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 Thursday, July 12, 2007
Fish Caught: Snook, Redfish
High Tide: 10:45 AM 2 FT Low Tide: 7:45 PM -0.25 FT Wind: 5-10 SW Air Temp: 75/93 Water Temp: 87 Clarity: clear
We decided to take the boat back home today. It was a nice stay at Eldred's Marina and we'll do it again sometime, maybe when its a little cooler. Karen drove me down and took the truck home and I set out for the long ride back to the Myakka River at about 7:15 AM.
One of the reasons we came down here was because I'd heard so much about fishing Bull Bay. As we came down on Monday we got a little lost coming around that point and it seemed a little far for us to travel out to Bull Bay each day. Well, having learned a little about the area it turns out is was only about a 35-40 minute ride in our slow (15 MPH top speed) pontoon boat. So I stopped on the way home to see what Bull Bay was like.
I was surprised to find buildings on stilts in the bay. I've been told fishing boats used these buildings to drop their cargo, could be true. I was dreaming about what it would be like to wake up there every morning, fishing right from my bedroom window. But it was awful hot out there, a fact which was not included in my day dream. What ever they are it was a bit of a surprise. The channel into Bull bay is about 6-7 feet deep. there were several boats in sight so I chose a spot away from them directly to the left as I entered. the water was calm and I could see lots of bait and mullet jumping on the point of a mangrove island which divided the bay from Charlotte harbor. I threw my cast net and got a net full of white bait and pinfish. I put a pinfish under a bobber and started throwing a Gulp 3" Sardine. After about 10 minutes I hooked a small snook on my Gulp. It was a real fighter and managed to jump right near the boat and spit the hook. I was just straightening the Gulp when my bobber went down with a plunk. I grabbed that rod and set the hook on a nice sized fish. I was pretty sure it was a big red by the way it stayed down and moved a little slower swinging that big head until the hook came free. I never did get to see it.
I got a few catfish on pinfish and white bait and decided to try casting the shorline. There was a large area of dead mangrove, I assume the effects of Hurricane charley, along one point near to some deep water. I started at one end and about halfway down I got a perfect cast down a little opening between some dead branches. I cranked the Gulp out about 3 feet when a got a solid hit and set the hook on a very nice fish. A few minutes later I netted a nice 24" red fish. So glad I stopped at Bull bay, I wish I'd made the trip out there on Monday, the first day of our stay in Gasparilla Sound.
The ride home was mostly uneventful. I hit a little rain just skirting the main part of a heavy downpour. I made my dock in NW Port Charlotte by 11:30 AM. I am glad to have the boat home and cleaned again but I'm looking forward to my next trip to Bull Bay and Gasparilla Sound.
High Tide: 9:45 AM 2 FT Low Tide: 6:45 PM -0.25 FT Wind: 5-10 SW Air Temp: 75/93 Water Temp: 87 Clarity: clear
The shark was excellent. I marinated it with grapefruit juice and grilled it with garlic, pepperoncini peppers and rosemarry. It was a nice moist mild meat similar to red fish or bass.
So we went out again today to get a couple more. You’re limited to 1 fish per person or 2 per vessel, which ever is less. Karen and I were joined by Bimini, our neighbor so we were allowed 2 and we didn’t struggle too much to get them. We left the dock at Eldred’s marina about 6:45 AM and after netting a little bait between the 2 islands off from the Fishery Restaurant we headed out towards Catfish Creek. Our shark spot was just a little south and off shore from Catfish Creek in about 4-5 feet of water. We anchored and started chumming, threw out some chunked mackerel I brought from the freezer, some pinfish and tossed some gulp. Bimini caught a ladyfish and we chunked that too. Shark seem to love ladyfish because that did the trick. We ended up with three in the boat and a bunch that cut the 35 lb florocarbon leader. A few catfish liked the chunked bait as well.
We went in shore to try for some redfish too but no luck. So we went back out to drift the grass flats. We managed a couple trout, one was 16 inches so we added that to the cooler, the rest were small.
It was a nice day but by 11:00 AM it was getting very hot, we headed home.
Since fish is sometimes a challenge for many to cook, your recipe was a great addition to your comments. It sounded great. By maralyn, At
August 13, 2007 2:30 PM
High Tide: 8:45 AM 2 FT Low Tide: 5:45 PM -0.1 FT Wind: 5-10 S Air Temp: 75/95 Water Temp: 87 Clarity: clear
We drove to Placida and got on the water by around 7:00 AM. We went directly to the 2 little islands off the Fishery Restaurant and with one throw of the net filled the livewell with small needle fish about 3-5 inches long. We headed straight east to Catfish Creek and fished some of the mangrove islands and channels near the front. I used up the rest of my Gulp Swimming Mullet on little trout and probably more pinfish but trout was all I hooked. It was slow fishing with nothing worth catching so I decided to try some deeper grass flats.
I found a place out in front of Catfish Creek where the water dropped from 1 to 4-5 feet so we headed over to see what it looked like. It seemed grassy and the depth finder was showing stands of bigger weed or something. So we put some of our needle fish out and I casted a bunch of stuff as we drifted along for a half hour with no more than small trout for our efforts. Then, suddenly Karen's pole got yanked almost out of her hand but before she could but her book down and tend to it the fish was off. A few minutes later she got another big strike and landed, after lots of moaning and groaning, a small black tip shark about 20 inches long. So we finally had some fun with a real fish. I dropped the anchor and started chumming with a bait chum I'd mixed. For the next hour we were catching and losing one shark after the other. We were using 35 lb Florcarbon leader which is pretty easily cut by a sharks teeth so we lost quite a few. We ran out of needlefish but Karen managed to get a small ladyfish in and I chunked that up. That was better than the needlefish and Karen got another slightly larger 24 inch shark in the boat.
It was around 10 AM and the sun was starting to get hot again so we decided to take our limit of 2 shark home for supper. It will be my first time eating black tip shark, I hope it's good because it sure was fun catching. I'll let you know tomorrow.
P.S. If you are wondering why I'm posing with the catch, you don't know Karen. She didn't want to get anywhere near that shark until it was cooked.
High Tide: 8:00 AM 1.75 FT Low Tide: 4:15 PM 0 FT Wind: 5-10 SW Air Temp: 75/95 Water Temp: 87 Clarity: clear
We decided to spend the week fishing Gasparilla Sound near Placida, Florida. There's a little marina called Eldred's Marina on the Boca Granded causeway jus before the toll bridge to Boca Grande. They get $10/night to leave your boat at their dock for the night.
So we left home in NW Port Charlotte about 6:10 AM and headed south. We had a little motor trouble which took 20 minutes to straighten out and we got a little lost coming around past Turtle and Bull Bays but we made the marina by about 9:20. Our boat is a 23' Crest Pontoon with a 40 HP Mercury Bigfoot so our top speed is only 15 MPH. It was a pleasant trip at that cool time of day.
We met our neighbors, Bimini and Julie at the marina, they agreed to give us a tour of the area and then a ride home. They've fished the area before so we welcomed their company and they are a lot of fun as well as serious fisher people. Bimini pointed me towards the live bait tanks at Eldred's, which are on the end of a dock. There were about 20 HUGE snook just stacked up waiting for someone to throw dead shrimp from the tank. The biggest one I saw was at least 35 inches and fat.
We netted finger mullet just 10 yards from that tank and headed out with a full livewell to find some hungry fish.
We fished all around Bird Key and the 2 little Mangrove Islands in front of the Fishery Restaurant. We drifted the pass just to 100 yards from the Gulf the flats on the east side of the railroad trestle. We were catching small trout, pinfish, and occasional jack, pufferfish, but nothing we could bring home. We watched dolphins playing and feeding on the very thick schools of baitfish which were every where. It's very different water from the mouth of the Myakka River that we know well.
We anchored near a sandbar and got out to swim and snorkel. There were lots of sand dollars, living conchs and all kinds of shells both alive, rented and empty to bring home for our garden.
It was 3:00 before we called it a day. That's a long day on a boat in the VERY HOT sun. We'll probably limit our trips to the cooler part of the morning for the rest of the week.
High Tide: 4:45 PM 2.25 FT Low Tide: 12:30 AM .75 FT Wind: 5-10 SW Air Temp: 71/93 Water Temp: 85 Clarity: murky
Although we didn't get a single fish in the boat it was a beautiful day to be on the water, at least early it was. We left the dock about 6:00 AM and watched for bait on the way out, no luck.
I threw a Gulp swimming mullet around the mouth of the Apollo Waterway with only a couple small hits. There was some action against the sea walls but I was unable to get any interest in my lure.
We got out to the El Jobean bridge about 7:30. The water was glassy calm and the sun was already very hot. We could see bait in the water, which I later netted and found to be glass minnows which were almost too small to put on a hook, but I managed. It didn't help, nothing took the bait.
I did catch a small crab that was swimming past us and put him on a hook and cast him down at the bottom of a piling. Within about 5 minutes something picked up that crab and ran with it. But I think I was over anxious and didn't give the fish time to eat the crab, I cranked up an empty hook. I think I'll get one of those pyramid shaped crab traps for days like this. They say small crab is an excellent bait for snook, tarpon, red fish, just about everything I’d enjoy catching.
There were a lot of 2-4 foot tarpon rolling in the calm water and chasing the glass minnows. There were also a lot of nice big bait fish out in the harbor, but once again I couldn't net them. They were just too smart for me.
We also watched a dolphin tossinng a fish about 10 inches long up out of the water. It appeared as if a larger dolphin was throwing the fish up perhaps teaching her baby to chase the fish.
It was so calm and hot by 10:30 we were cooked and headed home. A pleasant morning. On the way back up the canal we paused to cast some of our favorite spots along the sea walls. Got a couple smaller snook to come up after my swimming mullet but they were a little lazy and didn't grab it. The heat seems to get to even the fish. But I bet they'd agree, it sure beats snow!
I agree that the heat sure beats the snow. Do not miss it. However, the AC does come in handy during the day. By maralyn, At
August 13, 2007 2:32 PM
AC and the pool. It takes about a half hour to clean the boat and stow the gear after we get home. And the pool feels so good after that. By twlack, At
August 15, 2007 9:41 AM
