Fishing Report 8/31/2014 Part 3

We tried one last spot - the bridge at Blind Pass on the far side of Sanibel. Paul hooked into something that pulled hard on the drag - he got this Smooth Butterfly Ray. People on the otherside of the bridge were catching - good spot, but not worth getting shoulder to shoulder for. We did not get into the Darling Refuge area - that's for next time. Aloha Sanibel!!!

The Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum

We took a break from beaching and stopped in at the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum. This was a high quality museum that had some great exhibits. It was on the small side, but we really enjoyed going through it. I especially liked the wave/current pattern charts they had and the diagrams of the internal works of many of the mollusks. They had a number of items dedicated to the Calusa Tribe - which sparked the question in my mind "I wonder how they dealt with the mosquitoes and no-see-ems?" I would dig a life of eating seafood and hanging out at the beach, but I can't stand getting bit by no-see-ems...

Fishing Report 8/31/2014 Part 2

We left the Causeway Island Park and make our way to the Lighthouse Beach Park. Lots of shell collecting and playing in the water, even though there were washed up jellies on the shore (Moon Jellies - their nematocysts can't penetrate human skin so no "stinging" problems). Paul and I fished and fished and fished and we didn't catch anything. Except more bait - Paul was throwing the cast net some more. I went out first with surf casting rod. I didn't get a single hit. I did get hung up on some submerged junk and I let the kids pretend thay had a big one on the line. Then Paul and I both saw a bunch of baitfish - and the big Snook tailing the school... Time for the flyrod... Orvis Helios 8wt, Orvis - with a Ziegler "style" Schminnow fly. I chased the Snook in vain - and it actually saw me and it would swim just out of view. But I did cast some mighty fine loops in to the wind - double hauling and good timing gained through practice paid off (I remember before I knew that technique - bird's nest). I saw another Snook and we played the same game of hide and go seek - which mostly involved me sprinting just out of spooking distance to get ahead of the fish, setting up the cast and getting laughed at again - good thing I am still in shape and I am humble. We also found a bunch of cool shells and had a great time. One last thing - we put the whelk back in the water - you're not allowed to collect shells with live animals in them. Nice specimen though and it gave the kids some hands on with a larger gastropod.

Fishing Report 8/31/2014 Part 1

Today we made the drive further south down to Sanibel Island. We actually fished three different spots and even checked out the Shell Museum - I'll post separately on these events. First stop was one of the Causeway Island Parks. My girl Noe can throw a mean cast net!!!! Check out this form and the full opening!!! She ended up catching some Killifish. Not bad for an 8-year old girl (bet your 10-year olds can't throw a net like she does!!!). And We caught a small Blue Crab, some Mojarra, Finger Mullet and a few Menhaden. I had the fly rod out and managed to get a few follows from some needlefish, but no other action in that department. It felt good casting a floating WF line again - WAY easier than casting an intermediate line.