Florida Fishing Summary by Ed Valitutto

Posted on March 18, 2021 by VHFC

This is a summary report for the 10 weeks my wife and I spent in Cape Coral in Southwest Florida. The photo shows a decent Spanish Mackerel I caught on a shrimp under a float. After I filleted it, I brushed EVOO and sprinkled blackening seasoning followed by 3 minutes a side on the grill. It was delicious – skin and all!

Florida has many species to offer even for shore fisherman. I had several meals of kingfish (called Whiting by Floridians for some reason) and blowfish same as we catch in the bay here. The small kingfish were also ideal for live lining snook. I hooked and battled several but could never get one in for a picture like Joe Filice did! I also caught mangrove snappers, small sheepshead, speckled trout, saltwater catfish, stingrays (not skates) and several sharks all on shrimp.

But now I’m glad to be home and I’m ready for some NJ fishing!

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Fishing Facts

Of the fifty United States, thirty-eight have a striped-bass record. New Jersey has the largest striped-bass record—a 78-pound 8·ounce whopper that was caught in 1982. The state with the smallest striped-bass record is Iowa. That landlocked striper weighed only 9 pounds 4 ounces and was caught in 1983.

There’s something fishy about beer these days. Fish Tail Ale is popular as ever, and New Jersey’s Flying Fish Brewery is one of the state’s largest specialty breweries. There’s also Washington’s Wild Salmon Organic Pale Ale, Florida’s Land Shark beer, Delaware’s Dogfish Head beer, and two versions of Stingray beer—a lighter version from the Cayman Islands and a dark beer from Canada.

The triangle fly is probably the most unusual of saltwater flies. It’s one of the few, if not only, flies tied to a treble hook. It’s also barely a fly at all, because hardly any material is used. It is complete after tying the two straw pearl twinkle flashes and the tiny tuft of natural squirrel, leaving an entire hook fully exposed. Incredibly this barebacked treble fly is a knockout when it comes to sea trout.