Upcoming Trout & Fly Fishing Seminars in Tampa

There are two seminars during the first week of January for trout fishing and fly fishing enthusiasts.

The first is a free fly fishing seminar hosted by the Tampa Bay Fly Fishing Club. Captain Pat Damico will share information about fly fishing in Patagonia. The seminar will be held on Wednesday at 6 p.m. (January 2nd, 2008) at Compton Park Recreation Center at Tampa Palms. The club welcomes new members, also teaches tying flies at no charge.

The second is a free trout fishing Thursday at 7 p.m. at Jerry Ulm Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep center. This seminar is hosted by Rattlesnake Point Outfitters. The address is 2966 N. Dale Mabry in Tampa.

Spotted Seatrout Season Reopens January 1st in Florida!

After two months of closure, the spotted seatrout season will reopen in the southern half of Florida on January 1st, 2008.

The maximum daily bag limit for spotted seatrout in these areas is four fish per person. In all Florida waters north and west of these areas, the daily limit is five fish per person. All spotted sea trout must be 15-20 inches to keep them, but anglers may keep one spotted sea trout larger than 20 inches as part of their daily bag limit.

There are a few rules you anglers should be aware of:

• Multiple hooks with live or dead natural bait are not allowed
• Snagging or snatch hooking spotted seatrout is not allowed.
  
• Spotted seatrout may be taken only with hook, line gear and cast nets and must be landed in a whole condition.

Artificial baits like plastic shrimp or swimbaits will work, but anglers will definitely do better on live shrimp.

Spotted seatrout are currently active in the Gulf along the West Coast. For the last decade, one of the best trout areas in the state has been St. Joseph Sound,the shallow, grassy basin stretching roughly from Anclote Key south to Clearwater. The fish are typically found anywhere from 10 feet off the island to 50 feet out.

The spotted seatrout fishing season will close again during the month of February in northeast and northwest Florida waters.


For more information about spotted seatrout fishing in Florida (including the best fishing holes), click here.

Ice Fishing in Cleveland Metroparks

Several Cleveland Metroparks were stocked with trout this week for the winter ice fishing season. However, the ice is still too thin for walking on. But you should be able to fish from shore or piers.

Of the 1,800 pounds of trout planted in lakes this week, Wallace Lake received the Lakes receiving the most (800 pounds) - including some brown trout. The remaining trout were planted in Shadow, Ledge, Ranger, and Judge's lakes. Salmon eggs, power baits, and jigs tipped with grubs are just a few baits these trout will hit well.

Local rivers are reporting good trout fishing, including steelhead trout fishing. Excellent reports have been received from the Vermilion and Rocky rivers and from the Chagrin and Ashtabula rivers and Conneaut Creek. The Grand River is finally shaping up as well, and should be in fine condition in a couple of days.

Fly fishers are casting a wide variety of egg patterns, especially sucker spawn flies, as well as nymphs. Some of the largest steelhead trout of the winter have been caught in recent days from the Rocky River.

For more information about trout fishing in the Cleaveland Metroparks, click here.

Trout Fishing Tournaments on Lake Jocassee

Once again, the Jocassee Outdoor Center in Salem, S.C. is sponsoring a series of four trout fishing tournaments on Lake Jocassee.

The first trout fishing tournaments is scheduled Jan. 12th, 2008. The remaining tournaments are scheduled for Feb. 9th, March 8th, and April 12th.

Entry fee is $50 per angler for the first two tournaments, $35 for the March event and $25 for the finale. Entrants also have the option of putting into a pot for the largest trout weighed in each of the tournament days.

For more information, visit the Jocassee Outdoor Center's web site or phone 864-944-9016.

Jocassee also has a trout club which is open to everyone interested in conserving, protecting, and improving the trout fishery at Lake Jocassee.

For more information about Lake Jocassee, click here.

Fly Fishing Clinics in North Carolina

If you live in or near Fayetteville, North Carolina you might like to take advantage of the fly fishing clinics being offered at the John E. Pechmann Education Center. The clinics are scheduled for Jan. 12, Jan. 26, Feb. 2 and Feb. 16. The first three clinics are open to first-time participants only. The last clinic will be for anglers with advanced fly-fishing skills.

Additional clinics are set March 1 and March 8 for Boy Scouts seeking to earn fly-fishing merit badges.

If you wish to attend a clinic, you must pre-register and pay a $5 fee. Clinics are limited to 40 participants. To register phone 910-424-6134.

Fishing equipment will be available for those who need it.

For more information, visit the North Carolina Wildlife web site.

The Complete Guide to Freshwater Fishing

If you're still looking for Christmas gift ideas for the angler in your life, you might want to check out the book, The Complete Guide to Freshwater Fishing (the Freshwater Angler).

I recently purchased a copy of the book and was quite impressed by the depth of information contained in it. It's one of those books that every angler would appreciate having in their library. I personally will be picking up a couple of more copies for my nephews.

Merry Christmas!

2008 Changes to Kansas Fishing Regulations Online

Printed copies of the 2008 Kansas Fishing Regulations Summary won't be available until early January, but anglers should be aware of several new regulations that take effect Jan. 1, 2008.

Some of the changes include reduced fees youth trout, paddlefish and the 24-hour fishing license. Other changes affect gigging (i.e., spear fishing), length and creel limits, and more.

Changes affecting trout fishing in Kansas include:

• Willow Lake in Tuttle Creek State Park has been added to the list of waters where a trout permit is required for all anglers from Oct. 15 through April 15; and

• Lake Shawnee in Shawnee County requires anglers fishing for or possessing trout to have a trout permit Oct. 15-April 15.

• A 20-inch minimum length limit and one-fish creel limit on brown trout has been established in the Mined Land Wildlife Area;

• Youth 15 and younger no longer have to possess a trout permit to fish during the trout season in designated trout waters, but there is a daily creel limit of two trout for those youth (unless they purchase a trout permit, which allows a full daily trout creel limit);

You can read the rest of the 2008 Kansas Fishing Regulation Changes by clicking here.

Trout Make a Daring Escape!

This story is too good not to share. Hatchery trout were recently caught on photograph making a daring escape from the hatchery (no kidding!).

To see the photo and read the full story of the brown trout making their escape, click here.

Trout Stocked at Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center

533 Trout were stocked Friday at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center into a new pond beside the Hart-Morris Conservation Center as well as into the older 1.5-acre casting pond (which got 995 trout). Trout will continue to be stocked through the winter months.

The new pond (which also has a fishing pier), has plenty of room around it for backcasts, making it ideal for fly fishing. In addition to rainbow trout, the pond also has largemouth bass in it.

Wet flies such as Hare’s Ear, Pheasant Tail, Prince, Soft Hackles and Dave’s Red Squirrel work well. Effective streamers include olive or black Wooly Buggers, Zonkers, Marabou Muddlers and Black-nosed Dace patterns.

Fishing is included with admission to TFFC, and no license is needed. TFFC also provides bait and tackle. Anglers who wish to keep trout must pay $5 for the opportunity to harvest up to five fish.

For more information, visit the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center.

Fishing Regs Change December 10 in Minnesota

If you live in Minnesota, you should know that some of the fishing regulations will change on December 10. These regulations affect ice fishing, handling fish, and fishing for certain species of fish. But some of the changes affecting trout fishing include:

WINTER TROUT FISHING

All lakes in Aitkin County and Blue Lake in Hubbard County are open to winter trout fishing.

ICE FISHING MEAL PREPARATION

While on or fishing waters with size restrictions, all fish for which the size restriction applies must have their heads, tails, fins and skin intact and be measurable except when a person is preparing and using such fish for a meal.

PACKED FISH LABELING

When packing fish, labels identifying the fish must include the name of the lake where the fish was caught and the size of each of the fish that are regulated under a special size limit.

TAKE A KID ICE FISHING

Anglers older than 16 do not need a license from Feb. 16-18, 2008, if they are accompanied by a child younger than 16 and are actively participating in Take A Kid Ice Fishing Weekend.

For a more complete list of fishing regulation changes in Minnesota, click here.