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g097103 Original500© Member
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 ST. PETERSBURG -- Al Willis used to travel to the Florida Keys to fish for tarpon. "I really never had much luck up here," said the 43-year-old St. Petersburg resident. "That was, until this year." Last month, Willis hired Tampa-based charter boat captain Ernie Rubio to guide him in the Suncoast Tarpon Roundup. The controversial 10-week fishing tournament, in its 73rd year, has a small but loyal following. This was Willis' first year in the tournament, but as of Thursday, his name will forever be recorded in the Roundup's record books with his catch of June 14. It took a week for Roundup officials to certify the catch. "Everybody agreed that it was quite a fish," president Ken Deacon said. The Tarpon Roundup, with its 125 entrants, is an anomaly among fishing tournaments. All other events of its kind require that tarpon must be released unharmed. Over the years, Roundup anglers have been criticized by sport fishing and conservation groups because of the tournament's kill format. "We are a family tournament," Deacon said. "The same people fish together year after year. "We know that there are some people out there that don't like us. But we are just out there trying to have a good time. We stress sportsmanship and encourage people to release fish." Willis, who owns a construction business, estimates he has caught 70 tarpon in his life. This was the first time he ever brought one to the scale. "I wouldn't kill a fish just for the sake of killing a fish," he said. "But I had a hunch that it was going to be some kind of a record. That is why I kept it." State law requires that anglers buy a $50 tag before they catch and kill a tarpon. "The program has been quite a success," said Luiz Barbieri of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Institute in St. Petersburg, the state agency that keeps track of the tags. "Over the years we have watched as the number of tarpon killed each year has gone down and down." Ellis and Rubio had caught four fish on June 14, but none were large enough to consider a keeper. "I was waiting for the tide to change because I knew that when it did, the fish would be feeding," Rubio said. The anglers were fishing near the Sunshine Skyway bridge when Rubio spotted a school of tarpon circling nearby. Willis tossed a small live crab in front of one fish and his line went taut. "I couldn't believe my eyes when the fish jumped out of the water," Willis said. "The fish looked huge." Big tarpon seldom jump more than once, but this fish took to the air three times, Willis said. "We started fighting it near the main span," Willis said. "When we finally got it under in the boat, we were all the way down near the Manatee fishing pier." The battle took 75 minutes. With only an hour or so left before sundown, the anglers dragged the fish into the boat and raced to the weigh-in station. "On the way to Don's Dock, the mate, who stands about 6-1 and weighs 230 pounds, laid down next to the fish," Willis said. "The tarpon was about a foot longer than he was. That's when we realized how big it was." At the scale, the fish measured 89 1/2 inches long and had a girth of 44 inches. The 233-pound fish knocked a 222-pounder, caught by Deacon's 15-year-old son, Tim, out of first place. "The rules state that he was supposed to call in his fish within 12 hours," Deacon said. "He is new to the tournament and didn't understand the rules, and the committee took that into consideration and let the record stand." Last year, anglers in the Suncoast Tarpon Roundup killed 31 fish. Deacon acknowledges that this has brought the tournament its share of criticism. "On June 30 we are going to have a one-day tournament, within our tournament, out at Egmont Key where every fish will be released," he said. "We will weigh the fish in a sling on the water just like they do in Boca Grande." If the system works, the Roundup will hold four similar one-day tournaments next year. "It is going to take some work," Deacon said. "But we are trying to move in that direction." BY THE NUMBERS 29 World records Florida holds for tarpon. Of those records, all of the major fly-fishing records have been caught off the coast in the Homosassa area. 19 Years spent by top fly fishermen trying to break Billy Pate's 1982 fly-fishing record on 16-pound tippet with a 188-pound tarpon caught off Homosassa. May 11, 2001 Date that Jim Holland Jr. caught the first tarpon - with fly-fishing equipment - of more than 200 pounds: 202 pounds, 8 ounces on 20-pound tippet. 243 Pounds, a Florida state record for tarpon caught with conventional tackle. 286 lbs, 9 oz. All-tackle world record (additionally certified as the 80-pound class record) for a giant tarpon, caught by Max Domecq in Rubane, Guinea-Bissau, Africa, on March 20, 2003.
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Lady Cop Pioneer100© Member 
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WOW!! they are usually catch and release, but this guy has one heck of a  .
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foxglovepress Forum-Blogger© Original500© Member  NON-PC!!
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Sometimes when I see pictures like this, and Sharks and Octopus, I wounder why I enjoy swimming in Puget Sound?
Justice for Mark.....Imprison Employers Who Hire ILLEGALS! |
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goldseal Original500© Member  (pic) Scott Jr, My little guy.
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That is some fish, will definitely be a conversation piece.
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Lady Cop Pioneer100© Member
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G, here's a 25 pound bull dolphin my cousin speared last week, it's encouraging because dolphins have been very small in recent years. Attachment: (Downloaded times)
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g097103 Original500© Member
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I bet she got a nice struggle out of that. Nice catch and some really fine eating.
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Lady Cop Pioneer100© Member
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A lack of customers, combined with a lack of fish, puts South Florida's deep-sea charter fishing fleet on the rocks.  PATRICK FARRELL/MIAMI HERALD STAFF Charter captain Dan Kipnis remembers when deep-sea fishing flourished here. As snapper and grouper dwindled, so did visitor demand for charter trips. The gray-haired fishermen roost in the shade beneath Haulover Park Marina's palm trees as they wait, likely in vain, for the old crowds and the old catch to come back. They miss the time when kids tugged on their daddy's shirttails to take them fishing; when 30 grouper in the cooler, not one or two, was considered a good trip; when offshore charter vessels filled more than 100 boat slips in Haulover instead of the 20 or so occupied today. Those skippers are among the few survivors in South Florida's deep-sea charter fishing community, a once proud and popular industry that has steadily dwindled since its peak during the 1960s and '70s. Almost every captain in Miami-Dade and Broward counties has a theory about where the fish and customers have gone. Some think it's a changing clientele, while others think the weather's to blame. But most also say the fish just aren't around like before. And although the decline in the charter fleet has stabilized somewhat in the past five years, new obstacles -- like $4-a-gallon gas at the dock and a possible 2008 federal regulation that would prohibit selling the fish caught on a charter to restaurants and markets -- may force even more charter fishermen out. ''It's a collapsing business,'' said Dan Kipnis, 57, a barrel-chested former charter boat captain with more salt than pepper in his short ponytail and goatee. ``Fisheries themselves are collapsing.'' To a number of his peers, Kipnis is considered an unofficial local angling historian. ''I was 10 years old working boats,'' he said. ``You could catch all the fish you wanted.'' Back then, the Miami phone book had six pages listing available fishing charters, Kipnis said. He opened a 2006 version to reveal about two pages of ads. The Metropolitan South Florida Fishing Tournament, held since 1935, was once stocked with local boats. In 1962, 100 Miami and Miami Beach deep-sea charters were registered, according to the tournament yearbook. By 1982, that number was down to 46, and by 2002 just 21 remained. And although the tournament hasn't published a yearbook lately, Kipnis said the numbers are about the same as five years ago. In the heyday of South Florida angling, boats could catch and keep enough fish in a week to fill 50 shopping carts, but those trips now live only in black-and-white photos and bar stories told between sips of whiskey. ''Now you're basically going out trying to have a good time, trying to catch a goldfish or something,'' Kipnis said, shaking his head. ``It gets depressing.'' Some Miami charter fishermen argue that one reason their industry has suffered is a lack of support from local government. ''I don't think the county has decided to make this a tourist location as it relates to fishing,'' said Peter Lynch, 71, who owns a boat at Haulover Marina. ``It's really sad.'' Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau officials said that although they promote fishing as much as any of Miami's attractions, the packed beaches, restaurants and night clubs show those are the main reasons vacationers come to South Florida. ''Even 15 years ago it was a lot better than it is now,'' Lynch said about the business aboard his 41-foot boat Corsair as he sipped a cup of Dunkin' Donuts coffee and dragged a Merit cigarette to the butt. ``We're lucky to even have a couple trips a week in the summertime.'' In the last 20 years, gas prices have quadrupled and maintenance costs have swollen. As a result, full-day charter trips have gone from about $500 to between $900 and $1,200 today. Besides ballooning prices, the potential end of a 90-year-old tradition that supports a number of South Florida charter boats could add to the decline. Now, charter captains can take any portion of a day's catch that their clients don't want and sell it to fish markets and restaurants, which can bring in hundreds of extra dollars. If the U.S. Department of Commerce imposes a proposed regulation next year, charter fishermen won't be allowed to peddle 73 grouper and snapper species, eliminating the vast majority of their sales. ''I think the chances are pretty good that it's going to go through,'' said Jack McGovern, a fisheries biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Officials say the proposition is intended to preserve fishing grounds and prevent commercial fishing boats from being squeezed out of the business. Quinton Dieterle, the bushy, brown-haired captain of the Cutting Edge, said the changes would put a significant crimp on his boat and others at Key Biscayne's Crandon Park Marina, where they especially rely on the fish sales to pay their crews. ''If you say you can't sell any fish, it's going to be hard to get the crew to come out,'' said Dieterle, 48. ``It's like telling a waiter that they're not going to get any tips that day. You think they're still going to get you a glass of water? Hell no.'' At Bahia Mar Marina, Broward's principal charter fishing dock, the situation is similar to Miami-Dade's. On a recent weekday, captains and mates fiddled with fishing gear and scrubbed their decks. Signs offering deep-sea trips were propped at each of 10 boats, none of which were chartered for that afternoon. ''Hey, you guys want to go fishing?'' a mate yelled at a passing car. ``You sure you don't want to catch some fish?'' But despite what seemed like another dock where crews do little more than survive, not all the captains are disheartened. Capt. Mark Fann, 47, a soft-spoken Hollywood native with a deep tan aside from where his sunglasses normally sit, saw a changing industry and changed with it. Fann noticed an older, wealthier crowd coming to Fort Lauderdale, so he bought a faster, fully equipped 50-foot boat, and he focuses on longer trips to catch sailfish and billfish, which are still common in South Florida's waters. ''These people are staying in five-star hotels,'' said Fann, who had 40 bookings in June. ``They're not going to get on the S.S. Minnow with a couple bailing buckets. ``The people who bob and weave with the trends will be fine. It's just like a boxer.'' Wayne Conn, who took his first job on a charter boat for $6 a night, has fought for more than 35 years to keep up with those trends. He now runs the Miami Beach Marina's Reward fleet, made up of two party fishing vessels, boats that are larger, less expensive and take more people. At 57, he's seen others get out of the business to take ''glamour jobs'' as private boat captains. He's seen his peers move to better fishing holes. He's even seen some who give up and start new careers. ''The charter industry is a shadow of what it used to be,'' said the six-foot seven-inch, fair-haired captain. ``It's dying as we speak.'' He has considered the better pay and fewer hours of the private captains, but something else keeps him around. Conn, like Mark Fann and others, still finds a way to wake up before the sun rises every day and drive to a job he knows probably won't make him rich. The fishermen who remain all have their reasons to stay. In most cases, though, it's the only life they know. For a generation of men with fish blood running through their veins, it's hard to walk away. ''This isn't a business you retire from,'' Conn said.
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Lady Cop Pioneer100© Member
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Keys fishing hot spot will be protected To protect habitat of the overfished snapper/grouper species in the Southeast, eight marine protected areas have been approved, including the Keys' East Hump, which spared Islamorada Hump. Posted on Mon, Aug. 06, 2007  CAMMY CLARK/MIAMI HERALD STAFF Wayne Kvadus, longtime mate on the Blue Chip Too charter boat, gathers the day's fishing haul as children watch at the Whale Harbor Marina. ''If we couldn't fish here,'' Bradeen said, ``it would have been devastating.'' In 2001, the prized fishing site was slated to become a big catch of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, which planned it as a federal marine protected area. Deepwater fishing would have been prohibited as part of a four-state network to protect the habitat of the declining grouper and snapper. ''That's when my hair fell out,'' said Bill Kelly, a 30-year Islamorada charter boat captain. But in a rare compromise over the next six years by all groups involved -- recreational and commercial fishermen, conservationists and the feds -- an alternative was agreed upon: The popular Islamorada Hump would be spared. Taking its place would be the East Hump/Unnamed Hump, a nearby site 15 miles offshore of Long Key that should benefit the targeted fish almost as well, but be less of an economic burden to the fishermen. In June, the federal council approved 50 square miles of the East Hump as part of the first interstate network of deep-water Marine Protected Areas for 73 species of snapper and grouper. Mid-water trolling for large fish like tuna, swordfish, dolphin, mackerel and billfish is still allowed. The 601-page amendment to the 1983 South Atlantic plan for snapper and grouper is now with the Secretary of Commerce, awaiting signing. If all goes smoothly, the new regulations could take effect this spring. ''It's been a long process,'' said scientist Doug Rader of the nonprofit Environmental Defense. ``This tool of protecting habitat is uniquely well-suited to the reef fish population. It was first discussed in the 1980s and the first proposal to circulate was in 1990. It's been 17 years just in the direct making.'' PROTECTED AREAS There will be eight areas, covering 500,000 acres from North Carolina to the Keys, and two other Florida sites: 85,000 acres about 57 miles off the coast of Northern Florida and the St. Lucie Hump, 6,700 acres about nine miles southeast of the St. Lucie Inlet. Rader said most scientists believe the Islamorada Hump would be more beneficial than the East Hump for bringing back the deepwater species because it has a denser habitat. But Rader said the East Hump, located between the major fishing fleets in Marathon and Islamorada, makes a good Plan B with plenty of places for the bottom fish to spawn and seek refuge. The Islamorada Hump is better for attracting the migratory game fish loved by recreational fishermen because its pinnacles begin at only 250 feet from the surface, compared to around 500 feet for the deeper East Hump. ''This is what the fight was about,'' Bradeen said, pointing to the open sea where only ripping currents hint at the underwater mountains below that lure the full range of the ocean food chain. ``I support a no-fish zone, but not here.'' But many fishermen in the Keys do not support any closure. There have been no major studies in the Keys to show the snapper/grouper species are in decline. ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE But some fishermen and Rader say there is much anecdotal evidence. ''Grouper used to be 30 to 40 pounds to catch on the reef,'' Bradeen said. ``Now we're very happy to catch them at 20 pounds. Amberjack used to be 60 to 70 pounds. Now, they're 30 to 40 pounds. You'll catch a senior citizen every once in a while, but not often.'' Most deepwater fish take more than a decade to sexually mature. Kelly said it could take 25 years to get a 25-pound grouper. Dan Whittle, an oceans program director for the Environmental Defense, said, ``Marine protected areas seem to be the missing link in the puzzle to rebuild the snapper/grouper. Other things have been tried for a long time and it's not working. We've tried quotas, trip limits, gear restrictions, and we're not seeing the populations of fish recover very fast. Sometimes we see them declining.'' There was a time when the sea seemed like it would never run out of fish. It wasn't until the 1950s, while navigating to the Bahamas by compass, that ex-Navy officer Angus Boatwright discovered the Islamorada Hump, one in a series of six in the Keys. A year before Boatwright was shot and killed by a Texas desperado near a lighthouse in 1960, he told captain Hugh Brown about his secret fishing spot. FISHING MAGNET Since then, the Islamorada Hump's abundance of grouper, dolphin, tuna, wahoo and other big fish has often attracted up to 100 boats a day, making a traffic pattern necessary to prevent chaos. Scientists say the sophistication of navigation also has contributed to overfishing, especially of the slow-maturing deepwater species. But fishermen and conservationists agree that marine protected areas won't work if there isn't strict enforcement. 'We don't want to create poachers' paradises, where the bad guys clean up,'' Rader said. ``Hopefully, we now have the strong enforcement in place from the Coast Guard, Homeland Security, vessel monitoring. If this happened in 1990, back when the council first considered it, there was a real potential serious problem it would not have worked.''
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