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, April 28, 2007
Fish Caught: Snook, Jack
High Tide: 2:45 PM 1.5 FT Low Tide: 8:45 AM .25 FT Wind: 5-10 NW Air Temp: 70/89 Water Temp: 80 Clarity: not clear
Since its warming up we decided to make an early morning run out to the bridge over the Myakka River at El Jobean, FL. The tide was with us as well, with low being about 8:45 AM. We left the dock about 6:30 AM a beautiful time to be on the water when the weather is so nice.
We got anchored and started fishing by a little after 7:00 AM. I threw my Gulp Swimming Mullet with no action. I had caught some bait fish from my dock earlier in the week and I put one on a hook with a tiny split shot to keep it down. It’s hard to get it to stay near the pilings on an outgoing tide where we anchor. So no action on that either until the tide changed about 9:15 or so.
9:15 is about when I caught the 24.5" snook in the photo below. I got it on the bait fish not the Gulp. I caught the bait fish with a cast net from my dock. There were 2 different kinds, one I know the name of -- Striped Mojarra and the other, more abundant, is very similar to a scaled sardine but they don’t have that sharp pointy belly. They are also less hardy and harder to keep alive.
I made a bait basket from the plans at BaitBaskets.com and I find I can easily keep the bait hung from my dock for 3 or 4 days. I throw my net for a few days before a planned fishing trip and I can usually get a dozen or so to give me a head start in the morning. When I was fishing I was watching 4 or 5 other boats searching for a school of bait fish throwing that heavy net out and coming back empty. There were jacks in the water so the bait gets scattered and hard to net. I was glad to have put my time in before fishing day.
I missed a few other hits on the Gulp and bait and was down to my last Striped Mojarra which was rather large about 4" and since they are a rather tall fish its like putting a small salad plate on your hook. I wasn’t too confident about a snook eating that big thing, but one did. I was sure it would be a monster to eat that bait but it was almost identical to the last one about 24.5."
After another half hour we ran over to the bays behind Hog Island. I got a couple more snook about 18-22" before I tired out. We headed home about 2:00 PM.
As we neared the bridge where we started the day we saw jacks in a full feeding frenzy. I could resist so I stopped and tossed a Gulp out and immediately hooked a big Jack. What a strong fish they are, I had a good battle with him and let him go back to his school. Another pleasant day in Charlotte Harbor.
High Tide: 5:15 PM 2.2 FT Low Tide: 10:15 AM 1 FT Wind: 0-5 NW Air Temp: 60/85 Water Temp: 75 Clarity: clear
We drove (by car) over the El Jobean Bridge at about 9:00 AM and saw glassy calm water so we decided to get right home and go out fishing. We made the bridge at about 10:30 AM and I got a small (20") snook on my second cast with a Gulp Swimming Mullet. I also fished some small bait we netted from our dock and had one nice hit on one but missed it.
After an hour with nothing else we headed to the bays behind Hog Island. There's a little hole not to far into what I call First Bay, it's the bay just to the north of the Myakka Cut Off. I was throwing my Gulp at the mangroves in about 3 ft of water when there was a huge swirl and sudden tug on my line. The line snapped instantly, I suspect I'd nicked it on the barnacles at the bridge. One of the reasons I'd moved on from there was I got snagged in the bridge pilings and although I got my hook free I was missing the Gulp. But whatever it was that snapped that line was very big. I wish I had a chance to at least see it. The way the water was disturbed I was thinking it could have been a tarpon. But tarpon don’t get into that shallow water too often. So a tarpon sized snook? I can always dream.
I also got a nice redfish on and lost that. Got it close enough to see before it spit my gulp. Just one of those trips when a little better luck would have completely changed the out come and made for a much better supper!
High Tide: 4:45 PM 2.25 FT Low Tide: 10:30 AM 1 FT Wind: 5-10 NW Air Temp: 60/83 Water Temp: 75 Clarity:
Our neighbors and good friends across the canal from us are fanatic fisherpeople. Since Bimini and Julie are native to SWFL they have been helping us to learn fishing here. Whille we make the 30-50 minute trip out to the bigger waters of Charlotte Harbor they like to spend their time fishing more locally in our canals (Apollo, Jupiter and Bayshore waterways). Bimini especially spends many hours on their dock with a line in the water.
Well this afternoon we heard quite a commotion from the canal and ran out in time to see Bimini with a nice snook in her net. The photo below is the view from our patio across the canal to their backyard. I know it doesn’t show the fish well but Bimini is holding her 29" snook up for my photo. It’s tail is in front of that yellow bucket.
Anyone that has ever caught a snook knows what a strong fighting fish they are. A 29" fish is a big fish especially on a light rod with only 15 lb test. Bimini did a good job to get it in that net!
High Tide: 2:45 PM 1.2 FT Low Tide: 6:15 PM 1 FT Wind: 5-10 SW Air Temp: 85 Water Temp: 74 Clarity: clear
On a spur of the moment decision we left the dock about 1:00 PM right after a thunderstorm just missed us. The skies were cloudy and we got a little rain but no major storm. By the time we got the boat in and out on the water the sun was out and so were many other fisherman, The bridge at El Jobean, FL was crowded so we went on to Muddy Cove off Tippecanoe Bay behind Hog Island.
I caught 1 snook about 20" and that was it.
On the way back in there were only a few boats left at the bridge so we stopped at about 4:00 PM. I threw my Gulp Swimming Mullet for a while but no luck at all.
We had a visit from a Wildlife Conservation Officer. He checked us for safety equipment. While it's fresh on my mind I'll list everything that he asked for (we had everything).
Life Jackets (1 for each person on board)
Throwable Flotation (seat cushions)
Fire Extinquisher
Horn or Whistle (we have one of those canned air horns)
Boat Registration (he said this was not important but he would ask us to carry it from now on -- then I found it)
High Tide: 4:30 PM 1.7 FT Low Tide: 11:00 AM .5 FT Wind: 5-10 SE Air Temp: 63/86 Water Temp: 74 Clarity: not clear
Left the dock about 8:30 AM headed for the bridge over the Myakka River at El Jobean, FL. I wanted to catch low slack tide into the incoming tide. I’ve been doing pretty well there with snook just as the incoming starts. Not so today. I did get one small snook, about 20-22". We only fished until about 12:30 but the tide was running pretty good by then.
There were lots of what appeared to be jack smashing bait fish over on the northwest end of the bridge. A few boats headed over there when they hit but I didn’t see anybody catch anything. Hard to believe, I’d be afraid to stick my finger in the water when they’re feeding that hard
At one time a huge stingray jumped about 5 feet out of the water. I just happened to look up as he did it. A little while later I hooked a big one (stingray) and had a heck of a battle to get him to the boat. He was about 3 feet wing tip to wing tip. It was the kind of stingray you see more in open water not the ones that stick to the bottom. He was quite heavy, I’ll guess 20 lbs, very thick body and a very strong aggressive fight not like an old tire like a lot of rays. I thought I had a monster jack.
Since its warming up we decided to make an early morning run out to the bridge over the Myakka River at El Jobean, FL. The tide was with us as well, with low being about 8:45 AM. We left the dock about 6:30 AM a beautiful time to be on the water when the weather is so nice.
