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broad, if somewhat shallow, base of information ranging from
a discussion of the harbor environment, through a quick
survey of the fish therein, on to the tackle, i.e., rods and
reels, suited to catching those fish, and the associated
lines and leaders available to you when you decide to go
after our resident species. Now that April is upon us and
fishing is headed toward prime time, we will take a shot at
sorting out a few of the prime baits, from the thousands
available to us, that may tempt our resident fish to strike.
Whatcha’
Catch’in?
I have lived
here and fished the waters of Charlotte Harbor long enough
to have actually developed the belief that I can go fishing
for specific kinds of fish. The fact is that there are a
great variety of fish here. It is also a fact that you will
very likely catch several different species on any given
outing. But, there are a few keys that may enable you to be
selective as to what you may catch. Primary among these are
the techniques you employ, the locations you fish, and the
baits you use.
Fishing in Style (Technique)
Like many
deepwater anglers from the Great Lakes and the off shore
fishing grounds of the Northeast, I came to Charlotte Harbor
with a set of techniques keyed to bottom fishing. Bottom
bumping with live bait or cut bait can be a productive
technique for catching catfish, rays, sharks, flounders,
and, from time to time, some real surprises like a large
cobia or tarpon.
I have since
learned that many of the fish that I would prefer to catch,
like seatrout, redfish, snook, Spanish mackerel, and
pompano, for example, are in shallower waters or are often
higher in the water column. These species respond best to
bait presented and fished using techniques and equipment
like fly rods, spinning gear, and bait-casting rigs like
those used by the stream and lake fisherman who stalks large
mouth or small mouth bass and trout.
Where to Look (Location)
While it is
possible to catch fish by soaking a bait on the bottom of
the harbor, I soon learned that most of the best fishing is
in the relatively shallow waters around sand bars, in tidal
channels, and up near and under the mangrove trees that
border the harbor. Other productive areas include
relatively shallow “flats” with ‘checker board’ bottoms
comprised of grassy areas and adjacent sand patches, like
those found along both the east and west shores of the bay,
in the backwaters of Turtle Bay and Bull Bay on the
northwest side of the harbor and the areas off the north end
of Pine Island and on westward and southward into Pine
Island Sound.
Areas with
grass and sand bottom tend to provide sanctuaries for bait
fish and, consequently, serve as feeding grounds for sea
trout and redfish, among others. Other productive locations
consist of tidal channels up near mangrove islands and
shores, especially on incoming tides and high water times.
Many fish, like snook and redfish, forage among the mangrove
roots for small crabs and baitfish. Snook, in particular,
like to hide in ambush at the mouths of outflows to
intercept bait being washed out of sheltered areas by the
falling tide.
Charlotte
Harbor is blessed with extended areas of unspoiled mangrove
forest surrounding the bay and literally tens of hundreds of
mangrove islands, sand bars, oyster bars, and tidal channels
that attract and hold many of the species of fish you will
likely want to catch.
What to
Feed’em (Bait)
Of all the subjects discussed and
argued by anglers, baits are at the top of the list. Few
subjects have stronger advocates and equally strong
dissenters than do the selection and use of baits, both live
and artificial.
The differences of opinion as to
whether fly casting, bait casting or spinning gear is best
or whether monofilament lines and leaders are inferior to
braided lines and fluorocarbon leaders pale by comparison,
or have long since been settled in the minds of most
anglers, when compared to the those associated with baits
and lures. The questions and the opportunities to spend a
small fortune trying to find the “right” answers are near
infinite in number. Color, style, hook size, and many
other variations on the theme only add more permutations and
combinations that confuse, rather than clarify, the issues.
Here is what I have adopted as my set
of rules for maintaining my sanity on the matter of baits
and lures.
Rule Number 1: Fish eat what is
available in nature to be eaten. If your sole objective is
to catch fish, feed them what they would likely find to eat
in the bay. What nature offers varies through the year.
Few errors are made using live shrimp. When any of the many
types of baitfish, known generically as ‘whitebait’ are
plentiful, these too are solid producers. In hard times,
cut bait such as a ladyfish chunk, can be an excellent
redfish producer.
Rule Number 2: If you are like me
and enjoy ‘tricking’ fish with artificial lures, buy a
limited set of lures that allow you to cover the water
column.
At the Top: Select a
couple of kinds of top water baits that create a disturbance
at the surface when moved. The easiest of these to use is a
floating lure with a propeller at one or both ends that
creates a bubble trail when being reeled in. The next in
ease of use is a popper that has a cupped end that makes a
splash when given a short, sharp twitch. A more difficult
lure to master is the stick bait which, as the name implies,
is basically a lure that is activated by short twitches.
The lure will swing from side to side as it is retrieved in
a maneuver called ‘walking the dog’. All of surface lures
come in a variety of shapes and colors and many have
internal rattles to increase the disturbance at the
surface. Fishing surface lures can be work, but an
explosive strike by a large fish at the surface is about the
most exciting event you will likely experience in fishing.
Try it; you’ll like it.
In the Mid-Column:
There are thousands of lures that are designed to work below
the surface. Many have bills of various lengths and widths
that protrude from beneath the front of the lure, just
behind the eyelet used to tie the bait to your leader. Most
of these initially float at the surface when cast, then dive
down and wobble side to side when you start retrieving your
line; the longer the bill and the faster the retrieve, the
deeper the dive. Select a couple of diving plugs with
different bill lengths. Pick colors and patterns that
emulate local baitfish like pinfish, finger mullet, and
whitebait. The size (length and bulk) of the lures you
select should reflect the size of the fish you may expect to
pursue. You may want to choose a couple of highly
reflective lures that flash as they are retrieved. Also,
consider including a couple of suspending lures. These,
unlike most of the lures in this class that begin to rise
toward the surface when you halt your retrieve, tend to
remain suspended at the depth they had reached during the
retrieve. Many strikes on diving lures occur when the lure
begins to move after having been halted for a brief period.
Some lures of this type that have been successful over many
years are Rappala’s, Yozuri’s, and Mirror-Lures.
At and Near the Bottom: Among
the most well known and most versatile of all artificial
baits are those that are designed to be worked along or near
the bottom. Among these baits are metal spoons and lead
headed jigs. Spoons emulate fleeing baitfish as the wobble,
dart and flash as they are retrieved. Jigs, as the name
implies, are fished by twitching and bouncing them on or
near the bottom. When fished slowly, jigs bounce on the
bottom and stir up sand puffs upon impact, as would a small
crustacean. Fish often stop and watch the jig and attach
it when it begins to move once again. The speeds at which
jigs and spoons are retrieved often determine the depth they
attain. You can swim them over a weed-covered bottom with a
fast, steady retrieve. Fish will often strike a jig that
has stopped moving forward and is falling, like a wounded
baitfish, toward the bottom. The versatility of jigs is
enhanced by the ability to hook a very wide variety of
different color, size and weight plastic bodies or bait,
like shrimp, to the hook extending out behind the jig head.
Summing It Up
You can be a
successful angler with a limited number of baits. Select a
variety that lets you fish the water column from the surface
to the bottom. Buy a good quality light to medium light
action rod and a comparable quality reel. Load it with 10
to 20 pound test braided line and tip it with 20 to 30 pound
test fluorocarbon leader. Consider the area that you intend
to fish, keeping in mind that fish seek shelter and food
from the areas they occupy. Enter the area you plan to fish
with stealth since sound travels far better in water that it
does in the air. Vary the speed of your retrieves, with the
idea that slower is often better. Move your lures with rod
action. Use your reel to pick up slack. Of course, some
lures like spoons are intended to be reeled in, but try
brief stop and go periods to let the lure fall and rise
again. Above all else, keep your bait in the water. Too
often, novice anglers spend more time switching baits than
fishing those baits.
As always,
if you have questions about baits and lures, visit one of
our local bait and tackle shops. Ask questions, they will be
glad to help. We also invite you to join us, the members of
the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) at our next
monthly general membership meeting. The CCA FL Charlotte
Chapter membership meetings are on the fourth Tuesday of
each month at 7:00 PM at the Port Charlotte Cultural Center
on Aaron Street in Port Charlotte. Meetings are open to the
public. The next meeting will be on April 26, 2005. Our
guest speakers are professional fishing guides and tackle
experts who will explain and show you methods and techniques
to improve your fishing. We also encourage you to join the
CCA to help protect our marine resources. You can sign up
at our next meeting, or pick up a membership form at any of
several Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda bait and tackle
shops, or by calling CCA Florida at (407) 854-7002 or by
e-mail at
www.ccaflorida.org.
For
additional information on Florida fish and wildlife,
check
www.marinefisheries.org, the website of the
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
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some
thoughts on fishing in the local area. Granted,
none of the articles have been detailed studies of
any of the presented topics. They were never
intended to be treatises, but rather, information
for those new to Charlotte Harbor and Southwest
Florida fishing. Nonetheless, we have tried to
provide a
