Outdoor Almanac February 2010

Best days to fish in February 1-6, 10-16, 19-20, 24-31
Best days to stay home in February 7-8, 12-16, 22-23

Best days to fish in March 1-2, 6-7, 13-17, 20-21, and 24-28
Best days to stay home in March 3-5, 8-12, 18-19, 22-23

Inshore
The Florida Wildlife and Conservation Commission (FWC) has issued an Executive Order to protect Florida’s snook, bonefish and tarpon fisheries from further harm caused by the recent prolonged cold weather in the state, which has caused widespread saltwater fish kills.  This Executive Order temporarily extends the closed fishing season for snook, statewide, until September.  It also establishes temporary statewide closed seasons for bonefish and tarpon until April due to the prolonged natural cold weather event that caused significant, widespread mortality of saltwater fish in Florida.

Offshore
This was the eighth in a series of statewide conferences on artificial reefs and it encompasses artificial reef legislation, technology and monitoring.  Previous conferences were held in Daytona Beach (1979), Miami (1987), Tallahassee (1990 and 1993), Palm Beach (1998), Fort Lauderdale (2001) and Sarasota (2004).  Federal, state and local program managers and representatives, scientists, researchers, regulators, volunteers and others from around Florida and other states participated.

The theme for the 2010 Florida Artificial Reef Summit was “Fisheries Management and Artificial Reefs.”  The agenda included 33 speakers and 20 poster presentations, ranging from topics of ecological considerations of artificial reef development, to lessons learned, regulatory issues, ships-to-reefs and other Florida artificial reef-related issues.

Boating
A recently released report commissioned by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) titled, “Florida Boating Access Facilities Inventory and Economic Study,” revealed the importance of boating to Florida’s economy.  However, as good as boating is for the economy, the report indicated there is a need to address critical boating infrastructure now, to continue to adequately accommodate boating activities in the future.

The report showed that spending related to recreational boating trips, supports 97,000 jobs in Florida, with recreational boater expenditures totaling $8.5 billion.  This represents about 50 percent of the total jobs and spending associated with Florida’s diverse marine industry.  
  
The 572-page report includes an inventory and assessment of recreational boating-access facilities, and documents the economic significance of recreational boating. It will be used for public and private planning and decision-making in determining where boat ramps, marinas, boat storage and other boating infrastructure should be located. The project also will result in a database that contains records for more than 3,100 boat ramps throughout the state, of which 51 percent are open to the public. The FWC will develop an interactive web site that will allow boaters, public officials and researchers to get current regional information on boating access from real-time resources.

By seeing these trends for demand now, the FWC can help ensure Florida meets the boating demand of the future.  The FWC provides grants to local governments for boat ramps and other boat-access infrastructure. The agency’s goal is to encourage, promote and support projects that provide safe, high-quality and environmentally sound public recreational boat access to Florida waterways.

Freshwater
Freshwater fishing’s “Holy Grail” now has dual holders; 22-lb, 4-oz bass caught by Japan’s, Manabu Kurita, matches IGFA record held for 77 years by Georgia’s, George Perry.

After nearly six months of waiting, Japan’s, Manabu Kurita, is taking his place along side Georgia, USA angler, George Perry, in the International Game Fish Association’s (IGFA) World Record Game Fishes book as dual holders of the All-Tackle record for Largemouth Bass, each weighing 22-lb, 4-oz and caught 77 years apart.
In January the IGFA approved Kurita’s application for the fish caught from Japan’s largest lake on July 2, 2009. The 70-year old non-profit fisheries conservation, education and record-keeping body, received Kurita’s application and documentation on Sept. 19, 2009. The largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), was caught from Lake Biwa which is an ancient reservoir northeast of Kyoto.

Kurita, 32, of Aichi, Japan, was fishing Biwa that July day, using a Deps Sidewinder rod and a Shimano Antares DC7LV reel, loaded with 25-lb Toray line when he pitched his bait, a live bluegill, next to a bridge piling. It was Kurita’s first cast to the piling where he had seen a big bass swimming. He only twitched the bait a couple of times before he got the bite. After a short, three-minute fight, he had the fish in the boat. Kurita was quoted as saying, “I knew it was big, but I didn’t know it was that big.”

But big it was. Using certified scales, his fish weighed in at 10.12 kg or 22 lb, 4 oz. When measured, the fish had a fork length of 27.2 inches and a girth of 26.7 inches. The IGFA only has line classes up to 20 lb for largemouth bass, so Kurita had no chance at a line class record as well.

IGFA rules for fish caught outside the U.S. allows anglers 90 days to submit their applications from the date of their catch. The documentation was received through the IGFA’s sister association, the Japan Game Fish Association (JGFA). IGFA Conservation Director, Jason Schratwieser, said Kurita’s application was meticulously documented with the necessary photos and video.

Kurita’s fish ties the current record held for over 77 years by Perry, who caught his Bass on Georgia’s Montgomery Lake, June 2, 1932, near Jacksonville, Georgia. That 22 lb 4 oz behemoth won Field and Stream Magazine’s big fish contest and 46 years later, when the IGFA took over freshwater records from Field and Stream, it became the All-Tackle record, now one of over 1,100 fresh and saltwater species the IGFA monitors.

Earth Tip to Live By!
Hug a tree.  You'll never guess what you could learn. OK, if you can't hug one, plant one.