florida
In Praise of Permit By Jan Maizler
In Praise of Permit
By
Jan Maizler
Here are some images of the permit I’ve pursued, caught, and released in Florida, Mexico/Yucatan, Belize, Roatan, and Little Cayman Island. In my opinion, they are the planet’s cagiest flats fish when pursued on jigs and flies. Catching them on an artificial is something to be proud of. One of the highlights of my angling career is the release of nine- yes, nine !- permit in one day out of Belize River Lodge. This was documented by Guide Raul Navarette and Mike Heusner, who gave me the magic lure- a white 1/4 ounce Popeye skimmer jig. In balance, these were young eager, fiercely competitive fish in three schools of approximately one hundred fish. The other permit I am most proud of was the (now-EX) World record permit of 23 pounds 15 ounces on 4-pound test.
JUST PUBLISHED- FISHING FOR SPOTTED SEATROUT BY JAN S. MAIZLER
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Fishing for Spotted Seatrout: From the Carolinas to Texas
Jan S. Maizler
Details: 128 pages 5.5 x 8.5
Paper: $15.95
ISBN 13: 978-0-8130-6006-4
Pubdate: 9/23/2014
Please note that while you may order this book at any time, it will not be available for shipment until approximately one month before publication date
Overview
“Despite having fished seatrout for years, I hadn’t any idea how much I didn’t know until I read Maizler’s definitive new work on the species.”–Doug Olander, editor in chief, Sport Fishing Magazine
“Maizler’s name has been inexorably linked to seatrout for decades. This book is an overdue, welcome, and essential addition to our angling literature. Kudos to the master!”–Glenn Law, executive editor, Salt Water Sportsman Magazine
“From seatrout habits to state-by-state seatrout fishing techniques, Maizler covers everything one needs to know with regard to becoming a successful angler for this popular species.”–Tommy L. Thompson, author of The Saltwater Angler’s Guide to Tampa Bay and Southwest Florida
Known as “everyman’s fish,” the spotted seatrout is one of the top ten species for recreational fishing in the United States.
In Fishing for Spotted Seatrout, Jan Maizler, a world-renowned light tackle expert, shares more than 30 years’ experience and innovative tactics for catching this popular fish in its range from the Carolinas to Texas. For beginners, he offers an overview of the unique characteristics and habits of the spotted seatrout. For more seasoned fishermen, he presents an in-depth analysis of the different tackle, baits, techniques, and tidal conditions for achieving the best catches. A chapter on weather and season will help ensure angling success, regardless of conditions the calendar brings.
Maizler discusses chumming–a technique widely applied in other fisheries but mostly unknown for seatrout–and recommends the paddleboard, the newest vessel for hunting the spotted king. He also explores region-specific practices like wading, prevalent in Texas, and trolling live shrimp, common in Biloxi Marsh, and argues that their use can and should extend beyond these regions. Moreover, he demonstrates how to apply these new techniques on your next fishing expedition.
Covering every aspect of angling for this magnificent gamefish, Maizler’s comprehensive guide belongs on your bookshelf and in your tackle bag.
Jan Maizler, former International Game Fish Association world-record holder, is the author of nine books, including Fishing Florida’s Flats.
Other JAN MAIZLER Books
Fishing Florida’s Flats: A Guide to Bonefish, Tarpon, Permit, and Much More
An Image Roundup of Recent Story Trips
An Image Roundup of Recent Story Trips
By
Jan S. Maizler
Here are some images of trips that took place through the late Winter into early Spring and stretched from Florida’s Space Coast to the Keys.
Some of the guides involved were Justin Price, Butch Moser, Butch Constable, Hai Truong, Gus Montoya, Rob Munoz, David Accursio and Martin Carranza. Thanks to all !
Punta Gorda, Florida Winter Fishery
Punta Gorda, Florida Winter Fishery
By
Jan Maizler
Though our first angling day was besotted by frontal winds and rain this past Friday, Saturday dawned calm, clear, and with a bit of fog. Thanks to Captain Ralph Allen of King Fisher Fleet for some great guiding. As always, Charlotte Harbor & the Gulf Islands, Florida came through for our efforts with superb support. Here’s a few images of our adventure.
In Praise of Peacocks
In Praise of Peacocks
By
Jan Maizler
While Florida is blessed with some of the finest fresh and saltwater fishing in the world, only the southern portion of the Sunshine State has a strong and viable fishery for peacocks or peacock bass. This is the only region in the Lower Forty Eight that can lay claim to this powerful colorful gamester, which in reality is a tropical cichlid and not a bass. And while SOFLA does not currently offer the twenty pound monsters of the Amazon, the swath of lands from approximately West Palm Beach to Homestead offer some whoppers that will create life-long memories. I personally believe some peacocks will reach 15 pounds and higher decades from now. This means you do not have to travel outside of the United States to catch and release one of the finest game fish in the world.
Here is a brief collection of (the many) images I’ve taken while fishing for peacocks with guides Butch Moser, Hai Truong, and Alan Zaremba.
Yesterday in the Everglades National Park
Yesterday in the Everglades National Park
By
Jan Maizler
My friend Paul Raffety and I fished with Captain Steven Tejera on Friday, December 20. We launched in Flamingo and fished as far north as the Shark River. Though the winds were honking, Steven kept us on the fish. Here’s few images of our trip.
A Review of Three Outstanding Destinations Visited in 2013
A Review of Three Outstanding Destinations Visited in 2013
By
Jan Maizler
Many of the joys of the outdoor life are reflections back over great moments and realizations of dreams. And that’s often done by using photography not just a means of expression but also an homage to recollections of things past.
I’ve traveled to many fishy places far and wide over the years. For 2013, three stand out.
El Pescador Lodge, Ambergris Caye, Belize
Cajun Fishing Adventures, Buras, Louisiana
Cabbage Key, Pine Island Sound, Florida
SaltyShores Close-Up: Naples, Florida with Captain Will Geraghty by Jan Maizler
SaltyShores Close-Up: Naples, Florida with Captain Will Geraghty
by
Jan Maizler
Background-
Naples could be called an ideal Florida destination and residential city. For outdoors and fishing enthusiasts, Naples proper and the huge Everglades National Park to the south offers a superb biomass of birds and wildlife plus astonishing angling around the clock. Yet it is a special city that can claim such wonderful snook fishing right in the midst of downtown year-round and alongside its’ beaches in the summer. The Gulf of Mexico sends fresh breezes across the city and offers postcard sunsets that are memory-making.
Naples beaches are blessed with sugary sands and graced by a landmark pier. Downtown Naples has superb shopping, art galleries, and excellent restaurants. And golfers will find all the courses they need in the area.
I asked friend and colleague Captain Ken Collette to join me on a long overdue sojourn for a day of inshore fishing with Captain Will Geraghty (www.naplessportfishing.com). Ken readily accepted and we made plans to meet Will the following friday at the Port-of-Call Marina just minutes from downtown historic Olde Naples. The time of the meeting was set at mid-day so Will could be ready with live bait already onboard in his spacious livewell.
The Day Arrives-
Ken and I left Miami early in the morning and took a leisurely drive across the Tamiami Trail (US 41) which lead us directly into the heart of our target zone of Will’ s dock and the Naples shopping district. We were right on time for breakfast at The Café on Fifth Avenue and we dined on sumptuous egg croissant sandwiches, rainbow granola parfaits, and strong Colombian coffee.
The end of our meal and a little exploring coincided nicely with meeting Will at the marina. As we came aboard and shook hands, Will tossed a couple live pilchards overboard into the Gordon River. Their landing into the water was greeted by the huge predatory splashes of big jacks awaiting them. I told Will if he was intending to get us stoked, he was succeeding ! Will’s vessel was a gleaming spacious 25-foot Privateer Renegade center console model. It was seaworthy-looking, crisp, and best-yet, outfitted with lots of light tackle rods.
On our way towards the pass, Will told us that we’d have to wait about an hour before the tide really would start out and the action would take off. That being the case, I asked Will to take Ken and I sightseeing around Naples Bay to see all the beautiful homes and vessels. Will complied and Ken and I were treated to some fine sights of excellent waterfront living neither of us would forget.
When the tide started out we began our fishing at the pass and slowly worked our way into the bay and fished both the dock pilings and mangrove edges. The method of fishing was chumming with the whitebait and casting to explosions and/or to likely-looking spots. Our spinning tackle was spooled with braided line that was so necessary fighting fish so close to line-cutting obstructions. When the “smoke cleared”, we released over twenty snook, countless big jacks, and a nice redfish. As with all wonderful times, it passed too quickly and it was time to say goodbye.
Like I’ve said before, it’s a very good sign when you’re planning a return trip before it’s even over !
CONTACT DATA:
Captain Will Geraghty
Grand Slam Sport Fishing
Phone: 239-793-0969
Web Site: www.naplessportfishing.com
Naples, Marco Island, Paradise Coast
Web Site: www.paradisecoast.com
SaltyShores Close-Up: Flamingo, Florida by Jan Maizler
SaltyShores Close-Up: Flamingo, Florida
by
Jan Maizler
Though recent times has seen the Everglades National Park shut down for about two weeks, and now re-open, the flats fishing was, is, and no doubt will be stupendous- providing the habitat does not get peppered by debilitating cold fronts.
This is the story of two half-day trips Alan Williams and I made with Captain Jason Sullivan. If my schedule were less hectic, I’m sure the same marvelous results could have been achieved in one day. Jason’s 17-foot Maverick HPX performed wonderfully and got us into the skinniest waters.
Alan and I would meet Jason in Florida City and drive with him down to Flamingo.
On the first day, Jason made a long run in search of a huge school of redfish he’d “been on” during the last few days. After an hour, we found them. The school seemed to stretch for fifty yards with tails popping up seemingly everywhere. When Jason got us in casting range Alan and I both fired off weedless soft plastics into their midst. I immediately got a strike, and my fish blew up the water instantly with thrashes, spooking the huge school in all directions. After a minute, my hook pulled, leaving us with nothing more than some frothed -up water and fast-beating hearts! Though I wanted to pursue the reds, Jason declined. He felt the tide would be perfect for snook back towards Flamingo and he wanted to pursue un-pressured fish in the few hours we had remaining for the day.
It turned out to be a great decision, as we caught a pile of snook in the remaining time, including a trophy-sized snook Alan took on a topwater plug.
On our second half-day trip, Jason was highly optimistic about the redfishing we’d be doing for three reasons: glassy calm water, fishing during the low tide, and the recent reports of lots of single fish to make presentations to, versus huge spookable schools.
Towards that end, we were into tailing reds within ten minutes of leaving the Flamingo marina. Indeed, those superb conditions plus Jason’s expert guiding delivered up redfish all morning long.
CONTACT DATA:
Capt. Jason Sullivan
Phone- 954-864-0592
Emails: Risingtidecharters@gmail.com
Jsul09@aol.com
Website: www.tarponfishing-miami.com
SaltyShores Close-up: Mosquito Lagoon
SaltyShores Close-up: Mosquito Lagoon
By
Jan S. Maizler
I’d met Captain Justin Price as the guide who would spearhead the hunt for redfish and seatrout as part of a photo shoot for an article on ultralight spinfishing in Sport Fishing Magazine. From dawn to dusk, Justin and his East Cape 18-foot Lostmen took us through the “bays” and flats of the “Goon” with finesse and stability as we caught and released stud-sized bruisers of both species on line barely testing over four pounds. When our mission was over for that day, we were determined to fish together again.
Our plan was to fish in early summer of the following year, but a tropical storm plus other prior – committed travels on my schedule postponed our two days of fishing until late July. The conditions of our revised time featured flat calm warm water and a slew of vacation-liberated skiffs all over the inside waters of the Space Coast. The water was also slightly more turbid than two months prior and due to the annual growth of algae. This stood in stark contrast to the stronger algae blooms of the past year as well as the present toxic dumps of fresh water through the inlets of Stuart and Jupiter to the south.
I told Justin that I’d be bringing friend and photographer Alan Williams to New Smyrna Beach to join us on our two day adventure. As our target dates arrived, it turned out that we were blessed with fair weather and sunny skies. It appeared there would be few if any thunderstorms or showers to drive us off the flats.
On the day of our drive from Fort Lauderdale, we spoke to Justin for a last minute status report. He told us that although there was a huge push of fish in the shallows two weeks ago, the fish had now predictably settled into the flats drop-offs and potholes. As we discussed the most effective techniques for these conditions, Justin did not hesitate to recommend using live pigfish for the best results if we wanted rod-bending action and ample “photo-ops.” Local knowledge placed a great deal of trust on the gamefish – calling grunts of live piggies.
I had mixed feelings about using live bait- as did Justin. While I prefer to cast a lure to a sighted fish, I also want a backup if any shallow water gamester is unresponsive to lures or flies, especially on a story trip. Live bait would give us some old school action, just like a plate of Mac N’ Cheese. It would get us quick satisfaction, but we’d have to moderate our efforts lest we grow fat and bored with much too much.
And that’s exactly what those two days brought us: seemingly endless action on piggies with a first day tally of over forty trout to five pounds and a few redfish. We started the second day poling the flats. While most of the fish spooked way ahead of us, I did hook one golden-colored stud of a redfish which picked up a raft of grass on the line and then the hook on the soft plastic twitch bait popped out so disappointingly.
The day grew hotter and the skiffs seemed to materialize all around us in the shimmering light of mid-morning. We went back to fishing the drop-offs with live bait and easily caught another twenty trout-including some gators-and a few nice redfish.
Alan, Justin and I had a wonderful time. As we headed in to JB’s for lunch, we were already planning our next trip targeting the cooler waters of fall and bigger bunches of fish.
CONTACT DATA:
Captain Justin Price
Phone: 386-566-4687
Web Site: www.rightinsightcharters.com