after making the long trip down on tuesday and stopping at the new BASS PRO in ft myers (aaawwwweeeesssoooommmeeeee and HUGE) we were on the water first thing wednesday morning. we were able to find bait (pilchars and threadfins) after quite a while of looking. went to some spots that have produced lots and lots of snook in the past and ended the day with just a few snook. stopped at one spot and found a school of reds. caught five with three keepers for dinner. they were all twins at 20 inches and really enjoyed the GULP. hahahha i have no idea why, but i did not take any pics of the reds.
thursday we were on bait right away and in for 15 or so quick snook.
stopped at the redfish hole and had three snook, a rat red and a carpet mat flounder. he was a good one measuring 19 inches.
friday out early and the tide was still falling good. decided to try some topwater. my dad kept questioning whether snook would hit topwater. i had to show him they would.
caught six and lost three in about 45 minutes. they were really hitting the plug i was throwing and they wouldn't touch any of the lures the other guys threw. bite slowed. out for some quick bait and off to a big fish hole. they were there.this one was 13.5 lbs
we then proceeded to lose or break off many more in the 10-15 lb range. we landed 6 or 7 more smaller fish. very rough out front, so we headed in using the backcountry. this never gets old.
saturday more topwater but the bite was not near as good til late. we just never could get cosistent on the snook except in two holes and the fish that were there were very big, so the hook to land ratio was very low. they were ripping thru 40lb leader like it was thread. we did manage another 10 lb snook (my camera somehow reverted back to a setting that made all my pics as big as possible, so my memory card filled up and dad had to use his camera), a 5 lb goliath grouper (jewfish) and broke off three other snook that would have been close to 20 lbs.
sunday decided to target big fish hole only. ran out of bait at the first one and we must have broken off or lost 20 fish. it was just a really odd bite. i have never lost or seen other people lose so many fish. we landed around 10 and had another one that was dead on 10 lbs. very rough again out front so we headed in the back for some action before calling it a trip. we caught three snook, a nice 23 inch red for dinner and two short trout....all on topwater. great fun.
headed back monday. all in all, it was another great trip. it is a great place, but a trip that is always the most technical trip as far as everything having to be just right that you can take in the fishing arena. the whole day revolves around being at each spot at the right time and at the right tide. i still never get tired of it and always look forward to heading to the everglades.
hopefully back down to the econ before long.
