Fishing for Spotted Sea Trout in the Everglades

November 22, 2017 by

sea troutLove to fish? The Everglades is a great spot to do it, since one-third of this place is covered by water! Throughout the park, there are many acres of shallow water flats, mangrove keys, and channels that make great spots to fish! However, fishing from the shore is limited. In the state of Florida, there are specific freshwater and saltwater licenses and regulations to follow. For important fishing information, click here.

One type of fish that is plentiful in the waters of the Everglades is the spotted sea trout. For this article, we wanted to share with you some basic information on this fish that makes the Everglades, amongst other places, its home. Also, it is a pretty tasty fish for you to bring home and cook up!

Sea trout, also known as Cynoscion nebulosus, can be found inshore and in deep waters up to 33 feet deep. They are dark gray or green on the top part of their bodies with blue/white/silver colorings underneath. They have black spots on their back, dorsal fin, and tail, but have no scales on their soft dorsal fin. Sea trout have one to two prominent canine teeth at the front of their upper jaw.

They feed on shrimp, crabs, mullet, pinfish, and baitfish. Their spawning season is between March and November. They swim in small schools and don’t stray too far from the estuaries that they were born in.

If you’re looking to catch a sea trout and you do, it’s important to return them to the water immediately if you don’t plan on keeping them to bring home. They are a delicate fish and can be easily harmed. The biggest sea trout ever caught in Florida was 17 pounds, 7 ounces and it was caught in Ft. Pierce. On average, most sea trout an angler will come across will weigh around 4 pounds but they can easily get up to 15 pounds in weight.

Like stated above, there are specific regulations when it comes to catching different species of fish in Florida’s state waters. With sea trout, you can catch them and keep them if they are between 15 and 20 inches in length; the daily bag limit of sea trout in Florida waters is 4 fish per angler. In Florida, spotted sea trout fishing is permitted throughout the entire year. Fishing for sea trout is legal, if they are caught with a hook and line or a cast net.

If fishing isn’t your thing, but you like being on a water, then an airboat ride may be the right kind of trip for you in the Everglades. Captain Mitch’s Airboat tours brings guests all over the Everglades for spectacular views as you make fun memories. To book an airboat tour, click here or call 800-368-0065.

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Facts about Lubber Grasshoppers

November 15, 2017 by

grasshoppersWhen you think of wildlife in the Everglades, what comes to mind? Alligators? Panthers? Majestic birds? How about insects? Well, they should, because there’s thousands of them flying and crawling around this ecosystem. One such insect that calls the Everglades home is the lubber grasshopper.

Lubber grasshoppers are one of the largest grasshoppers, so they can be easy to spot while walking on a trail in the Everglades. They are also slow moving, which also makes it easy for you to catch a glimpse of them. They can grow up to four inches in size.

This type of grasshopper is brightly colored and patterned. They are bright orange, yellow, and red. They have wings, but they are flightless. They can, however, jump short distances. Because of their bright colors, they cannot camouflage themselves well into the green scenery of the Everglades, but their bright colors can be used as a warning to animals not to eat them because of toxicity. In fact, many small mammals and birds can and have become sick from ingesting this grasshopper and learn to not try and taste it again. Because they are toxic, this grasshopper really has no need to move fast.

If this grasshopper feels threatened or is picked up, it will make a loud hissing noise and secrete a foul-smelling foaming spray to irritate its predator.

Lubber grasshoppers eat broadleaf plants, and are known to be a garden pest.They can be found in grasslands or oak woods. They eat leaves of citrus plants, vegetables and ornamental plants. They are known to be a problem when they swarm residential areas and destroy (by eating) plants in gardens. Unfortunately, these grasshoppers aren’t really affected by most insecticides, so the best ways to get rid of them is to hand pick them off plants, stamp on them, or drown them in soapy water.

There are different types of lubbers including: Eastern lubbers, horse lubbers, flightless plain lubbers, and southeastern lubbers. Each type has different jumping abilities and vary a bit in coloring and size.

During breeding season, lubbers lay around 25 to 50 eggs. These eggs are underground during the winter and hatch between March and June. After they hatch, the young grasshoppers will molt their exoskeletons five times every 2 weeks before becoming an adult.

Want to spot this creature on a ride through the Everglades? Explore regions of the Everglades you haven’t seen before on a ride with Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours. Click here or call 800-368-0065 to book a trip today.

 

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Everglades Bird Spotlight: the Limpkin

November 8, 2017 by

everglades airboat tourAt certain times of the year, the Everglades can look like a scene out of Alfred Hitchock’s The Birds. Thousands of birds flock down to this warm climate to spend the winter and breed. For this article, we wanted to spotlight one species of bird that can be found in the Everglades: the Limpkin. This bird can actually be found in the Everglades year-round.

Limpkins are notoriously known to be noisy. In fact, you may have a better chance of hearing a limpkin than seeing one. Limpkins begin to make sounds at dusk and continue all through the night until dawn. Their cries aren’t sweet, usually they are loud screams, which are unmistakable.

This bird is related to rails and cranes. It’s a brown bird with white spots and streaks along its body. They have long necks, legs, and bills. Their long bills help them easily remove apple snails from their shells; apple snails are the main food source of the limpkin. Their bills, when closed, have a gap at the end that acts like tweezers. You can usually find the limpkin around areas where apple snails are abundant, but if apple snails are not easily found, the limpkin will eat other types of snails, freshwater mussels, insects, frogs, crustaceans, lizards, and worms.

You can find limpkins mainly around shallow bodies of water; they are a slow-moving bird with a high-stepping gait. The “limp” in limpkin comes from this gait that often gives off the appearance that the bird is limping even though it is not.

Limpkins stick with their own kind and do not mix in with other wading birds.

While nesting in the Everglades or other parts of Florida, they build their nests on top of floating vegetation, as well as high tree limbs. They can lay 3 to 8 eggs at a time. Florida is actually as far north as this bird goes. Limpkins can be found throughout the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.

Limpkins range from 25-28 inches in height with a wingspan of 39 to 42 inches in width.

Limpkins are not endangered or under watch, but at one point, their numbers were dwindling in Florida due to human development.

Want to have the chance to see (but most likely hear) this bird up close? Come out on an airboat tour to glide around the limpkin’s habitat. Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours are a great way to explore all the ins and outs of this wetland. To book an airboat tour, click here or call 800-368-0065.

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New Everglades Corridor Markers, Signage

November 1, 2017 by

signageThe Everglades is a living, breathing ecosystem, and as you may remember from previous blog posts or news stories, there is restoration work and improvements always happening in this wetland to make the park a better place while returning it back to its natural state.

The Everglades is also a popular place for anglers to catch fish. Just like anywhere else in Florida, there are special fishing regulations; however, with so many endangered species in the Everglades, it’s essential that people pay attention to the boating and fishing rules, regulations, and signage.

For this article, we wanted to share that there will be new access corridor markers and signs at Florida Bay. All corridors have been marked, with just a few minor adjustments pending. Here are the details of the signage:

  • On-plane: Dave Foy, Dump Keys (south of existing channel), Madeira Bay, Terrapin Bay, Roscoe Key, North Jimmy, Bob Allen Pass, Coon Key Pass, Crab Lake, Peterson Keys, Buchanan Keys
  • Idle-speed: Snake Bight East (off Snake Bight Channel), Porpoise Point, Garfield Bight, Rankin Bight, Santini Bight West, Santini Bight East, Terrapin Bay West (off Terrapin Bay corridor), Samphire Key, Brush Key, Twisty Mile, Little Blackwater, Little Buttonwood, Cluett Key, Topsy Key, Sid Key, Tarpon Basin/Marker 42 Creek
  • Slow-speed: Nine-mile Bank North, Nine-mile Bank South
  • On-plane and idle-speed: Frank Key (north segment on-plane, south segment idle-speed), Palm Key (from west end of Tin Can Channel on-plane, near island and to center of Tin Can Channel idle-speed)

Funding for this new signage was through the National Park Service and donations to the South Florida National Parks Trust from Yamaha and the American Sportsfishing Association. The signage was put up with the help from a contractor. These new signs were put in place to help protect the park’s marine areas, while still allowing people to enjoy their time in the park fishing.

For boaters and those interested, you can view the Florida Bay map book.

Looking to get around the Everglades on a different kind of boat? How about an airboat? Zip through the waters of this majestic place on a ride with Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours. To book an airboat tour, click here or call 800-368-0065.

 

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