Blog Archives

March 23rd, 2015 Attempted Cooked Shore Lunch with Capt. Toney

3/26/2015

Last year Capt. William Toney, with Homosassa Inshore Charters came to one of our meetings to teach us about Spotted Seatrout and how to catch them. During that evening he mentioned that his guide's association offers a special charter called a Cooked Shore Lunch. This trip included the first half of the day catching trout, then traveling to a remote island to have a fresh fried trout picnic lunch, then back at the dock by late afternoon. This sounded like a great deal of fun so it went on the list of fun activities to schedule for 2015.

Well since our club has grown in numbers since last Spring, we thought it would be fitting to invite Capt. Toney back once again His assigned topic for March 3rd's meeting was "Filleting Fish", and as always, we learned a few new tricks. And so to keep with the theme of trout and filleting, we scheduled our own Cooked Shore Lunch charter with him and so it was.....set for Monday, March 23rd.

We had a total of six NCLA members register for that outing and two of the NCLA member spouses which was just enough to merit two full boats. Four on Capt. Toney's boat and four on Capt. Mark Zorn's boat. And so it became just a matter of waiting for Monday, March 23rd to arrive.

Oh what beautiful weather we had been having during the month of March. Not a care in the world. Certainly no worries for bad weather had even been considered. Over the weekend of the 21st and 22nd, all of the final details had been e-mailed to everyone....what time to meet....where to meet....what to bring.....etc. Don't think we left anything to chance.

By 4:00 a.m. Monday morning, we heard rain on the rooftop. "Okay, so it's a typical Florida morning shower. Should be over soon" we told ourselves. By 6:00 a.m. Capt. Toney got on the phone and expressed a little concern about the days weather forecast. Maybe it would rain all day, maybe it wouldn't . He couldn't guarantee it either way. His main question was did the ladies want to cancel the trip or take a chance on the weather improving and go for it? It was a good question and one six women would probably not agree on unanimously. After all, we had already made plans to spend the day on the water. And surely, it do what most common morning Florida rain showers do....move on past, right? Well, that's what we gambled on!

By 8:00 a.m. all eight of us were at the designated meeting point, MacRae's of Homosassa

We met Capt. Toney and Capt Zorn and wandered around the bait and tackle shop as the two Captains loaded up their boats with our beverages and snacks. We kept and eye on the local t.v. weather reports and our ears tuned to the local dock-rats that were drinking coffee under the riverside awning. Half of the reports indicated rain all day. The other half said that the weather reports don't mean a thing. Although mos of us had our rain gear on, it really didn't look all that bad on the river. We would forge ahead and keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best.

It's 9:00 a.m. and still drizzling. The rain hasn't lightened up much, if at all, but we're trying to be optimistic so we go ahead and take our seats, four in one boat, four in the other. We're as ready as we'll ever be at this point.

Well, there was no turning back now. The next 15-20 minutes were spent chatting during a smooth ride out of the Homossassa River. To our delight, we were actually able to throw back the hoods of our jackets. The showers seemed to have dissipated while we were talking and we hadn't even noticed. Maybe there was some literal "light" at the end of the tunnel? A bit more confident that the foul weather was heading in a different direction. We hunkered down as the Capt. went full on the throttle.

Although we were optimistic that the weather was improving, we knew we weren't out of the woods yet because those few rain drops that did hit us stung like needles as both Capt.'s were jockeying for position. We were all smiles when we felt the boat slow down quickly. Clearly we had reached our first destination. Capt. Toney rigged each of our poles with his famous go-to lure, the 5 inch DOA CAL jerk bait in nite glow.

9:30 and we were not on a mission to catch as many trout as fast as we could. Capt. Toney had several spots that we would hit over the course of the morning but the quicker we got the job done, the quicker we could get to the island and out of the rain. The rain had picked up and the wind had intensified as well. We were in a pretty tight spot. All five of us were lined up on the same side of the boat (due to the wind direction) casting and retrieving in a frenzy. If there were any trout out there they sure couldn't miss us!

Capt. Toney pointed in the direction where, 30 minutes ago we could see the distant mangrove/shore line. The rain and clouds had rolled in so quickly and quietly that we were a bit caught off guard. We had admitted to ourselves that it was probably going to be a misty drizzly day at this point, but certainly hadn't expected this kind of unexpected storm cloud. We knew at that point that things were just not going to get better, no matter how much we "willed" it to. Mother Nature wasn't taking sides with the Nature Coast Lady Anglers this day and so as not to prolong our suffering any longer, we agreed to call UNCLE, throw in the towel and ask the Captains to take up back to the dock. As much as we wanted it to be a fun day, there just comes a time when you have to call it for what it is, a day of misfortune.

By the time we made it back to the dock, we were all soaked to the bone and ready to go home. We had tried to make the best of it and the Captains did their best to keep us optimistic but even they had to admit the sun was not going to make a showing. But we weren't going to let bad luck keep us from doing this all together. We just regrouped and rescheduled the event for another day in the near future. Hopefully with better weather next time.

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2015-March 10th Group Kayak Fishing - Fish Creek

3/14/2015

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Our first official Group Kayak Fishing excursion got off to a great start with 14 ladies tagging in to say they planned on meeting up assuming that the weather would be cooperating. Delores went by Moore Bait & Tackle and picked up about 100 shrimp to distribute among all that requested. This would only allow for about 10-12 shrimp per person but that should be enough to catch a few fish, maybe even a few bait fish to hold in reserve after the shrimp were gone. Not all of these women use live bait though. Some of them prefer to use artificial lures instead because of the cost savings and the increase challenge of hooking a fish. Artificial lures are easier on the wallet because they last considerably longer than live bait and some know that catching fish isn't always a challenge when using live bait but "tricking" a fish into striking something that isn't real is quite rewarding. However, on this particular outing, we had quite a few new women to the kayak fishing arena and having them use live bait would increase their odds of catching fish. It's important to experience that thrill pretty early on in the process of learning this sport. It's the excitement of catching the first fish that inspires them to continue on Increasing their knowledge and skill as the months go on, eventually increases their catch ratio and that's what this club is all about.

Since this was the first kayak fishing trip for some of these gals, they weren't all familiar with how to find this particular launch site we were meeting at (John's Fish Creek Camp) so we designated a landmark to meet up at 8:00 a.m. and then we'd convoy to the launch site so that they would know next time how to get there.

From left to right:
Anne, Patsy, Delores, Marie, Theresa, Sue, and Martha Ann

Some of the members who had fished this area several times before were very familiar with the route and were there when the convoy drove in at 8:30 a.m. Since there were so many new faces and kayaks, the next 1/2 hour was spent socializing, taking a look at one another's set-up and paying attention to how each person's gear was organized.

This ramp was like any other ramp, used by kayakers and boaters equally. Boats, of course, require a bit more room to launch and we had to be aware of the fact that we may not be the only ones needing to use the ramp that morning. We hoped that picking a week day for this trip would be to our benefit - expecting less boat traffic during a work week as opposed to a busier weekend day, so we kept our fingers crossed that we could get all 14 kayaks in the water and on the way before we blocked a boater from doing the same. There is nothing worse than inconsiderate people at a boat launch area! We didn't want to be labeled "those people". We were glad that getting all the kayaks water bound was an easy and rush-free process.

By 9:00 a.m. everyone had their kayaks geared up, vehicles parked and locked, and kayaks in the water. It was now just a matter of navigating the short distance through the canal (and in the fog) to the first channel marker that would be our starting point. So far we were right on track with time and everything seemed to be going like clockwork.

This would be Patsy's (below) maiden voyage in her fishing kayak.

Liz (below) wasn't in any hurry, just enjoying her time on the water and relaxing.

Patsy again (below) getting ready to hook a shrimp for her first cast. Everyone seemed to be settling into a comfortable "spot" to call their own for a short time. It was still a bit foggy but was looking like it would turn out to be a nice day.

While most of the ladies stayed in the open water, in sight of one another, Patsy and Suzanne were a bit more adventurous and paddled a little farther than the others and found a nice quiet spot to tuck themselves into. That decision paid off for Suzanne around 10:00 when she caught her very first fish from her kayak. That's very exciting! This little red measured in at about 12 inches but it was the first of several Suzanne would end up catching that day.

Less than 15 minutes later, she hooked into an 18 inch keeper that was spinning her kayak around in circles getting itself tangled in her anchor rope. She's lucky this guy didn't throw the hook in all of that mess. It was just working out to be Suzanne's lucky day. She was now on an adrenaline high!

By 11:00 a.m., it was 73 degrees, a bit breezy and sunny. Everyone had spread out. Some had anchored down while others were on the move every 15-20 minutes or so. Delores was neither anchored nor exploring, just drifting with the breeze and blind casting, when she felt her line go tight. Assuming it was a small redfish she had hooked into, she was pleasantly surprised to have caught a sheepshead.

Just barely in the slot size, but without an ice chest to store it in, there was no sense in keeping it. So it was released to grow a bit bigger.

If you're not used to spending any length of time in a kayak, like Patsy and Suzanne, your focus shifts after a couple of hours. It's no longer on catching fish but on searching out a reasonable place to get out of the yak and stand up. There aren't many places that you can do that in Fish Creek but these two seemed to have found one of the few spots around with some solid oyster rock to stretch the old legs on.

What an absolutely beautiful day!

Suzanne wasn't the only one catching fish. Alice had brought several nice sized trout to her yak and Jeanne had a few tricks up her sleeve, too, and hooked into this nice 20 inch red caught on a gold spoon.

As is our usual plan, we met back up together as a group around noon time to talk about our morning success, or lack thereof, and have a bite to eat. Half of our crew had already decided early on that they'd be heading back to the ramp after lunch, the other half were fully prepared to stay out and fish for several more hours. Either way, we were still going to enjoy lunch with the entire group.

As some of the ladies were slowly paddling their way back to the ramp, a few cast a line or two along the way and, as luck would have it, Suzanne once again hooked a beautiful keeper trout to top off her day. We were all really happy that she had such a great day on her first outing in her fishing kayak with just the girls. Way to go, Suzanne. Congratulations on the beginning of your 2015 kayak fishing experience!

Now it's time to get ready for our Cooked Shore Lunch Charter with Capt. Toney and Capt. Zorn

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March 3rd, 2015 NCLA Meeting with Capt. William Toney Topic: Filleting Fish (Spotted Seatrout)

3/8/2015

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Captain William Toney, President of the Homosassa Guides Association, operates his own charter boat fishing business called Homosassa Inshore Fishing. http://homosassainshorefishing.com/ He was one of our guest speakers last year (2014) introducing the Spotted Seatrout species to us and teaching us some of the best ways to target and catch them. He also mentioned that his group offers a very unique charter trip called Shore Lunches and took a brief moment to describe what that trip consists of. Since our March topic was about filleting fish and we learned so much from Capt. Toney, we thought we'd combine the two and schedule a charter with him at the same time. We invited him back to give us a trout fillet demonstration, talk to us a bit about how to catch trout, and schedule our own Cooked Shore Lunch with him at the end of it all.

25 of the NCLA women were in attendance this evening.

He began by introducing himself, his charter business, and telling us why he loves introducing people to the Nature Coast fishery. Since the topic of the evening was "Filleting Fish" he started off by saying "Any time you have the chore of filleting fish at the end of the day, only means that you caught fish during the day - that is what you call A-Good-Day." He pointed out three basic necessities for filleting fish:

1...A sharp knife (with a protective sheath, preferably)
2...A sharpening stone. He uses a wet-stone
3...A few heavy-duty Zip-Lock bags to keep the fresh fillets in for transport

We followed Capt. Toney to the fillet station set up by the Plantation boat ramp. He started off by explaining the importance of a sheath for the fillet knife as a protector against accidental finger and hand cuts. He also demonstrated how to properly sharpen both sides of the fillet knife using a sharpening stone.

He went on to tell us the difference between the difficulty of filleting a sheepshead or redfish vs the ease of filleting a trout. A video of this process is posted on Youtube for NCLA members. One of the NCLA members suggested a serrated bottle cap works great to help anchor down the fish tail as you cut the meat from the skin. Capt. Toney agreed and repeated this idea to those who may not have heard it. He showed us a second alternate way to fillet that allowed for a little more fish mass to hold on to while skinning the meat off of the skin. He also covered the topic of those unsightly little white worms that show up many times when filleting fish.

He explained the reasons why you should gut a fish vs fillet it outright and suggested that the fish carcass be used to fertilize the flower garden if possible. Another suggestion he made was to hold off on trying to fillet a limp fish, it's pretty difficult. Best to get a bit firm by ice which makes it easier to handle and fillet. He suggested adding some saltwater to the ice chest about 2 hours before attempting to fillet. In his opinion, this is the right combination to keep the fish fresh and just stiff enough to make filleting easy. He also answered some questions about the trend of bleeding a fish and how to fillet flounder as well. He double-bagged the two trout fillets he cut and gave them to Lucy who's going to have fresh trout dinner later that evening.

Once the trout fillet demonstration was over, we all headed back up to the meeting room to listen to Capt. Toney's advise on targeting and catching trout. He started off by talking about all of the different ways to cook trout, fried (which is his personal favorite), He then went on to give us a very detailed description of the tradition of how the Cooked Shore Lunch came about and what all is involved in the chartered trip. It has quite an interesting history.

From there he moved onto sharing some pointers in identifying areas that trout will likely be hanging around. He also discussed how the air and water temperature, wind and tide all affects the trout movement and bite at different times of the year. His favorite artificial bait is a 5.5 D.O.A. C.A.L jerk bait on a 3/0 nosed hooked on a 3/0 circle hook. He can catch trout using this lure in less than 2 feet of water. In the winter, he explained, shallow water heats up quicker than deeper water and therefore attracts trout and other species as well. He advised us to be as quiet as possible during those times because sometimes even the slightest noise will scare fish away. We learned about the common length of gator-trout on the Nature Coast and what the regulations are in this region.

We learned about the Duke Energy redfish and trout hatchery and their tagging process. Especially how they explained that Spotted Seatrout is such a delicate species, many of them dying even after a proper hook release.

Then he began answering questions about how his rod was spooled; what type of line, what type of knots, etc. so he took a few minutes to tell us what his preferences were with regard to line and knots. All of his line connections are with knots, not swivels simply because the hardware of a swivel will ruin the eyes of the rods when it comes in constant contact during the line retrieval process. He uses 20# fluorocarbon for his leader line and suggests that you can save a little money by buying fluorocarbon fishing line (which comes in a bigger spool) instead of buying fluorocarbon leader line (which comes in a smaller spool) because you can get more fishing line for the same price as the leader line. He demonstrated the surgeon's knot (his favorite line-to-line knot) and then the canoeman's knot (his favorite line-to-hook knot)

At the end of his presentation and before we started the door-prize segment, Capt. Toney surprised us with a donation of his own. A production company called Full Throttle Media offers a subscription to In The Spread, an on-line / DVD education series. He has been involved with this for the past five years. He generously donated three of these to the NCLA Library for use among the ladies. How awesome was that!?

Now it was time for the door-prize segment, all specific to our topic of filleting fish
Lucy won a white handle, 8 inch Dexter fillet knife which can be found at West Marine.

Kim won a 6 inch sharpening stone, fine on one side and course on the other. This came from Ace Hardware

Liz won the Fresh Saver batter operated vacuum sealing device with a pack of 1 quart storage bags

After all was said and done, it turned out to be a really great meeting. We learned about the Cooked Shore Lunch charter that the Homosassa Guides Association offers. We watched Capt. Toney fillet a trout and talk about how it's done. He gave us lots of tips and pointers for catching trout ourselves and he donated some really interesting videos to our club. Thank you Capt. Toney.

To view his presentation on YouTube, please contact the Nature Coast Lady Anglers for the link.

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February 28th, 2015: Volunteering at the 11th Annual Kid's Fishing Clinic

3/1/2015

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Every year, the Citrus County Parks & Recreation Department in cooperation with the FWC sponsors a Kid's Fishing Clinic as a way of introducing the sport at a young age. Click here for the details. This is the time at which all children soak up information like a sponge Teaching them the correct way to hold a fish, explaining to them why it's important to wear a life vest, and giving them a reason to take care of this wonderful Nature Coast fishery they will soon inherit from us grown-ups. Who knows how these simple events eventually change the course of one child's future. Kristin Smith, from the Citrus County Parks and Recreation Dept. and Morgan, from the FWC, both contacted the NCLA and asked for our help in a volunteer capacity. There would be approximately 150 - 300 children there and they needed as many helping hands as they could get. Naturally we agreed to help, after all, both the CCP&R Dept., and the FWC have always provided us with the supplies we need in order to keep the NCLA alive and active.

At the NCLA Planning Meeting on February 2nd, we brought up the topic of the Kid's Fishing Clinic and the need for volunteers to help out. Out of 31 ladies in attendance that evening, we had eleven of them signed up to volunteer by the end of the meeting. That's a pretty good representation of the kind of women we have in this group.

The volunteer project was divided into two parts. Each child that registered for the event was going to receive a free Zebco rod and reel, complete with spooled line, bobber, sinker and hook - ready for fishing.

In order for those to be handed out to 200 + kids who were especially excited to cast a line for the first time, they had to be spooled with line and rigged with tackle. They didn't come that way, someone would have to take the time to get that done for approximately 300 kids. That's where Part 1 of the volunteer project came in. Seven of the eleven NCLA women set time aside from their already busy days to meet together, along with various other Citrus County fishing clubs, at the Ft. Island Trail Park Wednesday morning, February 25th, to spend the day working together to rig fishing rods for use on Saturday.

Alice, Theresa, Dot, Pam, Linda, Suzanne & RG working together and with other fishing clubs to get those rods and reels rigged.

The assembly line forms...

Break for group picture:

Suzanne in the black jacket
Theresa in the light blue
Pam in the pink vest
Linda in the grey shirt
In the back, Dot with sunglasses
Alice with the pup
RG in the red shirt

From left to right:
Dot, Alice, Suzanne, Theresa in front, Linda, and Pam

Overall, the consensus was that the Rod and Reel Assembly was a bit disorganized, so there was some discussion about how to improve the process some for next year, but all the clubs pulled together and worked out a plan to make it happen. There were several set-back and some rods had to been re-rigged for various reasons. Despite all of that, the day was a productive one and everyone felt like their time and efforts were appreciated. Thanks to the Parks & Rec. Dept. for bringing coffee and donuts for the gang!

The final product - ready for the kids!

Wednesday's work was done. Saturday was only a few days away.

Saturday morning 7:00 a.m.

Pam and Delores arrive to find the FWC team unloading truck beds full of equipment and supplies for the Kid's Fishing Clinic. It was an overcast morning at 60 degrees with 10-15 mph winds. Not the best day for fishing fun but there was no controlling Mother Nature. We would make the best of the situation.

Setting up the Skill Stations Tents.

Skill Stations included Casting, Knot Tying, Fishing Tackle, Good Stewardship, and Touch Tank..

Volunteer Sign-Up

One of the FWC team folded down the tail-gate of his truck, flipped open a three-ring binder and instructed those standing in line to sign-in and put their volunteer name stickers on so that's what we did.

Parking

As soon as all of the parking spaces were filled (by volunteers who had arrived early) we were promptly asked to move our vehicles to the grass so that registered families would find it easier to find parking for the event.

This is the Sponsor Banner that was posted right beside the Registration Table.

The Casting Station

This area is where each child was able to pick up a rod and try to cast the weighted plugs (in place of a lure) into one of the hoola-hoops. A little like target practice, if you will. All set up and ready to go.

The self-titled "Bag Ladies"

These fun ladies, along with Delores, were part of the "goody-bag" assembly line. From Bev in the yellow jacket to Vicki in the brown jacket, all from different clubs, Citrus County Fishing Club, Keep Citrus County Beautiful, Dixie Bay Boat and Fishing Club, and the Nature Coast Lady Anglers. Their job was to make sure each child filled out a survey about their thoughts on the event and then as they turned in their survey, they were given a "goody bag" with all sorts of kid-friendly activities.

The Registration Table is ready to go. Each child received a t-shirt commemorating the event.

Here comes the first wave of kids - The 9:00 group. Ready for the starting gates to open. Ready or not, here they come!

The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission Clan and the Citrus County Parks & Recreation Clan without whom this even never would have been possible. And a big shout-out to them from the Nature Coast Lady Anglers, too, because they are big supporters of our group as well!

The "Touch Tank" in action. Who doesn't want to see what a horseshoe crab looks like underneath? We think the parents were a little jealous :o)

Ethical Angling & Good Stewardship Tent
There is a wealth of knowledge behind that table

Same Station - different view. These kids are eager to learn! They've got some great teachers.

Below is the "Tackle Station"
(bobbers, weights, circle-hooks, jig-heads....)

Let's learn how to tie fishing knots at the "Knot Tying Station"

Special thanks to the U.S. Coast Guard for bringing one of their boats for "show-and-tell". This was a "no-grown-ups-allowed" tour and the kids were digging it!

It was a bit too windy for casting accuracy but the kids could have cared less. They were just having fun learning the mechanics of the reel's release and retrieve mechanisms.

After each child spent some time at each of the Skill Stations, they were directed to the "Fishing Pole Store" where Pam, here on the left, one of our very own NCLA ladies, would hand them their very own brand new fishing rod to keep and take home. From there, she would point them in the direction they would go to practice their fishing skills for real.

Those kids would walk to the water's edge, where another volunteer would help them bait their hooks and cast their line out in order to catch a pinfish or two.

There were a few fish caught that day....

Girls can catch fish, too. There was no shortage of smiling faces.

More future lady anglers in the making :o)

By 2:00 p.m., the wind had picked up considerably. The rain had held off for a number of hours and we were quite thankful for that, for the kid's sake, but there came a time when you knew it was just a matter of time before the skies let loose. Most of the children had already run the course and parents were wrapping things up and leading them back to their cars before the rains came. Those volunteers who were still around helped to break things down and pack supplies up. Over all, it was a wonderful and rewarding experience and we can't wait to do it again next year. Thanks to the FWC and CCP&R for inviting us to be a part of it all.

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I'm just a lady angler having fun on the water, trying to improve my fishing skills and enjoying the "reel" life !!!
Instagram @nature_coast_lady_angler

March 23rd, 2015 Attempted Cooked Shore Lunch with Capt. Toney

2015-March 10th Group Kayak Fishing - Fish Creek

March 3rd, 2015 NCLA Meeting with Capt. William Toney Topic: Filleting Fish (Spotted Seatrout)

25 of the NCLA women were in attendance this evening.

February 28th, 2015: Volunteering at the 11th Annual Kid's Fishing Clinic

Alice, Theresa, Dot, Pam, Linda, Suzanne & RG working together and with other fishing clubs to get those rods and reels rigged.

The assembly line forms...

Break for group picture:

Suzanne in the black jacket
Theresa in the light blue
Pam in the pink vest
Linda in the grey shirt
In the back, Dot with sunglasses
Alice with the pup
RG in the red shirt

From left to right:
Dot, Alice, Suzanne, Theresa in front, Linda, and Pam

The final product - ready for the kids!

Wednesday's work was done. Saturday was only a few days away.

Saturday morning 7:00 a.m.

Setting up the Skill Stations Tents.

Volunteer Sign-Up

Parking

This is the Sponsor Banner that was posted right beside the Registration Table.

The Casting Station

The self-titled "Bag Ladies"

The Registration Table is ready to go. Each child received a t-shirt commemorating the event.

Here comes the first wave of kids - The 9:00 group. Ready for the starting gates to open. Ready or not, here they come!

The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission Clan and the Citrus County Parks & Recreation Clan without whom this even never would have been possible. And a big shout-out to them from the Nature Coast Lady Anglers, too, because they are big supporters of our group as well!

The "Touch Tank" in action. Who doesn't want to see what a horseshoe crab looks like underneath? We think the parents were a little jealous :o)

Ethical Angling & Good Stewardship Tent
There is a wealth of knowledge behind that table

Same Station - different view. These kids are eager to learn! They've got some great teachers.

Below is the "Tackle Station"
(bobbers, weights, circle-hooks, jig-heads....)

Let's learn how to tie fishing knots at the "Knot Tying Station"

Special thanks to the U.S. Coast Guard for bringing one of their boats for "show-and-tell". This was a "no-grown-ups-allowed" tour and the kids were digging it!

It was a bit too windy for casting accuracy but the kids could have cared less. They were just having fun learning the mechanics of the reel's release and retrieve mechanisms.

Those kids would walk to the water's edge, where another volunteer would help them bait their hooks and cast their line out in order to catch a pinfish or two.

There were a few fish caught that day....

Girls can catch fish, too. There was no shortage of smiling faces.

More future lady anglers in the making :o)

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I'm just a lady angler having fun on the water, trying to improve my fishing skills and enjoying the "reel" life !!!Instagram @nature_coast_lady_angler

March 23rd, 2015 Attempted Cooked Shore Lunch with Capt. Toney

2015-March 10th Group Kayak Fishing - Fish Creek

March 3rd, 2015 NCLA Meeting with Capt. William Toney Topic: Filleting Fish (Spotted Seatrout)

25 of the NCLA women were in attendance this evening.

February 28th, 2015: Volunteering at the 11th Annual Kid's Fishing Clinic

Alice, Theresa, Dot, Pam, Linda, Suzanne & RG working together and with other fishing clubs to get those rods and reels rigged.

The assembly line forms...

Break for group picture:

Suzanne in the black jacketTheresa in the light bluePam in the pink vestLinda in the grey shirtIn the back, Dot with sunglassesAlice with the pupRG in the red shirt

From left to right:Dot, Alice, Suzanne, Theresa in front, Linda, and Pam

The final product - ready for the kids!

Wednesday's work was done. Saturday was only a few days away.

Saturday morning 7:00 a.m.

Setting up the Skill Stations Tents.

Volunteer Sign-Up

Parking

This is the Sponsor Banner that was posted right beside the Registration Table.

The Casting Station

The self-titled "Bag Ladies"

The Registration Table is ready to go. Each child received a t-shirt commemorating the event.

Here comes the first wave of kids - The 9:00 group. Ready for the starting gates to open. Ready or not, here they come!

The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission Clan and the Citrus County Parks & Recreation Clan without whom this even never would have been possible. And a big shout-out to them from the Nature Coast Lady Anglers, too, because they are big supporters of our group as well!

The "Touch Tank" in action. Who doesn't want to see what a horseshoe crab looks like underneath? We think the parents were a little jealous :o)

Ethical Angling & Good Stewardship TentThere is a wealth of knowledge behind that table

Same Station - different view. These kids are eager to learn! They've got some great teachers.

Below is the "Tackle Station"(bobbers, weights, circle-hooks, jig-heads....)

Let's learn how to tie fishing knots at the "Knot Tying Station"

Special thanks to the U.S. Coast Guard for bringing one of their boats for "show-and-tell". This was a "no-grown-ups-allowed" tour and the kids were digging it!

It was a bit too windy for casting accuracy but the kids could have cared less. They were just having fun learning the mechanics of the reel's release and retrieve mechanisms.

Those kids would walk to the water's edge, where another volunteer would help them bait their hooks and cast their line out in order to catch a pinfish or two.

There were a few fish caught that day....

Girls can catch fish, too. There was no shortage of smiling faces.

More future lady anglers in the making :o)

Archives

Author

Categories

I'm just a lady angler having fun on the water, trying to improve my fishing skills and enjoying the "reel" life !!!
Instagram @nature_coast_lady_angler

Suzanne in the black jacket
Theresa in the light blue
Pam in the pink vest
Linda in the grey shirt
In the back, Dot with sunglasses
Alice with the pup
RG in the red shirt

From left to right:
Dot, Alice, Suzanne, Theresa in front, Linda, and Pam

Ethical Angling & Good Stewardship Tent
There is a wealth of knowledge behind that table

Below is the "Tackle Station"
(bobbers, weights, circle-hooks, jig-heads....)