After a brief "Welcome" and introduction by Betty, the guest speakers took the podium one by one.
Sport Fish Restoration
The FWC was first on the agenda and there's a reason for that. Heather Sneed, who is with the Outreach & Education Dept. of the FWC happened to be the same 'Heather' who also assisted Jennifer Saranzak at our Crystal River Women's Fishing Clinic back in November, took front and center to kick things off.
She began by explaining what the Sport Fish Restoration Program was all about and continued by teaching us about the FWRI (Fish & Wildlife Research Institute), and how they collect the ear bones from fish to do much of their research. We also learned about stock enhancement and fish hatcheries. But she threw us a curve-ball when she told us that Snook begin their lives as males and then some change into females.
Reproduction
Common snook are protandric hermaphrodites, changing from male to female after maturation. This transition is identified by the presence of both male and female sex cells in the gonads and takes place when they grow to between 9.4-2.4 inches (24.0-82.4 cm) fork length which corresponds to 1-7 years of age. A study conducted in 2000, indicated that the sex ratios for common snook ages 0 - 2 are significantly skewed between the east and west coasts of Florida (USA) due to protrandry and differences in growth and mortality rates. The majority of small common snook are male and most large snook are female. Males reach sexual maturity during their first year at 5.9-7.9 inches (15.0-20.0 cm) fork length. Research shows that female gonads mature directly from the mature male gonads shortly after spawning. The probability that a common snook of a particular size will be a female increases with length or age.
After Heather "wow-ed" us with that little factoid, she changed gears to water boundaries, clarifying the difference between State, Federal and International waters when it came to mileage boundaries and how the regulations can be interpreted differently at times. She put a strong emphasis on the importance of conserving marine habitat by explaining that "no habitat = no fish" and that approximately 70% of Gulf inshore marine habitat depend on sea grass for life. Another factoid she threw in there: sea turtles eat jellyfish. Who knew? Heather closed her presentation by pointing to the FWC display table to her left and invited all of us to scour the educational material she had set up there and pick up a few free packetss of circle hooks and other trinkets, courtesy of the FWC Outreach & Education Dept. It was a pretty good start to the workshop and it got better as the afternoon progressed.
She began by explaining what the Sport Fish Restoration Program was all about and continued by teaching us about the FWRI (Fish & Wildlife Research Institute), and how they collect the ear bones from fish to do much of their research. We also learned about stock enhancement and fish hatcheries. But she threw us a curve-ball when she told us that Snook begin their lives as males and then some change into females.
Reproduction
Common snook are protandric hermaphrodites, changing from male to female after maturation. This transition is identified by the presence of both male and female sex cells in the gonads and takes place when they grow to between 9.4-2.4 inches (24.0-82.4 cm) fork length which corresponds to 1-7 years of age. A study conducted in 2000, indicated that the sex ratios for common snook ages 0 - 2 are significantly skewed between the east and west coasts of Florida (USA) due to protrandry and differences in growth and mortality rates. The majority of small common snook are male and most large snook are female. Males reach sexual maturity during their first year at 5.9-7.9 inches (15.0-20.0 cm) fork length. Research shows that female gonads mature directly from the mature male gonads shortly after spawning. The probability that a common snook of a particular size will be a female increases with length or age.
After Heather "wow-ed" us with that little factoid, she changed gears to water boundaries, clarifying the difference between State, Federal and International waters when it came to mileage boundaries and how the regulations can be interpreted differently at times. She put a strong emphasis on the importance of conserving marine habitat by explaining that "no habitat = no fish" and that approximately 70% of Gulf inshore marine habitat depend on sea grass for life. Another factoid she threw in there: sea turtles eat jellyfish. Who knew? Heather closed her presentation by pointing to the FWC display table to her left and invited all of us to scour the educational material she had set up there and pick up a few free packetss of circle hooks and other trinkets, courtesy of the FWC Outreach & Education Dept. It was a pretty good start to the workshop and it got better as the afternoon progressed.
Quick Break
Cabot, one of the generous sponsors of the LLGF event, supplied the snacks for break time. Before the rest of the guest speakers were given their que to take the stand, Betty pointed toward and announced the location of the Snack Station where someone behind the scenes had laid out a number of small paper plates full of assorted cheese and cracker samplers along with a couple of cases of bottled water. We took advantage, of course, but were back in our seats within minutes as our first local fishing Captain was stepping up to speak. We were all excited to hear what he had to say. This, after all
Capt. Craig Timbes -" The Snook Cowboy"
Capt. Craig Timbes, a.k.a. "The Snook Cowboy", stepped up to the podium and straight off gave us fair warning: "Hold onto your seats, ladies, because I have so much information to dole out to you and only a small block of time to do it in.", as he tapped on his watch. He was very energetic and a very animated and dynamic speaker and he was right, he talked faster than we could write which made us wonder if he threw back a few Redbulls before hand. Anyway, we had two options: A) put our pens down and just listen and hope to God we could remember even half of what he had to say, or B) risk a bad case of writer's cramp trying to scribe every word without looking up at him once. He began by introducing himself, of course, and telling us how he got the nick-name "The Snook Cowboy". An interesting story, then said what we were waiting to hear, "I'm going tell you every secret I can in the short amount of time I have in front of you and I don't care what any of the other guys think about that!" Well, okay then...let's get to it!!
Secret #1 - "Forget everything you think you know about 'when to fish'. I'll tell you when to fish: start 2 .5 hours after moonrise or moonset and fish for the next 4-6 hours. Everything else will fall into place if you follow that one simple rule.
Secret #2 - Fish 3-4 days before a full moon or new (no) moon
Fish 3-4 days after a full moon or new (no) moon
Secret #3 - These are the five most important aspects of a lure: Color, Contrast, Flash, Vibration and Scent. Use as many of those components as you can on one lure.
Secret #4 - Predatory fish will instinctively face into the current. Make a cast that allows your bait or lure to travel with the current...you'll cover more ground that way.
Secret #5 - For 8-12 inches of water, use a top-water lure.
Secret #6 - For mangrove areas, on hot, sunny days, cast under the overhanging branches. They provide shade for redfish.
Secret #7 - "Pre-fish" on Google Maps and locate the deep holes for trout.
Secret #8 - Ask yourself: "Where would a fish hide?"
There was so much more great information that Capt. Timbes gave us that afternoon but quite frankly, there just wasn't enough time to write it all down. The last comment he made before stepping down was this, "If you only get one thing out of the past 15 minutes I've been up here, it should be this: Set your fishing schedule on moonrises and moon sets...that's the key. And if you have any questions about that, you can e-mail me at [email protected]".
He practically got a standing ovation!
Secret #2 - Fish 3-4 days before a full moon or new (no) moon
Fish 3-4 days after a full moon or new (no) moon
Secret #3 - These are the five most important aspects of a lure: Color, Contrast, Flash, Vibration and Scent. Use as many of those components as you can on one lure.
Secret #4 - Predatory fish will instinctively face into the current. Make a cast that allows your bait or lure to travel with the current...you'll cover more ground that way.
Secret #5 - For 8-12 inches of water, use a top-water lure.
Secret #6 - For mangrove areas, on hot, sunny days, cast under the overhanging branches. They provide shade for redfish.
Secret #7 - "Pre-fish" on Google Maps and locate the deep holes for trout.
Secret #8 - Ask yourself: "Where would a fish hide?"
There was so much more great information that Capt. Timbes gave us that afternoon but quite frankly, there just wasn't enough time to write it all down. The last comment he made before stepping down was this, "If you only get one thing out of the past 15 minutes I've been up here, it should be this: Set your fishing schedule on moonrises and moon sets...that's the key. And if you have any questions about that, you can e-mail me at [email protected]".
He practically got a standing ovation!
Capt. Rick Karnes
Capt. Rick Karnes took to the podium next. Capt. Craig had done a good job of getting the audience excited, we were hoping Capt. Karnes would be able to keep the momentum going. Although his presentation style was a bit more 'down to earth', he certainly didn't disappoint. His subject of expertise was the introduction of artificial lures, which was awesome because the successful use of artificials are a mystery to most women and it takes practice and patience to become comfortable with the technique. He was here to help us overcome all that.
Capt. Karnes passed out a very well written outline for each of us and we followed along as he described the three basic artificial lure types and the five 'W's of who, what, when, where and why they should be utilized. He defined the difference between topwater, swimbait and jigs, and when to use each of them. He reviewed all of the different reasons why artificial lures can be just as productive as live bait and more convenient, too. Finally he went over some general guidelines to follow. The hand-out was great because we didn't have to write too many additional notes and everything he said was right there in black-and-white to take home and refer to again later. Awesome Job, Capt. Karnes!!!
Capt. Karnes passed out a very well written outline for each of us and we followed along as he described the three basic artificial lure types and the five 'W's of who, what, when, where and why they should be utilized. He defined the difference between topwater, swimbait and jigs, and when to use each of them. He reviewed all of the different reasons why artificial lures can be just as productive as live bait and more convenient, too. Finally he went over some general guidelines to follow. The hand-out was great because we didn't have to write too many additional notes and everything he said was right there in black-and-white to take home and refer to again later. Awesome Job, Capt. Karnes!!!
Capt. Scott Swartz
The last speaker of the morning was Capt. Scott Swartz with an introduction to fly fishing. His aura was a little different than the previous two speakers. They seemed more tense compared to Capt. Swartz who was very relaxed and soft spoken. Maybe it's the nature of fly anglers in general. It's all about the relaxation of the sport, not the high anxiety of competing against yourself for bigger, heavier fish. He started of by acknowledging that the majority of ladies in the room probably weren't one bit interested in the art of fly fishing but he was there for the small percentage that was. He went on to extol the virtues of fly fishing and informed us that he runs a fly fishing school on Pine Island simply called Florida Fly Fishing School Pine Island. He wasn't there to persuade anyone from flipping fishing styles, he just wanted everyone to have a chance to give it a try before they left. Simple as that!
Skill Stations
Well now...the clock struck three and the guest speakers were done playing with our heads and filling us with a new sense of hope and determination. That section concluded Part 1 of 3. Part 2 was the skill-station arena, or break-out-sessions, as they are known in the corporate symposium world. Each guest speaker was in charge of a specific skill station, depending on their area of expertise. Volunteers who were just as proficient in other areas also made up several of the skill stations as well. This is where the women gathered in small groups and worked on overcoming some of the obstacles that had been a cause of frustration in the past. At this point, we all split up and wandered around the various skill stations for about an hour and a half.
Capt. Scott Swartz - Introduction to Fly Fishing
Knot Lessons
Trailer Backing
Popping Corks
Throwing A Cast Net
Capt. Rick Karnes with his Artificial Lures
Kayak Fishing
Delores's next boat - in about never years
Silent Auction & Raffle
We finally ended up running into each other at the "Buy A T-Shirt" table. We swore we weren't going to buy any raffle tickets or T-shirts. Yeah, right!!
Part 2 of 3 (the skill stations) came to a close after about an hour and a half. Most of the women were able spend enough time at whatever station or table they were most interested in and maybe even a little extra time to check out a few of the others just out of curiosity. While all of that was going on, some busy-bee had arranged all the chairs facing the raffle prize table. By 5:00 p.m. the buzz going around was "They're getting ready to draw raffle tickets - pass it on" It didn't take long for that piece of info to make it's way to the ears of 85 women. We were all in our seats, tickets in hand and ears open. Liz was the only one in our group of four who won anything! She won a really nice cheese & cracker gift basket donated by Cabot Cheese Co. The event activities came to a close by 5:30 p.m. Some of the ladies strolled back over to the T-Shirt table and finally broke down and bought one. A few women pulled one or two of the guest speakers aside for a quick personal Q & A session and the LLGF volunteers got busy folding tables and chairs for storage. Our group followed suit, folding up our own chairs for transport back to the hotel. We made some small talk with a few of the others there, they asked if we were going to the Meet & Greet at Mulletville right around the corner, but we declined. We didn't have the energy and really wanted to have a good sit-down dinner with Dot because we knew she had to head back to Lecanto in the morning. We thanked as many people as we could who were responsible for putting on the seminar, and then slowly made our way back to the Bridgewater Inn.
What's for Dinner?
By the time we got back to the hotel room, we were tired and hungry. We hadn't had a nice big meal since we stopped at Miceli's Restaurant before we even checked into our hotel Friday afternoon. Other than that, Liz had been whipping up a few quick meals in the kitchen and that's what kept us going up until now. It was time for Liz to relax but there were so many dinner options within walking distance we couldn't decide. Since it was Dot's last night with us, she got to choose where we ate and it ended up being Bert's Bar less than 50 yards from our hotel.
Some folks come for the music
Some folks come for the view
Some come to play in Matlacha
Stop by for a beer or two
From fishermen in tank tops
To dudes in flowered shirts
They all hang out together
In the back on the deck at Bert's!
Some folks come for the view
Some come to play in Matlacha
Stop by for a beer or two
From fishermen in tank tops
To dudes in flowered shirts
They all hang out together
In the back on the deck at Bert's!
We had a really nice dinner at Bert's. It was crowded but we dug it. There was a live band playing inside and a different one playing outside, so that was kind of strange but, oh well! We talked about the day and what we learned and ran into a couple of the other ladies who had been at the seminar earlier that day so that was kind of neat. We begged, and begged and pleaded for Dot to stay but she just couldn't so we made sure we had some fun before she left Sunday morning.
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