Outdoors news and notes

Making news

Stand-up Paddle craze inspires Relay race

The inaugural Pilgrim Paddle race, a two-person relay-style stand-up paddleboard race, will be Nov. 28 at Spa Beach in downtown St. Petersburg. Each team member will complete a circuit along the St. Petersburg Pier. The race is open to competitors of all skill levels, and beginners are especially encouraged to participate. There are six competition divisions: men, women and coed in both stand-up and prone positions (all divisions will use stock boards 12 foot, 6 inches and shorter). Registration is $45 per team ($55 after Nov. 23). Race day begins with registration at 8 a.m., a paddlers' meeting at 9 a.m., and the coed relay starting at 9:15. Paddleboard demonstrations will start at 11:45 a.m. For more information, visit www.standupfitnessinc.com, or Brody Welte at brody@standupfitnessinc.com or (727) 902-4294.

REgulations

Hunting starts; snook nears end

Three hunting seasons open Saturday in Florida's Central Zone. General gun season runs through Jan. 24, fall turkey through Jan. 10, and quail and gray squirrel through March 7.

For anglers, the recreational harvest of snook in the Gulf of Mexico ends Dec. 1 and doesn't reopen until March 1. Until the gulf season closes, anglers may harvest one snook per day between 28 and 33 inches. A snook permit is required when a saltwater fishing license is required. The season is open longer in the Atlantic, where the closure starts Dec. 15 and ends Jan. 31.

For a complete list of hunting seasons and fishing regulations, go to www.myfwc.com.

Things to do

• This weekend is the Egmont Key Alliance's Discover the Island event, an open house for Egmont Key State Park, the historic island that sits just off Fort De Soto at the south end of Pinellas County. Boats will depart from Fort De Soto on a regular basis through midafternoon on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $15 (children 12 and under free). Visit http://egmontkey.info for more information.

•The Weigh Too Much Fun Kingfish Tournament is Sunday. The captain's meeting is tonight at Billy's Stone Crab restaurant in Tierra Verde at 5 p.m. The entry fee is $50 per boat and fishing begins at 6 a.m. Sunday. The weigh-in is from 3-4 p.m. at the restaurant. For information, call (813) 935-3293 or (813) 263-6435.

Rodney Page, Times staff writer