I rarely get to go fishing. I’m not kidding. I’m a charter boat captain and I usually leave the fishing up to the client while I spend my time giving instruction, tying on fresh rigs, baiting hooks, casting and hopefully, unhooking fish. If you’ve ever taken your family fishing then you have a pretty good idea of what’s involved during my day on the water.
A few weeks ago I was waiting at the dock for my passengers to arrive. The weather was what pilots and boat captains like to call, “marginal”. A low pressure system was developing over the Gulf of Mexico and the forecast called for steady rain. The good news was there was no mention of high winds or lightning. When my folks arrived at the dock the decision was made to reschedule for another day. I had explained to them that getting wet was most likely, but that the bite should be really good because of the impending bad weather. They really weren’t equipped though, clothing wise, so we set up another date and they were on their way to breakfast.
As I was walking back to my truck and trailer I got to thinking about how rarely I get to fish alone. “Hmmm”, I said to myself, “I’ve got a fully equipped boat sitting in the water with bait, food and drinks on board. I’ve got a full-body Gore-Tex foul weather suit and there’s rising water, overcast skies and a low pressure system building in the Gulf.” I put the truck keys back in my pocket.
There was a light rain falling as I pulled away from the dock. I decided to make my first stop at the end of the long bar just outside of the Sanibel Bridge. The pompano had started to show up there a couple of weeks ago along with lots of mackerel and bluefish. Not today… The sharks were in, big time! In less than an hour I’d caught and released several big bonnet heads, a couple of black tips and one 5 foot bull shark. The smaller game fish were nowhere to be seen and having had my fill of “shark fun”, I headed for one of my favorite areas; Matlacha Pass.
I love the waters of Matlacha. It’s one of few places that you can fish and see only one or two other boats the entire day. Local knowledge of the water is required to navigate around the many oyster and sand bars and that keeps most unadventurous anglers at bay.
The rain was steady now as I pulled up on a spot near a small creek opening. The water was coming in slowly around one of the mangrove points so I cast a free-lined shrimp on a circle hook just upstream and let it slowly move along the mangrove line with the current. Pop!!! It was the unmistakable sound of a snook hitting bait near the surface! I reeled the tension out of the line and the fish was on. After a brief struggle I was able to pull the 25 inch snook out of the mangroves, land it, measure and release it. Things were looking good!
Over the next couple of hours I caught three snook, four nice redfish, a bunch of sheepshead and several mangrove snapper. I released everything except a couple of sheepies for dinner and then decided it was time to head for home. The inbound tide had started to slow as it reached its peak and with that, the fishing had slowed as well.
The ride back was wet but uneventful. I passed small oyster islands along the way covered in white pelicans, royal terns and gulls. I saw an eagle on a channel marker and lots of dolphin feeding on ladyfish and mullet near the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River. I only passed one other boat along the way; a crabber pulling his traps.
After arriving at the dock I cleaned the fish and peeled off the wet rain gear.
There were breaks in the cloud cover and the rain had finally stopped. What a great day it had turned out to be; lousy weather with lots of fish! I made a mental note to do this again as soon as possible.
Capt. Rob ModysSoulMate Charters
