FLOATERS

FLOATERS



Something Smells Here?
If it is 16 feet or over, it must be taxed, titled and registered with the Florida Dept. of Motor Vehicles.

If it has an electric trolling motor on it, regardless of its size, you floater (canoe, kayak, scull, row boat) must have decals and be registered and have a title with the DMV.
There is more than oil floating around in our Legislature and if we are not careful they will be taxing your rod guides next!
If your kayaks, canoe, blow up boat, or whatever, is less than 16 feet long no registration is required. Now think what I just said; if it is 16 feet or longer you must have a Tax sticker (Decal), registration and a recorded title but if it is less than 16 feet long, no decal. This new addition to the law in recreational boating smells, it is the turd in the punch bowl or as said in that movie, “…out of the pool, It’s a Floater.” But wait, there is more and as if the law is not confusing enough, it gets smellier once you visit your local County Court house and attempt to register a vessel, which is not considered a vessel unless it meets the criteria above and you have proof of ownership, a bill of sale and a title on a Vehicle that was never titled in the first place. The aromas of this concoction are making me ill. Catch 22, “You are damned if you do, and damned if you don’t!” The Senate and House just keep on passing bills and laws that “We the People” are suppose to support. I believe that you and I are the “WE” in the “PEOPLE, are we not? Did anyone tell you about this smelly Floater? I would have said “No Way!”
AS STATED BY LAW:
“All vessels, with the exception of non-motor-powered vessels less than 16 feet in length, non-motor-powered canoes, kayaks, racing shells, or rowing sculls, regardless of length, must be registered through your local Tax Collector's Office and all vessels used on public waterways with any kind of motor must be titled and registered. Furthermore, if the non-motor powered vessel is less than 16 feet in length, it is not required to be registered or titled. However, if the vessel is 16 feet or more in length, it is required to be registered and titled.”
My question is how does one obtain a title from a canoe that was made in the 1970’s and no title was ever warranted at that time much less last year?
Hm… now my 16 foot canoe has to have a decal and the Registration numbers must be displayed on the forward half of the vessel on both sides above the waterline. The numbers must be bold block letters at least 3" high in a color contrasting to the hull and the vessel registration decal must be renewed annually and is to be displayed within 6 inches of, either before or after, the registration numbers on the port (left) side. Hope they can read underwater as when fully loaded down, there ain’t much of a waterline left with two guys over 250 pounds, ice chests, bait, gear, rods and all extras. So in conclusion to this smelly way to strip more from your pockets, before you purchase a tandem kayak or any floater for that matter make sure it is less than 16 feet long and do not power it with one of those “get on top quick” trolling motors because if you do, you will need a registration number and decal. Oh yeah, and a title. Next time you are at Gander Mountain or Bass Pro Shop, ask them, as you would at a car dealership, what is the price of that Wilderness Systems Pamlico 160T Tandem Kayak; tax, Title and registration; I’ll bet all you get is a sales receipt and a look like one would if you too were in the pool and someone screamed out “It’s a Floater!”
This is how are day started. At some point in time, on Wednesday the 28th of July, at around midnight, I got a bee up my butt to run over to Wal-Mart and purchase a thirty pound thrust trolling motor with a deep cycle marine trolling battery. We attached it to the flat side of my stern on the canoe and went to bed with notions to dreams of having a paddle free day, on the water, catching fish. We launched our craft from out of the back of my pickup truck into the water, just as a FWC officer pulled in front of my truck and approached with, “Just coming in or going out?” I exclaimed we had just finished launching and our next step was to just ‘Go Fishing’. “How long is your craft”’ he asked and I answered with “my canoe, I believe is 16 feet long across the top. “Is it registered”’ the Game Warden asked. “No!” I answered.” Why would it be? It is a canoe and now we just bought a trolling motor to try out today.” New law does not matter, it is a dumb law but it now is the law because I guess, Florida needs to fill its coffers more now.” He continued. “Go ahead and have fun today, catch some fish and be sure to get’er registered in the next day or two.” With that, Edwin and I went fishing.
The trolling motor on speed of 5 moved us along faster than one could ever have guessed. We traveled approximately ten miles in less than an hour. There was a severe thunder storm moving in on us from three sides, flood was against our bow and so to was the wind. Without the electric motor, we would still be out there rowing or worse, swimming!




Small sharks, rays and cats, both varieties were available on this windy trip, sail and hardheads. I also caught a speckled trout that was golden in color. The first golden trout I have ever seen and it matched that all too familiar yellow/orange mouth the start to get this time of year. All were caught on live small four inch finger mullet which are thick as fleas up in Tippy Canoe bay. Looks like freshwater fishing for me Friday, as I brought out my Dad’s old Cortland Crownfly attached to his favorite 8.5 inch bamboo fly rod. No registration here, no decals, no numbers, just me and my fly on an open patch of water, fishing license in a wallet and the only floaters here will be my dry flies.
http://www.myfwc.com/RULESANDREGS/Rules_Boat.htm#educ
http://www.flhsmv.gov/dmv/faqboat.html
“FISHON!”

Here Kitty-Kitty; In Search of Florida Cats

No Oil Here just clean Florida Freshwater Cats

Channel Cat fishing, no matter where you fish, has always been a past time to cool away under an oak tree, spinning tackle to a bamboo pole, a can of worms, your favorite stink bait or just a pint of chicken livers from your local grocery...MORE

One Fish, Two, Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish....

By the dawns early light, with the absents of the rockets red glare, which will follow tonight, we loaded up the Snapper and headed out to Razor Point in search of Mango, as the spawn is on and the snapper are making their beds. The night before Ed and I were in heated discussion on whither to go early in getting on a trout bite or just setting our sites on snapper. I wanted trout and he the tastier fish along with a few extra few winks of shuteye. As the pale grey morning turned to a soggy mess, we launched at Razor and we cautiously bowed our way down the mangrove, razor bush laddered banks into the harbor at Cattlemen’s Point. Rowing out past the old barge channel, used back in the war between the states in transporting Confederate cattle to barges for transportation to ships in running the Union blockade, we anchored up onto an oyster bar, behind a grassy flat to our starboard and a mud hole on the port side. The perfect point of throw for a number of species, I would try for some late morning trout out on the grass flat, Ed could stay at the canoe and work the bar for Mangrove Snapper and whatever may be in the mud and both of us are happy. The only probably being was my late morning trout, was just that, as it was eleven o’clock in the morning!

Snapper in the Bush; Canoe Fishing the Harbor

The backwater skinny bite is phenomenal with stellar action on trout and snook, followed by skinny water shark on light tackle of twelve/fourteen pound test using Gulp 2” Peeler Crabs and live pinky sized mullet under a Bullet Bobber. Using pinky mullet hooked either in the nostrils or under the dorsal, suspended from Bullet-Bobbers makes the bait dance in a characteristic oxygenating roll on the surface, thus announcing their presence. Mullet is the bait of choice as most of the backwater shorelines, the channels and grass flats are full of them. If on the other hand you are targeting bigger game, do not forget the live crabs, reds to tarpon, snook to shark,” They just love eat the crab," and "They don't have to bat it around, they just swallow it!” However, we are getting ahead of the story. As Edwin and I launched into a mangrove-lined creek, we wondered if the switchbacks further down stream could handle our 1978 16’ Mohawk tandem canoe. The canoe slid through the overhang of roots with ease, it was the two of us who found ourselves doing the wig-wham as the Snapper was in the bush. The long trek down stream had birds of all kinds and at each opening, out of the snags were graceful white Herons fishing the shallows of mirrored glass water. Looking over the gunnels, under the Snapper were hordes of Mangrove and Lane Snapper darting out in chase of a meal onto the balls of glass minnows dancing down the incoming current. High tide would be in at 2:30 PM. We had launched around ten in the morning and found our struggle out to the channel took about twenty minutes for not very much creek. Next time the Snapper is in the bush, I will bring along some dead shrimp as that ought to bring home a snapper supper, without the dance in getting out to the Harbor.
Breaching the last of the overhang, the canoe slid over a small bar and out of the mouth of the creek. Pinky sized to six inch mullet were everywhere in pods only broken as monster snook plowed through the balls in a feasting folly. Ed pulled the cast net out and began the chore in filling the bait bucket, as I placed a Gulp crab onto a quarter ounce green headed jig and cast with a slow to jerk steady retrieve. Wham-Bam thank you Mame’ “Fish On!’ with the first cast, as Ed shook his head and exclaimed, “Why am I catching bait?” To this, he stopped and asked, “Keeper for the table or tag, Dad?” I though about it, fumbled through the tacklebox and said I guess we are having Blacktip for dinner, our shark tags are home in the other box. Generally speaking, we tag all sharks we catch with an “M” tag. Edwin and I have been tagging sharks for three years now with the US Dept. of Commerce/ NOAA & the National Marine Fisheries Service. They use the information such as type of shark caught, the location, type of tackle, its sex and length along with the weight. The angler who catches this species again, sends in the info asked from inside the tag. This information is vital in shark research.


We hammered snook, reds and undersized trout all day while out in the open water of the Harbor. Moving back in to the beach and mangroves as the high hot sun was baking us dry, so to were the sharks and Gafftop, (sail cats). A couple of waders approached and I asked how the bite is? Raising a couple of shouldered trout, I mean real bruisers, I asked to what they were using, the same as us except they were hanging their baits around eighteen inches below a Bullet Bobber. Ed changed out his rig and still our day was to hit it big on the sail kitty’s and medium to small shark and I had no tags! With plenty of fish around if you are not on the bite, move! It is not uncommon to try a couple of holes to drifts before you find the perfect spot. The most reliable bait for skinny water or inshore Florida right now are minnows; mud, mullet, greenbacks and croaker, everywhere and the bite is on. While drifting the open water channel down mid-harbor way, we hooked it up with a Sabalo on my Gulp Crab. This tarpon was better than a paddle, moved faster than a small outboard and danced to the tune of my almost spooled fourteen-pound test Cajun Red fishing line. I was really surprised how elegantly this fish pulled our heavy craft. It had to weigh at least the same as the Snapper when empty. As the fish leaped on the starboard (right) side of our craft, at around fifty yards out, I was leaning to the port (left) as Edwin looked as if he were fall out into the water and snap, she was gone. Between my balancing act and trying to catch a snap-shot of this silver Megalops walk on the water, all I succeeded in doing was taking a picture of the diving bird of prey in tune to the diving tarpon. Great bird shot but where’s the fish?

11 FOOT TIGER SHARK ON NOKOMIS BEACH!

11' Tiger Shark on Nokomis Beach Florida:
Avoiding the Oil Slick?

An Eleven Foot Tiger Shark decided to go sun bathing on the Nokomis beach as of yesterday 05/28, 2010. Mote Marine officials concluded its appearance on the beach might be due to the offshore Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which now closes about twenty-five percent of all commercial Gulf of Mexico fishing or 60,683 square miles of the Gulf.

Gulf Closure Map

The Gulf of Mexico fishing closures now extend all the way to the west Florida shelf, The Blue water at the 200-meter line. This closed area is one of the most abundant commercial fishing areas found off the western coastline of Florida. The shelf is about 140 miles off Venice, Florida and extends northwestwards. The new “best guess” is between 12,000 to 19,000 barrels a day are sluing into our Gulf marine environment establishing this oil spill as the largest in American history. That is nearly triple the amount spilled of the Exxon Valdez incident of 1989. Though to different monsters, it is still oil but of a higher grade. Considering our Tarpon travel some 125 miles offshore in their “Daisy Chaining” mating ritual, I wonder to what effect it will have on their migratory run and the offspring they deliver. I have talked to a number of area anglers, boat ramp owners and tackle shops and all have agreed we need to form an alliance to be prepared for the oncoming onslaught. As suggested by The Online Fisherman Team., we need an oil spill prevention plan. Just in case.

NEW FLORIDA FISHING MAGAZINE!

The Online Fisherman

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Everything you need to know in catching bigger, better fish in Florida Waters.

The Online Fisherman

The Eleven; Oil Spill Heros

All eyes are on the Oil Spill and how it will reflect on our lives, marine life and the beaches to which it could cover. Many of the points Oceania alerts us to are correct but when Oceania asks for us to sign a petition to stop offshore drilling, is it not a contradiction on its own part because the MarViva Med, an open ocean Research Vessel does not run on water, it consumes an oil product such as diesel or gasoline or both. Where do you suppose you will purchase this fuel? As a soul distributor, when we stop drilling, OPEC could drive our country in to oblivion. On another note, why not just vacuum up the oil either on the surface or at the source; we already do such in beach retention and artifact recovery. In addition, how about the forgotten eleven, Oil Spill Heroes, who lost their lives in probably trying to close the BOP? What about BP is other accidents and the well fracture test, which failed the day before the accident…