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: 8:15 AM 1.75 FT Low Tide: 4:45 PM 0.2 FT Wind: 5-10 NE Air Temp: 51/79 Water Temp: 72 Clarity: clear
Thursday morning was a bit foggy so we waited until about 10:00 AM to leave Eldred's Marina and we went straight out to the far side of Devilfish Key. There were a couple other boats there and a few guys wading along the sanding shore casting into the deeper grass flats. We anchored just off the east point where we could see a lot of action in the water. Turned out to be mostly mullet with ladyfish moving thru a little and lots of pinfish. After a half hour or so with only a couple ladyfish I chummed up some pinfish, threw my net and put a half dozen pinfish in my live well.
We picked up and went over to Bull Bay. It was still breezy and a little cool so I went east upon entering Bull Bay and we went up on the south side of one of the bigger islands in the lee of that north wind. It was beautiful there and we pulled a couple small redfish out on a Gulp Swimming Mullet. Karen had a nice hit on one of the pinfish but she missed it. We poled around in about 1-3 feet of water with mullet jumping all around us and an occasional school of bait fish passing thru with little more action.
In the mean time the wind died and it got very hot in the sun. We started back towards the mouth of Bull Bay but almost a soon as I started the motor something took off from about 20 yards in front of us. I managed to motor close enough to see a 4-5 foot black tipped shark. We stopped by one of the stilt houses and drifted a pinfish under a Cajun thunder cork just outside of the stilts. On every pass I hooked a grouper looking fish that I had never seen before. I looked thru all the grouper listed in the fish identification charts at My FWC and the closest thing I see is the Black Sea Bass. The picture there is not great but the description lists "iridescent blue and ebony markings" which were very obvious on the few fish I caught. then end of all it's lower fins and tail ended in a line of bright iridescent blue, it was beautiful. All were around a foot long and the minimum size limit is only 10 inches. I think we may have released a nice dinner. I wish I had taken a photo, doe anyone have one they could send me?
We didn't have much luck fishing beyond that. We looked for conch shells on the sand bars just outside Bull Bay and while there were plenty only two were unoccupied. We caught more ladyfish as huge schools moved around us but mostly we enjoyed the weather which had turned perfect and the water which was like glass.
On our way back to Eldred's we stopped once more by Devilfish Key, on the east end where there's a shallow bar that the outgoing tide was washing over. It was just loaded with schools of pinfish feeding on the debris washing over the bar. I don't think I've ever seen so many pinfish schooling in one spot before.
The sun was getting low as we idled under the Boca Grand Causeway Bridge into Placida Harbor, another great day on the water.
