Tom Wright and his sons, Whitney and Carson, from Huntsville, Alabama, fished a 1/2 day this morning. The wind was blowing harder than expected, so our planned permit excursion had to be curtailed. However, on our first stop, a bait was picked up immediately on the first drop. We were after some of the 20lb class snook that had been schooled up on this spot in the previous days. But instead of a snook, Whitney tangled with a very nice Goliath Grouper. This was by far the largest fish that Whitney has ever caught. Even though he is relatively inexperienced with big fish, he did a great job muscling this 70lb fish to the boat. Dad, all the while, was filming the wrestling match on video while being chased around the boat by the rest of us trying to stay out of Whitney's way. Snook fishing for the really big linesiders remained slow all morning. Both boys landed Jack Crevalle close to 12lbs and Whitney had a very nice trout.
Trout fishing has been a bit slow in the last week, as has the catching of reds and snook. This primarily because the weather in the last week has made things difficult. It has been raining for what seems like a week. I am not sure if the fish bite less aggressively in the deluge, but it sure seems to take the punch out the anglers. As I get older, fishing in wet socks seems a lot tougher now that it used too!!!! If you would like to book a trip with Chokoloskee Charters, please call The Captain @ (239) 695-9107 or www.ChokoloskeeCharters.com
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Tim McCorkle (Naples, Fl) fished a 1/2 day with his brother Don McCorkle who was in from Albuquerque, New Mexico. We talked several times the day before about rescheduling the trip due to the forecasted weather. However, this was the only day they had available, so we "mustard it up" and blasted off. BAD IDEA!!!!! We got soaked to the bone, pelted with rain and managed only one Goliath Grouper in the short morning. We call the day short before the giant rain drops gave way to giant sparks. We still had to "fly" home in IMC (Instrument Meteorological Conditions) with visibilities well less that 1/4 mile in someplaces. You have to give these guys credit though for toughing it out. Tim, do not give up on the Park and 10,000 Islands fishery, it is truly is a special place. Next time, however, lets wait for a little sunshine!!
If you would like to book a trip with Chokoloskee Charters, please call The Captain @ (239) 695-9107 or www.ChokoloskeeCharters.com posted by Charles Wright Wednesd The "Card Crew" (Auburndale, Florida) on the their annual men's fishing trip, had another successful adventure. Under a mandate from the women folk to bring "home the bacon", they put 2 cobia, 4 mackerel and 3 permit into the cooler. Steve and Bruce both caught goliath grouper, with Steve's by far being the largest. James won the Big Critter Award with his 20 minute wrestling match with a 150lb loggerhead turtle. He claims it was an accidental snag with his jig, but the rest of us are suspicious. If you saw the gleam in his eye every time a poor turtle surfaced, you would be suspicious too!! A few snapper and grouper finished off the creel. This year, however, no snook were photographed. All four big snook hooked were long distance released!! James don't forget to send me copies of the rest of your pictures. See you next year!! To book a charter with Chokoloskee Charter, contact The Captain @ 239-682-9920; www.ChokoloskeeCharters.com
Steve Nale of Great Dane (Ft. Lauderdale, Fl.) did another great job hosting their annual (informal) event. I had the pleasure of fishing with Andy Adams (Adams Tank and Lift - Pinellas Park, Fl.), Bill (Risser Petroleum - Clearwater, Fl) and Alex (Dresser). Bill took Big Fish honors with his 20lb permit. The team as a whole weighed in the most total weight for the day. All three anglers caught nice permit and more importantly had bragging rights for the day.
The next day, Andy fished with Lou (Chevron - Atlanta, Ga). Again Andy's team weighed in the most combined weight. Lou also capture the Big Fish award with a 20 lb permit. Do you notice the common denominator here? Andy was part of the winning team on both days!! If I were you guys, I would plan you strategy ahead for next year and fish with Andy!!!! Like last year, I had a great time this year. I hope to see you back, If you would like to book a trip with Chokoloskee Charters, please call The Captain @ (239) 695-9107 or www.ChokoloskeeCharters.com Don and Heidi Looney (Key Largo, Fl.) fished two 1/2 days. Heidi set the trip up as a surprise for Don. Don apparently has had several of his snook fishing friends take him snook fishing ... but just that snook fishing, not snook catching. Monday evening, though it took several stops, Don got his first snook ... a real nice 31 1/2" fish. Unfortunately, we were dodging Florida's famous liquid sunshine all evening and had to scoot and run every time we setup or we would probably have caught more!
However, the conditions were just about perfect for the big tarpon in the rivers. So, we positioned ourselves in our selected river and waited for the big shiners to show up. And show up they did ... finally. There were fish all over the place ... but, non-feeding fish!! We did not jump a single tarpon!!! We did have one pick up. We saw the fish's head wake come up the bait and counted down until it gobbled it. Don fought and landed a nice 80lb black-tip shark to finish the evening. The next morning, we had hoped to catch some permit, but the early morning breeze prevented the trip. However, I had been following a school of large snook for some time, but it had been taking big baits to get them to feed in the late morning. We shot off to several places to catch some "special big baits" (Don you now know what they are!!). Unfortunately, we did not raise any of the big snook. Don, did fight and land a nice Goliath Grouper and a shark close to 100lbs. More importantly, Heidi could not break her smile from all the sea turtles and manatees she was seeing. I had a great time fishing with you guys and hope to do it again... Don, we will get you your permit next time ... do not forget to call me before your Wilderness Waterway trip. If you would like to book a trip with Chokoloskee Charters, please call The Captain @ (239) 695-9107 or www.ChokoloskeeCharters.com Logan and Diane Templeton had permit as their targeted species for the day. The had caught lots of nice tarpon and snook on their previous ventures. so this trip they changed species. Conditions were not the best, however ... relatively high winds and cloud cover. We "sight-fish" for these critters so a good clear day with the sun high in the sky certainly makes things more favorable. With conditions that we were presented, we needed to know exactly where the fish would be so that we could predictably spot them. Seeing them from far away was not going to happen.
We set off for a spot about 25 miles out of Chokoloskee ... quite a run in the chop, but also a very predictable spot. When we arrived we were greeted with two large schools of jack crevalle up to 15 lbs. Drifting over the area, we spotted some nice permit. Logan made two excellent presentations, but the fish did not feed. We had just setup for another pass, when a sport fisher on the horizon turned directly toward us!!! By the time we could drift near the structure again, the 33' Tierra pulled right into our drift. With Logan standing on the bow of the boat, rod in hand and diesels gurgling, they began doing doughnuts over our fishing spot. Needless to say, every fish spooked, crashed deep and did not come back!!! One of the persons aboard, asked us over the roar of the engines if we "had caught any yet?"!!! After about 10 minutes of clueless circling, them steamed off to wreck someone else's fishing. A little respect, common sense and more importantly and a little common courtesy goes a long way. There is a lot of ocean and a lot of fish out there. We do not have to fish in each other's bait wells. The skipper of the Tierra should change a few letters in the name of his boat to the "Big Blooper". It would have more meaning!!! This ended the permit for this spot. However, Logan dug out the fly-rod to tag the big jacks. However, we could not get close enough in the wind to make a good presentation, so he had to settle for 8lb spinning gear. I think Diane enjoys watching the strike of fish as much as I do. She stuck to casting a top water plug without hooks!!! Watching the wolf pack attack the bait, knocking it repeatedly into the air is a blast isn't it Diane!! It was a tough day catching for Logan and Diane (but still a good day fishing!). Logan did not get his permit this trip, but he will next time!!. If you would like to book a trip with Chokoloskee Charters, please call The Captain @ (239) 695-9107 or www.ChokoloskeeCharters.com Chuck Wilkerson (Naples, Fl) took his son-in-law Andrew Peebles (London, England) on a 1/2 day fly-fishing trip. Unfortunately, the snook fishing was very slow in the morning, but Chuck did manage one small snook in Bob Cat Bay. Andrew handled the fly rod very well and managed to catch quite a few fish on the flats. We saw one large tarpon, but were not even close to getting a shot at it.
Andrew, with your skill in casting, you should easily get your fly in front of the lead fish in the permit schools. If you think that your shoulder would hold up (I am convinced it will!!), next time you are in town, we should take the whole day and fly fish the river mouths in the morning and chase the permit later in the day. They are something special on fly ... bring lots of backing!!!! If you would like to book a trip with Chokoloskee Charters, please call The Captain @ (239) 695-9107 or www.ChokoloskeeCharters.com I had the pleasure to fish with a good friend and fisherman, Jim Webster, in South Biscayne Bay today (my old stomping grounds). Some of you may know him as the infamous "Big Jim Slade". Jim called at the last minute Wednesday. I was not booked in the morning, so I met him at the ramp early for little bonefishing.
There was little wind, but the we had cloud cover and a bit of rain. It was not until the end of the tide that we could see well enough not to spook the fish. Jim managed a nice nine pound fish and I a mere six pound tike. We spooked another two dozen fish without getting a shot at them. The conditions were such that we were seeing them just a bit too late for them not to spook.. The highlight of the day had to be the tarpon. It was my turn for propulsion duty on the poling platform, so Jim was on the front of the boat with the fly rod. He had 7 or 8 nice shots at 75-80lb fish. The fish would not eat any of the three patterns he tossed. However, it was still beautiful to watch. A one point, he tossed the fly into about 20 fish in a daisy chain. One fish turned on the fly, I held my breath waiting for Jim to strip set, but nothing the fish did not eat. None of the ate ... not once. I only wish I had a video camera!!! Next time Jim. Call me again!! To book a charter with Chokoloskee Charters, call The Captain @ 239-682-9920 or www.ChokoloskeeCharters.com Mike Thompson, from Miami, fishing with his father Don, from Dallas, had two nice days of fishing. We fished one of the river mouths the first day and caught snook and trout. One of Don's released snook (caught on 8lb spinning gear) is shown in the picture. As we were going to target permit on their second day, we stopped by a permit hole on the way back to the dock. Mike land one nice fish along with a shark close to 100lbs.
The second day we decided to target large snook in the morning and get after the permit in the afternoon. Catching bait was surprisingly tough, however! We managed only one bait big enough to trigger the big sow snook to bite. I told Mike that the bite should happen fast and to be ready. He looked at me with a quite a bit of suspicion and doubt when I hooked up the 16" bait. The ended in about 45 seconds when a very big snook gobbled the bait. The snook spit the bait on a big jump, so we fired it back in. This time, a snook in the 20lb class came over the side!!! The permit fishing was hot as we were surrounded by schools of permit and large jacks for most of the day. Mike and Don caught 8 nice permit and numerous large jacks on 8 lb spinning gear. All in all a great day with some great guys ... hope to see you back. To book a charter with Chokoloskee Charters, contact Capt. Charles Wright @ 941-695-9107 or www.ChokoloskeeCharters.com Tight lines!!! posted by Charles Wright Friday, May 31, 2002 Wednesday, May 29, 2002 May 27, 2002; Travis and Larry Hubner (Long Island New York); Travis and Larry booked two days with the intentions of catching Snook and Permit. We left the dock about 7:00 am to fish the last of the falling tides in one of the remote rivers. We arrived at the right time, however, the initial bite was slow. Both Travis and Larry were excellent fisherman and stuck with it through the first hour of the incoming tide. Larry managed a few Redfish. Travis stuck to the Snook as his "targeted species" (8lb mono spinning gear; 1/4 red Rip Tide jig head; 3" 12-fathom swimming shad tail). Travis claims he "can't" catch Redfish, but I am not buying it!!! A few trout were mixed into the bag. About an hour into the rise, the bite began to pickup, but it was time for the permit "thang" so we blasted off to the Hot Spot. Both Travis and Larry caught some nice Permit on 8lb, though it looks like Larry takes the big permit honor. Larry sacrificed the top honors by donating a large permit to a fiesty bull shark!! As they will attest, permit this size on 8lb spinning gear is something special!!! The next day, contrary to the forecast, the wind blew about 20 knots!! We had to alter our plans, so we caught 7-8 "special" baits and move to a spot that I knew was holding BIG SNOOK. Both landed Snook close to 20lbs ... real nice fish. As you can see Travis takes the Big Fish Prize with his Goliath Grouper. The Permit and Snook Fishing is RED HOT with nice fish being caught everyday!!! Trout fishing is also a good bet. The tarpon action is getting more predictable, but it is still best to call ahead so we can plan your trip to target these big shiners. The cobia are thinning, but are still around ... posted by Charles Wright Wednesday, May 29, 2002 Saturday, May 25, 2002 Everglades National Park -- Offshore Wrecks -- “The Land of the Giants”!! (from Fishingworks.com May Newletter) The inshore waters of Everglades National Park and the Ten Thousand Islands make for an excellent fishing destination. The numerous islands, creeks, rivers and backwater bays protect you from the hassles of the wind; so, rarely does a trip have to be cancelled because of weather. The area is a virtual nursery of life so you can expect to tangle with snook, tarpon, redfish, groupers, snappers, sheephead, trout, jacks and ladyfish on just about every trip. The inshore waters truly make the area very special. HOWEVER, directly offshore, lurking in relatively shallow water is the “Land of the Giants”. These are the places that cramp your hands, shake your legs and get your back sore. The offshore and near structure off the Everglades National Park offer some the best stand-up light tackle fishing you will find. The fish are plentiful and from their size they must be on steroids!! You are likely to encounter some of the largest snook you will ever see anywhere. In the winter months, the groupers are large, but in the summer months they move off the structure as the goliaths move in. These fish are the size of Fiats. The wreck barracuda look like telephone poles and the permit like trash can lids. You can imagine the size of the sharks hanging to feed on these fish!! The locations of these fishing paradises are usually a closely guarded secret by the captains who fish them. Many charter outfit and captains, such as myself, have “private” reefs that regularly hold fish. However, even the marked structure, accessible to all, produce fished with fisheded correctly. You would be well advised to book a good captain on your first few trips. The techniques learned can be invaluable and can make your personal trips much more productive. Recently, I was fishing with David McDonald (Tampa, Florida) on a multi-day charter. The wind had been blowing from the east at 20 knots for the previous three days, but it was forecast to begin lying off that day. We left with a solid 15-knot breeze. Certainly not the best of conditions, but we blasted off anyway. We were on a mission. The first day we planned to fish a place I called Vickie’s Honey Hole (named for my wife). The water was rough so getting baits was tough going. We stopped at a small reef and jigged up about a dozen small blue runners to add to the 6 or so pinfish in the live well. Threadfins were not to be had that day. Anchoring in the chop at the Hole, we waited for things to settle down. Within ten minutes, the turtles came to the surface, which I also ways consider a good omen. David was rigged up with a “bath-tub” rig and “sent in” a small volunteer blue runner. The bait hit the water and made it about 30 feet behind the boat before it was gobbled. Fishing 20lb stand-up gear in rough seas is a challenge. Putting a 60lb cobia on the end of your string in these conditions makes for a handful. The same technique produced three more cobia, a king fish, two very large Spanish mackerel, one telephone pole barracuda and three “I have no clue what it was” fish. We saved three volunteers to venture to the bottom. All three were gobbled in what seemed like seconds producing one goliath grouper from the bottom that we estimated to be just over 100lbs. The others were unstoppable with the gear we were using. We left the Hole early, as the forecast of calm winds did not seem to be panning out. The winds did lie down significantly through the night, so the next morning we altered our plans to make a mid-morning launch. We had sight fishing on our minds and around 10:30 the winds finally laid down! We bee-lined to a spot about 25 miles out of Chokoloskee. Approximately three miles before our destination, we saw swimmer crabs on the surface. I told David that this place would be “going off”, so, we picked up a dozen crabs and about three-dozen threadfins. We pulled near the site and I got on my perch to see what was happening. There they were. The turtles … four large, barnacle encrusted loggerheads! Getting closer we could see bait fish balled up on the surface. Giant tarpon were rolling through the bait balls. An acre of permit was on the surface waiting for us. On the outside of all this was a large school of 20-25 jacks marauding around like a wolf pack. We looked at each other, checked our tackle and went in. The details of “how” are for another time. We both caught 20 lb class permit until we were tired. In addition, David jumped four tarpon and had two kingfish. The jacks and barracuda surprising left us pretty much alone. Just as before we left and with David’s blessing, I laid a Toxic Shark crab fly (John Driscoll) in front a big trash can lid. Before I new it, the permit had me 175 yards into the backing of my nine-weight fly rod. I would gain a little and off he would go again. While I was fighting this fish, one of the bait balls,l about 30 feet in diameter moved directly under the boat. Twice the tarpon slashed the school busting the surface splashing water on to my glasses!! It was exciting! It was getting late, so I was really putting it to the fish. The hook pulled and we never got to weigh the fish, but we estimated it to be well into the 30lb range. We left before we hooked into something that would keep us there all night!!!!! Fishing in the inshore waters has been good. Good catches of snook, redfish and trout have been reported. Tarpon have been a bit thin, but the action appears to be picking up consistency. Most of my charters this month have been offshore. The permit action has been extreme with lots of cobia and a few stray kingfish mixed in. Bottom fishing for snapper has also been consistent. The fishing is only going to get better as the summer progress. To book a trip with The Captain call www.ChokoloskeeCharters.com at (239)-695-9107 or email him at chokoloskeecharters@gmail.com. posted by Charles Wright Saturday, May 25, 2002 Call us to Plan Your Next Adventure! For more information or to book a charter with The Captain: CHOKOLOSKEE CHARTERS "Not Just Another Boat Ride" P.O. Box 824 Chokoloskee Island, Florida 34138 Contact the Captain at 239-206-1194 In the last several weeks the weather has been dominated by high pressure off the northern Florida coast. This has resulted in a steady eastern breeze. Our permit and cobia trips have been limited due to the weather, as we have had to “pick our days”. However, the inshore fishing has been steadily getting better.
Steve Nale, V.P. of Great Dane Petroleum Contractors (Ft. Lauderdale, FL), entertained a few of his clients with a two-day trip. Focusing on permit, all caught and released big fish even though conditions were not the best. This was the first big permit for each angler. I am always tickled by the respect an angler immediately gets for this fish soon after the fight is over. Jack Lee and his wife Tammi had fished with me about three weeks before on a permit trip. Both caught permit till they had to take a break. Jack returned with his brother, Billy to tackle the permit again on a half-day trip. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and we had to return early due to the seas. However, Billy did get to land a nice fish about 14 lbs. Several other permit did not make it over the side as the hook pulled. A couple of sharks and two cobia rounded out the offshore catch. On the way back to Chokoloskee, we stopped at “Vickie’s Honey Hole”. As was expected, a nice snook in the 15 lb range attacked the bait. Regrettably, this fish want to stay in the water more than Jack wanted him out it. However, we did manage to land snook for Jack’s table on the next stop. I am beginning to think Jack is developing a problem … he is turning into a “permit-holic” like me!!! We did manage sneak out to the “Watermelon Patch” for a bit of permit fishing. On the way, we jigged up a few dozen threadfins. I had been catching cobia most every trip but not in good numbers. As soon as we got to the Patch, the permit came to greet. I tossed a crab directly to the lead fish that immediately turned on the bait. Somehow he missed on the first try. He turned back to the bait but instead of eating he spooked. A small cobia about 20 lbs gobbled the crab in his place. That ended the permit fishing. Both anglers were bowed up constantly from that point forward either on “brown marlin” (cobia) or big jewfish. The permit were there, we just did not have time to deal with them. John Driscoll and his wife Stephanie had a tough time getting snook to fit in the slot size. However, for his birthday he did land a nice snook in the 22-23 lb range. Although this fish was not caught on fly, as he would have liked, he did get a couple of shots at snook with his own hand-tied flies with his 8 weight fly rod. Stephanie brought a 28-inch specimen home to her fish-loving daughter, Kara. My wife Vickie, the head chef and first mate on Chokoloskee Charters Sunset Champagne Cruises wanted snook for dinner last Sunday … her own snook!!! In less than 30 minutes she had three snook, two trout, one redfish and four large jacks over the side. We were fishing in sight of other anglers, so every time she hooked up there was a lot of noise and flailing arms on the other boat. They seemed to be frustrated. Rather than continuing to disturb these fellows, we went to a nearby beach and shared a bottle of champagne and watched the sunset. The fishing is only getting better at the weather improves. It is going to be a wonderful fishing spring and summer. Call us to Plan Your Next Adventure! For more information or to book a charter with The Captain: CHOKOLOSKEE CHARTERS "Not Just Another Boat Ride" P.O. Box 824 Chokoloskee Island, Florida 34138 Contact the Captain at 239-206-1194 |
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