I caught a fish that I do not know what it was. Hopefully you can help me. I was 12 miles off shore this past Saturday bottom fishing, and what I thought was a school of Cobia was not. The one we caught was about 30" in length, had the girth, face, and fin's of a Cobia. However, the top of it's head was flat with what looked like it's gills. The flat area was about 2 1/2" wide and 5" long. The color was black and grey. I tried to find pics of it on line with no luck.

Thanks Captain. Listen to you every Sat morning.

Glenn Weik
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Dear Glenn:

Since you didn’t send a picture of the fish, I will just have to guess based on your description.

I would say that what you saw was a remora. This is a cousin to the cobia and can almost always be found hanging on to other larger fish – like sharks.



The top of the head looks like the sole of a sneaker – and that what they use to cling to other larger species. They are often called “sucker fish.”

Thanks for listening to my 970-WFLA radio show and for making our CapMel.com site one of your Internet fishing destinations.

Capt. Mel Berman

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Capt. Mel,

I wanted to share my fishing experience and ask you a question at the same time.

My son, wife and I headed out early Sat AM and of course listening to your show on the way. We headed to Cockroach Bay and launched then headed toward the Port and gathered our bait and did some wading around the flats area, did not do real good, a few trout, jacks and a bonnet head, no reds or snook.

After a pretty exhausting day in the heat, the bay was about out of water being the high was at 9:00AM and the low was about 5:30 PM we were heading in about 4:00 PM when most unbelievable sight was in front of our eyes. We were pretty close to the shoreline and were heading back out to get in some deeper water so we could run back to the launch, from a distance there appeared to be water running over sandbar creating the illusion of feeding fish and my first impression it was a school of jacks and the closer we got it was the most unbelievable sight I had ever seen, there is no way to know how many but I am only guessing that there was not a pod, but a major gathering of redfish too many to even guess -- but there were several hundred, 500-600 very active spooky redfish. We very quietly approached them but could not near enough to them, we followed them 3 or 4 times and the same result. We stayed in the area for a while hoping to pick up a stray from the school, no luck.

Here is my question, what could we have done differently and what causes that many reds to gather like that?

Ron Likar

Looking forward to your comments.
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Dear Ron:

August is a time of year when the big breeder reds come inshore to spawn. As a rule they are usually very hungry, feeding heavily on anything that looks edible. However, they also can be very spooky – so how you approach them –and fish them is very critical. Stealth is the key to keeping these big reds comfortable

First of all see if you can quietly set up ahead of their line of travel. Then, as the school approaches, toss your bait in their path of travel. I find small gold spoons work great in this scenario. However, many other baits work equally as well.

Thanks for listening to my 970-WFLA radio show and for making our CapMel.com site one of your Internet fishing destinations.

Capt. Mel Berman

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Does a charter captain’s license cover lobstering with clients?

Al Rauler
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Dear Al:

The only time a so-called captain’s license would be required would be if the skipper transports his clients in a motorboat. Therefore, if the guide can put his customers on lobster from land, a captain’s license would not be needed. There are also many kayak guides who don’t need licenses because, in that instance, he and his customers are riding in separate craft.

Capt. Mel Berman

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Hi,

I will be holidaying in Bradenton for just two weeks in November 09.
I enjoy beach casting and boat fishing.

Will I require a license as a tourist?

I See that Florida residents need a license but for 2 weeks it seems a lot of money. If this is the case, it's not worth carrying my own gear and just go out on a boat trip which I suppose is covered by the skippers license.

Any info would be appreciated.
Regards,

Derrick Tron, UK
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Dear Derrick:

Though a full 7-day non-resident license is only $30.00, and quite affordable for most -- especially with the spectacular fishing we enjoy here in Florida -- another alternative would definitely be a guided trip woth a skipper who has a blanket license that covers all his passenger. Still less expensive would be to fish from one of our fishing piers that charges admission (like our Skyway Fishing Pier here in the Tampa Bay Area) -- which also has a blanket license that covers all who fish there.

Thanks for making our CapMel.com site one of your Internet fishing destinations.

Capt. Mel Berman

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