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 Saturday, January 23, 2010
Fish Caught: Redfish, Sheepshead, Trout, Catfish, Mangrove Snapper, Black Drum
High Tide: 10:00 AM 0.8 FT Low Tide: 1:30 PM 0.6 FT Wind: 10-20 E Air Temp: 59/77 Water Temp: Clarity:
I'm still here! It's been way too long since I last wrote, a lot has happened. I have had a few trips that I was unable to write about. I had a real bad attack of my old friend "Tennis Elbow." One of the things that aggravate this condition is my work on the computer. Just too many hours with a mouse in my hand. So I had to limit my computer time to necessary work only and much of that I did with only my left hand.
We also had a terrible cold snap. It lasted about 2 weeks and the worst day we hit a low of 25 degrees, yes that's Fahrenheit. They claim that beat the last record which was in 1976. The canal water was down around 50 degrees. Many fish were killed including many large snook. Our canal still has a dead odor and I see dead fish drifting back and forth with the tide. Mostly what they call sand perch but I did notice that the oysters that line the canal are mostly dead and that is where a lot of the odor is coming from.
But since my last post in november we've been out several times and I'll summarize those trips by saying there are a huge amount of redfish in the canal. I got one from my dock that went 27 inches but mostly they have been around 12 to 16 inches with an occasional keeper mixed in. But there are lots of them now around 15 inches and many trips we had spans where we would catch one with almost every cast. A lot of fun but of course it didn't put food on the table.
So, Saturday the weather was great so we left the dock by around 10:00 AM with a couple dozen shrimp. Within the first hour I hooked a nice redfish that went a little over the 18 inch minimum. But it was the only one all day, unlike the past trips. But the action was consistent with small sheepshead and mangrove snappers. A little later in the day Bimini and Julie tied up and joined our party and thats when the fishing got started.
There was a school of small spotted trout that were aggressively taking shrimp or plastic lures under a popper cork. I don't know how many I caught before I got tired of catching and releasing. There was a few sugar trout mixed in and one was big enough to throw in the cooler. Bimini and Julie were bottom fishing shrimp and catching small sheepshead, snapper and catfish when Bimini finally hooked into something much larger. We had the two boats lashed together and at that moment Bimini was alone on their boat with a very large fish, yelling for a net. The "Net Girl," Julie, grabbed my net and started to make the long step from my boat to hers. Bimini was so obviously in immediate need of the net that Julie set all caution aside and in her haste to get the net to where it was needed forgot completely about the icy cold water below.
No, she didn't go in, but we all still wonder why. I think Karen grabbed the other boat which was drifting farther away than Julie could stretch. But some how the "Net Girl," managed to gain secure footing and get the net under a nice, 20 inch, black drum. Once the congratulations were done and the fish was safely in the cooler we inspected the scuffed knees and purpling thighs of the "Net Girl," who will never live down this story and her new, self proclaimed, title. I think we need to make a full body leotard with "Net Girl," and maybe a cape. Although a cape may have been the last straw that put Julie in the water.
Bimini caught a second drum, a little smaller at 17 inches and we got a keeper sheepshead before we used up all the shrimp. So about 4:00 PM we head for the dock. Another very exciting, productive and wonderful 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, Lady Fish, Trout, Snook, Blow Fish
High Tide: 10:00 AM 1.6 FT Low Tide: 5:30 PM 0.5 FT Wind: 0-5 NE Air Temp: 51/82 Water Temp: 72 Clarity: very clear
It was foggy again this morning so I didn't leave Eldred's Marina until about 11:00 AM. But by then it was beautiful weather with bright blue sky and next to no wind. It was our last day in Placida so I was alone to make the long trip back home. With as much fishing as I could stand along the way.
I went straight to Bull Bay and fished the point just inside the entrance to the west. The water was glassy calm and there were bait fish schooled just up on the flat next to the deeper channel. I netted a bunch and started catching trout with them and on my Gulp Swimming Mullet. I don't know how many I caught but it was a lot, all under the 15 inch minimum. I also caught some big pinfish and the largest blowfish I've seen in shallow water. When it finally got all puffed up it was about 8-9 inches in diameter.
There was a bunch of mullet jumping nearer to the mangroves and I keep reading "find the mullet and you'll find the redfish" so when I was tired of feeding the trout I poled over that way. I threw some bait out under a bobber and started casting my Gulp around over the grass and up near the mangroves. And about the 8th cast produced a nice 20 inch red. I poled around there for another hour with out much more action and decided to drift out with the tide towards the deeper water.
Just before the deep water the flat runs over an oyster bed which was only about 3 inches deep and 3 feet wide. I cast over it and had a nice hit but missed it. I had to pole around the deeper side of it and as I drifted back down to where I had had the hit I saw a school of about 5 redfish the biggest about 24 inches. The water was still glassy calm and very clear so while I was seeing the fish they were seeing me and scattering.
As I continued to drift that edge out towards the channel into Bull Bay I could see the bottom in 4-8 feet of water very clearly. I was seeing lots of reds in the shallower water but as I got farther down and deeper I started to see schools of snook. At times I saw as many as 10 snook in loose schools and they would scatter as I got near them. I cast my Gulp past them and tried bouncing it along the bottom towards them but it only seemed to frighten them off. I dropped some bait down with the same results. I think it was so clear they could watch me and could clearly see the line. Or they just weren't hungry, but either way I had no luck getting them interested in anything with a hook in it. It was nice to see them all there though.
It was getting late and I had a long way to go for my 15 mph max speed so I headed back around the point towards the Myakka River and home. The water was still glassy calm and speeding over 3 to 6 feet off water was more like flying over the terrain. Lots of stingrays and sharks were sunning themselves just inches below the surface. I saw several black tips the largest was about 4 feet and a hammerhead about 2.5 feet long. Stingrays were every where in large schools and I even saw 3 spotted eagle rays. I tried to get a photo but by the time I saw them I'd already frightened them. But here's a picture I found of the spotted eagle ray if you're interested.
I stopped at Trout Creek very briefly with no luck at all. I also stopped at the El Jobean bridge, again with no luck. I'd had 3 solid days on the water fishing and if you've ever spent days out there like that you know it will wear you out. So I headed for home and got the boat up on the lift by around 5:00 PM. Tired and relaxed, ready for a beer and to tell my fish stories of another great day on the water. First I had to clean fish for supper.
Fish Caught: Redfish, Lady Fish, Trout, Sail Cat, Spanish Mackerel, Skate/Ray
High Tide: 7:00 AM 1.8 FT Low Tide: 4:00 PM 0.2 FT Wind: 5-10 N Air Temp: 55/69 Water Temp: 72 Clarity: clear
Finally, the weather cooperates and our plans to take the boat down to Gasparilla Sound for a few days fishing will be realized. It was kind of cool in the morning so I didn't rush out too early, but when I was finally packed and ready to go the boat wouldn't start. Turned out the battery shorted overnight (was fine the day before) so after a trip to get a new battery and installation time we were ready to leave the dock by about 10:30 AM.
The plan was for Karen and Julie to travel by car to meet Bimini and I at Eldred's Marina in Placida. Bimini and I would make a few stops along the way to see if we could catch a few and meet them for a late lunch and then some more fishing.
Our first stop was Trout Creek and our first fish was a small snook on a white Gulp Swimming Mullet. But soon after we started catching trout, lots of trout, but most were 12-13 inches. We caught about 15 trout on shrimp, greenbacks and Gulp with only 2 going over the 15 inch minimum but of course there is now a closed season for Nov-Dec. But it was fun catching them and nice to see so many around.
Next stop was supposed to be Bull Bay but neither of us had been down there for a long time and we made the turn in a little early and passed thru Turtle Bay. We paused in the middle of the pass and caught a few big ladyfish in very shallow water. Just as we passed into Bull Bay there were a couple small islands that really blocked the cold wind so we anchored there for a while. There were a lot of Mullet jumping and after a while we started spotting reds tailing in the shallows just a little out of casting range. Bimini poled us in a little closer and I dropped a Gulp on one of them and boated a nice 19 inch red. It was awful shallow but the site of those tails was more than we could resist. But when we decided to head for deeper water we found we were stuck. It was about dead low now so after pushing and shoving we settled in to wait for the upcoming tide to float us again.
About 2 hours later I jumped in the water and lifted the engine enough to get us going again. We were very late for our lunch date so we postponed it to the next day by cell phone and finished the day in Bull Bay. As we drifted near the entrance to Bull Bay the wind really picked up and clouds blew in from the north, it was cold. But we caught a nice Mackerel on chunked ladyfish and a huge sail cat on a live pinfish and a bunch of other small stuff.
About 4:30 or so it was really getting windy and the sky was dark so we headed back to Eldred's. It was a cool ride back but a nice exciting day on the water.
Fish Caught: Sheepshead, Lady Fish, Trout, Catfish, Mangrove Snapper, Skate/Ray
High Tide: 3:45 PM 2.1 FT Low Tide: 9:45 AM 0.5 FT Wind: 5-10 S Air Temp: 75/91 Water Temp: 83 Clarity: coffee
Hurricane Ike has had our tides running very high with lots of wind and sudden bands of thunderstorms which kept us off the water. Our dock actually had water on top of it a couple times this week, I've never seen that before. What a storm, we watched the broadcasts from Galveston with some relief but also with a great deal of sympathy.
But it was finally a more normal September day so we decided to get out for some fishing. I went out early to get shrimp and when I brought it down to the dock a little before sunrise there was a lot of action in the water. I put on a Gulp and cast at some of the noisy spots only to scare some large schools of mullet. But there was something bigger out there but I never did get a hit except for something very small which appeared to be a small trout. I never got it out of the water except that it jumped to get lose of the hook.
So we left the dock about 8:30 AM stopping a couple times along the way to cast a Gulp with no luck. We finally anchored near the docks about 9:30. The tide seemed to have turned in a little early so we were already on the incoming. I started getting small, snapper like hits, immediately. I got about 3 small snapper and 4 or 5 nice sized sheepshead in the boat while missing quite a few. The sheepshead went from about 10 inches up to about 13. We don't like sheepshead so we didn't keep any even though at least 3 were over the 12 inch minimum.
I caught several large rays which I wished to be redfish as I was yelling for the net, but they were rays everytime. There were a few catfish and the lady fish were around most of the day but they did their aerial displays and spit the hook everytime. I would have kept a couple for my crab traps which have been drydocked far too long.
Another fun day on the water, plenty of action but nothing to show for dinner. Next time!
Fish Caught: Redfish, Sheepshead, Lady Fish, Trout, Catfish, Mangrove Snapper, Skate/Ray
High Tide: 4:00 PM 2.25 FT Low Tide: 10:00 AM 1.0 FT Wind: 10-20 NE Air Temp: 75/91 Water Temp: 84 Clarity: dark
It's been about 5 weeks since the last trip out on the boat, too long. And we almost got canceled again because of Hurricane Gustav. But we left the dock about 9:15 with my Dad, my sister Kate and her husband James looking forward to a quiet day of fishing in the canal. Not too far from home because the weather wasn't looking very gentle.
We had menhaden, shrimp and a brand new bucket of 4" Gulp Swimming Mullet. We stopped in the Apollo Waterway at the very end of the ebbing tide. The shrimp proved productive immediately but only small bites including a sheepshead about 10 inches long. When the tide turned in we went over to the docks where we could drift the shrimp underneath. There were a lot of small snapper, a ladyfish and generally bait stealing pests. We were about to pick up and move when my Dad cast in one more shrimp.
I happened to look over at him when his pole was almost yanked from his grip. I watched as he reared back and set the hook into something that didn't seem to slow down at all against the pull of 30 lb Fireline and a tight drag on a Penn 450SS. I could see by the bend in the pole and the speed of the line peeling out that he had the big red we'd come here to catch. I yelled "Net" and then watched as the tiny wake from the line zipping thru the water headed back under the dock, around a piling and, with a huge swell of water, snapped. It was all over in 15 seconds or less. But we've talked about that 15 seconds for an accumulated 4 hours since then. We've decided it was a redfish at least 30 inches, maybe bigger.
We made several other stops without getting too far from the canal. The sky looked threatening and the water outside the canal was starting to show signs that Gustav was exerting some influence on it. We only managed some rays and small catfish and a trout that was 1 inch shy of the 15 inch size limit.
Finally the rain got too hard and lightning started showing on the horizon so we started back home with nothing in our cooler for dinner but a great fish story and a fishing spot to look forward too in the near future.
Everyone agreed it was another great day on the water and we're all enjoying razzing my Dad for losing that fish! Dam what a fish.
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.
High Tide: 6:30 AM 1.5 FT Low Tide: 2:00 PM 0.0 FT Wind: 5-10 S Air Temp: 64/82 Water Temp: 72 Clarity: clear
My 2 sisters, Judy from New Jersey and Kate & husband James from Lakeland, FL are visiting for a weekend of fishing. The 5 of us set out from the dock, with a live well full of Sardines, at a liittle before 10:00 AM. It was still foggy so we stopped in the canal for a half hour until the sun burned through. No action in the canal.
When we got to the El Jobean bridge there were a lot of boats and all my favorite spots were occupied. We anchored out a little southeast of the bridge where the outgoing tide starts to slow. There was a school of small sand trout feeding on bait fish and the Gulp Swimming Mullet did the trick. I must have caught and released 15 small sand trout between 6 and 12 inches long.
James had never caught a fish before and I'm glad to say I helped end this streak by hooking him up with the monster sand trout you see in the *photo. Judy hooked what seemed to be a nice fish only to net a 3 foot gar. Exciting! James muscled even a bigger Gar right to the side of the boat and almost into the net when the spit hook flew over my head and stuck in the back of my shirt.
Many years ago when Kate was very young she and I would occasionally go flounder fishing and bring coktail sauce for flounder sushi from our first catch of the day. James, Kate and I tried one of the sand trout as sushi, it was unanimously agreed that sand trout is NOT sushi grade fish. It is amazingly chewy!
When my favorite spot was vacated we pulled anchor and zipped right in behind the leaving boat. The tide was just getting slack and I knew there'd be snook there shortly. And I was right, the first 2 came on the Gulp Swimming Mullet and then 2 more on live sardines. I got 3 of those and Judy got one. Kate tried hard but no luck. They all ran about 21-23 inches, a fun fish but under sized and out of season until March. But I know where to be on March 1st.
We ran out of bait around 3 and headed home. Another great day on the water. When we got home we loaded the truck and went down the street to catch tomorrows bait. So we're all ready for another day of fun in the sun. I think we'll go right out to the Myakka Cutoff to get out of the 10-20 MPH SSE wind they're predicting for today. We'll be poling around the Mangroves in very skinny water. Hopefully some big reds will be sunning with us.
*Kate took all the photos on her digital and we couldn't get them to my computer to post today. She'll email them when she gets home and I'll add them then.
High Tide: 2:00 AM 2.5 FT Low Tide: 10:45 AM -0.75 FT Wind: 5-10 E Air Temp: 60/84 Water Temp: 72 Clarity: not clear
I still had sardines left from last week and this week we have nearly a full moon and a tide change at around 10:45 AM. And the tide was a huge 3.25 feet difference. I hoped that would work to get some snook hitting at the El Jobean bridge.
We left the dock about 9;00 AM and went straight out to the El Jobean bridge and got anchored in my favorite spot. Not much was happening with the live sardines but I was catching trout on my Gulp Swimming Mullet. I bought the new Berkley Gulp! Alive! 4" Swimming Mullet in a bucket from FishUSA.com, the only place I could find it in a bucket. The bucket comes with a lot of extra juice so you can put used baits back in the bucket to get refreshed, its very convenient.
Finally the time came when the rushing tide began to slow. I was throwing the Gulp Mullet up by the bridge and got a hard slam. It was a very nice 25 inch snook. Of course it has to be between 28 and 33 inches (pinched tail) to keep so over the side it went.
As the tide turned in I switched back to my live bait and after only 10 or so drifts into the bridge the bait got slammed. I new it was big and near the bridge but I couldn't keep it out of the pilings. At one point I could no longer feel the fish, I had a good hold of the bridge though. I held steady hoping that snook would change his mind and swim out and I was pleasantly surprised when she did. Karen and I managed to get that monster into the net and into the boat.
28.5 inches, a keeper. I unhooked her and threw her into the cooler already thinking about dinner tonight. I checked my 30lb Ande Pink mono leader and found it very frayed. I grabbed both ends in my hands and gave a gentle tug and it broke in half, how did it hold to get that fish in the net?
We fished a while longer until my last three bait were gone and then we headed home to dinner. Another great day on the water!
High Tide: 9:00 AM 1.5 FT Low Tide: 4:45 PM .25 FT Wind: 5-10 NE Air Temp: 53/79 Water Temp: 72 Clarity: not clear
We're tiling the floor in several rooms of our house. A tough job and today my Dad and I just couldn't do a full day so we quit for lunch and took off in the boat for the afternoon.
I got a net full of Sardines before we left so we headed straight out to the El Jobean bridge to catch the changing tide at 4:30 PM. We fished Berkley Gulp, live lined the sardines and even cut as cut bait. Nothing but beautiful warm weather. About 4:30 we had enough of sitting in the sun and decided to call it a day. I took one last cast with my Gulp, swimming it very slow on the bottom and finally managed to hook a tiny speckled trout. It was only about 8 inches long, tiny.
A very uneventful day of fishing but it was way better than another afternoon on our hands and knees tiling the floor!
High Tide: 3:00 PM 1.5 FT Low Tide: 8:30 AM 0.5 FT Wind: 5-10 NE Air Temp: 54/75 Water Temp: 76 Clarity: murky
I talked my neighbor, Bimini, into going out with me this morning. Not hard when you boat 3 snook and you're talking to a fanatic fisher person. So we left a little before 6:00 AM with a well full of sardines. It was a tough ride out because the fog was so thick we couldn't see more than a couple hundred yards. I cut the cable to my GPS antenna a while ago and haven't fixed it yet and I don't have a compass on board (I will soon) so we had to go by feeling. The fog was so thick there was no way to tell from which direction the sun was coming up the sky was just a dull gray glow all around. We got lost.
We finally found we could tell direction by the way the tide was moving and then we found a shoreline that was familiar and followed it to the El Jobean Bridge. There are 2 red nuns that mark the NW side of the bridge. They are about 100 feet from the bridge which stands about 30 feet high with mercury vapor street lights another 25 feet above that. We could not see the bridge nor the lights until we were about 20 feet from the nuns, that's how bad the fog was out there. Then it finally loomed out of the gloom and we both gasped, I think the people on the fishing pier thought we were crazy, maybe we are.
But we made it, got anchored and got some bait in the water. I got a 25 inch snook about 20 minutes later and missed a couple more. But that was it for snook. Such a difference from yesterday. I lost a lot of tails off my Gulp to small sand trout, they call them sugar trout here. I got a couple in the boat the largest was 12 inches. Many people would keep those to eat but I find it to be more work than they are worth unless they're a little bigger.
By 10:00 AM we were finally warmed up by the sun but bored with the fishing so we headed home.
Fish Caught: Snook, Trout, Sail Cat, Goliath Grouper
High Tide: 2:00 PM 1.5 FT Low Tide: 8:00 AM 0.5 FT Wind: 5-10 N Air Temp: 53/80 Water Temp: 76 Clarity: murky
I forgot about the time change, I really wanted to leave the dock in the dark but it was getting light already at 6:20 AM when I got underway. I went straight to the El Jobean bridge to catch the low tide turning in at 8:00 AM.
I had some very nice 4 inch sardines which I got in the water still with an outgoing tide that was pretty fast. It's hard to fish that in my favorite snook spot but I managed to get a bite on the 3rd cast, which I missed. But I managed a 23 inch snook a few casts later on my Gulp Swimming Mullet. I finally found the Swimming Mullet in Berkley's new bucket and I'm glad I did, they are much better when stored in all the extra juice. FishUSA has them and their shipping is cheaper than any other I've found. Click the banner below.
I went on to boat 2 more snook about 25 inches each and missed one other good strike, all on the live bait. I also got a 2 Goliath Grouper of average size for here about 10-12 inches and one trout about 12 inches. By this time I had positioned myself for the incoming tide and about 9:45 I threw out my last live bait. As it drifted with the tide up to the edge of the bridge I felt a nice heavy bump on the line and set the hook. It was big, there was a large swirl in the water as my pole doubled over and that big snook dove right back into the bridge pilings. I couldn't stop her so in another 15 seconds of battle I could feel the line scraping the barnacle covered cement until it finally cut. Another nice fish lost and no more bait.
As I looked around for bait I saw birds diving several hundred yards out so I headed that way. The bait was small, no good to me so I threw a gulp to see what was feeding on it. I caught 4 good sized sail cats in the next 20 minutes. I found you had to let the gulp hit the bottom very often to hook the them, but sail cats is not my favorite fish. Although I know a few people that love to eat them.
I decided to call it a day and come back again tomorrow.
Fish Caught: Lady Fish, Trout, Goliath Grouper, Spanish Mackerel
High Tide: 7:15 AM 2.0 FT Low Tide: 4:45 PM 0.25 FT Wind: 5-10 SW Air Temp: 75/91 Water Temp: 81 Clarity: murky
We left the dock about 6:45 AM and stopped at the end of the Jupiter Waterway. There wasn't much happening and since I'm not a patient fisherman we pulled anchor and headed for the l Jobean bridge.
There were birds diving into what appeared to be Lady Fish attacking bait fish. I stopped half way out to the bridge and caught a couple on a Gulp Swimming Mullet just to be sure. I was right, Lady Fish and they were all over the river northwest of the El Jobean Bridge. Lady fish make great cut bait and spectacular crab bait for a crab trap so I put a few in my cooler.
When I got to my favorite spot at the bridge I could see lots of flashing in the water so as soon as I got anchored I threw the cast net out. It came back with hundreds of 2 inch sardines, I think. They were a little different than what I normally see, thinner top to bottom and they had four or five spots along the top behind the gill. They were also small so I was putting 3 on a hook with a tiny split shot and casting them into the out going tide.
I immediately caught a trout that was a little undersized so I threw it back and got the line out again. Birds were diving all around us and I could see a lot of fish splashing up at the bait. We started catching spanish mackerel, Karen got the first one which was almost 2 feet long, a nice fish. During the next few hours we would see the schools of mackerel moving around attacking the huge schools of bait. We lost a lot more than we caught because they were cutting our lines with their sharp teeth. But we got 5 in the cooler before we started throwing them back. We feel mackerel is good when cooked fresh but we don't enjoy it much after it gets frozen so we figured 5 was enough for the next few days. We would pan blacken it all and have a huge dinner with left overs for sandwiches. I also caught some on my Gulp Swimming Mullet, on a rattle trap wich I finally lost to a cut line and on a silver spoon with a bucktail. I had several hits on my lure within 3 feet of the boat, which was a little startling and there were a couple times when the feeding frenzy was so aggresive that I thought a mackerel was going to jump in the boat. I saw one leap nearly 10 feet out of the water, it landed about 20 feet from where it came out. The bait fish would boil up around us making a sound much like a sudden, short burst of rain. It was a very exciting morning on the water.
I also got a few small goliath grouper drifting by the bridge pilings when the mackerel would let my bait get that deep. It started to get a little warm although there was a pleasant breeze. But by around noon we were ready to head home so we left the mackerel still feeding. It was 2 o'clock by the time I got the boat washed and the fish cleaned. A long tiring day and after cookng all that fish and eating a good bunch of it I was asleep before the sun was down. Can't wait to do it again.
Fish Caught: Tarpon, Trout, Goliath Grouper, Mangrove Snapper
High Tide: 5:00 AM 2.3 FT Low Tide: 12:45 PM -0.2 FT Wind: 10-20 NE Air Temp: 73/90 Water Temp: 82 Clarity: avarage
We left the dock a little late, 7:25 AM. We went straight out to the bridge in El Jobean, Fl and anchored in our favorite spot. I put a white bait (I netted yesterday in a local canal) on my hook and cast it near the bridge piling. The bait were pretty big 2 to 4 inches so I went with no sinkers.
The bait was very lively and it kept trying to swim into the piling where I knew I'd get hung up and probably have to break the line. So I kept pulling him out and one time when I tried to pull him out he pulled back VERY hard. I set the hook and the fight was on. Whatever it was it was big, I couldn't bring it to the surface and after only 30 seconds or so it got off.
So I put another bait on, cast him in the same place and hooked it again. This time it seemed I had him hooked well and after a few minutes of hard fighting a 3 foot tarpon blasted into the air about 4 feet from the boat. Karen had been reading and didn't even know I'd hooked the 2nd fish, so when that fish exploded at the surface she nearly jumped off the other side of the boat. I fought him a little while longer until he finally spit the hook. Good thing because I'm not really equipped to bring a fish like that into the boat. I managed to hook tarpon 3 more times after that, once even on my Gulp Swimming Mullet. All were released in much the same way and a couple gave us the same thrill by dancing on top of the water.
Then the goliath grouper started eating my white bait. I got about 5 or 6 in the boat between 10 and 15 inches, soon released. Even at that size they are fun to catch on light tackle, a very strong fish. I also got a couple mangrove snapper on the smaller bait, but nothing big enough for dinner.
Then the action slowed and I started paying less attention to my drifting bait. The tide was running out fast so it ended up behind us where the water motion start to slow as it leaves the influence of the bridge. Half way through a retrieve of my Gulp that pole bent over.
I managed to grab it and not lose the fish, the first trout of the season. Unfortunately it was 14.75 inches which is a quarter inch too short. But the next one was almost 16 inches and they kept coming. I lost a few and got 2 keepers in the boat before I ran out of bait. I had about 30 bait which is way more than I've ever needed before.
I'd seen some flashing in the water during the morning so I decided to toss the cast net and see what I got. A net full of scaled sardines but the largest was less than 2 inches long. Awfully tiny but I put 3 at a time on my hook and continued catching trout. But by about 10:30 the wind started really picking up and once again we started dragging the anchor. I got tired of fighting with the wind so we headed home by about 11:00 AM. A great day of fishing!
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.
High Tide: 8:00 AM 1.75 FT Low Tide: 4:15 PM 0 FT Wind: 5-10 SW Air Temp: 75/95 Water Temp: 87 Clarity: clear
We decided to spend the week fishing Gasparilla Sound near Placida, Florida. There's a little marina called Eldred's Marina on the Boca Granded causeway jus before the toll bridge to Boca Grande. They get $10/night to leave your boat at their dock for the night.
So we left home in NW Port Charlotte about 6:10 AM and headed south. We had a little motor trouble which took 20 minutes to straighten out and we got a little lost coming around past Turtle and Bull Bays but we made the marina by about 9:20. Our boat is a 23' Crest Pontoon with a 40 HP Mercury Bigfoot so our top speed is only 15 MPH. It was a pleasant trip at that cool time of day.
We met our neighbors, Bimini and Julie at the marina, they agreed to give us a tour of the area and then a ride home. They've fished the area before so we welcomed their company and they are a lot of fun as well as serious fisher people. Bimini pointed me towards the live bait tanks at Eldred's, which are on the end of a dock. There were about 20 HUGE snook just stacked up waiting for someone to throw dead shrimp from the tank. The biggest one I saw was at least 35 inches and fat.
We netted finger mullet just 10 yards from that tank and headed out with a full livewell to find some hungry fish.
We fished all around Bird Key and the 2 little Mangrove Islands in front of the Fishery Restaurant. We drifted the pass just to 100 yards from the Gulf the flats on the east side of the railroad trestle. We were catching small trout, pinfish, and occasional jack, pufferfish, but nothing we could bring home. We watched dolphins playing and feeding on the very thick schools of baitfish which were every where. It's very different water from the mouth of the Myakka River that we know well.
We anchored near a sandbar and got out to swim and snorkel. There were lots of sand dollars, living conchs and all kinds of shells both alive, rented and empty to bring home for our garden.
It was 3:00 before we called it a day. That's a long day on a boat in the VERY HOT sun. We'll probably limit our trips to the cooler part of the morning for the rest of the week.
High Tide: 5:45 PM 2 FT Low Tide: 2:00 AM -.25 FT Wind: 0-5 E Air Temp: 62/89 Water Temp: 79 Clarity: clear
I netted a few bait yesterday from our dock. Went down early this morning, about 6:00 AM to put the bait in the live well on the boat and decided to throw the net once more. I got an 11" sheepshead which was a little shocking.
So we left the dock by 7:00 AM, stopped at the bridge in El Jobean, FL, no fish but we did see a big manatee. Decided to head to Trout Creek since the tide would be rising all day. We weren't the only ones that thought Trout Creek would be a good place today. But we drifted into the first main cove and I dropped the anchor. Lots of tiny bait in the water and big swirls. After 3 dolphin came splashing through and things calmed again we started catching trout.
I lost count after 10 but I'd say at least 15 trout, mostly on Gulp Swimming Mullet, white, 4". When I ran out of those I tried the Gulp 3" shrimp, white and got a Lady Fish but no more trout. I switched to a Berkley Glass Minnow and got a couple more trout. But in all 15 or so I got, only 1 that was a keeper at 16" the rest were 12 to 14.5" and I had to throw them back. But a great time.
From Trout Creek we could see a bunch of boats anchored about a 1/2 mile SE. We got curious so we went to see what was so interesting. Everyone was fishing but we didn’t see anyone catching. So we tossed the Berkley Glass Minnow out and trolled around. Most boats (there were about 10) were in 10-12 feet of water. We headed back towards Hog Island and in 8 feet of water Karen yelled, her indication she had a fish. I looked at her rod and saw it was a large fish and then the line snapped (I think it was my fault for getting it into the mangroves a few times, Fireline is not great for abrasions). We’ll never know what it was, I noted the time at about 12:30, we trolled for another half hour and headed home.
Added 5/16/2007: Found out that there are cobia in Charlotte Harbor out by marker 8. That's where we were when Karen hooked and lost that big fish. Must have been a cobia, see you out there Saturday.
