Good tides and the absence of red tide brought good fishing across our waters. Anglers fishing across Pine Island Sound, Matlacha Pass, Charlotte Harbor and around the Gulf passes report little to no red tide apparent over the past week. Adding the strongest or highest tides of the year and it’s a combination for fishing success.

As we expect, warm days, the presence of oily baitfish and the first spring tides of the year turned on the seatrout. It’s like magic every year, big pre-spawn females show up throughout the inshore waters with this combination. Seatrout up to 24 inches went for live bait and a host of lures across the east side of the Sound, north Matlacha Pass and in Charlotte Harbor around Bokeelia and Bull Bay. Often in schools and at times most hooked we 18 inches and above.

Snook and redfish were active much of the week as snook up to 40 inches and reds up to 32 inches were hooked over the incoming tides. Large live shrimp, small baitfish, soft plastic baits and gold spoons were top producers. Look for both on the higher water along shorelines, island points and docks or piers (at least what remains of docks and piers). Snook up to 32 inches went for live shrimp from the Matlacha Drawbridge after sunset.

Jack crevalle, large and small, were hooked while fishing snook, reds and trout. They are often running in schools with multiple hook-ups at once common. Not much for food value, but they give a fight you won’t soon forget. A few cobia were sighted or hooked around Charlotte Harbor, a sure sign that seasons re changing.

Spanish mackerel are showing up inshore as they were caught in north Matlacha Pass, Charlotte Harbor and in the Sound near Captiva Pass. Often mixed with schools of large ladyfish, the action is hot if you find them. That is until Flipper shows up. Many anglers, once getting a bite going soon, had up to 10 bottlenose dolphin move in next to the boat. Generally, fish lose their appetite when a huge apex predator closes in. Dolphin have learned to follow fishing boats for an easy meal and they are getting more aggressive year after year. Why hunt for food when they don’t have to? A tired fought out fish is just too easy for them to pass up. Dolphin are to smart for their own good, please do not intentionally feed them. They are more than capable of hunting and catching fish on their own and should not learn to become dependent on humans. Plus, its illegal.

The winter sheepshead run is beginning to taper off. Fish up to 5 pounds were boated but in lower numbers. Inshore, docks and pilings around Punta Rassa, Tarpon Bay and the Gulf passes were the better bet. Offshore, they were mixed with snapper and grunts over live bottom, ledges and man-made reefs between 25 and 50-foot depths.

Bottom diggers fishing Gulf of Mexico depths from 80-120 feet boxed limits of red grouper plus added a variety of snapper, porgy and grunts to the box. Goliath grouper, barracuda, and sharks were caught from the same depths over artificial reefs.

It was a good week on the water and let’s hope the trend continues. If the red tide remains in check and water quality remains good, there is no reason not to expect good fishing as the spring season arrives.

To keep up on current fishing regulations, you can go to www.myfwc.com or download the Fish Rules app for the latest rules and regulations.

If you have a fishing report or for charter information, contact Gulf Coast Guide Service at 239-410-8576 (call or text); on the web at www.fishpineisland.com; or via email at gcl2fish@live.com.

Have a safe week and good fishin’.

As a lifetime resident of Matlacha and Pine Island, Capt. Bill Russell has spent his life fishing and learning the waters around Pine Island and Southwest Florida, and as a professional fishing guide for the past 23 years.

Local Columns

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To the editor:

The city of Cape Coral again hopes to remove the Chiquita Boat Lock on the South Spreader Waterway. The Matlacha Civic Association, supported by many organizations and individuals, successfully defeated the first effort to remove the lock in 2019-20. In that proceeding, a Florida Administrative Law Judge concluded that removal of the lock would damage the mangroves and further impair the waters of the Matlacha Pass.

The new effort to remove the Chiquita Lock is based on promises by Cape Coral to start several new projects to improve the quality of water that flows into the South Spreader. Cape Coral also boasts that it has engaged in numerous projects which have also improved our waterways. Tell that to the islanders.

Cape Coral’s proposal not only will not improve our waters, but also will violate a consent order binding on the city. In the 1970s, the predecessor to the Department of Environmental Protection halted the digging of canals in the mangrove wetlands along the Matlacha Pass Aquatic Preserve by developers of Cape Coral. The outcome of that enforcement action was the largest fine ever levied for environmental crimes, the bankruptcy of the developer, the deeding of precious mangrove wetlands to the state of Florida, and the creation of a water detention system for the canals designed to ameliorate further eco-damage.

The enforcement action was resolved by the entry of Consent Order No. 15 on April 19, 1977, to govern the operation of the canal system thereafter. The goal of Consent Order No. 15 is “to restrict destruction of the mangroves and to provide additional control and treatment of stormwater discharges” and “to be a freshwater system designed to retain and treat the stormwater runoff and then to provide uniform discharge of the storm water into the adjacent mangrove.” The consent order requires the maintenance of both the Chiquita Boat Lock and the Ceitus Boat Lift Barrier on the south end of the North Spreader Waterway. Cape Coral has refused to maintain both spreader waterways as required by the Consent Order.

Cape Coral removed the Ceitus Boat Lift Barrier many years ago. As a result, Matlacha Pass is polluted and the mangroves along the North Spreader are dying. Evidence of the damage to the mangroves on the north presented at the 2019 hearing was dramatic.

Cape Coral should stop spending its taxpayers’ money on bogus promises to clean up the water, and use the money to build high-speed locks at both the Chiquita and the Ceitus. Then implement best practices to maintain those waterways. Cape Coral again will find itself spending more money when a petition is filed to defeat this second effort to remove the Chiquita Lock.

Michael Hannon

Matlacha

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“A wonderful bird is the pelican it’s bill will hold more than it’s belican.

“It can take in its beak enough food for a week, but I’m damned if I see how the helican!”

— Dixon Lanier Merritt

The brown pelican is a large grayish-brown bird with a distinct pouched bill. During the breeding season, the plumage turns bright yellow on the head and white on the neck. The plumage fades to dull yellow and brown during non-breeding season. Juvenile birds are almost completely brown with a whitish belly.

Brown pelicans feed on fish and have a very unique way of foraging. Unlike other pelican species who work in flocks to corral their prey, brown pelicans dive headfirst into the water from heights as great as 50 feet to scoop up fish near the surface. Once they capture the fish, they tip their head upward or to the side to drain the water from their bill pouch.

Although it looks as if the pelican submerges itself in the water during the dive, they usually remain on or near the surface of the water. Young pelicans feed by sticking their bills into their parents’ throats to retrieve food. Oh baby!

The brown pelican breeds in large colonies of several hundred pairs. In Florida, pelicans nest mostly in mangroves. They are plentiful in Pine Island Sound.

Courtship involves the male swaying his head to attract a female mate. Breeding months differ by location. Both males and females share in child care.

Pelicans hardly ever make noise. Adults are silent except during wing-jerking displays, which force air from their lungs and produce a low hoarse sound. Some call it a hum. Nestlings use a shrill, rasping squawk to beg for food. Typical kids.

Capt. Cathy Eagle has spent over 40 years boating in our local waters. As a professional charter captain she specializes in dolphin and nature tours. Visit CaptainCathy.com or call 239 994-2572.

Local Columns

We had a small group at the St. James City Civic Association for mahjongg on March 9. But the smaller than usual ...

Dolphin Tales: Our beloved brown pelicans

Imagine a world in which newspapers have been bankrupted and shuttered.

Imagine that Reddit, the Drudge Report and Red Pill are no more and that social media platforms forbid political discussion of any stripe.

Imagine that while some television and radio news show still exist, they only feature endless stories about cats and dogs, and fawning coverage of those in power.

Imagine a world in which robust political discussion has been cowed into silence, and all government business takes place behind closed doors, and nobody can talk about what might have transpired in this darkness unless they want to end up broke, unemployed and homeless.

This is not the backdrop of some new Netflix drama about a dystopian future in a galaxy, far, far away. No. This is a possible reality right here in Florida if lawmakers succeed in passing a bill that would lower the threshold for the rich and powerful to sue anybody who says something they don’t like.

HB991 is officially called the Defa-mation, False Light, and Unauthorized Publication of Name or Likenesses Bill. But First Amendment activists like me who have read it call it the “Death to Public Discourse Bill.”

Key supporters of HB991 want you to believe the legislation is about taming the excesses of the “liberal corporate” media by giving the “little guy” a chance to avenge “bad” coverage. But the truth of this bill is all about making it easier for government officials and their rich and powerful allies to use the courts to punish those who criticize them.

And despite the belief by some conservatives that HB991 would only affect the New York Times, the Miami Herald and CNN if it were to become law, the reality is no information outlet would be spared the depredations of punitive lawsuits under its provisions. Fox, Newsmax, conservative talk radio stations will all feel the sting of this new law as public figures across the political spectrum look to exact their vengeance against inconvenient news coverage and commentary. The fallout would just as likely crush Fox’s Tucker Carlson as it would the NYT’s Paul Krugman.

More than that, this legislation would also subject bloggers, community groups, average users of social media –in short everybody who wants their voices heard — to the untold financial and emotional burdens of lawsuits.

And the way HB991 is currently written, a story doesn’t have to be wrong and damaging to an official to land a reporter, blogger or housewife Facebooker in court. It can merely cast the subject of the story in an unfavorable light.

Gov. Ron DeSantis called for a new defamation bill, saying he wanted to give the Average Joe a chance to clear their name when the press sullies it. But the truth is that defamation and libel suits have never been the tools of ordinary people who often don’t have the means to go to court. But these lawsuits have all too often been part of the repertoire of powerful figures seeking to bring their critics to heel.

This legislation is hardly a novel move. Throughout history, tyrants on the left and the right as well as powerful Robber Barons have often moved to crush the press in order to control messaging. And the easiest way to crush the press is to weaponize the law against commentators just as HB991 seeks to do.

For those who doubt this could be the rationale of HB991’s supporters, look at recent rules by the state forbidding events that do not “align with the state’s mission” from taking place at the Florida Capitol. This pre-vetting of purpose is another clear violation of Floridians’ First Amendment rights to gather and have their voices heard. Looking at these measures, one can only conclude that free speech is under attack in Florida.

Contrary to what its supporters will say over the next weeks, HB991 is not good for Florida or Floridians. It’s not good for Americans as a whole. It would establish a dangerous precedent that impacts all of us by chilling the kind of free discussion that only takes place in free societies.

Even conservative Supreme Court justice Samuel Alito noted this in a ruling a few years ago, writing: “The core purpose of the constitutional protection of freedom of expression is to ensure that all opinions on such issues have a chance to be heard and considered.”

So, please protect your freedom of speech by using yours to tell your representatives to throw out HB991.

Bobby Block is the executive director of the First Amendment Foundation which was founded in 1985 to advance and protect Floridians’ rights to free speech, open government and public records.

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From cashiers and baggers to top executives, all 240,000 Publix employees have a stake in the company's success.

LAKELAND, FL — It was one of those unscripted moments that the Lakeland-based Publix Super Markets chain couldn't dream of duplicating with a slick marketing campaign or millions of dollars in advertising.

For 12 days, the 9,000-plus residents of Pine Island had been cut off from the rest of the world after Hurricane Ian made landfall on Sept. 29, 2022.

The accompanying hurricane-force winds and storm surge tore a path of destruction across the 17-mile-long, 2-mile-wide island, knocking out all communications as well as the island dwellers' only access to the mainland, a causeway and bridge that buckled under the massive force of the hurricane's waves.

The shelves of the five grocery stores on the island, including the Publix Super Market at Calusa Cay, were nearly bare when Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the Florida Department of Transportation had completed temporary repairs to the bridge three days ahead of schedule.

His announcement was followed by a scene that gave the desperate island residents goosebumps as they lined up along the island's main road, eagerly awaiting the first vehicle to cross the bridge, bringing aid.

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That vehicle was a semi-tractor-trailer truck with a familiar green and white logo and an American flag attached to the cab window. It was followed by a convoy of identical trucks. Pine Island residents cheered and applauded as the Publix Super Markets delivery trucks arrived with a supply of fresh produce, meat, milk and other essentials.

The moment, captured in a photo by Pine Island resident Jon Demoya, encapsulated the impact the grocery store chain and its visionary founder, George W. Jenkins, has had on the state of Florida through its employment opportunities and community giving campaigns.

Jenkins' dream of providing communities with quality food and service began as a boy in Harris, Georgia, working in his father's general store. Hoping to make his fortune in Florida, Jenkins headed to Tampa in 1925 at the age of 17 and landed a job as a stock clerk in a Piggly Wiggly grocery store.

Even at that young age, he displayed a worth ethic and commitment that impressed his bosses. He was quickly promoted to manager of the Tampa store and then was transferred to the grocery store chain's largest store in Winter Haven, where he worked as the manager from 1926 to 1930.

Jenkins was only 22 years old when the stock market crashed in October 1929 paving the way for the Great Depression. Despite the crippled economy, Jenkins decided to quit his job and strike out on his own. A year later, on Sept. 6, 1930, he opened the first Publix Food Store in Winter Haven, followed by a second store across town five years later.

Jenkins, however, had greater aspirations. He dreamed of creating what he called a modern "food palace" of marble, glass and stucco with unheard-of innovations at that time like air conditioning, fluorescent lights and doors that opened automatically with the help of "electronic eyes."

He closed the two Winter Haven grocery stores and opened the first Publix Super Market on Nov. 8, 1940.

Decades later, economists and marketing gurus would study Jenkins' business model to figure out the secret to his success at a time when businesses across the country were shuttering their doors.

Jenkins, known as "Mr. George" to those who worked for him, could have told them the answer in four words: "Treat employees like family."

It was a philosophy he never wavered from as Publix Super Markets sprang up across the Southeast. Every cashier, bagger, meat cutter and baker employed by Publix had a personal stake in the company's success.

"Our founder believed associates should be company owners. It’s one of the greatest benefits of working at Publix," said Publix Director of Communications Maria Brous. "He wanted his associates to share in his vision for the growth of Publix."

Jenkins offered stock to all of the store's associates, saying, "It’s just common sense that if you own a part of a company, then you’re going to give it your best.”

Today, Publix Super Markets Inc. is the largest employee-owned company in the United States. The company is owned by 240,000 people — including grocery baggers, truck drivers, cake decorators and stock clerks — who work at 1,331 grocery stores, 10 distribution center, 10 manufacturing facilities, 11 cooking schools and the company's flagship campus-like headquarters in Lakeland.

It's become one of the 10 largest-volume supermarket chains in the country with retail sales reaching $48 billion in 2021.

It's also earned the company a slew of accolades.

Publix has been named to Fortune's list of 100 Best Companies to Work For from 1998 to 2022, earning the magazine's recognition as one of the "Great Place to Work Legends."

Fortune also listed Publix as one of the Best Workplaces in Retail, Best Workplaces for Women, Best Workplaces for Millenials, Most Important Private Companies and Best Big Companies to Work For.

Meanwhile, on Feb. 27, Forbes magazine once again included Publix on its America’s Best Large Employers list.

Publix also has made Forbes' America's Best Employers for New Grads, Best Employers for Veterans and Best Employers for Diversity.

Other honors include Best Companies for Diversity by Women's Choice Award, the No. 1 spot on Newsweek magazine's America’s Best Customer Service in Supermarkets list in 2021 and was voted the South's Best Grocery Store by Southern Living readers.

Brous said the company is especially proud to be included on Fortune's list of the World's Most Admired Companies in 2020, 2022 and again this year.

"George Jenkins believed in giving," she said. "From the day he opened his first Publix, he made sure his associates, customers and community were taken care of. In 1966, Mr. George established the (Publix Super Market Charities) foundation with the vision it would continue giving long after he was gone."

In 2021, Publix launched its Feeding More Together register campaign, allowing customers to donate at the register to provide nonperishable items for local food banks. Publix then matches customer donations with the purchase of fresh produce from Southeastern farmers and donates it to Feeding America member food banks. This campaign has provided more than 232 million meals to people facing hunger since launching two years ago.

"For decades, Publix has worked to take care of its neighbors and communities, and helping alleviate hunger is at the heart of the company’s charitable efforts," Brous said. “Since 1930, we’ve remained true to the philosophies and principles set forth by our founder, our associates go above and beyond to take care of our customers and communities every day.”

In September, Publix Super Markets Charities announced a $5.65 million donation to 328 food banks and other nonprofit organizations focused on hunger alleviation. To further those efforts, the company has donated an additional $3.85 million to 22 Feeding America member food banks to purchase and equip a mobile food pantry where people in need can "shop" for free.

With these contributions, Publix Super Markets Charities donated a total of $9.5 million in 2022 to support hunger relief organizations. And the company has pledged a total of $23 million to support hunger alleviation by the end of 2023. This includes a Publix commitment to provide more than 10 million pounds of produce to stock 20 of the mobile pantries in their first year of operation.

“As Americans continue to face hunger, we wanted to do more to help get much-needed meals onto the plates of our neighbors,” said Publix CEO Todd Jones. “In conjunction with Publix Super Markets Charities, we’re proud to extend our commitment to helping alleviate hunger through these donations. We remain dedicated to doing good together to provide nourishing meals for people in need in our communities.”

“This donation will be instrumental for so many people who face hunger every day,” said Feeding America CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot. “Access to nutrition is a foundational need for everyone to be successful. We’re grateful to both Publix and Publix Super Markets Charities for their continued partnership and commitment to help alleviate hunger.”

In addition to hunger alleviation efforts, the company is committed to being good stewards of the environment. In 2021, Publix announced plans to support the removal of nuisance trees and plants in the Florida Everglades through projects with the National Audubon Society and the National Park Foundation.

Long before the affordable housing crisis, Publix Charities supported efforts to provide housing for families in need.

Publix began supporting Habitat for Humanity affiliates more than 30 years ago, with the first contribution going to Habitat for Humanity of East Polk County.

Since 2014, the company has donated more than $33 million to housing programs, including building homes and supporting programs such as emergency shelters and transitional housing for those in need.

“We’re committed to helping people in our communities build hope by putting roofs over their heads,” said Publix Charities Executive Director Kelly Williams-Puccio. “George Jenkins believed that a home gives individuals and families safety, independence and hope."

On Dec. 8, the company donated $5 million to support more than 240 nonprofit housing programs throughout the Southeast, including 126 Habitat for Humanity affiliates.

Most recently, on Feb. 27, Publix hosted its inaugural hunger summit last week, bringing together executives from 35 Feeding America member food banks in the company’s operating area, as well as state and federal officials, to discuss how they can build on previous successes and feed more people in need.

"With more than 7 million people in the Southeast being food insecure, Publix continues to work toward alleviating hunger," Jones said. “Our summit provided an opportunity to build stronger connections and, together, find better ways to accomplish a united purpose — feeding even more people in need in the communities we serve."

During the summit, representatives from Publix Super Markets Charities announced a special $4 million grant opportunity available to select food banks in Publix’s operating area to fund non-recurring, capacity-building projects. This grant opportunity is in addition to the company's annual hunger alleviation donations. It will bring the organization's total contributions to help alleviate hunger to more than $46 million since 2015.

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