THE “ FRUGALIST FISHERMAN"
— COMMENTARY, INVENTOR, FISHERMAN, ENVIRONMENTALIST —
To go fishing is the chance to wash one’s soul with pure air, with the rush of the brook, or with the shimmer of sun on blue water.
It brings meekness and inspiration from the decency of nature, charity toward tackle-makers, patience toward fish, a mockery of profits and egos, a quieting of hate, a rejoicing that you do not have to decide a darned thing until next week.
And it is discipline in the equality of men — for all men are equal before fish.”
—Herbert Hoover—
—The Engineer President, and Avid Fly Fisherman
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GET UP TO SPEED FISHING IN FLORIDA WATERS WITH THIS COURSE AND
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USCGC Bertholf (WMSL-750) is the first Legend-class maritime security cutter of the United States Coast Guard. She is named for Commodore Ellsworth P. Bertholf, fourth commandant of both the Revenue Cutter Service and Coast Guard.
In 2005, construction began. She was launched on September 29, 2006, christened November 11, 2006, and commissioned on August 4, 2008. The cutter's home port is Alameda, California. Bertholf was the first to fire the Bofors 57 mm gun aboard a U.S. vessel on 11 February 2008.
THE UNITED STATES COAST GUARD
RED TIDE CONDITIONS 🐬
— 0️⃣❤️🔥2️⃣3️⃣4️⃣5️⃣6️⃣7️⃣8️⃣9️⃣🔟—
10/22/2022 — Current RED TIDE Conditions — 1️⃣
The red tide organism, Karenia brevis, was observed at background concentrations in 25 samples collected offshore of Southwest Florida over the past week. Sampling in Southwest Florida is still impacted by the passage of Hurricane Ian. Additional details are provided below.
- In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background concentrations 30-40 miles offshore of Pinellas, primarily Manatee and Hillsborough counties.
- In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was not observed.
- Along the Florida East Coast over the past week, K. brevis was not observed.
No reports of fish kills suspected to be related to red tide were received over the past week. Respiratory irritation suspected to be related to red tide was not reported in Florida over the past week.
Cheating Scandal At Ohio Tournament Rocks Competitive Fishing World —
CNN — There’s something fishy going on in the competitive fishing world. The would-be winners of almost $29,000 at an Ohio fishing tournament were disqualified on Friday, after it was discovered their fish were stuffed with lead weights and fish fillets.
Jason Fischer, director of the Lake Erie Walleye Trail tournament, told CNN he was immediately suspicious when one team’s fish weighed almost twice what he expected they would at the Cleveland championship weigh-in.
The walleye in the bucket looked like they should each weigh around 4 pounds, but the total weight indicated they would have to be at least 7 pounds each, he said. “I thought, there’s just no way,” he said. “I could also hear the crowd grumbling, like ‘no way, there’s no way.’ “ “I physically felt the fish, I could feel hard objects inside the fish,” he said.
The moment when Fischer discovered the alleged cheating was documented inseveral now-viral videos posted on social media, showing Fischer, surrounded by competitors, slice open the fish with a knife and pull out what he said was a lead ball. Jacob Runyan, one member of the two-person team who allegedly cheated, stood by silently watching in one video Fischer shared with CNN. “We got weights in fish,” Fischer shouted. The crowd lobbed insults at Runyan.
“You just lost everything,” one person is heard saying to the angler. The video also shows Fischer telling Runyan to leave and telling the crowd not to touch him. Runyan and his teammate, Chase Cominsky, were set to win a $28,760 prize, Fischer told CNN. The prize money at each tournament he hosts comes from the entry fee each angler pays to compete.
Fischer hosts around eight tournaments over the course of the year, drawing competitors from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, he said. Competitors face off to see who can achieve the highest total weight for a bucket of five walleyes caught in Lake Erie.
Fischer said tournament officials are in touch with local authorities. Stephanie O’Grady, media and outreach specialist at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, told CNN the department collected evidence Friday and is preparing a report for the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office.
“As this is an open investigation, we have no further comment at this time,” she wrote in an email to CNN. Fischer was “ absolutely disgusted” when he discovered the alleged cheating, he said. “ This is a family atmosphere,” he said. “ We all take pride in this sport.” “Everyone sacrifices so much” to stage and compete in tournaments, he said.
Orchestrating the large event takes precious time away from his family, he added. “For someone to essentially cheat them out of not only money but family time, I can’t believe that they would.” Fischer said he knew Runyan and Cominsky from other tournaments, noting they won several tournaments previously. But he said they won’t be competing at the Lake Erie Walleye Trail tournament again anytime soon.
“They would never be able to fish at mine,” he said.
🐬 THE FRUGALIST FISHERMAN'S CHARTER
🐟 This is my home area, Tampa Bay, Florida, and it supports tremendous Fresh and Saltwater Venues, Bass and Panfish Lakes for the Fresh water Fisherman, a Shore line that Surf spinner gear will get you to the drop-off, plus canoe fishing, wading, rubber raft, kayak , paddle board, small skiff or simple aluminum boat makes a great inexpensive day on the lakes, streams, estuaries, and canals.
🐟 For the Saltwater and Avid Boating Fisherman — And the fishing is great, we have many guides and places to get information, we have Docks, Bridges, the huge Interior and Upper Tampa Bay, Inshore, Estuary, Surf, Marsh and Offshore Strategies for the really big scores. Tampa Bay North to the Panhandle or south to Key West has a myriad of fish and sport.
🐟 We also have Laws and Regulations and Enforcement — And They are Enforced — Pay Attention — Conservation is enforced in Florida — No TV show yet but predictable —
🐠 Born Brooklyn NYC bound, I learned to read early in a world with no TV and no internet, just books. Books were my medicine. I think, I alone of all the students found the school and the public library, I was attending one of the worst High Schools in NY, but because I could read, self taught and curious, they advanced me two grades and passed all exams, graduated HS at just sixteen.
🐟 I went fishing at the Canarsie Pier in lower Brooklyn, and Floyd Bennet Naval air station. I worked as a kid in the Canteen on weekend and managed and got a few rides around the pattern — I was hooked on aviation and fishing. I also made trips to the upper Hudson River and some reservoir fishing in fresh water, with my first spinning reel ( an Airex and later Mitchells) and fly fishing. Twenty-five years later, I bought an airplane and flew for 32 years all over the southern fishing hotspots — East coast, Marathon and Key West —
🐠 Being stubborn and self-sufficient — I found here are two kinds of people in this world. Those who construct, and correct and those who obstruct and destroy. I believe in the former and chase the latter. I simply believe life is just like a library, you have a choice. You can read the non-fiction that is truth. Or the fiction of the dark side of unsubstantiated fodder, conspiratorialists and greedy bastards.
Thats why I Fish, it’s like research, you never know what you will find or whats on the other side or on the end of things. It’s called curiosity followed by discovery and sometimes a whole bunch of rabbit holes.
🐟 In my later years, being a gadget builder all my life at retirement I had somehow accumulated lots of parts, copper plumbing, hardware, gadgets, and gizmos. A garage full. I needed my garage back. 300 lbs of brass, aluminum and copper wire went to the metal reclamation joint. Off to the tackle store. I then fully deep cleaned, polished and lubed, re-spooled and re-loaded my older gear to new. My collection was complete and in new shape with a dozen like new rods, reels, line, fresh and salt water. Orvis, Penn, Shimano, Fly, Spinner, Bait-casting, Deep-water Senator, Crappie and Tenkara rods —
🐠 From the on-line Fly shops, a Stockard's and Jans Netcraft, fly fishing feathers to dubbing, to clevice's, wire for leaders and spinners, a few items like lure making tools and parts and I and started back making lures. I have twenty PLANO 3700’s filled with enough enough flys, streamers, worms, soft baits, hackles to dubbing to wire to terminal gear for pre-hook rigs to make a few thousand flies (10,000) , 600 spinner baits, and enough accessories to fill a tackle store. Something to do when the temps hit 95 and 84% humidity — and you don’t want a stroke—
🐡 Caution: The first words I say to you is be cautious in Florida — You got to dress properly and be aware of the sun. Tampa Bay waters are fruitful with Trout, Snook, Redfish, Jack Crevalle, Cobia, Ladyfish, Mackerel, Flounders, Grouper, Snapper, Baby Tarpon and lots of Shark. Offshore we have My charter friends with boats have off-shore heavier stuff gear, and I can use their gear. Every so often I get out, but I stick with light to medium, I’m too old for dragging and cranking bigger Senators and heavy fish.
🐟 I owned three boats, each one bigger and more range. I live on the SW side of Florida, Tampa Bay, a boat building mecca, I gave up on boats, being that they are a hole in the ocean you fill with money. Ha! I had a greater dream, Aviation, I took the giant leap, and found out the truth, “ The sky is bigger than the ocean and that hole as I found out — is bigger ”. I bought and sold my first of several real planes — With a ton of self-motivation I got my Private Pilot license in forty days. And things and ratings went up from there. Im very focused when I attack a project.
🐠 Aviation made access for great fishing. Here’s how it worked out. I had use of my plane and a couple thousand hours plus in Pipers, and Cessna's and flew for 32 years — I just swapped seats in my plane, I flew, furnished and gassed the plane, they paid the fees, for the charter, my shared room, meals, the charter boat, and the fishing.
🐡 Gas was cheap then. No money involved, and totally legal. It was a great win-win. “ Trip Sharing” under the FAA which was GADO then. We did the East Coast hotspots and Key West or Marathon from Tampa.
🐟 We brought back lots of filets. And we dragged nothing but a change of clothes, toiletries. The good thing was climate — In Key West, anything other than shorts, boat shoes or flip-flops, T-shirts and unshaven, they will think you are a foreign spy or drug agent.
🐠 Winner - Teach A Kid To Fish — “Teaching and encouraging your kids to fly fish can be a tricky balance at times. You have this passion that means so much to you and has for your entire life. And you want them to be able to experience the same joy that has made your life so rich and meaningful.
At the same time, this is theirs, not yours. You don’t want to be too heavy handed or ruin the purity that comes with them discovering their own relationship with the water, the fishery, the fish, and with fly fishing.
But if you're patient and allow yourself to be lucky—two things that any practiced angler knows—the moment will present itself where your child experiences it through their eyes, on their terms, through their mistakes and successes, and you can sit there and be so thankful for the opportunity to be a helpful spectator as they begin to form a true connection with the outdoors.”
SELF PRESERVATION GUIDE FOR FLORIDA
PLEASE TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY
🌪 Weather — Tornadoes Thunderstorms and Lightning - Don’t Like The Weather — Mother Nature is a Bitch — give her FIVE minutes and it will change — Give her ten minutes and you’ll drown, and Lightning is more dangerous in Florida. It’s #1, worse than Alligators, Snakebites and Hepatitus, Food Poisoning, Errant Golfers, and some Canadian and Florida Drivers all together.
💨 🌊 Hurricanes — Warnings of a rough Hurricane season which turned drought into fifteen days of horrendous thunderstorms. And much destruction , Tampa Bay has been very lucky. Other parts of the state were not — Some after years not rebuilt yet.
🦀🏌🏿♂️ Four Freshwater Ponds — less than fifty yards from my garage door, are part of the ponds of the golf course — they are connected by marsh to another string of ponds called the Largo Nature Preserve which also prohibits fishing after a horrible Arsenic scare in 2004 - 2008 - 2012.
Arsenic is in preserved lumber, many of our boardwalks and towers in parks used this wood but the sawdust from the saws got into the soil — Closed the park.
Recreational fishing, is prohibited in Largo’s Nature Preserve, but allowed in our other lakes, nearby. Bass, crappies and bream safe. But on the golf course it is not allowed. Posted property — And if they are golfing you don’t want to be there. They golf by sound, if no one is screaming for 911, it was a good shot.
🚱 Fresh Water — We Have Snakes — Mosquitos — Insects — Florida has lakes, inland streams, and just a few miles away, a beautiful mangrove shoreline with all the best saltwater species in attendance and a fridge with cold beer not too far. For the shoreline, a small Yeti is a good idea. I'm building a surf stroller, big tires, a cold beer provision, sandwiches, as a surf project and gear. I have a few buds that do it and are successful. Weather radio and back up batteries, extended cell phone antenna, radar, music and a Martini mixer.
🐍 WARNING: Only six of Florida's 44 snake species are venomous: the eastern coral snake, the southern copperhead, the cottonmouth, the eastern diamondback rattlesnake, the timber rattlesnake, and the dusky pygmy rattlesnake. Most Florida snakes are harmless and beneficial and remove extra rodent populations.
🌁 Bridge Fishing — Some of the best bridge fishing in Florida is in Tampa Bay and the inshore and offshore near Pasco country is excellent trout country on silver mullet colored L& S Bait company, MirrOlures, during May, and April. Their production plant for their world renowned lures is a three iron or wood one shot from my condo front door. Unbelievable operation making lures, totally blew me away when I toured the plant.
🚸 🌆 Safety — You Will De- Hydrate And Sunburn - 2021 — Today it is 93 Degrees and About 77% Humidity. You will dehydrate just standing still. You need both Hydration and skin protection, fifty is a good start, our sunburns go off the charts, many wind up in the hospital, and will get you to the ER a lot faster than you might think.
Twenty years ago, I passed out — suffering from lack of electrolytes in the sun and woke up in the hospital, stayed for three days getting observed, for possible stroke, etc it was negative. Just loss of electrolytes, sort of no water in your battery and rehydrated and $25,000 dollars worth of insurance bills. I learned my lesson, after 10 AM or10:30 AM, I’m done. Don’t push it.
Recently, in a routine wellness check, I removed two small cell lesions, so small, a relative minor but never-the-less a bout with skin cancer. Got to be careful and alert. It's more dangerous than you think and judging by the crowd at the skin specialty dermatologist all too popular a sport. Back to the SPF fifty class preventive. Forty people in the waiting room all day long will scare anybody and all they do at this clinic is Skin Cancer.
- Dress for success and that means breathable heat ex-changing clothing, Almost every Captain I know wears long sleeves, wicking shirts, hats with a neck or face protector, polaroid glasses and a water bottle. Sunburn and skin cancer are not taken lightly.
They know the damage it can do for you. All of the fishing stores and shops sell approved wearables and safety wear for the angler, look cool and be cool. On the flats 3-feet deep, I wear a light personal protection life jacket, or belt safety shown.
🦈 Sharks and Another Warning:
IF SMART, DO NOT WADE AFTER THE SUN HEADS DOWN, - few know that Tampa Bay, Florida is the great birthing area for many specie of sharks who deliver at sundown in the shallow coastal darkness many frequenting both coastal and intercostal areas. Especially the West coast beaches.
YOU NAME THE SHARK SPECIE — It probably lives here, some part time, not whites but anything is possible, aggressive bulls and hammerheads, pointers, white/black tips, nurse, thresher, spinners and others. Read the regulations again about what you can harvest and what you can’t. These laws change frequently as the researchers battle Mother Nature, and have to adjust the harvesting.
SO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A CURRENT BROCHURE HANDY OR On your cellphone for your area and harvesting regulations. The Fines Are Not Small — And Our Fish And Game People Are Very Protective, Friendly But They Write Tickets which are not cheap and can confiscate the catch, and your boat. Re-read the top three stories. And the new boat was only a month old.
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09/24/2022 aljacobsladder.com