Saltwater Fishing

I just returned from 10 beautiful days in the Bonita Springs , Florida area. Temps were in the upper 70’s to low 80’s every day. I spent more time sightseeing and playing golf than fishing but my brother-in-law Dave and I did make it out to Estero Bay for an afternoon trip with Captain Mike. The fishing was enjoyable and we caught 5 species of fish. Ocean sheephead , redfish , catfish , stingray and a ladyfish made it to the boat. The edible fish , the sheephead and redfish were kept and cleaned for dinner. The others were C & R.

Here is the sheephead , which has an incredible set of teeth.

Here is Dave with a keeper redfish which has an 18″ minimum.

Here is a shot of a stingray. This is smaller than the estimated 15 lbr which we chose to cut off at the side of the boat.

All fish were taken on light tackle , slip sinker rigs and fresh shrimp.

Here is the sign on a bait shop located on Bonita Beach Road. Their tee shirts are a big seller. I will be sure to wear mine to the GTG this summer.

The fish eating birds know where to come for a free handout.

Dino,
Nothing like the saltwater fish. Talk about strength! My wife and I went down the first week in December to the keys, and had access to a boat for the week. We went out 4 days, and the spanish mackerel were running. Average pound fish was 2-3 lbs, and when they hit, they would peel off about 100 yds of line. I had one on that peeled off about 250 yds, and took all of my line.
But even the sheephead that you have the picture of are so much fun to catch. They all fight like crazy!
I can’t wait until next may (2005) going back down for a week when the tarpon are supposed to be going crazy. Would sure be fun to pull in a 100lber!
If you ever get a chance to fish in the ocean, do it. You wont regret it. It’s about the simplest form of fishing that you can do. Put out a block of chum, have a beer while waiting for the fish to come in. Hook a piece of fresh shrimp on a 2/0 hook with 1/2 oz weight, and away you go. Even the little pinfish, excellent bait for bigger fish, feel like a 3lb smally! We’d be at it for about 4 hours each day, and you really couldn’t fish anymore. Your arms actually tire out from catching so many fish.
Steve

That’s Funny – Master Bait –

J.

Did someone say pinfish?

When you’re in the Keys and nosing around for tarpon…pole out to the flats and hunt some of the gray ghosts…Bonefish.

Smok’en reels!

Sweet. Now I’m really excited about my trip to Florida in April. I have 2 outings booked in the keys.

Mr Suzuki,

Sharks in the Keys are treated like sheephead around here. If you get to the flats, watch for openings in the weeds…big sandy areas. If there’s a dark spot in the sand…cast to it…no matter what size the dark spot. I had a dark spot the size of a volkswagon swim away from me!

Sheephead are fun too!

Don’t forget the camera!

Also, if you anchor on a reef somewhere, I liked to rig up a shark pole by cutting the tail off of a smaller fish, we used blue runners,or use the whole pinfish and casting it as far back in the chum slick as you could get it. Caught some nice sized reef sharks and got a couple of spinner sharks on. Make sure you have a long enough leader for the spinner, toothy, sharks. Next year I’m bringing supplies to make my own 5-6 footers. What a riot!
Wow, May 2005 seems along ways away…
Of course I do have the season up here to get to shortly!
Have fun!

gray goats? ….
and wow… those birds are sure tame… I cant believe that egret is just standing there… Ive seen pelicans pretty tame… but not egrets…. was it a pet? or just a wild one tamed by free food? nice photos!… thanks for sharing…..

When we cleaned fish one night, we had probably 10-12 pelicans and 2-3 egrets that walked right up to us. It was amazing seeing how brave those things are. They would take the fish from your hand if you would let them get close enough. Had to be careful!

While the fish were being cleaned it was my job to stand guard and keep the pelicans at arms length. They would try to pull fish right off of the table.
The egret is one of their regulars at the dock. A person could easily feed these right out of your hand. 3 guides work out of Hickory Bay so the birds get plenty of scraps.

Dino- What did the redfish taste like? Ive heard its the best eating fish there is. My sister lives on lake Ponchatrain in NO, shes going to send me some.

Funny about the redfish. On the east coast, they called them channel bass and always considered them rough fish and not really edible, at least until Paul Prudhomme got all the yuppies riled up about blackened redfish. There were always a few people that specialized in the big “bull” drum (as the really large red drum (redfish) and black drum are called, even though they are almost always females) but the puppy drum were considered a notch above carp. They are starting to catch on there, but still not the glamour fish they have always been in Louisiana and Texas. As far as eating is concerned, I have learned to really like redfish, but it is a bit stronger in flavor than most of the fish you will be used to. It is really a firm fish that holds up well to rough treatment like blackening. I lived in Corpus Christ TX for seven years and on the east coast for almost as many. The redfish fishing is really, really great now in Corpus and in the Laguna Madre. Last summer when I went back for vacation we hammered them. Seems like every year the fishing gets better, due to the excellent fisheries management by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Somewhere around here I have a scanned picture of my biggest red, caught in late november or early December of 94. It was about twice as long as my daughter was at that time. I caught the fish on an ultralight baitcaster rod and reel that i had snagged off the bottom a couple days earlier while fishing a pier for flounder. I took the rod and reel home and cleaned it up, and I was using it to fish for pinfish for bait a couple days later, while I had another rod out with pinfish on it. Guess which rod the red took. 48 pounds, on 8 pound test line. The spool of the reel was about the same size as the fish’s eyeball. I had to chase him with the boat to keep from being spooled. I’ll try to find that picture and post it. I have one picture of my daughter laying next to the fish on the ground, and another with me and the rod and the fish. The pics are on another computer that has no monitor on it right now. Might be a couple days till I post them.

Hey I have a T-shirt w/ the master bait and tACKLE name on it. I received it from my son who lives in Naples, Fl. I think I’ll walk through Gander Mtn. with it on and see what kind of reaction I get.

Derek: I found the redfish we had to be fairly mild as far as a “fishy” taste. It was fried with just a flour and seasoning coating. Almost as good as walleye.
The sheephead were just as good.

Brad: I am sure you will attract a little attention. Not that the shirt is in bad taste , but the phrase ” our bait can’t be beat” does add to the humor.