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 Monday, September 28, 2009
Fish Caught: Redfish, Sheepshead, Catfish, Mangrove Snapper, Stingray
High Tide: 11:30 AM 1.8 FT Low Tide: 8:00 PM 0.2 FT Wind: 5-10 NW Air Temp: 75/91 Water Temp: Clarity: murky
A few weeks back I helped my dad install a new door on his back porch. The new door replaced a storm door he had installed just a couple years ago and I had need for a storm door at my house. So my sister Kate was kind enough to bring the door in her new truck and my mom and dad came along for the ride and a short fishing trip.
I went down to El Jobean Bait & Tackle Shop about 6:30 AM and picked up 4 dozen live shrimp and a couple bags of frozen that I decided to try as chum. Mom, dad and Kate arrived, said hellos and toured the house and yard to see all the updates and dad and I rushed them into the boat. Even with two of us pushing it was a late start, we left the dock about 10:30 AM.
There were storm clouds to our south east so we decided to stay in the canal and out of the lightning. We dropped anchor and Kate got the first sheepshead within a minute. In the next half hour we caught sheepshead, mangrove snapper, catfish and a small redfish. All were way under keeper size except one sheepshead my dad caught that was an inch or two over the 12 inch minimum. Then the action just stopped and after a half hour without a bite we moved to another spot.
We tried several other spots over the next few hours and continued to catch small reds, snappers, sheepshead, catfish and rays. My mom hooked one huge ray which acted just like a big red for a while, a little bit of excitement. We even took a short ride out by Bird Key which is just out into the Myakka River. The tide was really rushing out fast out there, I think too fast for any fish to be hanging around, we didn't get a single bite.
So we headed back to the canal, stopped and played with little fish along the way and hit the docks by about 3:30. It's still too hot to be out there for too long. We were all tired and glad to be back in the cool house or pool. Its always nice to be on the water but its an especially a great day on the water when shared with family.
Fish Caught: Redfish, Sheepshead, Mangrove Snapper, Stingray
High Tide: 5:00 PM 2.0 FT Low Tide: 11:00 AM 0.5 FT Wind: 0-5 E Air Temp: 73/91 Water Temp: Clarity: muddy
So it's been about 8 weeks since my last fishing trip. That's just way too long, I hope to make up for the missing time in the next few months. I haven't been neglecting my favorite pastime, I started out for a fishing trip a couple times in July only to have problems with my outboard. Apparently the ethanol they now put in gas is not real good for outboard motors. And I own a 2003 Mercury which has a reputation of it's own for less than top quality fuel lines. So the fuel lines started dissolving and the gummy rubber got into all the internal parts of my motor. To make a long story short (and get on to fishing) I had to replace all the gas lines from the tank to the motor and all the internal lines including the fuel pump which also lost a few rubber grommets to the ethanol. I learned two things that might help you if you have a boat and are forced to use gas with ethanol, which you must because its hard to find it without ethanol.
There is a product called "Stabil" which is sold in Wal-Mart and most auto parts stores that you should add to ethanol based gas before using it in your boat. I also found my fuel pump online for half the price that I could get it at the marina. If you're looking for boat parts try ishopmarine.com.
So we left the dock about 6:45 AM with 4 dozen shrimp from El Jobean Bait & Tackle Shop. When we got to the end of the canal by the seawalls the water was glassy and I didn't see any sign of fish in the water at all. The tide was moving out fast so I drifted the length throwing Gulp swimming mullet and dragging a shrimp. It probably took a half hour to get down to the docks and I still had the same shrimp, not good.
So I dropped the anchor and let a shrimp drift under the docks. I started getting action from small mangrove snappers immediately and was pleasantly surprised to get redfish mixed in now and then. But everything was so small, not a single snapper was over the minimum 10 inches and the biggest red was only around 12 inches. But I caught a lot and it was fun.
Our canal was recently dredged and they put up a bunch of new markers on big poles. So the contour of the bottom is very different. I let the boat drift again and threw the Gulp and dragged the shrimp until I got a couple bites. I dropped anchor and threw some shrimp into an area that had never produced anything for me before. But the newly dredged channel comes up very close to the shore here and apparently the fish like the new terrain. I was catching small snapper and redfish on almost every cast. There were stingray and sheepshead mixed in too. It was a busy day but nothing to eat.
We made a run out to the El Jobean bridge for low slack tide to see if there might be some snook feeding when the tide turned in. But all I did there was leave a few hooks in the bridge, not a single bite.
The thunder started booming in the distance so we decided to call it a day. Lightning catches my attention a little more since our neighbors house was struck and burned a few weeks ago. We were back at the dock by around 12:30 just as the first spits of rain came down. It was a great day on the water, many more in the near future, I hope!
I have been waiting for you to post agan.Try the gas at Fishermans Villge marina, they have marine fuel wih no ethanol By Harry Mullica, At
September 7, 2009 11:54 AM
Thanks Harry, but it takes me over 2 hours to get to Fisherman's Village Marina in my boat from my dock. But the new gas lines I installed are of a material made to handle the new fuel and by adding stabil to the gas it stays good as long as gas without ethanol.
