I live in Port Charlotte, FL on a canal with access to the Myakka River near El Jobean, FL and Charlotte Harbor. I own a boat and I love to fish. I'm new to Florida so I'm learning a new kind of fishing and I thought a record of fish caught, weather, tides, etc. for each trip would help me to learn quicker. That record is what you'll find in my blog which I post as soon as I possibly can so check before you're going out, my success or failure might help make your trip more productive.
Fish Caught: Goliath Grouper, Manatee, Update 7/1/07
High Tide: 11:30 PM 1.75 FT Low Tide: 5:00 AM .8 FT Wind: 0-5 NW Air Temp: 72/91 Water Temp: 85 Clarity: clear
Update July 1, 2007 WARNING: Thanks to Jim at Fine Bait & Tackle, 14503 Tamiami Trail, North Port, FL for setting us straight on this fish. It is a Goliath Grouper, or more commonly, Jewfish and it is Federally protected in any Florida water, on or off shore. There is a $5000.00 per fish fine plus your boat or car if you are in one. The easiest way to tell a Goliath from a Red Grouper is the end of the tail is round on the Goliath and straight on the red. A very exciting day on the water started at 6:00 AM. We managed to net some sardines just under the bridge at Biscayne Blvd. We spent a little time around sun up at the end of the Apollo Waterway with a little action on top water and a ray on the bait.
It was only 7:30 or so when we anchored at the El Jobean bridge. I started getting small hits immediately on the sardines and finally landed my first red grouper. I'd never seen one before and wasn't sure thats what it was but there you see the photo. I ended up with 4 in the boat from 6 to 10 inches. No where near the 20 inches we needed to get one to the dinner table, but still fun an unusual.
When I used up my bait we went looking for more. It wasn't too hard to find them but netting them was another story. There was bait all over the harbor around El Jobean but these were much larger and very timid. My cast net has a very fine mesh and doesn't sink very fast so we moved to the shallower water and tried to get some bait in about 3 feet of water. But the bait would dart away as soon as the net was in the air. After an hour of throwing a cast net your arms get a little weak, I finally gave it up with no more bait in my live well.
While not catching bait I noticed 2 or 3 manatee up in the shallower water. A few minutes later I saw what appeared to be a lobster pot bouy. If you've never been on the water up north you may not even know what that is. Lobster pot buoys are different from crab trap bouys in that they have a stick that rises above a bullet shaped bouy.
This marker was almost on shore and seemed so odd I decided to take a closer look. As we got about 50 feet away it started to move along the shore at a rate that had to mean it was attached to something that was swimming. As we pulled up along side of it it turned right into our path and I suddenly realized it was a manatee. I had to quickly shut down the motor and lift it up before the manatee and his/her marker passed diectly under our boat. Luckily we don't draw much water and the 2 feet under us allowed the manatee to pass without banging it's head but it's marker bumped the aluminum a few times.
We wondered later if we are supposed to read the marker and report it some where? I can't seem to find anything online about it. It seemed a little cruel to have that manatee towing that bouy but I suppose it may not even notice.
