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 Monday, August 20, 2007
Fish Caught: Lady Fish, Jack, Goliath Grouper, Mangrove Snapper
High Tide: 8:00 AM 2.0 FT Low Tide: 4:30 PM .25 FT Wind: 10-20 E Air Temp: 75/96 Water Temp: 86 Clarity: murky
Today was the day we felt the most wind from hurricane Dean. So we decided to stay in the canals and avoid the rough water of Charlotte Harbor. Theres a spot I know where two canals meet and the currents have dug out a few holes to about 9 feet deep. On Sunday afternoon I took my cast net, a cooler and a bubbler over to a canal off Biscayne Blvd. and netted some nice sardines. I kept them overnight in a bait basket I made from plans available on BaitBaskets.com. So I didn't have to worry about netting any this morning. We left the dock about 6:45 AM.
It was a nice cool calm morning. The first bait was in and I was baiting the second pole when the first one almost jumped out of the pole holder. I missed whatever it was. It went like that for the first hour with a couple big jacks, snappers and ladyfish making it into the boat.
We watched a big manatee swim right by the boat, mostly we only got to see a nose and the big swirls they leave behind. Jacks are a tough fight. But then I hooked something that felt much different. It didn't want to show itself to us but it wasn't fighting like a jack, just kind of hanging near the bottom flippings its big head back and forth, and wouldn't you know I hooked it on the smallest rod and reel I own. The reel stripped some gears and locked up, I had to flip off the antireverse and wind backwards to free it up but it wasn't winding a smoothly as it should. The fish almost got me wrapped around a marker pole but finally we got a huge goliath grouper into the net. We took a quick photo but didn't take the time to measure it, we estimate it was 20 inches long and very fat and heavy. Of course goliath are federally protected and carry a stiff fine of $5000.00 per fish. We threw him back.
You can tell a Goliath Grouper by the tail, the end forms a half moon or convex curve compared to a flat or concave curve for all other grouper. Click here for a better photo.
We got one more grouper and some mangrove snapper when around 9:30 the wind picked up and the fishing shut down. We headed back home with just a couple mangrove snapper for lunch, but it was still another great day on the water.
High Tide: 3:30 PM 2.3 FT Low Tide: 9:00 AM 1.1 FT Wind: 0-5 E Air Temp: 73/93 Water Temp: 88 Clarity: muddy
We left the dock at 6:15 to take full advantage of the cooler morning weather. I have been able to net bait fish at some point in the canal but this morning I couldn't find any. So when I reached the Myakka I threw some plastics and popers with no luck. Unfortunately I am out of my favorite Gulp Swimming Mullets.
I poled the boat into some shallows with grass edges but all I netted there were tiny things that looked a lot like baby pompano or maybe jacks. but they were only an inch or less in length so useless as bait.
So we took a ride out to the El Jobean bridge to see if we could get some bait out there, but again I didn't see any. So we went over to the Tiki Bar and picked up a couple dozen live shrimp.
I fed a few shrimp to what I suspect were Mangrove Snappers under the bridge but it was slow action and hot in that sun so we moved back to the Apollo Waterway ant threw the shrimp under the dock by what we call the "Hunt Home". We had a little better luck there with Snappers but small. A lot of action behind the dock but we couldn't seem to attract the attention of whatever was feeding back there. So we headed home.
Our neighbors, Bimini and Julie were parked in one of there favorite spots so we tied up and shared our last shrimp with them. We got a lot of small stuff like cat fish, mangrove snapper, ladyfish and one decent sized jack. There was a little more breeze there but it was still very hot so after the last shrimp we headed for home and the pool.
High Tide: 8:15 AM 2.1 FT Low Tide: 2:15 AM 0.8 FT Wind: 5-10 NW Air Temp: 97/73 Water Temp: 87 Clarity: average
It's been so hot an humid but not very much rain for this time of the year. We have a drainage culvert along the edge of our property that normally runs down into the canal pretty regularly in July and August. Snook love to sit just outside that torrent and catch frogs, bugs, etc. that get washed down. It has only trickled out of that pipe a couple times this season. And fishing in general has been a little slow and the weather has been too hot to enjoy it.
But we decided to get out early and since we had an 8:15 high tide we left the dock before 6:00 AM. I found some nice sardines schooling in the canal on my way out and put 30 or so in my live well. I casted the sea walls at the end of the Apollo Watery way with a Pop'R but no luck
We were anchored at the El Jobean bridge by around 7:00 AM so we still had the incoming tide. I was throwing a Gulp 3" Sardine while letting the live bait drift into the bridge pilings with just a small split shot. Had a couple strikes on the Gulp when the live bait pole bent over pretty hard. I managed to grab it before the fish got free and fought a nice healthy 22" snook to the boat. Of course that's undersize and out of season so I tossed him back.
Did you know the snook regulations have been changed effective on the next opening day which is September 1, 2007? They changed the slot limit to 28" to 33" inches with pinched tail and the closed season was expanded to include all of December and February. Snook closed season is now May-August and December-February. But please check with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for updates, they seem to want to change them frequently.
I also had a 3.5 inch striped mojarra that I fished under the bridge. A goliath grouper inhaled that and gave me a nice battle back to the boat. He was about 12 inches long and of course goliath grouper being a federally protected fish I unhooked him as quickly as possible and got him back in the water. It's nice to see them coming back, I’ve heard of many much larger goliath being caught in deeper waters. Maybe some day we'll be allowed to but one on our dinner table.
By about 9:30 it was getting awful warm in the sun so we moved under the bridge into the shade. I fed the rest of my sardines to what I assume where mangrove snapper but I never got one into sight. I saw quite a few tarpon rolling around in the shade but I couldn't seem to hook one.
By 10:30 we were getting bored and hot so we headed home. A pleasant short day on the water, but I'm ready for cooler weather.
