Steve McInturff With A Yellowtail Snapper

By Steve McInturff

On July 31st, Islander’s Steve and Barbara McInturff, and their daughter, Britton, were guests of family friends Ruth Hudson and her son, Robert, for an offshore Gulf fishing trip aboard the Hudson family’s 42-foot Cabo, “Diana Maria.”

The weather was sensational, with very light winds, no storms, and almost-flat sea conditions. The water was a wonderful deep blue color and clear as gin. Just another one of those days when you take a deep breath, close your eyes and say, “I love it out here.”

The targeted species for the day was snapper.  More specifically, Yellowtail Snapper.  While in the past, we have experienced more successful yellowtail fishing days in terms of the number caught, this day the size of the yellowtail made up for the lack of numbers.

The mid-to-late summer heat can oftentimes slow the bite, and one must fish really hard to be successful. Additionally, the super-clear water can make fooling the eagle-eyed snappers a challenge.  Leader materials as light as 15-pound test had to be employed, which can increase one’s chances of a successful hook-up, but naturally will result in easy break-offs. (Especially when your hook-up is being chased by the ever-present barracuda searching for the easy meal.)

In all, 11 very nice yellowtails were added to the fish box.  The catch of the day also included the usual mixed bag of red grouper, amberjacks, sharks, barracuda, and mangrove snapper.  Another fun day, offshore, 30 miles west of an island we know as paradise

Turtle Nest

By. J. Hunter Sizemore, The Bradenton Herald

ANNA MARIA ISLAND — A distinct track in the sand, some dug-up plants and possibly a clutch of eggs are the only signs of a mother turtle’s nocturnal visit to the beach.

But at sunrise twice a week, Tom and Lois Huntington pull on their Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch T-shirts and search for these markings by the pink glow of early morning.

From late spring to mid-fall, about 70 volunteers take turns searching Anna Maria Island’s Gulf side beaches for turtle nests: marking them off, logging data and protecting them. The information is used to protect the turtle’s nesting grounds from development and misuse that might further harm these already-endangered species.

Statewide in 2009, 2,748 people helped in some way to monitor the 800 miles of turtle-nesting beaches along Florida’s coast. All of it is covered on foot or by all-terrain vehicle every morning from March to October, says Anne Meylan, a research administrator for Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Baby Loggerhead Sea Turtle

This group includes some government and military employees, but it is largely made up of volunteer citizens.

“It’s a partnership,” Meylan said. “If it didn’t exist, then collecting all of this data would be impossible.”

As of Friday, volunteers had found 130 turtle nests on the island this season, and so far almost 1,100 baby turtles had hatched and made their way to the Gulf of Mexico.

By RICHARD DYMOND - rdymond@bradenton.com

Erica Webb, the bartender at the historic Rod & Reel Pier Restaurant on North Shore Drive in Anna Maria, says the best thing about the place is that you always meet someone interesting there.

A sampling of the Sunday crowd turned up, in this order, a treasure hunter with an eBay account, an opera singer who is also a paranormal investigator and a super serious fisherman from Lakeland. Not a bad haul and well below the legal limit.

But the 300-foot pier, said to be one of only several privately owned piers in Florida, seems to attract those accomplished in the much ignored art of doing little to relax from doing much.

It has always been not much more than it was when built in 1947 — a bunch of boards strung together out over Tampa Bay with quaint bar, bait shop and restaurant at the tip.

But there, with a fishing pole in her hand, was Brenda Delhotal, a soprano in the Elgin Opera in Illinois and a member of the Elgin Paranormal Investigators.

Wearing a neon pink top and a yellow hat, Delhotal said she trekked to Anna Maria from Illinois with her sister and friend Lydia Hanson all because of her husband, Augie.

Read More

Holmes Beach photographer Craig Litten has published a book of photos on Anna Maria Island subjects, including this banyan tree PHOTOS/CRAIG LITTEN

Cindy Lane – Sun Staff Writer
July 7, 2010

HOLMES BEACH – Former photojournalist Craig Litten has published a book of photographs of Anna Maria Island focusing on the lesser-known angles of the much–photographed destination.

Artistic renderings of tree roots, power lines, clouds and beach toys add seasoning to familiar beach locales in the hardcover book, available from the author.

The book has been used by two bridal couples as a guest book for their Island weddings, said Litten, a Holmes Beach resident who has photos on display at The Back Alley on Bridge Street in Bradenton Beach and at Ginny and Jane E’s in Anna Maria.

“I started shooting it because I was inspired by the Island,” said Litten, who relocated here with his wife from Daytona Beach, where he worked for the News-Journal.

A Florida newspaper photographer since 1988, Litten estimates he has had more than 10,000 pictures published worldwide in newspapers, magazines, books and on the Internet.

Read Complete Story

They came to the beach this Memorial Day just like they have since the first bridge to the Island was built and they came despite the ongoing oil spill on the other side of the Gulf.

Memorial Day was a day to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice, a day to forget the grim news headlines and a day to enjoy the beautiful weather on Anna Maria Island’s beaches.

Beautiful Weather and Perfect Water Temperatures Kept The Beaches Full For The Entire Memorial Day Weekend

“We’ve had strong crowds of people all three days of the weekend,” said Capt. Joe Westerman, lifeguard for the Manatee County Department of Safety stationed at Coquina Beach. “It’s been busy, but we haven’t had any big problems.”

Meanwhile, businesses that deal with visitors to the beach were doing well.

“We’ve done real well this holiday,” said JoAnne Spallino, who owns Joe’s Eats and Sweets with her husband, Joe.

“This holiday was a lot busier than last year’s.”

Lauren Sato, co-owner of Beach Bum’s in Anna Maria, said that they had a great holiday renting electric vehicles, bikes and beach related items.

“We had a record high for Memorial Day,” she said. “The majority of our customers came from Bradenton, Apopka, Lakeland and Orlando.”

Read More

Sun Setting Through the Pine Trees Just South of the Sandbar Restaurant

By Jim Abbott, Orlando Sentinel
June 6, 2010

It only takes about three minutes for the sun to disappear after it touches the horizon, but perhaps nowhere on the planet is that time celebrated with more passion than Anna Maria Island.
Watching the sunset is a cherished ritual on this sleepy barrier island, about 20 miles west of Bradenton in Manatee County. Visitors and locals alike gather on the beaches to savor the dimming of the day, an ordinary event extraordinary enough to inspire spontaneous applause.

“In Anna Maria, the sunset is a celebration,” says Kathy Wooten, manager of the Queen’s Gate Resort, one of the many mom-and-pop hotels that dot the three towns — Bradenton Beach, Holmes Beach and Anna Maria — on the seven-mile slip of island. “If you come here, it’s the one thing you have to do.”

Clapping is optional, of course.

It always seems to happen, though, whether on a secluded stretch of sand or at the iconic Sandbar restaurant on the north end of Anna Maria. In this spot, diners have gathered to watch the ritual since 1913, when a restaurant known as “The Pavilion” entertained guests who could only reach the island by boat.

Nowadays, the Sandbar features dining either indoors or on an outdoor deck with some of the tables perched on the sand itself. Employees and patrons alike stop to watch the show on the horizon, which is acknowledged by the ringing of a bell — and applause, of course.

Complete Story

Tarpon Fishing off the Coast of Anna Maria Island

By Captain Mark Howard – SumoTime Fishing Charters

With the onset of Summer ,fishing is turning hot just like the weather. The legendary Silver King Tarpon will be off the beaches and in the passes.

Fish from 30 pounds to 200 pounds will be cruising the waters around Anna Maria Island.

Pass Crabs, Jumbo Shrimp, Pinfish, Threadfins, Pilchards, and Mullet are some of the baits of choice to catch this majestic Linesider.

Redfish are heating up with schools in the potholes and up in the Mangroves of Tampa Bay.

Greenbacks and Pinfish will entice these  crimson beauties to chew.  Speckled trout are on the flats and will eagerly take a greenback or artificial bait.

Early mornings and afternoon trips are  best to beat the heat.

Capt. Mark Howard
SumoTime Fishing Charters
www.sumotimefishing.com
941-704-6763 cell

HOLMES BEACH – There was one place in Holmes Beach where residents knew they could get a captive audience with the mayor.

Over a burger and a cold beer, they could vent their concerns at Duffy’s Tavern, where owner and former mayor Pat Geyer would always listen.

Miss Duffy - Pat Geyer

Everyone called her “Miss Duffy,” because of her close connection to the tavern. She died Saturday at the age of 79.

“She was always very involved with the community,” said her daughter, Pamela Geyer. “She called them all family.”

Pat Geyer’s story in Holmes Beach started in 1960, when she and her husband moved their family there from Cincinnati. The couple had been vacationing on the island for years and fell in love with its laid-back scene and beachy culture.

About a decade later, the family bought Duffy’s Tavern, already an island institution that opened in 1958 in a cracker shack on the beach.

“My father worked the first 40 years of their marriage,” Pamela Geyer said. “She figured she would work the rest of it.”

Geyer used to joke that she bought the restaurant at 5808 Marina Drive to keep her five daughters out of trouble by putting them all to work at the restaurant.

Read Complete Story

MANATEE — A raisin and walnut pie brimming with milk chocolate and finished with a hint of cinnamon has helped an Anna Maria restaurant owner become a 2010 national pie champion.

Andrea Spring, co-owner with her husband, Ed, of Sign of the Mermaid

Andrea Spring

Restaurant on Gulf Drive, entered a chocolate raisin walnut pie that took Best in Show in the professional division of the 2010 Crisco American Pie Council Pie Challenge in Celebration, near Orlando, on Sunday.

“That raisin pie was to die for,” Ed Spring said. “When they announced she had won, she screamed.”

Spring captured first place in two of the contest’s eight categories for pies this year, winning the raisin category and the cream category for her Hula Hula Pineapple Pie with fried pie crust.

“I am a 2010 national pie champion,” said Andrea Spring on Sunday from Celebration, her voice a mixture of exhaustion and excitement.

When judges looked at all eight 2010 category winners, the chocolate raisin walnut creation was judged best of all eight.

There were 170 entries in the professional division, Andrea Spring said.

Read More

Mr Darwin Weinke with a nice 30" redfish.

Snook ,Trout ,and Redfish will be feeding ferociously on live bait . Look for the Snook and Redfish to be up in the Mangroves on the higher tides and the Speckled Trout to be in sea grass areas with 2-6ft of water.

Spanish Mackerel are in Tampa Bay. Sharks  have made a push into Tampa Bay with many Blacktips, Spinners, Bull ,and Lemon Sharks cruising the deep edges of the ship channel and  off the beaches.

Tarpon will make a show this month off the beaches and in the passes. To catch Tarpon  off the beach, it is imperative to have a stealthy quite approach to the fish. A live crab , pinfish,shiner, threadfin, or jumbo shrimp  will stir the  the hunger pains in these majestic fish.

Timothy Langham, Orlando, with a nice 32" redfish.

May is one of my favorite months to fish the Anna Maria Island areas as the weather is moderate and  sunny  with clam winds and smooth seas.