A record field of 173 guides and anglers has signed up for flats fishing’s favorite rendition of a punt-pass-and-kick competition: the 2017 Herman Lucerne Memorial Backcountry Fishing Tournament …
Lady Luck to Take A Dive
29 Dec 20159:52 PM
By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost staff writer
scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com
A 324-foot ship that once carried sewage sludge for New York City is likely to become the largest artificial reef deliberately sunk in Broward County waters.
The non-profit Shipwreck Park Foundation– a group of public officials, tourism boosters and local businesses including the Isle Casino–plans to sink the Newtown Creek next spring in about 125 feet of water about a half-mile east of the Pompano Beach Fishing Pier. Pending final approval by New York City officials, the huge steel, multi-deck vessel covered with metal piping built in 1968 will be transferred to the Pompano Beach non-profit to become a haven for fish and scuba divers.
“We’re taking a ship that used to be a polluter and turning it into an artificial reef,” said Jeff Torode, operator of South Florida Diving Headquarters, a Guy Harvey Outpost outfitter. “All the piping and intricate stuff on it creates so much more habitat than a flat deck. I think it’ll be awesome.”
But the Newtown Creek won’t be deployed as is. It will be stripped of most of its equipment, cleaned of pollutants, drained of fuel and oil –then turned into a mock underwater gambling casino renamed the Lady Luck.
Prominent Pompano Beach artist Dennis MacDonald, who sculpted the Easter Island statues for the Rapa Nui artificial reef put down last summer off Deerfield Beach, is expected to create poker tables, slot machines and fish costumed like croupiers to decorate the main deck. Torode envisions underwater poker tournaments and other unique events staged aboard the Lady Luck.
The ship will join several others already deployed in the area, creating opportunities for multi-wreck drift dives, Torode said.
The Foundation paid about $100,000 for the retired ship and has raised another $525,000 to tow it from New York to a shipyard in Green Cove Springs, FL. to be prepared for sinking. The organization is trying to raise more money to ensure all costs are covered. Torode said the necessary permits have been secured from Broward County.
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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.
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![](mailto:?subject=Lady Luck to Take A Dive&body=<img class=" size-medium wp-image-3210 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/new_town_creek.jpg?w=300" alt="New_Town_Creek" width="300" height="163" />By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost staff writer
scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com
A 324-foot ship that once carried sewage sludge for New York City is likely to become the largest artificial reef deliberately sunk in Broward County waters.
The non-profit Shipwreck Park Foundation-- a group of public officials, tourism boosters and local businesses including the Isle Casino--plans to sink the Newtown Creek next spring in about 125 feet of water about a half-mile east of the Pompano Beach Fishing Pier. Pending final approval by New York City officials, the huge steel, multi-deck vessel covered with metal piping built in 1968 will be transferred to the Pompano Beach non-profit to become a haven for fish and scuba divers.
"We're taking a ship that used to be a polluter and turning it into an artificial reef," said Jeff Torode, operator of South Florida Diving Headquarters, a Guy Harvey Outpost outfitter. "All the piping and intricate stuff on it creates so much more habitat than a flat deck. I think it'll be awesome."
But the Newtown Creek won't be deployed as is. It will be stripped of most of its equipment, cleaned of pollutants, drained of fuel and oil --then turned into a mock underwater gambling casino renamed the Lady Luck.
Prominent Pompano Beach artist Dennis MacDonald, who sculpted the Easter Island statues for the Rapa Nui artificial reef put down last summer off Deerfield Beach, is expected to create poker tables, slot machines and fish costumed like croupiers to decorate the main deck. Torode envisions underwater poker tournaments and other unique events staged aboard the Lady Luck.
The ship will join several others already deployed in the area, creating opportunities for multi-wreck drift dives, Torode said.
The Foundation paid about $100,000 for the retired ship and has raised another $525,000 to tow it from New York to a shipyard in Green Cove Springs, FL. to be prepared for sinking. The organization is trying to raise more money to ensure all costs are covered. Torode said the necessary permits have been secured from Broward County.
*****************
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.
**********
Share your photos, videos and experiences with Guy Harvey Outpost by hash tagging #OutpostAttitude to all of your social media posts. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/lady-luck-to-take-a-dive/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Bow to the Silver King!&body=Any day now, long lines of large silver gamefish with glittering scales can be seen making their way along Miami Beach from Haulover Inlet to Government Cut, and throughout Florida Bay and the Atlantic side of the Florida Keys. It's Tarpon Time--that bewitching season when local anglers and those from all over flock to South Florida in hopes of engaging in glorious battle with one of the hardest-fighting and most enigmatic fish in the world.
From now through about the end of June, wherever coastal water temperatures hit that magical 75-degree mark, schools of tarpon will aggregate in the annual marine version of the singles bar, looking to hook up, and then later head off to deeper water to spawn. If tide and weather conditions are favorable, they might just hook up with you too-- tempted by your offerings of live shrimp, crabs or mullet, or maybe a realistic fly pattern or swimming plug. But catching and releasing a tarpon is NEVER a given.
"Remember-- tarpon are a mystery," said veteran light-tackle guide Captain Joe Gonzalez of Miami, who fishes customers in his 18-foot Hells Bay skiff, "Funny Bone".
According to Gonzalez, March through May is prime time for pursuing tarpon in Biscayne Bay. In early winter, he said, the fish key on shrimp migrating through passes and channels on the outgoing tide at night.
In March, he said, "they're already moving inside the bay-- in the inlets, basins, channels, and around the bridges. If the weather gets nasty, they move offshore and go south, then you get another push of fish."
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/tarpon1.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4598" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/tarpon1.jpg" alt="tarpon1" width="2100" height="1358" /></a>
Daytime fishing gets better, and as the waters warm and flush swarms of swimming crabs, it's time to use those silver-dollar-sized crustaceans for bait.
Gonzalez likes to fly fish for tarpon on the ocean side of the Biscayne Bay barrier islands all the way south to Key Largo.
"They're rolling and you can sight-fish for them in the basins and areas where they stage," he said.
There is nothing quite like sight-fishing for tarpon-- especially with a fly rod, since it's always a challenge to entice a wild animal to eat a man-made creation of fur and feathers.
You have to cast your bait very near the tarpon's mouth because it doesn't want to work very hard to catch a meal. Once the fish engulfs the offering, you must set the hook before it can spit it out-- a tricky business that goes wrong more than it goes right. When the tarpon realizes it has a hook in its jaw, it almost always jumps out of the water, and you have to see it coming and perform the maneuver of 'bowing to the silver king'-- pointing the rod down and toward the fish. If all goes well and you are still connected, you'll probably be engaged in battle for quite some time--either until you bring the fish up to the gunwales to be released or it breaks your line. Good luck.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Tarpon1-1.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4599" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Tarpon1-1.jpg" alt="Tarpon1 (1)" width="4320" height="3240" /></a>
Biscayne Bay doesn't harbor as many tarpon during the spring as the Keys, Gonzalez says, because the waters of the island chain are a convergence zone for tarpon migrating from both the Gulf and Atlantic. But you might find Biscayne Bay to be less crowded with anglers than the busy flats of the Keys, and the fish tend to hang out in the bay into July-- after they've gone AWOL in the Keys.
In the Keys, you'll find tarpon in the channels beneath the U.S. 1 bridges; on the flats and channels in the vast back country; along the edges of ocean side flats; and there's usually big school right in busy Key West Harbor. Baits include pilchards, mullet, crabs, and pinfish.
One phenomenon peculiar to the Keys is the palolo worm hatch which usually occurs on the full and new moons of May and June during a falling tide in late afternoon.
When these magenta-colored marine worms start popping to the surface, tarpon gobble them to the exclusion of everything else. One Key West guide describes the fish as acting like they're on LSD. Double-digit releases on fly patterns that imitate the worms are common. Even if you miss all your strikes, it's a marvel to observe.
Tarpon charter openings are filling up fast. To book a trip with any Outfitter <a href="http://guyharveyoutpost.com/expeditions/expedition-adventures/tarpon-tango/">Click Here</a> or call the Travel Desk at 800-513-5257. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/bow-to-the-silver-king/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Guy Harvey Outpost to Host Fun Back Country Fishing Tournament&body=Once upon a time in Everglades National Park, one of the very few fishermen intrepid enough to explore the remote and mosquito-infested waters of Hells Bay was park ranger Herman Lucerne. His deep back country angling adventures overcoming extreme heat, hungry gators and venomous snakes reaped rich rewards, among them huge snook. And this induced other fishermen to muster their courage and follow in his wake-- chief among them Dr. Lloyd Wruble, a Miami oral surgeon.
Lucerne died in 1992 while working on his home after it was battered by ferocious Hurricane Andrew. In 2000, Wruble created the Herman Lucerne Memorial Backcountry Tournament to honor his friend's memory and dedication to the park's abundant fisheries.
The Sept. 16-18 tournament, presented by Hells Bay Boatworks, is the largest back country fishing event in the Keys-- expecting 68 teams and 112 anglers based at the Islander, a Guy Harvey Outpost in Islamorada. Anglers will catch, measure, photograph and release seven eligible species--tarpon, snook, sea trout, bonefish, snapper, and bass OR black drum. Top honors will go to the angler notching the greatest number of inches of all seven using bait, artificial lures or fly rod. Last year's grand champion was James Lytle fishing with captain Larry Sydnor.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Herman-Lucerne1.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4237" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Herman-Lucerne1.jpg" alt="Herman Lucerne" width="720" height="480" /></a>
The tournament awards no prize money-- only original local artwork. But there are numerous prize categories and plenty of swag. Proceeds benefit projects at the park, which last year received $50,000.
Tournament coordinator Kellie Trotta says there are three main reasons for the tournament's continued success:
"Not only do we throw a great kick-off party and have a great ditty bag, but we welcome the kids and families. And it's for a great cause," she said.
The public is invited to attend the Sept. 16 kick-off party, raffle and auction and the Sept. 18 awards banquet for $75 per person for each event. The theme is Mardi Gras, with executive chef Andy Niedenthal serving up plenty of NOLA favorites.
Reservations for the parties close Sept. 9. Go <a href="https://hermanlucernememorial.com" target="_blank">HERE</a> for more information.
To make lodging reservations at the Islander, visit <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com" target="_blank">GuyHarveyOutpost.com</a>. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/guy-harvey-outpost-to-host-fun-back-country-fishing-tournament/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Florida Chef Showcases Fishing and Fine Food on "Chopped"&body=<img class=" size-medium wp-image-2998 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/chefa.jpg?w=300" alt="ChefA" width="300" height="287" />By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost Staff Writer
scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com
When the Food Network's hit series "Chopped" premieres Dec. 3 at 8 p.m., four pastry chefs will compete to create sumptuous chocolate dishes for the host and judges. One of the contestants is Fort Lauderdale's Anthony Hunt, 39, corporate pastry chef for the Restaurant People group that operates popular eateries YOLO and S-3. But Hunt is unique--he's the only professional bass tournament angler ever featured on the show.
With the nickname "5oz" representing the margin by which he lost a tournament a few years back, Hunt is preparing to break into the bass fishing majors-- the Wal-Mart FLW Tour and the Bassmaster Elite Series-- in 2016. But he still keeps a foot in the kitchen and spends time with his four children aged 1-14.
"I'm working; I'm fishing. I'm pulled in 20 different directions," Hunt said.
With a high social media profile and Internet prominence on both angling and foodie sites, Hunt has been able to attract both fishing industry and non-endemic sponsors to further his tournament quest-- something that many would-be bass pros have had difficulty doing. He's as likely to get hits and 'likes' for promoting a chocolate maker as a plastic frog lure.
"No one's ever had a chef on board as pro staff," he said. "I can grab the two audiences at one time."
Hunt has been a professional chef for 15 years, but he has aspired to a professional bass fishing career since he was seven years old watching Larry Nixon catch the big ones on television.
The first step in his quest will be the FLW Rayovac Tournament on Lake Okeechobee in Clewiston January 14-16-- one of the qualifiers for the national tour.
To score a paycheck, he needs to spend a lot of prep time on the water.
"I approach it like a new lake every time I'm up there," he said of the 730-square mile Big O. "I go fishing like I've never been there before. I try to keep an open mind on what you're going to have to do to catch 'em. The 'home court' can hurt you."
Hunt is hoping for cold weather because he "fishes stronger" under those conditions. But he's ready for whatever.
Meanwhile, he's enjoying his time in the culinary spotlight on "Chopped".
"It's just awesome. I'm happy I made it," he said.
Now here's a delicious Chef Anthony recipe you WON'T see on the television show-- Swordfish Lollipops:
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb. cleaned swordfish rectangles cut 1 inch by 2 inches
2 oz. chopped Italian parsley plus 1 tsp. kosher salt
2 oz. blackening seasoning
1 oz. ground fine black pepper, preferably dry table pepper, plus 1 tsp. kosher salt
3 tbsp. olive oil
8-inch skewers soaked for 1 hour in water
DIRECTIONS:
Skewer fish rectangles three quarters of the way into the flesh. Pat dry with paper towel. Roll the fish into each spice or herb to coat all sides. Sear fish in olive oil in a medium sauté pan on medium-high heat, flat sides down, for 30 seconds on each side or to desired done-ness. Remove from heat.
Slap on the sauce of your choice, such as homemade guacamole; lemon-garlic mayo; or classic sriracha.
EAT!
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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.
********************
Share your photos, videos and experiences with Guy Harvey Outpost by hash tagging #OutpostAttitude to all of your social media posts. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/florida-chef-showcases-fishing-and-fine-food-on-chopped/){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}
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