By Peter Roos
They say, “Give a man a fish, and he will enjoy lunch. Teach a man to fish and he will never go hungry.”
I was raised fishing in the summers on the Canadian side of the St. Laurence River, mostly out for channel perch and grass pike. My dad and a group of friends also owned a small walleye fishing lodge deep in backwoods Quebec they took turns visiting.
There were also muskellunge, which were fun to fight but not good eating. One once towed my canoe 12 miles upstream.
There is more variety to fish for in Florida. I have a 260-page book full of Gulf of Mexico sport fish species. There are numerous different trout, snapper, mackerels, pompanos, snook, flounder, jacks, croakers, tunas and bonitas. Kingfish are the largest of the mackerels, which are offshore in our area from spring to fall. In April, May and October, they migrate closer to shore where anglers can find them.
The Old Salt Fishing Foundation holds their legendary spring King of the Beach tournament and party from R.O.C. Park, 200 Rex Place, Madeira Beach, Thursday, April 25 through Saturday, April 27.
Tournament Entry Fees – Online Registration
- $350/Team (Old Salt members)
- $400/Team (Tournament entry plus Membership)
- $425/Team (Non-Members) Species: King Mackerel and Spanish Mackerel
Payouts: Pays 6 Divisions $250,000 Cash & Prizes • 3 TWT’s – Standard, High Roller & The Smoker!
Last year at the Saturday night weigh-in, Team Double Bird weighed in the winning fish at 46.56 lbs., taking home $104,083 in cash and prizes.
The Old Salt Foundation loves old-fashioned seawall fishing. So much so that they have three family friendly seawall tournaments every year.
The Fall Seawall Tournament held every year, just in front of the Fall King of the Beach, is one of the most popular community tournaments. This is a fun event for anglers of all ages, so bring the whole family.
Old Salt Fishing Foundation Kids Fishing Slam, Friday, April 26, 5-7pm. The Kids Fishing Slam, held each Spring, is a one-day, fun-filled, family fishing “tournament” where Old Salt, local kids and their families fish the seawall at ROC Park – the Madeira Beach Recreation Complex. This is a completely FREE event with no entry fee. Old Salt provides bait, assistance plus free fishing rods and goody bags for the first 250 young anglers that sign up
to participate.
Already have fishing gear? Great! Bring your own and fish the Slam, too. The tournament closes out with a slew of prizes and trophies. This event is great fun for the whole family.
Click here for a sign-up form. www.oldsaltfishing.org/fishing-tournaments/kids-fishing-slam/
The Gulf Beaches Rotary Club holds a morning kids fishing event in the same location, with the help of The Old Salt Fishing Foundation, on Saturday, May 18. Registration starts at 8am. Fishing at 9am. There are free rods and tackle for the first 100 to register.
