Jacks are back in the Harbor, as feisty and uncivilized and wanting to fight, as I am. Watch the sand bars down from 2 pines up to Pirate Harbor. Keep in mind the Jacks are looking for fast moving shallow baits, If you have a shrimp on the line, no sinker is better. Free line and fast retrieve, If you have a sinker on your line add a bobber / poppin cork and again reel fast. Jacks scare the bait fish and get them in a frenzy so slow or still baits are not what they are used to seeing. Make your bait or lure quick noisy and fast.
Trout fishing for a meal is cool, but a good size Jack makes it a day to remember.
The warm weather and low winds provided a lot of opportunity to get out on the water to enjoy catching and releasing a number of different species both off-shore and back-bay areas. My 1st Mate Vicki and I had a couple of days of quality time off the eastern tip of Sanibel Island catching Spanish Mackerel on light spinning tackle with jigs and fly rods. I hooked up a big Ceros Mackerel only to have my hand burned with both line and reel when trying to slow down the ‘run’. We ‘cruised’ the crab trap buoy lines with the sun to our backs and free-lined shrimp to Triple Tails and motored our bay boat to some close-by reef locations to catch a few Sheepshead, Snappers along with a variety of other species using Shrimp and Pinfish. If next week’s moderate wind forecasts are accurate, one may expect more of the same when ‘hunting’ the above species.
‘Back-bay’ charter trips are producing Spanish Mackerel on jigs with live shrimp as well as a couple of Pompano (the picture of my client Roy from Atlanta, Ga., planned on cooking this big Pompano for his wife ‘Jimmy’ for their 11th Anniversary dinner while vacationing on Sanibel Island). There are plenty of Mangrove Snappers and Flounder waiting to be fed and provide some ‘non-stop’ action. Unfortunately, I have had trouble finding schools of Seatrout over the last couple of days and I am somewhat puzzled as to why; especially with the warmer weather and water temperatures. Nonetheless, I am confident that the bite will pick up soon.
Until next week, this is Captain Terry Fisher of Fish Face Charters wishing you ‘happy times’ on the water. If you have any questions or want to book a charter, simply give me a call at 239-357-6829 or email me at [email protected]. Check out my website www.fishfacecharters.com to review recent catches as well as weekly and monthly published articles.
Welcome to the Capt. John Breuggeman Memorial Grouper Tournament
The 9th Annual Captain John Breuggeman Memorial Grouper Tournament will take place on January 20, 2013 at Cape Haze Marina, Englewood, Florida.The tournament is an annual, one day event fishing off shore for grouper.At tournament end, we celebrate with a barbeque at which all prizes are awarded. Cash prizes are for the biggest catch (weight of best 3 fish) 1st, 2nd and 3rd places and a trophy is for the angler who catches the largest grouper (by weight). All anglers are eligible for many prizes from our sponsors AND we have a raffle for a fishing kayak…..
The spirit of our tournament is to provide a chance to fish, to have fun, to eat together, to raise scholarship monies and especiallyto honor the memory of John Breuggeman.
The cold fronts with the winds have created some havoc for fishing but this is winter time and is to be expected. Just be sure and layer up to withstand the morning and evening temperatures. I have had quite a lot of success catching Spanish Mackerel and Pompano off of the lighthouse of Sanibel Island, Redfish and North Captiva Passes when the weather permits. These fish are easy to spot when the ‘feed is on’, as the birds of prey target the bait fish being pushed to the surface by the migratory game fish.
Just off the Intercoastal, big Specks are on the flats in about 3 ½ ft. to 6 ft. of water. Patience is the key to catching these nice fish once you have found their holding area (see photo of 23” ‘Speck’ caught by one of my clients). However, impatient fishermen or ‘fisher-ladies’ should try trolling the flats with shallow running lures to locate the fish before anchoring or drifting. Like trout, the Redfish are also holding in the deeper pot holes and are more active with the sun being out to warm the waters. Snook are receptive to white baits and artificial baits along the cuts of the islands together with some current. Flounder are on sand/hard bottoms in good sizes. There are some Sheepshead and Gray Snapper around bridge structures and docks all along Pine Island Sound and Matlacha Pass, but I think the best is still yet to come these next few weeks.
Off shore, the Triple Tail, Mackerel, Snappers, Groupers and kings are awaiting a presentation. The winds will dictate any chance of a nice fishing trip.
In closing, this is Captain Terry Fisher of Fish Face Charters wishing you a Happy New Year! Be sure and contact me at [email protected] or via phone 239-357-6829 to schedule a successful fishing trip or to answer any questions that you may have. My website should provide most of the answers at www.fishfacecharters.com
Confused? I bet! The fish are feeling the same way. Hot, cold, warm, cool, is this any way to run a planet? I know, no one like these cold snaps, this is Florida, and it is supposed to be warm & sunny,
The great thing about the cold is that when the gulf starts getting in the 60’s this cooler temp is uncomfortable to the fish, so they head into the Harbors bays and creeks/ canals. The back water has a brown color and most of the bottom is black with muck or grass. Brown water + black bottom = solar collector. The water warms very quickly and the fish know this. So into the back waters they travel, much in the same way People do, If you live in Ohio and it is 10 degrees, You know it is in the 70’s or 80’s in Florida So where you gonna go?
People or fish all like to be comfortable, and cold weather means fish in the harbor and the fishin’, is very good. Trout have moved into the harbor, thick around Pirate Harbor, Alligator creek, Cape Haze the mouth of bull bay, and along Bay shore.
Red fish are biting from 16 inches to 38 inches, the outside of the bar in front of Turtle & Bull bay, the Jug creek shoals , to the mouth of the Peace River. Both the east & west sidebars have Reds on them, not as much under the trees as out on top of the bars. Look for patches of grass/weeds in a little deeper hole / pocket there are Reds laying there. You can’t really see them as their backs blend nicely with the color of the grass, but cast a spoon or jig past the hole and slowly bring it back through it, hang on the hit is hard and the fish are active and ready to fight.
Cobia are also here in the Harbor and near shore reefs. The cool to cold weather should have moved them, but here they are. The one thing, they are close to the surface baking in the sun, so watch for the dorsal fin of a Cobia while you are fishing, a Johnson gold minnow slowly reeled right in front of it’s nose will do the trick and the fight is on.
Another truth is; we need these cold spells to knock down the algae and fungus, and general funk which builds up in hot water. When it warms up a bit and you get out onto the water you will see clearer, cleaner water. Bacteria and algae are levels are much lower. Without the cold, we would end up with massive fish kills. What you say? Massive fish kills? No, not like you see on the T.V. news. Those are B.S. only bigger larger fish. Oh how terrible? Well not really. To tell the truth, they are not that important. They have already spawned many times and the fish, like me, are looking more at the end of their life not the beginning. They make great film footage and everyone exclaims how terrible, but the real the bad and the awful is what I am talking about.
The fish less than 6 inches long. The forgotten ones. The next generation. Funny, if someone kills an old dog or cat, well they lived a good life, sad but still maybe a kind thing for the animal. But kill a puppy or a kitten and you will be lynched from the nearest street light, and sent to a special place in hell. With fish, not so much. Kill a tiny/baby fish no one cares. Kill an old, ready to die, barnacled up fish and you will be lynched. Who started thinking this was good or normal? The young breed better, they do not pass along genetic defects and they are just more into it.
No matter, fish, people, or animals, us older ones, well we like the thought but are much less likely to do anything about it. And according to the most recent study’s maybe we should not let older creatures pass more defective genes to their offspring. On the other hand maybe a fish with fingers would be a good thing, or a tail like a monkey they could hold onto a rock with their tail while you tried to land them. This however is what people want fish to do? I don’t get it.
The cold weather kills a lot of the algae and bacteria which builds up in the water and then lowers the oxygen to the point that smaller fish cannot survive. So this has been a long winded way of saying the cold is good, even though me, I could do without it. I live in Florida because I like it warm. I like seeing snow on T.V. it is pretty there.
But to save the next generation of fish, I will put up with it for a few days.