Coastal Conservation Association Set To Hold Annual Fundraiser

By FRANK SARGEANT The Tampa Tribune

Published: Apr 27, 2008

Some 20 years ago, the Coastal Conservation Association came to Florida. It arrived via one guy, who invited a young Trib outdoors writer to lunch as a chance to bend his ear about a new group of anglers that was making a big difference in fishery management.

That was the first I heard of the CCA, and at the time I assumed there was not a lot of chance it could have the impact in Florida that it had in Texas, where it began. Here, we had commercial anglers sitting on the Marine Fisheries Commission, which was supposed to protect the fish. We had thousands of recreational anglers who believed the day was done only when the cooler was full of fish. There were few size limits, few closed seasons and very little understanding that the sea is not an inexhaustible source of all the seafood we might want.

All that has changed, and the CCA is a big reason.

One of the first and strongest local chapters was the one founded in Tampa by Larry Hartt, Richard Seward and other longtime residents, and one of the first jobs they and others from around the state had to face was hiring an executive director. They chose a guy who was a lobbyist in Tallahassee - a move that shocked many because Ted Forsgren, by his own admission, knew as much about fishing as the average angler knows about nuclear physics.

But what Forsgren did know was how bureaucracies work, how to manage the give-and-take of politics and how to direct public policy. By working for better appointments to the management commission, rallying the troops to meetings and speaking his mind when dozens of commercial anglers tried to shout him down, Forsgren - acting on the wishes of the anglers behind him - slowly turned the ship.

Today, Florida is recognized as having one of the nation's most progressive fish management programs. And most of the fish that have been managed primarily for recreation are in better shape than they have been in decades. Snook, tarpon, trout, redfish and many more - almost across the board, the control of commercial harvest and the conservation ethic instilled in recreational anglers have brought amazing results, despite that there are now five times more of us in Florida than there were 20 years ago.

Forsgren is still the executive director, and along the way he has become a darned good fisherman, too.

Thursday night, the CCA's Tampa Chapter holds its annual fundraising auction and banquet. Some $50,000 worth of boats, motors, marine electronics, fishing gear, sporting art and assorted jewelry - most of it donated by conservation-minded businesses around the Bay area - will be available. It's one of the best parties of the year, typically drawing some 400 outdoors enthusiasts and their families, as well as noted media anglers such as captains Bill Miller and Mel Berman.

The event is at A La Carte Pavilion, 4050 Dana Shores Drive in Tampa, at 6 p.m. Tickets are $125 and include a year's CCA membership, or $195 per couple. Call (813) 839-2282 for reservations.

SNOOK SEASON ENDING: Wednesday is the last day of the spring snook season along the west coast, in the Everglades and in Monroe County. The season remains closed through August.

Anglers looking for a last bite before the closure probably will do best to head to the passes from Anclote Key southward. Snook typically begin to stack into these flowages preparing to spawn at this time of year, and continue through the summer. Action is usually best on outgoing tides, particularly the strong tides associated with the new and full moons. The bite is always strongest after sundown.

Drifting a live pinfish, sardine or jumbo shrimp just off bottom is the classic method of catching pass snook, but many anglers also do well with plastic shrimp or mullet such as those from DOA, and the 6-inch swimmer-tail Tsunami also catches plenty of fish in this situation. All of these lures work best if fished nearly straight down from a drifting boat; keep them moving like the naturals that flow out with the current.

ETC.: The Safari Club International's auction and banquet is Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at the St. Petersburg Coliseum, 435 Fourth Ave. N. The $70 ticket includes dinner and an auction of hunting trips, firearms and outdoors art; (813) 645-8028. … Captain Richard Howard hosts an advanced inshore fishing class beginning Wednesday at the Clearwater West Marine on Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard. The classes, from 7-9 p.m., continue for five weeks; (727) 446-8962.