[Crystal River, FL.–] Hurricane Irma’s lashing winds and roiled waters have done nothing to degrade the fishing along Florida’s Nature Coast. Sure, the Gulf and inshore waters got murky, …
Last Chance to Bid on a Winner in the Blazing Mako
14 Jun 20167:35 PM
By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost Travel Journalist
scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com
Hall of Famer/fly-fishing pioneer Stu Apte is primed and ready to win the Blazing Mako Tournament and Festival this coming Father’s Day weekend at the Islander, a Guy Harvey Outpost in Islamorada. And you still have time to be part of Apte’s inshore fishing team guided by veteran flats master Captain Steve Thomas.
Bidding in the Blazing Mako auction to fish with Apte and Thomas will remain open until 10 p.m. June 17– the night before the June 18 inshore/offshore fishing contest. So far, the highest bid is $1,500. Surely you can top that for a great shot at winning the top prize of $10,000 cash.
Anglers will earn points for catching, photographing, measuring and releasing permit, bonefish, tarpon, snook and redfish using live bait, artificial lures or fly rod. Fishing conditions should be red hot only two days before the June full moon. With Apte coaching and Thomas manning the poling platform pointing out fish, how can you lose?
“I don’t know who the angler is, but I am going to help him,” Apte vowed. “If he’s a fly angler, he’ll be up on the casting platform and I’ll be on the console seat to back him up with a spinning rod. I am going to help however I can.”
Apte– who has held more than 44 saltwater light tackle and fly rod world records since the 1950s– doesn’t want to give TOO much away about his strategy for winning. But he allowed that the permit will probably be the toughest to score, while snook might be the easiest. Whatever the conditions, he has absolute confidence in Thomas’ fish-finding abilities, since the guide has been plying the Upper Keys’ back country waters practically every day from dawn till dusk for the last couple of months.
So enter your bid now at HERE, or step up at the Captains Meeting June 17 at 8 p.m. at the Islander Resort Trophy Room. And definitely plan to attend the Papa’s Pilar Fishing Seminar at the Angler House Marina beginning at 4 p.m. where you might be able to coax some tips from Apte, Thomas and other pros.
Proceeds from the Blazing Mako will benefit scholarships for students at the Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography at Nova Southeastern University.
For more information on the weekend-long event, visit www.blazingmako.com.
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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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; Captain Madison MacDonald (352-601-7392) and Captain Colin Guy (352-634-2901).
For the last few years, the Nature Coast has experienced something of a snook bonanza. This hard-fighting, line-sided speedster will make you work for it, but it is so much fun. Toney and MacDonald recommend casting a C.A.L. Shad jerkbait in glow/goldrush with a 1/8-ounce chartreuse jig head or a MirOLure Little John around the points of mangrove islands all the way up to the mouths of the Homosassa and Chassahowitzka rivers on the higher stages of the tide.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/P1000028.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4927" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/P1000028.jpg" alt="" width="4608" height="3456" /></a>
Once you've checked off the snook, the red should be a gimme. In the fall, bull reds way over the slot limit of 18 to 27 inches make their way inshore from their Gulf spawning areas following schools of mullet. According to Guy, they can often be found on the spoil banks off Crystal River, in the moats of mangrove islands and around rocky reefs on the rising tide. Guy and Toney say the best bait is live pinfish or shrimp. But for purists who prefer artificials, a good bet is 1/4-oz. Eppinger gold spoon, or various soft plastics.
Sea trout are becoming a lot easier to locate than they were a month ago. The go-to bait just about everywhere on the Gulf coast is a live shrimp fished beneath a popping cork such as a Cajun Thunder or Flats Equalizer. (Purists may substitute a soft plastic for the live shrimp.) Toney and MacDonald are finding the spotted sportsters on the south side of the Homosassa channel and north of the Chassahowitzka River channel and also just west of the St. Martin's Keys.
You certainly don't have to be an expert to score a slam; all three guides are happy to teach novices how to cast and retrieve their baits. And besides the satisfaction of besting the big three, you can have your catch cooked at any of several excellent local restaurants. Some suggestions: Katch Twenty Two in Lecanto (352-746-6691) and West 82 Bar and Grill at the Plantation on Crystal River (<a href="https://www.plantationoncrystalriver.com/">www.plantationoncrystalriver.com</a>), which is also a great place to stay during your fishing trip. Call ahead to make arrangements for preparing your catch.
Take a break from post-Irma recovery with a brief fishing excursion. You might be able to write it off as therapy. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/catch-an-inshore-slam-near-crystal-river/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Open Letter to the Lauderdale Yacht Club&body=<a href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com/"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-65" title="Bimini Big Game Club, a Guy Harvey Outpost Resort & Marina" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/final-resort-logo2.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="159" /></a>
Dear LYC Members,
On behalf of <a title="Guy Harvey Inc. web site" href="http://www.guyharvey.com" target="_blank">Guy Harvey</a> and the entire Guy Harvey Outpost team, I want to thank you for participating in this year's Bimini Blast at the <a title="Bimini Big Game Club web site" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com/" target="_blank">Bimini Big Game Club, a Guy Harvey Outpost Resort & Marina</a> - or Outpost Bimini, as we like to call the Club.
As a resident of Fort Lauderdale for 25 years, and as a longtime member of the LYC, I am particularly proud of our efforts to bring the Big Game Club back to life and reestablishing the Club's relationship with the LYC. It will be my personal agenda to ensure we have continuing programs and promotions for LYC members.
Some of you may know that Guy spent many years living in the Las Olas Isles area and, like me, puts significant weight in the opinions and goodwill of the LYC membership base. As a result, we welcome any comments you might have regarding this event, or any future visit.
We are excited to know that LYC has already made plans to return to the Club again next year. We have some exciting plans in store for the LYC in the near future, and we are certain next year's event will be even more enjoyable. Until we see you again in Bimini, remember -
From the Oceans, Comes Life - enjoy the Journey!
Mark Ellert
President, Guy Harvey Outposts Ltd.
<a title="2010 Bimini Blast Photo Album" href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bimini-Big-Game-Club/127094040665962?v=photos&ref=ts#!/album.php?aid=13362&id=127094040665962" target="_blank">2010 Bimini Blast Photo Album</a> https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/63-2/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=The Hunt for Edible Underwater Treasure&body=by Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost Travel Journalist
scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com
[Steinhatchee, FL.--] Looking down through my dive mask at the patchy grass bottom about four feet deep in the Gulf of Mexico, I spied what looked like a miniature flying saucer. Hard and roundish, a little smaller than my palm, it sported a row of tiny blue lights in the small crack between top and bottom. As I reached down to pick it up, it snapped closed and bounced clumsily in a vain attempt to escape. I stuffed it in a mesh bag and kept swimming, looking for more targets. Boy, did I find plenty-- and so did my snorkeling companions.
Our party of six, guided by Steinhatchee charter captain Bob Erdman, was hunting for bay scallops -- small, wonderfully tasty mollusks that are plentiful in Florida's Big Bend region Gulf waters in summertime. You can't buy bay scallops at a seafood market; the only way to eat them is to harvest them yourself, which is both fun and very easy-- so easy that many liken it to an underwater Easter egg hunt. Kids as young as kindergarteners can harvest them.
You simply snorkel on the surface in four to six feet of water over patches of grass and sand and you will spot the shellfish either sitting on the bottom or perched on blades of sea grass. That row of UFO-like blue lights? Those are their eyes, and they quickly snap their double shell closed to propel themselves backwards when they see you overhead. But they're not that quick, so you don't usually lose too many. Think of it as lobstering lite.
The recreational scallop season opened June 25 and runs through Sept. 24, so you have plenty of time to try it. The harvest area extends from the Pasco-Hernando county line to the west bank of the Mexico Beach Canal in Bay County. However, St. Joseph Bay in Gulf County is closed to scalloping until Aug. 22 due to a previous red tide outbreak.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/scalloping7.jpg"><img class="wp-image-4148 size-full" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/scalloping7.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="426" /></a>Patches of sea grass provide a natural habitat for bay scallops.
Steinhatchee -- a tiny burg located about an hour's drive west of Gainesville--is this summer's scalloping capital. Pre-season counts conducted by scientists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission showed an average of 189 scallops per square meter in local waters, compared to 55 in the Homosassa-Crystal River area; 28 in the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge and only two in St. Joseph Bay.
"Fantastic!" Erdman said. "It's the best season in several years. We've been getting our limit in less than half a day."
That proclamation held true for our group too: ten gallons of whole scallops in 2 1/2 hours of snorkeling in an area south of the Steinhatchee River. We sat around in the shade of the boat's Bimini top and enjoyed some post-hunting snacks before heading back to the dock at Good Times Marina.
Lots of scallopers clean their own catch, but it's a tedious process that takes hours and potentially wastes the thumb-sized nuggets of meat if you don't know what you're doing. So we hired the professionals at Sea Hag Marina to do the job for about $8 per pound. They did not disappoint. We brought nearly six pounds of scallop meat to Fiddler's Restaurant that night where it was fried, broiled, blackened and turned into pasta-- and we had plenty of leftovers.
There's no wrong way to prepare bay scallops-- except to overcook them. If you can think of a recipe-- any recipe--you can make it with these tender mollusks. They are great for ceviche and one of my friends eats them raw.
Guy Harvey Outpost hopes to plant a flag in scalloping country soon, so look for updates at the <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com" target="_blank">Guy Harvey Outpost web site</a>. For a complete rundown of scallop rules, equipment and techniques, go <a href="http://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/regulations/bay-scallops/" target="_blank">HERE</a>.
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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/the-hunt-for-edible-underwater-treasure/){kind=link}
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