I had
returning customers and friends on the boat Friday. We met on the already warm
morning about 8am at the boat ramp at Lover’s Key, which is just south of Fort
Myers Beach. The boat was already loaded with bait for the full day trip,
plenty of frozen threadfins and shrimp from previous trips, very decent sized
live shrimp for this time of year, and both livewells brimming with fresh
caught small to medium sized threadfin herrings. Once everyone and everything
was loaded and secured on board we headed off the beaches in search of tarpon
and sharks to start the day. We drifted several different baits and caught some
small fish consisting of jacks, sand trout, ladyfish, and mackerel, along with
a few sailcats. But no sharks and no sight of much activity, so we headed
inshore to fish the top of a nice high tide. The first good fish came before
too long, and Jason did a nice job of horsing a good redfish out from under the
flooded mangrove roots.
We continued catching fish here and there as we stalked
the shorelines of the back bay, using the trolling motor. Another nice fish of
the day, and not the most common catch was a nice flounder.
With a few redfish,
some snook, flounder, trout, and a bunch of other fish caught and released, the
day ended all too soon. But it was one the best days for this group, on what
has become a yearly escape for them.
