Fish Catching Travel

A Rage Shrimp will catch anything.

We have come in for lunch to a fish house that has internet.  So here is several days of posts, I am in a hurry to eat and get back our there so sorry about the poor editing but I wanted to get some stuff up today to keep you informed.  It is getting better everyday.

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Day I  Bokeelia Pine Island Sound    4/30/15.

With the possibility of losing our  last day due to weather, which we would have as it started raining Tuesday night and was raining full steam on Wednesday morning.  So we left the Everglades a day early and headed to For Myers to spend the night so we could be fishing on Thursday and get our day back.

Just as I was at Everglades City, I can not believe how much Bokeelia has changed.  It had been 15 years since Shoedog and I were here last time.  There are so many more folks.  It really says something about South Florida Gulf Coast weather.  But the weather has not been to helpful to us the last few days.  Of all things it is a cold front pushing this weather into Florida.  And of course what comes with the clearing from a cold front?  Wind and lots of it.  Luckily Bokeelia has a small maze of islands and coves that do hold fish.

So we found the house, dropped the boat in the water and went to exploring.  When I say it was blowing it was a pain in the you know what.  There was no way we were getting out on the bay.  Pine Island Sound is a big open place, and when the wind blows 25mph just think San Antonio Bay with that wind blowing right down it.  So we stayed in the area and snook fished.

Since I got my big one I am cool with that so Shoedog has been up front running the trolling motor.  That proved to be critical.  Before it was over he put 6 snook in the boat and I caught one trout.  How did that happen?  As soon as the tide starts falling they move out of the mangroves and get supper aggressive.  We are using 7-1 reels and reeling white paddle tails at high speed jerking as it comes in.  The water up here is a whole lot clearer than it was in the Everglades so you have to stay way off the points and mangroves, get it as close as possible then basically burn it back.  One consequence of the way we are doing it is it is hard to catch reds and trout fishing that fast. But with huge grass beds in the open bay when the wind quits we will get plenty of shots at trout.

The first of the 10 snook he has caught the last several days.

It is really cool when one decides he wants it.  They just streak our of nowhere and smoke it.  Shoedog probably missed 5 or 6 and had one break his 30lb fluro leader.  They have sharp gill plates and you have to check your leader religiously.  I missed several today, and final had one jump all over a topwater, which he missed.  But it is funny how Shoedog caught more snook today then he did last week.  We are really anticipating the next week.  There will be a ton of traffic this weekend, but the weather is going to really settle down and the wind will be dying more each day so we are bound to have a couple of good days. 

A little guy.

The local reports on snook and tarpon are good, and I still hope Shoedog gets to do battle with one.  Other than that not much to report. There is no internet here either, so I will post as soon as we head to a restaurant with wi-fi.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Friday May 2

As I write this the wind is just howling.  In fact it is blowing so hard that we will probably be out of luck today.  (Saturday)  Whether it will lay enough to get out on the water this afternoon remains to be seen.

Friday we did a little snook fishing, but with the tide coming up it was the wrong time, at least for what we have learned the last week or so. So we hit a large grass flat and went to trout fishing.  Before it was over we ended up catching about 6 trout, 2 really good ones, the rest were small.  We were able to get to a couple of places we could not fish due to the high winds, but with the tide up the snook were buried up. 

Shoedog is hell on those smaller snook.

So we headed in for a trip to the store and some lunch.  After we got all that done we were back on the water for the afternoon bite. Shoedog put a couple of snook in the boat (He has caught 10 since we have been here, more than his life total.) and I had a pretty good size Jack smoke it.  The bank we were fishing ended at the grass flat so we did a couple of drifts and though we put a couple of small ones in the boat, not much else happened today.

So what is next?  Today will be a boat cleaning day.  It is trashed at this point so we will take the opportunity to get our act together. Whether we will get out today is questionable.  The island filled up with folks last night as the came for the weekend.  As I sat on the deck and enjoyed the sunrise there is not a boat to be heard. Normally on a Saturday morning the traffic would be heavy, but the wind seems tough enough to keep most folks off the water.

It really is amazing how things have changed down here since our last trip.  Florida had a pretty rough recession a few years ago, and with that property values plummeted.  With the economy recovering and property prices just recovering there are some pretty good real estate available at lower prices.  We have heard from a few locals that not only lower real estate values but the last couple of tough winters have started a new influx of people to south Florida.  The weather is truly tropical and folks are flocking back to south Florida.  A good thing but the traffic sucks.

As far as our fishing the couple of days we have been here, the number of small snook is clearly up, but our results on the bigger fish have been a bust.  Not being able to have free run of the place of course has affected our results, but with the forecast for a reduction in the winds, we are really looking forward to Monday – Wednesday, our last 3 days.  No matter how much I want to fish today, a day of rest won’t hurt this old man.  We have stayed at it pretty hard, so nap and a little exploration is probably the order of the day.  As soon as the wind dies Boca Grande is on our list for a big tarpon.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Saturday 5/2/15.  Our Luck Begins to Improve!

Today was more like it.  The fishing here is picking up, or we are doing a better job of it, but either way it was a good day.  When I woke up at 5 the wind was flat howling, so much I did not even hear any boats going out the canals.  So the Shoedog slept in and we spent the morning doing rod and reel stuff, and taking the  boat to the car wash.  When we got that done it was around 11, we ate and headed out.

When we dropped the boat in the water I brought the truck to the house and Shoedog came down the canal to pick me up and said someone up the canal said a manatee just went by.  He no more than pulled over and one just came slowly swimming by headed to the back of the canal. They are humongous creatures and it was definitely a good omen.

We tried one snook bank without success but it was to late in the tide for how we are catching them so it was out to this area we have been catching some trout.  Shoedog had one absolutely blow up on a popping cork and plastics.

 This was one of the heaviest trout this size I have seen.

This trout was only a little over 23” but it was a real heavy hoss.  We did a couple of drifts and didn’t have any more bites so we moved. We ended up catching a couple on topwater, I had one hit it with about 2 foot of line out, but the action slowed.  So time for another move.

We went out to a main bay bar and started catching trout right away.  It was fast and furious on Mirro Dine and Yozuri Crystal Minnow.  We boated 5 or 6 in nothing flat and then a dolphin started following us, the dirty dog.  So we moved back up and drifted again.  I started throwing the popping cork with a Rage Shrimp and they are eating it good, and then this happened……….

 That Rage Shrimp on a popping cork will catch anything.

This is the biggest Cobia I have ever boated, and it is so cool to have fish like this in 2 foot of water.  It fought like the devil, and there was one following it.  We probably should have had Shoedog toss something to it, but with a fish this size on a light spinning rod and a popping cork there was little margin for error.  I guess that is why I have always like fishing the Sanibel area, you just never know.  It might be a big shark, a cobia, or a tarpon.  What makes this fishery what it is.

 A real trophy.  A puffer on a jerk bait.

We spent the rest of the day trout fishing and caught an easy limit, and lots more.  Popping cork and Rage Shrimp was the preferred bait, Shoedog kept catching them jerking that minnow bait.  That is one thing that is so different from Texas, they really like minnow baits here, and it is a fun way to catch them.

So not a bad day, but boy are these folks rude by Texas standards.  Our local Texas guides, who think they own the water, would have the top of their heads blow off.  People running everywhere, lots of pleasure boats, folks cutting people off, but somehow it seems to work, and we did not see anyone killed.  It really is crowded.  So next time you call someone a Pot Licker remember, we have it good.  Everywhere you go there is that bitching and moaning about “how it used to be.” We folks we do not have it so bad.  So next time someone buts you off or does something that disturbs your sensitive nature, suck it up, shut up, and figure out a way to get it done.  

Tomorrow will probably be busier for a while, and then die as the weekend ends. So we will trout fish with a vengeance.  Then Monday and Tuesday it will be serious snook and tarpon fishing.  The are we are catching the trout is as big as 6 football fields so we may even box 2 for some fresh fried trout and taters.  I am one lucky guy.

Sunday  Morning    5/3/15.

The wind continues to howl.  I mean it is blowing its ass off and making it difficult to fish.  So we fished some this morning and here I sit at the fish house typing this, then back out.

Where we wanted to fish had the wind blowing on it and we were only able to fish it for about and hour.  Most were small trout and assorted trash fish, and then I got a big bite on a topwater in 1 foot of water out of a pothole.

This girl absolutely smashed it!

So the last 24 hours we have started to narrow it down.  We boated around 10 trout this morning and things are looking up.  If this dang wind will lay it could l get ugly.  So that is it for now, I need to get back on the water for the falling tide.  So sorry for the poor editing, but time is wasting.  So keep stopping in and thanks for reading my stuff.

Good Luck and Tight Lines