Marco Island - Boca Grande?

[BrogensDuck]

Going down with the family and meeting a friend, both with kayaks ready for full assault. Does anyone have any ideas/tips/locales to offer? thanks

[fishinbug]

White bucktail jigs, DOA shrimp, gold spoons, and topwater baits are very effective on snook. Pilchards (greenies, greenbacks) are the preferred live bait over threadfin herring. Most of the bait shops down there offer jumbo hand picked shrimp for a premium price. Pinfish and finger mullet will also work, but if you can find them and keep them alive use pilchards. Most of my snook fishing was in the Ft. Myers area including the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River, Pine Island Sound, the passes around Sanibel/Captiva Islands, and the sound side of those islands. Find moving strong current near creek mouths, points, and sandbars. Mangrove lined deep cuts and drop offs along mangrove edges are very productive areas to try. When casting along the mangroves look for any type of pocket or "hole" that goes back into the mangroves. The key is to get your lure or bait as far back into the mangroves or as close to the mangroves as you possibly can without "fishing for squirrels". It's like golf, "Never up, never in." If you do throw into the mangroves and the lure does not wrap itself in a knot around a branch, try this trick. Reel very slowly until the lure is dangling about 12" below the branch it found. Take up the slack while it's dangling and then give a quick snatch of the rod. Be ready to duck. Many times the lure will come flying out without snagging. Other times you will be cussing those rubbery, tough mazes of limbs and branches.

The canals in the Cape Coral area also offer great snook fishing especially after dark. A lot of the homeowners have dock lights and most of the docks with lights will hold snook. Some of the homeowners there turn their lights off if they hear someone fishing. It's always a good idea to be "vewy, vewy quiet" around those docks.

Redfish will hang along the mangroves that snook like. They are suckers for a 3-4" pinfish drifted close to the mangroves under a popping cork.

Unless you are very skilled and a strong kayaker, Boca Grande is best left for another type of vessel. Good luck and have fun.

[BrogensDuck]

Much appreciated. The house we are renting out has those dock lights you mentioned. And thank you for the reference to Cape Coral. There is just so much water around there, we did not know where to start. Oh, and I have heard that if you arent losing lures in the trees, you arent fishing close enough. Thanks again...

[fishinbug]

Oh, and I have heard that if you arent losing lures in the trees, you arent fishing close enough. Thanks again...

If you happen to see any of my lures in the mangroves be a sport and bring it back to me.

Since you're in Cape Coral, ask around about the Cattle Docks. It's not far from a marina that I can't remember the name. From there west along that shoreline towards Sword Point is really good for snookin'. A few hundred yards east of the Cattle Docks is another spot with a couple of small bars flanking a channel that swoops in towards the mangroves and out between the bars.

I forgot to mention that a 10" ladyfish makes a pretty good snook snack too. Tarpon will thank you for that meal too.

[kikstand454]

Man.
Fishinbug, you answered that call so well I want to go down theree and chase the snook myself! Lol.
Good info!

~ Dave ... Creatures of Habit, tallahassee

[WannaDoDat]

Man.
Fishinbug, you answered that call so well I want to go down theree and chase the snook myself! Lol.
Good info!

~ Dave ... Creatures of Habit, tallahassee

My thoughts exactly!! I've never fished for snook nor fished around those mangroves but I feel like I would halfway know what I'm doing with superb hints like that! Thanks, Nicholas!! Wow!

[fishinbug]

Let's all go! I don't miss the traffic and crowds, but I do miss the fishing. I spent a whole bunch of hours and days with my friend Dan looking for mean old Mr. Snook.

[kikstand454]

Let's go!


~ Dave ... Creatures of Habit, tallahassee

[BrogensDuck]

Lets team up...Im itchin more to go now than before. Thanks for all the chatter. I will keep you guys updated.

[fishinbug]

Be sure to take some bug repellent.

[fishinbug]

One last thing that you probably already know - snook have gill plates that are razor sharp. They are located behind their cheeks and in front on the gill opening. Be careful handling them because they will squirm and slash around.

Tarpon Point Marina is the name I couldn't remember.
http://maps.google.com/maps/myplaces?hl=en&vpsrc=0&ctz=240&abauth=37cdc64f:GqzZ4NIvi0KdMVyHLShhEUYUc08&vps=2&ei=gPuoT4KkM5SkyASHmt2KBQ&num=10 EDIT: I tried to link you to Google Earth but not successfully. Tarpon Point Marina, Cape Coral will give you a great map.

Glover Bight is the area called the Cattle Docks. If you go across the channel ( be careful and watch out for boats) head for Shell Creek. There are lots of places for snook there too, especially at the creek mouths.

[BrogensDuck]

Awesome. Thanks again.

[fishinbug]

Awesome. Thanks again.

You're welcome. We will all be eagerly awaiting a full report.