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Reel Time

Fishing, Outdoors, Reel Time

Reel Time: Make your New Year’s resolutions

Dec 28, 2020 – Rusty Chinnis
November 22, 2020
By Rusty Chinnis

Reel Time: What happened to catch and release?

Catch and release used to be a topic that came up often in fishing circles. The idea was to educate anglers that fish populations are finite and not the bottomless resource that they were once though…
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November 16, 2020
By Rusty Chinnis

Reel Time: The things that matter most

However you voted in the recent election, there’s probably a certain amount of stress and angst that’s followed.  I’m not immune either, but like so many stresses that make up our lives, I’m reminded…
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November 9, 2020
By Rusty Chinnis

Reel Time: Take a kid fishing

I don’t have any children of my own, but I was one, and one of my fondest memories was of my father tapping me on the shoulder at 5 o’clock in the morning and saying, “Bud, you going?” The answer to…
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November 2, 2020
By Rusty Chinnis
A little tunny caught on fly tackle

Reel Time: Fall fishing frenzy

Shifting seasons bring welcome changes to the Gulf coast, especially those fall fronts that are the couriers of cooling temperatures and lower humidity. Local anglers, weary of the dog days of summer…
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October 26, 2020
By Rusty Chinnis
Enlightened self interest

Enlightened self-interest

With just over a week until election day, regular readers of this column can probably guess how this writer will be voting. I’ve said it more than once, but this bears repeating. I don’t consider mys…
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October 18, 2020
By Rusty Chinnis
Reel Time: The land of shining water

Reel Time: The land of shining water

Noontootla is a word derived from the language of the Cherokee Nation in northeastern Georgia. The translation, “land of shining waters,” perfectly describes Noontootla Creek, an 11-mile tributary of…
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October 11, 2020
By Rusty Chinnis
Reel Time: Shifting seasons 

Reel Time: Shifting seasons 

I admit, it’s been a subtle shift from summer into fall, but even if the weather doesn’t reflect it, the shorter days and cooling Gulf waters are sending local anglers a message. One sure harbinger o…
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October 4, 2020
By Rusty Chinnis

Reel Time: Vote for water and land

I have been blessed to live on a barrier island in Manatee County since 1980. I was drawn to the area by family but moved here because of my love of fishing and the natural world. I realized I’d foun…
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September 27, 2020
By Rusty Chinnis

Reel Time: Sarasota Bay Watch releases clams

Sarasota Bay Watch conducted its first post-COVID-19 clam release on Saturday, Sept. 26. SBW board members and volunteers gathered at the Sarasota Sailing Squadron in the morning to transfer clams to…
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September 21, 2020
By Rusty Chinnis
Fred and the fish-eating squirrel

Reel Time: Fred and the fish-eating squirrel

Most of Bradenton was asleep and dreaming when I pulled up to the locked gate that barred access to Jiggs Landing on the shore of Ward Lake (a/k/a Bill Evers Reservoir). Beeping my horn and flashing…
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Upcoming Events

April 9, 2025
11:45 am

The Off-Stage Ladies of the Island Players, April luncheon meeting