The Outdoorsman (Fish, Feathers & Fur)

Photos by Capt. Budd Neviaser for NSBNEWS.net. Cutline: These wild turkeys are feeding well and should be ready for the Spring hunt. These two bucks hear turn their heads toward noise they've heard.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- General gun season is now open in the Central Zone, which is where we are located, through January. It is legal to take deer having one or more antler at least 5 inches in length visible above the hair line, wild hogs, rabbits, raccoons, opossums, coyotes, nutrias, skunks and beavers. All legal rifles, shotguns, muzzleloaders, crossbows, bows, and handguns may be used.

If using a center-fire, semi-automatic rifle, it cannot have a magazine capacity exceeding five rounds. Fully automatic or silencer equipped rifles are illegal as are non-expanding, full metal case ammunition for the taking of deer. Using rim-fire ammunition is illegal to hunt deer. Antlerless deer season started Saturday and runs through Nov. 21. Limit is two deer daily regardless of sex. Shooting hours are 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset.

To my readers, who expressed concern over a brief lapse in my column, the opening of the North Carolina deer season, Mother Nature beckoned to me requesting my presence there to do my duty of attempting to thin the herd. We did OK, but not as well as previous trips. The weather was a little tough for a Floridian as some mornings greeted us with layers of ice. However, as it has been said so many times before, all god things must come to an end. So it is back to business as usual.

No Karenia brevis, the Florida red-tide organism, was detected this week in water samples collected from the Indian River Lagoon (Brevard and Indian River counties) nor were there any evidence of Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, detected this week in water samples collected alongshore between Pinellas and Monroe counties. Offshore samples collected north of the Florida Keys also contained no K. brevis.

The amount of water accumulation after Fay was substantial and led to plenty of flooding. The next bad news is that two new storms – Gustav and Hanna – are about to give us more rain. A few days ago I went to check on my hunting stand. To my dismay, after cutting up four fallen trees blocking the road, I found the water so deep that it was impassable to get to the stand. It was an exciting day though. I saw seven deer including a buck in velvet and roughly 27 wild pigs, and several hawks.

On August 22, 2008 in Elkin, North Carolina, David Hayes' granddaughter, Alyssa just asked him to hold her Barbie rod and reel while she went to the bathroom. He did. And seconds later he landed the state record channel catfish at 21 pounds, 1 ounce. Alyssa stand beside him with her Barbie rod and reel

The typical summer-time fishing weather of hot, humid and thunderstorms got interrupted by a tropical storm named Fay, which ended up taking 6 lives and did considerable damage throughout the state . The good news is that the storm is now history for northeast Florida. The storm did cause some turtle hatchlings to have problems but thanks to rescuers they were protected from the crashing seas until the seas settled down and they will be released. Near Melbourne International Airport a slew of confused animals were wandering through the grounds of the airport thinking that the field were wetlands  - four walking catfish,  two gopher tortoises, a blue indigo snake, and an couple of alligators.

Helen Klenk tries to lift the cobia she caught while Gail Nelson and Evan Stein watch.

“Hot, humid and a lot of rain” (and in some cases hail) equates to typical summer-time fishing weather. Also every July, and this year is no exception, we often get an upwelling of cold water due to the westerly winds blowing the warm surface water offshore and the colder water will start upwelling and bring about cold water and miserable fishing as well as beach conditions out to several miles.

Some people call it a Labrador Current, but it is not such. Divers have seen dead lobsters and Moray eels on the bottom. Fish hardly move and are an easy target for the unscrupulous diver. who tries to take his limit without any effort. That is not my kind of fishing.

The weather is the typical summer-time fishing weather hot, humid and thunderstorms. The good news is that several captains are seeing the cold water is resolving but it is still spotty yet. Fish seem to be marking better, however.

The dolphin have moved north with no reports of any being caught this week. SST’s are 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The King Mackerel continues to be the main trolling fish - mostly on wrecks and artificial reefs and barracudas. are also being caught. Capt. John Krall continues to slam the kingfish, red snapper. and grouper. Cobia are under debris and loggerhead turtles. Nobody has seen any rays. Several sailfish have been caught recently. Little tunny are still testing the endurance of the light line anglers. The bottom bite for back sea bass, trigger fish, vermillion and Lane snapper has slowed but continues to be good. A lot of genuine American red snapper were landed this week. Amberjack continue to give anglers great fights.