Spear fishers and anglers from the Carolinas to the Keys to the Florida Panhandle may soon face new hogfish restrictions under rules approved by the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Fishery Management …
Date Announced for 3rd Annual Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Aviation Bahamas Day at Miami Executive Aviation
2 Feb 20126:02 PM
The Third Annual Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Aviation Bahamas Day, sponsored in part by the Bimini Big Game Club, is scheduled to take place February 25th at Miami Executive Aviation. The event is sponsored annually by The Islands of The Bahamas to assist pilots who want to fly their aricraft to The Bahamas. See the press release below for more information. Click here to register!
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![](mailto:?subject=A Hemingway Returns to Bimini – Part II: Of Boats and Bonefish&body=John Hemingway, grandson of the legendary <a title="About Ernest Hemingway" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway" target="_blank">Ernest</a>, is in <a title="About Bimini" href="http://www.bahamas.com/out-islands/bimini" target="_blank">Bimini</a> this week while on assignment for Showboats International magazine. John, who is being hosted by the <a title="BBGC web site" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com" target="_blank">Bimini Big Game Club</a>, is sampling the best of Bimini - including many of the pursuits and places that were favorites of his grandfather during his years on the island (1935-1937). John filed the following dispatches after spending the day with Bimini's famed guide and boat builder, Ansil Saunders:
Mr. Saunders is a very interesting man. Apart from having bonefished for over fifty-five years, he was a good friend of <a title="About Dr. Martin Luther King" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_luther_king" target="_blank">Dr. Martin Luther King</a>. King visited Bimini several times in the 1960s and on one of his last visits in 1968, he told his friend Ansil, while the two of them were out fishing, that he knew that he was going to die soon, that his time had come, but also that God must exist, saying "look at the sheer abundance of life you have here, in the air and in the sea. This is proof, if ever proof was needed.
Here Mr. Saunders is seen holding a photograph of himself and the US ambassador to the Bahamas when she gave him a plaque commemorating his friendship with Dr. King.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/ansil12.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1162" title="Bimini's legendary boat builder and fishing guide, Ansil Saunders" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/ansil12.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="412" /></a>
Here I'm standing behind my fishing guide, Mr Ansel Saunders. He built the bonefishing boat we're standing next to, the cost about $30,000, incredible craftsmanship.
<a href="http://guyharveyoutpost.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/ansiljohnboat.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1163" title="John and Ansil pose next to one of Ansil's custom-built boats" src="http://guyharveyoutpost.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/ansiljohnboat.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="412" /></a>
This guy was heavy and towards the end I was bringing in one after the other, and god do they fight (all of them were released afterwards, you don't eat bonefish). What a morning!
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/ansiljohnbonefish.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1164" title="John and Ansil with one of the many bonefish caught in the Bimini flats" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/ansiljohnbonefish.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="412" /></a>
The first bonefish I caught, out of about a dozen, incredible morning, about six pounds, of the eastern coast of South Bimini, Bahamas.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/johnbonefish.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1165" title="John and one of the many bonefish he caught with Ansil on the Bimini flats" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/johnbonefish.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="412" /></a>
Stay tuned for more updates from John's trip to Bimini! https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/a-hemingway-returns-to-bimini-2/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Help Guy Harvey Outpost Volunteers Clean Up the Keys&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/11990489_10154198595179027_1235612983481628913_n.png"><img class="size-medium wp-image-2892 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/11990489_10154198595179027_1235612983481628913_n.png?w=300" alt="11990489_10154198595179027_1235612983481628913_n" width="300" height="300" /></a> By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost Staff Writer
Some staff members of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GuyHarveyOutpostIslamorada" target="_blank">Islander Resort, a Guy Harvey Outpost</a> in Islamorada plan to don work gloves, long pants and sun hats to join hundreds of others collecting trash along U.S. Highway 1 and ocean and bayside beaches on Sept. 19.
The Florida Keys Scenic Corridor Alliance has partnered with the Ocean Conservancy for the 30th anniversary of the International Coastal Cleanup-- a one-day effort that last year attracted 560,000 volunteers in 91 countries who picked up more than 16 million pounds of trash.
For this year's cleanup, teams will fan out along the entire 110-mile U.S. 1 corridor and adjacent beaches from Key Largo to Key West, clearing roadsides and waterfronts of trash and debris. Some employees of the Islander are expected to join a team organized by the Islamorada Chamber of Commerce cleaning the area from Tavernier Creek Bridge to the Channel 5 Bridge including Sea Oats Beach, Anne's Beach, and Indian Key Fills. If you would like to help, call or email Judy Hull, executive director of the Islamorada chamber at 305-664-4503/director@islamoradachamber.com.
Discarded plastic items -- flip-flops, water bottles, bags, and popped balloons--are a serious environmental and ecological problem worldwide, with more than seven million tons ending up in the world's oceans. Not just an eyesore, they sicken and kill sea birds and marine mammals.
For more information about the Coastal Cleanup, visit the Ocean Conservancy's <a href="http://www.oceanconservancy.org" target="_blank">web site</a>!
Sue Cocking chronicles the Guy Harvey Outpost travel and adventure experience in regular blog posts on GuyHarveyOutpostNews.com/. For 21 years, Cocking covered the full spectrum of outdoors adventure opportunities in South Florida and beyond for the Miami Herald, including fishing, diving, hunting, paddling, camping, sailing and powerboat racing. She is a certified scuba diver and holder of an IGFA women’s world fly fishing record for a 29-pound permit. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/help-guy-harvey-outpost-volunteers-clean-up-the-keys/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Kuwaiti Kingfish: Adventure & Friendship Aboard an Army Vessel at Sea&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/kuwait-austin-mickey11.jpg"><img class=" wp-image" id="i-1580" alt="Image" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/kuwait-austin-mickey11.jpg?w=650" width="527" height="293" /></a>Fishing buddies Mickey Swoyer and Austin Capers, U.S. Army.
<a title="GHO on Facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/GuyHarveyOutpost" target="_blank">Guy Harvey Outpost</a> is all about adventure travel. As the saying goes: The difference between an ordeal and an adventure is “Attitude.” In honor of Patriots’ Day on September 11th we thought we would share a fishing adventure from Austin Capers & his pals on the US Army Vessel Lt. General William Bunker.
Austin grew up on the waters of Jupiter, Florida. Fishing was such an important part of his life he became a commercial fisherman and was fishing right up until he joined the Army in 2004. Six months after finishing training he volunteered for a deployment on the United States Army Vessel Lt. Gen William Bunker at Kuwait Naval Base.
Austin and his ship mates arrived in Kuwait mid-May just in time for summer to crank up. Their mission was to upload battle damaged equipment and transport it to various countries on the Persian Gulf to be fixed or replaced.
On an early mission to Bahrain they found several <a title="Okuma web site" href="http://www.okumafishing.com/" target="_blank">Okuma rods and reels</a> that had been donated by the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) years before. The guys tried to fish them but the line was shot and they had little or no tackle. Austin’s Dad went to pals at Fishing Headquarters in Jupiter to round up some gear. Most of us think of Mom’s baked goods when we think of “Care Packages” from home. Austin’s was full of enough Ande mono to re-spool three rods, heavy mono leaders, a planer and assorted trolling rigs.
Also on board was Mickey Swoyer, a fisherman and “A character”, from the Outer Banks area in North Carolina, who shared Austin’s love for fishing. The Lt General William Bunker is a 274 foot, flat bottom, landing craft with bow and stern ramps for “Roll On – Roll Off” loading. Picture trolling out of a tuna-tower.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/kuwait-lsv4-1.jpg"><img class=" wp-image" id="i-1584" alt="Image" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/kuwait-lsv4-1.jpg?w=650" width="527" height="204" /></a>The 'Lt. General William Bunker'
On their down time, the two started trying different combinations of trolling rigs, including a couple of Wahoo rigs Mr. Capers sent. The best working rig ended up being a simple pink skirt with a double rigged 6-0 hook set. “We were amazed how they loved that pink skirt!” Attempts to use the planer at cruising speed proved dangerous. “It flew out of the water like a Polaris missile.”
To hear Austin tell it, “The stern of this vessel sits about 20-30 feet off the water so we had to let a ridiculous amount of line out.” The boat cruised at 9-11 knots which ended up working perfectly. “After we started catching fish our skipper gave us a hand help radio so that every time we hooked up we could yell “Fish ON!!!” into the radio and he would stop the boat. It was awesome! We caught 6 to 10 kings and an assortment of other strange looking sea creatures. We lost a massive one at the pilot door that was much bigger than the one pictured here. It was a huge morale booster for the entire 30 man crew.”
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/kuwait-me-and-mickey1.jpg"><img class=" wp-image" id="i-1589" alt="Image" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/kuwait-me-and-mickey1.jpg?w=650" width="527" height="395" /></a>Kuwaiti Kingfish!
Austin went on to spend four more years on active duty including a 15 month deployment to Iraq. Today he is back in Jupiter with his family. Mickey has relocated to Daytona Beach with his family and the guys are hoping for a reunion soon.
Thank you Austin, Mickey and all who serve our country. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/kuwaiti-kingfish-adventure-and-friendship-aboard-an-army-vessel-at-sea/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Prime Time for an Inshore Super Grand Slam in Islamorada&body=From late summer into early autumn, the flats of the Florida Keys are prime territory for scoring an inshore super grand slam of bonefish, tarpon, permit and snook-- all caught in one day. And as if that's not enough, anglers and guides routinely pile on with sea trout, redfish, tripletail, and others.
"Everything is available fish species-wise," said noted South Florida light-tackle guide captain Andy Thompson. "The options are pretty endless. You can sight-fish on the flats. You can fish the island moats, the channels, spin fishing or fly rod."
Thompson, who runs a 17-foot Hells Bay Biscayne skiff, fishes the entire region from Biscayne Bay south to the Lower Keys, including Flamingo and Chokoloskee in Everglades National Park. He's especially fond of September-October because water and air temperatures grow cooler, tides are higher and the flats are not crowded with other guides and anglers.
"The permit fishing in September/October is really good," Thompson said. "With bigger tides, the back country banks behind Islamorada get a lot more water in the fall and that allows those fish to feed."
The best bait is a live crab (or a crab imitation if you insist on fly fishing) cast to fish feeding on the edges of channels and along narrow, rocky strip banks on the ocean side and bayside of the Keys where currents are strong. Permit also can be found around shallow wrecks and the U.S. 1 bridges.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Andytarpon.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-4218" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Andytarpon-1024x768.jpg" alt="Andytarpon" width="1024" height="768" /></a>
Continuing the inshore superfecta with tarpon may also be easier in fall than during the peak of the summer spawn. Thompson says plenty of juvenile tarpon can be found along the ocean side islands of the Upper Keys and in Florida Bay near Flamingo. In October, he often finds a resident population of 100-pounders that are "laid up" and easy to cast to with a live mullet or Deceiver-pattern fly. But some of the easiest fish to target are the ones following the fall mullet run all along the southwest Florida coast.
The seasonal bait frenzy also occurs on the ocean side of the Keys where huge schools of pilchards can be seen swirling and flashing. Just about anything can be found harassing these forage fish -- tarpon, sharks, snook, and jacks, among others. Snook are also plentiful on the crowns of the Florida Bay flats on an incoming tide, and often accompanied by redfish. Thompson goes after them using primarily pearl-colored soft plastic jerkbaits such as the D.O.A. C.A.L., but topwater plugs also can be effective if there's not too much floating grass.
Catching and releasing a bonefish is not as tough in Florida Bay as in recent years, according to Thompson. While their numbers are down considerably from the 1980s, Thompson says the torpedo-shaped silver speedsters are starting to recover.
"There's a lot of little fish in Florida Bay," he said. "The 2010 freeze put a hurtin' on them. But just this year, I started to see good numbers of them again around Rabbit Key and the Arsenicker Keys. There's a whole new class of fish showing up. It's encouraging."
The guide and his customers target them with live shrimp, small crabs, small skimmer jigs or shrimp-patterned flies.
To book a fishing trip with Thompson, go <a href="http://www.saltairoutfitters.com" target="_blank">HERE</a>. To book your stay at the Islander, a Guy Harvey Outpost in Islamorada, visit the <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com" target="_blank">Guy Harvey Outpost web site</a>.
<a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/dive-packages/"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-4200 size-full" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/ad.jpg" alt="ad" width="737" height="301" /></a> https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/prime-time-for-an-inshore-super-grand-slam-in-islamorada/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Guy Harvey Outpost Initiates "Trash to Treasure" Art Program&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/11707509_946851132049337_3373697342381427908_n.jpg"><img class=" size-medium wp-image-2821 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/11707509_946851132049337_3373697342381427908_n.jpg?w=300" alt="11707509_946851132049337_3373697342381427908_n" width="300" height="239" /></a>While a fleet of anglers chased mahi and wahoo in Guy Harvey Outpost Resorts' Bonfire Tournament on West End, Grand Bahama Island in June, artist Bobby Little stayed behind, keeping very busy at a table in the shade of Old Bahama Bay Resort as part of the “Trash To Treasure” initiative of the Bonfire Series.
One of several artists to be featured in the Guy Harvey Outpost "Trash to Treasure" program, Little used a wet saw and grinder to demonstrate for local artisans and resort guests how to turn waste conch shells into fashion jewelry.
Over a few hours, the piles of discarded shells were crafted into beautiful designs of angelfish, sea turtles, mermaids, pelicans and dolphins.
Guests purchased the finished products for $10 to $20 apiece, with a portion of the proceeds going to local vendors. Spending about $1,300 for tools and supplies, Little says, a Bahamian artisan could set up at a resort and make back his or her investment in about two days.
"One full-size conch shell is worth $300 to $500 when it's cut into jewelry," Little said. "You could create an industry on every island. Anyone who wants to work can work. Now you have a product made in the Bahamas you can sell in the Bahamas or you could export."
The Bonfire Beach Bash & Tournament at Old Bahama Bay featured Little-- a 53-year-old Hollywood, Fla. native who has lived on Rum Cay near San Salvador for decades and who doesn't limit his artistic vision to mounds of conch shells. On his frequent beach strolls, he collects washed-up plastic and turns it into trinkets; fashions rings out of whelk shells; converts dead coral into candle holders and lamps; and is best known for his dramatic 'burning' wahoo and marlin sculptures made of scrap metal. A 16-foot wahoo filled with flaming palm fronds and smoldering charcoal dramatically lit up the post-tournament Beach Bash. Both the wahoo and marlin are expected to be turned into artificial reefs that create habitat for marine creatures and attract divers.
Guy Harvey Outpost Resorts proposes to launch a series of beach clean-ups combined with fishing and art festivals in the Bahamas and South Florida where artists would collect trash, turn it into something beautiful, and compete for prizes for the best creations. Proceeds would be put toward ocean conservation.
"It will benefit the artists, the islands-- anywhere there's trash," Little said. "And there's such a large demographic that follows Guy Harvey's name."
Story by Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost Staff Writer https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/guy-harvey-outpost-initiates-trash-to-treasure-art-program-2/){kind=link}
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