By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost Travel Journalist scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com Florida’s office cubicles will be emptier than usual. Florida Keys lodgings will be chock full. And the Atlantic …
Join Guy Harvey Outpost’s Bonfire Sculptor at the Stuart Boat Show, January 9-11
9 Jan 20156:41 PM
Guy Harvey Outpost & Artist Bobby Little Show off his Burning Sculptures at the Stuart Boat Show
Little’s over-sized burning sculptures are central to Outpost’s Bonfire Tournament Series. The Burning Wahoo Tournament & Festival will feature huge wahoo rising to 15′. Having lived in the out islands of the Bahamas for much of his life, Little appreciates the value of reusing and recycling materials. His welded pieces are made from left over construction materials and a truck hood contributes the flat stock for the heads. The Burning Wahoo Tournament & Festival fires off at Old Bahama Bay Resort & Yacht Harbor, a Guy Harvey Outpost Expedition Property, February 26th through March 1st.
Conscious of his environmental impact, sculptor Little uses only recovered dead coral for his carvings. At no time does he harvest live coral. The Stuart Boat Show has a small town feel. With its warm friendly feel, Stuart is an ideal venue to meet the artist and peruse his coral carvings and talk a little fishing at the Guy Harvey Outpost booth #418.
Join the Guy Harvey Outpost fishing team and sculptor Little at “Wahoo Central” aka Old Bahama Bay (OBB) for the Burning Wahoo Tournament & Festival. In addition to art and bonfires the weekend will feature fun filled parties, Skydiving and Kiteboarding exhibitions from Island Extreme Ventures
Unlike most locales where wahoo are considered incidental catches due to their lonely & nomadic nature, at Old Bahama Bay they are caught consistently October to March. Double and triple headers of wahoo are common during the season. One-hundred pounders are caught each year in the Bahamas. “Wahoo Alley,” a stretch just north of OBB, where the Little Bahama Bank meets the Gulfstream, gets special recognition on fishing charts.
Stuart Boat Show Details
When: Friday-Sunday
Where: On land: Along N.W. Dixie Highway between the Old Roosevelt Bridge and Fern St. In the water: At HMY’s Waterway Marina, Allied Marine and Stuart Harbor.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday
Tickets: Adults $12, Seniors & Veterans $10, Children $5 and infants are free.
Information: Marine Industries Association of the Treasure Coast (772) 692-7599; Allsports Productions (305) 868-9224
Parking: Free on Wright Blvd. northwest of boat show with free shuttle to show.
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![](mailto:?subject=Join Guy Harvey Outpost’s Bonfire Sculptor at the Stuart Boat Show, January 9-11&body=Guy Harvey Outpost & Artist Bobby Little Show off his Burning Sculptures at the Stuart Boat Show
Little's over-sized burning sculptures are central to Outpost's Bonfire Tournament Series. The <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/2015-burning-wahoo-tournament/overview.html">Burning Wahoo Tournament & Festival </a>will feature huge wahoo rising to 15'. Having lived in the out islands of the Bahamas for much of his life, Little appreciates the value of reusing and recycling materials. His welded pieces are made from left over construction materials and a truck hood contributes the flat stock for the heads. The <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/2015-burning-wahoo-tournament/overview.html">Burning Wahoo Tournament & Festival </a>fires off at <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/bahamas/west-end-grand-bahama-island/overview.html">Old Bahama Bay Resort & Yacht Harbor</a>, a <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/index.php">Guy Harvey Outpost </a>Expedition Property, February 26th through March 1st.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/bobby-wahoo-gho-img_2086-03.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2470" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/bobby-wahoo-gho-img_2086-03.jpg" alt="Bobby Little with a miniature Wahoo at the Stuart Boat Show." width="660" height="660" /></a>Bobby Little with a miniature Wahoo at the Stuart Boat Show.
Conscious of his environmental impact, sculptor Little uses only recovered dead coral for his carvings. At no time does he harvest live coral. The Stuart Boat Show has a small town feel. With its warm friendly feel, Stuart is an ideal venue to meet the artist and peruse his coral carvings and talk a little fishing at the Guy Harvey Outpost booth #418.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/bobby-coral-blue-marlin-img_2085-02.jpg"><img class="wp-image-2472 size-full" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/bobby-coral-blue-marlin-img_2085-02.jpg" alt="Bobby coral, blue marlin, IMG_2085.02" width="660" height="695" /></a>Bobby Little with coral carvings and welded marling at the Stuart Boat Show. 2015
Join the Guy Harvey Outpost fishing team and sculptor Little at "Wahoo Central" aka Old Bahama Bay (OBB) for the Burning Wahoo Tournament & Festival. In addition to art and bonfires the weekend will feature fun filled parties, Skydiving and Kiteboarding exhibitions from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/IslandExtremeVentures">Island Extreme Ventures</a>
Unlike most locales where wahoo are considered incidental catches due to their lonely & nomadic nature, at Old Bahama Bay they are caught consistently October to March. Double and triple headers of wahoo are common during the season. One-hundred pounders are caught each year in the Bahamas. "Wahoo Alley," a stretch just north of OBB, where the Little Bahama Bank meets the Gulfstream, gets special recognition on fishing charts.
<a href="http://ghofish.com/"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-2436" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/burning-wahoo-logo.jpg" alt="http://ghofish.com/" width="375" height="375" /></a>
Stuart Boat Show Details
When: Friday-Sunday
Where: On land: Along N.W. Dixie Highway between the Old Roosevelt Bridge and Fern St. In the water: At HMY's Waterway Marina, Allied Marine and Stuart Harbor.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday
Tickets: Adults $12, Seniors & Veterans $10, Children $5 and infants are free.
Information: Marine Industries Association of the Treasure Coast (772) 692-7599; Allsports Productions (305) 868-9224
Parking: Free on Wright Blvd. northwest of boat show with free shuttle to show.
GUY HARVEY OUTPOST
For Fishing with Guy Harvey Outpost: <a href="http://www.ghofish.com/" target="_parent">www.ghofish.com</a>
More Information on Guy Harvey Outpost & their great resorts: <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/" target="_parent">http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/</a>
For the Guy Harvey Outpost Blog <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpostnews.com/" target="_parent">www.guyharveyoutpostnews.com</a>
For Guy Harvey Outpost on Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GuyHarveyOutpost" target="_parent">https://www.facebook.com/GuyHarveyOutpost</a>
For Guy Harvey Outpost on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/GHOutpost" target="_parent">https://twitter.com/GHOutpost</a>
For Guy Harvey Outpost on YouTube <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/GuyHarveyOutpost" target="_parent">http://www.youtube.com/user/GuyHarveyOutpost</a> https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/join-guy-harvey-outposts-bonfire-sculptor-at-the-stuart-boat-show-january-9-11/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Smithsonian Comes to Lake Okeechobee&body=The city of Okeechobee will celebrate its centennial on Jan. 21 but it got things started early with the Dec. 17 opening of an exhibit driving home the vital importance of its namesake lake.
The Smithsonian Museum Waterways Exhibit --featuring poster panels, interactive touch screens, a freshwater aquarium, and artwork by Dr. Guy Harvey--explores the inseverable connection between humankind and access to clean, fresh water. And as the liquid heart of South Florida, there's no place better to explore that connection than Lake Okeechobee.
The Big O supplies water for millions of people and acres of agricultural lands, and provides habitat for many species of game and food fish and both resident and migratory birds. It connects the Kissimmee River ecosystem with the vast marshes and woodlands of Everglades National Park, including the estuary of Florida Bay. That's likely why the city named for the "Big Water" is one of only 36 communities throughout the U.S.--including six in Florida-- to be selected to host the Smithsonian exhibit.
Open daily to the public through Jan. 28 at the historic Okeechobee courthouse, it was coordinated through the Florida Humanities Council, Okeechobee Public Library, Okeechobee Main Street (a downtown booster group), and the Okeechobee Tourist Development Council. The Smithsonian designed and built the display, and Dr. Harvey's works--including paintings of blue marlin, snook, redfish, largemouth bass, manatees and other aquatic creatures--decorate the walls surrounding it.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/IMG_5737.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4495" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/IMG_5737.jpg" alt="img_5737" width="3264" height="2448" /></a>
One display panel reads: "No new water is being created--we have to protect the water we have. Use it wisely. While some water challenges are seemingly insurmountable, people are great problem solvers."
And problem solvers Floridians will have to be to ensure the right amount of fresh water flows into the Big O and out of it to the places where it's needed most at the right quality and the right times of year-- the essence of habitat restoration.
City Councilman Gary Ritter told the gathering at the exhibit's opening that access to clean drinking water is going to become more important in the decades ahead as Florida's resident and visiting population swells by millions.
"We're gonna have to be smarter in the way we use and manage the water," Ritter said. "We need to do our part to preserve what we have."
******
A very special thank-you to Dr. Paul Gray of Florida Audubon for guiding GHO president Mark Ellert, GHO managing director-lodging operations Chris Pollock, City Councilman Gary Ritter and me on an exciting and informative airboat tour of the Big O just before the Smithsonian exhibit opening. It's the best way to explore and understand one of south-central Florida's greatest natural resources. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/smithsonian-comes-to-lake-okeechobee/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Explore the HMS Winchester with Capt. Lars Vihlen, March 18th, Islamorada&body=The <a href="http://www.divingmuseum.org/">History of Diving Museum </a>in Islamorada hosts Capt. Lars Vihlen as part of the Museum's Immerse Yourself! seminar series.
In 1695 only two years after she was built, the crew of the HMS Winchester were struck by scurvy. With the death of many and her crew greatly weakend she wrecked on a reef just south of Carysfort Light. Her remains are visible in 28 feet of water inside Penekamp Park.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/hdm-flyer-03182015-winchester.jpg"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-2652" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/hdm-flyer-03182015-winchester.jpg" alt="HDM-flyer-03182015-Winchester" width="220" height="228" /></a>
The Winchester, a British man-of-war, was 121-feet in length. She had a beam of 38 feet and carried 60 guns. Almost all of her 400 crew were lost, mostly to disease.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/hdm-flyer-03182015-capt-vihlen.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2653" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/hdm-flyer-03182015-capt-vihlen.jpg" alt="HDM-flyer-03182015-Capt Vihlen" width="320" height="202" /></a>
The presentation is open to the general public. Admission is free to Monroe County residents and Museum members and $10 for visitors. Pre-seminar museum tours will be conducted at 5:15pm and 6pm. Museum tours are included with admission. Members may reserve their seats in advance.
The History of Diving Museum is located at: 82990 Overseas Hwy about one mile north of the <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/florida/islamorada-fl/islamorada-fl-overview.html">Islander Resort, a Guy Harvey Outpost</a>.
For more information on the <a href="http://www.divingmuseum.org/">History of Diving Museum</a>
For Fishing with Guy Harvey Outpost: <a href="http://www.ghofish.com/">www.ghofish.com</a>
For Guy Harvey Outpost & their great resorts: <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/" target="_parent">http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/</a>
For the Guy Harvey Outpost Blog <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpostnews.com/" target="_parent">www.guyharveyoutpostnews.com</a>
For Guy Harvey Outpost on Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GuyHarveyOutpost" target="_parent">https://www.facebook.com/GuyHarveyOutpost</a>
For Guy Harvey Outpost on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/GHOutpost" target="_parent">https://twitter.com/GHOutpost</a> https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/explore-the-hms-winchester-with-capt-lars-vihlen-march-18th-islamorada/){kind=link}
 at the <a href="https://business.facebook.com/events/235445656799071/" target="_blank">Blazing Mako Tournament and Festival</a> Father's Day weekend June 16-19 at the Islander, a Guy Harvey Outpost resort in Islamorada.
Here's an advance peek at several of the artists and their creations that you can browse in the tents of the "Conch-servation Village":
CHRIS NICOLAUS, Fort Lauderdale
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/IMG_20160213_102841-1.jpg"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-4001 size-large" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/IMG_20160213_102841-1-1024x768.jpg" alt="IMG_20160213_102841 (1)" width="1024" height="768" /></a>
Several years ago, Nicolaus began organizing trash clean-ups in the Everglades where he and his volunteers picked up more than 500 pounds of spent shell casings. His friends told Nicolaus to just scrap them, but he decided instead to turn them into marine life art.
"I've always been a fan of Guy Harvey and a fan of fishing," he said.
Despite no formal artistic training, Nicolaus forged ahead, sorting the shells by caliber, washing and drying them, gluing them to hand-cut wooden backings in the shapes of sailfish, orcas and other sea creatures, then painting them. Photos of his creations showed up on social media, and he has sold more than 20 for several hundred dollars each over the past few months. He puts the money back into his conservation program.
"I'm taking something that's destroying the Everglades and making something beautiful," he said.
He expects to display as many as 70 pieces at the Blazing Mako.
JOYCE NELSON, Miami
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/VINTAGE-PINK-CORAL-PEARLS-1.jpeg"><img class="wp-image-4000 size-full aligncenter" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/VINTAGE-PINK-CORAL-PEARLS-1.jpeg" alt="VINTAGE PINK CORAL & PEARLS (1)" width="433" height="289" /></a>
This Coconut Grove former advertising executive who taught fashion merchandising and design at the college level didn't originally set out to become an artist. But after taking jewelry-making and gemology classes beginning in 2000, she fell in love with precious stones and pearls and decided to make hand-crafted jewelry a full-time career.
Since 2005, Nelson's one-woman firm Cosmopolitan Jewels has been creating one-of-a-kind, head-turning necklaces, bracelets, and earrings suitable for dressing up or down. Prices range from about $75 to $4,500.
"It's versatile that way," Nelson said of her artistry. "You can wear it anytime and if you do, people will notice you. I can create anything-- just ask."
As lifelong anglers and boaters, Nelson and her husband Ron are excited about coming to Islamorada for the Blazing Mako.
DAVID WIRTH, Islamorada
A well-known and longtime contributor to the Keys art scene, Wirth produces a wide range of wildlife art-- some of it made from the wildlife itself. A lifelong fisherman and hunter, he is fond of saying that he hunts and fishes to make art and makes art to hunt and fish.
At Wirth's Islamorada gallery, visitors might find rich wooden or bronze sculptures of fish with backgrounds of mangroves and sea fans; hardwood furniture with handles made from the antlers of a deer; Hawaiian-style circle hook jewelry; and a variety of creatures fashioned from stone.
Nearly all of the wood the artist uses comes from blown-down trees or remnants from cleared lots. He fashions wreaths from barbed wire discarded in farm fields. A deer skin becomes a throw rug (while the meat goes into his freezer). Works sell for an average of $2,500 to $3,500 apiece.
He won't have to travel far to attend the Blazing Mako.
"The Islander is a great location-- a nice, Keys-y place to do an art show," Wirth said. "We're all about supporting anything Guy does."
ALISON CLAIRE LaMONS, Lakeland.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/GULFSTREAMCHARTERS_REV_72DPI_WEB.jpg"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-4004 size-full" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/GULFSTREAMCHARTERS_REV_72DPI_WEB.jpg" alt="unknown title" width="432" height="288" /></a>
This seafaring, world-traveling, beach-loving, architectural drafting, married mother of three has longed to become an artist since her childhood in Fort Lauderdale. But LaMons didn't make art her full-time career until about three years ago and she occupies an unusual niche: watercolor portraits of vintage neon signs.
"I want to be the Guy Harvey of vintage neon signs!" she declared.
The hand-painted, original signs may depict anything from sport fishing boats to tropical flowers to blue marlin accented with shimmering neon that immediately catches the eye. Frames are fashioned from salvaged scrap metal.
"It's sexy and at the same time kitsch-y," LaMons said of her work. "I invent a sign to suit what I want to say."
LaMons' larger watercolors sell for upwards of $5,000, but she'll also bring a selection of prints and note cards to the Blazing Mako.
"I have great fun doing these art shows," she said.
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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/full-spectrum-of-original-artwork-on-display-at-the-blazing-mako/){kind=link}
. The state agency that manages fish and wildlife resources is considering opening a limited recreational harvest of Goliath grouper in state waters following a 27-year total closure. All federal waters (beyond nine miles in the Gulf and three miles in the Atlantic) would remain closed.
Goliath grouper have rebounded considerably from the late 1980s when the stock nearly collapsed from overfishing. Anglers and guides-- particularly on Florida's southwest coast-- have been complaining for years that the huge reef fish gobble nearly every fish they hook on some reefs and wrecks which, to them, means Goliaths have recovered enough to allow some harvest. Similar complaints have been registered by east coast anglers, but divers and dive operators in the region are adamant that the fish still need protection because they are more valuable as a tourist attraction than as food.
The FWC is seeking comment from the public on two options: leaving the current closure intact or issuing up to 100 recreational tags per year for four years through a random drawing that would allow an angler to take one fish per year in a 47-67-inch slot limit for a fee of up to $300. Anglers would not be allowed to harvest from spawning aggregations of Goliaths, which typically occur from July through mid-October, nor would any commercial take be allowed. The agency board is expected to make a decision at its December meeting in Gainesville.
But some scientists-- chiefly Dr. Chris Koenig, a retired Florida State University research scientist who's been studying Goliaths since the 1990s--have a big problem with option two.
Koenig and others argue that no one really knows the status of the stocks because no scientific assessment was performed before the population crashed in the 1980s. The latest stock assessment, conducted by the FWC last year, flunked peer review for that reason.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/ACE2683.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4923" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/ACE2683.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1329" /></a>
Koenig recommends that, if a limited recreational harvest is to be allowed, it should be for fish in the two-to-four-foot size range-- not the four-to-5 1/2-foot slot the FWC proposes. That's because the smaller-slot fish are caught mainly in inshore estuaries-- such as Everglades National Park--where anglers and guides report their catches and releases in creel surveys.
"You can get a reliable biological model that is highly conservative," Koenig said.
The larger fish that the state is recommending for harvest, he said, are so high in mercury-- a toxic heavy metal-- that they could potentially sicken those who eat them. And research by Koenig's FSU colleague Chris Malinowski indicates mercury build-up is actually killing the fish themselves.
"It's ridiculous what the state's doing," Koenig said. "You can't even eat them."
Koenig says the fish ought to be managed as tourist magnets.
"You can't see a fish like that anywhere else in the world, and you can dive on 50 to `100 of them off Palm Beach County," he said. "You can non-destructively exploit them."
******
There are many opportunities to provide input on managing Goliath groupers in Florida. The FWC will hold workshops around the state throughout the month of October. For more information, visit <a href="https://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/rulemaking/workshops/">myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/rulemaking/workshops/</a>. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/taking-goliath-grouper/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=BugFest Underway; Lionfish Also on the Menu!&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/image1.jpeg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-2841 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/image1.jpeg?w=225" alt="image1" width="225" height="300" /></a>Post-dive lobster barbecues are going to be a lot more sumptuous than usual during this summer's two-day, Florida-wide lobster mini-season July 29-30. Extra lobsters will sizzle on the grill, accompanied by tasty fillets of exotic lionfish. That's because the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission is allowing divers to take an extra lobster over the bag limit each day for harvesting ten or more lionfish. It's a special incentive program to help control the burgeoning population of the exotic, peppermint-striped invaders from the Indo Pacific with venom-tipped fins.
Here are some tips to help you catch your limit of bugs while taking as many lionfish as you want:
-- In the Atlantic, lionfish and lobsters are often found together in dark caverns and beneath coral ledges in depths ranging from 15 feet to more than 100 feet. You'll find plenty of lobsters in shallow water, but more lionfish in 60 feet or deeper because of local culling efforts at heavily-visited inshore reefs. In the Gulf, artificial reefs hold lots of lionfish, but lobsters may be hit-or-miss. Best times to harvest both are dusk and dawn.
-- While spearing lionfish is legal, spearing lobster is not. Use your tickler stick, or a lasso-like 'bugger', net and catch bag to take lobster. The most efficient way to take lionfish is with a three-pronged pole spear. Nail the fish in the body, then pin it to the sand while you use kitchen shears or 'sea snips' to cut off the spines. Most, but not all, are venomous, so go ahead and cut them all off for good measure. Wear puncture-proof gloves.
--If you don't want to take the time to cut off lionfish spines underwater, then bring a ZooKeeper catch bag. Available at dive shops, it's made of durable PVC and has a one-way chute that allows you to insert the speared lionfish, then pull out the spear. Do not store an un-snipped lionfish in a mesh catch bag; even dead, the spines are venomous.
--If you do get stung, soak the affected area in hot but not scalding water for 30 to 90 minutes and seek medical attention. No one has died of a lionfish sting, but pain and swelling can be severe.
--Check regulations for the area where you will be diving. For example, some areas of the Keys prohibit spear fishing--even for lionfish unless you have a special permit. Mini-season lobster bag limits in the Keys and Biscayne National Park are six per person per day; the limit is 12 elsewhere. That means you can take seven or 13 if you produce proof you harvested ten or more lionfish.
--Looking for tasty lionfish recipes? Check out "The Lionfish Cookbook" available at dive shops and at reef.org. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/bugfest-underway-lionfish-also-on-the-menu/){kind=link}
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