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I'm vacationing on N. Captiva Island the end of May and am looking for help on fishing from the shore and I believe that I will have access to a kayak as well. Anyone have experience here or nearby that would point a midwesterner with some salt experience in the right direction?
Send me an email. I had a guide all lined up and he sounded great. The only problem was Hurricane Francis(i think it was this one?) wiped out our timeshare. From what I have heard the island is still messed up. We were originally scheduled to go in 11/04. Regarding 11/05 we were told it will still not be ready for our return. I will probably not be there until 11/06. You may want to check out the island a bit more. By the way, I got the guides info by request on this board.
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Jim in CO
i go to captiva every year and there are 3 main spots. There is j.n. ding darling for snook and sheephead
there is the causeway bride grass flats for redfish,trout,snook and ladyfish.
If you have a kayak i would go to tarpon bay there is ladyfish,snook and redfish a pleny. Turn right and sightfish to tailing reds in a foot of water. Make sure to go there at high tide. They often have lockjaw and can be very difficult. For a guide i would reccomend Joey burnsed he knows where the fish are and works hard so you can catch fish. I hope this helps.
mikey
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tight lines, and taught thread
Good luck in Sanibel/ Captiva: I've been quite a bit and love it. I would also put in a good word for Joey (yung canuck's guide of choice apparently), as he knows the spots around captiva. Most of it will be fishing flats under mangroves so bring alot of flies. Norm Ziegler lives on the island and wrote a good article about fishing Sanibel (Sanibel-Captiva are considered one island: you go through sanibel to get to captiva) in the premier issue of "Eastern Fly Fishing" (spring 2005), i've seen him fishing in JN Ding Darling before, and he reccommended the Norm's Crystel Schminnow (its in the mag). If you have a canoe or can rent a boat great, you'll get closer to the fish, but i reccommend a guide (Joey is the best on the islands). Fish ding darling at sunset, but it closes its enterance at 7.00 (if i remember correctly). There is excellent snook fishing inside the reserve.
RL
You guys are confusing N. Captiva Island (which Hopsling and BostonAngler is refering to) from Captiva Island, which is located on the north side of Sanibel Island and only seporated by Blind Pass. Now that Blind Pass is perminately closed due to a constant battle with dredging it out and all hands gave up on the project. Now it's just one big Island. I wonder if they should change the name now. ~rubs my chin~
Anyways, North Captiva Island is boat access only and is located on the north side of Redfish Pass, which is also the very next Island north of Captiva Island (on it's north side).
BTW, FYI, Ding Darling Park, located on Sanibel was wiped out by the Hurricane Charlie. None of the other storms effected the area.
Now the eye of Charlie came right across North Captive island, splitting the Island in half. Now, like Sanibel and Captive used to be, N. Captive is seporated into 2 seporate land masses, though it's wadable to get across.
End of May huh? Wow, everything will be hopping during that time. That's when the big pods of tarpon come into the passes, including Redfish and Captive Pass, as well as the beaches of N. Captive and Caya Costa. You need a good beach tarpon fly fishing guide to hook you up in those fish. The upside to spending that money will be the fish will be daisy chaining at Sunrise during that time of year on the beaches. You will see them about 100 ft to 100 yrds off of the beach there.
The snook fishing along the beaches on the south side of the Island outter beaches (the S.W. side of the Island) couldn't be better in and between the fallen Austrailian trees. Bring your wife, kids and a picnic with you since there is much to explore on the southern end of the Island. Pack a tube of Avon Skin-so-soft cream w/ the bug repellent and SPF30 built right into the cream. Just don't get it on your hands or flies when fishing.
There is a set of rocks on the N.W. tip of the beach that hole good snook, as well as the beach along the north side of the Island just inside Captiva Pass. Fish those rocks 1st thing in the morning around 1st light till no more than an hour after sunrise. Just south on the beach about a couple hundred yards from that snook rock pile is a patch of pink sand (made from ground up coral and conch shells). Throw a chartreuse and white heavy clouser out from that pink sand (after you fish the rocks 1st!). Trout and ladyfish will finish out the morning.
On the very southern tip (point) of the Island is a good spot to just stand and cast into the fast current (incoming tide) where you can catch a mix bag of goodies, including jacks, ladyfish, mangrove snapper and snook.
On the north side of the "New Cut" (where the Island seporated) and just inside (east side of the Island) is a mangrove shoreline with grass flats and sandy pot holes. That whole area along the mangrove shoreline is well know by the local guides as a redfish honey hole. It's a little muddy, but wad it very slowly either in the early morning or late in the afternood with sliders, mulletflies and lightweight clousers.
Fish the low level dock lights in the marina and residential canal docks on the south side of the Island for snook and trout at night. Use small clear white shrimp patterns with black eyes tied on a #4 to a #2 ss hook.
The Island is still a mess, but the fishing hasn't changed. I still believe it's worth the trip.
Good Luck and have fun.
Ted
Geeze, I should have proof read my message before I sent it. So forgive the spelling errors.
The marina and residential docks are on the "North east side of the Island.
The snook rock pile is on the North West point of the Island, which starts the beach from the north. BTW, watch the beach very carefully at the water break line where the water hits the sand of the beack. You will see light gray shadows swimming down that break that you will swear are bonefish. Those are actually snook working the shoreline. Throw those same dock shrimp patterns at the, but lead them by at least 5 feet. You can also throw small bonefish flies that have a light tan, shrimp color or white shrimpy pattern. Work it like they were bones. Stand up on the beach and cast down the water break towards approaching fish. Again, lead them and take it away from them as they approach. That beach snook action happens from 1st light till an hour after sunrise, as well as a 1/2 hour before sunset till dark.
Ted
Im pretty sure JN Ding Darling was not wiped out, nor was blind pass. They are pretty banged up for sure: trees are down etc. but htey are still there. As for N Captiva, i was not aware of that! i thought he meant the north OF captiva. Anyways i do have experience on sanibel and if HOPSING is planning to visit it at all, i think most of the info. is reliable.
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RL