And you thought the scary season ended with the last trick-or-treater …
Well, here are three words that might ignite the spinal shivers on an angler: environmental impact statement.
Take a minute to gather yourselves, because it gets scarier.
This time, the ominous three-worded warning comes from the feds — in this instance, it’s NOAA Fisheries, the ultimate boss of you whenever it feels the urge.
A few years ago, NOAA asked the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council to come up with a plan to reduce the overfishing of red snapper.
GATORS VS. BULLDOGS Dawgs had their day as Florida-Georgia punching bag. State rankings and picks. A UCF win?
Weird, you might think, since this year there was one day of legal red-snapper harvesting, and the subsequent commercial harvest ended within weeks when the total allowable weight was reached.
Too many dead snapper returned to the deep, is a stated issue. There are ways to properly release a red snapper back home, but that’s hard to do when an opportunistic shark has left you only half a fish. Or less.
NOAA is threatening (my word, not theirs) a Secretarial Amendment to arbitrarily change the snapper law. The secretary of which they speak is the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo.
Federal laws are generally associated with the executive and legislative branches, but over time, the federal bureaucracies have been allowed to change a lot about our everyday lives — some would argue for the better, others would suggest for the worse. The EPA, for instance, determines what’s a navigable waterway, which can change everything for a particular pond, lake, ditch or whatever.
Anyway, the fear among the commercial and recreational offshore angling world is a complete pen-to-paper shutdown of all bottom-fishing in the Southeast Atlantic.
“This measure could be devastating to the fishing communities (charter, commercial, recreational), along with the countless businesses around the coasts that support the industry,” says Capt. Scott Housel, who owns and operates a local offshore charter boat (Sudden Strike).
And this social media post from Florida’s Coastal Conservation Association: “Using the red snapper fishery as a stalking horse, NOAA Fisheries is preparing to take the highly unusual step of a Secretarial Amendment to impose draconian fishing closures on anglers. Measures that not even the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council thinks are necessary or warranted given what is known about the fishery.”
Ask a knowledgeable offshore angler about the red snapper rules, and take a seat. You’ll get a long discourse on everything from “flawed data” to “outdated stock assessments.”
This potential NOAA act comes with a period of “public comment.” The potentially affected parties are pleading with one and all to weigh in, and if you don’t like what you’re smelling, you have until Nov. 8 to angrily rap the keypad.
Here’s one way that’s a bit clunky but it works: Go to FederalRegister.gov. Find the search bar and type in NOAA secretarial amendment. It should be the first thing listed, and you’ll get a link taking you to the comment section.
Halifax/Indian River
Capt. Billy Pettigrew (RedfishTails.com) sent along a text to say the intracoastal water looks like coffee, which begs a question Billy quickly answered with a subsequent text.
“Black coffee.”
He also confirms the talk about sheepshead beginning their annual infiltration — “mostly small, but a few keepers.”
The snook are still plentiful, and Billy says the outgoing tide works best for him.
“Use live or fresh-dead shrimp and fiddler crabs for the sheepshead and drum. Live mullet, croakers and pinfish for the snook,” Billy advises.
He and Ike Leary (Granada Bait) both talk about black drum making some big noise lately. Ike says some of his regulars are finding drum in the surf, when the seaweed allows. Speaking of which …
Surf
If we put this particular weed on the ballot, it’d never stand a chance. It not only stinks worse than the Amendment 3 stuff (and that’s saying something), it screws up a day at the beach faster than a thunderstorm.
Let’s go through the midweek chronologically to tell the story, thanks to our longtime contributor here, Marco Pompano.
Wednesday morning: “Good morning. I must say things have picked up. The best of the rest are actually limiting out on pompano. Most people are getting a few mixed in with some really nice redfish, black drum and, yesterday, I hooked a nice slot redfish and on the bottom hook, on the same line, was a flounder. Seaweed is still a problem, but it comes and goes. It’s very beautiful out here.”
Thursday, pre-dawn: “The seaweed is back with a vengeance. It has totally shut down the beach for now. With the wind from the east until the end of the week it looks pretty dismal for fishing.”
Thursday, 10 a.m.: “I just came back from the beach and it seems like the high tide just now pulled away most of the seaweed. I’m gonna try to fish it.”
Thursday 1 p.m.: “Once again, the weeds win. They were clear from the beach, but they’re on the bottom so every cast I got a ton of them until I couldn’t take it anymore.”
At least Marco doesn’t need a clean beach to pay his bills. Dustin Smith, who operates NSB Shark Hunters, says he’s been shut down all of October, first due to Hurricane Milton and now the seaweed.
Offshore
It looks like a no-fly zone for several days ahead.
Steady east wind with seas between 4-7 feet at least through Monday.
St. Johns
It seems the only thing thicker than the seaweed on our beaches are specks along the St. Johns and its fishy lakes.
Our DeLand-based folks out of Highland Park are putting the filet knife to a whole lot of specks, unless you prefer to call them crappie.
“Plenty of limits being caught on Lake Woodruff,” says Don McCormick, who’s also starting to begin organizational prep for the annual Berkeley Labaw Memorial speck tournament (next February).
He says the water temp is now in the 70-degree neighborhood, which is a lovely neighborhood for fishing.
“With cooler nights the water temperature will continue to get cooler,” Don says. “By the next full moon the big females will move towards the shoreline to spawn.”
That’s Nov. 15, by the way.
“Trolling with jigs is the best method and it’s all about the speed right now,” says Highland Park Fish Camp Capt. Bryn Adams.
All about the trolling speed? What, you need specifics?
“Going a little faster than usual,” Bryn says, “with 1.2-to-1.3 mph being the best.”
Hook, line and clicker: Send us your fish pics
We want to see your most recent catch. Email your fish photos to ken.willis@news-jrnl.com.
Please include first and last name of angler(s), as well as type of fish (we’re occasionally stumped).
Do I need a fishing license?
You can find all the license info, including exemptions, on Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Commission website: MyFWC.com. But the basics are: No: If you’re 65 or older, 15 or younger, you don’t need a license. “Probably” Not: If you’re fishing with a licensed guide or charter boat, both of which often purchase commercial licenses that cover their customers. Yes: Most everyone else, including visitors from other states. Yes: Even if you’re a shore-based angler (shoreline, dock, pier, bridge, etc.), and even if fishing with a shore-based guide. However: The shore-based license is free . . . But: You still need to register for that free license.
Where do I get a license and what does it cost?
Many bait shops sell licenses, as do the bigger retailers (Bass, Dick’s, Walmart, etc.). Florida’s FWC uses a third-party site for buying or renewing fishing licenses: GoOutdoorsFlorida.com. The cost: $17 for an annual license. Don’t forget: Whether you’re fishing fresh or saltwater, you need the specific license. Freshwater and saltwater licenses are both $17 annually.
I’m here on vacation, do I need a license?
Yes you do, and they’re also available at GoOutdoorsFlorida.com or certain bait shops and big retailers. Cost: $17 for three days, $30 for seven days, $47 for a year. Also: Non-residents need to purchase that license even if they’re just fishing from shoreline or shore-based structures. (Florida residents need that license, too, but they’re free.)
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Red snapper called ‘stalking horse’ by those against NOAA action
