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 Sunday, May 18, 2008
Fish Caught: Mangrove Snapper, Stingray
High Tide: 2:30 PM 2.0 FT Low Tide: 8:30 AM 1.0 FT Wind: 10-20 SW Air Temp: 73/88 Water Temp: 81 Clarity: normal
We've been kind of busy for the last few weeks so when we found Sunday afternoon free I ran out for shrimp and right after lunch we hopped on the boat for a few hours of fishing. We didn't go far, gas is getting out of control. We stopped at the end of the canal and drifted shrimp under the docks on the incoming tide.
I played with a bunch of small mangrove snapper (I assume) but only got a few in the boat, 2 of them being 11-12 inches which went in the cooler. I am out of the 4 inch Gulp swimming mullet, all I could get locally was a smaller 2 inch version which I was throwing at the shore and sea wall with no luck. Jim, at Fines Bait in North Port said he was able to find a supplier for the bucket of Gulp 4 inch so next time I'm up there I'll pick one up.
About 3:30 I started getting a lot of action, unfortunately it was all with stingrays. Has anybody ever eaten a stingray? I have heard they are actually quite good if properly prepared. one day I'll try it, there are plenty to catch. After I got about 7 of them in a 20 minute period we decided it was another great day on the water and we headed home to a snapper dinner.
High Tide: 2:15 PM 1.8 FT Low Tide: 8:45 AM .75 FT Wind: 10-20 SW Air Temp: 57/88 Water Temp: 79 Clarity: normal
We left the dock about 1:00 PM with a bucket of silver jennies and a couple dozen shrimp from Fines Bait and Tackle in North Port. A nice warm day but windy so we stayed in the canal. There have been some nice reds coming out of our local water, we've been told.
We were still on an incoming tide but it was very high and slowing. I anchored and let my shrimp drift under the dock. There were mangrove snapper stealing my shrimp and I managed to hook a few, one going 13 inches went in the cooler.
About 2:30 or so the tide was getting slack and I had a small shrimp sitting on the bottom at the deep edge of the dock. I was throwing a Gulp and heard the pole at the other end of the bosat rattle. When I looked it was starting to bend over and by the time I reached it it was doubled over with line running spinning out against the drag. I battled a very strong 27 inch redfish for what seemed like a long time. I've caught bigger reds but never stronger than this one. He was just inside the slot limit of 18-27 inches and nice and fat and healthy. When I cleaned him I found the remains of 3 small Florida Stone Crabs in it's belly.
After that fish the tide was starting out and apparently that was the sign for the fish to rest. No more bites. We headed home about 3:45 to clean and eat fish. Another great day on the water.
