2/8-9/08 Cayo Costa Camping Trip

[flyfishsalt]

Life is good here in Southwest Florida, but I am still bitter about the one that got away. We fished Pine Island Sound and the Gulf of Mexico and camped at the State Park on Cayo Costa (what a wonderful park service). The afternoon and evening were so beautiful and there was almost nobody in the campground. Late night I met up with my cousin and a large group of Kayakers from all over the southeast. They had a great campfire and I enjoyed meeting them. Early the next mooring I was fired up to try for some Monster Snook in an area that starts to heat up when the water temps start to climb back up towards 70 in the spring. Well the water temps were 72 degrees in the Gulf so spring is well under way here. We rolled into the area around 7:30-8:00 am. and the Snook were not active at all. I fished with some large topwater plugs after a while hoping that I could raise just one of these Snook. Around 9:00 am. the water erupted with several massive strikes. One of the Snook that hit was around 40" and ****ed. It was not to be... but we did land a bunch of smaller ones including a 30 Snook I landed on the spinning gear. This is what keeps you coming back. These 20+ lb. Snook are so hard to get, and now another one has added another one of my lures to its collection. We rounded out the morning chasing a few Reds in shallow water and catching a dozen large ladyfish and spanish macs in the Gulf on the way home.

[super-fly]

Hey Capt Joe,

Great story....a couple of winters back I hauled the "superfly" all the way to SW Florida from mid-coast MAINE:eek: Launched at Pineland Marina and headed for Cayo Costa, where I would spend the next three weeks....hauling my boat down threre allowed me to pack fairly heavy...all kinds of fishing gear, kayaks...and every thing else need for an extended camping trip.....
The first night I was there we found a half dozen or so decent sized snook 24-30+" around the park docks...they were just lined up there waiting for an easy meal.

Having the 21' parker down there allowed me to get out and explore the surrounding areas....We found good snook/trout/ladyfish action down the east side of cayo costa. water temps were 68-70 degrees. I had a pinfish trap & cast net with me so we loaded up the livewell and headed out into Boca Grande Pass and did some drifts and had a nice pick of Gag Grouper. Outside the pass we found birds diving and bait being driven out of the water...King Mackeral w/ some Spanish mixed in provided awesome action with Fly & ultra light tackle....ever catch a 25# kingfish on an 8wt...wow...next time I'll remember to pick up the 10.

The salt pond just south of the campground gave up plenty of trout the biggest being around 24" Had to kee an eye out for the resident gators though.
Most of our fishing took place from our kayaks and we covered alot of water...the ladyfish were thick & kept us busy which was fine with me...they're great fighters jump like crazy and will eat anything thrown in there direction.
Sheepshead were thick in tight to the mangrove...I thing they were in spawn mode. The commercial castnetters were just about sinking there boats with them.

We spent some time over on Cabbage Key..."cheeseburger in paradise":-% Met the owner Rob Wells who also owns the famed Tarpon logde on Pine Island...was able to pry a few of his snook holes from him but he can be pretty tight lipped
We met a bunch of cool people on the island and actually formed a couple of lasting frienships.
...Cayo Costa is true old florida...the way it was 100 years ago... almost like stepping back in time...cant wait to do it again

P.S. sorry for terrible pics...cheap disposable camera

[flyfishsalt]

Yep,

Those Snook by the landing dock are still there. I must have seen around 2 dozen when we left yesterday. The park is an amazing place to access the Gulf of Mexico. I take so much of these things for granted because I live 30 minutes away in the winter time. Over the past 6 years I have been taking my clients to the Tarpon Lodge, Cabage Key, and Barnacle Phils (north captiva) for lunch on full day charters. It is so nice to be able to get out of the sun in the middle of the day. I think Rob has really done a great job at the Tarpon Lodge and the food is quite good. The atmosphere of all of these small island places are so cool, with the dollar bills on the walls, the Giant Snapper on the wall, the sea otters running around the docks. The lifestyle and culture is so far removed from that of Boston or New York that time seems to move at a different pace.

[super-fly]

Joe,
Next time in in your area I'll have to book a trip with ya. Hopefully this spring before my season starts up here. Maybe Tarpon time!!!

[flyfishsalt]

Sounds Great to me. I have two openings left in my Tarpon Season (May 2k8) and I am also fishing for Tarpon from time to time on three days trips to the Everglades & 10,000 islands area. On these trips we start chasing Tarpon in March, and we were catching baby Tarpon this year in January....