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.
High Tide: 4:15 PM 1.3 FT Low Tide: 10:15 AM 0.0 FT Wind: 5-10 NW Air Temp: 59/77 Water Temp: 72 Clarity: clear
My Uncle Don and Aunt Nancy are visiting from Connecticut and wanted to see what the Myakka looked like from the water so the 3 of us packed a nice lunch and headed out about 9:45 AM. I wasn't able to net any bait so Don bought a couple dozen shrimp and we went straight out to the El Jobean bridge. I thought the tide would be hitting low and turning in but I guess the wind was against us and for the couple hours we were there it never turned in, it just sat slack. Don managed a couple mangrove snapper, too small to keep and I got a nice 18 inch spanish mackerel on a Berkley Gulp white swimming mullet.
We noticed a pelican kind of floating, swimming and dipping himself into the water in a most unusual way. After watching him for 15 minutes or so we decided he must have a piece of fishing line wrapped around his right wing and right foot. So we got a couple towels ready, a knife and the net and pulled the anchor to go see if we could help the poor thing out of its jam. I started the motor and pulled the anchor and looked back to where he had just been and he was flying away as if he had never been better. We finally decided that he was the same pelican I had tangle in my line on a cast a little earlier. I had only had him tangled for about 20 seconds and he seemed to slip free rather easily so I hadn't really paid any attention to him. But I'm thinking now my braided line may have given him a burn or ruffled or broke some feathers and that his unusual bathing actions had been an attempt to soothe or unruffle those feathers. It sure was odd.
We went out to one of the bays off Tippecanoe Bay and poled way back into very shallow water. I thought Don and Nancy would enjoy seeing the skinny back water and all the birds and wildlife back there. But we didn't find too much activity and no fish at all besides the mullet that were looking for what little sun made it through the clouds.
On the way back home we saw about 5 dolphins really stirring up the water, circling and jumping and splashing. I turned the boat towards them and slowed to an idle. They were in a playful mood and 3 of them turned and came towards us. They swam around and under the boat, stopping occasionally to stare up at us as we hung over the rail and talked to them. People can get pretty nutty in the way they talk to animals in those situations and I can't help but wonder if those dolphins just wanted a good laugh.
I had shut the motor and we slowly drifted away from the dolphins. But when I started the motor again and turned towards home the dolphins came back and started the circling and visiting. It was pretty amazing, they seemed to have something to say. It was at least 15 minute that we chugged along at nearly idle speed and they gave us quite a show. I'm wondering now if they had talked to that poor pelican and he told them of our good, but misguided intentions towards him. Whatever the reason they eventually let us go on alone and went back to their dancing.
The spanish mackerel was delicious blackened with a salad from my garden, italian turkey sausage, sweet potatoes and some good wine Don and Nancy had provided. It was another great day in paradise.
