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Florida Fishing Reports for BradentonBarnacles on a Snook??This Common Snook with barnacles growing above both gill plates was caught by Capt Brook Wallace and photographed by Pete Mersch. The snook was 33 inches long and lives under a dock in Bradenton. This rare double sided 'barnacled snook' was live released with barnacles intact and could possibly be caught again.  Snook Research Biologist Ron Taylor said, over the course of a lifetime working with snook, he has seen just a handful of snook with barnacles. Nate Brennan, senior snook scientist at Mote Marine, who has personally handled more 40,000 snook, primarily in Sarasota county, said he had not seen any. The angler's father, Don Wallace, had caught a 35 inch snook recently with barnacles on one side only. The second catch was within a half mile of the first one, daytime flats fishing. The cluster was knocked off with a pair of needle nose pliers and the fish was live released.  One might speculate whether this anomaly is related to the individual snook's diet, health, water quality, other environmental factors, or the fish having been handled in a particular way. Parasites and fouling organisms are not commonly found on snook, whose protective slime coat not only increases their underwater speed but also helps prevent such organisms from taking hold. Captain Brook said "The barnacle clusters I've seen only grow above the razor sharp gill plate area. They're about the size of a silver dollar in circumference, and look like Mickey Mouse ears." Article reprinted with permission. Originally appeared on The Snook Foundation's website at http://www.snookfoundation.org Florida fishing reports for Bradenton, Anna Maria Island, Palmetto, Sarasota, and Longboat Key - Submitted February 19, 2008 Meet PuffyOK , you
finally get to
a spot out of the wind, boats not swaying, and
you've caught snook there before. It's been a rough couple of hours
fishing
a slow incoming tide in 20-25 mph winds. You grab what you think to be
the
perfect size shrimp, make your best cast of the day and let your bait
slowly
drift down your favorite mangrove line.......
Bang. "Hit. Just got nailed. Come back and get it!" Tap....Peck..... "I think he got my shrimp.......Yep, ...hmm. Toss me another shrimp. Tap Peck.....Pow. "I got him this time, oh, I had him... What the heck is it?" Bam. "He got me again. Look, he bit my shrimp in half." Nibble..Nibble..Peckpeck. "Now he's
eating the
legs off." Sounds like my friend, Mr. Blowfish. a.k.a. "Puffy"
Puffy, also known as the blowfish Take the time to enjoy this creature and get a picture of someone holding Puffy. You don't have to worry about not being able to fit the whole fish in the frame and you don't have to say "SMILE". Puffy will usually hold his breath long enough for you to find your camera, change the batteries, and finally capture his handsome image.
To puff up Puffy, squeeze him with one hand (under water) or push him up against the inside of your livewell. Fill Puffy up with water, sometimes it is hard for him to release air, and floating away like a lost bobber is embarrassing. Bouncing Puffy off the outboard or punting him over the mangroves is considered childish and cruel, not to mention harmful. So take special care to release him unharmed as with all fish. Who wants a world without blowfish? Not me. Capt. Brook Wallace Book a fishing trip with Full Boat Charters Previous
reports by Capt Brook:
July 06, 2008 July 2, 2008 June 16, 2008 April 13, 2008 Mar 3, 2008 Mar 1, 2008 Charter
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