TrophyCatch Season 7 ended on September 30, and anglers have through October 15 to get their qualifying catches submitted! As of mid-September the current totals were:

• 802 Lunker Club (8 - 9.9 lbs.) bass
• 239 Trophy Club (10 - 12.9 lbs.) bass
• 11 Hall of Fame (13+ lbs.) bass

for a combined total of 1,052 trophy bass caught-and-released in Season 7 so far! A program total of over 9,000 bass have been successfully caught, documented, and released for prizes from TrophyCatch since 2012.

Upcoming events include the TrophyCatch Hall of Fame ceremony and the TrophyCatch Phoenix bass boat drawing. Watch the TrophyCatch Facebook page (below) and sign up for the "TrophyCatch" email get the latest details as soon as they become available.

Size: This popular minnow can grow to a foot in length. Neither the FWC nor IGFA maintains records on this species, as it is sought after primarily as bait and not for sport.

Identification and similar species: The golden shiner is a deep-bodied and extremely compressed (flat) fish; also note the down-curved lateral line. A scaleless keel (ridge) is present on the bottom of the belly. The golden color for which the fish is named can be helpful in identification, but is not always present.

Tiny tarpon or small grass carp might possibly be mistaken for the shiner, but the down-curved lateral line and keel set the shiner apart. Threadfin and gizzard shad possess a distinct black spot near the operculum that is absent in the shiner, and also lack the keel.

How often do you see people or businesses wanting to be taxed and happy about it? You may not realize how much it has benefited you, but the Federal Aid in Sportfish Restoration (SFR) program has proven for more than half a century to be one of the best “user-pays, user-benefits” initiatives anywhere.

In 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act. Between 1941 and 1950, sport-fishing businesses paid a federal excise tax that was deposited in the general treasury of the United States but did not directly benefit manufacturers or anglers. In 1950, sportsmen and businesses teamed with conservation-minded policy makers to redirect these existing federal excise taxes to the Restoration Program.

The concept was to restore sportfish populations and improve public access, so more people can enjoy fishing and so fishing sales would increase. Sport Fish Restoration (SFR) came about as a result of anglers wanting to see more money directed toward restoring the nation’s recreational fisheries, and ensuring better fishing opportunities for themselves and future generations.

Federal excise taxes collected on the sale of fishing reels and other fishing tackle, as well as a motor boat fuel tax, provide a remarkable annual return on investment for manufacturers of outdoor equipment. These excise taxes are paid up front by the outdoor recreation industry (such as fishing tackle and boating manufacturers). Although these costs are of course passed on to anglers, the share paid by the individual consumer is very small. However, the accumulated return to outdoors enthusiasts and the outdoors industry as a group are dramatic. For example, one study determined that for excise taxes paid on fishing equipment like rods, reels, and lures, the return on investment was an average of 2,100 percent over 51 years (1955-2006). In plain English, for every $1 paid by the sporting goods industry in federal excise taxes that support fishing programs, those industries made $21 back in fishing equipment sales.

In Florida, SFR provides millions of dollars to support boating access and freshwater fisheries conservation, which helps to support fisheries that provide $1.7 billion in economic benefit to the State — as well as providing 46 million days of outdoor recreation enjoyment annually! The FWC uses this money to improve fisheries habitat, stock fish, conduct research and manage fish populations. FWC also conducts aquatic education programs and provides valuable fishing and conservation information to anglers. The next time you go fishing, remember SFR — three important letters that make fishing better!

Nets provide a great way to collect bait like the golden shiner featured above. With a small investment and some knowledge you can catch your own bait — which can provide its own brand of fun!

Cast net - A cast net is probably the most widely used net in Florida. It has the advantages of a long reach and wide coverage. However, a cast net is also the hardest net to learn to use, although many bait and tackle shops will provide demonstrations and there are also plenty of videos and books that cover the subject.

Cast nets are ideal for taking shiners and shad. Shiners can be baited to a particular area with bread, uncooked oatmeal, or chicken laying mash (check your local feed store for the latter). A good place to start up a “shiner hole” needs to have some open water with vegetation close by. If you’re willing to put in some extra effort and cash, you can chum shiners to a particular area at least weekly (twice a week or more is better) and have a semi-guaranteed supply of bait whenever you want it. In such a situation, you can chum your “shiner hole” and start tossing your cast net within five or ten minutes to collect your bait. If chumming “cold” (you haven’t been baiting the area previously), you may need to chum for fifteen to twenty minutes before throwing your net. In either case, make your first cast count because the sound of the net hitting the water will scare the baitfish and, while you can still catch them, your chances on subsequent throws won’t be as good. For keeping your shiners alive, an aerated livewell or cooler is best. However, anglers can also make do with a plastic five-gallon bucket with half-inch holes drilled in it for circulation; throw on a bait lid available at any tackle shop and keep the bucket in the water on a rope until you need your next bait.

Shad are a different story — their occurrence in most waters is much less predictable. They are schooling fish constantly on the move, and are usually found in open water instead of orienting reliably to vegetation. This also means that they’re often found farther from shore than shiners are, sometimes putting them out of reach unless you’re throwing your net from a boat. Your best bet for a steady supply of shad is to keep a sharp eye out for schools on the surface or crashing bass. Shad are also much more delicate than shiners — you’ll need a well-aerated baitwell to keep them alive, the bigger the better. Shad schools are usually denser than shiner schools, though, and one lucky cast is all you need to fill a baitwell.

Dip net - Dip nets are simpler in every respect, as well as cheaper. You’ll seldom catch a shiner or shad in one, but if you want some grass shrimp or minnows for bream fishing this is all you’ll need. If you’re using a dip net you’ll be restricted to shore, but then that’s where you’ll want to be using this net anyway. Try scooping the net through shoreline vegetation, and pass the net through the same path several times. Good vegetation to “beat” includes any grass, shallow hydrilla, or peppergrass. After “sweeping” a couple of spots, stop and pick through the vegetation in the net for bait. (Note that most emergent vegetation worked this way will spring back up in a few hours, but be careful not to damage any desirable plant species.) Grass shrimp usually announce themselves by jumping all over the place inside the net bag, and are a great bait for bream and the occasional bass. Minnows aren’t quite as fantastic a bait for bream, but are still good and large bluegill in particular have a preference for mosquitofish. Better dip nets have a sturdy wooden handle about six feet long and a heavy-duty wire net frame with a 1/4” mesh bag. Don’t go any bigger on the mesh size, or most of what you want to catch will be able to get through it.

Description: Bobby Hicks Park is a pond in the FWC’s Urban Fishery Project, a group of designated Fish Management Areas in an urban setting that are intensively managed for exceptional fishing opportunities. There are 11 urban fisheries in the FWC’s Southwest Region, located primarily in the St. Petersburg and Tampa area. Special amenities at these sites includes fish feeders, aeration systems, regular stocking of sportfish, fishing piers, free youth fishing events, and improved aquatic habitat and water quality — all in a family-friendly environment.

 Bobby Hicks is a borrow pit that was dug to build military housing. In 1999 the City of Tampa planted 200 cypress trees and 50 sabal palms to replace undesirable exotic shoreline vegetation. In 2002 the Tampa chapter of the Safari Club International donated materials and labor to construct a 170-foot fishing pier at the park.

Soon after the opening of the fishing pier, the City of Tampa implemented the use of a mechanical harvester to manage a growing hyacinth and water lettuce inundation. Managers quickly found that the harvester could not compete with the grow rates of these floating plants. As soon as the harvester completed one section of the pond, the hyacinth and water lettuce would have completely overtaken the other recently-harvested areas. The coverage made it impossible to fish and deprived many sportfish from oxygen, destroying the thriving sportfish population.

The FWC’s Division of Freshwater Fisheries Management (DFFM) biologists recommended herbicide treatment to reestablish some open water and maintain access to the fishery. The first electrofishing sampling following the treatment yielded only rough fish like gar, bowfin and tilapia. DFFM then initiated fish stocking in order to bring largemouth bass, redear sunfish, channel catfish and bluegill back into the resource. Today, the stocking has resulted in a trophy channel catfish fishery and extremely good largemouth bass fishing. A connection to Tampa Bay regularly leads to large common snook being caught at Bobby Hicks and several large tarpon have regularly been seen cruising the pier or chasing bait.