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: 7:15 AM 1.3 FT Low Tide: 11:20 AM 1.0 FT Wind: 0-5 E Air Temp: 75/93 Water Temp: 85 Clarity: murky
We got a nice early start leaving the dock about 6:00 AM with a nice comfortable 75 degrees and a nearly full moon. We weren't sure we'd go so we had no bait but managed to net some white bait from the canal on the way out. There has been lots of small bait, about 3/4 to 1.5 inches long, in the canal and around sun up they swim right on the waters surface in small schools making them easy to spot and net. Although it is a lot of work to throw that big net to catch 6 fish at a time but I got a couple dozen in the live well and worked up a good appetite which I sated on the remainder of the trip with my P&J sandwich.
It was just about sun up when we reached the sea walls at the end of the canal and I started throwing my Gulp Swimming Mullet at the fish that are always snapping against the walls at this hour. We were within about 6 feet of the sea wall when a school of something started popping up against the wall right in front of me. I flipped my Gulp against the wall about 6 inches above the water and it dropped in to the white water. A tiny twitch and something grabbed it. It didn't feel very big for a few seconds but then I guess it realized it was hooked and off it went. Under the boat, around the motor with me chasing behind feeding the pole around the bimini top, under the pontoon, down under the motor and I still had a fish on when I finally got free of the boat. It was still a battle but we finally netted a nice big Jack.
I threw the Gulp and drifted the white bait under a bobber for another hour or so with just couple tiny hits on both. So we decided to head to the El Jobean bridge to see what was going on out there. We haven't been out there much lately opting to spend a little less money for gas, but it was a beautiful morning so we made the trip.
Which wasn't worth the effort. I fed my bait to tiny mangrove snapper only managing to get one in the boat. We did see tarpon rolling under the bridge more than a few times. And a school of Jacks exploded the water right in the middle of the waterway under the bridge but I was too far away to reach them.
After I used up my bait we headed back to the canal and stopped at a few favorite spots to cast the Gulp. It was just a lazy hot summer day on the water and we got back to the dock about 11:00 AM for a quick swim to cool off before cleaning the boat. Another pleasant morning on the water.
