NumenOn the Water
Date: 4-2 through 4-8-16
Date: 4-2 through 4-8-16
Body of Water: Gulf of Mexico and inshore waters of Pine Island Sound, Captiva, Florida
Boat: Rentals from Jensen's Marina; two days on a pontoon and one day on an 18-foot center console
With: Anybody who wanted to go, but generally Stu or A
Target: Generally Sea Trout or Ladyfish, but with hopes for others
Time: 7 AM to 10 PM, but with some breaks
Conditions: Once the initial rain and big wind blew through, it was generally quite pleasant with clear skies and brisk breezes. Wind was all over the compass and generally 15 or more mph. Water was generally murkier than I'd prefer, but with a couple of clearer windows of opportunity. Water temps were generally mid 70s, air temps high 60s in the AM to highs of 83 or so. Spring tides this week with the new moon were moving lots of water.
The only fishing on the day of arrival (Saturday, 4-2-16) was 10 or 15 minutes of surf fishing from the gulf-side beach in the late afternoon. Strong westerly winds muddied the surf, which was running 3 to 5 feet and which was not conducive to hair jigging the first trough for snook or pompano.
I awoke to howling north/northeast winds on Sunday, 4-3-16 (these were well over 20 mph) and knew my only choice to fish would be the resort's bay-side dock. The dock covers 6 to 8 feet of water or so, and a long cast can almost reach the (presumably) deeper navigation channel. My first choice in the pre-dawn darkness was a Gotcha plug cast at light shadow edges, but with no takers. After exploring the base of the pier with a hair jig and Gulp! sand flea, I continued casting the gold and orange Gotcha plug. A little after 8 AM I finally got hit and a small jack crevalle came to hand. I switched to live-lining this for bait, but it was a surprisingly listless bait and attracted no attention.
The only fishing on the day of arrival (Saturday, 4-2-16) was 10 or 15 minutes of surf fishing from the gulf-side beach in the late afternoon. Strong westerly winds muddied the surf, which was running 3 to 5 feet and which was not conducive to hair jigging the first trough for snook or pompano.
I awoke to howling north/northeast winds on Sunday, 4-3-16 (these were well over 20 mph) and knew my only choice to fish would be the resort's bay-side dock. The dock covers 6 to 8 feet of water or so, and a long cast can almost reach the (presumably) deeper navigation channel. My first choice in the pre-dawn darkness was a Gotcha plug cast at light shadow edges, but with no takers. After exploring the base of the pier with a hair jig and Gulp! sand flea, I continued casting the gold and orange Gotcha plug. A little after 8 AM I finally got hit and a small jack crevalle came to hand. I switched to live-lining this for bait, but it was a surprisingly listless bait and attracted no attention.
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| My first fish of the trip became bait; first as a livie and then as fillets. |
Stu joined me at about this time, and we filleted the jack for bait on the bottom. It didn't take long for the bait-runner to announce a hit, and a sizable sail cat hit the deck. It fought pretty well! While Stu bait fished on the bottom, I continued to throw the Gotcha, and my first ever ladyfish came in. She later became bait for more catfishing. I missed a fish on the plug, too.
Given the conditions (wind, cold, muddy water), I was happy to just get some bites! Fishing from 7 to Noon, I'd covered most of the rising tide, and most of the action had occurred mid-tide.
Fishing the same area from about 2 to 4:30 PM, Stu and I got 4 more cats and Stu got bit off by a probable shark, all on ladyfish chunks. Best action was once again at mid-tide, and by now, conditions were pretty pleasant!
Later that evening (6:30 to 9:45 PM), Stu and I returned for a catfish extravaganza. All were caught on bait on the bottom. Baits included live-lined ladyfish chunks, frozen finger mullet and cut squid. The final count was about 17 catfish caught. Not all were sail cats, there were also a bunch of hardhead cats in the mix, too. Unfortunately, no sharks appeared.
Conditions on Monday, 4-4-16 (7 to 10:30 AM) were much more comfortable, with a mild easterly wind and scattered showers, but the fishing was kind of slow. I was very excited to catch my first ever Sea Trout on a green and silver Gotcha, but otherwise it was just a catfish on a mullet and a sizable ray on squid. Both the sea trout and the ray were "Newtons", that is "new-to-me" species, as auto-corrected by my note pad.
With the day's east winds, the gulf-side surf was smooth and clear. The receding tide (low tide about 6:30 PM) eroded a deep channel right along shore, and I targeted snook here from about 6 to 8:30 PM. The tide along shore looked like a river, about 10 yards wide and a yard deep. My only regret is choosing to use a boughten jig, because the pink hair jig tipped with a Gulp! sand flea was momentarily hot, right off the bat (and my homemade jigs never got touched!) On the third cast or so, the jig got thumped right at my feet, and I was tight to a formidable fish (I was using 10-pound braid with a 15-pound leader.) Just as the fish (a snook of about 6 or 7 pounds!) was subdued, it gave a final awkward jump, and my line went limp; she had cut me off with her sharp operculum. I somehow missed a couple of bites, too, but on my fourth bite of the night my first snook in hand was taken on the green and silver Gotcha. This snook, too, hit almost at me feet. It was not as nice a fish as the first, but I landed this one, and what she lacked in size, she made up for in symbolic importance as a long sought-after Newton.
Unfortunately, the wind, tide and surf never conspired to set up these conditions again. Conditions this evening were perfect, and as easy to read as a textbook on shoreline tidal currents. It was awesome to catch my first snook, but honestly, the fish of the trip turned out to be that first snook. Lessons learned; time to up my leaders to at least 25-pound test, and keep the rod tip down if you want to land that snook!
Tuesday, 4-5-16 was the first day for boating, and we left the dock on our rented pontoon boat a little before 8 AM. Conditions were bright with a brisk and persistent northerly wind. We cruised with the group's parents north to Captiva Pass and started scouting for fish. A pretty continuous parade of ladyfish, sea trout and catfish came aboard for the rest of the day (we exchanged the parents for kids at about noon or so, but returned to the same general area to resume fishing.) We also got an occasional small jack and a single Spanish Mackerel. I did best with the green/silver Gotcha in 6 to 8 feet of water, but a popping cork with Gulp! shrimp did best for trout (the realistic glamour fish for the day) in 5 or 6 feet of water. Natural shrimp were good for producing bites, but too often these were from catfish or other bait stealers. There were fewer bites on Gulp!, but a better quality of fish was encountered with this. I quickly became a fan, and generally converted Stu.
Still, out of 20 or more trout on the day, only two were keepers (15 - 20"). It was generally difficult to find and stay on the right combination of water clarity, depth and grass. We kept a bunch of ladyfish for later use as bait, and we saw a nice (5- or 6-foot) blacktip shark working in about a foot of water.
Stu and I tried snookin' the surf from about 6:30 PM until low tide at about 7:30 PM, but the water was much rougher and murkier, and we had no hits.
Wednesday, 4-6-16 brought big wind from the east, and Stu and I headed out on the pontoon for another full day of fishing by ourselves. We travelled all the way north to Cayo Costa State Park, but the best fishing was a bit south and west of Cabbage Key. Using many of the same tactics, we got 3 legal trout from a catch of 20 or more, as well as assorted ladyfish, jacks, sand trout, a tiny black drum and a catfish. The lady-fishing was hot (numbers and size) in the clearer water of Captiva Pass as the tide flooded in, and we were set up for sharks by tide's change at 1:30 PM. Unfortunately, the wind was now opposing the tide and the anchor wouldn't hold; and so even live ladyfish and cut pinfish couldn't lure in any sharks.
That evening's surf was smoothed out a bit, but I was surprised to find the shoreline currents running north instead of south, as previously encounter. No deep trough had developed, so I waded to the first bar and fish outside of that, pounded by waves to 3 feet. A dolphin was working this edge, and I got a lot of bites, mostly on white Gulp! mullets on jig heads, but unfortunately these were generally small ladyfish and a sea trout. How quickly I'd become jaded! These are fine, almost-new species and wonderful fish to catch on light tackle; but now I wanted snook!
Thursday, 4-7-16 presented itself gently, and A and I left the dock in our rented 18-foot center console skiff by 8 AM. The mild southerly wind would swing to the west and build throughout the day. We headed directly to Cabbage Key where I hoped to intersect with some keeper trout in the grass, just slightly deeper than the abundant and visible sand spots. We caught a dozen or so trout with three keepers to about 18 inches pretty quickly (Gulp! for me and live shrimp for A; again, all the keepers came on Gulp!), and then I started to experiment; Z-Man Trout Trick worms and a chartreuse Gulp! mullet continued to produce bites. At about 10 AM, with the flood tide and SW wind aligning and lots of fish around, we anchored and set up a chum-line for sharks. Nothing but catfish showed up, though, and so by noon we were catching the incoming tide at Captiva Pass and throwing Gotcha plugs in the clearer, incoming Gulf water. The closer we got to the Gulf, the better the ladyfishing was. This was pure fun fishing, and it was difficult for us to stop. But A had enough sun, a prime spinning rod was busted, and it was time for A to hit the beach.
Dropping A off at the dock and with only a couple of hours left on my rental, I asked the dock hand what to do; he recommended taking advantage of the extraordinarily high tide by chunking a stretch of mangroves with ladyfish. Redfish were reportedly most likely, but tarpon and sharks were more than possible. I crossed the channel to give it a shot; but there were manatees everywhere, so progress was slow. It looked pretty darn shallow, too, and I didn't want to get caught by the receding tide. Mullet and other baitfish were flipping around, too, so I cut short and anchored over some grass; I thought maybe I could seduce something out of the mangroves with a chum slick and long casts.
And maybe I did, but if I did, it was only catfish, because I caught an easy dozen in the next hour. I was now out of bait and short on time; I slowly idled back into the dock. I had manatees as company as I watched a small pod of dolphins reek havoc on the schooled mullet in the area.
After three days in a boat of all day fishing and less than perfect surf conditions, I chose to simply watch the evening tide; I found an obvious rip that I would have fished, but mostly I just soaked in the pleasant fishing I'd experienced so far.
Friday, 4-8-16, I hit the quiet surf at dawn and fished through the first half of the rising tide, until about 9:45 AM. Conditions were very quiet; I had just a single tap on the chartreuse Gulp! mullet in the first trough. Despite the slow fishing, I concentrated on upstream casts into this trough, based on my success earlier in the week. Perhaps that was a curse and I should have travelled to one of the accessible passes; but then I'd have had to share my water.
As I came in there was a report (with pictures) of a nice shark from the surf on a ladyfish chunk. I'd heard of several others caught over the week. Later that day, Stu caught a 2-foot cobia on a shrimp under a float from the bay-side dock; it was my first encounter with that species, and it was a writhing mass of muscle, for sure; I can only imagine how powerful a big one might be.
I thought we'd shark fish from the beach on our last evening, but a group dinner took precedence.
Later that evening, as I dismantled, cleaned and packed my tackle, I found the weekend's local fishing forecast. That indicated mature tarpon off the beaches in 26-30 feet of water, and juveniles emerging from the creeks; different waters than I'd fished; no wonder I hadn't seen any! Maybe next time.
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| My first-ever ladyfish, and the first of many converted to bait. |
Given the conditions (wind, cold, muddy water), I was happy to just get some bites! Fishing from 7 to Noon, I'd covered most of the rising tide, and most of the action had occurred mid-tide.
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| This furtive Hobo Heron was a constant dock companion, but he had much better manners than any pelican! |
Fishing the same area from about 2 to 4:30 PM, Stu and I got 4 more cats and Stu got bit off by a probable shark, all on ladyfish chunks. Best action was once again at mid-tide, and by now, conditions were pretty pleasant!
Later that evening (6:30 to 9:45 PM), Stu and I returned for a catfish extravaganza. All were caught on bait on the bottom. Baits included live-lined ladyfish chunks, frozen finger mullet and cut squid. The final count was about 17 catfish caught. Not all were sail cats, there were also a bunch of hardhead cats in the mix, too. Unfortunately, no sharks appeared.
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| Sail cat! They can pull, and everybody who chose to got in on the action. |
Conditions on Monday, 4-4-16 (7 to 10:30 AM) were much more comfortable, with a mild easterly wind and scattered showers, but the fishing was kind of slow. I was very excited to catch my first ever Sea Trout on a green and silver Gotcha, but otherwise it was just a catfish on a mullet and a sizable ray on squid. Both the sea trout and the ray were "Newtons", that is "new-to-me" species, as auto-corrected by my note pad.
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| My first sea trout! |
With the day's east winds, the gulf-side surf was smooth and clear. The receding tide (low tide about 6:30 PM) eroded a deep channel right along shore, and I targeted snook here from about 6 to 8:30 PM. The tide along shore looked like a river, about 10 yards wide and a yard deep. My only regret is choosing to use a boughten jig, because the pink hair jig tipped with a Gulp! sand flea was momentarily hot, right off the bat (and my homemade jigs never got touched!) On the third cast or so, the jig got thumped right at my feet, and I was tight to a formidable fish (I was using 10-pound braid with a 15-pound leader.) Just as the fish (a snook of about 6 or 7 pounds!) was subdued, it gave a final awkward jump, and my line went limp; she had cut me off with her sharp operculum. I somehow missed a couple of bites, too, but on my fourth bite of the night my first snook in hand was taken on the green and silver Gotcha. This snook, too, hit almost at me feet. It was not as nice a fish as the first, but I landed this one, and what she lacked in size, she made up for in symbolic importance as a long sought-after Newton.
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| My first snook! |
Unfortunately, the wind, tide and surf never conspired to set up these conditions again. Conditions this evening were perfect, and as easy to read as a textbook on shoreline tidal currents. It was awesome to catch my first snook, but honestly, the fish of the trip turned out to be that first snook. Lessons learned; time to up my leaders to at least 25-pound test, and keep the rod tip down if you want to land that snook!
Tuesday, 4-5-16 was the first day for boating, and we left the dock on our rented pontoon boat a little before 8 AM. Conditions were bright with a brisk and persistent northerly wind. We cruised with the group's parents north to Captiva Pass and started scouting for fish. A pretty continuous parade of ladyfish, sea trout and catfish came aboard for the rest of the day (we exchanged the parents for kids at about noon or so, but returned to the same general area to resume fishing.) We also got an occasional small jack and a single Spanish Mackerel. I did best with the green/silver Gotcha in 6 to 8 feet of water, but a popping cork with Gulp! shrimp did best for trout (the realistic glamour fish for the day) in 5 or 6 feet of water. Natural shrimp were good for producing bites, but too often these were from catfish or other bait stealers. There were fewer bites on Gulp!, but a better quality of fish was encountered with this. I quickly became a fan, and generally converted Stu.
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| Pontoon cruising... they do provide space and shade. |
Still, out of 20 or more trout on the day, only two were keepers (15 - 20"). It was generally difficult to find and stay on the right combination of water clarity, depth and grass. We kept a bunch of ladyfish for later use as bait, and we saw a nice (5- or 6-foot) blacktip shark working in about a foot of water.
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| We got multiple legal-sized trout each boating day. |
Stu and I tried snookin' the surf from about 6:30 PM until low tide at about 7:30 PM, but the water was much rougher and murkier, and we had no hits.
Wednesday, 4-6-16 brought big wind from the east, and Stu and I headed out on the pontoon for another full day of fishing by ourselves. We travelled all the way north to Cayo Costa State Park, but the best fishing was a bit south and west of Cabbage Key. Using many of the same tactics, we got 3 legal trout from a catch of 20 or more, as well as assorted ladyfish, jacks, sand trout, a tiny black drum and a catfish. The lady-fishing was hot (numbers and size) in the clearer water of Captiva Pass as the tide flooded in, and we were set up for sharks by tide's change at 1:30 PM. Unfortunately, the wind was now opposing the tide and the anchor wouldn't hold; and so even live ladyfish and cut pinfish couldn't lure in any sharks.
That evening's surf was smoothed out a bit, but I was surprised to find the shoreline currents running north instead of south, as previously encounter. No deep trough had developed, so I waded to the first bar and fish outside of that, pounded by waves to 3 feet. A dolphin was working this edge, and I got a lot of bites, mostly on white Gulp! mullets on jig heads, but unfortunately these were generally small ladyfish and a sea trout. How quickly I'd become jaded! These are fine, almost-new species and wonderful fish to catch on light tackle; but now I wanted snook!
Thursday, 4-7-16 presented itself gently, and A and I left the dock in our rented 18-foot center console skiff by 8 AM. The mild southerly wind would swing to the west and build throughout the day. We headed directly to Cabbage Key where I hoped to intersect with some keeper trout in the grass, just slightly deeper than the abundant and visible sand spots. We caught a dozen or so trout with three keepers to about 18 inches pretty quickly (Gulp! for me and live shrimp for A; again, all the keepers came on Gulp!), and then I started to experiment; Z-Man Trout Trick worms and a chartreuse Gulp! mullet continued to produce bites. At about 10 AM, with the flood tide and SW wind aligning and lots of fish around, we anchored and set up a chum-line for sharks. Nothing but catfish showed up, though, and so by noon we were catching the incoming tide at Captiva Pass and throwing Gotcha plugs in the clearer, incoming Gulf water. The closer we got to the Gulf, the better the ladyfishing was. This was pure fun fishing, and it was difficult for us to stop. But A had enough sun, a prime spinning rod was busted, and it was time for A to hit the beach.
Dropping A off at the dock and with only a couple of hours left on my rental, I asked the dock hand what to do; he recommended taking advantage of the extraordinarily high tide by chunking a stretch of mangroves with ladyfish. Redfish were reportedly most likely, but tarpon and sharks were more than possible. I crossed the channel to give it a shot; but there were manatees everywhere, so progress was slow. It looked pretty darn shallow, too, and I didn't want to get caught by the receding tide. Mullet and other baitfish were flipping around, too, so I cut short and anchored over some grass; I thought maybe I could seduce something out of the mangroves with a chum slick and long casts.
And maybe I did, but if I did, it was only catfish, because I caught an easy dozen in the next hour. I was now out of bait and short on time; I slowly idled back into the dock. I had manatees as company as I watched a small pod of dolphins reek havoc on the schooled mullet in the area.
After three days in a boat of all day fishing and less than perfect surf conditions, I chose to simply watch the evening tide; I found an obvious rip that I would have fished, but mostly I just soaked in the pleasant fishing I'd experienced so far.
Friday, 4-8-16, I hit the quiet surf at dawn and fished through the first half of the rising tide, until about 9:45 AM. Conditions were very quiet; I had just a single tap on the chartreuse Gulp! mullet in the first trough. Despite the slow fishing, I concentrated on upstream casts into this trough, based on my success earlier in the week. Perhaps that was a curse and I should have travelled to one of the accessible passes; but then I'd have had to share my water.
As I came in there was a report (with pictures) of a nice shark from the surf on a ladyfish chunk. I'd heard of several others caught over the week. Later that day, Stu caught a 2-foot cobia on a shrimp under a float from the bay-side dock; it was my first encounter with that species, and it was a writhing mass of muscle, for sure; I can only imagine how powerful a big one might be.
I thought we'd shark fish from the beach on our last evening, but a group dinner took precedence.
Later that evening, as I dismantled, cleaned and packed my tackle, I found the weekend's local fishing forecast. That indicated mature tarpon off the beaches in 26-30 feet of water, and juveniles emerging from the creeks; different waters than I'd fished; no wonder I hadn't seen any! Maybe next time.
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| Surf fishing for snook. |
What do I have to say about this?
This was simply a good trip. Nothing extraordinary happened, but it was filled with good experiences, pretty good fishing and some new species came to hand. All this, even when I suspect Captiva did not show her best due to the wind and ruffled seas. I was generally pleased with my preparations and efforts, I enjoyed using some fine equipment, and I may have realistically modified my future boat needs. Check out this for some more commentary on the trip, if you'd like.
This was simply a good trip. Nothing extraordinary happened, but it was filled with good experiences, pretty good fishing and some new species came to hand. All this, even when I suspect Captiva did not show her best due to the wind and ruffled seas. I was generally pleased with my preparations and efforts, I enjoyed using some fine equipment, and I may have realistically modified my future boat needs. Check out this for some more commentary on the trip, if you'd like.
