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 Thursday, May 29, 2008
Fish Caught: Trout, Goliath Grouper, Blacktip Shark, Lane Snapper
High Tide: 11:53 AM 1.5 FT Low Tide: 5:45 AM 0.5 FT Wind: 5-10 NE Air Temp: 66/95 Water Temp: 81 Clarity: clear
I was invited out with friends, we took Dave's boat down to the launch in El Jobean and got underway by about 7:30 AM. Bimini had heard there were cobia in the harbor and she had a plan so the three of us set out to catch some fish. We started out towards Punts Gorda to catch some bait. There were greenbacks in the water but we didn't have any luck netting them. Neither did several other boats that stopped near us with the same thought. But we managed to catch some small sand trout (a favorite food of cobia and shark) and a few pinfish. Dave also got several small lane snapper, which he says is a first for him in Charlotte Harbor. They were all in the range of 4 to 6 inches so of course we didn't keep any. But 8 inches is legal size so maybe in a few months?
So we took our bait to this secret hole to see if we could get a few cobia. When we got there we saw several big schools of greenbacks in the area. We tried to chase them down to get the cast net over them but they're very aware of boats and they scatter long before you can get a net over them. So we anchored up and put a few sand trout and pinfish out.
I had a small cajun thunder cork on my sand trout while Dave and Bimini live lined a trout and pinfish. I was the first to hook up with a small black tip shark. I was using a 30lb mono leader but we managed to net the shark just before he cut the leader. Probably because he was so small. I hooked 2 more in the next couple hours and both cut the line before we netted them.
As we sat at anchor schools of threadfin herring would occasionally pass within net range and we managed to get a dozen or so in the live well. But by about 1:00 o'clock or so we hadn't had any action for a while and decided to head home by way of Trout Creek. There was a lot of action in the water and we fed a few greenbacks to something. I was throwing a Gulp Swimming Mullet and, after a few good hits, I finally hooked a small Goliath Grouper. Of course he went back in the water ASAP since they are Federally protected and carry a huge $5,000.00 fine.
It was about 2:30 when we called it a day. It was really a great day, many thanks to Dave and Bimini. Hope to do it again soon. Karen and I enjoyed the shark.
Fish Caught: Snook, Goliath Grouper, Blacktip Shark, Lady Fish
High Tide: 5:30 AM 2.0 FT Low Tide: 1:00 PM 0.25 FT Wind: 5-10 NE Air Temp: 73/93 Water Temp: 85 Clarity: murky
We ledt the dock about 6:30 AM. Made our first stop at the end of the Jupiiter Wateryway, it was just getting light. I had a live well full of nice 3 inch sardines I netted Friday in a local canal. I put one under a popper cork, live lined one and cast my Berkley Swimming Mullet Gulp.
I played with some small lady fish on the live lined sardine and got a big sail cat on it as well. After the sun was well over the horiizon I noticed a big wake and some splashing around my bobber. Something kept smacking it and swishing around leaving quite a wake. But then left without catching my very lively sardine.
A little while later I heard a big splash at my bobber and saw a large wake and fin breaking the surface, then the bobber just took off. I was at the far end of the boat, the bail was open on my reel so I wasn't too worried. But before I could get to the pole the line snagged coming off the spool and the pole doubled over under the pull of the fish. I managed to grab it and set the hook, a very large fish. But after just 5 seconds the line went slack, when I reeled it in it had been cut clean at the leader. A big snook? They have razor sharp gill plates that will sliice threw most leader if it happens to catch it in the wrong place.
I had one more similar experience on the bobber, with the line cut after just a few aeconds, that's when I started thinking shark. We decided to move on to the end of the Jupiter Waterway. Which we drifeted with little excitement until we were near the end. Thats when I saw that wake coming towards my bobber which had drifted quite close to the boat. That's when I got my first look at a huge (for this inshore area) blacktip shark. He was over 3 feet with a broad head that poked at my bobber, not the bait.
I dropped the anchor and cast the line out again and sure enough he came back. After a few more snaps at the popper cork he finally grabbed the sardine and the fght was on. When he got hooked he went wild, almost coming out of the water splashing and thrashing his big tail. But once again he was able to cut my 30 lb monofilament leader.
We moved out to the El Jobean bridge and dropped a few sardines into the current that dragged them into the pilings. I got a small snook and goliathe grouper and lots of broken lines. It's hard to fish with that raging current. I did hook something that felt very big but again the line got cut, I suspect on the bridge.
It was getting hot in the sun so we headed home stopping to cast here and there with no further action. We were home by about 1:30, a long day, time to clean the boat and nap before dinner, fishless dinner.
My husband and I just moved down from WV., and I have been trying to find a good place where we can fish. We do not have a boat, I ave been looking trying to find a simple way to get to Boca Grande, Charlitte Harbor, well any of the places that you have listed. Please tell me a good place to fish from the shores.
High Tide: 9:45 AM 2 FT Low Tide: 6:45 PM -0.25 FT Wind: 5-10 SW Air Temp: 75/93 Water Temp: 87 Clarity: clear
The shark was excellent. I marinated it with grapefruit juice and grilled it with garlic, pepperoncini peppers and rosemarry. It was a nice moist mild meat similar to red fish or bass.
So we went out again today to get a couple more. You’re limited to 1 fish per person or 2 per vessel, which ever is less. Karen and I were joined by Bimini, our neighbor so we were allowed 2 and we didn’t struggle too much to get them. We left the dock at Eldred’s marina about 6:45 AM and after netting a little bait between the 2 islands off from the Fishery Restaurant we headed out towards Catfish Creek. Our shark spot was just a little south and off shore from Catfish Creek in about 4-5 feet of water. We anchored and started chumming, threw out some chunked mackerel I brought from the freezer, some pinfish and tossed some gulp. Bimini caught a ladyfish and we chunked that too. Shark seem to love ladyfish because that did the trick. We ended up with three in the boat and a bunch that cut the 35 lb florocarbon leader. A few catfish liked the chunked bait as well.
We went in shore to try for some redfish too but no luck. So we went back out to drift the grass flats. We managed a couple trout, one was 16 inches so we added that to the cooler, the rest were small.
It was a nice day but by 11:00 AM it was getting very hot, we headed home.
Since fish is sometimes a challenge for many to cook, your recipe was a great addition to your comments. It sounded great. By maralyn, At
August 13, 2007 2:30 PM
High Tide: 8:45 AM 2 FT Low Tide: 5:45 PM -0.1 FT Wind: 5-10 S Air Temp: 75/95 Water Temp: 87 Clarity: clear
We drove to Placida and got on the water by around 7:00 AM. We went directly to the 2 little islands off the Fishery Restaurant and with one throw of the net filled the livewell with small needle fish about 3-5 inches long. We headed straight east to Catfish Creek and fished some of the mangrove islands and channels near the front. I used up the rest of my Gulp Swimming Mullet on little trout and probably more pinfish but trout was all I hooked. It was slow fishing with nothing worth catching so I decided to try some deeper grass flats.
I found a place out in front of Catfish Creek where the water dropped from 1 to 4-5 feet so we headed over to see what it looked like. It seemed grassy and the depth finder was showing stands of bigger weed or something. So we put some of our needle fish out and I casted a bunch of stuff as we drifted along for a half hour with no more than small trout for our efforts. Then, suddenly Karen's pole got yanked almost out of her hand but before she could but her book down and tend to it the fish was off. A few minutes later she got another big strike and landed, after lots of moaning and groaning, a small black tip shark about 20 inches long. So we finally had some fun with a real fish. I dropped the anchor and started chumming with a bait chum I'd mixed. For the next hour we were catching and losing one shark after the other. We were using 35 lb Florcarbon leader which is pretty easily cut by a sharks teeth so we lost quite a few. We ran out of needlefish but Karen managed to get a small ladyfish in and I chunked that up. That was better than the needlefish and Karen got another slightly larger 24 inch shark in the boat.
It was around 10 AM and the sun was starting to get hot again so we decided to take our limit of 2 shark home for supper. It will be my first time eating black tip shark, I hope it's good because it sure was fun catching. I'll let you know tomorrow.
P.S. If you are wondering why I'm posing with the catch, you don't know Karen. She didn't want to get anywhere near that shark until it was cooked.
