Recreational Fisheries Closures

Normally I refrain from entangling myself in politics online, but Obama's recent executive order implementing the "Final Recommendations of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force" got my attention and my ire up.

First they try to take our guns, now it's our fishing areas!

This is a column from Robert Montgomery for ESPN Outdoors. The deal is done and a structure is in place that could lead to the closure of at least some recreational fisheries.

As reported recently by ESPNOutdoors.com, President Barack Obama used an executive order to implement "Final Recommendations of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force," released on July 19. That 96-page document is as notable for what it does not say as it is for what it does.

What it does not say is that recreational angling is a national priority deserving special status because of its unique and considerable value economically, socially, and historically, as well as its contributions to conservation.

That designation, which has been part of executive orders in previous administrations, would have afforded sports fisheries increased protection from closures by "marine spatial planning" — a broad term for the management of certain activities within marine areas.

Instead, recreational fishing could be thrown into the mix right along with commercial fishing, oil drilling, wind farms and other uses that the National Ocean Council (NOC) and nine regional planning groups will consider as they plot out how public waters will be utilized.

But recreational fishing is not a consumptive, for-profit use of the resource, as are commercial fishing and oil drilling. Rather, recreational angling contributes billions of dollars annually to the economy, as it allows millions of Americans to enjoy themselves in the outdoors with friends and family.

The American Sportfishing Association expressed concern about the "top-down tone of the policy," noting that it sets the foundation for "vast areas" of America's public waters to be closed to angling.

The Recreational Fishing Alliance added: "We don't see anything in the presidential order that guarantees recreational anglers' rights to fish will be protected in the future. Simple inclusion of the term 'recreational values' does not give the RFA any confidence that this new administrative bureaucracy will acknowledge the role of our recreational industry or honor the conservation decisions of established fisheries councils."

However, Jeff Crane, president of the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation (CSF), expressed cautious optimism. "I don't think that all recreational fisheries will be closed or that the NOC intends to do that," he said.

Last week, Crane and others met with the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), which spearheaded the task force, to argue for priority status of recreational uses of the oceans.

"I think they are finally understanding the concept," Crane said. Administration officials "at least acknowledged the difference between commercial angling and recreational fishing. Bottom line is that we as the sport fishing community need to stay on top of this and engaged as it moves forward, which we intend to do."

In the first document from the task force last fall, recreational angling was not mentioned. Instead, the authors spoke only of "overfishing" and "unsustainable fishing," implying that recreational angling and commercial fishing were one and the same.

ASA, CSF and others voiced their concerns to the CEQ and the task force. Also, they recognized the possibility that the structure (NOC) being put in place could lead to closure of recreational fisheries, as regional planning groups implemented their plans.

In fact, some suspected that this agenda was being pushed by environmental groups and their supporters in the administration who are preservationists, as opposed to conservationists.

It seemed likely that these same people and their associates would try to orchestrate closures similar to what has happened in California under the Marine Life Protection Act.

Pushed by anti-fishing activists, that process has shut off angler access to prime fishing waters while ignoring science-based fisheries management.

Dr. Jane Lubchenco, administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and others on the task force told angling representatives in a meeting of the ASA that they were listening to their concerns.

In March, a firestorm was created when concerns reached proportions that some angling groups feared the Obama Administration would ban recreational fishing.

Angler outrage got the attention of the White House. That possibly delayed issuance of the Executive Order, and it certainly helped the angling community drive home the importance and popularity of recreational fishing.

It also prompted the administration to address concerns. NOAA's Eric Schwaab said flatly, "The Ocean Policy Task Force has not recommended a ban on recreational fishing."

In the wake of that controversy, the final document does mention the importance of recreational angling. In fact, the word "recreation," along with its variations, appears more than 50 times, while Obama mentions the word twice in his executive order. From page 51 of the final recommendations:

"From a societal perspective, CMSP (Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning) would improve opportunities for community and citizen participation in open planning processes that would determine the future of the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes. For example, the CMSP process would recognize the social, economic, public health, and conservation benefits of sustainable recreational use of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources (e.g. fishing, boating, swimming, and diving), by providing improved coordination with recreational users to ensure consideration of continued access and opportunities to experience and enjoy these activities consistent with safety and conservation goals."

To those who worried that sport fishing would be lumped with, and restricted with, commercial fishing, these mentions of recreational uses are cause for celebration.

Some, however, remain concerned that recreational angling was not given national priority status, as requested by the fishing community.

"The president missed a great opportunity to entrench angler access to public waters as a national priority in the EO," said Phil Morlock, director of environmental affairs for Shimano.

"Although the angling community suggested the importance of this many times to the administration/task force ... evidently there was a reason the White House chose not to adopt this important recommendation and the omission is a concern."

In addition to what was not said, some will be concerned about what is included in the final recommendations. As it has from the beginning, the task force endorses closer adherence to dictates of the United Nations, including its 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The United States has not yet signed that international agreement, which opponents fear might interfere with the North American model of science-based fisheries management.

"Any treaty signed by the United States takes precedence over U.S. law," Morlock said. "We could be ceding jurisdiction -- and access -- to the U.N."

Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee in 1984, then-Ambassador to the U.N. Jeane Kirkpatrick said ratification would "diminish our capacity for self-government, including, ultimately, our capacity for self-defense."

Yet another concern is the reach of the National Ocean Council. Final recommendations leave no doubt that NOC will become a giant bureaucracy with authority that extends far inland, beyond oceans, coastal areas and the Great Lakes to lakes, rivers and reservoirs.

"The geographic scope would include inland bays and estuaries in both coastal and Great Lakes settings," the report states on page 55. "Inclusion of inland bays and estuaries is essential because of the significant ecological, social, and economic linkages between these areas with offshore areas. Additional inland areas may be included in the planning area as the regional planning bodies, described in Section X of this Part, deem appropriate. Regardless, consideration of inland activities would be necessary to account for the significant interaction between upstream activities and ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes uses and ecosystem health."

And page 56 includes what can only be described as doublespeak:

"Although the geographic scope of the CMSP area in the United States would not include upland areas unless a regional planning body determines to include them, the health and well-being of the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes are in large part the result of the interrelationships among land, water, air and human activities."

The bureaucracy created by the president has the potential to be as massive as it is pervasive. In addition to the NOC, the executive order calls for a Governance Coordinating Committee, regional advisory committees and assorted subcommittees.

The NOC alone contains more than two dozen members, including the secretaries of State, Defense, Interior, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Commerce, Labor, Transportation, Energy and Homeland Security, as well as the attorney general and assorted assistants to the president. It also will have a director and a deputy director.

The nine regional planning bodies, meanwhile, will consist of "federal, state, and tribal authorities relevant to CMSP for that region."

Anglers should be pleased that the executive order did not spell out a plan to ban recreational fishing in America's waters as was feared initially. But they should be concerned that a framework has now been put into place to establish government control of where you can and cannot fish.

Involvement is critical to the future of fishing.

To learn more, go to KeepAmericaFishing.org, a web site maintained by the American Sportfishing Association.

Dog Days Of August Are Here

The dog days of August are definitely here!

With the temps in the high to mid 90s and the water temperature on the mud flats almost as hot; the fishing has dwindled to the early pre dawn hours and late evening on both the Mosquito Lagoon & Indian River.

If you miss the early morning bite, you might as well pack it in and get a late morning breakfast.

The fishing for redfish and sea trout is exceptional this month, but you have to be a morning person or a night owl to enjoy the really good fishing.

Some of the largest "bull" redfish of the year are being caught as they congregate for their upcoming spawn, but the best times to get one is early and late.

Boat fishermen will generally fare much better than bank fishermen, but there are many places where boaters just don't have the access that bank and wade fishermen do.

My wife and I fished several north Indian River Lagoon areas on Friday and Saturday afternoon until dusk with varied results.

On Friday, I could have just stayed home. The only fish that bothered taking my lures was a lone redfish that hit a gold spoon in a ditch next to the river, a ladyfish that almost jumped onto the bank, and some very small trout.

I switched to shrimp and still could only round up some hard head catfish that acted like redfish, and a couple of small sting rays.

The roaming thundershowers that I thought would stir up the fishing both afternoons, only seemed to cool down the air temperature.

Saturday afternoon my wife managed to catch two small redfish on the marsh side of the river, several catfish and a large redfish that shook the hook as she tried to slide down the bank and land it.

I didn't get one hit on any of the lures I was throwing!

I did see several very large trout following the schools of mullet and occasionally killing one for dinner, but they weren't taking my top water Zara Spook Jr.

Close to dusk after the storms moved through, I saw a small school of "bull redfish" swim into the shallows from deeper water that were in the 30# range.

There were two redfish that looked to be close to 50" that came in just short of casting range, however I couldn't get a bait out to them without spooking the fish.

Two guys in an aluminium skiff about 40 yards from shore were doing much better. I heard them yelling as their boat was being pulled by a huge redfish out to deeper water.

The fish was probably part of the school I saw feeding in the shallow mud flats.

Anyway, as the storms moved on I pulled out my camera to take some pics of the beautiful blood red sunset.

Maybe tomorrow?

Tight Lines.

Oversized Indian River Redfish

Lots of oversize redfish are being caught all over the northern part of the Indian River.

More mullet are starting to congregate in the river and small schools of the larger sized breeder redfish are staging for their spawn.

Bull redfish of up to 50" are now being caught north of Titusville, from the Scotsmoor boat launch area, all the way down to the shallow flats across from the FPL power plant at Port St. John, Florida.

My wife and I went out Friday evening, after I drove back from Savannah, to scout some of the areas we normally frequent and do some fishing. Because it was late in the afternoon and thunderstorms were pounding the area, we decided to hit the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and look for signs of active redfish or trout.

I tried a gold Mepps spoon, and my wife used her tried and proven shrimp under the bobber technique.

The first place we stopped at where we normally pick up fish, yielded nothing. It started to rain and get really sloppy on the dirt road so we moved on until we saw some actively feeding fish in the canal next to the Indian River.

I made several casts to a large redfish of over 30", but it spurned the spoon and moved up the canal.  Two casts later I missed a small redfish and picked up a ladyfish that jumped all over the place.

It started raining harder, so we decided to leave for home and come back tomorrow but my wife wanted to try one last spot.

We quietly pulled up to the area and she tossed out her rig. After only a few minutes, she hooked on to an almost "bull" redfish of just over 34" in water that was no more than a couple of feet deep.

The fish was putting up quite a nice battle in the shallow water so I decided to take a few pictures.

I ran for my camera to get a movie or take some pics as she was fighting the fish, and wound up with only one usable picture.

Because of the weather, the camera lens got fogged up and I lost the focus on almost all of the pictures I took. Anyway, you can see by this picture how big the redfish was.

It was her lucky day! If it had been a slot red; she would have been heading home for the dinner table. Anyway, after measuring the fish we unhooked it and released her to fight another day.

I took some pictures of the awesome sunset as we headed home to dry off.

Tomorrow's another day, so until then; Tight Lines!

Mosquito Lagoon & Indian River Fishing Report For August 2010

Mosquito Lagoon & Indian River Fishing has been explosive during the full moon and is expected to continue throughout the month of August.

Fish the potholes in all the flats early in the morning and later on in the evening towards dusk and look for schools of bait fish on the surface getting pounded by schools of redfish and large trout. Getting out on the water before first light is essential if you want to see a lot of action.

Unless the weather is overcast, the early morning bite will only last until a couple of hours and usually you can go home for a late breakfast without losing any quality fishing time.

The North Indian River near Scottsmoor has been especially productive for larger sized sea trout and a few nice gator trout, for those of us who like to "walk the dog" using small top water baits.

Any top water lure that resembles a struggling finger mullet will get you plenty of action on the grass flats early in the morning at first light and later on towards sunset.

I'm partial to the small size Zara Spook Jr, Chug Bug, and Rapala Skitter Walk. I recently started using the Donka Donk with some success in the smaller size, when my bum shoulder allows me to toss them.

Most of the trout during the upcoming month will be in the 3# to 6# range, however you can still run into a 9# - 10# plus Sow Gator trout if you get out early, night fish, and practice stealth fishing tactics.

In the Indian River north of Titusville, redfish measuring well over 30 inches have been caught and released during the early mid morning hours in shallow depths of less than three feet.

August is the month when you can see thousands of Bull Redfish in 50 to over 100 fish shcools
in water just 2 to 3 feet deep.

The lower water conditions during August make the drop offs just off the shallow flats the best bet for finding redfish schools of 40" plus fish.

Yesterday at the Mims boat launch, I talked to several fishermen who all scored redfish in the over 40" category. They were using top water plugs before first light and switched to gold spoons and live pigfish as the morning progressed.

There were several small schools of large reds and some singles, moving mostly around the east side of the river, north and south of Mims above the railroad bridge.

Bank bait fishermen can catch them with blue crabs, pigfish, cut ladyfish, pinfish, finger mullet, or artificials.

DOA lures in the "hot chicken" and darker colors work well, as do Gold Crocodile or Johnson Sprite spoons, Bass Assassin or DOA jerk baits with gold color, DOA or Blurp shrimp in gold or root beer color, and of course the top water Zara Spooks or Skitter Walks in gold or black and silver colors.

A medium action 7' rod loaded with 10# braid and about 3 feet of 15# fluorocarbon leader will give you a rush with these bull reds.

When sight fishing for these bull redfish, be quiet and patient. They spook easily in shallow water and have seen every type of bait known to fishermen at one time or another. That's how they get this big!

Haulover Canal will be a hotspot for oversized bull reds this coming month. The fish use the canal as a marine Interstate Highway between the Mosquito Lagoon and the north Indian River.

During the hot weather the fish congregate in the mouth of the canal and can be caught using blue crabs, whole ladyfish, pigfish, grunt, live pinfish or mullet and by jigging gold spoons off the bottom. Haulover Canal is always good fishing, but August is a prime month.

Last weekend, my wife and our wonder dog Elmo stopped by Haulover as an alternate fishing spot to Shiloh Road and spotted some trout and a large snook busting baitfish along the north bank in very shallow water.

We didn't do any serious fishing but I still picked up some small mangrove snapper and trout on shrimp.

Farther south, the sea trout bite on the Banana River on the west side of the thousand islands around Coco Beach has been phenomenal and will continue through August.

Right now the guides I know are reporting 60 to over 100 trout catches per trip.

Skitter walks, #8 size XRaps, and DOA shrimp under a bobber or Cajun Thunder rigs are producing early and late.

Fly fishermen are also scarfing up on the trout using pink or chartreuse Clouser Minnows.

I can't wait for my rotator cuff to heal up so I can get back to some serious fishing, but until then; Tight Lines to All!