Ever wonder why you don’t see schools of tiny bonefish on the flats?

                                     Can you see me now?

Recent research by Christopher Haak, a PhD student in Andy Danylchuk's Fish Ecology Lab at UMass Amherst (and funded by Bonefish and Tarpon Trust), may have finally answered this question. 

Juvenile bonefish (as small as an inch long!) may in fact be “hiding in plain sight”, mixing in among schools of similar-sized mojarras, whom they closely resemble when young.  With roughly 1 bonefish for every 50 mojarras, the odds are you won’t see the bonefish, and neither will their predators!  In the photo above, a 2-inch long bonefish (about 4 months old) feeds among mojarras.

$25K sought for flats fishing study

Photo:Will Benson

Bonefish Tarpon Trust is asking Monroe County to chip in $25,000 toward a study that would determine how much revenue flats fishing generates in the Florida Keys.

The study, which will cost $110,000 in total, will identify the number of flats anglers who fished the Keys in the 2011-12 fishing year, a summary states. It will also identify the number of days each angler fished and what species of fish was targeted. It will estimate the annual angler expenditure in the Keys and how much the angler added in wages, jobs and tax revenues.

LINK (via: Keys News)

Near Boca Grande this Week?

Join Bonefish & Tarpon Trust at the Gaspirilla Inn and Club in Boca Grande on Friday, February 3rd, for their 3rd annual tarpon fundraising event to raise awareness and funds for tarpon conservation and research.

Enjoy cocktails and hors d'oeuvres while scientists update you on the tarpon tagging program and introduce the juvenile tarpon habitat initiative.  Silent auctions and raffles include lodge trips, guide trips, clothing, fishing gear and more.

LINK

Choice of angling legend is limited to first-come, first-serve

Join BTT for their 4th International Bonefish and Tarpon Symposium on November 11-12, 2011. In addition to an exciting lineup of angling legends, there will be presentations on the most recent research regarding preservation and conservation of bonefish, tarpon, and permit. 

Legendary anglers and guides scheduled to attend are Stu Apte, Bill Curtis, Ralph Delph, Chico Fernandez, George Hommell, Steve Huff, Lefty Kreh, Sandy Moret, Flip Pallot, Rick Ruoff, Mark Sosin, and Joan Wulff.

Andy Mill will serve as Master of Ceremonies for the festivities.

If you would like to purchase a Legends Table to dine with one of the honored guests, a table for 8 may be reserved for $1250.

LINK

Permit #BTT05303 Release

Buccaners and Bones

The TV series formally know as Pirates of the Flats has a new name and host channel but the same cast of characters.... Klyn, Brokaw, Keaton, McGuane, Chouinard, and Adams. Actor Zach Gilford of Friday Night Lights and River Why fame also joined the crew for the series which was filmed at El Pescador in Belize.