J Reports on 4/23/01:
On the weekend of April 20th, Mrs. J joined me for her first trip to Bokeelia in honor of my 40th birthday. Although it was not the testosterone-laden fishing frenzy that I have become accustomed to over the years, the trip was a terrific success. Despite cool temperatures, brisk winds and limp tides, we were able to find enough fish to make it fun. Furthermore, we achieved most of the the milestones of a classic Bokeelia adventure (see History of USBDT).
We arrived without mishap and were on the water just after 4 p.m. on Thursday. We filled the bait well without too much effort then set off for Doctor's Island where there was some activity, but no fish landed. Then we went back to the Honey Hole for the sunset session. Not much tide or activity. Liz got a catfish on bait.
Friday morning we started out at about 8 a.m. with the sun up, temp in the low 50s and a steady 10+ kt. wind out of the east. It's useless to get an early start when it is cold and windy. We fished Pedro's for trout and got two keepers and a few shorter ones on rigs on our first drift. We fished the back side of Cayo Costa and nearly got a redfish on a DOA shrimp. I saw another red or two along the mangrove shore flats. We headed over to the Fishing Shacks for the incoming tide and found three other boats working around the "A"-slot for trout. In the "B"-slot, we picked up a few short trouts on a rig.
For the next couple of days, the fishing went something like this: I would try to figure out what spots might be going off on a particular tide, including some new places. I would throw every promising lure in my arsenal. If there were no results, then I would throw bait. We went from spot-to-spot using this technique. I located (not caught) some reds and snook here and there, but none too big, nor in big numbers. I boated a nice Bokeelia 27-inch redfish on the flat east of Point Jesse. We saw several reds and snook on the flat west of Pedro's and landed a small red there.
A stiff east wind blew the entire time. (Little Star rode like a champ; a perfect boat for that place.) Each morning was cool. The best tides were the pre-dawn outgoing and the morning incoming. These were by no means monster tides and I think they were spoiled by the cool windy conditions. Needless to say, we didn't seriously entertain the possibility of catching tarpon.
Liz was good company. She made a brief pretense of fishing our first two times out, then setted in with a good book the rest of the trip. She never complained and was agreeable to whatever kind of fishing I wanted to do. We fished hard, but took some time to relax and look around. We visited Cabbage Key, Cayo Costa State Park, ran the Gulf beach, and we broke new ground by taking a driving tour of Bokeelia. We found the old 1979 Twin Palms fishing cabin. (I stayed there in 1979, but the cabin is way, way older than that. In fact, it is now some sort of historic landmark owned by the state of Florida. My theory is that it has been preserved as the birthplace of the USBDT.) And, we drove around the netter neigbborhoods (which have been discovered, by the way). We fried fresh trout and made margaritas. We took a nap on Saturday afternoon when there was no tide and a million boats out. I even got up on Saturday morning at 4 a.m. for a solo trip to Bone's Bend during the best tide of the day; I blame the lack of any hits on the cool weather. I earned the Butt-Head Award by not turning on my radio on Saturday when Cliff was in for tarpon fishing; he called to no avail. (I was sure he would cancel due to the lousy conditions for tarpon, but he came anyway.) The only milestone I failed to achieve was losing a big snook. By the end of the trip, Liz could differentiate by sound the smack/pop of a snook, splatter of a jack and the plop of a mullet. She is now a member of the team.
Despite her best efforts, Liz managed to land the only snook of the trip. Saturday evening after our nap, we ate an early dinner then set out for the Honey Hole with a thermos jug of margaritas. We had a good spot and the tide was moving as well as I had seen it all weekend. I threw lures then bait. I asked Liz to take the baited rod so I could reposition the anchor. She promptly caught an 19-inch snook. I decided not to reposition after all. Shortly after that, I caught a hard-fighting 6+ lb. jack and another smaller jack.
When the tide slacked, we moved for a better view of the sunset. I anchored by Bone's Bend. Two funky old wooden sportsfishermen, like something out of a Humphrey Bogart movie, putt-putted by. The back of one said "GRITS - Bokeelia". The people waveed as they went by. I then realized that these Bokeelians were carrying on a Saturday evening tradition. They were heading out, after all of the weekenders had called it a day, and were going to watch the sun go down. I said to Liz, "They look like they know what they are doing, lets follow them." So we ran out to the main channel outside Jug Creek, shut down, put away the fishing poles and popped a cold beer. The sun went down over Boca Grande pass, a couple of porpoises cruised by and it was magnificent.
That's all I have to say about that.