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.
Fishing Myakka River/Charlotte Harbor, Florida Saturday, March 31, 2007
Fish Caught: Snook
High Tide: 4:00 PM 1.3 FT Low Tide: 10:00 AM .1 FT Wind: 10-20 SE Air Temp: 60/85 Water Temp: 73 Clarity: not clear
Left the dock this morning about 7:20 AM. Wanted to catch the first of the incoming tide at the El Jobean bridge. I have a spot when the tide is first coming in nice and slow that I can get a Gulp Swimming Mullet to drift into the bridge pilings just right and if there are snook anywhere around I will usually get them there.
And I wasn't disappointed. I got 3 snook in the first 1/2 hour even though the tide was still outgoing but very slowly. The biggest in the boat was 23" so none for supper. But I did have a bigger one on for 10 seconds. Who said "Yeah...RIGHT"?
About 10 AM the wind picked up so much the anchor wouldn't hold bottom and we had to quickly start the motor to escape from hitting the pilings. We went around to the leeward side of the bridge and I rigged my second anchor. By the time I got set back in my spot (took 3 tries with the 2 anchors) the tide was moving too fast to get my lure down where I wanted it. I think we missed the best fishing time. I will be looking for a new anchor.
High Tide: 4:00 PM 1.2 FT Low Tide: 8:30 AM -0.5 FT Wind: 5-10 NE Air Temp: 55/87 Water Temp: 72 Clarity: clear
Left the dock about 11:00 AM. First stop was the El Jobean bridge. There were a bunch of boats anchored but everyone looked like they'd been there a while with no action.
My first cast with a Gulp Swimming Mullet hooked a 22" Snook. About 10 casts or so later I got a huge Jack. What a battle.
After about 1/2 hour at the bridge we moved on to the bays behind Hog Island. Absolutely no fish not even a single bite. I fished the Gulp Swimming Mullet the entire time. We did see some jacks busting the shore but by the time we got there they had moved on.
We did see some wild life, a wild hog swimming way back in the mangroves (but only 20 ft from our boat) and a racoon marching along the shoreline of one of the canals of Tippecanoe Bay. If you ever get back there watch out for the sunk boats, I assume from Hurricane Charley, we saw two.
Left the dock this morning about 7:20 AM. Wanted to catch the first of the incoming tide at the El Jobean bridge. I have a spot when the tide is first coming in nice and slow that I can get a Gulp Swimming Mullet to drift into the bridge pilings just right and if there are snook anywhere around I will usually get them there.
