Coastal Breeze News

LADY ANGLERS Captain Mary A. Fink islandgirlscharters.com It is safe to say that all anglers, regardless of experience level, enjoy being on the water. What’s not to like? The beauty of the water, bountiful wildlife, serenity and the wonders of nature all come together to make a memorable experience. Finding and catching fish on a regular basis will only enhance your days on the water, whether in a boat or fishing from a beach, dock or bridge. In this article, I will share with you some very simple, yet effective ways to locate fish in our local back country areas ... Read More »

After many years of fishing, I have come to the conclusion that there are basically two types of angling enthusiasts: Proactive anglers and reactive anglers. Both types serve preferred individual purposes and one is not necessarily better than the other. The reactive angler is patient and waits for fishing opportunities to present themselves. An example of this may be making the choice to anchor in an area and remain there until there is a change in tidal movement or when the fish may start to bite. This angler can remain quite content and patient in fishing one or two places ... Read More »

I so enjoyed the recent conversation I shared with Everglades Fishing Guide, Becky Campbell. She revealed little pearls of wisdom describing her vast experience “hunting” for fish. Becky speaks of fishing with a gleeful glimmer in her eye and prefers to refer to her experiences as “catching” rather than simply “fishing.” I thought it most appropriate to share my conversation with Captain Becky with other angling enthusiasts because expert tips like these are few and far between. Becky grew up in Clearwater, where she describes the water as being a beautiful crystal clear green. Due to the amazing water clarity, ... Read More »

By Captain Mary A. Fink islandgirlscharters.com Bait selection is one of the most common topics discussed among angling enthusiasts. The two basic bait types are natural and artificial. Artificial baits include a wide variety of options including soft plastics, top water plugs, buck tail jigs, assorted trolling lures, flies and jigs. Natural salt water baits which are most commonly used include live crabs, shrimp, small fish such as mullet as well as a wide variety minnows or baitfish. If given a choice, I prefer baitfish over all others especially in the back country regions of south Florida, and more specifically, ... Read More »

LADY ANGLERS Captain Mary A. Fink islandgirlscharters.com The first three articles of the “Lady Anglers Corner” in Coastal Breeze addressed the many benefits sport fishing provides, tackle selection and what conditions and structure to look for when seeking fish. Now it’s time to start fishing using the skills mentioned in previous articles to your benefit! This author suggests testing your skills with local mangrove or gray snapper fishing. Mangrove or gray snappers are quite common around mangrove edges, reefs, rocks, docks and other structures. This is one reason why starting with snapper fishing is a good idea as your likelihood of ... Read More »

LADY ANGLER’S CORNER Capt. Mary Fink  [email protected]  In the mangrove maze of South Florida’s Ten Thousand Islands, fish are plentiful. The key to productive fishing, however, often depends upon your ability to find the fish and to use the existing environmental conditions to your advantage. Among these conditions are factors like water temperature, depth, wind direction and strength, tidal exchange, moon phase and structure. This author believes that, of these factors, tidal exchange and the presence of structure are most important, as structure provides habitat and tidal movement provides forage or food for fish, especially during an incoming tide. Structure ... Read More »

LADY ANGLER’S CORNER Capt. Mary Fink  [email protected]  Whether you are a beginner or an experienced lady angler, one of the most important decisions you should make before setting out for a day of fishing is that of tackle selection. Fishing tackle can be defined quite simply as: a rod, a compatible reel, fishing line, hooks, lures and possible live bait selection. This author recommends light tackle for most types of fishing for both novice and experienced anglers. Light salt water tackle would include a reel with a line capacity and strength in the 8-15 pound range and a rod that ... Read More »

LADY ANGLER’S CORNER Capt. Mary Fink  [email protected] Ladies, when you think of the sport of fishing, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Maybe you visualize complacently sitting somewhere with your line in the water hoping that a fish may swim by and take some interest in your bait. Could it be that you have an aversion to touching live bait and fish? Perhaps your husband wants to go fishing and asked you to join him, so you feel obligated to go. Whatever your initial thought of fishing may be, it is this author’s experience that many women ... Read More »