Bits and Pieces: Florida Fishing 2022

Curt Johnson gets his fish in Clearwater, Florida

The family angler/main farmer loves to do Gulf fishing. When we first arrived in Florida this year, the weather was difficult for good fishing. It was cold by Florida standards and the wind was so high that waves out on the Gulf were 4 feet to 10 feet high depending on the day. 

When the waves are at the higher level, even the fishing boats don’t go out. They do take anglers out with waves at 4-6 feet. The main farmer has motion sickness and sets his bar at 3 feet with medication. He went out at the 4–5-foot range and learned his lesson.

When we first arrived in Dunedin (midway between his favorite fishing holes in Clearwater and Tarpon Springs), he bought a book of ten tickets at the Double Eagle in the Clearwater marina.  He thought they would all be gone before we left on the cruise.

But the weather was so harsh, he was lucky to use half of them. We even took a day trip to research the piers he used in past years. Because of the cold and wind, even anglers at the piers were having bad luck.

Hoping that further into February the weather would become better, we returned from the cruise and he started calling the charters. One wasn’t even going out and the other was going but waves were too high for the main farmer.

He finally got out a couple of days later, and reached success. His stringer of 24 nice sized ones didn’t reflect the entire day, but at last fishing was fun.

The next day was going to be tough again, so we made plans to go to the Skyway Fishing Pier. The north and south approaches of the old Skyway Bridge are now a State Park. If one pays at the start of the approach, the ticket serves as a parking permit and fishing license for a 24-hour period.

We decided that I would drive him out the south approach and stay a while to see how it worked out. Then, either we would leave or I could leave and come back later for him. 

I was able to finish my book while he sat on the old bridge and fished from the pier. When one is enjoying a passion, time has no meaning. Four hours later, he had four nibbles, but no keepers. 

That was alright. He had a good time on solid ground, and I finished a book. 

The main farmer likes to use shrimp as bait. To keep what he had left alive, he needed salt water. The entire coastline of the pier and rest area were rocky to keep people from venturing into the water.

We went further down to an area of windsurfers. It was a loading/unloading area where he could scoop salt water to keep his shrimp alive another night. It was so cool to see him on the shore and windsurfers out further in the bay. Two passions in the same space.

We finally had a break in the weather. The main farmer got out on the Clearwater boat and had great fun. Some catches we keep and others he gives to other anglers who really appreciate his stringer of fish.’

He did lose 2 rigs (bottom weight and 2 hooks) that got caught in something – not a fish – and finally pulling broke the line losing the rig.  So, the next day he went out in Tarpon Springs. Again, he lost 2 rigs.

This is why we need a truck to take the trip – all the fishing gear. Day three was spent repairing the lines and prepping for the final fishing push before returning home.

If only the IRS didn’t have a February 28 deadline for our taxes. Alas, we would still have to return sometime. But it was nice to miss the January and February weather this year.