We can tell the summer is winding down and that kids are heading back to school;  the charter business always slows down at this time of year, late-August.

Still a lot of snook biting along Sanibel & Captiva.  A great time to fish the gulf side of the islands.

Speaking of the gulf side …

If there are no hurricanes, an admittedly big “if”, September, October and November can be some of the best fishing and weather of the year, particularly as we move into fall and the weather begins to cool a bit.

As the weather cools to the north of us, the fish begin to move south along the coast, continually migrating toward warmer water.  This can create “National Geographic- like” moments when you have various fish and sharks feeding on massive “bait balls” or schools as they move down the coast, just off the shore.  It creates spectacular action and fishing!

Fair winds and following seas,

Captain Joey Burnsed ~ call 239-472-8658 or email captjoefred@gmail to book a Sanibel & Captiva fishing charter.

Good fishing today.

Lots of snook & trout being caught while fishing on charters between Sanibel & Captiva.

Fair winds and following seas,

Captain Joey Burnsed ~ call 239-472-8658 or email captjoefred@gmail to book a Sanibel & Captiva fishing charter.

A lot of rain.  We caught some ladyfish on the bayside of Sanibel & Captiva and then went shelling for sand dollars.

Real wet days on Sanibel & Captiva.

Fair winds and following seas,

Captain Joey Burnsed ~ call 239-472-8658 or email captjoefred@gmail to book a Sanibel & Captiva fishing charter.

Hank and I are resting up, but I thought I’d post a photo of Lexi with one of the red fish we caught Saturday afternoon.

We caught four redfish bouncing around Sanibel & Captiva catching one in each of four spots.

There are also a bunch of ladyfish & small black tip sharks east of Captiva, near the intra coastal waterway … look for sea gulls & terns working the surface.

Fair winds and following seas,

Captain Joey Burnsed ~ call 239-472-8658 or email captjoefred@gmail to book a Sanibel & Captiva fishing charter.

Today was the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Charley, which hit Captiva on Frday, August 13th, 2004.

We dodged storms today, but the weather was a whole lot better than it was seven years ago.

We caught some ladyfish on fly rods and saw a nice rainbow as we were dodging the summer storms.

We then headed out to the gulf to fish a wreck for goliath grouper.  Caught one but the gulf was a bit rough so we headed in to Castaways.

All in all, a good fishing charter and not bad a bad way to celebrate

Fair winds and following seas,

Captain Joey Burnsed ~ call 239-472-8658 or email captjoefred@gmail to book a Sanibel & Captiva fishing charter.

The weather finally cooperated today and we had a great fishing charter!

Hank and I took Charlie and Tim back to Blind Pass this morning and we caught 3-4 nice snook and 3-4 trout on drifts from the bridge back toward the bay.  Most of the action was well away from the bridge as we started to approach Roosevelt Channel.  We weren’t quite as busy as yesterday, when things were red hot, but it was still good fishing.

Charlie and Tim had a double hookup

with snook at one point; Tim ‘s was much bigger, but Charlie, being an experienced and crafty angler, simply held his arms straight out for the photo to make his snook appear much larger (see photo).

We then headed out to the bay to look for some sharks using sardine chum to draw them in.  We caught two black tips and several ladyfish, including a quite large ladyfish, which made Charlie “king of the ladyfish.”

We tried another spot in the bay for a big lemon shark, but had no luck.

We moved up toward Redfish Pass and were able to get into a huge school of frenzied ladyfish.  Probably hooked about 25 and landed about 15 in ten minutes or so before we headed in to Castaways.

We all had a great time today!  Going out in the gulf tomorrow to fish for goliath grouper with our ladyfish bait.

Fair winds and following seas,

Captain Joey Burnsed ~ call 239-472-8658 or email captjoefred@gmail to book a Sanibel & Captiva fishing charter.