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 Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Fish Caught: Mangrove Snapper, Spanish Mackerel, Catfish
High Tide: 1:00 PM 2.0 FT Low Tide: 6:30 AM 0.9 FT Wind: 0-5 E Air Temp: 70/87 Water Temp: 82 Clarity: murky
My Dad had open heart surgery about 5 months ago so he's been working hard at getting back up to par. He finally felt strong enough to spend a day on the water so he and Mom came out for a few days and today was our fishing day.
I got 4 dozen shrimp from El Jobean Bait & Tackle Shop and we got on the water by about 7:30 AM. My Dad really likes to fish for trout and I'd heard of a spot they were getting them recently. It's out just a little past the El Jobean bridge and we went right there and made a couple drifts through the area. But there was nothing there.
So we moved back to the bridge and anchored so we could drift the shrimp, on the incoming tide, into the it. We immediately started catching mangrove snapper. The first was a monster 14 inch fish but after that they were mainly under 10 inches (10 inches is the minimum limit) and while we got an awful lot of snapper, I was catching one on every cast for about an hour, we only ended up with 5 keepers. A nice supper for 4 people.
I also was just starting to retrieve a shrimp that had drifted past the snapper zone when something grabbed it and I hooked it. It seemed obviously different than the snappers and we finally netted a nice big 18 inch spanish mackerel. We've found these are very tasty when pan blackened so we added it to the cooler.
There were a lot of dolphin in the area and my Mom spotted a couple playing just on the other side of the bridge. They were jumping several feet out of the water and splashing back. They continued to do this several times after Mom pointed them out to us. It must be a good life as a dolphin in Charlotte Harbor.
We went through our shrimp very quickly with all the snapper action and it was beginning to get a little warm so we headed back to the dock by around 11:30 AM. Another great day on the water, one of many more I hope to spend out there with my folks.
I was fishing the Charlotte Harbor reef the other day and caught what I thought was a Spanish mackerel,but something just did'nt look right I checked the fish I D site and it was a cero.the meat was lighter and it tasted very good. tight lines Harry By Harry Mullica, At
June 7, 2009 9:14 PM
Hi Harry, Thanks for the note. I'd never even heard of a cero mackerel before but I also just went to the fish ID site for FWC and you may be right. What I caught may have been a cero. Unfortunately I did not take a photo but I did look at that mackerel a few times to be sure it was not a small king, something just seemed different about it. By twlack, At
June 8, 2009 6:44 AM
High Tide: 4:15 PM 1.3 FT Low Tide: 10:15 AM 0.0 FT Wind: 5-10 NW Air Temp: 59/77 Water Temp: 72 Clarity: clear
My Uncle Don and Aunt Nancy are visiting from Connecticut and wanted to see what the Myakka looked like from the water so the 3 of us packed a nice lunch and headed out about 9:45 AM. I wasn't able to net any bait so Don bought a couple dozen shrimp and we went straight out to the El Jobean bridge. I thought the tide would be hitting low and turning in but I guess the wind was against us and for the couple hours we were there it never turned in, it just sat slack. Don managed a couple mangrove snapper, too small to keep and I got a nice 18 inch spanish mackerel on a Berkley Gulp white swimming mullet.
We noticed a pelican kind of floating, swimming and dipping himself into the water in a most unusual way. After watching him for 15 minutes or so we decided he must have a piece of fishing line wrapped around his right wing and right foot. So we got a couple towels ready, a knife and the net and pulled the anchor to go see if we could help the poor thing out of its jam. I started the motor and pulled the anchor and looked back to where he had just been and he was flying away as if he had never been better. We finally decided that he was the same pelican I had tangle in my line on a cast a little earlier. I had only had him tangled for about 20 seconds and he seemed to slip free rather easily so I hadn't really paid any attention to him. But I'm thinking now my braided line may have given him a burn or ruffled or broke some feathers and that his unusual bathing actions had been an attempt to soothe or unruffle those feathers. It sure was odd.
We went out to one of the bays off Tippecanoe Bay and poled way back into very shallow water. I thought Don and Nancy would enjoy seeing the skinny back water and all the birds and wildlife back there. But we didn't find too much activity and no fish at all besides the mullet that were looking for what little sun made it through the clouds.
On the way back home we saw about 5 dolphins really stirring up the water, circling and jumping and splashing. I turned the boat towards them and slowed to an idle. They were in a playful mood and 3 of them turned and came towards us. They swam around and under the boat, stopping occasionally to stare up at us as we hung over the rail and talked to them. People can get pretty nutty in the way they talk to animals in those situations and I can't help but wonder if those dolphins just wanted a good laugh.
I had shut the motor and we slowly drifted away from the dolphins. But when I started the motor again and turned towards home the dolphins came back and started the circling and visiting. It was pretty amazing, they seemed to have something to say. It was at least 15 minute that we chugged along at nearly idle speed and they gave us quite a show. I'm wondering now if they had talked to that poor pelican and he told them of our good, but misguided intentions towards him. Whatever the reason they eventually let us go on alone and went back to their dancing.
The spanish mackerel was delicious blackened with a salad from my garden, italian turkey sausage, sweet potatoes and some good wine Don and Nancy had provided. It was another great day in paradise.
