albacized
01-25-2009, 11:47 PM
Will be down mid July for a 9 day getaway...Our desire is to hang on the southwest coast (thinking Venice but may consider further south) for about 4 days, take a 'day off' from the vacation for travel, then spend the final few days either the southeast coast or the keys. This will more or less be a family vacation with my wife and daughter, but I will be given ample opportunity to fish early and late most days.
First my personal fishing goals...Specific for west coast: find snook, reds, spanish macs, ladyfish, or whatever light tackle sport fish I can find from shore (may or may not try for shark at night - depends on how much time I put into these other species). I'd probably be switching back and forth between a flyrod and a light spinning rod.
Once I hit the either the east coast or keys, I'd like to include either tarpon, bones and barracudas. Also, if I stay more so in the Lauderdale/Miami area, I'd like to take my daughter on a half day snapper/grouper trip, basically just helping her catch fish, but have a 'flat line' out for either a stray king or albie (you call them bonita down there).
So that brings me to the 'questions'....
1) first, are the species I mention available in each of these areas during July?
2) How long is the drive from either Venice (or other points south, including Naples) over to the east coast and maybe even the keys?
3) My daughter wants to take a ride on an Everglades airboat. Do you guys recommend those in general and if so, any company better than the next?
4) I've driven along the Tamiami Trail heading from Miami to Naples in the past and noticed a creek (yeah, we saw some alligators in there )...is there any reason to stop to wet a line there for a short while? Is there either peacock bass, baby tarpon or some other decent game in that?
We just put this into the planning stage and I'm not sure if some of this may be too much to fit into a week + 2 day vacation. That's why I'm hoping some of your answers will either cement these plans or go the other way and redirect our focus to a more specific location.
We'll either fly into Sarasota or Ft Myers and leave out of either Miami or Ft Lauderdale. One of the best things I heard my daughter say was that she didn't want to do the Disney thing, but would prefer to 'discover' the 'real Florida' - that was music to my ears
Btw, I'm currently looking at keeping this as a DIY trip - although I haven't completely ruled out a guide. If I did go for a charter, it would only happen if we were to stay in Southeast FL and forego the keys - I'd go on a flyfishing trip out on the reef to catch kings, dolphin and albies. I don't think I'd book a trip to catch bonefish on the fly and after my last experience tarpon fishing in the keys, I don't think I'd do that again - the guide (originally from Boston, moved to Grassy Key) guaranteed a 'jump'. Well when one single tarpon picked up our chunk of mullet, jumped and spit the hook in a matter of a second, the 'guarantee had been fulfilled and I was out of luck That was 14 years ago this past June, on my honeymoon.
Anyway, thanks for listening - we do have some time since I'm also in school (pursuing a nursing degree) and I'll have to wait to see what the summer schedule is before I start booking. There will be a two week slot in July, I just don't know the exact weeks yet, except in general, it'll probably be later in the month.
Btw, I do know about the licenses required to fish both fresh and salt down there...
First my personal fishing goals...Specific for west coast: find snook, reds, spanish macs, ladyfish, or whatever light tackle sport fish I can find from shore (may or may not try for shark at night - depends on how much time I put into these other species). I'd probably be switching back and forth between a flyrod and a light spinning rod.
Once I hit the either the east coast or keys, I'd like to include either tarpon, bones and barracudas. Also, if I stay more so in the Lauderdale/Miami area, I'd like to take my daughter on a half day snapper/grouper trip, basically just helping her catch fish, but have a 'flat line' out for either a stray king or albie (you call them bonita down there).
So that brings me to the 'questions'....
1) first, are the species I mention available in each of these areas during July?
2) How long is the drive from either Venice (or other points south, including Naples) over to the east coast and maybe even the keys?
3) My daughter wants to take a ride on an Everglades airboat. Do you guys recommend those in general and if so, any company better than the next?
4) I've driven along the Tamiami Trail heading from Miami to Naples in the past and noticed a creek (yeah, we saw some alligators in there )...is there any reason to stop to wet a line there for a short while? Is there either peacock bass, baby tarpon or some other decent game in that?
We just put this into the planning stage and I'm not sure if some of this may be too much to fit into a week + 2 day vacation. That's why I'm hoping some of your answers will either cement these plans or go the other way and redirect our focus to a more specific location.
We'll either fly into Sarasota or Ft Myers and leave out of either Miami or Ft Lauderdale. One of the best things I heard my daughter say was that she didn't want to do the Disney thing, but would prefer to 'discover' the 'real Florida' - that was music to my ears
Btw, I'm currently looking at keeping this as a DIY trip - although I haven't completely ruled out a guide. If I did go for a charter, it would only happen if we were to stay in Southeast FL and forego the keys - I'd go on a flyfishing trip out on the reef to catch kings, dolphin and albies. I don't think I'd book a trip to catch bonefish on the fly and after my last experience tarpon fishing in the keys, I don't think I'd do that again - the guide (originally from Boston, moved to Grassy Key) guaranteed a 'jump'. Well when one single tarpon picked up our chunk of mullet, jumped and spit the hook in a matter of a second, the 'guarantee had been fulfilled and I was out of luck That was 14 years ago this past June, on my honeymoon.
Anyway, thanks for listening - we do have some time since I'm also in school (pursuing a nursing degree) and I'll have to wait to see what the summer schedule is before I start booking. There will be a two week slot in July, I just don't know the exact weeks yet, except in general, it'll probably be later in the month.
Btw, I do know about the licenses required to fish both fresh and salt down there...