Florida Fishing Reports

Sept 18 - Night Snook - Hippy Shots - A Dog

The night fishing remains totally ridiculous. I've caught 5 - 15 snook every night this week. My son goes to bed about 9 and I usally slip out for an hour and hit the lights near my place. It's been amazing and I also managed to catch some sweet pictures and a hippy shot or two.

I think a little wind is really helpful for night fishing. The line seems to spook them when the water is completely smooth. I have a canal I fish with tons of fish in it but the shelter from the wind makes them extremely sensitive to the line in the water and their buddies being pulled out by their lips. Conversely, I have a spot on the bay that you can drift right through and just continue to pull snook after snook out until they're all gone. Report follows.

Some nights you can just tell the fishing is going to be pretty good.


Hippies and Wilderness Kayak owners alike are going to like this one.


Known catfish hotspot.


Cookie cutter 26 inch snook.


Beautiful skies in September. Usually we get tarpon this time of year inshore but I haven't seen any yet.


He's a little pissed about the low tide killing the bite.


A boy and his dog and his flipflops and a bunch of no-see-ums.

_________________
http://www.hornetbear.com

Oct 4 - Trout - Family Fishing - Artsy Hippy Shots

Greetings angling aficionados. I have been laid up for awhile (6 long weeks!) which has annoyingly cut into my fishing. I herniated a disk in my back and in addition to the mind numbing, life reevaluating pain it pretty much totally precludes a person from fishing. I've been lucky to get out of bed. Now that I'm better I have been fishing with my son a lot which is not prone to catching tons of fish but gives you a real chance to take some nice pictures while he drinks salt water, shrieks with glee and throws the rod into the bay. Report follows.

There's some crazy photos in this report

The waterproof Pentax Optio W20 takes a mean hippy shot. Really.

Awwwwwwwwwww!

Ohhhhhhhh!

When you're fishing buddy is a 3 year old, this is a 40 inch snook.

It's been raining some and I've been recovering all sorts of treasures washing out of the canals. These are like 6 bucks at Wal-Mart! Score.

Is this a legal PFD? I hope so cause that's what I've been taking out. Shoot, its only 4 feet deep here. Seriously, does anyone know?

This was caught on troll as I was screamed at to "paddle faster! paddle faster!". We were both pretty stoked.

Lightning hit our oak tree. It sent oak tree parts through the screen 100 ft away and melted the whole irrigation system and took out the cable. Stupid lightning.

How are the pods of bait everywhere? The fishing would probably be pretty good if mr. man would stop hammering the rod against the hull and screaming the spongebob squarepants song. Although you gotta love ol' spongebob. Hes a riot. "Yellow, absorbent and porous is he!" I love that part of the song.

This reel snapped in my hand during a tussle with a 16" trout. Really. This event is also the prelude into an Sarasota's Economy Tackle rant. I go in there (where I purchased this reel 6 mos. prior) and get the customer is ALWAYS wrong rap. Capt. Hungover tells me I must've dropped this and in his 20 years of making 9.50 an hour he's never seen anything like this. I'm like, "look, buddy, just please give me the address. I don't want to argue with you about the history of the reel." We stand there and finally he he gets a box for me and we literally are arguing over what happened to my reel. Jesus. What an oxygen thief. Economy Tackle is the lamest tackle shop in the history of time. What a tool shed. No fisherman should buy from those guys. I won't make that mistake again. I don't even really care about the reel. It's still sitting on my desk. It's the bad attitude those guys drop time and time again. When I was a kid it was the place to go but I'm done going there. They suck. Don't go there and definitely DO NOT BUY A KAYAK THERE. Seriously. Tell all your friends. I am.

With the exception of Economy Tackle, It's pretty nice living here.

I've been finding gear everywhere. This was in the tideline wrapped in some sticks and crap.

Yet another highly prized gamefish landed by the future 6x winner of the oberto redfish tour/nobel peace prize.

Want to keep a kid in a life jacket? Put it on like a straightjacket. Can't take off a backwards PFD.

Ohhhhhhh! Bill Dance topwater found in mangroves. This thing probably works insane. Bill would NEVER endorse a inferior product...

Dig this one, hippy

The tables have turned.

We caught some trout.

Interesting cloud formation #77231

I like how the cloud and the oyster bed are shaped the same. Clyde Butcher would totally dig that...

"Why would my father give me such a crappy reel? I think I'll throw it in the bay to express my displeasure..."

I told you there were a ton of hippy shots in this report.

The hits just keep on comin'

Hippies, rejoice.

Hornetbear.com - Sucking up bandwidth since 2005.

That's it! Sorry about the lack of actual fish photos but those all look the same anyhow.

June 27 - Exotics - Pufferfish - Redfish - Bluefish - Copious Hippy Shots

This report has some really exotic stuff in it. Stuff you just don't see that much of here in Sarasota. Oh, there's the requisite hippy shots, redfish, seatrout and whatnot but you'll be shocked by some other downright freaky sealife. To summarize the fishing: it's been good, but not mind numbingly, jaw droppingly insane. There are certainly tons of trout, as always, but the summer pattern has really started and the heat of the day makes the fish take a siesta grande. if you can get out at night, sunset or sunrise the fishing is strong but those times of day are really intended for eating, drinking and sleeping, though I suppose drinking can certainly be performed while fishing... Anyhow, lets get to the photos...

Hornetbear's Aquarium Emporium could get started with a few more of these beauties...

Night fishing is heating up. Literally. It's like 84 degrees out. Shorts and tee shirt weather. And a massive viking hat. And Clown shoes. And Leg warmers. You know, the essentials.


If the hook travels through the water facing upwards, how did this pinfish manage this trick? I think he was doing an upside down flyby like Maverick in Top Gun. That's what you get for showing off, Mav.


As usual, I was only focusing my efforts on large trophy fish.


Eco-Boy recovered another great lure from the mangroves. The tide was pretty low...


Got out fishing with my friend Kris at a secret spot.


Gotta love a good hippy shot. This one is pretty freaky. Kick back. Play some Floyd.


It's considered a crime in Sarasota to have a really crappy boat like this one


This is a green topped specklebacked monkeyfish. Not to be confused with the blue or blue-green specklebacked monkeyfish.


If ospreys could talk, this one would probably say, "what choo lookin' at foo?" It just seems like the kind of osprey he'd be.


We were out in the Sarasota kelp beds catching these monsters. Note the natural tar seeps sticking to the boats, too. The people we rented these from were really pleased about that. Real happy to see us.


Snook. That's the whole caption. "Snook." No. Wait.
"Snook, there it is!" (rap music here) That's the caption. That's slightly funnier.


I said all kayaks were the same but I was wrong. This is an Ocean Kayak Drifter and boy did it ever suck. What a tremendous suckstorm. The wettest boat I've ever been in. And it filled up with tar. And it got covered in tar. And it was cold. And aluminium foil doesn't work as a scupper plug. The dolphin was pretty, though.


That's Sarasota Mountain in the background. Nice picture of it.


This dock light is one of the underwater ones and man does it hold the snook. Maybe you can just see them better from beneath. Cast well beyond it and bring the lure thru slowly. No fish can resist that presentation. It must look like a underwater reenactment of Shakespear's King Lear.


These two are my old college roommates. The one in the foreground is completely insane.


Check out this mountain estuary. Sarasota is the most beautiful place in Florida, hands down.


Check out this monster! It's called a smelt and I think this is a pretty big one.


This is one of the best eating fish there is.


This bluefish jumped like 3 feet in the air. It was pretty dark out and I was thinking "Tarpon!" but then I started thinking "bluefish" when I saw it was indeed a bluefish. Nice one though. These really put up a fight.


And a final shot for the hippies. Enjoy my unwashed brethren! Now go get some dental floss n' soap you dang filthy hippy! Jeez.

_________________
http://www.hornetbear.com
“When I found the skull in the woods, I called the police. But then I got curious about it. I picked it up, and started wondering who this person was, and why he had deer horns.”
- Jack Handy

May 29 - Giant Trout - Sea Monsters - Hippy Shots - Night Snook

My buddy Randy from La Jolla was in town for the memorial day weekend and we managed to get in some fishing while he was here. I'd been chanting how much better the fishing is in Florida than in San Diego so the pressure was kind of on to put my friend into some fish or risk looking like a real idiot. We managed to catch a huge variety and number of fish which made me pretty happy. The species count while he was here included redfish, bluefish, snook, trout, ladyfish, lizardfish, mangrove snapper, and the wily sailcat. Randy totally outfished me but when you're guiding it's better to focus on your guest. In fact, some people claim that its HARDER to guide someone to fish than to actually catch fish. This must be the case because god knows I'm a much better fisherman than Randy. Report follows.

How's this trophy trout? The trout fishing was completely off the chain.


We were in fish right from the first cast which was a huge relief considering I'd mentioned how good the fishing would be like 400 times the night before.


You have to give this needlefish points for trying. How are the teeth on these things?


Sadly, at the end of the day, Randy was eaten by a huge lizardfish. That's what happens when you outfish the Hornetbear. Really bad stuff. Remember this at tournaments.


I styled this osprey with a hairdrier to get this shot. Notice how nice and poofy he looks.


I told randy this was a huge snook and to pose for a picture with it. Joke's on you buddy.


Action! Non Stop Action!


Pretty nice flounder! This flounder was lucky I didn't have a cooler or ice wih me. I think if you don't have ice to preserve the fish you're being a real putz by keeping it. keeping a dead fish on a stringer or cooking in the Florida sun is a great way to make them taste like crap. The secret to preserving fish is mix the ice with sea water. This makes a super cooled salt slurry which makes the fish preserve perfectly. Seriously. It's the best way to ice down a fish.


You just never know what you're gonna get out there...


Hippys love sunrises. They also love goofy hats. Therefore they love this photo.


Got out night fishing too. Didn't get anything huge but had some really big blowups. Actually, the night fishing was the toughest of all the  fishing we did. Night fishing is usually a total slam dunk but it was pretty tough going.


Another massive trophy fish for Randy. Well... He though it was.


Lots of mullet under the lights, too. Lights with lots of mullet don't seem to have that many snook.


Tons of bait everywhere but the snook just were not there yet. The tide was the last part of a incoming which just wasn't doing it. I think outgoing is better at night.


That was it for the fishing. I am going to say we pretty much scored. Super steady fishing and lots of variety. Now to dazzle you with some Jacques Costeau style stuff. read on!

the conditions were quite clear in this spot.


You hippys know you're all freaked out over this shot. You love it.


I felt pretty safe even though these were everywhere...


Sawfish! You never see those. What a tremendously skilled diver I am.


Jacks everywhere! What an incredible dive.


Whale Shark! Amazing! This is the dive of a lifetime!


Hey! What the hell are all these people doing standing around 50 feet under water? I've discovered Atlantis!

_________________
http://www.hornetbear.com
“When I found the skull in the woods, I called the police. But then I got curious about it. I picked it up, and started wondering who this person was, and why he had deer horns.”
- Jack Handy

JULY 25 - TROUT - SNOOK - SNAPPER - STORMS

One really nice thing about bad weather is the spectacular show that surrounds it. Sunrises are red. Thunderheads turn the sky purple and black. Sunsets are gold. It’s unfortunate that you get electrocuted in lightning storms because up until that they’re kind of nice. The fish seem to really like weather too. You always seem to catch fish and play better golf around storms. That’s how it is. The fishing has been OK and the report follows.

Hey Moonflower! Put down your tambourine and get ready for some hippy shots!


That’s an osprey on the mast of the sailboat.


Your Indian name shall be “Setting Moon, the Trout.”


HeeeeeY! No poopin’ on the boat, pal.


Another SWEET looking catfish.


Later that day I planted some basil in this fish.


I think catching lots of different species of fish is really cool. You never know what you’re going to get. Well. You know you won’t catch a salmon....


Its been awhile since I’ve caught a snook in the mangroves.


Hmmmm. Maybe I should’ve set the hook a little sooner…


I braved the rain for this photo. Hope you like it.


Cormorants have an awesome lifestyle.


Anybody know how to eat sea grapes? I know you don’t eat them right off the tree…


Your Indian name shall be “Thunderhead Pinkyflip, the Snook”


Dude. That’s pretty tripped out.


Woah. Artsy. That’s a good one for the calendar.


I’m not sure these birds have any idea where to fish. This one was clearly grasping at straws and following me around.


Hippy, avert your eyes. I brought home some trout for dinner.


Final abstract hippy shot for you.


That’s that. A nice colorful report.
_________________
http://www.hornetbear.com
“When I found the skull in the woods, I called the police. But then I got curious about it. I picked it up, and started wondering who this person was, and why he had deer horns.”
- Jack Handy

JAN 25 - HORNETBEARS HI-RES DIGITAL PHOTO HANDBOOK

Hornetbear's Hi-Res Digital Photography Handbook.

1. always use the highest res setting

2. get a huge memory card so you can take lots of pictures.

3. set the saturation to the 1st or 2ed highest level, this will give you brighter colors and not "wash out" as much

4. HOLD STILL WHEN YOU TAKE PICTURES. This sounds easier than it is. The camera is so small its easy to fumble and get kinda weird. Especially when your trying to take a picture of the biggest snook you've ever caught in a 20 knot wind. Keep your elbows in and make a conscious effort to stay as still as possible. More pictures are ruined by camera shake than any other cause. You can fix anything in Photoshop as long as the pic is sharp. You can't focus it in Photoshop.

5. Take lots of pictures. You're not wasting film and you will really get to know the camera better.

6. Pull the focus from different areas of the picture. The camera picks up its white balance from where you point. usually you'll want to aim for a 50% gray area but often it's so bright on the water this is pretty hard. Sunsets you should aim at a medium area of the sky to get the best color range then point at the sun. If you point at the sun to start it will really wash the pic out because the camera is trying to take a picture of the sun which is very bright. This is true of almost all point and shoot digital cameras.

That's all for the basic camera stuff. I edit the photos in Photoshop to make them nicer. Even a simple program like Photoshop elements has all the things you'll need to alter them and make them better. When editing:

1. crop the picture to capture what you want and omit what you don't. I almost always crop in on pictures to compose them in a cooler manner.

HERE IS A HAWAII SHOT I TOOK FROM A GREAT DISTANCE.


YOU'LL NOTICE, WHEN ITS CROPPED, THE PHOTO IMPROVES. ESPECIALLY ON THE INTERNET WHICH IS A LO RES MEDIUM... I ALSO INCREASED THE SATURATION...


2. Fix the LEVELS. Here's where it doesn't hurt to be an web designer/art director. All photos have something called a histogram which is a graph of the value in the picture. By adjusting the endpoints and the middle of the histogram you can really salvage a washed out but sharp photo.

HERE IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF HOW LEVELS CAN MAKE A SHARP BUT WASHED OUT PICTURE ACCEPTABLE. THIS IS THE ORIGINAL...



NOW, HERE IS THE CROPPED AND ADJUSTED VERSION...NOT ALL PHOTOS NEED THIS MUCH WORK BUT IF THE FOCUS IS CRISP YOU HAVE MUCH MORE TO WORK WITH...



3. Mess with the SATURATION. I almost always push the saturation of sunsets, fish, whatever. I like really rich colors and it makes them POP. By just pushing the saturation you can make a good picture great.

SATURATION DEFINES THE COLOR OF THE PHOTO. A NICE SUNSET IS OFTEN WASHED OUT BECAUSE THE SUN IS BRIGHT. DUH. IF THE PHOTO IS SHARP YOU CAN MAKE A VERY NICE COMPOSITION BY CROPPING AND ALTERING IT...



NOW, I HAVE SIMPLY PUMPED UP THE COLOR BY TURNING UP THE SATURATION WITH PHOTOSHOP... I CROPPED IT BETTER AND STRAIGHTENED THE HORIZON TOO..



So, you can make a good photo great by working with it.

4. Resize the picture in Photoshop to 700 pixels wide. This fills the screen and is a great web ready format. Your camera will take pictures almost 6000 pixels wide (or something like that) so, crop the picture and size it and you'll get really nice stuff for the web. The problem with this is when you go to print your coffee table book you'll find all your stuff is too lo-res for print.

5. SAVE THE ORIGINALS - You can always go back to the beginning and great pics you'll want to keep as hi res as possible (for your national geographic special) Don't save over them. You'll be sorry.
_________________
http://www.hornetbear.com
“I brought you a tuna sandwich. They say it's brain food. I guess because there's so much dolphin in it, and you know how smart they are.”
- Marge Simpson

Last edited by hornetbear on Wed Jan 25, 2006 9:50 pm; edited 2 times in total