[Jonathan]

I use the shortest length. I have been stopped by some pretty strict game wardens. The last thing I want to do is have to explain that they need to hold the mouth open when measuring my fish.

[Jonathan]

Thats great. Thank you.

[Jonathan]

Good timing. I need a new casting rod. I’ll be watching this.

[Jonathan]

I have an older console mounted Standard Horizon with a steel antenna. Mostly us it for quick talking to buddies fishing in the area or monitoring channel 16 if I’m solo. Its around 10 years old and the screen is starting to get dim. I will probably replace it next year. Not sure with what yet. I dont need many bells and whistles but I will definitely get one with the internal GPS. Just another layer of safety.

[Jonathan]

I have camped near the marsh before. Mosquitos, gnats, and other insects never made it very pleasant. Below from the LA WLF 2025 fishing reg handbook. You may want to get clarification on this. It looks like you can have a multi day limit, but you cannot be actively fishing while in possession of more than one days limit.

Page 19

An angler who holds and is in possession of a valid recreational fishing license and can demonstrate to the department’s satisfaction use of a boat launch located south of U.S. Hwy 90 and that the angler has been actively on the water or at a remote camp that can be accessed only by water for two days or more may possess up to the possession limit of filleted red drum, spotted sea trout, and southern flounder. The filleted fish shall have sufficient skin remaining on the fillet to allow for identification of the species and shall be segregated by species into plastic bags or plastic containers that are marked by species to allow for easy identification, the date caught, and the name and license number of the person who took the fish. The fish shall be in possession only of the person who took the fish. However, no angler shall be actively fishing or engaged in fishing while in possession of more than the daily take limit.

Page 22.

Recreational saltwater anglers may possess a two days’ bag limit on land; however, no person shall be in possession of fish over the daily bag limit in any one day or while fishing or while on the water, unless that recreational saltwater angler is aboard a trawler engaged in commercial fishing for a consecutive period of longer than 25 hours. Take or possession of red drum in federal waters is prohibited.

The possession limit for red drum and spotted sea trout taken south of U.S. Hwy 90 shall be three times the daily take limit when the angler holds and is in possession of a valid recreational fishing license and can show a landing receipt from a public boat launch located south of U.S. Hwy 90 that demonstrates to the satisfaction of the department that the angler has been actively on the water or at a remote camp that
can be accessed only by water for two days or more. The fish shall be kept whole or whole gutted in separate bags for each species of fish. The bags shall be marked with the date the fish were taken, the species, the number of fish contained in the bag, and the name and license number of the person taking the fish. The fish shall only be in the possession of the person who took the fish. However, no angler shall be actively fishing or engaged in fishing while in possession of more than the daily take limit.

[Jonathan]

Waking up super early and driving hours to make it to the launch on time just to wind up sitting there for an hour until the weather passes really sucks.

[Jonathan]

Might be a good weekend to try @ShooterMcGrabbin life hack for married guys.

[Jonathan]

Thanks for the report.

I know that feeling. I had the same thing happen to me on the first day of a three day trip. There is a Minn Kota app that you can use on your phone to control the trolling motor. The app saved me from a lot of headache.

[Jonathan]

I guess I havent ventured out far enough yet. In the areas where there is no cell service, do you feel that VHF would work to contact Sea Tow? I talked to a guy last year that credited this to saving his life and that of his wife and friends when his buddys boat sank 30 miles off the coast of FL. I do have an EPIRB but thought about one of these for times that may not be an emergency but I need Sea Tow.

[Jonathan]

I get survey emails from LDWF and from Florida wildlife and fisheries. Never had an email from either say they were going to call me if I didnt take the online survey.

[Jonathan]

I flush the motor out as soon as I get back while I empty the boat. Pull everything out of the boat and clean out any trash. I’ll usually wash it the same day if possible but if I get back too late it gets a complete wash within a day or two at most, boat, motor and trailer gets washed down. Rods, reels, and any hard lures get laid out and washed down same or next day. I also just started using Salts Gone on everything.

[Jonathan]

Im jealous of yall that can slide under those bridges. One of the only times I dont like the T top on the boat.

Funny video.

[Jonathan]

Sounds like a great time. Make sure to post lots of pictures.

[Jonathan]

I do have a VHF and can pick up coast guard transmissions from pretty far off. Just unsure of how far I can reach when I’m transmitting.

[Jonathan]

Two sites I use for converting KML to GPX for Garmin are:

https://www.gpsbabel.org/

https://www.gpsvisualizer.com/

I use the GPS Visualizer more often just because its what I started using. I dont think either has asked for payment.

With Garmin, depending on the age, you can also use the active captain to mark and transfer waypoints. I havent used it enough to be proficient with it though.