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John N. Felsher's Other Salty Adventures
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Tackle-busting
snook offer
great challenge
to savvy anglers
snook offer
great challenge
to savvy anglers
Rebecca Allen shows off a large
snook she landed on a Chug
Bug topwater bait while fishing
in Charlotte Harbor, on the west
coast of Florida.
snook she landed on a Chug
Bug topwater bait while fishing
in Charlotte Harbor, on the west
coast of Florida.
Mangled mangrove trees piled in heaps, remnants of Hurricane
Charlie, marked what passed for a shoreline, but gleaming water beneath
the boat allowed us to see an incredible variety of marine life.
“Charlotte Harbor took a direct hit from Hurricane Charlie,” said Capt.
Ralph Allen of the King Fisher Fleet of charter boats in Punta Gorda, Fla.
“It came through on Aug. 13, 2004, Friday the Thirteenth. A couple months
after the storm, we saw a huge bloom of shrimp and crabs in the harbor.
From a biological standpoint, it might have been a good thing.”
The second largest estuary in Florida, Charlotte Harbor covers about
200 square miles along the southwest coast of the state north of Fort
Myers. Connected to the Gulf of Mexico through several passes, the
estuary drops to 25 feet deep in places, but about 30 percent of it remains
waist deep or shallower.
We motored to a cut between two islands. Mangrove trees with
intertwining root systems sprouted from the sandy island. Beneath a root
cluster on one point, several snook chased baitfish.
“Like bass, snook hang out in a lot of different areas,” Ralph said.
“They like points and mangroves, piers, jetties and other structure.
Sometimes in the summer, they get on sandy beaches with no cover in
sight. I’m going to see if I can call up a few big ones. Live chum gets fish
feeding when they are not aggressive. It also locates fish in the shallows.
When I throw out the chum, they pop or boil on the surface so we can find
them.”
The captain stuffed live sardines into a sawed-off hollow plastic bat and
swung them into the water near the beach. Almost immediately, several fish
inhaled the offering. We then tossed our lines baited with sardines near
where we saw fish. We used no weights and let the sardines swim near the
surface.
“We free-line sardines on fairly light spinning tackle so the rig casts
more easily,” Ralph said. “I attach about 20 to 24 inches of 30-pound
fluorocarbon leader to the line and run a small hook through the nostrils to
keep baitfish alive. I personally believe that people who fish live bait
generally catch more fish, but some artificial enthusiasts do quite well with
topwaters or soft plastic jerkbaits. Mr. Twister Exude and Berkley Gulps are
some favorite snook lures here.”
Soon, snook and small speckled trout smashed our baits. When action
slacked off, Captain Ralph chummed up a few snook with his bait bat. With
so many fish irresistibly striking on the surface, I couldn’t resist throwing a
mullet-colored Storm Chug Bug topwater bait. With the heavier bait, I could
cast farther than anyone throwing live bait on unweighted rigs. Tossing the
Chug Bug near where snook crashed into live chum hitting the water, I
popped it a couple times before it disappeared in an explosion of froth and
fury.
We caught about 30 to 40 snook, a few trout, redfish and other
species. Most weighed between 2 and 5 pounds, but the state record, a 44-
pound, 3-ounce snook, came from the Fort Myers area about 30 miles
south of Punta Gorda. The world record weighed 57 pounds, 12 ounces, a
fish caught in Costa Rica in 1991.
“Charlotte Harbor is one of the best snook areas in the nation,” Ralph
said. “They are sporty to catch. A 10-pound snook is a big fish. We catch
some 15s and occasionally a 20-pounder. A 26-inch keeper is probably
around 6 pounds. The biggest ever put on my boat was a 41-inch fish that
weighed more than 20 pounds. We released it. There is a large catch and
release ethic on snook around here.”
For booking trips, call Ralph at (941) 639-0969 or see www.
kingfisherfleet.com. For information on the area, call the Charlotte County
Visitors Bureau, at (941) 743-1900 or see www.pureflorida.com.
Charlie, marked what passed for a shoreline, but gleaming water beneath
the boat allowed us to see an incredible variety of marine life.
“Charlotte Harbor took a direct hit from Hurricane Charlie,” said Capt.
Ralph Allen of the King Fisher Fleet of charter boats in Punta Gorda, Fla.
“It came through on Aug. 13, 2004, Friday the Thirteenth. A couple months
after the storm, we saw a huge bloom of shrimp and crabs in the harbor.
From a biological standpoint, it might have been a good thing.”
The second largest estuary in Florida, Charlotte Harbor covers about
200 square miles along the southwest coast of the state north of Fort
Myers. Connected to the Gulf of Mexico through several passes, the
estuary drops to 25 feet deep in places, but about 30 percent of it remains
waist deep or shallower.
We motored to a cut between two islands. Mangrove trees with
intertwining root systems sprouted from the sandy island. Beneath a root
cluster on one point, several snook chased baitfish.
“Like bass, snook hang out in a lot of different areas,” Ralph said.
“They like points and mangroves, piers, jetties and other structure.
Sometimes in the summer, they get on sandy beaches with no cover in
sight. I’m going to see if I can call up a few big ones. Live chum gets fish
feeding when they are not aggressive. It also locates fish in the shallows.
When I throw out the chum, they pop or boil on the surface so we can find
them.”
The captain stuffed live sardines into a sawed-off hollow plastic bat and
swung them into the water near the beach. Almost immediately, several fish
inhaled the offering. We then tossed our lines baited with sardines near
where we saw fish. We used no weights and let the sardines swim near the
surface.
“We free-line sardines on fairly light spinning tackle so the rig casts
more easily,” Ralph said. “I attach about 20 to 24 inches of 30-pound
fluorocarbon leader to the line and run a small hook through the nostrils to
keep baitfish alive. I personally believe that people who fish live bait
generally catch more fish, but some artificial enthusiasts do quite well with
topwaters or soft plastic jerkbaits. Mr. Twister Exude and Berkley Gulps are
some favorite snook lures here.”
Soon, snook and small speckled trout smashed our baits. When action
slacked off, Captain Ralph chummed up a few snook with his bait bat. With
so many fish irresistibly striking on the surface, I couldn’t resist throwing a
mullet-colored Storm Chug Bug topwater bait. With the heavier bait, I could
cast farther than anyone throwing live bait on unweighted rigs. Tossing the
Chug Bug near where snook crashed into live chum hitting the water, I
popped it a couple times before it disappeared in an explosion of froth and
fury.
We caught about 30 to 40 snook, a few trout, redfish and other
species. Most weighed between 2 and 5 pounds, but the state record, a 44-
pound, 3-ounce snook, came from the Fort Myers area about 30 miles
south of Punta Gorda. The world record weighed 57 pounds, 12 ounces, a
fish caught in Costa Rica in 1991.
“Charlotte Harbor is one of the best snook areas in the nation,” Ralph
said. “They are sporty to catch. A 10-pound snook is a big fish. We catch
some 15s and occasionally a 20-pounder. A 26-inch keeper is probably
around 6 pounds. The biggest ever put on my boat was a 41-inch fish that
weighed more than 20 pounds. We released it. There is a large catch and
release ethic on snook around here.”
For booking trips, call Ralph at (941) 639-0969 or see www.
kingfisherfleet.com. For information on the area, call the Charlotte County
Visitors Bureau, at (941) 743-1900 or see www.pureflorida.com.
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