At its June meeting in Sarasota, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) approved a new and exciting opportunity that will encourage divers to remove invasive lionfish by allowing them …
Fly Fish for Dolphin for Fun & Prizes in the Keys
7 Jul 201710:06 AM
So you think dolphin fish are easy to catch in the Florida Keys? After all, they are plentiful this time of year and don’t often refuse a bait– live, dead or artificial. So now let’s see what you’ve got: test your fly fishing skills against this colorful and tasty species in the inaugural Islamorada Dolphin Fly Tournament.
Held July 10-12 out of the Islamorada Fishing Club, a fleet of up to 20 boats with teams of three anglers each will vie for cash and prizes for both weighing and releasing offshore fishing’s most popular species.
The top prize will be awarded to the team weighing the six heaviest mahi over two days of fishing. Awards also will be presented for the highest total number of releases and for top junior angler. You may fish in your own boat or hire from your choice of Keys charterboats.
Tournament director Dianne Harbaugh says it’ll be fun— and a little tougher than just trolling baits.
“You don’t have to be a great fly fisherman,” Harbaugh said. “It’s not as technical as tarpon, but you still have got to be able to cast the fly. There are big fish out there.”
Entry fee is $1,200 per team. For a complete rundown on the rules and schedule, go to: www.islamoradaclassic.com/fly-dolphin-tournament/.
To book a room during the tournament at the Islander Resort, a Guy Harvey Outpost in Islamorada visit GuyHarveyOutpost.com or call 1-800-513-5257 for reservations.
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![](mailto:?subject=Take 10 Lionfish, Get an Extra Lobster During Sport Season&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/lionfish-being-netted_359x479.jpg"><img class=" size-medium wp-image-2791 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/lionfish-being-netted_359x479.jpg?w=225" alt="Lionfish-Being-Netted_359x479" width="225" height="300" /></a>At its June meeting in Sarasota, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) approved a new and exciting opportunity that will encourage divers to remove invasive lionfish by allowing them to take one extra spiny lobster each day during the two-day sport season this summer (July 29-30) that they also harvest 10 lionfish.
In addition, people can take a photo of their lionfish and lobster catch during the two-day season and post it on Facebook.com/LionfishReefRangers to get a “Be the Predator” T-shirt. One lucky photo entrant will also win a lifetime saltwater fishing license via a drawing held shortly after the sport season.
“The FWC operates in a culture of innovation. Opportunities like this are a great way to get divers who are already in the water accustomed to removing lionfish,” said Commissioner Brian Yablonski. “Our hope is that once lobster divers realize how easy it is to remove lionfish, they will continue to do so throughout the regular lobster season and beyond.”
Lionfish are invasive species that have a potential negative impact on Florida’s native wildlife and habitat. With no predators or other mechanisms such as disease or parasites keeping the lionfish population under control in Florida at this time, harvest by divers is the primary means of lionfish removal.
For the 2015 spiny lobster sport season only, divers will be allowed a single spiny lobster over the bag limit per dayfor each day that they also harvest 10 or more lionfish. Lionfish must be kept as proof of harvest while on the water. When off the water, a photo of harvesters with their 10 lionfish must be kept to document eligibility for harvesting an extra lobster. Lionfish must be harvested the same day and prior to taking the additional lobster. All other rules, including no spearfishing zones, apply.
The two-day spiny lobster recreational sport season (also known as mini-season) falls on the last Wednesday and Thursday of July each year before the Aug. 6 opening of the regular season. During this two-day season, the regular bag limit is six spiny lobster in state and federal waters of Biscayne National Park waters and off Monroe County, and 12 spiny lobster elsewhere. There is no bag limit for lionfish; harvesters can take as many as they want.
If the program is successful at encouraging lionfish removal, it could be continued in future years.
For <a href="http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTUwNjI1LjQ2NDc0NDExJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE1MDYyNS40NjQ3NDQxMSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3NDk0MDg5JmVtYWlsaWQ9bGVvY0BtYXJpbmFtZ210LmNvbSZ1c2VyaWQ9bGVvY0BtYXJpbmFtZ210LmNvbSZmbD0mZXh0cmE9TXVsdGl2YXJpYXRlSWQ9JiYm&&&101&&&http://myfwc.com/about/commission/commission-meetings/2015/june/23/agenda/" target="_blank">more information</a>, visit MyFWC.com/Commission and select “Commission Meetings” then the “Agenda.” For information about <a href="http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTUwNjI1LjQ2NDc0NDExJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE1MDYyNS40NjQ3NDQxMSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3NDk0MDg5JmVtYWlsaWQ9bGVvY0BtYXJpbmFtZ210LmNvbSZ1c2VyaWQ9bGVvY0BtYXJpbmFtZ210LmNvbSZmbD0mZXh0cmE9TXVsdGl2YXJpYXRlSWQ9JiYm&&&102&&&http://www.myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/lobster/" target="_blank">recreational spiny lobster</a>, visit MyFWC.com/Fishing and click on “Saltwater,” “Recreational” and “Lobster.”
Help the FWC by <a href="http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTUwNjI1LjQ2NDc0NDExJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE1MDYyNS40NjQ3NDQxMSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE3NDk0MDg5JmVtYWlsaWQ9bGVvY0BtYXJpbmFtZ210LmNvbSZ1c2VyaWQ9bGVvY0BtYXJpbmFtZ210LmNvbSZmbD0mZXh0cmE9TXVsdGl2YXJpYXRlSWQ9JiYm&&&103&&&http://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/lionfish/" target="_blank">reporting all lionfish catches</a> and sightings via the Report Florida Lionfish app or at MyFWC.com/Lionfish.
This article appears courtesy of <a href="http://www.guyharveymagazine.com">Guy Harvey Magazine</a> https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/take-10-lionfish-get-an-extra-lobster-during-sport-season/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Connected Warriors Gets Guy Harvey Outpost Support&body=Dear Christian,
Thank you for your kind words. We at Guy Harvey Outpost are moved by your letter and want you to know we are giving back. Nothing like the sacrifice you and your family have made. We will keep giving back. It is not always easy to find the right vehicle through which to help a cause. We have chosen Connected Warriors as ours.
Guy Harvey Outpost properties donated trips, art, fishing tackle and other prizes to <a href="http://connectedwarriors.org/">Connected Warriors </a>for their Annual Fundraiser this week. We want to honor all of our Veterans and their families who give so much. Connected Warriors provides Veterans and their families with free yoga classes. Ongoing studies indicate that regular yoga practice is more effective in the long term treatment of anxiety, depression and PTSD than conventional treatments.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/cw-logo-expanded.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-2319" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/cw-logo-expanded.jpg?w=300" alt="cw logo expanded" width="300" height="258" /></a>
Christian, thank you for your inspiration and for your enthusiasm for our efforts.
We all look forward to your next visit.
Take good care of yourself,
Your friends at Guy Harvey Outpost
PS. In addition to Guy Harvey Outpost's trip donations, support for Connected Warriors our staff reached out to the broader Guy Harvey Outpost Family. A special thanks to all those who jumped in with generous donations for Connected Warriors. Among those who answered the call when we asked for contributions for our Veterans were:
<a href="http://http://www.guyharvey.com/index.html">Guy Harvey </a>
<a href="http://www.titosvodka.com/">Tito's Handmade Vodka</a>
<a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/florida/islamorada-fl.html">The Islander Resort, a Guy Harvey Outpost</a>
<a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/bahamas/green-turtle-cay-abacos/overview.html">The Green Turtle Club, a Guy Harvey Outpost Expedition Lodge</a>
<a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/bahamas/bimini-bahamas.html">The Bimini Sands Resort & Marina, a Guy Harvey Outpost Expedition Lodge</a>
<a href="http://lmrtackle.com/andy-moyes-skirted-lures.aspx">Moyes Big Game Tactical Fishing Lures</a>
<a href="http://lmrtackle.com/">LMR Custom Tackle</a>
<a href="http://tropicalfitnessadventures.com">Yoga Ned</a>
More Information on Guy Harvey Outpost: <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/" target="_parent">http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/</a>
https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/connected-warriors-gets-guy-harvey-outpost-support/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Big Game Club Sold Out for Labor Day Weekend!&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/bgclaborday-heli.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-849 " title="Arriving by Air!" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/bgclaborday-heli.jpg" alt="" width="495" height="316" /></a>Guests are arriving by any means necessary for the Bimini Big Game Club's sold-out Labor Day Weekend celebration!
With the Labor Day Weekend on hand, the historic <a title="BBGC web site" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.comn" target="_blank">Bimini Big Game Club</a> is attracting guests by air, by sea and with a unique tasty menu featuring a Caribbean specialty - Lionfish Nuggets!
General manager Mike Weber said the 51-room resort is completely sold out for the Labor Day Weekend, a good sign for the iconic resort and marina, which returned as a <a title="About GHO" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com/aboutus.htm" target="_blank">Guy Harvey Outpost</a> last year.
"We are looking good with several bookings for 2012 already in place," said Weber. "The property is really spectacular and we currently rated very high in customer reviews on <a title="BBGC Reviews on TripAdvisor" href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g147426-d147623-Reviews-Bimini_Big_Game_Club-Bimini_Out_Islands_Bahamas.html" target="_blank">TripAdvisor</a>."
Closed for two years, the BBGC reopened last year following a multi-million-dollar renovation that included all guest rooms, the new Bimini Bar & Grill, the Outfitter Shop and the Gulfstream Conference Center and adjoining Hemingway Rum Bar & Social Lounge.
Located on the main navigation channel in Bimini, the BBGC has again become the epicenter of water-oriented pursuits, including offshore game fishing, backcountry fishing and diving. The resort features a 75-slip marina capable of accommodating boats up to 145 feet in length. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/big-game-club-sold-out-for-labor-day-weekend/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Procuring Haute Cuisine by Airboat on Lake Okeechobee&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/p1010117.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-2987 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/p1010117.jpg?w=300" alt="P1010117" width="300" height="225" /></a>by Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost staff writer
scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com
Those delicately-flavored sautéed frog legs you pay $25 and up for in South Florida restaurants do not come from amphibian farms somewhere in the Far East. Unlike some fish sold in U.S. markets and eateries which is farmed overseas, this freshwater delicacy likely is harvested by moonlighting cowboys, construction workers and fishing guides riding around on airboats at night on Lake Okeechobee or the Everglades.
While most do it for the money--(they get between $7 and $8 per pound of dressed frog legs)--some do it for fun, dinner, and charters.
Captain Bobby Stafford of Okeechobee earns his living by guiding locals and out-of-towners on bass fishing, gator or duck hunting, and frog gigging expeditions on the Big O. Between bookings, he sometimes goes out to harvest enough frogs for dinner.
"It's a fun thing to do, plus you get to bring home good table fare," he said. "There's a challenge to it."
On a recent weekday night, Stafford and I embarked on his newly-refurbished,14-foot airboat at Okee-Tantie on the big lake's north end, which is slated to become a Guy Harvey Outpost RV Resort and Marina in 2017. An early-evening downpour had ended just before dark and we could hear the croaks, chirps, and burps of our quarry as soon as we hit the lake.
However, Stafford was a little uncertain about our dinner prospects because of a steep rise in water levels in the previous two weeks.
"Their whole habitat is getting readjusted to the high water," he said. "But I like frogging after the rain. I think the frogs climb up higher."
Wearing a bright headlamp, Stafford cruised the cattail marsh on the edge of the lake with his left hand on the tiller and his right holding a ten-foot-long, four-pronged gig like a pool cue. It's nearly impossible to spot a frog in tall cattails, so Stafford stuck to shallow sloughs coated with lily pads where the animals often sit out in the open. All that vegetation distracts the eye, but the guide knew what to look for.
"You have to look right in the light. Sometimes you see their yellow eyeball from a ways off. Sometimes you see the white of their throat," he explained.
Sweeping the swamp with his light, Stafford pulled back on the tiller to slow down and gigged a shiny, greenish-brown frog perched on a pad. He put his quarry in a fiberglass chute attached to a mesh catch bag and kept motoring.
"You're trying to hit them and time it just right," he said. "I aim for the head."
He stuck about a dozen more and missed a couple that dived under the lily pads at the airboat's approach. Every now and then his headlamp beam would catch a pair of ruby orbs-- a gator patrolling the marsh.
"When we find the frogs thick, there will be a lot of baby gators in there eating them," Stafford said.
But the frogs and gators seemed to be spaced pretty far apart; no mother lode as in previous weeks when water levels were lower. And Stafford passed up a few frogs that were too small to be worth cleaning.
On a normal four-hour recreational gigging trip, he said, he and guests could expect to harvest about 15 to 20 pounds of frog legs. Commercial froggers keeping at it all night might score as much as 100 pounds. Nearing midnight, after about 2 1/2 hours of hunting, Stafford had taken about 30 frogs, or three to five pounds of legs. The catch was still plenty for me, him, his wife and two sons served battered and deep-fried or sautéed in garlic and butter.
Purveyors of fine foods may dream up all sorts of frog leg dishes and wine pairings targeted to the palate of the sophisticated gourmand. But diners should remember that some guy in an airboat first had to find and stick that delectable entree and then dress it to make it presentable.
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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.
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Share your photos, videos and experiences with Guy Harvey Outpost by hash tagging #OutpostAttitude to all of your social media posts. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/procuring-haute-cuisine-by-airboat-on-lake-okeechobee/){kind=link}
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