By Milt Inman
Milt Inman is chief photographer for Skinny Moose Media and U.S. Hunting Today.

Some days ago, I was at a body of water taking photos of anything that looked interesting to me. I got pictures of birds, animals, reptiles, flowers, landscapes and people. Then I saw a man standing up in a boat move into a cove near me. I wondered what he was looking for. He was not fishing as near as I could tell but every once in a while he would throw something out in the water that would land with a soft whispering sound and disappear into the water.

After a few minutes, he pulled on a rope and hauled a mess of white stuff into the boat, shook it out and threw some things back into the water, which in turn were gobbled up by a large bird that followed the boat around.

Now this happened over and over again, so I thought he must be fishing with a net of some kind. I am from the state of Maine where net fishing like this is not legal and being in Florida seeing this done is all new to me.

I was told by some natives that this way of fishing was called Net Casting and the big bird was a pelican.

It takes a lot of time and practice to be able spread this large net out and land it flat on the water. A beautiful sight to see. Thats why I call it “THE ART OF NET CASTING!”

Milt Inman

Martin Truex Jr. takes a little time off during a busy schedule at the Daytona Speed Weeks to do a little fishing in the lake located at Disney World in Orlando. Several NASCAR drivers will fish while at Daytona.

Read more here.

Tom Remington

Taylor Lane Owen, of Old Town, was a passenger with family members in a boat cruising the Suwannee River near Chiefland, Florida, when a sturgeon jumped hitting and breaking Owen’s leg. An aunt received cuts and bruises.

This is the third confirmed sturgeon “attack” this year. Last year 10 people got hit and injured. Officials are once again warning boaters to slow down on the river.

Tom Remington

I got looking back through some of my video I shot this past winter while here in Florida and put together a couple pieces I thought might be of interest to readers.

It was in early April and my friend and photographer Milt Inman, along with my older brother “Big Al” gathered up all our photo gear and headed out for Medard Park, that sits just east of the city of Tampa, Florida. Medard Park is made up of several interconnected bodies of water that contain a lot of bass, catfish and alligators.

While I was there atop an observation deck on the west side of the channel connecting two bodies of water, I could look through the trees to a point jutting out into the water that was probably 500-600 yards away. Just off that point, we could see the fish jumping like crazy. I didn’t have my tripod with me at that moment so I did the best I could to video the jumping fish. I hope you enjoy it.

After the jumping fish, there’s a short piece that shows one angler’s catch. It was an assortment of bass and catfish.

Note: The cardinal you hear singing in the beginning of the video was captured while I was shooting. It isn’t added later. He was perched in a tree perhaps 15 or 20 feet away and really wasn’t much interested in showing himself but he did want to sing. Below the video is a still photo I took of him.

Tom Remington

This is not exactly as the title says but frightening nonetheless. In Brevard County, Florida, a group were fishing in a boat. They were reeling in a small fish, when a 5-foot long, 57-pound king mackerel, broke the water hitting Josh Landin in the chest and landing in the boat biting his leg. The incident resulted in over 100 stitches.

Pictures and more here.

Tom Remington

Hmmm! We know there are cures for red tide. What we don’t know is what affect these so-called cures will have on other species and how the “cure” will affect the long term balance of our water’s ecosystems.

Back in the 40s scientists dumped massive amounts of copper sulfate by boat and airplane to stop red tide. It did and everything in its path. A dumb idea that was never really well thought out.

A man in Florida, inventor Bob Rigby, says he has a cure that will stop red tide and still allow most other species to survive. That’s encouraging. I hope that other species he’s allowing to survive is man.

So what is Rigby’s secret formula? Bleach! Read all about it here in the Sun Herald.

Tom Remington

For the sixth time this summer, the Suwannee River in northern Florida has been the scene of jumping sturgeon injuring boaters. On Saturday a nine year old girl and thirty-one year old women were injured when a 4 1/2 foot long sturgeon jumped out of the water and struck the two who were riding in a boat.

The impact knocked the 9-year old girl out of the boat. She was not wearing a personal flotation device. The two were sent to the Shands Hospital in Gainsville. No word on their condition.

Officials are now saying they plan to erect some signs warning boaters of the potential dangers of jumping sturgeon.

Tom Remington

It’s happened for the second time in recent weeks. The first time happened back in April when a man and a woman were in their boat cruising the Suwannee. A sturgeon, believed to be about 3 feet in length, jumped out of the water and struck the woman.

This time a man driving his personal water craft became a victim of a jumping sturgeon. The two collided knocking the man unconscious. A woman friend was following behind and was able to stop and assist the man until other help arrived. He was airlifted to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

This is not an unusual event. Florida wildlife officials say it happens a couple times a year. They say sturgeon can jump up to 8 feet high and weigh around 200 pounds.

Tom Remington

A Florida woman was struck and injure by a fish that jumped out of the Suwanee River. Dawn Poirier, 31 from Pinellas Country and Johnston Staples III, were traveling in their 19-foot boat up the Suwanee River, when a 3-foot fish, believed to be a sturgeon jumped out of the water and struck Poirier, injuring her. She was taken to a nearby hospital. No reports yet on her condition.

Authorities estimate damages to the boat at around $1,000 to the rear seat and motor cowling.

Tom Remington