No Oil Just Fish! (Local Ramps’n Holes)
Boca Grande Pass or the “Tarpon Capital of the World” has anglers flocking there from all over to have a hand in either watching or catching the famed Sabalo, Silver King, Megalopolis or Tarpon. Tarpon are a “Catch and Release” fish unless you purchase a Fifty-dollar state permit fee to possess the Tarpon. I do not know why anyone would keep a tarpon now days, with all the digital video and all and if you’re into a mount, why not just get a fiberglass one. They are so life like, it is as if are going to jump right off the wall.
While in Boca you have to visit the Village to see that Ole’ time Florida charm that still blows down the streets. Taking a stroll into Gasparilla Outfitters, can set you up with apparel, to gear, you can use to catch the mightiest of fish and speaking of Gasparilla, do not forget to check out the park. The park is built around a restored Lighthouse built in 1890. Swimming, snorkeling, fishing, and nature study are popular activities, with shelling being particularly good because of the strong tides in the channel. This too is what makes it an annual ritual with the tarpon as the Myakka and Peace Rivers come together in forming on of the deepest natural estuaries in Florida, along with a deep cut out to the Gulf of Mexico. For over 125 million years of evolution, the Sabalo has ventured here to mate and spawn its young before leaving back onto its journey of little known origin. Its egg to fry is but the size of a microbe that in seven years begins to reach maturity and can live up to as old as sixty and reaching as large as 350 pounds.
For those interested in Charter fishing, there are abundant Coast Guard Certified Captains available for all levels of anglers all along the coast from Boca Grande to Tampa Bay. Try your hand at hooking shark, barracuda, black fin tuna and Spanish and king mackerel. Venice Florida is known as “The Shark Tooth Capital of the World” and where do you think all those shark teeth came from. Around 15 million years, Megalodon patrolled the seas, only dying out about 1.6 million years ago along with a number of early baleen whales and relatives of the modern manatee. Leaving behind a treasured find, his teeth. Prehistoric Tiger, Bull, Mako, Silver, Lemon, Horn, Dusky, Seven-Gill, Smooth-Hammerhead, Sharpnose, Bullhead, Thresher and Great White teeth are abundant for the findings with a shell shovel or rake.
Many of the above listed sharks are extinct now but many are not and if you want to see for yourself, make sure you visit the pier in Venice, Florida. Located at the base of the restaurant called “Sharky’s on the Pier”, the pier extends 700 feet out into the Gulf of Mexico. At the end, on the “T” it is a whopping 18 feet deep but do not let the depth fool you because come night fall one can see just how many of the sharks on this list are not extinct! Averaging in at six feet at night and the pier record is a fourteen-foot Great Hammerhead. The largest I have caught Tagged and released was a Bull Shark at around nine foot. “From dusk till dawn, the feed is on” so a mid-night swim might not be such a good idea! Just this last May an 11 foot Tiger Shark washed up on our Nokomis beach to the north of Venice beach (across the jetties), Jaws and The Revenge of Jaws, OH No!
Between Venice and Tampa there are miles to miles of shorelines to surf fish and wade from bait to hardware, the fish are there. Oyster bars and beds of sea grassy flats are on the back bays, which too are accessible by either boat rental or wading out from one of the County or City Parks. The abundance of saltwater fish is matched to none when angling our shores of natural wonder.
Other highly visible spots of interest that produce fish on a constant basis are The Sun Shine Skyway Bridge billed the longest pier in the world and you can drive right out to your favorite fish’n hole too. Back when I was a college student at USF, I drove over the Skyway on a daily basis as I was running fishing Charters out of Palmetto and 10th street west, before finally working out a deal and living just off Boca Ciega Bay, making it an easy cast into John’s Pass. However, as all would have it, a tanker one day went awry and down came the great Skyway, bridge, cars and all. They cut off the ends built a new bridge and thus we still have the old Sunshine Skyway only it is a fishing pier you can walk on, drive on, camp on, fish on, you get the point. Common catches include snook, tarpon, grouper, black sea bass, Spanish mackerel, king mackerel, cobia, sheepshead, red snapper, pompano, and many more. Snacks, drinks, bait, and fishing supplies are available. The pier is open 24 hours a day year-round. Located north and south of the Skyway Bridge on I-275 (U.S. 19). $4.00 per vehicle plus $4.00 per adult, $2.00 per child (6-12 years old) and free, children 5 and younger $3.00 per person, (sunrise ¿ sunset).
After camping out on the infamouse Skyway Pier, you could work your way up the coastline through St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Tampa for there are a number of ample fishing opportunities on the piers and bridges. Popular spots to include would be as my picks are Long Pier at Redington Beach, Pier60, St Petersburg Pier, The Friendship Trail Park at Gandy Bridge and Fort De Soto Park for Spanish mackerel, red drum, speckled trout and snook. I particularly enjoy Fort De Soto Park because of the currents and shifting sands along the Gulf side of the Park. The diversity in fishing can be phenomenal though frustrating at times because sometimes even the best anglers are skunked.
On the other side of this is maybe you have a boat and are wondering where in the heck can I launch my boat. I would really like to make reservations in a motel/hotel/Condo close to the ramp but what to do to do? Alias! A Magic Link for all of you guys and gals in need:
One-Hundred and Forty-nine Local Florida West Coast Launches
Robert J Strickland Memorial Park to Indian Mound Park (71)
El Jobean to Everglades National Park - Flamingo Bay Marina (36)
"FISH ON!"