Find your voice and take action to protect our local waters

As of this week, Anna Maria Island anglers and just about every other person who lives in Manatee County who enjoys boating and fishing are dealing with yet another imminent danger to our ecosystem and our way of life and it comes in the name of Slip Knott LLC and SSA Marine.

Unfortunately, the 724-acre parcel of Rattle Snake Key and the existing spoil islands to the north have been purchased with the intent of creating a cruise ship terminal for mega ships that are too large to fit under the Skyway Bridge. 

The proposed port would threaten the health of our local watersheds, including Tampa Bay, Terra Ceia Bay, Sarasota Bay as well as increase the pressure on our county’s infrastructure.

The public is speaking out in protest of this with one petition that can be found at www.change.org/SaveRattleSnakeKey although a mere 9000 signatures have been collected which means we have a helluva lot of work to do. 

If we actually have a voice about these matters, now it’s time to raise it. 

Let your thoughts be heard to our county commissioners and don’t forget to sign that petition and get involved. 

Suncoast Waterkeeper and Tampa Bay Waterkeeper will be organizing and attending public hearings and monitoring the rezoning and permitting processes. Visit https://www.suncoastwaterkeeper.org/stop_skyway_cruise_port to stay informed.

Let’s see if we can really make a difference.

As far as fishing goes, many anglers are ensuing a wintertime pattern while fishing inshore. Using live shrimp as bait is proving to be the best option and is yielding species like sheepshead, black drum and redfish. Rocks and docks are good locales to try your luck. Also, inshore reefs in Tampa Bay and in the Gulf are excellent spots to drop a shrimp as sheepshead, snappers and grunts tend to frequent these areas.

Moving to deeper fishing in waters of 45-55 feet is producing good action on a variety of species including hogfish, snappers, porgies, flounder and grunts. This bite is fairly consistent depending on your numbers and can provide an ample amount of fish if you plan on having a fish fry.

On my Just Reel charters, I’m finding redfish around canals and docks by casting live shrimp as bait. Mixed in are sheepshead, flounder and black drum as well as mangrove snapper.

On calm days I’m venturing into the Gulf to fish ledges and reefs which are yielding snappers, grunts, porgies and hogfish.