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Weekly Fisherman Newspaper Online

May 15, Edition



Florida Keys Fishing Tournament Calendar
click for tournament calendar

May 15 to May 17 in Key Largo

23rd Annual Coconuts Dolphin Tournament

Anglers are to compete in an event named for a Key Largo restaurant that serves up plenty of dolphin fish, known on most menus as Mahi Mahi.
Contact: (561) 741-1124
Email: mountain1111@aol.com

May 15 to May 17 in Big Pine

Lower Keys & Key West Reef Shootout

Tournament targts bottom fish, king fish and wahoo. Tournament benefits the Big Pine Key and Lower Keys Chamber. E-mail fishnkw@aol.com
Contact: Mike Weinhofer at (305) 395-3474

May 17 to May 20 in Islamorada

15th Annual Golden Fly Invitational Tarpon Tournament

This prestigious fly tournament for large tarpon benefits both CCFA and college scholarships for Keys students.
Contact: (305) 664-2444
Email: csasun@aol.com

May 24 in Key West

Yamaha Dolphin Masters Invitational

Experienced offshore captains are to lead the chase for the colorful and acrobatic dolphin fish and a hefty first prize.
Contact: (305) 304-7674
Email: wave.whacker@hotmail.com

 

Treasure Cay Billfish Tournament June 7-12, 2009 Offers Guaranteed Money, First Time Ever

ABACO, BAHAMAS, 4/09- - Held in Abaco, Bahamas, the 26th Annual Treasure Cay Billfish CBT, June 7-12, 2009, announces its first-ever guaranteed cash payout, ranging from $10,000 for a minimum of ten boats and up to $50,000 for participation of 50 boats. There is also a 10% dockage discount during the tournament. The TCBT is a modified release tournament offering four days of fishing, social parties, dinners and fun competitions.

Open to the public, the tournament format consists of multiple awards for billfish, plus awards for tuna, dolphin and wahoo. Release point standings are verified by the participant’s own digital and/or video camera with an image that can verify the time and date the photo was taken.

Registration, including boat entry, four dinners and four cocktail parties for up to six team members, team goody bag with t-shirts & hats and room discounts is $2,950 per team.

For More Information Click Here

Story by Neil Hammerschlag

Make no mistake about it: Spearfishing can be an act of shark provocation. A speared fish sends out all the right signals—a bloody smell and stress vibrations—that sharks recognize as an “easy meal.”

If you are spearing fish, expect shark encounters. What you do next is up to you, but I offer these tips to reduce unwanted interactions and protect the safety of both spearfisher and shark:

1. Avoid being in the water alone. Several individuals may be better able to spot and deter an approaching shark.

2. Avoid wearing bright or contrasting colors. Sharks have good vision and bright and/or contrasting colors can be stimulating to these curious creatures.

3. Be conscious of your surroundings. Unusually high marine life activity (fish, marine mammals, birds) may indicate a concentrated food source like a bait ball that can draw in hunting and stimulated sharks. Conversely, if all the fish in an area immediately disappear, a hunting shark may have just arrived. Check your surroundings and cautiously exit the water.

4. Sharks may frequent particular feeding areas so avoid areas where and when shark encounters have occurred in the past or where sharks have been seen recently.

5. Avoid spearfishing in murky water as it may be difficult for you to spot a shark and easier for a shark to mistake you for a potential prey item. Many sharks hunt during dawn and dusk so don’t spearfish during these periods.

6. If you spot a shark, always maintain direct visual contact with the animal. Do not turn your back and swim away. Sharks generally rely on ambush attack and are aware when they have been spotted. They also may be weary (***Neil, do you mean “wary”***) when visually followed.

7. If you spear a fish, immediately remove it from the water. Keeping your catch may stimulate a shark approach or attack. Avoid areas where people have just been spearfishing.

8. If a shark approaches, consider forfeiting your fish before the animal gets within 10 to15 feet. A discarded catch will likely be consumed by a shark and will not elicit a feeding frenzy; however, failing to let it go could result in a closer than desired encounter brought on by you! Usually sharks will lose interest in you if you are no longer carrying a food source of theirs; however, exit the water immediately, minimizing time at the surface.

Each shark can have a different personality toward you so after dropping your fish, if a shark still comes in closer than you are comfortable with then prod them with your speargun. Try to avoid contact with the shark’s gills or eyes as this may cause long-term harm. Do not use your speargun as an offensive weapon. Doing so will likely be ineffective and may elicit retaliation. Always maintain direct visual contact with the animal and do not swim away.

9. Do not aggravate a shark by trying to harm it or make unnecessary contact. Avoid intruding on a shark’s personal space by cornering it between you and a barrier like a beach, a boat or coral. Doing so may cause a shark to become defensive.

10. Listen to your inner voice. If you feel uncomfortable in the water, you should exit and return another day.

The ocean is the planet’s true last remaining wild place. Despite the tips above, once you enter the ocean you are in the sharks’ world and if you spear a fish, you will be provoking them. In the case of an encounter, I urge you to act responsibly and treat these magnificent animals with appreciation and respect.

NOAA's Proposed Recovery Plan to Help Create Jobs, Improve Coastal Communities and Protect Habitat

NOAA has submitted to Congress a proposed spending plan for the $830 million received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) appropriation. The goal of the ARRA is to create jobs, strengthen the economy, and restore our environment. NOAA's investments under the ARRA include facility construction, funding for the NOAA Pacific Islands Regional Center in Honolulu, a new fisheries laboratory in La Jolla, CA, smaller projects for the National Weather Service field offices in Fairbanks, Alaska, and a new fisheries research vessel. Funding will also be available to strengthen NOAA's supercomputing capability and climate data record development - critical to improving climate modeling and continuing research into ways to mitigate climate change and habitat restoration.

For more information, read the NOAA news release or visit www.commerce.gov/recovery.

 

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Yamaha Dolphin Masters Invitational - Key West

Florida's Premier Saltwater Angling & Entertainment Magazine

Kev's Cafe At Bud & Mary's Marina

Jugit - You can concentrate on the fish, and not worry if you are in the right spot or not.

Key West Marine Hardware - Key West

DJ's Reel Repair

Keys Custom Rods - Marathon - 305/743-3054

Keys Plastics Shop - Tavernier Key -305/852-0100


Vacation Opportunity

Fishing, Skiing, Travel to Europe or Overseas . . . Go Anywhere!

If you think the fishing is good in the Fabulous Florida Keys, why not try Belize, Costa Rica, Mexico – where’s your dream fish?

Retail value - $3,500 for 7 days, now offering for $800.

Can also be an all inclusive (meals, drinks, etc., but not airfare).

for more information and details:

Send e-mail to: vacation@weeklyfisherman.com

Custom Swimming Pools & Pavers - Call 305/664-1010

 

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