 642-3411.

Help for honey holes

Ever wonder how charter boat captains find those secret spots often referred to as honey holes? Well, more often than not, it is dumb luck. If you spend enough time fishing the flats, eventually you will stumble across a borrow pit or old bomb crater.

It is not secret that many inshore species - including spotted seat trout, snook and red drum - love drop offs and deep holes. The water is usually warmer or colder, depending on the time of year, than the surrounding grass beds.

Anglers targeting these deep areas will often find success fishing these zones, especially during the cooler winter months. But how do you locate you own honey hole? There is the tried and tested method of spending hundreds of hours fishing the flats. Others might suggest a more modern approach, such as surveying the region to be fished by an ultralight airplane.

Even better, try using satellite data. No, you don't need your own space shuttle to launch your own eye in the sky. Thanks to your tax dollars, the multidisciplinary U.S. Geological Survey Tampa Bay Study you can see a new topobathymetric map that merges land elevation and bathymetric data into a high resolution map of Tampa Bay and nearby watersheds. With a spatial resolution of approximately three meters, this map is the highest resolution of any of its kind.

The map is available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1051/.

Artificials Prove Successful

Last trip: The winds were strong and the sky overcast, perfect conditions for artificial lures. The wind allowed us to drift the edges of the mangroves. The overcast skies would increase the strikes when using a topwater plug. We picked the side of the island that had schools of mullet visible on the surface. Using a slow, walk the dog retrieve, we caught trout, mangrove snapper and redfish. When we got a strike the anchor was dropped and the area fan-cast.

Tackle: Topwater plugs will help you catch fish you can't see. Large plugs with a loud rattle help catch the bigger fish. If those plugs spook the fish, use smaller ones with no rattle. The retrieve will depend how the fish react. A steady twitch of the rod tip will make the plug move right and left. If the fish short-strike the lure, move the plug faster or slower. Sometimes they want the plug to move straight and fast. Other times they strike best when the plug is stopped. Keep changing the retrieve until the fish respond. When the sun comes out switch to a lure that runs under the surface.

--Doug Hemmer charters out of St. Petersburg. He can be reached at (727) 347-1389.

No relief for red snapper

Recreational anglers hoping to be able to catch more than two red snapper when they head offshore can keep dreaming. Federal officials have decided to extend the current regulations until a final plan can be adopted.

The National Marine Fisheries Service implemented the interim measures earlier this year after biologists determined the stocks were undergoing "overfishing," but a more accurate term that could be used to describe what is happening to the fishery would be "overshrimping."

Environmental and sport fishing groups accuse the federal government and its representatives, i.e., NMFS and the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, of having an all-too cozy relationship with the commercial shrimp industry.

Each year, millions of juvenile red snapper are killed in shrimp trawls. The feds have been slow to act, many say because of the inordinate amount of seats held by commercial interests on the Gulf Council.

In March, a federal judge ruled that the NMFS failed to abide by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act by failing to address the shrimp bycatch. The lawsuit, brought by the Coastal Conservation Association on behalf of millions of recreational anglers, prompted the Gulf Council to reduce by shrimp bycatch by 74 percent.

The battle is far from over. For more information go to www.cccaflorida.org.

Terry Tomalin, Outdoors Editor

Hunt for reds in October

Anglers looking to do their share for science can sign up now for a unique "fin clip" tournament that will help researchers from Mote Marine Laboratory understand the life history of red drum.

The St. Petersburg tournament, scheduled for Oct. 27 and 28 at the family Boating and Marine Center of Bay Pines, is patterned after a similar event in Titusville, now in its ninth year. The East Coast tournament is one of the most popular inshore fishing competitions in the state, drawing as many as 900 anglers over a two-day period.

Entrants - including juniors, ladies and seniors - can fish from boat, canoe, kayak, bridge, pier as well as wade. Professional guides and tournament anglers will be on hand Oct. 27 for a kids fishing clinic that will show youngsters how to tie knots, cast, identify fish species, and other valuable fishing skills.

Over the years, Mote and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have released more than 4 million juvenile redfish into Tampa Bay waters. The fin clips collected by anglers will help researcher with ongoing DNA studies.

For information, call (727) 392-9303.

Terry Tomalin, Outdoors Editor

Grouper moving inshore

What's hot: Offshore grouper fishing is moving inshore. Nice-sized gag grouper are being caught in 40 to 45 feet of water. Capt. Garner Koons caught a limit of gags in 45 feet of water Sunday south of Egmont Channel. Koons reported seeing lots of legal gags, hogfish and mangrove snapper. The water temperature is in the low 80s and working its way down with each day. Kingfish and cobia will be arriving soon. Look for bait schools to arrive first and the kings will be right behind. Koons reported that the effects of the red tide from two years ago have diminished and the shallow areas are looking alive again.

Tackle/tactics: Shallow grouper fishing requires locked down drags and an aggressive retrieve to catch gags as heavy as 10 pounds. You will find the gags on small ledges, and the fish can get you caught in the coral. You must reel first to take the stretch out of the line, then pump the rod and reel as fast as you can. Once you get the fish moving up, slow down and take your time. Shallow-water fish are aggressive, and the action is short but intense. Depending on the visibility, 50-pound class tackle with small weights should be used with a 5-0 offset J-hook. Leaders should be 2 feet of fluorocarbon. Dead bait such as frozen sardines and squid work great, but small pinfish or pilchard will entice the big gags.

--Larry Hoffman

Now that's some fishing line

Scuba divers from the Ocean Conservancy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration nd the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation have removed more than 2,500 pounds of discarded fishing gear (monofilament line and 90 fishing nets) from the waters beneath the South Sunshine Skyway Fishing Pier.

The underwater cleanup will continue Sept. 24 through 28. Volunteers are needed and will depart from the Ft. DeSoto Boat Ramp.

Discarded fishing gear is a major killer of everything from manatees to sea turtles. Monofilament line can remain intact and int he ecosystem for 600 years. From 200 to 2006, 58 stranded dolphins were found tangled in fishing line or sick because of hook ingestion; 298 sea turtles were found entangled, as were 26 manatees.

More than 80 percent of this trash comes from land-based activity, which means you can do your share to keep the oceans cleaner. For a list of ten things you can do to stop marine debris, go to www.oceanconservancy.org/icc.

To help in next week's cleanup, contact Jessica Koelsch at (727) 895-2188, ext. 14 or e-mail her at jkoelsch@oceanconservancy.org.

Terry Tomalin, Outdoors Editor