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Studying tarpon with … balloons?

BY JACK SHORT Scientists from the Florida Institute of Technology hope everyone fishing the pass next week won’t be alarmed by the presence of an eight foot balloon floating 150 feet in the air, tethered to the back of a research vessel. They’re working out a concept for tracking tarpon schools, perhaps as far as […]

Observers needed for World’s Richest

BY LEW HASTINGS In case you were wondering what those beautiful tarpon posters all around town are, they are there to let you know that Southwest Florida’s premiere sport fishing event, the World’s Richest Tarpon Tournament, is just around the corner. You can only buy these limited edition posters at the Boca Grande Area Chamber […]

Agreement between BGI and TSI reached

BY JACK SHORT A court ordered mediation has resolved 25 years of dispute between property owners on Three Sisters Island and in the Boca Grande Isles. The agreement provides the right to build road access to Three Sisters Island through lot 99 of Boca Grande Isles, where the two islands are connected, in return for […]

A trip to Belize to study tarpon … are you in?

BY ADAM MARTON, THE FIELDWORKERS CLUB This August a small group of anglers from all over the USA will be traveling to the Caribbean to participate in the Belize Tarpon Tagging Expedition, a partnership between anglers and scientists with the University of Miami. This expedition is a unique opportunity for folks to pitch in and […]

Gasparilla Island Kids Classic field almost full

BY MARCY SHORTUSE When you feed a kid a fish, they will eat for a day … or push it around on their plate, at least. When you teach a kid to fish, though, well … sometimes you’ll create a monster. That is what Capt. Sandy Melvin is hoping for after this year’s Gasparilla Island […]

This Memorial Day, watch for manatees while on the boat

The Memorial Day weekend typically means crowded conditions on Florida waterways, and Save the Manatee Club cautions the boating community to keep a look out for manatees. “Collisions with watercraft are the leading cause of all manatee deaths in Florida, when a cause of death can be determined,” says Patrick Rose, aquatic biologist and Executive […]

A tale of two soldiers … Walter Tatko and John Bourgoin

BY JACK SHORT To anyone who happened upon a scene in the kitchen of the Palmetto Inn recently, two men pouring over maps with their wives and siblings, sandwiches and soup cooking on the other side of the counter, it might have seemed like they were reminiscing over a European vacation taken years before. But […]

Get ready to ‘howl’ on May 30

Capt. Sandy Melvin of Special Effects/Gasparilla Outfitters has announced the date for the traditional “Howl at the Moon” Open Invitational Tarpon Tournament to be on Saturday, May 30, from 8 to 11 p.m. The entry fee will be $500 per team. Winners will be determined by the most releases, and an observer will be placed […]

Your pet could be a calendar star

To the Editor: Suncoast Humane Society is excited to announce that its 2016 Pet Calendar Photo Contest has officially begun. Your pet’s photos could be featured on the front cover of this exclusive pet calendar! Suncoast Humane Society has four convenient ways to enter your pet’s photo into the contest. You are able to upload […]

Spook takes Ladies Day, Jill Marie and Casuarina place

BY MARCY SHORTUSE It was great fishing weather on the evening of Saturday, May 9 as the 25th Ladies Day Tarpon Tournament was held in Boca Grande Pass. It had been 25 years since the original tournament was held, then called “Mothers and Others.” There were two boatloads of Italianos out on the water, Spook […]