The good, the bad, the ugly--for the very first time, they're all here together in a book of their own, a book that illustrates and describes virtually every kind of fish an angler in Florida--or the Bahamas or Caribbean Islands--could expect to find on the end of a line.

In this book you'll find the scoop on every hook-and-line species from the mightiest Marlin to the lowliest Lizardfish, along with advice on how to catch each one and how good it is to eat.

Because it's designed as a practical guide for fishermen, every effort has been made to keep biological jargon at bay. However, there is one nod to the world of science that is unavoidable--the inclusion of scientific names so that each of the species can be definitely pinpointed. Without scientific names, confusion would reign, because most species are known by more than one common name and, in many cases, two or more different species share the same common name.

It would have been nice to sort the species by their preferred environment--offshore, inshore, reef, flats or whatever. But as fishermen realize all too well, fish have tails and can swim where they please. The same kind of fish you catch on a flat today and in a bridge channel tomorrow may well strike your bait out on the deep reef next weekend. The constant element of surprise is one of the most appealing aspects of angling in this great area.

Alphabetical and strictly scientific classifications would have other drawbacks, so it was decided to use a mixed system that lets the species fall into whatever groupings would be natural. Most of the chapters cover a particular family of fishes. Some, however, deal with species that are not related but have certain habits or attributes in common. All are listed in a complete index at the end of the book. BE SURE TO ABIDE BY THE LAW

A great many kinds of fish are protected by conservation laws that may include licenses, daily bag limits, possession limits, minimum and maximum size limits, permitting and other legal requirements. Many different jurisdictions and agencies are involved in managing the fisheries--at least a half-dozen in Florida alone, to say nothing of other countries-and their regulations sometimes conflict.

In Florida, information is available from such sources as Florida Sportsman Magazine, county courthouses and many tackle shops. Visitors to Florida or the Islands usually are able to get the needed information from their travel agents, resorts, fishing camps or charter captains. BEWARE OF TOXIC FISH

Ciguatera is a type of poison carried by certain individual fish in tropical waters. Although only a minute number of fish are affected, people sometimes acquire the toxin, mostly by eating very big specimens of predatory types, such as the Great Barracuda, Amberjack, and even some larger varieties of Grouper and Snapper. The resulting illness can be serious and lingering, but is rarely fatal.

Ciguatera seems to be more common in some species than in others, but its occurrence is rarely predictable. In a given area, a few fish of a particular species may be carriers of the toxin while the majority of individuals of that same species are perfectly safe to eat.

The toxin comes from microscopic organisms called dinoflagellates that attach themselves to marine algae. Grazing fishes acquire the toxin by eating the algae. Predators acquire it by eating the grazers; however, it must accumulate in the muscle tissue of the predator for a considerable amount of time before reaching levels that are dangerous to human beings. It is always wise to let the big predators go and eat the smaller ones.

A second kind of marine fish illness--Puffer poisoning--is more serious--often fatal, in fact. But it is also far more easily avoided. All you have to do is refrain from eating any of the Puffers.

In fresh water, the roe of Gars is also known to be poisonous.

Fortunately, toxic fish are relatively rare. Our waters offer a tremendous variety of delicious species for all to enjoy.

From the Publisher
WHAT'S THAT ON MY LINE?

"What's the name of this fish anyway?"

"Is it good to eat?"

Those are two big questions that many thousands of fishermen constantly ask as they encounter the huge variety of fish in Florida's inshore and offshore waters.

Until now, there has been no complete, easy-to-use identification guide. Sport Fish of Florida fills that need. All the fish you're likely to catch are shown on these pages. Well over 200 of them. No more guesswork.

I.D. information, edibility ratings and other important information are provided by none other than Vic Dunaway, founding editor of Florida Sportsman Magazine. A legend, who really is just that, Vic knows his sport fish like no one else.

Sport Fish of Florida also features all original illustrations by Floridian Kevin R. Brant, who carefully produced the images exclusively for this long-awaited book.

At Florida Sportsman, we've talked periodically for 20 years about the need for a really helpful guidebook that would show all the key fish and give the salient facts about them for the typical angler. Lo and behold, here it is!

The stretch of the Florida's Atlantic Coast and the adjacent Indian River Lagoon system between Ponce de Leon Inlet and Sebastian Inlet offers world class angling for redfish, black drum, spotted seatrout, tripletail, and more. In addition, snook, tarpon, cobia, Spanish and king mackerel,little tunny, jack crevalle, bluefish, barracuda, sharks, and many other species can be found in these waters at various times of the year.
 

Do you know how to catch them?
 

This book will make you a better fisherman. You will learn: -How-to choose rods, reels, lines, lures, baits, rigging, and techniques that work here. -When to fish. The fishery changes with the seasons. This book will help you adjust your strategies. -Where to fish. Aerial photographs with text descriptions pinpoint hot spots all along the Space Coast.
 

Many of the Space Coast's finest fishing guides shared secrets contained in this book, such well known anglers as Eric Davis, Kent Gibbens, Fred Hill, Mike Hakala, Terry Parsons, Rodney Smith, and several more.
 

Fishing Florida's Space Coast, 128 pp., 8.5 x 11", paperback, $19.95

Excerpted from Fishing Florida's Space Coast: An Angler's Guide--Ponce de Leon Inlet to Sebastian Inlet (Angler's guide) by John Kumiski. Copyright © 2003. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter 1- Space Coast Fishing Tackle
 

For the most part, this section of the lagoon system is completely tide free. Fishing in this portion of the lagoon system resembles fishing in a large freshwater pond, at least as far as water movement and water levels are concerned.

And just what is this "lagoon system"?

The Indian River Lagoon system, 156 miles long, consists of the Indian River Lagoon, the Mosquito Lagoon, and the Banana River Lagoon. The Mosquito Lagoon lies the farthest north, in Volusia and northern Brevard counties. The northern end of the Indian River Lagoon also lies in Volusia county, but extends south all the way to St. Lucie County, where it ends at the St. Lucie Inlet. This book only covers the section in Volusia and Brevard counties. Lastly, the Banana River Lagoon lies entirely within Brevard county.

The lagoon system is the most ecologically diverse estuary in North America, and harbors over 100 species of fish. For our purposes relatively few of those are important. Red drum, black drum, spotted seatrout, snook, tarpon, jack crevalle, ladyfish, mangrove snapper, and sheepshead are the primary species anglers target in this area. The landlocked feature means that some fish, particularly redfish and seatrout, stay in some portions of the lagoon system for their entire lives. The Space Coast offers the finest shallow water sight fishing opportunities for big redfish anywhere in the universe.

The beach along this strip of the Florida coast is fairly feature free, with five exceptions. Exceptions one and two- the inlets themselves, Ponce to the north and Sebastian to the south. Both have a pair of rock jetties, some very heavy tidal flows, and are incredible fish magnets for much of the year.

The next exception- Cape Canaveral, bristling with NASA launch pads that send a steady stream of rockets towards the heavens, juts out into the Atlantic. Shoals off the beach here give ocean going fish plenty of opportunities to herd and trap bait pods.

Another exception- Port Canaveral supports a wide variety of commercial shipping. Rock jetties lie on either side of the Port’s entrance and a 40-plus foot deep, buoyed, dredged channel extends from inside the Port out into the Atlantic for four miles. This makes the area around Port another fish magnet for much of the year.