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: 5:15 PM 0.9 FT Low Tide: 10:15 AM -0.5 FT Wind: 5-10 N Air Temp: 44/75 Water Temp: 60-64 Clarity: clear
The day was so nice after the cold snap we've endured (I know that'll bring a chuckle from my reader's up north) so we made a last minute decision to spend some time on the water. I ran to El Jobean Bait & Tackle Shop and picked up a couple dozen shrimp, we jumped in the boat and shoved off by about 10:00 AM.
The tide was still moving out slowly so I anchored to drift my shrimp under the docks. I immediately started getting the tiny taps of the professional bait stealers, the mangrove snappers. They were so persistent I couldn't get a shrimp on my second rod but I couldn't get a fish in the boat either. But just as I almost had a shrimp on the second hook my first rod bent over with something a little bigger than the snappers. Karen helped me net a nice little redfish that was only an inch under the 18 inch minimum.
When the tide went slack we moved to the oyster beds (which were dry) and started drifting shrimp in the channel along side. Again I found the little snappers along with lots of lazy mullet. I noticed that the water temperature was rising quite steadily under the bright sun in this shallow water. I noted 60 degrees when we left the dock and it was now 64 degrees. But I guess the big fish didn't need the warmer water. I got a few rays and fed a few snapper and decided to move.
I only had a half dozen shrimp left and I used them up a little closer to home in a deeper hole. I finally landed a nice 11 inch snapper and on my last shrimp a redfish that made the 18 inch minimum and would find itself along side the snapper on a plate for dinner.
I can't help but wonder if I had more shrimp if that was the start of the better fishing time. It was about 2:30 when I threw the red on ice and pulled anchor, another great day on the water.
