Dana Cook holds two of his Sea Turtle Hatcher fishing lures.
Willie Howard/The Coastal Star
By Willie Howard
Many Palm Beach County anglers know that mutton snapper linger in shallow water during the summer months, waiting for baby sea turtles to enter the water from the beach.
Dana Cook of Boynton Beach, a lifelong angler and fly-tier who holds a degree in fine arts from Florida Atlantic University, knows that many ocean fish eat sea turtle hatchlings.
Watching a documentary on the hatchling sea turtle feeding frenzy led Cook to develop the Sea Turtle Hatcher, an imitation sea turtle lure made from a “leather-like” material tied to a 9/0 circle hook.
Cook says his lures will catch snook, tarpon, snappers and groupers along with pelagic fish that feed along the offshore mats of floating sargassum, where hatchling sea turtles spend the first year or more of their lives.
“Grouper have been caught on them. Sailfish have been caught on them. Pelagics love them,” Cook said.
Cook said the imitation sea turtle lures feature legs that move independent of the body, giving the Hatchers a realistic appearance in the water. Once saturated, the sea turtle lure suspends in the water and moves up when the angler’s rod tip is lifted.
Cook grew up tying flies in Philadelphia. After moving to Boca Raton, where he attended high school, he started fishing more and continued to create fish-catching lures on his fly-tying vise.
At one point in the early 1990s, Cook worked as a mate on the Two Georges drift boat, where he sold his buck-tail streamers, a drifting jig made with double hooks designed for catching kingfish with dead sardines.
Cook’s marketing plan for the Sea Turtle Hatcher goes beyond selling to American tackle shops. He says the lure can prevent poaching of real sea turtle hatchlings that are used as bait.
“My ultimate success is going to be selling to countries like Trinidad that are in dire need of an alternative to prevent poaching,” Cook said, adding that he’s contacting government officials in the Bahamas, Belize and the Dominican Republic about his imitation sea turtle lure.
Daniel Evans, research specialist for the Gainesville-based Sea Turtle Conservancy, said people catching sea turtles for bait might pose a threat to hatchlings in some areas, but “it is certainly not a major threat to sea turtles on a regional or global scale.”
But Evans noted that tarpon, dolphinfish, jacks, snook and “pretty much any large predatory fish found in tropical and subtropical waters” will eat sea turtle hatchlings.
The Sea Turtle Hatchers are available through Cook’s website, www.dcclures.com, along with trolling darts, snapper lures, two imitation shrimp, buck-tail streamers and an imitation field mouse for freshwater anglers trying to fool largemouth bass.
Still in development: life-size spiny lobster and stingray lures for large grouper and snapper.
Lake Worth Lagoon Fishing Challenge set for June
Fishing and fisheries science will come together in June during the Lake Worth Lagoon Fishing Challenge — a fishing tournament that will help scientists better understand Palm Beach County’s largest estuary.
Participants in the challenge will submit photos and other information about fish caught in the Lake Worth Lagoon, the estuary that extends 20 miles from North Palm Beach to Ocean Ridge.
Deadline for submissions is midnight June 30.
“By sharing details about the fish being caught in the lagoon, participants will help us better understand this local treasure that we are working hard to protect, restore and enhance,” said Rob Robbins, director of Palm Beach County’s Department of Environmental Resources Management.
To receive points in the Fishing Challenge, anglers must submit the date and time of their catch, the type and length of the fish caught as well as the location, which can be done through the tournament app.
For more details, go to www.LWLI.org/FishingChallenge or call 233-2400.
Michael Wood shows the 50.6-pound kingfish that won biggest overall fish in the Sail Inn KDW Fishing Tournament
and the Lantana Fishing Derby. The Sail Inn Tournament raised $11,000 for the Hospice of Palm Beach County Foundation.
Willie Howard/The Coastal Star
Team Woody’s kingfish wins two tournaments
Michael Wood of West Palm Beach, fishing with his father, James, and two sisters, won heaviest fish awards in two fishing tournaments May 14 with a kingfish caught off Jupiter.
Wood said the big kingfish hit a live goggle-eye rigged with titanium leader and a stinger hook in 100 feet of water around 9:45 a.m.
Bull sharks were in the area, so the Wood family made sure to move their 25-foot boat Woody to the fish and gaff it as soon as possible.
“We were really fortunate we got him in the boat,” Michael Wood said.
The kingfish weighed 50.5 pounds on the scales at the Old Key Lime House in the Lantana Derby and 50.6 on the Sail Inn’s tournament scales at Boynton Harbor Marina.
The Wood family registered for both tournaments. Their hefty kingfish won them the $2,500 top prize in the Lantana Fishing Derby and $7,220 from the Sail Inn Tavern.
Delray brewery developing edible six-pack rings
Plastic six-pack rings that can entangle marine life could be replaced with something more biologically friendly.
Delray Beach-based SaltWater Brewery recently partnered with New York-based WeBelievers to produce an edible six-pack ring made from wheat and barley.
The first prototype batch came out in April and was offered to customers at the SaltWater Brewery’s tasting room in Delray Beach, brewery spokeswoman Katelyn Perkins said.
“Over the next three months, we plan to perfect the product and produce 400,000 of them,” Perkins said. Beer should be available in the rings later this summer, she said.
The Bootleggers fishing team won the $10,000 top-fish prize in the May 21 Downtown Showdown KDW tournament
with this 86-pound wahoo caught on a live goggle-eye in 160 feet off Jupiter. From left are team members
Mike Minia of Boynton Beach, Brian Humphreys of Wellington and Alicia Lipscomb of Boynton Beach.
Willie Howard/The Coastal Star
Coming events
June 4: Palm Beach County KDW Classic fishing tournament for kingfish, dolphin and wahoo based at Riviera Beach Marina. Captain’s meeting and final registration 6 p.m. June 3 at Riviera Beach Marina. Entry fee $275 per boat. 832-6780 or www.kdwclassic.com.
June 4: Basic boating safety class offered by Coast Guard Auxiliary in Boca Raton. Class is 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the headquarters building at Spanish River Park, 3939 N. Ocean Blvd. Fee $35. Register at the door. Bring lunch. 391-3600 or email fso-pe@cgauxboca.org.
June 5: Memorial service for Flip Traylor of Ocean Ridge, who died in March at age 86. Friends and family with gather from noon to 3 p.m. at the Boynton Beach Woman’s Club. RSVP by emailing Pam Anwyll at panwyll@verizon.net.
June 18: Gold Coast Lionfish Derby, Waterstone Resort & Marina, 999 E. Camino Real, Boca Raton. Weigh-in 4-6 p.m. Free lionfish tasting after the weigh-in. Cash prizes for largest, smallest and most lionfish. Entry fee $200 per four-diver team. Captain’s meeting 6 p.m. June 17. 368-2155 or world-of-scuba.com.
June 18: Horizon’s Fishing Tournament for kingfish, dolphin, wahoo, grouper and snapper. Captain’s meeting 5 p.m. June 16 at Riviera Beach Marina. Weigh-in 1-4 p.m. at Riviera Beach Marina. Entry fee $200 per boat by June 15 or $300 after. 494-6888 or www.hpbcf.org/fishing.
June 25: Lake Worth Fishing Tournament for kingfish, dolphin, wahoo and snapper. Captain’s meeting 6 p.m. June 24 at Tuppen’s Marine & Tackle, 1002 N. Dixie Highway, Lake Worth. Weigh-in 1-3:30 p.m. June 25 at Palm Beach Yacht Center in Hypoluxo. Entry fee $175 per boat through June 20 or $250 after. 588-3366 or www.lakeworthfishingtournament.com.
June 25: Coast Guard Auxiliary offers basic boating safety class, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park, 2010 N. Federal Highway, Boynton Beach. Fee $40. Register at the door. 331-2429.
Tip of the month
Want a chance to win a boat, a truck or scholarship money by fishing this summer?
Check out CCA/Florida’s STAR tournament.
The statewide fishing tournament began May 28 and continues through Sept. 5.
Anglers must be CCA/Florida members (or junior members) and registered for the STAR tournament to be eligible for prizes in several divisions.
The first seven registered anglers who catch one of 160 tagged redfish released around the state will be eligible for prizes, including a truck.
Anglers can also win prizes, including boats and college scholarships, by catching and submitting photos of a variety of other fish: snook, seatrout, cobia, sheepshead, dolphin, kingfish and lionfish.
An adult CCA/Florida membership costs $30. The entry fee for the STAR tournament is $35.
For details, go to www.ccaflstar.com.
Willie Howard is a freelance writer and licensed boat captain. Reach him at tiowillie@bellsouth.net
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