Tuesday 28 July 2009

Remember to get a license

It's licence time fellow fishermen. Don’t forget to get a fishing license if you’re going to fish from shore after August 1. You can pick one up from most tackle shops or the tax collector’s office and it will only cost you $9. Is there a better value ticket in the whole state?

Fishing action in and around Anna Maria Island has picked up thanks to some recent hot weather, with most captains and pleasure anglers reporting good catches of trout, redfish and catch-and-release snook around the shores and grouper and snapper going well in the deeper water.

One visitor who can vouch for the quality of grouper fishing off Anna Maria Island is Amy Sharma, who may have set a new world record for black grouper.

Amy was fishing with husband Andy aboard Team Legmakr with Capt. Anthony Manali and his wife Joann when she reeled in a 93.5-pounder in the Gulf of Mexico..

According to the AM Islander, both are frequent visitors to the Island. They certainly will be from now on... Check out the picture on the Islander's website here

Don't just visit Anna Maria Island, stay here. For the very best in vacation rental properties visit www.annamaria.com and spend your vacation in a real home from home.

Tuesday 21 July 2009

Having a whale of a time...

All fishermen have at one time exaggerated about the one that got away. Hands get steadily further apart as they recount the size and girth of that monster of the deep which lived to fight another day.
But Ted Dorenkamp and Steve Doyle could not stretch their arms wide enough to describe the leviathan that swam past them on a recent trip out of Anna Maria Island.
Anchored 18 miles west of Bean Point, and quietly minding their own business, the pair saw a commotion on the surface before shortly getting a close-up look of what was causing it.
"And all of a sudden it charged the boat. It came right up to us, and we realized it was a whale shark," Dorenkamp told the AM Islander.
"Then it went under the boat and lifted up the bow," Dorenkamp said. “We had to hang on. Then it went to the stern and bumped it a few times. It must have been around us for 30 or 45 minutes. It was very, very, very, very cool.”
Lucky for them the whale shark only eats plankton and other food it filters into its enormous mouth.
Check out the full story at the Islander website here

When you get to Florida, be sure to call in on Anna Maria Island, a little gem of a place off the Gulf Coast. Check out www.annamaria.com for the very best in vacation rentals on this paradise island.

Tuesday 14 July 2009

This gag is no joke

Hi fishing fans,

There are lots of reports at the moment of grouper being caught in pretty good numbers off shore, so we thought we'd take a look at this funny-looking fish which can give you some excellent arm-aching action.

There is some pretty comprehensive advice at basspro.com which you might want to follow. But for a simple guide to catching a grouper, be it gag, red, black, yellow fin or Warsaw, there are a few basic rules you should follow.

There are basically three approaches used when fishing for grouper – straight bottom fishing, freelining live bait, and slow trolling. Fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico often have the most success trolling for grouper.

In the gulf grouper anglers use diving plugs that go as deep as 30ft or more over artificial reefs. Anglers slow troll these large artificials over and around these structures and generally speaking if there is a grouper nearby it will bite - they're good like that.

For more info, check out this video of some lucky guy catching a 400lb goliath grouper - the music is a bit annoying, but look at the size of that thing!



Don't just visit Anna Maria Island, stay here. For the very best in vacation rental properties visit www.amisland.com and spend your vacation in a real home from home.

Tuesday 7 July 2009

Free for all from the piers

The best things in life are free - and thankfully that includes fishing on Anna Maria Island.
While new fishing license rules will be applied statewide from August 1 they should not impact anglers on the Historic Bridge Street Pier in Bradenton Beach.
Currently non-residents need a license to fish from the shore but the new regulations will require resident saltwater anglers who fish from shore or a structure affixed to shore to buy a $7.50 shoreline license unless they have a regular resident saltwater fishing license.
However, the loophole in this law states that they do not need one if the pier they are fishing on has a license. And an umbrella license at the Historic Bridge Street Pier means fishing will be free for all. Remember, though, you do need a license to fish from a boat, unless the skipper has one.
So complicated! Thankfully the reason we all go fishing is to simplify life and by and large that's what we get.
Unless you hook into one of the giant tarpon currently circling the island - that can be anything but relaxing...


There really is only one company to trust with your Anna Maria Island vacation, and only one website you need to visit. Click on www.annamaria.com for the very best in vacation rentals on the island. From two-bed cottages, to huge homes for the whole family, waterside, gulf front, secluded, we have it all.