After talking and fishing with some other Captains in SW florida, we all agreed finding and catching fish has been very tough the last couple of weeks. I gave my good friend Nelson a call and asked him if he wanted to try a little night fishing. Nelson is always game so we left out around 8 p.m. that evening.
Fortunately for us we already had a livewell of nice white bait in the well from earlier in the day. Even though, we had a well full of bait, both of us decided to start off trolling lures. I used a 3/4 ounce chrome rattle trap and Nelson used a big diving rapala that ran a good 6-8 feet. Well, after 30 minutes of trolling marking stacks upon stacks of fish, I never even had one bump and Nelson missed 3 hits or so. I sure wish I knew what would catch whatever it is that is stacked up so thick in those areas. I know some of them were Tarpon because we would see them roll, but I don't think they can all be Tarpon. Something should have eaten. At least one fish should have eaten a loud and fat rattle trap.
Once we realized they weren't eating our lures both of us decided it was time to go with the big white baits. The first light we fished Nelson got a good hit and let the fish take a little line before he set the hook. When he set the hook the fish was on for about 3 seconds and then the hook pulled. Nelson thought it was a Tarpon, especially since he had caught one in that same light before. We drifted that area for the next 30 minutes and Nelson hooked up with another Tarpon but it busted him off almost instantly after the hook set. We left that area and decided to fish some pilings. We saw fish busting and popping bait while we fished but could only get catfish to eat our whitebaits. We moved to another section of the pilings when Nelson noticed this huge shadow in the lights. He asked me if I saw it, but all I could see was glare. I knew it had to be a big fish because Nelson sure was excited! Eventually the fish swam right up to the boat. At that point we both realized it was one of the biggest Jacks we have ever seen in the river. Nelson hooked him with a green and white jig. The fight was on, I pulled the anchor and all of the fishing rods in. We chased it until she finally wore out. The Jack turned out to be 38 inches and 20 pounds. What a monster!
The next evening we decided to give the fish another shot. Nelson came over about the same time as the day before. Once again the well was loaded with Threads and Whitebait from earlier in the day. Nelson wanted to go catch mullet for bait for the Tarpon. But I convinced him we should try a snook light we haven't hit in awhile. Sure enough the first 5 inch Whitebait Nelson tossed in there got crunched. Drag starts screaming off of his Size 8 Ahab. The huge snook starts jumping and splashing all over. He made a quick dash for the pilings but Nelson managed to get him headed back towards the boat. When the water cools the snook sure do fight for a long time. She fought like she was 20 pounds. We finally managed to turn her and when we landed her she weighed in at a hefty 11 pounds on the boga grip. After that fish we tried a couple of other spots and decided to head on in even though we hadn't fished very long. Besides Nelson had a fat Snook to clean anyhow.
In conclusion, if the fish are hard to find during the day, just go and give em' a shot at night. It was nice finding a keeper snook that was hungry and willing to eat. I have a feeling once these fronts have passed the Snook will be stacked up under the lights real thick and hungry for whatever comes their way.
Until next time may you have line singing, leader fraying, and
tackle busting action!!!!
If you are looking for
some tackle busting, leader fraying, excitement then give Captain Chancey a call @ (239)540-7529
