Florida road trip... heading down again soon!

I'm heading down again at the end of January 2020.




Op:I'll be in the Pine island area in late February visiting family. I'm hoping to get a fishing charter while I'm down there.. I either want to try for goliath grouper, or maybe run out into the Gulf and try some bottom fishing. I'll probably go with whatever the guide says would be more productive at the time

Can anyone recommend a guide in the Lee County area? Specifically Pine island, but I'm willing to travel a bit.

Also, any good fish stories are welcome! I've had a few good and bad experiences in the past few years.

 

I would also be interested in any insight into fishing in the canals. The house I'm staying at is on a canal. We've done OK on catching the occasional snook or Jack, but would be interested in any tips.

I usually throw crankbaits, swimbaits, and live shrimp. Just curious if there's any baits I should add to the list. Or any type of structure to focus on in the canals.

 

Bump..

Also, Here's a few pictures from previous trips. The boat belongs to my Mom's boyfriend. I managed to sink it in 2 feet of water due to a series of bad decisions. We did salvage it but it needs a new motor and some other work. I gained some serious respect for the sea that day!

 

Has the Red Tide dissipated in Lee Co ?

 

I read that it had. I can't speak from experience, though.

 

https://www.npr.org/2019/02/14/6944...-manatees-and-dolphins-floridas-red-tide-ebbs

Here's some information. I'll post again after I get down there and talk to some locals

 

We had booked a trip to Captiva this past September then I heard about the Red Tide problem, which to that point had lasted since November of 2017. We moved our trip to Marathon in the Keys, no Red Tide there.

 

Fishing was good around Pine Island while I was there. I didn't catch anything big this year, but a good variety of smaller fish. With the warm weather, I might have been better off fishing at night.

Included a sunrise picture from Bat-house park in Matlacha

 

I'd be interested to hear the whole story on the boat sinking.

 

The boat had a series of issues that should have been fixed before taking it out. But, I just had to go fishing...

The ignition switch was unreliable. It would sometimes just fail to start the motor. The motor didn't like to stay running at lower RPM's. The trim on the motor didn't work. And the bilge pump was rigged so that you had to clip the hot to the battery rather than just using a switch.

Sooo... I decided to get out of the canals and try to find some new fishing spots. Fortunately, we had about 20 MPH wind coming from the South, so we had 2'-3' waves rolling in.

I followed the channel markers out and started heading west. After I came to my senses and realized that we shouldn't be out in those conditions, i spun around and made a beeline for the canal.

I had to keep the speed up to keep the waves from coming over the back of the boat. Where I fucked up is that I didn't follow the markers back to the canal. That's when everything went wrong.

I went over a shallow bar and the motor hit bottom, stalling it. I couldn't tilt it up or re-start it. Within a few seconds, waves were coming over the back and we were done.

Even if we hooked up the bilge, there's no way it could ever keep up. We called the coast guard.

The one good thing is that the waves were pushing us toward a mangrove shoreline. We were nose into them by the time help arrived. We threw the anchor over a few branches and went with the coast guard.

We were able to take a canoe and recover our fishing equipment the next morning. A few days later, we rented a boat and took a bunch of tools and pumped out the boat and towed it home. It's back to life now with a different motor.

I keep thinking about how I could have handled the situation better. I think the real mistake was just going out in those conditions. The boat had issues, but could be operated safely in better conditions.

It was a learning experience for sure. I'll try to find more pictures of the aftermath

 

Here's a few

 

The pictures and description of the boat "event" brought back memories of my experiences when I lived on San Carlos Island many years ago. My best friends parents let us use their 16 foot Ebb Tide with strict instructions to stay on the inside at all times. The gulf was off limits.

We fished all areas of Hurricane Bay and south to Estero Bay preserve and walked the boat off sand bars and tidal flats many times. Not having functional trim would definitely be problematic in the shifting shoals and channels.

A coworker told me about amberjack hot spots near the Caloosahatchee River inlet so the foolish young people defied orders and went out to Punta Rassa early one morning. The Evinrude 75 Hp (I think) did well in the calm seas but the afternoon chop out of the west made the return trip a nightmare. We fought the rollers and the falling tide was breaking over the low side walls of the boat.

Although we made it back in one piece, we were very aware of the power of the gulf waters and wind along with having a 20 foot plus center console with a well maintained engine when heading offshore. Sadly, this area of SW Florida has frequent boating fatalities.

Thanks for the story of your fishing excursion and glad all turned out well.

 

not Lee County but just wanted too share , Pinellas county 31 inch caught and released this year vacation biggest yet

 

Loved reading the stories , unfortunately I don't do boats can't find a cure for the motion sickness , but every year my wife insists on the beach so we agreed to find a spot that suits the both , Madeira beach it is love the fishing with all the favorites pompano , snook , sea trout , flounder best of when legal ot I'd grear grub

 

I'm getting ready for another trip!

I've put a deposit on a charter while I'm down there. I'm looking forward to catching some new species, and learning more about fishing the sound!

I'm planning on checking out the Everglades and trying to see some alligators. I'm also thinking of taking a ride through Yucca Penns and Babcock/Webb parks to check out the scenery there.

I put together another surf combo, and plan to get out on the beach somewhere to try it out. I'll probably whip out some cut squid and see what's hungry.

If anyone is in the Lee County area, and wants to do some fishing between late January and early February, let me know.

Or any suggestions of places to go/ things to do in that area are welcome. I want to explore a little more this year.

 

The fishing in the canal has been ridiculous so far! We've caught snook, redfish, sheepshead, black drum, Jack Crevalle, hardhead and sail cats, and mangrove snapper right from the dock. The highlight for me has been the black drum. I've caught them up to 10#, and lost what I think was a bigger one. It headed west and broke my line. Even the 8-10 pound drum put up a good fight!

 

I hung out on the Sanibel Causeway today. The fishing was a little slow. I managed to catch this horrible thing(lizard fish I think).



At least I got a nice picture of the 4runner on the beach!

 

Shrimp, frozen squid, cutbait. Shrimp seem to almost always produce something.

I have only visited in the winter. Summertime could be completely different.