Author: Guest Columnist

Turtle report: Thought it was false crawl, turned out to be bona fide!

BY ARLENE HALL, BGSTA SECRETARY When people learn that I volunteer with BGSTA’s Turtle Patrol, so many of them say how much they would love to do that too, so I figured I would bring you along...

The Grand Old Lady: Remembering the Boca Grande Hotel, 1930-72

BY JAMES BLAHA, BOCA GRANDE HISTORICAL SOCIETY On February 10, 1930, the following article appeared in the Fort Myers News-Press: “Plans for a three-story resort hotel at Boca Grande to cost approximately...

SW Florida Fishing: Water temps up and so is fishin’

BY CAPT. WILL WATERHOUSE The summer heat has started to really bring water temperatures up making the inshore shallow water fishing a little finicky. Lots of snook are still being caught but look...

SW Florida Fishing: On Team Red…

The red snapper bite was good that day. Photos provided by Capt. Brad Capt. Brad Hickman can be reached at 941-716-3757 or OffshoreBocaGrande.com p23-1Download

Turtle report: Disoriented hatchlings don’t need blazing lights on beach

BY ARLENE HALLBGSTA SECRETARY Last week, I mentioned that our earliest loggerhead nests had started to hatch. Generally, loggerhead nests will incubate for 45 to 70 days. If the nests are up in...

SW Florida Fishing: Tarpon still around

BY CAPT. WILL WATERHOUSE Lots of tarpon are still being caught in Boca Grande Pass, Little Gasparilla Pass, and out on the beaches. If you are looking to back bay fish, target the snook with...

Turtle report: Please stop pulling up yellow stakes protecting nests

BY ARLENE HALLBGSTA SECRETARY The most exciting part of turtle nesting season began last week, when hatchlings from the first couple of loggerhead nests started emerging from the sand. With the...

Keeping a father’s memory alive on Little Gasparilla

BY KRISTEN VARELA-SCHILD At my father’s memorial, I was a little jealous. Jealous of the stories my brother told of connecting with my father nearly every weekend at their hunting lodge; sitting...

Summer at the Boca Grande History Center

BY THE BOCA GRANDE HISTORICAL SOCIETY The late Robert Fischer, author of “Boca Grande: Once A Railroad Town,” wrote that there are “Many beautiful places to live or vacation in southwest Florida...

SW Florida Fishing: Offshore heating up…

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY CAPT. BRAD HICKMAN When it comes to grouper offshore, count on a few gag groupers, but also black, red and yellow-mouths to fill a cooler. Capt. Brad Hickman can be reach...