Boca Grande / Charlotte Harbor Through 12/23/01

[flatsfinaddict]

Fishing Report for Charlotte Harbor / Boca Grande <br />Weekending 12-23-01<br /><br />This week’s cold, windy and rainy weather should have kept me off the water and in the comforts on my warm house, but duty called. I spent three days trying to get offshore at a shot at Kingfish, but quickly converted those days to inshore trips, and even then the inshore bite was sloooow.<br /><br />Earlier in the week, I found Redfish working the edges of the grass and bars on the afternoon low tide waiting to get onto flats. Most of the fish were in the 25 – 28” range and were traveling in pods of 15 – 20 fish. The clear water and windy conditions made approaching these fish difficult. Once in range, a small gold spoon, jerk bait, or live shrimp resulted in an immediate hook up. In addition, lots of Snook were found in most of the larger and deeper potholes adjacent to mangrove islands.<br /><br />Once the weekend cold snap blew in, the inshore bite slowed down tremendously. Saturday and Sunday’s trips ended in similar results. The Snook, while still somewhat feeding were few and far between, and the larger Reds located earlier in the week were scattered at best. Chris and Jamie Shern came down from North Carolina and the Florida East Coast to get in some Pre-Christmas fishing in. We were fortunate enough to load the bait well with 4 – 5” Spanish Sardines netted in 6’ – 8’ of water just off Cape Haze. Combined with six dozen select shrimp and we were on our way to putting some releases in the book. Although slow, we managed four barely legal size Snook and five Reds by mid afternoon. We focused on deeper holes well within the Gasparilla Preserve. Toward the end of the day, we located several small pods of Redfish around the Catfish Creek area, and ended the day with another released Redfish, a few Sheephead, Trout, Ladyfish and several missed casts to big tailing Reds.<br /><br />Next week’s extremely cold & windy conditions is going to shut the bit down hard. Get out later in the day as the sun (If there is any) warms up the water, scale down on your baits/lures and slow your retrieves to a dead crawl. Focus on the deepest holes you can find, as well as the canal systems within PGI and Burnt Store, as both will hold plenty of Trout, smaller Reds and lots of Snook. The fish are still here, is just a matter changing tactics, being patient and keeping warm. The bite will be slow. It will be a good week to perform some maintenance on your gear and boat. <br /><br />Tight Lines through the Holidays.<br /><br />Capt. Allan B. Beraquit<br />Coast II Coast Fishing Charters, Inc. www.fish-fla.com / 1-866-4-TARPON