It’s getting close to tournament fishing season in and around the Big Bend, where area fishermen meet at one location or another to show off their fish catching skills, competing against fellow anglers.
Organized fishing contests have been around for years. They do more than just pay back awards for the biggest, or most fish brought to the scales.
Many tournaments are put together by charitable organizations to raise funds for those in need. Some tournaments are for profit, as tournament directors and staff alike spend many hours to attract sponsors, pull necessary permits, etc.
Freshwater bass tournaments are catch and release. Especially if FWC permitting is required. State bass fishing regulations may vary from lake to lake. FWC makes it easy for tournament organizers to maximize an anglers’ opportunity to weigh in more than just one bass over a specified length, and to put a minimum on the length needed to bring their catch to the scales.
Some professional bass tournaments have gone to a complete catch and release format while on the water. No longer is there a need for live wells, weigh in bags and scales. Instead, each angler has a digital scale to weigh and record after the catch of each fish. The purpose of this is mainly for conservation. Especially during summer events where water temperatures reach mid 80’s and survival rates for bass brought to the scales decline rapidly. In the state of Florida when an exemption, or permit is pulled through FWC, all bass must be released alive back into the same body of water in which they were caught.
Saltwater tournaments on the other hand, have no such permitting available. This has been a hot topic of tournament conversation as conservation plays a bigger role each and every year.
Through necessity, kayak anglers have been using the CPR or catch, photo release format while competing against others. Each fisherperson has an approved ruler with them to display their catch and photograph to compare with others at a designated time in lieu of a weigh in. Again, through conservation more and more tournaments are moving towards the conservation side, but not without reservation from anglers. And like any competition involving prizes there is always the possibility of foul play. We’ll leave that discussion for another time.
Organized tournament fishing also involves fellowship, networking, learning, comradery and meeting new people.
Whether you’re a freshwater or saltwater fisherperson looking to get more involve with a club or tournament fishing there are many to choose from in the Big Bend and Florida Panhandle.
As local competition varies, I might suggest doing some research before joining. Most clubs will let you fish as a guest before joining, while some clubs want you to fish as a guest before they let you in. Some clubs have boaters that need co-anglers so not everyone needs a boat to compete. Matter of fact, many clubs are looking for non-boaters to offset the number of those with boats. This enables 2 or more people to be in the same boat, and that’s a good thing in regard to safety and following the rules correctly.
My recent expansion into in-shore competitive fishing has paired me with one of the larger saltwater clubs in the Big Bend. North Florida Gulf Fishing Club has all the aforementioned designations regarding rules and regulations. Angler experience is novice to highly skilled, appealing to those at any level. There’s even a “kids” division making it family friendly. This Saturday is an excellent opportunity for anyone wanting to learn more about CPR as NFGFC will be hosting a “trial” tournament. For more information visit www.NFGFC.com or call me at 850-296-4071. Cliff “JR” Mundinger
Until next week, be safe have fun and ALWAYS wear a life jacket while boating!
APALACHEE BAY
Otto Hough (myhometownfishing.com) says “A slight uptick in air temps the first three days of this week helped to stimulate the trout bite in the skinny waters even though the water temp just tickled the sixty degree mark. Sadly, Ma Nature threw a bit of a monkey wrench into the Marine Forecast with the squall line that pushed across the waters of the Big Bend Thursday into early Friday. It appears the backside winds are likely to stay somewhat elevated for the first third of this post full moon fishing stretch. Given fairly cold overnight temps in the forecast for Friday night, those deep holes and cuts in the coastal rivers will still be holding lots of trout and reds early during the morning strong negative low tides. Besides all the trout in all the rivers, there are lots of one to three pound blues hanging in the deep runs at the mouth of the Aucilla that have been providing loads of catching fun on light action tackle. The reds are still making their presence known as well.
"Negative low tides over this three day period in front of the full moon will be significant to start the fishing days. Then, factor in a steady wind out of the northwest Friday that will make those negative tides impressive. Skinny water will most definitely be skinny for the better portion of the morning hours. Rock piles and oyster bars will look like veritable mountain ranges. By Saturday, the winds from a more southerly direction will tend to push the rising tide in quickly. Much higher than normal along the grasslines. Creek fishing will most certainly be rewarding in the deep cuts and mud flats leading into most every coastline creek from the Lighthouse east to Hickory Mound and points beyond. Water clarity and salinity is primo. The only thing missing to really turn on the full bite is about five more positive degrees in skinny waters. Fingers are tightly crossed. With an upward turn in daytime air temps currently in the forecast for the first of next week, the post full moon bite ought to be off-the-charts with aggressive fish slamming most any lure tossed in their strike zone. If the air temps and sunshine prevail as forecasted, the end of ABWS is near. For those anglers not plying the waters all too often in the winter months, ABWS is also know as Aplachee Bay Withdrawal Syndrome, a term coined by Scott Paterna, former owner of Jerry's Bait and Tackle, more than a decade ago. When those water temps make 64 degrees or better, the is thrown.
"Aplachee Bay will become like a house on fire across the waters of the Big Bend from the Econfina west to Mashes Sand. When chasing those trout this weekend, remember, only one trout over 19 inches per boat, with a five fish limit of trout between 15 to 19 inches per angler. These new FWC Regs became effective February 1st. Randy Trousdell and I found it challenging this week to find trout below 19 inches though we did find up river trout in the slot range. The quality 'catch and release' trout in the 20 to 24 inch range were loving the slow suspending gold/orange bellied Unfair Lures Rip-n-Slash 70s worked over shallow rocky bottoms, river shoals and skinny water creek mouth mud flats. Also, while slow trolling the deep runs of both the Aucilla and St. Marks rivers, the reds and trout were both slamming the gold/orange bellied Bomber Long A's. Anglers soaking those live shrimp on Carolina style rigs or tipped on a quarter ounce jig head were definitely finding takers, from trout to reds to sheepshead in the deeper holes.
"With the extremely bad weather that blew across Apalachee Bay Thursday, elevated winds will take a bit of time to ease off Friday. Given there have been two boating/kayaking mishaps this past week, one tragic without a wearable PFD and one with a much better ending as the kayaker was located wearing a PFD, that familiar refrain continues. Wear those auto-inflatables. Accidents on the water, especially with the cold water temps can turn tragic all too quickly. Boat safely, wear the auto-inflatables, then, just FISH!"
KEATON BEACH
Captain Pat McGriff ((www.onemorecast.net, onemorecast@gtcom.net (850)838-7541) reports “I couldn’t stand it I saw all the weather on the way; so I just up and went Wednesday expecting to catch a few fish. Boy, was I wrong ... instead, I caught a trout or had a chance to on every cast for almost two hours. It all started though in front of the beach as I drifted from the gazebos to the condos with only one, but a nice trout 18.5” caught on MirrOlure’s New jointed hard SwimBait. I decided to move.
"Well, that was a great idea as the first three casts produced fish on the Paul Brown Devil. One keeper, two shorts. I picked up the rod with the SwimBait and caught three shorts and missed one keeper on four casts. I changed to a Renegade for my buddy Doug Garwood in Dalton, Ga. bang, short, bang, missed another fish then a keeper who broke the line at the boat and took the lure (one Doug had doctored up with red fingernail polish on the throat.) I went back to the Devil, caught half a dozen shorts and two more keepers. I was missing a bunch of strikes, or the trout were missing the hooks, either way I decided to change up again and chose a Bite-A-Bait fighter in the “clown” pattern.
"Folks it was on! I caught six straight, four keepers, and for the next hour plus I had a strike, lost a fish or landed a fish and the final tally when I quit was 19 keepers ( thrown back of course) and 15 shorts ( kept of course...no same deal...) three drifts in an hour and 45 minutes. A great Day at Keaton Beach and all in 2.5 – 3.5 feet of water ...oh and did I mention my kind of day with 17 knots w-i-n-d-s (according to NOAA on the Radio) and I left them biting. Something I rarely do. I may not can be at the Boat Show in Tallahassee after all, but come by the tent and meet the guides and talk about boats February 28, 29 and March 1 Tallahassee fair grounds.
"Oh and Don’t Forget Capt. Mike McNamara and I are doing our 2nd Annual South Georgia Seminars Saturday, March 7, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. in Thomasville ,Ga. Best Western 133 Liberty Street. call Mike (850- 501-7919 ) to register early limited seating. Go to Facebook: my page, St. Marks Outfitters, or One More Cast page for more details."
ST GEORGE ISLAND
Captain Russ Knapp (850-653-5072) reports “Well here we go with yet another storm front roaring by. Look for Gale Warnings Thursday, ending Friday noon. Saturday's forecast SE winds at 10 to 15 knots and seas 2 to 4 ft. Sunday looks to have wind from the east at 15 knots and seas running 2 to 3 ft. The good news is if you do get out there are some big fish hanging around. One local angler boated and released an Amberjack that bottomed a 60lb scale with no effort. Be sure to check the latest fishing regulations before you go as things change fast and many fish are in closed season. Please note that with very little effort you can do the fish and yourself a huge favor by crushing the barbs on your hooks for easy release. Every fish that survives a release will be there for you to catch again
"In the bay things are off and on with some days good and some not so good -- best plan is fill up the fuel tank and be ready to look for the fish. Good starting points are the Cut for Redfish and around the bridges for Sheep head. Just West of the low rise in the SGI bridge you can find silver trout. Use a nice fresh shrimp when chasing all of the above, mentioned fish for best results.
A few random trailer thoughts to keep you rolling. Never change just one spring. Replace things with stainless steel whenever possible, and if one hub is bad check them all. Keep in mind it is now often cheaper to buy an assembled hub than a repair kit and a lot easier. Also, forget trying to remove frozen/rusted nuts and bolts. For a small investment you can buy a 4 1/2 " angle grinder and cut them off in no time. Remember Murphy's first law -- everything for which you have a spare never breaks."
LAKE SEMINOLE
Capt.Paul Tyre (850-2647534, instagream@lakeseminolefishingadventures) says ”Bass fishing on Lake Seminole has been good this week! The water temperatures warmed up from last week’s cold front that dropped the water temperatures to the low 50s for several days. The FLW College Fishing Bass tournament will be held this Friday on Lake Seminole, out of the Earl May Boat Basin in Bainbridge Georgia. The weigh-in begin 3:30pm. The Bass fishing should be good for the college anglers and I expect it to take over 20 pounds to win the event. If you’re free that afternoon, come on up to Bainbridge and watch the weigh-in.
"The Crappie have been biting and are being caught on Jigs and Minnows in 6 to 8 feet of water in the Spring Creek arm of the lake. This past week I went Crappie fishing with a friend and we caught our limit real quick. We had a great time on the water and I highly recommend that you all get out there and catch some for yourselves."
LAKE JACKSON
Cliff “JR” Mundinger (www.fishtallahassee.com, Facebook @fl panhandle outdoors) 850-296-4071 reports “it’s tournament Saturday again on beautiful Lake Jackson. Even with all the wind, rain and cold bass have been biting pretty good on Leon counties famed jewel. While days are getting longer, and the sun is shining brighter, bass are staging for their yearly mating ritual. Though just the beginning, this is the time of year truly big ones can be caught.
"Just a couple weeks ago during a tournament out of Sunset Landing a nice big 11 pound female was weighed in. Not uncommon for this time of year at all. Matter of fact we just talked about that a few weeks back. As grass has died back, I’m now able to throw baits with multiple hooks like the 1/2oz yo-zuri crystal minnow or the 1/2oz 3DB Vibe. I suggest rotating between the two and keep water clarity in mind. Even a slight color change may get you an extra bite or two.
"Bass will concentrate in and around thick vegetation and when the timing is right come out to play in the open areas in between. Once you locate one of these schools, be prepared to slow down and mine the area. Especially if you can see them on your graph. Large, Texas rigged plastic worms worked patiently around scattered grass is another way to put a nice limit of bass in the boat. Darker colors seem to work better right now, especially on cloudy, windy days.
This Saturday another Welcome Back Lake Jackson tournament will be going out of Sunset Landing right around daylight. Cost per boat is $80 with a $10 optional big bass side pot. Tournament is open to all anglers with a registered watercraft and operating live well. Weigh in is scheduled for 3:30pm.”
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