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, September 29, 2007
Fish Caught: Tarpon, Trout, Goliath Grouper, Mangrove Snapper
High Tide: 5:00 AM 2.3 FT Low Tide: 12:45 PM -0.2 FT Wind: 10-20 NE Air Temp: 73/90 Water Temp: 82 Clarity: avarage
We left the dock a little late, 7:25 AM. We went straight out to the bridge in El Jobean, Fl and anchored in our favorite spot. I put a white bait (I netted yesterday in a local canal) on my hook and cast it near the bridge piling. The bait were pretty big 2 to 4 inches so I went with no sinkers.
The bait was very lively and it kept trying to swim into the piling where I knew I'd get hung up and probably have to break the line. So I kept pulling him out and one time when I tried to pull him out he pulled back VERY hard. I set the hook and the fight was on. Whatever it was it was big, I couldn't bring it to the surface and after only 30 seconds or so it got off.
So I put another bait on, cast him in the same place and hooked it again. This time it seemed I had him hooked well and after a few minutes of hard fighting a 3 foot tarpon blasted into the air about 4 feet from the boat. Karen had been reading and didn't even know I'd hooked the 2nd fish, so when that fish exploded at the surface she nearly jumped off the other side of the boat. I fought him a little while longer until he finally spit the hook. Good thing because I'm not really equipped to bring a fish like that into the boat. I managed to hook tarpon 3 more times after that, once even on my Gulp Swimming Mullet. All were released in much the same way and a couple gave us the same thrill by dancing on top of the water.
Then the goliath grouper started eating my white bait. I got about 5 or 6 in the boat between 10 and 15 inches, soon released. Even at that size they are fun to catch on light tackle, a very strong fish. I also got a couple mangrove snapper on the smaller bait, but nothing big enough for dinner.
Then the action slowed and I started paying less attention to my drifting bait. The tide was running out fast so it ended up behind us where the water motion start to slow as it leaves the influence of the bridge. Half way through a retrieve of my Gulp that pole bent over.
I managed to grab it and not lose the fish, the first trout of the season. Unfortunately it was 14.75 inches which is a quarter inch too short. But the next one was almost 16 inches and they kept coming. I lost a few and got 2 keepers in the boat before I ran out of bait. I had about 30 bait which is way more than I've ever needed before.
I'd seen some flashing in the water during the morning so I decided to toss the cast net and see what I got. A net full of scaled sardines but the largest was less than 2 inches long. Awfully tiny but I put 3 at a time on my hook and continued catching trout. But by about 10:30 the wind started really picking up and once again we started dragging the anchor. I got tired of fighting with the wind so we headed home by about 11:00 AM. A great day of fishing!
High Tide: 12:15 PM 2.0 FT Low Tide: 6:00 AM 1.5 FT Wind: 5-10 SE Air Temp: 71/88 Water Temp: 80 Clarity: murky
It was one of those odd days that we are under cloud cover almost all day. We left the dock about 6:20 AM and headed straight out to the bridge over the Myakka River in El Jobean, FL. But with the wind blowing straight up Charlotte Harbor it was too rough to hold bottom so we decided to find some shelter in the Myakka Cutoff behind Hog Island. I tried a few of our favorite deep holes in the cutoff and had a few small fish steel my white bait. We moved a little farther into the cutoff to a hole I've had good luck at before. I tossed a free lined white bait up under the mangroves and it obliged by swimming farther under and attracting a nice snook. I set the hook and that snook jumped straight up out of the water and right into the mangrove, of course dragging my line with him and tangling it. He thrashed again while suspended from the mangrove and snapped my 30 lb leader. I lost 2 more fish which I'm sure were snook under the same area of mangrove.
We explored some new water way back in the cutoff and I found some places that I'll revisit but we didn't have any more luck today. The sky was looking a little threatening so we decided to head a little closer to home When we got back out to the harbor it was filled with birds diving. We ran over to marker 9 to find huge schools of lady fish feeding on something, I assume glass minnows. I guess the cooler water brought them back up into the harbor. I played with a few which I'll use to bait my crab traps.
On the way into the Apollo Waterway I threw my Gulp Swimming Mullet along the seawalls and got a nice 13 inch Mangrove Snapper, we had him for supper, along with some shark we had in the freezer.
BTW, the sail cat we got last week was okay. It tasted very good, no muddy or iodine flavor at all, a nice mild fish, but the meat was not the nice flaky white of a snook or redfish. But Karen and I agreed it would be a good fish to batter and deep fry.
High Tide: 6:00 AM 2 FT Low Tide: 2:00 PM .25 FT Wind: 5-10 E Air Temp: 75/93 Water Temp: 85 Clarity: murky
We decided to go back to see if we could catch that shark. Our neighbor, Bimini, came along for the excitement which began when we left the dock about 6:45 AM.
We went right to the end of the Apollo Waterway drifing threw the sea walls with sardines both live lined and under bobbers (this time with steel leader) and casting a Gulp Mullet and a Heddon - Zara Puppy.
It was very quiet, no action at all until we were almost in the Myakka River. We could see a lot of commotion on the glassy water surface just ahead. I dropped anchor before we got too close and Bimini was able to cast a sardine, apparently right on the head of a big jack. It seemed to grap that sardine practically before it hit the water and Bimini battled it into the net. We sat there for a while and then decided to head back up the canal. As I was hauling the anchor Bimini took one more cast into the mangrove roots and a little snook blasted out and grabbed her sardine.
We went back up to the Jupiter Waterway and played with some sail cats and lady fish. One of the sail cats was quite large and I talked Karen into trying it for supper. We've heard from a couple different friends that they are very good and the one you see in the photo was so big we thought it was time to try it out. We've been pleasantly surprised with other fish, such as spanish mackerel, that most people don't eat. But very fresh fish can be very good when the same fish purchased at a store may not be fresh and can be less than satisying. We made the dock by 10:30 AM
Fish Caught: Snook, Goliath Grouper, Blacktip Shark, Lady Fish
High Tide: 5:30 AM 2.0 FT Low Tide: 1:00 PM 0.25 FT Wind: 5-10 NE Air Temp: 73/93 Water Temp: 85 Clarity: murky
We ledt the dock about 6:30 AM. Made our first stop at the end of the Jupiiter Wateryway, it was just getting light. I had a live well full of nice 3 inch sardines I netted Friday in a local canal. I put one under a popper cork, live lined one and cast my Berkley Swimming Mullet Gulp.
I played with some small lady fish on the live lined sardine and got a big sail cat on it as well. After the sun was well over the horiizon I noticed a big wake and some splashing around my bobber. Something kept smacking it and swishing around leaving quite a wake. But then left without catching my very lively sardine.
A little while later I heard a big splash at my bobber and saw a large wake and fin breaking the surface, then the bobber just took off. I was at the far end of the boat, the bail was open on my reel so I wasn't too worried. But before I could get to the pole the line snagged coming off the spool and the pole doubled over under the pull of the fish. I managed to grab it and set the hook, a very large fish. But after just 5 seconds the line went slack, when I reeled it in it had been cut clean at the leader. A big snook? They have razor sharp gill plates that will sliice threw most leader if it happens to catch it in the wrong place.
I had one more similar experience on the bobber, with the line cut after just a few aeconds, that's when I started thinking shark. We decided to move on to the end of the Jupiter Waterway. Which we drifeted with little excitement until we were near the end. Thats when I saw that wake coming towards my bobber which had drifted quite close to the boat. That's when I got my first look at a huge (for this inshore area) blacktip shark. He was over 3 feet with a broad head that poked at my bobber, not the bait.
I dropped the anchor and cast the line out again and sure enough he came back. After a few more snaps at the popper cork he finally grabbed the sardine and the fght was on. When he got hooked he went wild, almost coming out of the water splashing and thrashing his big tail. But once again he was able to cut my 30 lb monofilament leader.
We moved out to the El Jobean bridge and dropped a few sardines into the current that dragged them into the pilings. I got a small snook and goliathe grouper and lots of broken lines. It's hard to fish with that raging current. I did hook something that felt very big but again the line got cut, I suspect on the bridge.
It was getting hot in the sun so we headed home stopping to cast here and there with no further action. We were home by about 1:30, a long day, time to clean the boat and nap before dinner, fishless dinner.
My husband and I just moved down from WV., and I have been trying to find a good place where we can fish. We do not have a boat, I ave been looking trying to find a simple way to get to Boca Grande, Charlitte Harbor, well any of the places that you have listed. Please tell me a good place to fish from the shores.
High Tide: 3:45 PM 2.1 FT Low Tide: 9:45 AM .9 FT Wind: 5-10 SE Air Temp: 73/89 Water Temp: 85 Clarity: murky
Left the dock about 6:30 AM. Anchored between the sea walls at the end of the Apollo Waterway and live lined some live bait I netted Sunday morning and tossed a Gulp Swimming Mullet. Nothing.
We moved on to the bridge over the Myakka River at El Jobean, FL. On the way out the motor started dieing but I discovered it would start up again after pumping the gas flow bulb. We had to stop and pump every 5 minutes. So we headed over to Gulf Coast Marine Center in El Jobean, FL.
I thought it might be water in the gas or the water separator filter. So I went in to buy a new filter and a can of dry gas (temporary fix because I didn't have a filter wrench). Bob, the service manager stopped me (I bought my boat there and have Bob service it every 100 hours) and suggested this was not my problem. He came out to the boat and did a little work and told me my problem was the bulb. Sold me a new one and everything I'll need to replace the old one and showed me how to get through the day with the old one then sent us back off to fish in time to catch the tide I wanted. There was no charge for the diagnostics, thanks Bob.
So I got back to the bridge a half hour before the low slack, perfect. I expected to find some large snook when the tide turned back in, but I was wrong. I fed the little mangrove snapper most of my bait and by 11:00 or so the tide was way to fast and we started dragging the anchor (no I didn't get a new one yet).
We moved back into the canal and sat with some bait on the bottom while we ate lunch. That's when I got a giant sail cat, which I let go. I did a little casting under the bridges along the Apollo and Jupiter Waterways and got some action with small (18-22 inches) snook on my Berkley Gulp.
We also saw an interesting duck that seemed to be dancing for us. I will research it and put my video of it up here when I get time. We were back at the dock by about 1:00 PM.
One thing I should mention about the day. It was very overcast, more like the cloudy day so typical up in New england where it doesn't rain but you never see the sun. Very, very unusual for south west Florida where we usually get sun most of the day and then sudden bursts of thunderstorms. The overcast did make the day cooler and more pleasant.
High Tide: 7:00 AM 2.1 FT Low Tide: 3:00 PM .1 FT Wind: 0-5 NE Air Temp: 73/93 Water Temp: 85 Clarity: murky
There was so much action at the sea walls on the Apollo Waterway that we decided to take the last of our bait and make another early morning trip. We got to the sea walls long before sun up, we left the dock about 5:45 AM and its about a 20 minute cruise down our canal system.
But there was almost nothing happening. It was dead calm, not a breeze to stir the glassy water. because the tide was later and we were earlier the tide was still coming in, unlike yesterday when we hit high slack. I live lined bait while casting a Gulp Swimming Mullet at the walls. I did this for a couple hours with no results. Finally, after the tide had just turned out, I got something on the little mullet I was drifting.
Of course I had just cast my Gulp when I saw the other rod start to bend over. The bait was about 3-4 inches long so I knew it had to be a decent fish. It was moving slowly towards the center of the canal putting more and more tension on the rod. I dropped the rod in my hands and flipped the bail to give the fish some slack while I took the rod out of the holder. I reeled up slack and could tell the fish had already reached the center of the canal. When the line tightened and I felt the fish again I set the hook. I felt him only for a brief second and then felt the hook come free. What was it? Don't you hate not knowing?
That was the only action all morning, we were back at the dock by 10:00 AM. Amazing how great a dip in the pool feels when you get off the boat on a sunny, hot morning.
High Tide: 6:15 AM 2.1 FT Low Tide: 1:50 PM .1 FT Wind: 5-10 S Air Temp: 75/91 Water Temp: 85 Clarity: murky
Finally, snook are in season again. I went out on Friday to a local canal that has been holding sardines and netted a bucket which included sardines, small mullet and Striped Mojarra. On Saturday we left the dock by about 6:15 and got to the first fishing spot on the ApolloWaterway as the sun was just brightening the sky. I got a nice strike on a Heddon - Zara Puppy which I'm pretty certain was a mid sized snook. They love that top water lure, one of the few I've had luck with.
We went on to the sea walls down at the end of the canal and drifted through throwing a Berkley Gulp 4 inch White Swimming Mullet. The sea walls were alive with fish popping and any wake that brushed the walll seemed to energized the fish. I suspect they are eating those little bugs that always crawl just above the water line and the wake probably washes a few into the fishes reach.
I hooked something very large on the Gulp but lost it after only about 15 seconds. It felt big and more like a snook than a jack which are common to that area. Once the sun was up full the activity there stopped so we headed out to the El Jobean bridge.
The tide was moving extremely fast at the bridge. I saw tarpon rolling and was surprised that I couldn't hook one up on the sardines. But it was hard to keep from being washed into the pilings and after losing a few rigs and only catching small goliath grouper we moved out to one of the bays behind Hog Island.
It was hot in the mangroves and not much action. I boated one small snook, about 18 inches, on the Gulp and the sky started looking very threatening. We headed back to the bridge with the intent of waiting out the storm under its protection. But after another half hour the storm seemed to be intensifying and the wind started blowing us around so much we decided to run before we got stuck in the worst of it.
It turned out to be one of those very local storms and in 5 minutes we were back in the sun looking at the storm coming slowly behind us. We were back at the dock just before noon, another enjoyable day on the water.
