The school year had ended, and so before I left for the summer, my friend Ethan Wenger invited me and a few others to his place in Pinecrest to hang out. His house happens to be on a canal, and he had told me about the fishing there is to be done there. Naturally, I packed up the car with some fishing rods with hopes of getting into some good action. I'd only fished the South Florida canals a few times, and had only caught a Peacock Bass once. I know that they are good fighters and show off beautiful coloration, so I was excited to pursue them and whatever else would bite. As soon as I got there, Wenger and I checked out the backyard with some rods to see if there were any fish out there before sunset and leaving for dinner. All we had for bait was bread, but that proved to be enough. While we were casting out the bread, a big, bright reddish-orange Midas Cichlid came out of nowhere. It took Wenger's bait, and he quickly reeled it in. A very solid fish, and a new type of species for me. Like other Cichlids, it is a non-native species that can be found throughout the South Florida canal system. That being said, as anglers we'll take the opportunity to see this cool looking fish up close. After a release and a little more fishing, we left for dinner and planned to take a canoe out early the next morning in pursuit of Peacock Bass.
May 7th
May 8th:
Early the next morning, Wenger and I woke up and drove to Kendall Bait and Tackle (picking up some bagels along the way as well). I brought my bait bucket so that we could get a couple dozen live shiners - perfect bait fish for the Peacocks. I forgot some of my gear, so we also bought a few hooks and headed back to the house. Before we set out on the kayak, Wenger and I started fishing the bank, freelancing live shiners that we hooked through the mouth. We looked for any Peacock Bass that were cruising the bank, and I relatively quickly saw one in front of me. I casted the shiner out around it, keeping a finger on the line to keep it from going too far, and the Peacock Bass bit it aggressively. It put up a good fight, and I brought in the first fish of the day. It was great to be on the board and to once again catch such a beautiful fish. With such a good start, we knew it would be a good day. Shortly after, Wenger also hooked up on a nice bull Peacock on the shore as well. Peacock Bass are technically species of cichlids, not bass - thus the males are known to have a hump on their heads.
After a bit, we were ready to take out the canoe and see if we could catch any other Peacocks down the bank of the C-100 canal By then Adam Chopp, a good friend with whom I hadn't fished since 2013, came out and wanted to come fishing. We loaded up the canoe with the bait bucket, the tackle, some towels, the rods, and some paddles, and set off. We drifted along as we were paddling, casting our treelined shiners in front of us to parts of the bank that looked like they might hold some fish. Adam's bait got eaten pretty soon into the trip, and he reeled in a solid fish. The trip continued like that, with one of us hooking up every 10-15 minutes or so, with some dry spells as the day got hotter. There were some times, though, where we would even double up with two bites at once. We kept going until we reached a low bridge at a wider part of the canal, under which were a ton of spider webs. We decided at this point that it was time to head back, after about 2 hours on the water. We left on the canoe at about 10 and got back at around 12:30. Overall, it was a very enjoyable day on the water hanging out and catching some very fun fish. We had aimed to catch around 4 on the canoe but we ended up catching about 8. I was glad to finally be able to fish on the canals Wenger had told me so much about, and to fish with Chopp again after so long. I'm looking forward to the next time.
I spent the weekend at my friend Max's place since he was hosting a party at his house on the intercoastal in Boca Raton. While we are good friends and have bonded over our interest in fishing, we hadn't quite had a chance to fish together until now. Most of the fishing this weekend took place on Saturday, although I tried at first on Friday Night as well. Here's how it went down:
Friday, May 4th
After driving up to Boca and getting dinner with Max and some others, I was excited to test out the docks behind his house in the intercostal since I knew it had underwater lights which would attract fish. As soon as we got back from a great time at the restaurant, I picked up a rod, tied on a lure, and started casting. I saw Snook all around, weaving in between the lights. However, as much as I tried to bring it past their faces, they did not often chase it. Sometimes the lure would not stay in range long enough, sometimes it would go too close to the surface, and sometimes the fish would simply not go for it. That being said, it wasn't impossible. I managed to get three or four bumps from Snook that would instinctively hit the lure without taking a big bite. It was frustrating, but after a couple hours of fishing the dock at night, I figured I'd have to try again another day. The elusive Snook were so close yet so far.
Saturday, May 5th
While setting up for the party to be had at night, I took a break to fish on the docks during the day. I went with my friend Jacob Maskin to a bait and tackle shop in the morning first to pick up some live bait and ask about good lures to use for the Snook and whatever else might bite on the docks. They recommended a bucktail jig which I picked up too, and we went back to the house to start fishing. Most of the fishing we did on the dock today was just for fun to see whatever would bite. The sun was shining and there was a cool breeze - a great day to be on the water. The fish were there in full force around all the rocks and structure, and we could see them through the clear water. We used the live shrimp, and soon after dropping it, I gave the rod to Maskin who caught a nice Yellowfin Mojarra. A cool fish to start off the day. The more we fished, we caught a Blue Striped Grunt, 4 puffer fish, 2 Mangrove Snappers, and as we fished by some bricks Max had laid down underwater to create a sort of reef, we also caught a Dog Snapper. Towards the end of our time fishing in the daytime there was a Barracuda that came and kept stealing our bait. We tried different things, including a steel leader I had, but it wasn't quite enough to keep the Barracuda from darting in and grabbing the bait off the hook before we could set the hook. Regardless, it was a cool sight to see.
We ran out of live shrimp since we were having a lot of fun fishing for the snappers and Barracudas, which was unfortunate since I was hoping to use some at night for Snook. By the time I was gonna go to get more shrimp, the party was starting and I didn't have the chance to. That being said, once I was drunk enough and the water was calling to me, I slipped out to get my rod from the car and tied on a jig to drop by the dock. Clearly the call of the fish didn't just come for me, as when people started to notice I was fishing on the dock, a small crowd started to form around. I was casting and retrieving the jig while bouncing out along the bottom. The Snook I was hoping to catch did not bite. As I was jigging, my friends and I were talking about how much we prefer live bait to lures - however, coincidentally, just as I said "yeah, artificials suck" while bouncing the jig, I got a hit. I reeled in a solid Bluestriped Grunt, which got some applause from people in the pool. It was a pretty funny situation. Soon after I gave my rod to people who wanted to take a few casts. No more fish were caught that night, but it was a good time as I went back into the party, satisfied with having caught one.
Sunday, May 6th
After a great night before, waking up on Sunday morning was a little eery. The house needed some cleanup, but after that I had to step outside on another sunny morning to use my jig and get some more practice. Harrison followed me out there, and so did another friend, Alex Slintak. I showed Harrison, eager to learn how to do this kind of fishing, how to jig, and just as I gave him the rod, he jigged it and a fish bit! He reeled in a nice Lane Snapper, the same kind of fish we had seen prevalently when we'd fished in Naples. After that I gave the rod to Slintak, who had never caught a fish before. He saw how we had jerked the rod to jig it and he did the same. Soon he hooked up and reeled in a Sailor's Choice! Those fish were a great way to end the weekend.
Jeremy, my friend Marcus, and I had been talking for a while about eventually planning a trip to Captiva to see Jeremy's grandfather and go fishing on his friend's boat. After months of talking about it and setting it for some time in the future, we finally picked a date and confirmed it as a few days we could come down and fish for saltwater fish on the southwest coast. I had a lot of hope for new fish and species, but most importantly we were all excited for the great weekend we had ahead of us. After fishing at Jeremy's lakehouse, Harrison was hooked on fishing. After hearing we were going on a fishing trip he seemed interested, so we extended him an invitation and he made it a group of four. On Friday at noon after classes we hopped in a car and began the drive down to Captiva, a beautiful island on the southwest Gulf coast for Florida. Shortly after we arrived we met Jeremy's grandfather, Charles, who showed us to his apartment overlooking the bay. We then got dinner and saw the sunset on the beach. That night we stayed out on the beach until we could see the stars out. Honestly, the lack of light pollution and the sky visibility was incredible and much better than I expected. The night sky at Captiva rivaled some of the best I'd seen out west, and it was an amazing thing to experience that first night on the beach. One could really get a feel for old Florida while we were there. Afterwards, we went back to the apartment. Charles was an extremely kind, gracious, and welcoming man to whom we were all grateful for hosting us and showing us a good time.
Saturday, April 6th:
We were originally supposed to fish today on Charles' friend's boat, since he runs a charter service and has fished with Jeremy and Charles before. However, unfortunately, the motor on the boat wasn't working. Charles was determined to have a good day on the water, so the five of us went on the ferry to Cabbage Key. It was a really nice time being able to get a better understanding of the geography of the bay while taking a boat on it, and enjoying the scenery of the beaches, the greenery on shore, the vibrant blue water, and the dolphins swimming alongside us. When we got to Cabbage Key, we enjoyed a very good lunch and walked a bit around the island. When it was time, we hopped back on the ferry to Capitiva. When we arrived, we figured that we would still try to get some fishing done. However, beaches like Blind Pass, a famous spot I'd wanted to fish for a long time, were starting to close and we didn't have the greatest bait for it. So we instead fished at a dock on the bay near the apartment, and just spent our time casting out near some pilings. It was relatively slow, but eventually Harrison hooked up with a fish. He was reeling in mostly to check his bait after feeing nibbles, but felt a fish and brought up a Hardhead Catfish. I had never caught a Saltwater Catfish before, so it was cool to finally see it in person. The Hardhead Catfish is one of two species of saltwater catfish that can be caught on the gulf coast, and while they are normally considered trash fish that steal your bait and are caught accidentally, I was glad to not only put one on the board and avoid the skunk but also to catch a new species. After this we went back to the beach to catch the sunset, then to dinner, then got a good night's rest before getting up early to head to Naples for a nice day of fishing.
Sunday, April 7th:
We woke up early, had everything packed, and headed in the car on our way to Naples because, since we did not have an available boat in Captiva, Charles booked us a charter with Lucky Strike with captain Gordie. We arrived at the dock and got on to meet him and his dog, Ripp. We soon made our way out through Gordon Pass and through to the rocks/reefs we would be fishing on. The geography of the Gulf coast is very different from that of the Atlantic coast. Whereas in Miami the water tends to drop off relatively steeply compared to the Gulf and the Gulf Stream current runs through it to bring offshore fish closer to the shore, there is a very large shelf on the gulf coast that makes it so that the water remains very shallow even when you go miles offshore. Because of this, we drove a few miles away to where we could barely see the Naples skyline or not even see it at all, but the water was still only 30-50 ft deep. We used squid as bait on a single chicken rig and dropped it to the bottom to feel bites when we came upon our spot. We started catching pretty soon after, and while the bites would come in waves, we were able to fill up the boat. Most of what we started to catch were Lane Snappers and White Grunts. However, some interesting species also showed up. Fishing the rocks, of course, we were hoping to not only catch good fish to eat but also a variety of species. Soon enough Marcus and Jeremy pulled up some nice grunts and Snappers to fill up the boat. Marcus got a big Tomtate, probably the biggest I'd ever seen. They are normally smaller fish, but he pulled one up that was the size of a decent snapper. Jeremy and I also brought in some Grouper types, including colorful Red Grouper and a Gulf coast staple (and new species for me), a small Gag Grouper. Harrison had a good time reeling in some snappers, groupers, grunts, and others until he unfortunately got pretty seasick. He was a trooper though, and fought through it to kept us out on the water. We tried a few different spots, each time adding more keepers to the icebox to take home. At one spot I caught a nice sized Blue Runner, a fish I hadn't caught in a while but was happy to see. Eventually, when we had a good enough amount, we made our way back to Gordon Pass, where we would find calmer waters. We all appreciated Harrison's willingness to stay out there, but we had caught enough and there were more fish to try for closer inshore. Even Gordie said that if it were him, he'd probably offer to pay for the whole trip just to be able to come back to shore. Honestly, I would probably do the same. I don't know how he did it. Regardless, after the trip back to the pass, we stopped to drop a few more lines. There was another Lane Snapper or two that we caught, but generally we brought in a few other species. One of which was a Ladyfish - a long and slender fish that looks sort of like a small Tarpon. I had caught one years before at Ft. Desoto, also on the Gulf coast, but it came off the hook on the way up before I was able to bring it over the pilings and take photos. Finally I was able to take photos and admire the fish on deck. We also caught another catfish, although this one was a Gafftopsail Catfish, recognized for its namesake long dorsal fin. We'd officially caught both species of FL saltwater catfish on the trip! Towards the end I also used a jig, which Gordie had used to catch a few grunts and snappers. Of course, a small Sand Perch took it, and I reeled it in with a small fight. At least I caught a fish with the jig, and I must have done something right. I normally fish with bait so I was satisfied with that. In total I caught about 22 fish, and the others on the boat caught similar numbers. Gordie was a great guide and made the trip easy, fun, and successful. Jeremy, Marcus, Harrison and I bid farewell to Charles, as he went back to Captiva, and we took the filleted fish to Pinchers, a restaurant in Naples that cooked our fish for us. They made fish tacos with our snappers and grunts in three ways - fried, grilled, and blackened. All were equally amazing, and we finished all of it. We then made our long way back up to Gainesville very satisfied after a very fun, long awaited weekend of fishing. It was truly an unforgettable time.
