News Archive
Reel Time: The Quality of our Fishing Future
Fishing and the outdoors experiences that my love for the sport have occasioned have played a pivotal role in my life for almost seven decades. This infatuation has also made me passionate about working to protect the natural world that provides me with sport, inspiration and a desire to see future generations have some of the same opportunities that I’ve had.
Reel Time: The Bike Angle
(Anna Maria Island Sun/ May 11, 2020)
I like to bike and I love to fish. It occurred to me a long time ago that I might be able to access some great fishing spots by bike. More often than not though, my fishing adventures involved a boat. That is until I started pedaling to Longboat Pass to fish from the bridge and to the bay to explore local public docks. What I discovered was a way to get in some excellent fishing without having to do the work to get a boat in and out of the water, with all that’s involved.
Reel Time: The Cobia
(Anna Maria Island Sun/ May 4, 2020)
As local water temperatures fluctuate between seasons in the spring and fall, savvy anglers know to start looking for cobia in area waters.
Often mistaken for sharks whose shapes and coloration they resemble, cobia are long and streamlined with a broad, flattened head. Their upper body is brown with a dark lateral line that extends through the eye to the tail. The brown fades to white on the belly.
Reel Time: For The Birds
(Anna Maria Island Sun/ April 27, 2020)
Who hasn’t been stirred by the sight or song of a bird? The haunting sound of a nightingale signaling the arrival of spring, the flamboyant plumage of a spoonbill or egret and the elaborate rituals of herons, terns and other sea birds in breeding season. Have you ever marveled at the graceful flight of a formation of black skimmers, their bills tracing paths across the water’s surface at sunset? Birds not only inspire and uplift us, they also provide a significant boost to Florida’s economy and are a major reason the state ranks as one as the nation’s top wildlife viewing destinations.
Reel Time: Tarpon Time is Coming
(Anna Maria Island Sun/ April 20, 2020)
The weather hasn’t cooperated in a long time but as soon as it does, I’ll be out hunting tarpon. It’s a little early for the migration but while I’m waiting for the weather to change, I’ll be planning for the season. The boat is getting cleaned up, I just got the trolling motor tuned up and the outboard serviced. I’m rerigging my spin and fly tackle and tying flies in anticipation of one of my favorite times of the year. Tarpon are one of the premier gamefish that swim local waters and a noble adversary on any tackle. The migration gets into full swing during the month of May and generally runs into August and September for die-hard anglers. These fish are a test of any angler and tackle, running to over 200 pounds. The average runs an astounding 80 to 100 pounds.
Reel Time: Supporting Suncoast Waterkeeper: The Giving Challenge
(Anna Maria Island Sun / April 13, 2020)
I’ve been privileged to live on the Suncoast since 1981. Being an avid angler, I started seeing the need to act to protect our estuaries and Gulf waters in 1985. That’s the year I joined with Captain Scott Moore and other concerned anglers to form the Manatee Chapter of the Florida Conservation Association, now the CCA.
Reel Time: Finding the Silver Lining
(Anna Maria Island Sun / April 6, 2020)
There are a couple of old adages about finding a silver lining under a crisis. Right now, that might seem to be a bit Pollyannaish given the severity of the problem and the uncertain nature of the future. Still, I think it’s fair to say that most people are making the best of a bad situation, however that might be framed.
Reel Time: It’s Only Common Sense
(Anna Maria Island Sun / March 30, 2020)
I’ve resisted writing about the Covid-19 threat and how it affects fishing and our lives here in Florida. Until now. Why the change? I think it’s incumbent on everyone to have a frank discussion of the potential threat this disease poses and to attempt to disseminate some information and ideas about the possible effects of the pandemic on those who love the outdoors.
Group releases clams into Sarasota Bay to reduce red tide
(WWSB, MySuncoast.com / Nov. 18, 2018)
Efforts to reduce red tide in Sarasota Bay are now underway.
The group “Sarasota Bay Watch” conducted its fifth clam restoration effort on Saturday new New Pass. Board members and volunteers teamed up with Gold Coast Eagle distributing to transport 3,600 pounds of clams from Pine Island. They are now resting in Sarasota Bay where they will help filter and clean the water.
Sarasota Bay Watch will release the last of 250,000 clams this fall. Plans are also in the works for more releases in 2019.
Reel Time: Preparing for fall fishing
(Anna Maria Island Sun / Nov. 13, 2018)
Fall is here even though it may not feel like it. We still have the windows and doors closed and the AC on, but the light and the cool mornings are teasing us with the promise of change. The golden lining is the coming cooler weather, the passing of the red tide and hopefully some of the season’s best fishing. When you read this, a front will have just passed through and as water temperatures drop, schools of bait should migrate inshore with pelagic species like kingfish, Spanish mackerel, false albacore, cobia and tripletail hot on their trail.
Reel Time: The Zen of fishing
(Anna Maria Island Sun / Nov. 6, 2018)
The ancient word and concept of Zen have been co-opted to refer to things as diverse as a nail salon and a burger bar. The term comes from (massively oversimplified) a form of Eastern Meditation that stresses mindfulness and meditation but for our purposes, we’ll use the commonly accepted definition “absorption.” How you might ask does an ancient Chinese concept apply to fishing? Let me explain.
Shellfish in Sarasota: One prong in efforts against red tide
(Ocean Conservancy / Oct. 12, 2018)
My experiences on the ocean have defined my life. They began almost seven decades ago with fishing trips and picnics with family on the coast of North Carolina. Those were formative years and cemented my love for and appreciation of the ocean. I’ve been living on Florida’s Gulf Coast now for almost forty years. Over the years I’ve enjoyed fishing, swimming and exploring the gulf and its estuaries.
I’ve also experienced many red tide episodes, events that science tells us are naturally occurring and formed offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. Science and history document that these events are natural and fed by nutrients in the water. What is not natural in my experience is the number of occurrences, their severity and duration. Excess nutrients in our bays and rivers are thought to feed the red tide and draw it towards shore.
Excellence-in-Craft and Special Awards
(Florida Outdoor Writers / Sept. 24, 2018)
Photography / Photojournalism – Published Individual Photos, Photo Stories, Photo Essays (Sponsor: Florida Outdoor Writers Association)
1st Place – Eye to Eye – Rusty Chinnis
Sarasota Bay Watch on ‘Suncoast View’
(Suncoast View / July 28, 2018)
Check out Sarasota Bay Watch chairman emeritus Rusty Chinnis talking with the hosts of “Suncoast View” about how the organization got started and what it does for Sarasota Bay!
Sister Keys Conservancy
(Edible Sarasota / June 28, 2018)
Envision, if you can, a summer day lost to time when the air above the mainland, heated by the sun, rises into the atmosphere causing cool, moist air to rush in from the Gulf. That primordial sea breeze drives a lone mangrove propagule across the submerged seagrass flat to its final resting place among debris on a partially exposed flat. Holding there though cycles of rising and falling tides, it eventually sinks its roots into the surrounding substrate. Over millions of years of island building, natural detritus multiplies around the rooted mangrove, trapping other propagules that cluster together to form what would eventually become known as the Sister Keys.
Sarasota Bay Watch looks to bring clams back to Sarasota Bay
(Sarasota Herald-Tribune / May 7, 2018)
SARASOTA — Sarasota Bay Watch Inc., the area nonprofit that already introduced millions of scallop larvae into Sarasota Bay, is starting an ambitious program to release more than 175,000 southern hard shell clams into the estuary.
About 3,000 clams were placed in the New Pass area on April 20, as a test case.
The hope is to bring the species, one of which can filter almost 50 gallons of water per day, back to Sarasota Bay.
Rusty Chinnis, chairman emeritus and one of the founding members of Sarasota Bay Watch, noted that clams have a lifespan of almost 30 years.