|
|
|
|
|
On
This Page:
•
Gone Fishin' by Manny Luftglass
•
Century Village Sunfish Sailors
•
CenWest Fishing Club News, 2011-2012 Season
|
|
GONE
FISHIN'
By
Manny Luftglass
|
 |
|
Manny
Luftglass (above) and his wife Karen own a townhome in
the Fountains in Lake Worth, FL. They travel south to it
from New Jersey as often as possible. Manny spends most
of the winter in Florida fishing. He is the author of "Gone
Fishin" For Beginners". Mr. Luftglass
writes this column for the Condo News print
newspaper.
|
| April 17, 2013
THE RED
GUYS ARE BACK!
Vermillion
snapper, them’s the red guys I mean, and quite a few
of them are being caught on the local drift boats, in
spite of continuing overly strong south east winds. As a
rule, the prevailing winds down hereabouts are generally
cranking from the south east and on top of that, the
current usually heads from south to north. They call
this a "north tide" and no matter what I do
not accept that term. However, since it runs to the
north from the south, maybe, just maybe, it might make
sense to call it a "north tide". The bottom
line though is that if you combine a north tide and a
southeast wind you get extra strong current moving the
boat along and that makes holding your offerings near
the bottom kind of tough to do.
Vermillion
snapper are generally caught in water depths greater
than 150 feet and in fact, the better action is usually
found in 190-210 feet of water and getting to bottom and
holding anywhere near there is very difficult to
accomplish.
However,
especially for the boats sailing out of Pompano Beach,
the action has been pretty doggone good. As an example,
I fished on the Fish City Pride on Sunday afternoon, the
14th, and caught nine vermillion snappers, my
second-best tally of the year. I caught ten of them
before the season opener on 4/1 and had to release all
of them that day. Also making their way over the rail
for me on the 14th were two pink porgies, two chocolate
chip porgies, a sand eel, two sand perch, five trigger
fish, two remoras, and a grunt.
In
my other six trips since we last met, I caught my usual
gang of bottom feeders including another dozen or so
vermillions, ten+ porgies, and a batch of other
critters.
My
suggestion to you would be to bring two rods, one stiff
and one light with you. The stiff rod should have a reel
with braided line and it should be rigged with three
size 2/0 Mustad model 9175 snelled hooks, baited with a
little strip of squid and a small piece of a fillet of
sardine. This works great in deep water where the
vermies and trigger fish are feeding.
You
second outfit can also have the "guppy rig"
just described, but it should be on a bait-casting
outfit for fishing in shallower waters.
Hey,
the wind will slow down one day soon, we all hope.
Meaning though, there are fish out there, you just have
to use heavy enough sinkers to get you down where they
eat.
Scuze
me, gone fishin’.
|
| April 3, 2013
"AND
THE BEAT GOES ON"
Depending
on who’s shoes you are walking in, this has either
been a dreadful winter season on the ocean, or maybe a
pretty good one, and some may even consider it doggone
fine. Since my shoes were made for walking towards fish,
I have to say that it’s been okay.
Sure,
I haven’t caught anything heavier than six pounds yet.
And, yes, the only two monsters that I had on were
sharks that ate fish that I was in process of reeling
in. On the other hand, in less than 40 trips to date, I’ve
nailed the pool eight times and won a discount ticket in
two outings so all in all, "taint bad at all.
It
all depends on your rig and style. The overwhelming
majority of anglers that fish the local four-hour
"drift boats" try for big fish, with large
baits and hooks, stiff rods, big reels, heavy line, etc.
And nearly all of them merely are soaking bait. Those of
us who fish for small fish catch them and my friends,
when the rod is bending and a critter is fighting, it’s
all good.
To
be repetitive (sorry), my rig consists of three snelled
size 2/0 Mustad model #9175 hooks, tied so that each
foot long leader is separated from each other by several
inches, with a four to six ounce bank sinker at the
bottom. Key, by far, if you want to catch porgies in
particular, is the fact that your bottom hook must
dangle below the sinker.
In
my past six trips I have boated sixteen porgies to
2-lbs. Fifteen of them, count them, 15, were hooked on
the hook that hangs under the sinker. This isn’t
"proven science" but to me, it is as close to
it as you can come-I am certain that porgies feed at
bottom, facing down. I’ve caught loads of snappers and
trigger fish this season on any of my three hooks but
again, 15 out of 16 porgies ate my bottom hook’s small
piece of squid and fillet of sardine bait.
99%
of everyone else who fishes small hook/big sinker
outfits use two snelled or looped hooks that hang well
above the sinker by as much as 16 to 48 inches. And
yeah, they catch fish too, but since there have been
more porgies caught locally this year than in most prior
ones, and because they taste fine and fight well, if you
want porgies, use a snelled hook that rides along the
bottom beyond your sinker. Yes, you may get hung on
bottom that way but such are the risks one must take to
catch fish!
4/1
is "Opening Day" for vermillion snappers and
these pretty fish are caught at bottom in deep water and
many are not bested by my dangling bottom hook but
still, that hook catches some also.
Scuze
me, gone fishin’.
|
| March 20, 2013
"A
NEW KID IN TOWN (SOON)"
A
new kid will become available to us soon, a fish that
has resided in our waters all winter long but was
"out of season" until 4/1 so in April’s Fool’s
Day you may feel like kidding around but as for me, I
hope to be out in 200 feet of water on one of out local
drift boats in search for that "kid",
vermillion snapper.
These
beautiful and tasty fish, bright red in color, are
members of the snapper family and as with yellowtails,
they too must measure at least a foot long from head to
tip of either tail end to become a "keeper".
You will be allowed to keep five of them if they are
that long and often times, you can catch a
"limit" in two or three drops to the bottom if
rigged properly.
You
may want to deviate from the rig that I use in order to
keep in the game because boating a limit early means
that you will not be allowed to keep any more and
practicing "catch and release" may not be in
the cards either because some of the
"throw-backs" might get the bends on the way
up from the deep water they live in, and not be able to
get back down to the bottom. Sure, some will survive but
some will not do so either.
Therefore,
if the bite is good, just use one single hook, held two
to three feet below a four ounce egg sinker, and bait it
with a large piece of squid plus a large strip of
filleted sardine. A 4/0 hook is used here and while some
smaller vermies (a/k/a "red-eye" or "beeliners"),
might get hooked you stand a chance of catching some of
the bigger clan members that are on the bottom. And you
may also boat a "yellow-eye" or mutton snapper
that way too and they can be included in a legal overall
snapper take home limit of ten fish.
My
standard rig though will be in use, a three-snelled
set-up of size 2/0 hooks held down at bottom by a 4 or 6
ounce bank sinker. And, hey, if I get my five fish limit
quickly, I can always change over to a three joined rig
of size 6/0 hooks to which I will attach a whole sardine
and release out into the drift in search of a king
mackerel or dolphin. It’s all good, right?
Recently,
the Lady K and the two Pompano boats that I generally
fish from, the Helen S VI and the Fish City Pride, have
been catching plenty of smaller fish with a beast thrown
in every now and then. (Usually not "now" but
more like "then"). I fished with Art Dolgan
on the Lady K on the 13th in a chilly northerly wind and
while we caught loads of fish, few were worthy of much
mention. However, we sure caught a load of undersized
trigger fish.
In
my last three outings, besides other fish, I boated nine
nice porgies, a fish that was hardly ever caught locally
until four or five years ago when they started to appear
in large number.
These
fish fight well and are good eating too. Small hooks are
the deal for them because they don’t have a very big
mouth.
See
ya’ next time. Scuze me, gone fishin’.
|
| March 6, 2013
ONE
HOUR-MORE OR LESS
By
the time you read issue, you will have changed the time
on your clocks and you will have received a gift of an
additional hour of daylight which is always nice.
However, for those who get up early, that means that it
will be dark an extra hour so, maybe, you will be able
to sleep in a little longer before the light comes on
outside?
To
anglers, this means that they really can sleep in a
little longer and stay out one hour more, therefore, a
win-win occurs. With an extra hour of light, you can
fish until 7:30 or even 8:00 p. m. before you can’t
see any longer. Shallow water anglers will therefore be
able to catch some lane and mangrove snappers and that’s
a good thing indeed.
Captain
Bruce of the Lady K told me
that he produced a very good catch on a night trip the
last week of February. With only five anglers, he put
his guys into more than fifty bluefish as well as a
mixture of the two snappers noted above that equaled
another fifty fish. Clearly, this was a most unusual
outing but still, look for night catches to improve as
more daylight is available.
My
recent outings have produced the usual assortment of
small but feisty critters. In order, they included: 2/18
on the Helen S VI from Pompano Beach -- 16 fish
including a pool winning two pound white margate. Then
on the 21st, I also caught 16 fish on the Lady K out of
Lantana. On the 25th, 15 little but tasty sand perch
were in my overall catch of 29 fish on the Helen S VI.
The last trip was on the 1st when I boated 15 different
species of fish on the Lady K, producing 22 fish
overall. My best was a beautiful 3-lb and yummy tasting
file fish. Also in the catch were three porgies and a
spectacular colored bright blue/green parrot fish that
posed for a few pictures for the other anglers before I
released it.
Once
again, all of my fish were caught on a three-hook guppy
rig baited with a little strip of squid to which I add a
strip of filleted fish. This could include a cut-up
bonito, threadfin, or sardine, they all add flash and
shine to the presentation and little critters are all
too happy to gobble ‘em up.
Scuze
me, gone fishin’.
|
| February 20, 2013
AND THE BEAT GOES ON
Well,
truth be known, the king mackerel "bite" hasn’t
come close to turning on yet. And for that matter, save
for a few days, dolphin too have been relatively
nonexistent. You can even add mutton snapper into the
mix because if two "keepers" are caught on a
head boat, that can count as a good day, However, as
pointed out all so often in Gone Fishin’, you gotta’
"match the hatch" and the hatch in this
instance means smaller fish are produced by smaller rigs
and bait.
My
last two trips produced wonderful numbers for me but
again, because I "rig" for action instead of
"spooling" for big fish that are few and far
between. This action can be reproduced if you do it
right. For example, my friend Art Dolgan was out
with another friend on Tuesday, the 12th, and they
celebrated Lincoln’s birthday on the Living on Island
Time out of Hypoluxo with lots of action. Funny though,
on the way back in, another customer who was fishing far
away complained about the lack of bites he experienced.
This guy caught the proverbial "dork" and Art
and his buddy boated around fifty fish. Sure, most were
anywhere from small to smaller, but included in their
catch were some nice trigger fish. So, action? Go small,
via a "guppy rig."
I
was on the Fish City Pride that same afternoon out of
Pompano Beach and boated 36 fish, including 16 different
species. Sure, many were modest but still I boated ten
porgies of various varieties including two pork fish,
two big pin fish, and six common porgies.
Three
days later, ten hardy/dumb anglers (if you were on the
boat, you might have called yourself "hardy",
otherwise, the term "dumb" might apply
instead) fished on the Lady K out of Lantana in a
constant rain. Those of us who dressed for it fared
quite well and stayed pretty dry. A few guys though got
soaked to the skin.
I
boated thirteen different species of fish, 29 overall,
and some were pretty doggone nice sized. Three were
Almaco jacks to 3-lbs, three were file fish, again, to
3-lbs, and ten trigger fish also managed to find my bait
to their tastes. I also released another three pound
fish, this being the first pink parrot fish I had ever
seen.
Sorry
to be so repetitive, but the rig remains quite simple.
Three snelled size 2/0 Mustad model 9175 hooks are tied
into my rig, spaced 15 inches or so apart, with the
bottom hook falling below my sinker. It really helps to
use a bank sinker slipped onto a loop instead of an egg
sinker. I bait with a small strip of skinned squid and
then add a small strip of filleted sardine or threadfin.
This "sandwich" produces lots of eager eaters,
every time out. Dropping some Bio-Edge liquid in sardine
or herring scent onto the bait adds even more interest
to the mix.
See
you next time. Scuze me, gone fishin’.
|
| February 6, 2013
Saltwater
action continues
Before
anything else, a word of thanks on behalf of you readers
as well as the boat skippers I fish with all winter
long. And to whom, you ask? Frankly, to a source that
many of you don’t always think of to say thank you too
very often at all — to government!
A
few years back, I was able to convince the good guys at
the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission to right a
wrong and not only did they do that, they did it quickly
too. I got my tail in a sling back in 1971 when I was
trying to convince government to do something right and
I was so frustrated that when a reporter called me to
discuss the matter (recycling), I told him something
that may not have originated in my brain but whoever
thought of it, I said that "Government has two
speeds, slow and stop, and maybe one day they will come
up with a new one, REVERSE." The County Controller
saw me two days later in the street and tried to rip my
head off with his words but, hey, it was kind of true
and maybe it caused some speed to occur.
Well,
in three totally different outreaches to the Florida
Fish and Wildlife Commission folks, each time was so
wonderfully successful that I wanted to tell you about
them. You heard some years back how much they helped me
in researching my book, "Gone Fishin’ Florida’s
100 Best Salt Waters." I also told you about how
great they were to right a wrong, allowing us to fish
for blueline tile fish in state waters after first
shutting down waters that were 240 feet or deeper. (Bluelines
can be caught in state water, only two miles or less out
to sea, in 375-450 feet of water.) That wrong was
righted only seven days after the "wrong" took
place on 2/1/11.
This
last time, not only did I get a very important
clarification of a rule from Tallahassee, I got it
within a few days and both of the folks I heard from
actually sent me e-mails about the subject on a Sunday
from their own homes!
First
was from Division Director Nick Wiley and then
his Director of Marine Fisheries Management, Jessica
McCawley, quickly wrote to me with great news. So
what was the question and what was the news? My question
was about the fish so many of us enjoy both catching and
eating, the grey file fish. (Not tile-file, got it?)
Jessica wrote and told me that grey
("Unicorn") file fish are indeed legal to
keep.
At
least three head boat owners had been of the opinion
that these fish had to be released. Yes, other file fish
still must go back and Queen triggers still have to be
released but what some call by their nickname,
"Florida Flounder" are "keepers" and
of course, since they are so extremely tasty, that is
great news for me.
Oh
yeah, fishing? I was on the Helen S VI on Friday with my
son-in-law Greg Morea, visiting from Connecticut,
and we tore ‘em up! Sure, it was a bit chilly in a
stiff north wind but the seas weren’t too big and the
fish were quite hungry. In a check of my notes, I found
that we caught sixteen different varieties of bottom
dwellers and honestly, I lost count for only the second
time in several years. As best as I could determine, we
boated EIGHTY fish in the four hour trip. Sure, most
weren’t deserving of any manner of bragging rights but
we still had five banded rudderfish to 4-lbs, fifteen
snappers, ten triggers, six porgies, and the proverbial
partridge in a pear tree.
Scuze
me, gone fishin’.
|
| January 23, 2013
Wanna’
catch fish in the ocean? The answer has been simple for
some, but not too easy though because it requires effort
that anglers either don’t want to bother exerting or
don’t know what to do to cure their miseries. I’ve
told you over and over about it this winter and it all
involves the simple and basic concept, do you want to
use heavy rods and reel and big baits and big hooks and
try to catch big fish? Well then, don’t do what I do.
But guys who are targeting big fish aren’t catching
many because our waters haven’t been exactly filled to
the rim with many at all.
Yes,
an excellent angler and retired professional wrestler,
"Beauregard," goes out of Pompano Beach nearly
every day and he does seek big fish and quite often,
catches some. For example, I was on the Fish City Pride
with him on the 11th and he caught the two biggest fish
that trip, beautiful mutton snappers that weighed 8-1/2
and 9-lbs! Quite often, he does well as does another
pro, "Captain Andy" who operates a charter
boat up on Lake Ontario in season. But these guys are
rare and worse, the fish are even more rare to find. The
target species generally are king mackerel and they have
not made an appearance of consequence this season at
all. More often than not, no kings are boated on most
trips. Worse, when I was on the Lady K out of Lantana on
the 14th, a guy did hook a nice king and as he was
bringing it in to be gaffed, a four-foot barracuda ATE
IT! I won the pool with a 2-lb trigger instead.
But
if banging your head against the bulkhead in futile
search for big critters that aren’t there, as
discussed often this season, go small and light. I use a
bait-casting outfit with 20 pound mono and a three-hook
"guppy rig.".I snell three Mustad model #9175,
size 2/0 hooks on a foot of leader and attach each to a
six-foot leader via dropper loops, keeping them separate
from the others, and add a four-ounce bank sinker on the
bottom to keep my bait in the target zone. My bottom
hook rides below the sinker and this is why I catch as
many porgies as I do.
I
clean some squid of their skin and innards and cut them
into small strips and then fillet some sardines or
thread-fin shad into small strips as well. The squid
goes on the hooks first, double-stuck, and then comes
the fish fillet, hooked once. Dropped to the bottom,
this produces loads of fish from 1/2 pound to 5-lbs. But
this doesn’t end my effort. I always carry small jars
of "Bio-Edge," a liquid formula that I either
put some drops of onto my baited hooks or simply put a
nice amount of it into my bait container to let the bait
"steep" in it. This scent, added to my bait,
truly produces excellent results. For example, in my
last outing on the 18th, I not only took the pool with a
4-lb trigger fish, I also boated seven other triggers, a
3-lb Queen trigger, two porgies, two yellowtail snappers
and one lane snapper, along with a dozen grunts, a
strawberry grouper, four sand eels and five squirrel
fish, just another day at sea, nice!
Scuz
me, gone fishin’.
|
| January 9, 2013
"GREEN
GRASS SYNDROME"
Don’t
get me wrong, I love to fish the waters of Texas. Lake
Conroe? Man, wonderful action for a variety of game
fish. And the "Gulf", doggonit, when it’s
good it is usually very good and it usually is just
that, good indeed. This has also applied when I fish the
waters of inshore Galveston Bay. I caught a 39½ inch
redfish one day on a local four-hour trip. But when I
visited again a few weeks ago, hoo boy, it stunk,
leastwise for the guy holding the business of end of my
fishing rod. I caught five catfish and a 1/2 pound
croaker. So in this instance, the "grass was surely
greener on the other side of the road!"
However,
locally, fishing has been quite good, even though the
two favorite fish sought weren’t terribly active. King
mackerel have been few and far between and snappers
haven’t exactly torn up baits as soon as they are
dropped down. But that simply means that adjustments are
needed in such times and my "adjustment" is
the one that I tell you about so often. It’s simple,
really, fish a "guppy rig!" A guppy rig is a
setup with which you can fish two or even three separate
hooks that are baited with small pieces of squid with
which a small strip of filleted sardine is added. Offset
hooks as small as size 1 are used but I prefer to rig
with a 2/0 Mustad model 9175 which is a very strong and
sharp hook that penetrates a fishes mouth quickly and
usually, very securely as well.
So
the guys who use whole sardines draped over three size
6/0 hooks may hang their offerings down but 95% of the
time, they come back to the boat with the whole baitfish
either missing or worse, still securely impaled.
In
my last times out since we last met the blue runners
created havoc along the rail of all of the local boats.
Whatever rig you used, the "blue dogs" were
eating machines and either cleaned your hooks or worse,
got hooked and that meant bringing the on board,
removing the hooks and throwing them back to wait ten
minutes before being able to eat again.
But
I did catch loads of other fish on my guppy rigs, for
example, on the 28th, daughter Jen,
Grand-daughter Madison and I were on the Lady K
out of Lantana in an absolute mob scene. They sold the
boat out well before the 1 p. m. sailing time! Christmas
week is always mobbed and other than my next trip, the
boats are packed, rail to rail so to speak. Regardless
though, we caught lots of fish besides blue runner. Jen
actually boated three-at-clip trigger fish with her
biggest a full four pounds! Overall we had 11 triggers,
one sand tile fish, a pork fish, one white margate and a
half-dozen sand perch.
Next
time though, it was so cold ("How cold was
it?" Johnny may have asked). Well, I fished on the
Helen S VI from Pompano Beach the morning of the 30th
and it was 49 brrr degrees at 8:00 a. m. Only a modest
handful were dopey enough to venture out but there I
was, in the pointy end, with four layers of clothing on
and I clobbered fish! I had 25 sand perch, a two-pound
pink porgy, plus six triggers, two lane snappers, and
about twenty other bottom dwellers.
I
was back on the Lady K on the 2nd and again, my guppy
rig did wonders for me. Besides a wonderful tasty 3-lb
file fish, I had two triggers, six porgies, and about 30
other critters.
Lastly,
I was on the Helen S again on the 4th and had to release
ten nice vermillion snappers that are out of season,
plus four a bit to short pink porgies, but I also caught
a nice "chocolate chip" porgy, six triggers,
two sand perch, a "doctor" fish and another
mess of blue runners.
Try
it, you’ll like it!
Scuze
me, gone fishin’.
|
| December 26, 2012
Before
anything else, Merry Christmas to all as well as a happy
and healthy New Year! And before talking about fishing,
a word of thanks to all who stopped by and say hello at
the Flea Market on the 16th. I literally counted six
people who recognized my name as the writer of Gone
Fishin’ for Condo News and said hi. Chances are
good that others also thought my name was familiar and
didn’t say so and therefore, holy cow, Betty, lots of
people actually do read my column, nice! Of course, none
of them bought a book but, hey, life can’t be perfect,
can it?
And
now for a brief fishing report, brief because I’m
heading to Texas well before our deadline and as a
result, only got out three times since we last met. But
each outing was fun so I’ll tell you about them by
date order.
Instead
of going to Lantana to board my favorite boat, the Lady
K, I fished on three other boats a bit to the south.
First was on the Helen S VI out of Pompano Beach on the
11th and for the first time this year, I won a pool!
Most "pool fish" are kingfish or dolphin but
none were caught that day and as a result, my
"guppy rig" outfit produced not only a pile of
fish but also the "pool". The fish was a 3-lb
"Ocean Tally", a member of the trigger fish
family. I also caught 28 other fish including a yummy
3/4 lb. graysby grouper and two porgies.
Next
was an outing on board the beautiful "Living on
Island Time" from Hypoluxo. While the boat is sure
pretty, the fishing stunk though. They caught some nice
fish in the morning but the afternoon? Hoo boy, p. u.!
How bad, you ask? Seven "keepers" were caught
among the dozen+ anglers on board. Yes, lots of blue
runners also were boated and while fun, they aren’t
exactly critters for the table. I had three of the seven
fish, one being a porgy, another a white margate and I
also bested a 6-lb barracuda that went for my baitfish
that I held up near the top. Three yellowtails were
boated by other anglers and a 7 lb king mackerel beat
out my ‘cuda.
My
last trip was also out of Pompano Beach on the 17th and,
what do you know, I landed pool fish #2 of the season
for me! This was a 4-lb. tally again. I also boated yet
another great eating graysby grouper but grouper season
ends as of 1/1 so if you want to try for a
"keeper", you had better head out now! I also
clobbered another 13 kinds of bottom dwellers that day.
Included in the total were three lane snappers and three
porgies.
But
you bet I will be at the rail of the Lady K soon again.
Scuze
me, gone fishin’.
|
| December 12, 2012
Once
upon a time, a New York columnist began his articles
with the words: "Nobody asked me but ..." I
think his name was Earl Wilson but whoever it was, let
me steal that opening and use it now, if that’s okay
with you. Therefore ...
Nobody
asked me but ... I’m sure that many of you regular
Gone Fishin’ readers know that I am not allowed to
fish on several of the party boats that sail from our
local docks. They include the three beautiful Blue Heron
boats out of Jupiter and Riviera Beach as well as the
Sea Mist from Boynton Beach. That’s because the
regular skipper of the Sea Mist and one of the two
owners of the Blue Heron boats banned me from sailing on
their boats. Darn, I must have done something pretty
bad, right?
Well,
for my regular readers, you will remember that I
complained about a few things that took place on those
boats several years ago, after getting tired of the
practices that bothered me. So if you never read about
my fishing on those four boats now, hey, nobody asked me
but, I don’t want to and am not allowed to either,
that’s the reason, okay?
But
there are five other big boats that are easily in my
driving range that don’t play by the methods used on
the four other boats so don’t run me any benefits, I
got plenty of places to go play and catch critters
galore.
They
include the boat that is closest to my condo in Lake
Worth, the beautiful and well run Lady K out of Lantana,
and the two pretty boats out of Hypoluxo, the Southern
Comfort and the Living on Island Time. Then a bit to the
south I also like to fish on the Fish City Pride and the
Helen S VI from Pompano Beach. Since the Lady K is
closest to me and, frankly, charges less for senior
citizens like myself, I fish on that boat more often
than not and in fact, have only fished on a different
boat once since Karen and I got to Florida last month.
That
was on December 4th when I boarded the Fish City out of
Pompano Beach. I will head down there again before going
north, but still, hey, 11 miles to a boat is better than
a 35 mile one-way ride, right? On the 4th, I was up in
the pointy end with my guppy-rig outfit and a few
dolphin ("mahi-mahi") were feeding. Instead of
re-rigging though, I hung my three-hook outfit down in
front of a passing dolphin and, what do you know, it
hit! After a great fight the mate gaffed the six pounder
and it became my first mahi of the season. Add in
another twenty or so fish that day and it was sure worth
the long ride.
But
since we last met, I fished on the Lady K three times
too with substantial success. Last time out was on the
7th and I boated 35 fish including eight snappers, two
porgies, a nice banded rudderfish and other critters
including six trigger fish. On the 26th, I had my
personal best trigger fish catch ever, boating 35 of
them to 4-lbs along with 16 other fish in a four-hour
trip. Lastly, on the 29th, i hauled sixteen fish onto
the deck. All of this was again, via a three-hook guppy
rig bait casting rod and reel with 20 pound mono.
Before
saying bye for now, here’s wishing you and yours a
very happy Chanukah as well as a Merry Christmas. And if
you would like to say hi in person, I will be at the
Congregation Aitz Chaim Flea Market at 2518 N. Haverhill
Road, W. Palm Beach, on Sunday, 12/16. I will have all
of my books there for sale and for anyone buying a book,
I will give them a small sealed baggie of the fishing
hooks I use.
Scuze
me, gone fishin’.
|
| November 28, 2012
IT’S "GUPPY-RIG
TIME"
Well,
the beat goes on out of Lantana. It’s same old, same
old, and if you know what you’re doing and aren’t
trying to catch monsters, it is very easy to catch at
least a dozen fish each time out. Sure, for the most
part, the tourists walk off the boat with nary a fish.
Many are happy to put their feet on land too because the
wind has caused some mal der mer to assault the
bellies of those who don’t quite have the very best of
"sea legs." However, if you can handle a
pretty stiff breeze, mixed in with some unfriendly
waves, the ocean was filled with loads of small fish
that have been feeding with abandon each time I headed
out.
In
my last four trips since we last met, I fished on the
Lady K out of Lantana each time and caught a total of
106 fish, honest! Sure, none exceeded five pounds and
most were much smaller too. But I wanted action and
action was what I got. As the tourists stood at the rail
hanging onto 50 lb. mono-using conventional boat rods
rigged with triple hook set-ups in search of big fish, I
was hanging onto a bait-casting outfit with only 20
pound mono. At the business end of my set-up was a 4
ounce sinker and three snelled size 2/0 Mustad live bait
hooks that were baited with a small piece of squid and a
little strip of filleted sardine or thread-fin.
In
those four trips a total of five dolphin
("mahi-mahi") were boated as well as one or
two king mackerel. But that’s very few big fish
compared to the 106 fish that I lifted over the rail.
And it really wasn’t all about holy cow skill on my
part that did it, it was as simple a fact as I rigged
for small fish and caught loads of them.
Of
the so-called "quality fish" in my overall
total were 14 yellowtail snappers (mostly
"short" but still yellowtails), five
triggerfish to 5 lbs., eight porgies, and five small but
legal graysby grouper. I also released a short mutton
snapper and more than a dozen short red grouper. In
addition, I had at least a dozen other varieties of
bottom dwellers and that really made for a whole mess of
fun.
Now
if you are so inclined, get out yourself, but if you
want action, ask the mate to rig you up with a
"guppy-rig" rod and head to the other side of
the boat and catch a mess of fish yourself. No, you won’t
get huge fish but you will get action.
Enjoy!
Scuze
me, gone fishin’.
|
| November 14, 2012
I’M
BACK!
So
Karen and I managed to survive the horrors of
Sandy more than most but it was tough and go for a
while. We live in the woods and are, in fact, surrounded
by huge trees. But she had four of the largest and
oldest (And, as it turned out, deadest too) taken down
last year and we could see the decay in the base of the
trunks, meaning that one of them might very well have
clobbered us. We were without power for six days but
again, we fared better than so many. A load of big trees
blew down in the backyard but none were anywhere near
our house so, again, we were, relatively speaking, quite
lucky, especially because the generator Karen had
installed gave us hot water, and electricity, albeit at
considerable expense burning propane to heat everything.
And, oh yeah, the 2-1/2 hour wait on a gas line wasn’t
fun either nor was the ride to the auto train around one
hundred or so trees that lay across the roads.
Oh
well, that all seems like a bad memory and, hey, what a
friend used to call "Silly Season" is over too
so we don’t have to watch any more of those
commercials that said "Me good-him bad", etc.
Therefore, on to my favorite hobby, fishing, okay?
I
got out twice since we got back, on the 5th and 8th,
each time on the Lady K out of Lantana. I was on the
afternoon sailing each day and managed to get a whole
batch of fish each time. None were monsters but while
using baitcasting gear and 20 pound mono with my
"guppy" rigs, it sure was lots of fun. And the
warm sun sure helped me forget about what we had left
behind.
On
the 5th, I boated 21 fish, three being porgies along
with eight other varieties of bottom dwellers. The pool
fish was a 4-lb rainbow runner. Bobby, the guy who keeps
the boat’s reels in top working order, released a just
short mutton snapper as well as a barely short king
mackerel.
Then
on the 8th, wearing a long sleeve shirt (boo-hoo), I
literally lost count! My best guess is that I caught 43
fish including ten different varieties. I had at least
ten yellowtail snappers (three were "legal"),
plus three more porgies and three little but legal
graysby grouper. A 3-lb cero mackerel barely beat out
the huge blue runner I caught but again, was it fun? You
betcha!
Thanks
again to Betty for telling you about my latest book, #21
in fact. #22 is nearly done (for another author) and I
expect to start #23 this month for yet a different
author. But since I don’t go fishing every day, that
leaves plenty of time for me to publish some more books
this winter. Therefore, if you feel that you have a book
in you but have no idea how to get it published, hey, I
am a publisher. Not the usual kind that pays you a
modest advance but in fact, owns your book and all of
its rights. When I publish a book for an author, they
own it and they pay me to get it published and I do all
of the work needed.
So,
if this is of interest to you, send me an e-mail to Mannyfishing@msn.com,
or call 561-965-2813 any day between 10 am and 10 pm. If
I’m out fishing, I’ll get back to you.
Scuze
me, gone fishin’
PS:
Happy Big Bird to you and yours. |
|
| July 11, 2012
NEVER-NEVER
LAND
Simply,
"Never-Never-Land" could be defined as "An
imaginary and wonderful place — a fantasy land." It was
a fictional setting in the play Peter Pan. And since I
just came back from a trip to what I can best describe as
Never-Never Land, let me tell you about it now, okay?
First
off, since most of you Condo News readers reside on the
east coast, from Jupiter on down to Delray Beach, a trip to
where I went is kind of a haul. But is it worth it? Honestly,
words cannot describe it well enough but let me try.
I
sailed on the 65' fiberglass headboat, "Viking Gulfstar"
out of Tarpon Springs, Florida on 6/29 and we returned to the
dock on 7/1. We spent 44 hours at sea on the Gulf and frankly,
if you can make such a trip, please, please, do it!
The
boat is a 4+ hour drive across the state by car but my back
wouldn’t permit me to do that. So I hopped on an Amtrak
train the afternoon of the 29th and the 3-1/2 hour ride to
Tampa was wonderfully comfortable. Hey, I could close my eyes,
walk around, grab some food and not feel all cramped up in my
car, right? A cab ride from Tampa to Tarpon Springs usually
takes less than an hour and if you have never seen Tarpon
Springs, it’s worth the trip alone to see the sponge boats,
Greek restaurants, etc. But fishing was on my game plan and
fishing was what I did, big time.
The
boat has comfortable bunks for every passenger as well as a
hot shower and clean bathrooms. The crew does a remarkable job
of making sure you have a great time. When I was on this trip,
there were three captains including Jerry, George and Paul.
Co-owner Rich’s daughter Marissa is a skipper in training at
the Merchant Academy and her friend Emily took a bazillion
photo’s for the boat’s web site. Jerry’s son Jeff was
one of the mates and he was joined by co-mates James and
Steve.
Paul
doesn’t drive the boat because he spends most of his time in
the galley preparing a great variety of sumptuous food. There’s
hot breakfast on Saturday and Sunday as well as lunch plus
dinner on Saturday but the top of the top is the super meal he
prepares en route back to the dock on Sunday. It includes
grilled grouper and cold red snapper fish salad plus homemade
potato salad and cole slaw. Homemade chunks of cake are
provided as well as a basket of other snacks and, of course,
the coffee pot is always filled. Cold water and soda is in a
cooler in unlimited quantity.
Hey,
there’s no TV. No newspapers, no radio, no telephone. That’s
why I call it "Never-Never land" You are way, way
out at sea and there’s no one nearby. You hardly ever even
see another boat. Sure, the skipper can get help in a blink of
an eye but when you are up to your shoulders in exciting fun,
who needs help other than when you call for a gaff and then
there’s always a mate next to you.
The
boat provides live as well as dead bait. You can bring your
own gear but they also will provide top of the line rods and
reels as well as the necessary hooks and sinkers to do the
deed.
And,
the deed, you ask? How about being able to catch four
varieties of grouper; red, gag, black, and rock hind? More?
Try five kinds of snappers, mainly mangrove and vermillion but
also some mutton, yellowtail and lanes. Now add in two kinds
of porgies, trigger fish, amberjacks to 100 pounds, (yeah,
100!) and bar jacks’, and an occasional black-fin tuna,
dolphin, king mackerel and false albacore.
Seasons
change but even with some fish being "closed" at
times, you will always be able to take some excellent fish
home. My trip ended at 2:00 a. m. on Sunday when my old bones
just wouldn’t let me stay at the rail any longer. But those
that did all caught at least one or two keeper-sized gag
grouper. Not to run me any benefits though. My catch included
four red snapper to 10-pounds, 16 mangrove snappers, a nice
vermillion snapper, and ten or so assorted porgies. As for red
grouper, there were tons of them biting and while I released
20 or so "short" fish, I also caught six legal-sized
red grouper with two hitting ten pounds each.
I
filleted some at the dock and brought some home on the train
but of course, left most for the others since I simply had no
room or muscle to carry what had to be way over one hundred
pounds of holy-cow good eating fish.
So,
"Never-Never Land"? Call the Viking Gulfstar and
book yourself a trip. The number is 1-727-938-5300. There’s
a fine motel nearby too.
Scuze
me, gone fishin’.
|
|
|
Sunfish
Sailors of Century Village
By
Dot Loewenstein |
|
Century
Village's Sunfish Sailboats
Photo
by Dot Loewenstein |
|
CenWest
Fishing Club
By
Al and Alice Roth |
|
CenWest
Fishing Club Members aboard the Lady K |
 |
 |
CenWest
Fishing Club
Condo News columnists
Alice
and Al Roth. |
|
Club
Member Lou Maldonado
with
his yellow tail fish
caught
on the Blue Heron |
 |
| 4-3-13
Hi
Everyone: It is al-most time when the snowbirds
of Century Village will be returning north as
well as many members of the CenWest fishing
club. Our last meeting of the season will be on
Wednesday, April 3rd, at 3:00 pm at the
Clubhouse. This will be a very important meeting
and we hope that all current club members attend
this meeting.
The
past season seemed to have moved along very
quickly and is almost gone. While this winter
was not a year where many big fish were caught,
it still was fun for those of us who
participated in the club events. Highlights
included our fishing tournament with Boca, and
the picnic on Duck Island.
We
also had great lectures from our Vice President,
Captain Mike and some of us were also
treated to tasty fillets of Spanish mackerel. We
also have to thank Captain Mike for the
valuable fishing techniques he taught us so that
we can all catch more fish.
In
closing I would like to wish everyone a very
happy and healthy summer season and hope to see
you all back in Century Village this coming
winter. Al - 242-0351.
|
|

|
|
Photo
by Irina Shatravka
Chefs,
Peter Amato, Bob Galazzo and Lou Maldonado
cook
up a feast for club members. |
| 3-20-13
Hi
Everyone: We had our club picnic on Duck Island
Saturday March 9th. More than 65 members and
guests attended the picnic and for once we had
great Florida weather. Hot dogs and hamburgers
were the order of the day along with all the
trimmings which also included cookies and soda.
Our chefs Peter, Bob and Lou did a
great job keeping up with the demand for grilled
food while some of the ladies made sure all of
the condiments were always full and available
for the party goers. Captain Mike
organized a casting competition among the club
members and guests. The idea was to try and cast
a lead sinker into a metal pot placed about 50
feet from the casting starting line. The task is
not as easy as it sounds, but eventually we did
have a winner who in turn received a rod and
reel as a prize for his winning cast. Lou
Maldonado and Ceil Amato organized a
50-50 raffle and raffles for other prizes which
proved to be a lot of fun for the winners as
well as for those of us who were hoping to win.
All in all a wonderful time was had by all, and
the chance to tell stories and make new friends
just added to the enjoyment of the day.
Because
the weather has been so cool and windy for most
of the last two weeks, I have no salt water
fishing report to give to any of our members.
Here at our lake, bass fishing has not improved
very much. You hardly ever have two consecutive
days of good fishing but you always hope to
catch at least one fish. For more information
– call Al at 242-0351
|
|
2-20-13
Hi
Everyone: As of this article fishing in the
ocean does not seem to have improved very much.
This past Wednesday, five of our members tried
deep sea fishing on a boat out of the Blue Heron
Marina. Although the newspapers say that the
fishing is better to the North, there did not
seem to be very many fish on this particular
trip. So far, this season has not been
productive either to the North or South of West
Palm Beach when it comes to deep sea fishing.
On
a brighter note, the fishing club is preparing
for our annual Barbecue picnic on Duck Island on
March 9th. We can only hope that the weather
cooperates in order to make this activity as
much fun as it has been in the past. Last year
we had over 60 members and their families attend
and I am sure that this year the attendance will
be even higher.
Don’t
forget our next meeting at the clubhouse will be
on Wednesday, March 6th at 3:00 pm, classroom B.
We hope to see you all there. As always new
members are always welcome. For more information
call Al at 242-0351.
|
 |
Members
and guests pictured:
Judy
P, Madeline, Jamie, Margaret, Anthony, Peter,
Chuck, Al, Alice, Cye, Ceil, Maryjane, Greg,Tom,
Barbara, and Dennis.
Picture
taken by the waitress |
| 2-6-13
Hi
Everyone: As of our last column in the
Condo News we have not had any fishing trips
out to the ocean. The weather although warm has
produced high winds which in turn has resulted
in high seas. When the waves are high very few
of us enjoy a day out to sea.
On
a brighter note we did have a breakfast buffet
on January 25th. Sixteen members, and some of
their spouses did attend the event and a good
time along with good food was had by all. Back
to fishing a few of our members as well as
myself do enjoy fishing in the Century Village
lakes. Fishing here seems to vary day by day.
One day the fishing is great and the next day
the fish seem to be non-existent. We fish for
large mouth bass and all of us practice catch
and release. None of our members wish to hurt
these fish and usually great care is taken when
we return these fish to the water. If the fish
is big and a camera is available we try to take
a picture of the angler and the fish before it
is returned to the lake. The photo is all we
need to reaffirm our bragging rights to show we
had landed a big trophy size bass.
At
our Feb. 6th meeting we will be finalizing our
plans for our March 9th picnic. We will also try
to plan a few more trips to the ocean and can
only hope that the weather cooperates with us on
those dates. As a reminder to all, our monthly
meeting is always the first Wednesday of the
month. It is always at 3:00 pm in classroom B
and new members are always welcome. For more
information call Al at 242-0351. |
|
Club
members
Lou
Maldonado & Noah Neiman.
Photo
by Al Roth |
 |
| 1-23-13
Hi
Everyone: Because of ever changing
weather conditions we had to rearrange our
calendar of events. For example our drift boat
fishing trip scheduled for January 9th had to be
cancelled because of high wind conditions.
Twelve of our members showed up at the boat, but
had to be turned away because of very rough seas
caused by high winds and storms at sea. However,
the long awaited fishing contest between the
fishing clubs of Boca and West Palm did take
place on January 16th. Thirty seven eager
anglers met at the Palm Beach Yacht Club to
board the On Island Time drift boat for a
morning of exciting fishing. Everyone wanted to
catch the big one. Captain Mike Laden had
given the Century Village West Palm club members
classes on how to hook and land all the big fish
we would encounter. We were all so eager to do
battle with those Goliath fish. A funny thing
happened when we started our first drift. It
didn’t take us long to discover that there
were no big fish anywhere near our boat. There
were many small fish and most of us did manage
to catch a bunch of little fish.
On
every drift the big ones eluded us and only
little fish were being caught. At the end of the
day we did have a bunch of fish the biggest
being only about 6 pounds. Club member Bob
Galazzo did manage to bring a 6 foot shark
to the side of the boat, but in interest of
safety the line had to be cut instead of
bringing the monster on board with us humans.
All
in all we had a great time together on the trip
and our two clubs had no trouble fishing
together side by side. I would hope that we
could set up this kind of outing again in the
near future.
Please
remember that we will be meeting for a buffet
breakfast on January 25th at 9:30 am. Hope to
see you all there. Any questions call Al at
242-0351 and any new members are always welcome
at our first Wednesday monthly meetings. Take
care and stay well. |
 |
Club
member Greg Gorges with a trophy sized
largemouth bass, caught and released in Century
Village. Until next time take care
and
stay well. New members are always welcome.
For
more information
call
Al – 242-0351.
Photo
by Al Roth |
| 1-9-13
Hi
Everyone: We had our first meeting of the new
year and were very happy to welcome several new
members to our club. We hope that the new season
will bring us a lot of fun and memories that
will last a very long time.
Our
plans for our exciting fishing contest with the
fishing club of Century Village Boca are going
well and we are all looking forward to this
first ever fishing event. We have also made
plans for a day of drift boat fishing on January
9th and a day of pier fishing on January 16th.
On January 25th many of us will be meeting for a
breakfast buffet at a restaurant in Royal Palm
Beach. We started this once a month morning
activity last year and it proved to be very
popular with those of us who attend this
activity. Also on March 9th we will be holding
our annual picnic on Duck Island. This always is
a lot of fun and our members are looking forward
to the big day of a well deserved barbecue. |
|
Club
member Monty Warner with a trophy sized bass,
caught and released back to our Century Village
lake. The fish was caught an hour after our last
meeting was adjourned.
Photo
by Al & Alice Roth |
 |
12-12-12
Hi
Everyone: Well, we had our first meeting of the
year this past Wednesday, December 5th, and were happy
to meet some of the new arrivals at Century Village who
are interested in fishing. Together with our older
members we should have a fun filled year with many new
adventures for all of us.
Our
meeting included an interesting demonstration in rod
building by our Vice President Captain Mike Laden.
He explained the goal for most people is that you are
building the rod for yourself and the work that you put
into it determines the pleasure you have in using it.
Our
tentative plans for the season include pier fishing,
boat fishing, lake fishing, and surf fishing. We hope to
have a BBQ picnic on Duck Island and a monthly buffet
breakfast at a restaurant in Royal Palm Beach. Fishing
Club shirts are another idea that we also discussed.
At
our next meeting in January we will actually put down
definite dates in our calenders for all those events.
I
can pretty much say for certain that on Wednesday,
January 30th, we will be having a very competitive deep
sea fishing contest with the Century Village fishing
club of Boca. Details will follow, but however it turns
out, it will be a fun filled day for all who
participate.
Happy
holidays to all! Al - 242-0351.
|
| 11-28-12
Welcome
back snowbirds. We hope every-one had a healthy and
enjoyable summer and are anxiously awaiting our
2012-2013 season to begin.
The
CenWest Fishing Club of Century Village held their first
meeting on Wednesday, December 5th, 3pm, room B at the
Clubhouse.
It
is important for all to attend so that we can discuss
elections for new officers and plans for the upcoming
and, hopefully, fun filled season. New members are
always welcome.
For
more information call - Al 242-0351. |
 |
Jarret
(#115) crossing the finish line
with
22 seconds to spare.
Photos
by Al Roth |
|
Support
team Heather, Shaun, Jarret (#115),
Jay,
and Michael
after
Jarret crossed the finish line. |
 |
|
(6-13-12)
Although
Al and I traveled to Key West last month, we didn’t do
any fishing. We were there to support our son Jarret who
ran in the two day, 100 mile Marathon between Key Largo
and Key West.
Jarret
graduated in 1995 from the US Naval Academy in
Annapolis, Maryland. After graduating the academy he
completed seal training school and then elected to
become a Special Operations Officer. His 10 years active
duty service, which included time in Iraq and
Afghanistan, where his specialties were underwater
salvage and explosive ordinance demolition. At the
present time, Jarret is a Commander in the US Naval
Reserves.
This
Marathon that Jarret raised approximately $80,000.00, is
for the men and women who were lost or injured in the
line of duty as EOD operational warriors. The team that
supported Jarret through this ordeal consisted of four
very loyal and wonderful comrades and Al & myself.
Jarret completed the two day 100 mile Marathon with 22
seconds to spare (31 hours 59 minutes & 38 seconds).
We are very proud of Jarret!
|
|
GRANDSON
BEATS GRANDPA
Grandpa
Herb Wilk and grandson Sam Berse went fishing on the
Jamaica 2, Brielle, N.J. on August 15, 2009.
Pictured at right, they are proudly showing their fluke of
5 and 6 lbs.
They're
only fish, folks.
|
 |
|
|
|
The
Condo News print newspaper is published every other Wednesday. It is circulated
throughout Palm Beach County, from Delray to North Palm
Beach, and from Singer Island, Palm Beach and South Palm
Beach to Royal Palm Beach, in Condominium, Cooperative and
Home Owner Association Communities. For more information, or
to have the Condo News brought to your community,
e-mail us or write to: P.O. Box 109, West Palm Beach, FL
33409. Tel:(561) 471-0329 |
|