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.
Fish Caught: Sheepshead, Mangrove Snapper, Skate/Ray, Snook
High Tide: 5:30 PM 2.0 FT Low Tide: 11:30 AM 0.5 FT Wind: 10-20 E Air Temp: 79/93 Water Temp: 83 Clarity: coffee
Had to go back to see if that big fish my Dad missed a couple days ago was still there. We left the dock about 8:30 AM, a little late because the tides were late and I really wanted to catch the turn to incoming tide at about 11:30. We made a stop up near the end of the Jupiter Waterway where I threw the Gulp Swimming Mullet at the pepper trees while letting a shrimp drift with a tiny split shot.
The shrimp didn't get much action but was picked apart after 15 minutes by some tiny fish. I really wanted to save them for that big redfish. But I did get a nice snook on the Gulp. Although well below legal size at about 22 inches long, but they are still fun at that size.
About 10:00 we moved out towards the end of the Apollo Waterway and drifted the sea walls, still on an outgoing tide. I got a couple taps on the Gulp but not much action. At about 11:00 I moved to the spot where I hoped to find some redfish when the tide turned in. I like to get anchored and quiet a half hour early. But, because of the east wind the tide was late and it turned out we were very early. I got a couple small sheepshead and mangrove snapper, especially when the tide had slowed to almost slack. But it hung there for a long time before finally turning back in. That's when the action started.
I had just lost a shrimp to a small fish when I saw tail swirls and a wake under the dock. I got a shrimp back on and into the current which had finally started moving in with some pace. The split shot wasn't enough to hold bottom so I let the shrimp bounce along the front edge of the dock and about 25 feet down I felt a nice hit. It was another snook right around 20 inches. For the next hour or so I played with feeding mangrove snapper, sheepshead and snook. I got 3 more snook into the boat before the action just stopped. One of our neighbors, Bob, fished his way down to us just before I got the last snook. He anchored a ways up and I saw him catch a similar snook, it looked like on some kind of lure, but I couldn't see what kind. But I was down to 2 shrimp and those 2 lasted quite a while. I think the tide just got moving too fast. So about 2:30 we headed home, again with no fish for supper but an exciting day on the water.
