Thursday, July 27, 2017

Day 12 – Captain Wes and Snook wranglers

Today was the day that all Snook were to fear. LT, Lane and I went out on a fish charter with Captain Wes of the Fish Skinners Fish Charters. Wes met us at the Port Sanibel Marina around 1pm. I tried to get an earlier charter, but all was booked up. The boys and I shopped a little at Bass Pro and got some lunch in prior at Chipolte prior to arriving.

Wes took us on a ride out near Blind Pass Park. With poles up, lines out and bait in the water, it didn't take five minutes before - BAM! Lane hooked onto a Snook.  Once the seal was broken, the boys kept reeling in all kinds on fish for a solid 1.5 hours. We caught several Jacks, Catfish, Snook and Snapper. LT and Lane caught most all of the Snook. It was out of season, so we could not keep any of the Snook. Plus they have a slotted size of 28”-32”, so the likelihood of us getting one within that sizing would have been just a few.
Wes told me that the Snook had taken a devastating hit back in 2010. There was a freeze that lasted for some time and it decimated the Snook population. Apparently, there were hundreds of thousands of Snook along the entire coast of Florida that died.
It was unfortunate that we were not able to keep any or to be able to throw one of these guys onto to the skillet, but after hearing the 2010 story it felt good to throw them all back in the water.

The boys and I fished the last 1.5 hours until around 4:30pm with little success. We tried one or two more spots and threw several different baits, but nothing was biting except for a Catfish. We headed back on a beautiful boat ride to the marina. The water was free of vessels. Not much traffic out on the water. I would have expected more boats, but this is a little off season for Fort Myers.


The remainder of the day was spent relaxing at the house. Anna and Olivia ended up going out to see Jill. The boys played in the pool and went out to cast net for some bait fish. They ended up catching a cichlid and released it the pool. Crazy boys! They chased it and eventually after about ten minutes, caught it and put in back in the channel. I would have thought that the chlorine water would have just killed this fish within a minute or two. Nope! This guys was swimming in the pool as if it was his stomping ground.


Carla and I spoke on the back deck for an hour or so, while the boys swam and before long it was bedtime. 



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