Photo courtesy takemefishing.org

First 3,000 Floridians to purchase 5-year license gets free tackle, accessories and publications

Fish Busters’ Bulletin; March 2010
By Bob Wattendorf

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) encourages families to enjoy all the pleasures of recreational fishing in Florida.  As a major partner in the Get Outdoors Florida! coalition (www.GetOutdoorsFlorida.org), they recognize the importance of active nature-based recreation in developing happier, healthier and smarter lifestyles for our residents, as well as the added benefit of encouraging a conservation stewardship ethic among resource users.

The angling industry also recognizes the pride Floridians take in our state’s recreational fishing heritage and designation as Fishing Capital of the World.  According to the last several national surveys by the U.S. Census Bureau dealing with fishing and wildlife-associated recreation, more people fish in Florida than in any other state, and more tourists come here to fish and spend their money than anywhere else in the country. Like the FWC, the angling industry wants to keep it that way and knows the quality of fishing depends on great resources and responsible management.
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FWC announces 2010-2011 hunting season dates

Click here for 2010-2011 season dates

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) passed new rules Wednesday affecting deer hunters, beginning with the 2010-11 season. The new rules modified zone boundaries and season dates for deer hunting on private property.

“These changes will better align the deer hunting seasons with the rut and are intended to increase hunter satisfaction,” said Cory Morea, Deer Management Program Coordinator for the FWC’s Division of Hunting and Game Management.

Morea noted that the majority of stakeholders supported these measures.
Todd Hallman of the Florida Sportsmen’s Conservation Association expressed one concern: “The South Region is a different animal. You’re going to have us hunting in hotter, not cooler weather,” he said of the hunting season changes.

The boundary separating what used to be called the Northwest Hunting Zone (renamed Zone D) from the Central Zone (renamed Zone C) has been moved a little farther west.
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The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) voted Wednesday to temporarily prohibit the chasing of foxes and coyotes in enclosures, while moving forward to draft rules guiding such enclosures in Florida. An executive order prohibiting chasing of foxes and coyotes within an enclosure will be issued by Feb. 24.

Before making the decision, Commissioners listened to more than 40 speakers on fox and coyote pens, beginning with Rep. Debbie Boyd, D-High Springs. Boyd urged the Commission to recognize the shortcomings on both sides of the issue, to address those shortcomings and engage stakeholders in the process.

“This issue has been painted with a broad brush,” Boyd said. “I ask the Commission to engage stakeholders and put fox and coyote enclosures into rule rather than through the permit process.”

After listening to emotional appeals from the public, whose comments ranged from calling the practice of hunting foxes and coyotes within enclosures a “heritage” and “a way of life” to making charges of “cruelty” and “mauling” of the animals, Commissioners discussed how to proceed based on staff recommendations and public comment.
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Many wildlife management areas do not require quota permit

If you weren’t lucky enough to get drawn for a spring turkey quota permit, or if you are looking for even more spring turkey hunting opportunity, don’t fret; there are numerous wildlife management areas (WMAs) that don’t require them.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) offers 42 public hunting areas statewide where hunters need only to “walk on” to hunt spring turkeys.

These hunts are made possible through the FWC’s partnerships with the state’s Division of Forestry, Florida’s water management districts, the U.S. Forest Service, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the National Park Service, Department of Defense and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, who contribute their lands to the state’s public-hunting system.

Hunters need only a hunting license ($17 for residents, $46.50 for nonresident 10-day license), management area permit ($26.50) and turkey permit ($5 for residents, $100 for nonresidents) to spring turkey hunt on the following areas.  These licenses and permits can be purchased in Florida at county tax collectors’ offices and at most retail outlets that sell hunting and fishing supplies.  They also can be bought with a credit card by calling 888-486-8356 or going online at www.wildlifelicense.com/fl.

Spring turkey season runs March 20 – April 25 in the following areas, unless otherwise noted below. Shooting hours during spring turkey season on WMAs are one-half hour before sunrise to 1 p.m.
Click on an area’s name to download its rules and regulations, including a map. Click here for map

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Tony Young's an avid sportsman and native Floridian. He's the media relations coordinator for the FWC's Division of Hunting and Game Management and lives in Tallahassee with his family.

Outta the woods: Northwest Florida deer in rut

Thus far, this deer season has been pretty good to me as far as quantity goes.  I shot two does during doe week, and I got my season limit on fall gobblers, but I have yet to even see horns, much less harvest a buck.  But I still have plenty of room left in my freezer, and I’m not throwing in the towel just yet.  After all, there are still lots of hunting days left in my neck of the woods, and my game camera’s still taking pictures of some pretty good bucks.
So if you’re like me or if you live in the central or southern part of the state and you don’t mind hunting with a primitive weapon, then point your pickup truck north, because the Northwest Hunting Zone’s deer season is still goin’ strong on private lands and on a lot of the wildlife management areas (WMAs).

The second phase, if you will, of muzzleloading gun season runs Feb. 18-28 in this part of the Panhandle.  This unique late season, which occurs only in the Northwest Zone, was established to allow hunters the chance to hunt the rut that runs from late January through February in this part of the state.

A $5 Muzzleloading Gun Permit is required to hunt during this season, where, on private land, hunters have the choice of using a muzzleloader, bow or crossbow.

On WMAs, this post-season’s referred to as the archery/muzzleloading gun season.  Hunters can use bows or muzzleloaders, but no crossbows – unless they possess a Disabled Crossbow Permit.  Hunters who choose to hunt with a bow must have the $5 Archery Permit, and those using a muzzleloader need the $5 Muzzleloading Gun Permit.
The most common game to hunt during this season are deer and wild hogs.  Only bucks may be taken (even if you use a bow), and one antler must be at least five inches in length.  On private land, the daily bag limit is two.  Bag limits and antler size for deer on WMAs can differ, so please consult the area brochure before you hunt.

Wild hogs aren’t considered game animals on private lands, and because of this, they can be taken year-round by most weapons with no bag or size limits.  On most WMAs, there’s also no bag or size limits, and hogs are legal to take during most hunting seasons except spring turkey.  On selected WMAs, specific bag and size limits do apply, so check the area’s brochure to make sure.
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Season will reopen Apr. 1

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission advises anglers that regulations prohibit the recreational harvest of all shallow-water groupers (gag, black, red, yellowfin, scamp, yellowmouth, rock hind and red hind) from Feb. 1 through March 31 in all Gulf of Mexico waters off Florida, except in all waters of Monroe County.

Closing the recreational harvest of all Gulf shallow-water grouper species for two months each year during the spawning season reduces overfishing of Gulf gag grouper. It does this by limiting the unintended catch and possible mortality of gag grouper to help it rebuild its populations and achieve larger annual harvests in the future for this important species.
For more information regarding grouper fishing regulations, go to MyFWC.com/Rules and click on “Fishing – Saltwater.”
or  click here

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Classes to be held in DeFuniak Feb. 5-7

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is offering a free hunter safety course in Walton County.

The course will be at the Shooting Range, 955 Smith Rd. in DeFuniak Springs. Instruction will be from 6-9 p.m. Feb. 5 and 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. Feb. 6.  The range portion of the class will be Feb. 7.

Those who have taken the Internet course and wish to complete the classroom portion must bring the online-completion report and attend only the Feb. 5 class from 6 to 10 p.m. and the Feb. 7 range day.

An adult must accompany children under age 16 at all times.  Students should bring a pencil and paper with them to take notes.
The hunter safety course is required before anyone born on or after June 1, 1975, can purchase a Florida hunting license.  The FWC course satisfies hunter safety training requirements for all other states and Canadian provinces.

People interested in attending this course can register online and obtain information about future hunter safety classes at MyFWC.com/HunterSafety or by calling the FWC’s regional office in Panama City at 850-265-3676.

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Photo courtesy of TakeMeFishing.org

Florida Fish Busters’ Bulletin

By Bob Wattendorf, FWC

It is that time of year again when freshwater anglers are taking advantage of the last of the winter crappie fishery and really looking forward to the spring spawn of bass and bream. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) biologists have completed their analyses of the 2009 fishing data from creel studies (angler reported catches), electrofishing studies, Big Catch records and various measures of young-of-the-year sportfish production. In addition, they have considered habitat trends and reports from local fishing guides and bait-and-tackle shop operators in order to come up with a list of top fishing sites for 2010.

These lists include bass, bream, crappie, catfish and striper fisheries and are summarized below. In addition, regional biologists check with local fishing guides and bait-and-tackle shops quarterly (January, April, July, and October) to get insights into how major fisheries are producing and what anglers are using to find success on a variety of lakes and rivers throughout the year. All of that information, along with fishing tips, is available to improve your fishing success at MyFWC.com/Fishing/ , and then click on “fishing sites and forecasts.”

January’s cold snap set several records and caused significant fish kills in fresh water areas. Fortunately for the resource and most users, those kills were primarily limited to nonnatve fishes such as tilapia and sucker mouth catfish. Thus with the possible exception of peacock bass in Southeast Florida, the cold snap should not have adversely impacted the overall freshwater fishing prognosis for 2010.

Panhandle area featured species
Site – Size and Counties – Featured species
Apalachicola River/Lake Seminole -106 miles/37,500 acres, Gulf, Liberty, Franklin, Jackson, Gadsden, Calhoun     
Striped bass, channel, flathead and blue catfish
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Snook closure extended until September, temporarily closes bonefish and tarpon season until April

Catch-and-release fishing still allowed

•    Executive Order 10-02 (Dead Fish) Click here
•    Executive Order 10-03 (Snook, Tarpon, Bonefish) Click here
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has issued executive orders to protect Florida’s snook, bonefish and tarpon fisheries from further harm caused by the recent prolonged cold weather in the state, which has caused widespread saltwater fish kills.  The FWC has received numerous reports from the public and is taking action to address the conservation needs of affected marine fisheries.  The orders also will allow people to legally dispose of dead fish in the water and on the shore.
One of the executive orders temporarily extends closed fishing seasons for snook statewide until September.  It also establishes temporary statewide closed seasons for bonefish and tarpon until April because of the prolonged natural cold weather event that caused significant, widespread mortality of saltwater fish in Florida.  The other order temporarily suspends certain saltwater fishing regulations to allow people to collect and dispose of dead fish killed by the cold weather.

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10 day closure will enable FWC-authorized groups to collect lost and abandoned blue crab traps

The harvest of blue crabs from traps will not be allowed from Jan. 5 through Jan. 14 in all waters of Franklin County west to the Florida-Alabama border, except all waters of the Ochlockonee River and Ochlockonee Bay.

This closure will give authorized groups the opportunity to identify and retrieve lost and abandoned blue crab traps from the coastal and inland waters in this area.

All commercial and recreational blue crab traps within three nautical miles from shore and in the inland waters of Franklin County west to the Florida-Alabama border, except all waters of the Ochlockonee River and Ochlockonee Bay, must be removed before the start of the 10-day closed period.
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