A beautiful Sanibel SunriseI've been fishing Sanibel and Captiva Islands my entire life. From Snook and Redfish to Tarpon and Shark, some of my fondest fishing memories are rooted in the fertile grass flats of Tarpon Bay, the winding mangrove roots of the Ding Darling Wildlife refuge, and the sands which now fill Blind Pass. The snook are still around and the tarpon are thick as ever. Although the redfish are a little more scattered than they were five years ago, it's not uncommon to see them cruising the edges of recovering flats and channels.
We made the run from the ramp adjacent to the Sanibel Marina to the flats around North Captiva Island. Our plan was to catch some lady fish for tarpon bait and to score some sea trout for dinner. We were successful on both fronts, catching a dozen or so nice trout and losing as many ladyfish as we put in the boat.
With several ladyfish and pin fish swimming happily in the live well, we set up for a few tarpon drifts in North Captiva pass. We soon found ourselves drifting in a cluster of ~30 boats with the same idea. After several hang ups, four drifts, no hook ups - no observed hook ups, we decided to run back to Tarpon Bay and do some drift fishing for more sea trout. Capt. Ken pulled up this beauty before we made the run...
Sanibel and Captiva have taken quite a beating the last few years. The islands were decimated by Hurricane Charley in 2004, and runoff from Lake Okeechobee led to horrific destruction of the grass flats in and around Pine Island Sound. The islands, and the waters which surround them, are only now starting to show signs of recovery.
Capt. Ken at the helm of the Maverick
A classic North Captiva Sea Trout
With several ladyfish and pin fish swimming happily in the live well, we set up for a few tarpon drifts in North Captiva pass. We soon found ourselves drifting in a cluster of ~30 boats with the same idea. After several hang ups, four drifts, no hook ups - no observed hook ups, we decided to run back to Tarpon Bay and do some drift fishing for more sea trout. Capt. Ken pulled up this beauty before we made the run...
What a beast!
The intense boat traffic (why i don't typically fish on weekends) made it difficult to find undisturbed water. We poled the mangrove lines around the interior of the bay, pulling up trout and snappers, but didn't find the redfish we were looking for. We did manage to stumble across an estuary ripe with snook, but i left the trolling motor in Miami, which put silently stalking the mangroves out of the question. With the wind picking up, we called it a day and headed back to the ramp. More reports from Sanibel will be coming soon...hopefully snook in hand.
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