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, November 16, 2009
Fish Caught: Redfish, Sheepshead, Lady Fish, Catfish, Mangrove Snapper
High Tide: 5:00 PM 1.3 FT Low Tide: 10:00 AM -0.4 FT Wind: 5-10 NW Air Temp: 53/80 Water Temp: Clarity: clear
We managed to get away mid afternoon for a few hours of fishing. The weather was so nice at about 80 degrees with a light wind we just couldn't resist. That and every one seems to be talking about the red fish that are biting all over this end of charlotte Harbor.
So I ran out for some shrimp and we were in the boat anchored at the end of the canal by the docks by about 2:30. It wasn't as wild as our last trip but we started catching small reds and mangrove snapper. A few very small sheepshead mixed in. It was a little slow so we moved around a bit. I was throwing a gold spoon and Karen and I each had shrimp out. We stopped by the mouth of a little reedy swampy area where I know there is an oyster bar. There was a lot of movement in the water but it was mostly mullet. The shrimp were doing nothing and I was about to suggest another move when a nice red hit my spoon. Doesn't it always seem to be when you least expect it. Well it woke me from whatever I was dreaming about and when we got it netted I knew it was close to slot sized. Sure enough, just over the 18 inch minimum, finally a red fish dinner.
As the sun got low it started getting a little chilly. The photo is the last thing we did before heading back to the dock to clean fish. Another great day on the water.
Fish Caught: Redfish, Sheepshead, Snook, Trout, Mangrove Snapper
High Tide: 6:00 AM 2.1 FT Low Tide: 3:00 PM 0 FT Wind: 20-30 E Air Temp: 62/84 Water Temp: Clarity: dark
Tom and Patty, a couple of Karen's cousins are down for a few days from the cold north. So we needed to squeeze in a fishing day even though the wind was outrageous. We took a few dozen shrimp and set out at 10:00 AM knowing we probably could not venture out in the open water of the Myakka river where the wind would lift us by the bimini top and fly us like a kite at the end of the anchor line.
Even our normal sheltered spots were very windy, I had to break out the bigger anchor to keep us on bottom. But we started catching fish with the first shrimp in the water, which was put out there by Tom. And it was a show stopper, I mean HE was a show stopper, the fish was a redfish about 13 inches long (Arlene, he had to throw it back because as you know the slot limit for redfish is 18 to 24 inches) but Tommy made us believe it was a six footer. I think he was really enjoying the spotlight since he had to leave his poor wife, Arlene, home to work. Tom had us running with the net for every little fish he caught, which was a lot. We caught so many redfish in the 10 to 14 inch range we lost count, I think we agreed it was at least 20 between us.
For a very long time we were getting bites on every cast and many resulted in some kind of fish in the boat. Mangrove snapper (many keepers and a few up in the 13-14 inch range) sheepshead (lots of small ones but 2 went 15 and 17 inches, huge for the canal), of course redfish. Patty started the day saying she wanted to relax and didn't need a fishing pole. But the heavy action got her out of her seat catching fish before too long. She didn't quite have Tom's enthusiasm, no one did, but I think she added her share to the dinner table.
After several hours the wind was getting very annoying so we moved back up the canal a ways and tied off on one of the markers. Bob and Cheryl, our neighbors up the canal were on their way to try some fishing so we had them tie up with us. Cheryl started right out with a small snook that she tossed back vowing the next would be a keeper. That never did happen but she did catch enough keeper snapper so they could have dinner. Bob did pretty well with the beer while keeping his feet elevated. And thats when Tom caught a trout which shocked us all. There haven't been many around this year, at least not up as far as El Jobean so to see one way up in the canal was surprising.
Somewhere around 3:00 everybody started running out of energy, wind and sun burned, hungry and thirsty we turned the boat home. The affects of 5 hours in 20-30 MPH winds didn't become apparent until we got in the shelter of the living room. It felt a little like sensory deprivation, so quiet and still. But we cleaned our sheepshead and snapper and blackened it on the grill and had a great dinner.
I think everyone had a great day on the water (except Robby and Arlene the worker bees at home) I know I did. I can't imagine getting on a plane and heading back north after a day like that, so I'm staying and I wish Patty and Tommy the best until our next fishing trip, you too Arlene and Rob!
Fish Caught: Redfish, Snook, Jack, Catfish, Mangrove Snapper, Stingray
High Tide: 2:05 AM 2.2 FT Low Tide: 10:20 AM -0.5 FT Wind: 5-10 NE Air Temp: 68/86 Water Temp: Clarity: dark
My two sisters, Judy and Kate, walked for breast cancer (Judy is a survivor) in Tampa last weekend. They were both very tired and struggling to walk on blistered feet, so they spent a couple days with us, one sitting by the pool and one sitting on the boat. As it turned out the day on the boat was not all that physically relaxing. A good thing!
We got Kate up and on the boat by 7:00 AM, a miracle I'm told. And we started right off catching small mangrove snapper and catfish. The bite was light and we fed a lot of those little thieves very well. We tried a couple spots and got a couple keepers one over 13 inches. We ended up by the docks at the end of the canal were we added several small reds and a very small snook to the tally.
It was a nice cool, lazy, breezy morning when an odd noise slowly caught everyone's attention. It sounded like the squall line of a big thunderstorm with the big heavy rain drops hitting the water and racing towards us. The sound increased in volume until we had to raise or voices to speak above it and the water came alive under the far end of the dock. The splashing spread out across the canal and came in our direction until we were surrounded by splashing, roiling water. It was such a vicious feeding frenzy we were actually getting wet sitting on my pontoon boat a good 2 feet off the water. And everyone hooked up with a jack varying from 9 to 12 inches long. Lots of fun. I wish I had my video camera so you could see and hear that approaching wall of white water. I've been around feeding jacks before but never such an aggressive bunch and never that close. You could hear them hitting the bottom of the boat, I'm sure the net would have picked up 3 or 4 per scoop if we'd wanted.
Of course it ended any other fishing as they passed. They continued to resurface in huge schools for the rest of the day. We motored out a short way into the canal and caught and released a few more before a guy stopped and asked what we were catching. When we told him he asked if he would be bothering us if he dropped his seine net next time they surfaced. We were anxious to watch and told him so and about 10 minutes later we got to see him in action. I think he said he's allowed 3 (maybe 4?), 500 ft nets on board. When the jacks showed themselves again he raced off to one side of the school and tossed one end of his net in. Then he circled around the outside of the school letting the net feed out until he circled back to the beginning. He then pulled both ends into his boat, tied one end off and started hauling the other end in. It looked like a tough job. He had a big u shaped area around the back of his boat that he put the net and fish in. It looked like a gill net, the fish were mostly stuck in it. We could see lots of jacks and lots of catfish. When he got the whole net in, about a half hour, he shoveled ice on top of it. We asked a few questions and found out he estimated that haul to be about $200-$300 worth of fish. He said it would take him 2-3 hours longer to get the fish out of the net. Each catfish would have to have all 3 of its sharp spiky fins cut off to get them free of the net. I assume he sells all this as bait to crabbers but we didn't get the chance to ask that. It was interesting to watch but we all had to wonder about taking so many fish in such a short time. But I guess we have the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission taking care of limits and fishing methods to preserve the fish at sustainable levels. I hope they know what they're doing. We wondered back home slowly, got a few more mangrove snapper for the cooler, trolled up a few more jacks and small reds and got back to the dock before 2 PM.
I think Kate and Judy got the kind of rest they needed. I know I had another great day on the water and look forward to seeing them again soon.
