Over the last 10 days I have had the opportunity to fish from the mouth of the Caloosahatchee to Charlotte Harbor in search of Redfish, Trout and more recently Tarpon. I have found that the fishing has been better for all 3 of the species mentioned above north of the power lines, which service both Pine Island and Sanibel Island. Albeit, the tides have been higher ‘south’ of the power lines, but the productivity has been lacking.
It has been sometime since I had the opportunity to write a report for the offshore and inshore areas from Ft. Myers Beach to Charlotte Harbor. During the last few weeks, fishing has been ‘spotty’ to ‘really good’, depending on location, wind direction, wind velocity and tide levels.
By Joe Vizzini
A number of Cape Coral Cruise Club boats got an early start on this cruise by first stopping at either Palm Island or Venice marinas on Monday March 20th. Weather was “picture-perfect” for boating, and dolphins abounded in the GICW. The Venice boaters were able to explore the interesting sites in town, and partake of some of its good restaurant offerings.
Read more “Cape Coral Cruise Club returns to MARINA JACK, Sarasota”
By Bruce Ritchie
03/30/2017 05:41 PM EDT
TALLAHASSEE — The West Indian manatee is being downgraded from endangered to threatened under federal law, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thursday.
Read more “Federal agency reclassifies manatee from ‘endangered’ to ‘threatened’”
If dry conditions continue, several locks will be closed for safety reasons.
Read more “Lake Okeechobee Levels Below 12 Feet Will Require Lock Closures”
We occasionally hear boaters racking their brains over where to go for a fun, boating- related vacation or long weekend. When you stop to consider that thousands of people vacation or relocate to Southwest Florida each year specifically for the vast boating opportunities, you certainly should include our home waters among your options.
The US Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District received word today that Palm Beach County will undertake emergency repairs on the bridge at Torrey Island near Belle Glade. Operation of the bridge has been suspended, effectively closing Route 2 of the Okeechobee Waterway (also known as the “Rim Canal”) at that location as most boats are too tall to pass under the structure. We expect that boaters will feel the impacts from this closure for the rest of the month. The Corps is issuing a notice to navigation on this subject, attached to this note.
– By Captain John Queen, Past Commodore, Cape Coral Cruise Club
The Cape Coral Cruise Club has monthly cruises to a variety of destinations in SW Florida. For the month of February 2017, that destination was the popular Pink Shell Resort and Marina on Fort Myers Beach. There was a good turnout with 17 club boats that made the trip ranging in size from 30 to 50 feet. Most of the boats arrived Tuesday, February 21st with fairly decent weather on their bow. Many boats waited until slack tide before arriving, as past experience knows, it is tricky trying to dock at Pink Shell in strong tidal currents. Since my wife Pati and I were the cruise leaders for this event, we were one of the first boats to arrive. We slid “Semper Paratus” into slip 20 around 10:30 AM just as inbound current was subsiding. Dockmaster Dave and his sidekick Craig did an excellent job in getting us and all other boats safely into assigned slips.
I am excited to report that fishing (catching) has really turned on this past week and with continued warm weather, there is no reason not to believe SPRING FISHING IS HERE! Fishing has been ‘spotty’ and very tough at times due to a fractional seasonal change. SW Florida water temperatures have been around 68 degrees (F) for most of the winter and affected migratory patterns.
Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission sent this bulletin at 02/22/2017 09:52 AM EST (Original Article)