There are plenty of seafood restaurants located on the water. Then there are those rare places that pull fish, shrimp and crabs out of the water, cook them and serve them to those same customers who watched them come off the boats 20 minutes earlier. ...more

January 21, 2008

A startling white 36-foot catamaran represents the fusion of Hans Geissler's business sense and humanitarian heart. ...more

January 7, 2008

A chartered plane that crashed into a shallow harbor after taking off from Kodiak Island, killing six people, carried fishermen from a dissident sect of the Russian Orthodox Church home for Christmas. ...more

January 7, 2008

Since its creation, I've been an active participant in each of the Lake Denton Committee meetings. It's been my shared opinion with others, this issue revolves around overcrowding at the boat ramp by scuba divers seeking certification, a lack of parking space in the immediate neighborhood for them, and some of the illicit and/or illegal activities that too often occurs in secluded areas. Working together, committee members, county employees and several other concerned people have developed a short-term plan that will reopen Lake Denton to the public. I'm glad to say they've made a lot of progress and presented the proposals to the Board of County Commissioners. However, I am very much opposed to one particular aspect of the committee's recommendation. In order to pay for (or at least offset) the costs of improvements and needed personnel, a per diver fee of $25 per day was agreed upon. This amount, after much discussion by the divers present, was deemed to be reasonable and a customary cost incurred as part of their normal certification process. This fee would be waived for the instructors and "Dive Masters" present. ...more

January 6, 2008

SEBRING — Ken Melvin and Ray Napper, two of the seven members of the Lake Denton Citizens Advisory Committee, were not happy with the committee's recommendations to re-open this closed public lake with severe restrictions. Melvin, though, reluctantly endorsed the Highlands County commissioners' decision Tuesday to reopen the popular lake –– closed since early September –– despite the number of controversial restrictions on public access. He described the lake reopening plan as too little, too late and nowhere near a good solution to a big problem. Unlike the other speakers who harshly criticized the plan, though, Melvin didn't oppose the commissioners adopting the committee's unpopular and controversial plan. ...more

January 3, 2008

SEBRING — Don Bates, the Highlands County commissioner who chaired the special Lake Denton Citizens Advisory Committee, admits there still are unanswered questions about the county's closing of public access to the county's most popular lake. ...more

January 2, 2008

The last quarter moon occurs tomorrow at 7:51 a.m. and this means that dominate late night feeding migration comes to an end — or at least reduces half in duration and intensity — and the beginning of a midday bite feeding migration. The best time to be on the water for the next three days is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. However, if you have been "on fish" already during the early morning, there is a chance that you might hook into a larger bass between 6-7 a.m., but the chances lessen each day for this to happen. ...more

December 30, 2007

SEBRING — Some Highlands County citizens are calling the tentative plan to re-open popular Lake Denton illegal. Others are calling it ridiculous. One who is doing both is Ken Melvin, one of the seven members of the special Lake Denton Citizens Advisory Committee. On Jan. 2, the Highlands County commissioners are scheduled to at least discuss, and possibly vote on, the committee's controversial, four-point recommendation to re-open this closed public lake. "I think it's illegal," Melvin said about the committee's recommendation to severely restrict public access and charge weekend "user's fees" of $25 per day to scuba divers, boaters, fishermen, swimmers and sunbathers. "I'm going to say that to the commissioners on Wednesday," Melvin said. He was sick for several months and missed the last two advisory committee meetings. ...more

December 29, 2007

I can't believe so many negative articles on Lake Istokpoga. I have people using my boat ramp every day (today a 26-foot pontoon put in with no problem) and last year too. The water isn't that low. The businesses that rely on fishermen are going to go out of business just from all the bad publicity. Last year all the scare about how the lake was going to go down to maybe 35.5 stopped a lot of fishermen from coming over the summer. We went down to about 37.4 and we are now at 38.6. ...more

December 23, 2007

The New Moon occurs today at 5:40 p.m., which means the best fishing time is from 4 p.m. to dark for the next three days. The second best time is about twelve hours later in the morning when the secondary feeding migration takes place. This pattern moves slightly forward (starts later each day) about 30 minutes per day and decreases in intensity during this process – bad news for the daytime anglers and fishermen. ...more

December 9, 2007