Playing blog catchup - September and October 2009

I know, I know...

I've been really bad about keeping the fishing blog updated since returning home from the band's tour in late August. While I was gone, the central airconditioner went out and we had to replace that. We also had to replace the well pump and well head. We had several palm trees removed and stumps ground, and the starter in the kayakmobile went out so I had to have that towed to the shop for a new starter. September was a slow month for the Yard Dogs - we only had 9 shows all month - so I had massive cash outflow with very little income. I also spent a lot of time getting the yard in shape. We had a lawn service keep it mowed while I was gone on tour, but I spent a good month weeding, thinning bananas, repotting pineapple plants, planting six new mango trees and four new carambola trees, and hauling and spreading over 100 bags of mulch over the planted areas. I was busy. And broke. So most of my September fishing consisted of playing with some big sunfish with a cane pole, #10 aberdeen hooks, and doughballs from bread slices out on my dock out back on the freshwater canal. I think I got a mayan cichlid or two also, and a few large golden shiners. Here's a slideshow with representative pics...



I did a bit of wade fishing and pier fishing too. My friend, Terry Brousseau, had been hammering the snook off the Fort Myers Beach pier while bait fishing with live ladyfish, so I spend several mornings out on the pier before daybreak jigging up ladyfish to use as live bait. I did have one snook (roughly the size of my leg!) take the bait, but though he ran and jumped, he never had the hook in him. I did see a number of keeper-sized and larger snook taken off that pier though!

Many mornings I fished for snook until about 9:00am, then switched to Gotcha lures to catch spanish mackerel off the pier. Ladyfish and Blue Runners also provided a lot of pier fishing action.

I also fished my spot at the B-span of the Sanibel causeway and took a few spanish macs there too. Wade fishing at Blind Pass and on the Sanibel Beaches produced a few jacks and ladyfish as well. I managed one kayak trip in mid-October and fished the B-span flat for spanish macs and bluefish. I also hooked two sharks there as well fishing with small cut jacks. One shark bit me off, and the other I fought a good while before he frayed my line with his tail and broke me off. Here's a few pics of the Blind Pass area on Sanibel/Captiva and some of the other forays I made during October...



One day in mid/late October, while fishing on the Ft Myers Beach Pier, I set out a chunk of cut ladyfish on my old, stubby pier pole. I was rigged with a 6/0 circle hook and a one ounce rubber-cored sinker on four feet of 50 pound mono leader tied to 50 pound braided line. I thought I might have a little fun with a small blacktip or bonnethead shark (something to excite the tourists and pier sightseers donchaknow!) I left the old star-drag baitcasting reel set with a loose drag with the clicker on, stuck the pole in the rod holder hole on the top-rail of the pier, and was in the process of retrieving a cast of a Gotcha lure on my light spinning rod when the old baitcaster drag started screaming! I had to crank down the star drag pretty tight to work the fish to the surface, but imagine my surprise when, instead of a shark, a HUGE redfish came up wallowing on the surface! I had to walk him down the length of the pier, then hop the rail of the pier onto the beach to land him! By this time, I had quite a crowd! The redfish had the circle hook deep in his mouth so I cut the leader rather than try to dig out the hook and injure the fish. I waded out to revive him and it took nearly 30 minutes of swishing him around in the water before he revived enough to swim away. The fish was a good five inches longer than my 36" law stick when I measured him while reviving him. I figure with tail pinched, he would have gone 42 inches overall length. He was at least 15 inches over the maximum allowable length to keep. As you can see in this pic, I was a happy camper having caught him!





I knew there was no way I was going to top THAT fish that day, so after catching just one ladyfish and the one big redfish, I adjourned to Boniita Bill's where I could celebrate with a beer and exercize bragging rights!

Life is good!