Fishermans Coast

by Adams, Aaron J.

• ISBN13: 9780811731058
• ISBN10: 0811731057
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-01-01
• Publisher: Stackpole Books

Summary

Marine researcher Aaron Adams shares his knowledge about sea grass, mangroves, salt marshes, oyster bars, shorelines, beaches, sand flats, and coral reefs from the Caribbean to the Carolinas, the Gulf of Mexico to the Florida coast, to give you what you need to know to fish for tropical, subtropical, and warm-water species. Features: Descriptions of saltwater habitats -- mangroves, salt marshes, oyster bars, and beaches; Behaviour, life cycles, and fishing tips for 25 marine gamefish and their prey; Red drum, spotted seatrout, permit, bonefish, snook, tarpon, barracuda, snapper, ladyfish, weakfish, bluefish, striped bass, cobia, cero mackerel, Spanish mackerel, and jacks.

Author Biography

Aaron J. Adams, Ph.D. has taught at the GenMar Backwater Fishing School and works as program manager of the Fisheries Habitat Ecology Program, Center for Fisheries Enhancement, for Mote Marine Laboratory at the Charlotte Harbor Field Station in southern Florida. He has published fishing articles in Saltwater Fly Fishing magazine and various newspapers, and he has published numerous research articles

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Preface	xi
Introduction	1	(4)
Chapter 1 Life Cycles of Marine Gamefish and Their Prey	5	(12)
The Larval Stage	6	(1)
The Juvenile Stage	7	(4)
The Adult Stage	11	(2)
APPLYING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED:
Taking Advantage of Juvenile Prey	12	(1)
Seasonality of Gamefish Prey	13	(1)
APPLYING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED:
Seasonality of Prey Species Life Cycles	14	(1)
Spawning Gamefish	14	(1)
Temperature	15	(1)
Local Nuances	16	(1)
Chapter 2 Seagrass	17	(36)
Species of Seagrass and Their Environmental Requirements	20	(6)
APPLYING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED:
Reading Seagrass	24	(2)
APPLYING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED:
Spotted Seatrout	26	(1)
Seagrass as Habitat	26	(4)
Fishing in Patchy Seagrass	30	(5)
APPLYING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED:
Tailing Red Drum	34	(1)
Gamefish Prey	35	(15)
Time of Day	50	(2)
APPLYING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED:
Seasonal Strategies for Gamefish in Grass Beds	50	(2)
Stewardship	52	(1)
Chapter 3 Mangroves	53	(30)
Mangrove Species and Their Ecological Attributes	54	(1)
Red Mangroves	55	(4)
APPLYING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED:
Bonefish along the Mangroves	56	(3)
Black Mangroves	59	(2)
APPLYING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED:
Black Mangrove Shorelines	60	(1)
Gamefish Prey in the Mangroves	61	(11)
Location Matters	72	(2)
Time of Day	74	(1)
Seasons in the Mangroves	74	(6)
APPLYING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED:
Gamefish in the Mangroves	77	(3)
Stewardship	80	(3)
Chapter 4 Oyster Bars	83	(30)
Ecological Requirements	85	(1)
Types of Oyster Bars	86	(2)
Currents	88	(1)
Tidal Range	89	(1)
Salinity	90	(6)
APPLYING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED:
Exploring Oyster Bars	91	(1)
APPLYING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED:
Basic Fishing Tactics	92	(4)
Oyster Bar Habitats	96	(2)
Seasonality	98	(1)
Gamefish Prey	98	(6)
APPLYING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED:
Fishing at Dawn and Dusk	103	(1)
Resident Prey Fish	104	(3)
Seasonal Prey Fish	107	(5)
APPLYING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED:
Fly Selection	109	(1)
APPLYING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED:
Be Ready for Baitfish	110	(2)
Stewardship	112	(1)
Chapter 5 Salt Marshes	113	(30)
High and Low Marsh Zones	115	(8)
APPLYING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED:
Finding Gamefish in Salt Marshes	119	(2)
APPLYING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED:
Red Drum in the Salt Marsh	121	(2)
Tides	123	(4)
APPLYING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED:
Fishing the Tides	125	(2)
Gulf versus Atlantic Coastal Salt Marshes	127	(3)
Salt Marsh Food Web	130	(1)
Gamefish Prey	131	(9)
APPLYING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED:
Strategies for Murky Water	137	(1)
APPLYING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED:
Seasonal Strategies	138	(2)
Stewardship	140	(3)
Chapter 6 Beaches	143	(32)
Waves	144	(5)
APPLYING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED:
Basic Strategies for Fishing the Surf	146	(3)
Shifting Sands	149	(4)
APPLYING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED:
Summer Beachside Snook	152	(1)
Gamefish Prey	153	(8)
APPLYING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED:
Seasonality and the Fall Feeding Frenzy	158	(3)
Beaches of the Tropics	161	(9)
APPLYING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED:
Tarpon Blitzes	162	(5)
APPLYING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED:
Strategy for Fishing Protected Beaches	167	(1)
APPLYING WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED:
Tarpon at Dusk	168	(2)
Gamefish Prey	170	(1)
Tropical Beachrock Shorelines	171	(2)
Stewardship	173	(2)
Chapter 7 Rubble Flats and Sand Flats of the Tropics	175	(14)
Rubble Flats of the Backreef	175	(5)
Shoreline Rubble Flats	180	(3)
Sand Flats	183	(6)
Appendix A Table of Common Gamefish	189	(2)
Appendix B Table of Major Prey Groups	191	(2)
References and Further Reading	193	(14)
Index	207