Fishing Charlotte Harbor Area (beachfront, suburbs, skiing)

[Macgregorsailor51]

This trip and every dive trip honestly , we are pushed to get out in the Gulf. Its never my boat ( I wont take my single engine outboard beyond sight of land in the gulf) But I will get a Sabiki Rig for when I take my Walk Around out in the Harbor..

Originally Posted by wpc691

If you can get whoever's driving to stop on the way out for 10 minutes when you see bait busting the surface, throw a Sabiki rig on one of the rods and put one or two dozen sardines/blue runners, etc in the baitwell. Then, you're ready for anything.

[wpc691]

Originally Posted by Macgregorsailor51

This trip and every dive trip honestly , we are pushed to get out in the Gulf. Its never my boat ( I wont take my single engine outboard beyond sight of land in the gulf) But I will get a Sabiki Rig for when I take my Walk Around out in the Harbor..

If you do this often, invest a few bucks in a pinfish trap or pinfish "hotel". Sabiki or net a couple of dozen a day or two before you go, and keep them in the trap off your dock. If the dive boat doesn't have a livewell, get a battery aerator for a five gallon bucket - pinfish are tough, threadfins not so much. I've kept big pinfish in a crab trap for more than a week - although one time the crabs got in there and ate them, so I guess they're not THAT tough. Even if they die in the bucket, fresh cut pinfish will outfish frozen sardines most of the time, and the sardines are much more effective if you get the fish lit up first on live bait.

[Seafood Junky]

I think you can even chum pinfish into your dock with the right bait...

[wpc691]

Originally Posted by Seafood Junky

I think you can even chum pinfish into your dock with the right bait...

We've done that too, but they're always HUGE. Not the best live bait, except maybe for sharks or Goliaths. I've had my best luck with a castnet on the shallow flat just south of PH. Get them swarming around with some tropical fish food, and one good toss will get you 8 dozen, perfect silver dollar size. Take what you need, and leave the rest (as The Band said).

[Seafood Junky]

whats PH?

[SeaRay35]

Pirate Harbor I would guess.

[wpc691]

Originally Posted by SeaRay35

Pirate Harbor I would guess.

Yep, sorry, Pirate Harbor. The flat just south of the channel is a favorite spot for baitfish. You'll usually find 2 or 3 boats floating around, chumming for whitebait and pinfish. Stay away from the area with the old pilings - there are submerged pilings that have eaten more than one castnet - if you've had a hard luck day on trout and redfish though, a freelined shrimp around those pilings will usually get you a snapper for dinner.

[Macgregorsailor51]

We caught nothing ... bait stripped a few times a little tug of war but nothing landed.. There is not a lot of time to fish when you have divers in the water.. Hunters are nothing like recreational divers who do 60 fsw for 60 minutes.. hunters are often only down for 10 m inutes or so at a time. But what a great day to be out on the Gulf!!

[wpc691]

Originally Posted by Macgregorsailor51

We caught nothing ... bait stripped a few times a little tug of war but nothing landed.. There is not a lot of time to fish when you have divers in the water.. Hunters are nothing like recreational divers who do 60 fsw for 60 minutes.. hunters are often only down for 10 m inutes or so at a time. But what a great day to be out on the Gulf!!

That's a hard way to fish - it takes longer than that for the local residents to figure out you're there and there's a free lunch.

[Macgregorsailor51]

I had the chance to go 60 Miles off Venice tomorrow.. I passed... Its a spot where a fellow who used to be a licensed fishemen used to clean up in two hours, but it would have meant very loooooooong day .. 2 hours fishing and 8 hours riding in the boat.. Simple Answer.. No Thanks..