Today is the 65th anniversary of the disappearance of Flight 19, the US Navy’s infamous “Lost Patrol”. On Dec. 5, 1945, five TBM Avengers were on a routine training mission from their …
Swordfish Extravaganza II a Big Hit in South Florida
18 Oct 20102:47 PM
Kudos to Capt. Skip Smith and the Swordfish Club for the record breaking attendance at the Swordfish Extravaganza II event, which was held last week at the IGFA headquarters in Dania Beach, FL. Major names in the big game tackle business showcased their latest products for hooking up these behemoths, and key organizations produced informative seminars on the fishery. NOAA and HMS gave presentations on government efforts to rebuild “trust” with recreational fishermen, and highlighted the importance of reporting your sword catch so the USA can keep a valid tally in regards to our international quota.
Congrats again to Capt. Skip and the Swordfish Club crew for a great event!
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![](mailto:?subject=Swordfish Extravaganza II a Big Hit in South Florida&body=Kudos to <a title="Smith-Merritt Insurnace web site" href="http://www.smith-merritt.com/" target="_blank">Capt. Skip Smith</a> and the <a title="Swordfish Club web site" href="http://www.swordfishclub.org/" target="_blank">Swordfish Club</a> for the record breaking attendance at the <a title="Swordfish Extravaganza II info page" href="http://billfish.org/1356-swordfish-extravaganza-ii#continue_post" target="_blank">Swordfish Extravaganza II</a> event, which was held last week at the <a title="IGFA web site" href="http://www.igfa.org" target="_blank">IGFA</a> headquarters in <a title="Dania Beach, FL web site" href="http://www.ci.dania-beach.fl.us/" target="_blank">Dania Beach, FL</a>. Major names in the big game tackle business showcased their latest products for hooking up these behemoths, and key organizations produced informative seminars on the fishery. <a title="NOAA web site" href="http://www.noaa.gov" target="_blank">NOAA</a> and HMS gave presentations on government efforts to rebuild "trust" with recreational fishermen, and highlighted the importance of reporting your sword catch so the USA can keep a valid tally in regards to our international quota.
<a href="http://www.swordfishclub.org/"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-162" title="Swordfish Extravaganza II" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/sfii1.jpg?w=224" alt="" width="224" height="300" /></a>
Congrats again to Capt. Skip and the Swordfish Club crew for a great event! https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/swordfish-extravaganza-ii-a-big-hit-in-south-florida/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Bimini Mysteries & Legends: Flight 19: The "Lost Patrol"&body=Today is the 65th anniversary of the disappearance of <a title="Wikipedia entry for Flight 19" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_19" target="_blank">Flight 19, the US Navy's infamous "Lost Patrol"</a>. On Dec. 5, 1945, five <a title="Wikipedia entry for Avenger torpedo bombers" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TBF_Avenger" target="_blank">TBM Avengers</a> were on a routine training mission from their <a title="Wikipedia entry for NAS Ft. Lauderdale" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Air_Station_Fort_Lauderdale" target="_blank">base in Ft. Lauderdale</a> when they disappeared after a practice bombing run. No trace of the crews or their planes were ever found.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/f191.png"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-315" title="Artists Rendering of Flight 19, the "Lost Patrol"" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/f191.png?w=250" alt="" width="250" height="300" /></a>
The case of of the "Lost Patrol" is one of the 20th Century's great mysteries, and is another chapter in the very colorful history of <a title="Islands of the Bahamas web site" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Air_Station_Fort_Lauderdale" target="_blank">Bimini</a>, the tiny islands in the <a title="Wikipedia entry for the Gulf Stream" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_Stream" target="_blank">Stream</a> that seems to have more than their fair share of mysteries and legends. You see, shortly before disappearing forever, Flight 19 had just completed a bombing run on the <a title="Wikipedia entry for S.S. Sapona" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Sapona" target="_blank">S.S. Sapona</a>, a shipwreck just off the coast of Bimini and only a short trip north from the <a title="BBGC web site" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com" target="_blank">Big Game Club</a>.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/sapona.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-316" title="The Wreck of the S.S. Sapona" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/sapona.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a>
So what happened to the "Lost Patrol"? No one really knows, but some believe Flight 19 was a victim of the <a title="Wikipedia entry for Bermuda Triangle" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bermuda_Triangle" target="_blank">Bermuda Triangle</a>, the area where ships and planes have disappeared for centuries without explanation. Many theories have been given for the strange occurrences in the Triangle, from aliens to the paranormal to some type of interaction with the <a title="Wikipedia entry for Atlantis" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis" target="_blank">Lost City of Atlantis</a>. For those that believe in the Triangle, Atlantis is the most plausible explanation for the disappearance of Flight 19. Why? Because Bimini also happens to be the home of the reputed <a title="Wikipedia entry for the Road to Atlantis" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bimini_Road" target="_blank">Road to Atlantis</a>. Coincidence??
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/bimini_road.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-318" title="The Road to Atlantis" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/bimini_road.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="200" /></a>
NOTE: The S.S. Sapona and the Road to Atlantis (AKA the Bimini Road) are two of Bimini's most popular dive sites. For more information on scuba diving these famous sites, as well as Bimini's other underwater adventures, contact <a title="Dive Bimini's web page" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com/dive-bimini.htm" target="_blank">Dive Bimini, a Guy Harvey Outpost Dive Center</a> located at the Bimini Big Game Club. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/after-65-years-flight-19-remains-the-lost-patrol/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Follow Guy Harvey Outpost on Instagram!&body=Join GH Outpost on Instagram by following @GuyHarveyOutpost!
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/photo-11.png"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1348" title="Guy Harvey Outpost on Instagram" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/photo-11.png" alt="" width="426" height="640" /></a> https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/follow-guy-harvey-outpost-on-instagram/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Red Hot Reds in Shallow St. Augustine&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/sta.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-2981 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/sta.jpg?w=300" alt="StA" width="300" height="225" /></a>By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost staff writer
[St. Augustine, FL--] We were not fishing the prime tide in the spartina marsh lining the east side of the Intracoastal Waterway north of St. Augustine, but apparently that didn't matter to the hungry redfish.
Past the flood stage, water was slowly draining out of the grass flats. But there were still plenty of small black crabs clinging to the emergent greenery, prompting the reds to tail and slurp enthusiastically.
"See him? His whole back's out of the water," captain James Dumas pointed to a dark hump on the surface. "He's almost in range."
Standing on the bow of Dumas' skiff, I saw the hump submerge and pop up again with a small splash.
"He just ate a mullet!" Dumas exclaimed.
I made a short cast with the 8-wt fly rod, aiming a few feet in front of where I believed the red's nose was pointed. But the breeze overcame the fly line and the leggy, purple-and-black crab pattern landed behind the fish.
I quickly stripped the line back in and made another cast to the obediently stationary fish, but that, too, was errant.
The third cast proved the charm, with the fly planted correctly in front of the target.
"Start bumping it," Dumas directed. "Now he'll eat it."
Dumas was right: I moved the fly a bit and the red chomped on it decisively.
After a brief tussle in the grass, I brought the fish up to the gunwales to be photographed and released.
"They'll keep giving you shots till you hit the fish or you stomp on the boat," he said.
Now it was Vaughn Cochran's turn on the bow and he quickly caught and released a slightly larger red on fly.
What fun! Cochran and I were fishing the late October full moon which pulls king tides into the shallows, greatly expanding the habitat of redfish bulking up on crabs for winter. Had our schedules permitted arriving an hour earlier-- before the tide started draining out--we likely would have hooked even more fish. And nobody knows their habits like Dumas, operator of <a href="http://www.drummancharters.com" target="_blank">Drumman Charters</a>.
"When it gets cold, they get shallower," Dumas said. "They get in big schools on the flats. They get in the creeks too. The best creeks are the ones that empty into basins."
The guide said he typically switches to small shrimp patterns and Clousers in wintertime when waters become clearer. Non-fly fishers can use live shrimp or cast artificials like D.O.A.'s or Z-man Shrimpz.
And redfish aren't the only targets in the cool season. Fly anglers get shots at flounder by bumping Clousers in pot holes while live baiters toss mullet or minnows. For sea trout, the ubiquitous Cajun Thunder-- a rattling float to which you can attach a live bait or a soft-plastic shrimp lure-- is probably the best choice. For fly anglers, poppers are tops.
One of the most popular local spots for shore and wade fishing is the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve located just off A-1-A about halfway between St. Augustine and Jacksonville Beach. When the dam between the Guana River and Lake Ponte Vedra is open, anglers enjoy good catches of flounder, redfish and other species on foot using finger mullet, crabs and other live baits.
The St. Augustine area has plenty more to offer besides shallow-water fishing. Check out this blog later for more on bottom fishing; dining, and unique attractions on Florida's First Coast.
***********
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/red-hot-reds-in-shallow-st-augustine/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Dead Sharks Distort Reality&body=<img title="Tiger shark at Tiger Beach, Bahamas. Photo courtesy of Bill Watts." src="http://guyharvey.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/tiger.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="197" />
The following commentary was written by Doug Olander, Editor-in-Chief of <a title="SFM web site" href="http://www.sportfishingmag.com" target="_blank">Sport Fishing</a> magazine. The article appeared as Doug's editorial column in SF's April 2012 issue.
Let me cut to the chase:
1. If I never see another billfish or shark hanging dead for bragging rights and glory photos, it will be too soon.
2. I absolutely, unequivocally see nothing wrong with keeping a shark to eat — preferably a shark of modest size, taken aboard a boat to be shared among anglers and crew.
Too many anglers want to jump to the conclusion that a statement like No. 1 must come from a PC fish hugger who thinks no angler should ever keep any fish. Far from it.
But that sort of thinking seems to be the basis of comments left by an angry fisherman both on <a title="SF's Facebook Page" href="http://www.facebook.com/SportFishing" target="_blank">SF’s Facebook Page</a> and <a title="SF web site" href="http://www.sportfishingmag.com/" target="_blank">web site</a> after reading a Quick Bites news item in February on the <a title="SFMI web site" href="http://www.sharkfreemarinas.com/" target="_blank">Shark Free Marina Initiative</a>.
The reader is upset that the item cites as good news four species of sharks added to Florida’s prohibited-species list. Then he asks, “Why do you feel that the prevention of offloading a legally caught species is a good thing?”
I would ask a different question: Why does anyone need to kill sharks such as hammerheads and tigers, whether legal or not? They’re not food fish, so what’s the point of killing them?
Beyond that, even if killing a big shark for the glory of a snapshot in your smartphone is legal, does that make it right?
A <a title="Rosie O'Donnell shark story" href="http://www.eonline.com/news/rosie_odonnells_dead_hammerhead_shark/285827" target="_blank">news item about Rosie O’Donnell, shark slayer</a>, resurfaced recently, proudly posted on the website of her skipper. Based in Miami Beach, he’s made a reputation for killing sharks (and as long as he could get away with it, anything else including sailfish). Included was a photo of a dead hammerhead (killed long before it was illegal to do so), swinging from a crane as Rosie and her small children smiled for the cameras.
<a href="http://www.sharkfreemarinas.com/"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-1186" title="Shark Free Marina Initiative" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/sfmi-banner-logo.png" alt="" width="495" height="140" /></a>
I think hanging up dead sharks in a marina is wrong, but more important, I think doing so is just plain stupid. It’s a point I’ve made before and sadly, probably will have to again: Anglers and captains like Rosie’s do nothing but damage the image of our sport, and hurt you, me and all real sport fishermen. A nonfishing public, seeing dead sharks gathering flies at a dock, more easily accepts a distorted reality where sport fishermen are pigs with no respect for the resource.
And this comes at the very time more and more green groups would be happy to see all recreational fishing banned. Do we need to help their cause? If the purpose of those who agree with Rosie and her skipper is to put further restrictions on our sport, they’re doing a bang-up job.
That doesn’t mean I think no shark should ever be killed (see No. 2 above). A smaller mako or common thresher, neither of which is considered overfished, can be shared by anglers and crew for meals (with no need to leave ’em hanging dead at the dock). A blacktip can offer inshore anglers some fair filets. I’ve even sampled the common bonnethead and found it pretty tasty.
And yes, even across the board, the recreational take of sharks has to be a small fraction of those killed commercially. But the public seldom sees that carnage, versus one shark left to hang at the sport docks. No wonder many of the powerful environmental groups clamoring to close off the ocean no longer try to make any distinction between commercial and sport fishing.
It’s because of skippers like Rosie’s that I join <a title="Guy Harvey Inc. web site" href="http://www.guyharvey.com" target="_blank">Guy Harvey</a> in supporting the Shark Free Marinas Initiative — to avoid just such repulsive photo-op scenes.
The fact that the <a title="Humane Society web site" href="http://www.humanesociety.org/" target="_blank">Humane Society</a> and <a title="Pew web site" href="http://www.pewenvironment.org/" target="_blank">Pew</a> support the initiative doesn’t automatically make it bad for recreational fishing. That said, I’ve come to the point where it makes me uncomfortable to be on the same side of any issue with Pew.
But in this case, the mind-set and actions of Rosie and her captain just don’t leave me much choice.
https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/dead-sharks-distort-reality/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject="Whale Sharks Are Our Friends" at Guy Harvery Outpost&body=Plankton eating Whale Sharks do not have the teeth that give some sharks that "Over Bite" reputation. These gentle giants grow to 40 feet long and have a sense of curiosity. They have been known to hang around and almost study divers and snorkelers.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/whaleshark2-large.jpg"><img class="wp-image-2140 size-large" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/whaleshark2-large.jpg?w=660" alt="Isla Mujeres Whale Shark Photo: Guy Harvey PhD." width="660" height="418" /></a>
On some levels Whale Sharks may be the most "User Friendly Sharks:" big, no teeth, warm waters, frequently at snorkel depth, and curious enough to interact with divers. There is still much we do not know about them but one thing we do know is that they can be seen by Guy Harvey Outpost divers at the <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/beyond/isabela-island/property-overview.html">Iguana Crossing </a>Galapagos, <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/bahamas/bimini-bahamas/bimini-sands-bimini.html">Bimini Sands</a>, Bahamas, but almost guaranteed at <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/beyond/isla-mujeres-mexico/overview.html">Hotel Playa Media Luna </a>at Isla Mujeres, Mexico. For more info on our <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/beyond/isla-mujeres-mexico/dive.html">Whale Shark Encounters at Isla Mujeres</a> (scroll to the bottom of the page).
To learn more about our Whale Shark Encounters call our Reservations line at 800-513-5257 or reservations@guyharveyoutpost.com https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/whale-sharks-are-our-friends-at-guy-harvery-outpost/){kind=link}
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