Columns
Dog Life: Always remember
May 30, 2024
Editor’s Note: Harry Kalajian has been a local dog trainer since 2014, and a regular columnist on dog training for the Beacon. We will miss his thoughts and his optimistic attitude on training dog…
EcoWatch: Just when you think it can’t get any worse
May 30, 2024
“We can see from space how the human race has changed the earth. Nearly all the available land has been cleared of forest and is now used as agricultural or urban development. The polar ice-caps a…
SW Florida Fishing: It’s all tarpon – all the time…
May 30, 2024
BY CAPT. SANDY MELVIN
We are in the heart of tarpon season and you can get out there and catch a tarpon just about any way you like to fish for them. If you’ve never caught a tarpon, now is the…
Sea Turtle Report: Reminder that no Gulf sea can fill in your big dig
May 30, 2024
BY ARLENE HALL BGSTA SECRETARY
With summer vacations finally here, this seems to be the prime time of year to create elaborate, towering sandcastles perhaps surrounded by a deep, wide moat tha…
EcoWatch: What does Memorial Day symbolize in 2024?
May 23, 2024
“We are notorious for ‘running around self-righteously declaring our rights to this and to that. But if we were to reflect upon the millions ‘ran’ across bloodied battlefields so that we would hav…
SW Florida Fishing: All areas ready to fish
May 23, 2024
BY CAPT. WILL WATERHOUSE
As the wind has started to lay down a bit, lots of tarpon are being caught on the beaches, in the passes, everywhere. The ‘World Richest’ Tarpon Tournament was held thi…
Essay: Tarpon memories imprint deeper with a trophy on your line
May 23, 2024
BY CAPT. VAN HUBBARD
Tarpon were so abundant that big game sportfishing was created here.
The giant fish splashing and jumping everywhere, driving fishermen crazy. Teasing spectators because…
Sea Turtle Report: Volunteer catches live nesting, egg laying
May 23, 2024
BY ARLENE HALL BGSTA SECRETARY
Timing was everything for BGSTA Turtle Patroller Tammy Rigney. She was running a little late getting onto the beach for her morning patrol, but it paid off for h…
SW Florida Fishing: Tarpon, anglers and tourneys
May 20, 2024
BY CAPT. SANDY MELVIN
Tarpon season continues in full swing. There are thousands of tarpon around right now and you can catch one just about any way you want. The traditional pass fishing has b…
EcoWatch: What shade of green do you prefer?
May 20, 2024
“As crude a weapon as the cave man’s club, the chemical barrage has been hurled against the fabric of life – a fabric on the one hand delicate and destructible, on the other miraculously tough and…