Chew On This Fishing Charters

"A Little Bit of Everything"

Here is my last report before the new Shearwater arrives. I hope you can forgive me for taking awhile to put out a new report. The week before last I was able to drive the 400 mile round trip to the American Marine Sports plant in Groveland, Florida. They are very nice people up there and the plant is a work of art. Nils Ackerbloom the vice president of the company was able to show me the step by step process it takes to build a Shearwater from scratch. Boat building is one heck of a task but they seem to have it down to a science. I was able to see their Gambler line, Sterling, Shearwater, and Florida Skiff line all go through their various stages of being built. They really did a good job of thinking out the layout of the whole boat. I really liked what they did under the fishing platforms. I can literally put half of my body into the bilge area to operate on any pump or wire that I may have to check. I can't tell you how important that feature is. Be on the lookout for the next report, I should have some excellent photos of the new Shearwater.
Well let's get to some fishing. Ed and his dad Ed Sr. came down from Maryland for some inshore "Slam Fishing." Ed Sr. has a nice duplex looking over the Burnt Store arena. He is building a home in Pirate Harbor not far down the road from Burnt Store. We began the morning going after the Silver King. I only had 7 baits left over from the day before but I thought it would be enough to see if they would eat. We anchored and I tail hooked 3 baits and tossed them towards the rolling Tarpon. Two Threadfin had already began to go belly up so I tossed them in the water. We were now down to only 5. Not two minutes later a Tarpon flashes up chasing a Threadfin about 3 feet from the boat but misses it. We fished for 15 minutes before the calm broke. Ed Sr. was hooked up, a nice Silver King flew head shaking out of the water. When the fish landed Ed Sr. thought he had lost the fish because his line went slack. I said "are your sure" and told him to reel. Lucky for him the Tarpon was still on. The Tarpon then began to make several consecutive jumps in a row and then B-Lined it for a dock across the way. I saw the Tarpon had decided to reverse his field and swim back through the pilings. I sprung into action and grabbed the rod from Ed Sr. and flipped the bail over. I then handed the rod back over and pulled the anchor to give chase to the Tarpon. When we arrived at the dock I grabbed the rod bad from ED Sr. and unwrapped the line by sticking the rod back through the pilings. I handed the rod back to Ed Sr. and the battle was on again. I thought it would be over quickly but instead this Tarpon would not give up. He put the pressure on ED Sr. over and over again. Ed Sr. said he felt his feet coming up off the ground on several occasions. Nearly 45 minutes later and 10 jumps from the first strike ED Sr. was finally able to get this great picture of his first Silver King.

Next we went to the bait spot. It only took a couple of throws to flood the well with nice Threadfin. We then slipped over to a great little spot that holds big Snook and angry mean Canal Tuna. Ed and Ed Sr. just did not know what they were getting themselves into. I tossed a chummer into the water and almost as soon as it hit it was eaten. They exploded on every bait we threw in there for the next hour and a half solid. They both lost more fish than I dare to count. When the bait made it passed the big Canal Tuna they were engulfed by a hungry Snook. By the time lunch time rolled around they were more than ready to head to the Waterfront Restaurant to recuperate and talk about the beatings they just endured. We finished our trip off with a nice Red from the Sound. The bite was not as good as I had hoped and I think it had a lot to do with the full moon.

The next trip was with 3 New York brothers. One was a New York Lawyer, the other was a retired New York Police Officer that has since relocated to Bonita Springs, and the other is a Biologist. We started off Tarpon fishing without much going on. The Tarpon were everywhere but just didn't want to eat. When then turned our attention to Ladyfish for Jewfish bait. Believe it or not that wasn't easy either. They missed several shots at getting some Lady's to the boat but the actions was not steady by any means and we had to make several moves before we found fish. Finally we managed to boat one Ladyfish and off we went for some Jewfish pounding. We arrived at the spot and I dropped the bait down and before I could get the rod to the former police officer his bait was eaten. He had no clue had strong and hard it was to actually land a Jewfish. They are so strong they have the tendency to make a man quit before the battle is over. When he finally landed the fish and had this great picture taken with his prize, he went back and took a seat for awhile.

Eventually I was able to get some time to get out on my own. I always like to go out with my good friend Nelson. He and I usually do well when we get out on the water. We started out with the idea of catching Ladyfish so we could go tackle some big Snook and Jewfish. For whatever reason though, it just was not in the cards. We put in a good hour and a half and only put a couple of Lady's in the boat. Oh Well! Threadfins would have to do. We loaded up on Threads at the Causeway and Nelson decided to fish Threads while I used Ladyfish. Can you believe the Threads dominated the Ladyfish in bait of choice when it came to the big fish on this day. Nelson got hit after hit while I just sat there and watched with my Ladyfish sitting on the bottom. I landed one Jewfish about 10 pounds and Nelson was busted off on several occasions before the managed to boat this hefty 28 pound Jewfish. Nelson had the rod that day because on more than one occasion he had fish completely turning the boat around pulling him all over.

Capt. Butch Botelor gave me a call and asked it I wanted to get after the big Snook the next day on the strong outgoing. Fortunately that day was an off day so I said sure. We decided to fish just Threads. The bite wasn't exactly what I expected for some reason. We fished hard for 5 hours and only managed three heavy fish on. I was blasted on one occasion and the big Snook was able to bust me off on the 50 pound braid when I palmed the spool. He probably went 15 pounds plus. Captain Butch hooked into another of the same size and his line broke as well. I did manage to boat this nice 13 pounder.

Next, I had the pleasure of taking my first Deaf customer out Matt from New York who has a home in Naples. My step brother Mickey is deaf, so I had a little experience with working with the hard of hearing. I always enjoyed hanging out and fishing with my brother so I thought this would be much the same. Matt has taken several trips down here from the Keys to the Tampa Bay area but he had never taken a trip like mine before. He said he was used to setting the hook and reeling in fish. Well, that is one type of fishing I really don't do. He was busted off time and time again and when he finally did get one turned it put a hurting on him. He said he never knew fish could be so strong. Although Matt never did land one of the big Snook he was after he said he couldn't wait to get back and do it again. The next day I picked Matt up at the Cape Coral boat ramp and he wanted some Tarpon action. We went into the river and gave it a shot for an hour and a half but they just didn't want to play. So I decided to give the Cause way a shot for some Tarpon. The only thing we could get to eat at the first spot was spanish macks. We moved to another area where I baited Matt up with a big Mojarra and a Catfish head. We got hit on the Catfish head first. Matt frantically grabbed for the rod and pulled the rod tip to the air. After that he froze, the big fish was trucking him. I told him to thumb the spool so he could keep the big fish out of the structure but by that time it was too late. Matt had one more opportunity at a big one but it just didn't happen. He did manage this one Jewfish which will have to do until he gets back down here after working out in the gym a little up North. I really look forward to fishing with him again.

Lastly, was a trip I had been looking forward to for a long time with fellow Florida Sportsman members Brad Brown and Skipper Miller. When Brad and I talked a few weeks before the trip, he offered his new Shearwater with a 225 Yamaha on it just like the one I am getting. I was more than glad to accept his offer. In one word "AWESOME" with all of the baitwell space we had available I was in pure euphoria. Skipper had even brought down his new Cape Fear Man O' War to tackle some of the beast while he was down Tarpon and Snook Fishing in Charlotte Harbor. Skipper told me they have been having a very tough time finding the Lady's just like I have been. We decided to go with Threads instead of the big baits. Skipper was the first to put one to the boat. I told him how physical he needed to be when fighting one of these fish. He listed well because that 24' Snook flew 10 feet in the air when he put the hook to him. Brad and I laughed for several minutes after that. The bite wasn't what we had hoped it would be but we did manage to boat a nice Snook. Brad did a great job with this fish. I mean he put the pressure on and was able to keep the Snook away from the docks which were only 4 or 5 feet away. Even when Brad thought he had one the fish still burned off drag and made another attempt at breaking him off. Brad kept his composure and put the pressure to the fish which enabled me to trolling motor away from the dock and out of trouble. I had a great time fishing with those guys and look forward to our next time out.

If you are looking for some tackle busting, leader fraying, excitement then give Chew On This Charters a call @ (239)540-7529

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