Tournament raises money for cancer patients

   Anglers from all across the United States gathered in St. Petersburg this week to help sick children in need. Over the past decade, the Mercury Marine Celebrity Fishing Tournament, started by former Tampa Bay Rays general manager Chuck Lamar, has raised more than $1-million for the Tampa-based Pediatric Cancer Foundation.

This year, angler contributions amounted to more than $160,000 to help the find a cure for childhood cancer. John Cumberland of Lutz reeled in a grand slam of redfish, snook and trout on the waters of Tampa Bay.

Guided by Captain Tim Drummond, Cumberland caught a total of 83.5 inches to become the overall winner in the pro-am catch, photograph and release fishing tournament.  Because this tournament was a qualifier for the Florida Keys Outfitters/International Game Fish Association Inshore World Championship in Islamorada July 7-9, 2009, Cumberland will be representing PCF this summer.

In other honors, John Tortorella, the former Tampa Bay Lightning coach, was presented the Ted Williams Award at Friday night’s Fishermen’s Ball, This award honors an individual with a love for the outdoors who is dedicated to his community and to children’s causes. 

Captain Bret Gamrot received the Lucky Strike Award, which recognizes a tournament guide who displays excellent character, quality service and a commitment to finding a cure for pediatric cancers.

Kids pick Osprey to be new state bird

I've probably seen a thousand of them in my lifetime, but every time an osprey flies overhead while I am fishing, I still get goose bumps.

You can keep your brown pelican, when it comes to a bird that represents all that is special about this great state, I'll vote for the osprey.

And apparently so will most of the middle schoolers in Florida. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has announced that the osprey is the winner in a statewide vote of fourth- through eighth-graders to be Florida’s new official state bird.

The FWC and the Department of Education dreamed up this little experiment in democracy to help get the state's youngsters more involved in the great outdoors.

Students across the state did their share of research on birds, and even held debates as they searched for an alternative the current state bird, the mockingbird.

But the lesson is not over. You can follow this initiative as the students’ selection will go through the legislative process to decide if the osprey should become the new state bird.

The FWC has prepared a bill that will go before the Legislature early next year. The bill must be approved by the House, the Senate and Gov. Charlie Crist before the osprey is officially designated as the state bird. To learn more go to http://www.vote4bird.org./.

More than 77,000 students voted for the top ranking birds which included the snowy egret, great egret and black skimmer.

kingfishing a dice game

The fall season is one of the toughest times to fish for big kings. The Suncoast typically has a half dozen tournaments scheduled for October and November, but success is usually measured with a roll of the dice.

The weather may picture perfect for weeks at a time, then a cold front blows through, muddies the water and scatters the bait.

"It has been tough," said Steve Papen of Fintastic Charters who palace sixth in last weekend’s Southern Kingfish Association tournament out of John’s Pass. "Bait was really tough to find and that makes all the difference in the world."

Veterans such as Papen spend long hours looking for bait. He typically likes to enter a torunament with 100 baits in his livewell, but this time of year he will settle for 50.

Most of the Gulf’s wrecks and artificial reefs also hold baitfish this time of year, but these well-known spots tend to get hit hard during the week.

So it is doubtful you will see any anglers fishing this weekend’s Old Salt King of the Beach tournament at any of the more popular spots close to land. When big money is on the line, these waterborne warriors may run as much as 50 miles across heavy seas to fish a spot that has not been worked by other anglers.

But if the wind blows and muddies the water, all bets are off.

Sportfish stocking efforts

  Florida has long been known as the number one saltwater sportfishing destination in the world. Visiting and resident anglers pump more than $5 billion into the state's economy each year.

The state has a strong conservation movement and as a result, many species that suffer in other regions are thriving here under sound management practices.

Anglers, at both home and abroad, can thank a long-seated public-private partnership for the state's success. Not only have Florida's fishery managers helped protect various species, they have also been pioneers in raising more saltwater fish for stocking efforts.

An initiative by the Wildlife Foundation of Florida and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, partnered with various private institutions around the state, calls for six or more new fish hatcheries to be built in coming years. These new facilities will cost roughly $8 to $10-million each and be phased in over a ten-year period beginning in 2009.

The money will come from industry supporters, private donors, grants, government bodies, non-profits, academic and private fisheries research institutions, as well as concerned citizens and average anglers.

Sportfish are already being produced at the state's Port Manatee Fish Hatchery on the banks of Tampa Bay. Another hatchery should come on line on Florida's East Coast sometime in 2010.

The red drum (redfish) raised in the West Coast facility are regularly caught by anglers. For more information, go to http://www.wildlifefoundationofflorida.com/

Trout and snapper seasons close

Recreational red snapper fishing in the Gulf of Mexico and spotted sea trout season in waters south of the Pasco County line closed on Saturday, Nov. 1.

The snapper closure occurs each year to help rebuild overfished stocks in the Gulf. Spotted sea trout, a tightly-managed, but highly-successful conservation story, are protected during a two-month closure to help keep population levels strong.

Snapper fishermen are often confused by the regulations. That is because state and federal regulators have two different seasons. The recreational harvest of red snapper in Gulf federal waters closed on Aug. 5.

The red snapper sport season is scheduled to reopen on April 15 in Gulf state waters and on June 1 in Gulf federal waters. One would think these two bureaucracies would get together and come up with a plan that is a little less confusing.

For spotted sea trout, all harvest and possession is prohibited from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31 in all waters south of the Flagler-Volusia county line in the Atlantic and south of a line running due west from the westernmost point of Fred Howard Park Causeway, which is about 1.17 miles south of the Pinellas-Pasco county line in the Gulf.

The recreational harvest of spotted sea trout will remain open until February in northeast and northwest Florida waters.

for more information, go to the myfwc.com.