Alligators in the Florida Everglades

Okay, while the Everglades is not actually on fire…the large-mouth bass in the Everglades are in every sense of the word biting like they are.

I had out the Leung family all the way from Pasadena, Ca. It was Raymond, Monica and there daughter Melissa all here for a family wedding, Christmas, New Years and fun family time. One of the things on there list was to better understand the Everglades, it’s history, it’s future and what’s being done to help the vast ecosystem.

I really enjoyed the task at hand, being a big part of the conservation efforts here in South Florida it was my pleasure to answer all of there questions. We did also bass fish for several hours catching over 30 fish and taking plenty of pictures. Raymond had an amazing camera, it stopped birds in there track at full speed. A zoom len that was capable of almost anything you could imagine.

We had a great time, discovering over 25 different birds. Having an up close and personal conversation with a Florida alligator. We had discussions that exposed the flaws in life, as we see it of coarse. As well as the perfections that are commonly overlooked, these are not only things that the Everglades seems to stand for but more importantly make you think about!

Today I had the pleasure of taking out repeat customers from Wellington, Fl. Gene Holland and his nephew Eric from Colorado. Gene really wanted Eric to catch a couple of Florida peacocks today, I said, “I will do my best, the water temperatures dropping in the winter months it slows the fishing down sometimes.

On this day, the winter winds could not keep us from catching peacock bass today. By the end of day we had 20 peacock bass and 5 really nice large mouth bass. While the weather continues to change as winter is here, go fishing…there are no bad days and remember the fishing still have to eat!

Looking forward to seeing Gene again in February.

Till next time tight lines and good fishing….
From Staff Writer Capt Brett Isackson (bretti@bassonline.com)
BassOnline.com / 888-829-BASS

Ask any 10-year-old and they will assure you that Walt Disney World is the capital of Florida. For most families with kids or teens, this attraction is the No. 1 priority when visiting Florida. But it will take more than a weekend (or even a week) to cover Disney’s 47-square-mile kingdom. To make the most of your time, Disney has a free DVD vacation planner to help you map out the perfect trip.

“Most people don’t realize that Disney World is more than just the Magic Kingdom, says Dave Herbst, Walt Disney media spokesperson. “We actually have four theme parks the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom two water parks Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon and Disney’s Downtown West End, Marketplace and Pleasure Island.

If you do plan to spend the majority of your vacation at Disney World, you will save time and money by staying at one of the 25 onsite hotels, which range in price and style from affordable to luxurious. Staying onsite offers several advantages: customized ticket packages, meal plans, hassle-free transportation between hotels and parks, and extended hours at the parks.

For a unique vacation experience, try Disneys Animal Kingdom Lodge. This luxury accommodation is surrounded by a 33-acre savannah with more than 30 species of African wildlife that can be viewed from your private balcony.

Some of the fun educational activities offered at the Lodge include animal tracking and safaris, African crafts and games, and folktales told nightly around the outdoor Arusha Rock fire pit. At Bomo Flavors of Africa, a family-friendly buffet offering breakfast and dinner, happy vacationers can experience cuisine from 50 African countries. Adults will enjoy the AAA Four-Diamond Jiko, The Cooking Place, which boasts the worlds largest selection of South African wines, as well as excellent multicultural cuisine.

Although Orlando is known for its great theme parks Disney, Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, Sea World and Cypress Gardens (Orlandos very first theme park) the area offers a wealth of other fun and educational opportunities. Downtown Orlando is home to the Orlando Science Center with multiple floors of hands-on exhibits for kids, giant-screen films and the largest refractor telescope in Florida. And if you happen to be in town during basketball season, get tickets to see the NBAs Orlando Magic.

Interested in Biblical history? Orlando has a very unique theme park that will take you back in time 2,000 years. The Holy Land Experience explores the ancient city of Jerusalem through biblical exhibits, models and performances.

While Orlando boasts 52 million square feet of retail shopping and nine world-class malls, for kid-friendly shopping that will earn you a parent-of-the-year award, visit the 4,400-square-foot, free-standing LEGO Imagination Center and the largest Disney character store on earth, both located at Downtown Disney. Grab lunch at Bahama Breeze Island Grill and enjoy a tropical setting with an outstanding menu of fresh Caribbean-inspired dishes for adults and kids. Since you are in Florida, be sure to order their famous Rebeccas Key Lime Pie.

Several of Floridas state parks (161 in total) are within easy driving distance of Orlando and offer a variety of activities for outdoor enthusiasts. Blue Spring State Park, with the largest spring on St. Johns River, is a designated Manatee Refuge and winter home (mid-November to March) for a growing number of West Indian Manatees. Bring a picnic lunch and cool off in the 72-degree spring where you can swim, snorkel or scuba dive. Cabins are also available for overnight stays.

You don’t have to go all the way to the Everglades to experience Floridas wetlands and wildlife. Several locations in and around Orlando offer airboat rides as well as full and half-day fishing trips. Orlando is one of the most popular places in the world to go bass fishing, the home of the BASS Masters Classic and just got to visit place for any fishermen in the family is fun for the whole family.

Heres a wave of grown-up-style fun redefining the Orlando experience,” says Amy Scott, relations representative for the Orlando Visitors Bureau. “From trendy restaurants and couture shopping to brand-name luxury hotels and spas and a growing cultural arts scene, adults have a variety of sophisticated new experiences to indulge in.”

The Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress is one of those luxury hotel resorts that aims to be for adults what Disney World is for children. This 1,500-acre resort includes an equestrian center, racquet club, fitness center, lake, pitch and putt golf course, and a one-half-acre pool with several waterfalls and a swim-through grotto and bar. With 45 acres of natural Florida terrain, including a nature area and Audubon Walk with elevated boardwalk, you will find it hard to believe you are almost next door to Disneys Downtown area. While at the resort, dont miss the superb seven-course wine-pairing dinner at La Coquina Chefs Table a perfect spot for a romantic celebration.

Want an adult vacation that will allow you to bring your extended family? The Ginn Reunion Resort, located just six miles south of Disney World, is the perfect spot to satisfy everyones vacation itineraries. Accommodations include a choice of condominiums, villas and multi-family homes. The resort is within easy reach of the theme parks, yet miles away from the hustle and bustle. Guests enjoy three signature golf courses, a fitness center, tennis courts, a rooftop pool and lounge, a full-service spa and excellent food at Forte, a contemporary chophouse. Relax or play at the resort or spend the day away.

If your’e still a kid at heart and would like to enjoy some of the theme parks at a more leisurely pace, visit Epcot in the evening and take the 1.3-mile walk around the 11 countries in World Showcase. Stop for dinner in Germany to enjoy folk dancing and an oompah band, belly dancers in Morocco, or singing waiters in Italy. Be sure to stay for the IllumiNations nightly outdoor show of fireworks, music and laser lights.

Another option is Disneys Hollywood Studios and Universal Studios, both of which offer sights and activities for those who would rather skip the zero-gravity thrill rides. At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, stop in the Brown Derby Restaurant to view sketches of famous Hollywood stars and sample their famous Cobb Salad and Grapefruit Cake.

If you enjoy the nightclub scene, both Universal City Walk and Downtown Disneys Pleasure Island offer a variety of musical and comedy clubs. Two shows you wont want to miss are the famous Cirque du Soleil, La Nouba, with its mesmerizing acrobatics and stunning costumes (Disneys West End), and the Blue Man Group offering a unique evening of music, comedy and multimedia theatrics (Universal Studios).

Enjoy a traveling Broadway show or Orlandos own ballet, opera or Philharmonic orchestra at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre in downtown Orlando. The downtown area is also home to several museums, including the Orlando Museum of Art the Mennello Museum of American Art and the Orange County Regional History Center, a Smithsonian affiliate. Dont miss the Harry P. Leu Gardens, a 50-acre botanical park featuring the largest documented collection of camellias in the nation.

Take a day to get off the beaten path with a trip to the quaint, brick-lined town of Winter Park. Stroll down Park Avenue with its upscale boutiques and restaurants, and be sure to sample the famous chocolate popcorn at Peterbrook Chocolatier. Have lunch at Caf de France, a favorite with locals who appreciate its authentic French food and excellent service.

After lunch, visit The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, which is home to the worlds most comprehensive collection of works by Louis Comfort Tiffany, including an elaborate chapel interior. End your relaxing day with a scenic one-hour boat tour on Lake Osceola.

Whether you plan to ride every theme park ride, explore the cultured side of the city or simply cocoon yourself at a luxury resort or enjoy a day of bass fishing on of the lakes, Orlando has it all!

Bass Fishing in the Florida Everglades

  Today I had the pleasure of Bass fishing in the Florida Everglades and taking out Scott and Richard Garrison from Scottsdale, AZ. Richard now lives in California.

They met me early morning to head out for a day of fishing in the Everglades. We got out on the water and started to throw top water baits. We caught a few on top-water, but that bite wasn’t really good do to the water temp being in the low 60’s. We then changed to plastic and started catching fish consistently throughout the day.

We ended up catching around twenty five fish up to four pounds, it was a good day for bass fishing in the Everglades today!

If you are visiting South or Central Florida for work or vacation and want to experience the best bass fishing that there is to offer then please give us a call. We can be reached at (888) 629-BASS or email me…

Capt Brett (954) 445-4516 cell
bretti@bassonline.com
888-629-2277
www.BassOnline.com
www.hawghunter.net
www.bassauthority.com
www.flpeacockbass.com
www.basson-line.com
www.lakeokeechobeebassfishing.com

The agenda focused on boating issues, including proposed legislation on statutes related to vessels and vessel registration. Commissioners directed staff to proceed with proposing new regulations concerning anchoring, mooring and local governments’ jurisdiction for the Florida Legislature to consider. Also, Commissioners adopted new rules regarding boating restrictions in Martin and Okeechobee counties, based on a vessel traffic study and requests for revisions from stakeholders and governmental bodies.

Commissioners revoked a final order that permitted the City of Naples to post waterway markers in the Naples Bay area. The FWC granted the permit in March 2007, but an appeals court overturned the decision, requiring the Commission to execute a new final order denying it.

In addition, Commissioners heard staff reports on high water and wildlife issues in the Everglades and reviewed proposed rules to improve Florida’s quota hunt program for sportsmen who will use the state’s wildlife management area system during the 2009-10 hunting seasons. Commissioners directed staff to proceed with the new rules, which will come up for final approval at the February meeting in Destin.

In addition, Commissioners heard an update on a general management plan for the Big Cypress National Preserve Addition and a summary on the recent summit, “Florida’s Wildlife: On the front line of climate change.”

Also during Wednesday’s session, Commissioners voted to proceed with a land swap proposal by the Saddle Creek Corp., City of Lakeland and the state Board of Trustees concerning the FWC-managed Tenoroc Fish Management Area. The proposal involves swapping an FWC-managed 10-acre tract to go to Saddle Creek Corp. in exchange for 40 acres adjacent to state-owned land.

FWC Commissioners selected Rodney Barreto as chairman and Kathy Barco as vice chairman for 2009.

A final public vote on proposed rule amendments for gag and red grouper in Gulf of Mexico state waters was on Thursday’s agenda. Commissioners approved rules to reduce the recreational bag limit for Gulf gag grouper from five fish to two fish daily per person and prohibit the recreational harvest of Gulf gag grouper from Feb. 1 through March 31. This is consistent with gag grouper regulations in Gulf federal waters. The Commission also voted to increase the recreational bag limit for Gulf red grouper from one fish to two fish daily per person.

Other new rule amendments approved by the Commission include increasing the recreational minimum size limit for greater amberjack from 28 to 30 inches fork length and increasing the commercial and recreational minimum size limit for gray triggerfish from 12 to 14 inches fork length in Gulf state waters. These rules are consistent with current regulations in Gulf federal waters.

The new Gulf gag and red grouper, greater amberjack and gray triggerfish rules take effect on Jan. 1.

In other marine fisheries action, the Commission proposed a draft rule amendment that would make the recreational Gulf red snapper fishing season in state waters consistent with federal regulations. The proposed red snapper open season in Gulf state waters would be from June 1 through Sept. 30, if adopted by the Commission at their meeting in February.

Another draft rule amendment proposed by the FWC would end the moratorium on the reduction of lobster trap certificates and provide that the number of trap certificates be reduced by 10 percent to a purchaser only when they are sold or transferred to someone outside the immediate family of the certificate holder.

The Commission also proposed a series of draft rule amendments for the marine life (aquarium species) fishery. The proposed rules would add new fish and invertebrate species to marine life regulations, establish or change size and bag limits and gear specifications for several marine life species, and make other administrative and technical marine life rule changes.

In addition, the FWC proposed a draft rule that would establish six regional closed seasons around the state to the harvest of blue crabs with traps. These closures would extend for up to 10 days each to help identify and retrieve lost and abandoned blue crab traps from Florida waters.

Final public hearings on the proposed red snapper, lobster, marine life and blue crab rules will be held in February.

The full agenda is available online at www.MyFWC.com/commission/2008/Dec08/index.htm.

The next FWC meeting will be Feb. 4-5 in Destin.

Till next time tight lines and good fishing….

From Staff and Wire Reports

BassOnline.com

Today I fished with the Cushing’s from Gig Harbaur, WA. We fished canal systems and lakes in Lake worth, Florida area. We decided to fish live bait and artificial lures and what a nice combination it was. We captured some nice largemouth bass as well as peacock bass all in a super-half day trip.

Today conditions were sunny, although a little windy. It’s always a good decision fishing in the urban city fisheries, there’s is a lot of good spots to fish when its windy. I sure did enjoy fishing with the Cushing’s and they are wanting to come back in the spring to fish Okeechobee with me.

Good fishing,

Capt Mark Shepard
marks@bassonline.com

If you are visiting South Florida for work or vacation and want to experience the best fishing that there is to offer then please give us a call. We can be reached @ (888) 629-BASS or by email.

BassOnline.com
888-629-BASS (2277)
www.hawghunter.net
www.bassauthority.com
www.flpeacockbass.com
www.basson-line.com
www.lakeokeechobeebassfishing.com

Today I had the pleasure of fishing a afternoon trip with Frank and his friend John from Westerly, RI on the Lake Ida chain.

We only had a couple of hours due to the plane being delayed, so when they got there we went right to the hot spots. They fished hard and caught fourteen fish up to 4 pounds, both peacock bass and large mouth bass.

We had to be back at the ramp by four thirty, so in what became a very short day of fishing I think we had a pretty good day!

If you are visiting South or Central Florida for work or vacation and want to experience the best bass fishing that there is to offer then please give us a call. We can be reached at (888) 629-BASS or email me…

Capt Brett (954) 445-4516 cell
bretti@bassonline.com
888-629-2277
www.BassOnline.com
www.hawghunter.net
www.bassauthority.com
www.flpeacockbass.com
www.basson-line.com
www.lakeokeechobeebassfishing.com

 This week Devin Cole of Holitong, PA spent 4 days with us fishing for the mighty  Florida peacock bass. I had the pleasure of spending 3 of the 4 days with Devin in search of this hard fighting speices.

Devin is just recently starting to get into the sport of bass fishing and as his knowledge exspans so does his experiences. Devin replies, “I always wanted to catch a peacock bass.” So we gave him the chance to catch them in 4 separate locations and 4 different ways. All 4 areas were planed out with awesome results.

While some days are always better than others, but we all know (THAT’S FISHIN). I would say we boated 70 plus peacock bass in 4 days from 1 to 5 pounds. It really was a very exiting venture, Devin had such a great time he’s already planning another trip with his son anf friends in March.

We are looking forward to fishing with him again, it will be a blast once agian.

Good Fishin,

Capt Tony Massiello

(954) 205-2535 cell

(888) 629-2277 Toll Free

tonym@bassonline.com

www.bassonline.com

  Today I  took out David Irving all the way from the United Kingdom(UK). The day started a little slow due to our first cold front of the year, once the sun broke it started to pick up rather quickly. It ended up being a very exciting day of

peacock bass fishing here in South Florida.

 David is an avid fisherman and once he figured out how the where biting there was no stopping him. By the end of the day, he boated 32 fish up to 4 lbs and a couple of really nice pictures to take back home.

What a great day on the water it was today, it was amazing how well David adapted to the Florida Peacock bass!

Tight Lines,

Capt Tony (954) 205-2535
tonym@bassonline.com

If you are visiting South Florida for work or vacation and want to experience the best fishing that there is to offer then please give us a call. We can be reached @ (888) 629-BASS or by email.

BassOnline.com
888-629-BASS (2277)
www.hawghunter.net
www.bassauthority.com
www.flpeacockbass.com
www.basson-line.com
www.lakeokeechobeebassfishing.com