Today was one of those days that explains why this is called “fishing” and not called “catching.”

It was a tough day for catching.

We caught a black nose shark first thing, but then the front came through with the high pressure behind it.  It turned the fish off like a light switch.

You can’t overcome the weather … even fishing off Sanibel and Captiva can be tough some days … but it is still beautiful.

We managed to catch a few catfish and sea trout.

Fishing can only get better from here.

Sunny days and tight lines …

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

It was slow going today … a tough day of fishing … but we reeled in a big spinner shark to redeem our honor!

Spinner sharks jump and spin like a top when hooked, sometimes more than a tarpon.  This fish was about 100 pounds.

Sunny days and tight lines …

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

The morning trip started off slowly, but got better as the tide came up.

We caught some nice fish, including redfish and snook, off North Captiva.

On the afternoon charter, we caught and released a couple of nice sharks, a black tip and a black nose, at Captiva Pass.

We also had a good sized lemon shark on but did a “quick release” when we got him near the boat.

Sunny days and tight lines …

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

Good day today!

We caught sea trout, spanish mackerel and grouper on the beach side of Captiva then went searching for tarpon on the bay side.

Jumped one tarpon straight across from Captiva on Pine Island side of the bay, but he got off.

We then went fishing for sharks and caught a little black tip and lost large bull shark out in the channel.

We caught also caught a cobia, which was a nice change of pace.

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

We fished off the beach side of North Captiva this morning and caught sea trout, mackerel, and jacks.

We then fished the bay side of Cayo Costa at Captiva Pass for sharks and caught a number of sharks, including a black nose shark which, you guessed it, has a black nose!

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

As we enter the last week of April on the third quarter of the moon, the tides will slowly get better as the week goes on (please see below for information on tides for the week).

Fishing around Sanibel, Captiva, North Captiva and Pine Island will be better in the mornings and the tides will be more fitting as the week progresses.

If you are chasing tarpon, I suggest you head out early, as the first three or four hours of the morning will likely be best (first light – 10:30 a.m.)   In my experience, as we near the new moon, the tarpon tend to leave the inlets and head to the east side of Pine Island Sound in search of food and less boat traffic.

I have been seeing schools of large thread fin herring and shad that have moved in on the inside of Captiva Pass and Redfish Pass.  If you can get your cast net around them, they will be perfect bait to toss in front of a hungry tarpon.

Everybody likes to catch a tarpon, but after fighting a big fish for a half hour, you might want to move onto something smaller.

If so, the trout seem to be starting their annual migration to their spawning grounds.  The sea trout like to lay their eggs in sandy areas like the beach side of Sanibel and Captiva, Captiva Pass and Redfish Pass, and adjacent grass flats in large pot holes.  Please only keep one or two for dinner since they are spawning.

The snook are also in these areas.  If you catch one, please leave them in the water and gently remove the hook to ensure a healthy release.  Remember to practice catch and release because a fish is too valuable to only catch once.

Please help preserve the tarpon, snook trout and redfish of Sanibel and Captiva for future generations.

Tight lines this week!

Tides for the last week of April, 2011:

Monday 04-25-2011
Sunrise  6:56 AM EDT, Sunset  7:57 PM EDT
Moonrise  2:20 AM EDT, Moonset  1:41 PM EDT
Low Tide:   2:23 AM EDT   0.1
High Tide:  10:40 AM EDT   1.2
Low Tide:   1:08 PM EDT   1.2
High Tide:   7:28 PM EDT   1.7

Tuesday 04-26-2011
Sunrise  6:55 AM EDT, Sunset  7:58 PM EDT
Moonrise  2:56 AM EDT, Moonset  2:34 PM EDT
Low Tide:   3:18 AM EDT   0.2
High Tide:  10:55 AM EDT   1.3
Low Tide:   2:56 PM EDT   1.0
High Tide:   9:04 PM EDT   1.6

Wednesday 04-27-2011
Sunrise  6:54 AM EDT, Sunset  7:58 PM EDT
Moonrise  3:28 AM EDT, Moonset  3:25 PM EDT
Low Tide:   4:02 AM EDT   0.3
High Tide:  11:13 AM EDT   1.5
Low Tide:   4:15 PM EDT   0.8
High Tide:  10:33 PM EDT   1.5

Thursday 04-28-2011
Sunrise  6:53 AM EDT, Sunset  7:59 PM EDT
Moonrise  3:59 AM EDT, Moonset  4:16 PM EDT
Low Tide:   4:39 AM EDT   0.5
High Tide:  11:30 AM EDT   1.6
Low Tide:   5:12 PM EDT   0.6
High Tide:  11:42 PM EDT   1.5

Friday 04-29-2011
Sunrise  6:52 AM EDT, Sunset  7:59 PM EDT
Moonrise  4:30 AM EDT, Moonset  5:07 PM EDT
Low Tide:   5:10 AM EDT   0.6
High Tide:  11:45 AM EDT   1.7
Low Tide:   5:57 PM EDT   0.3

Saturday 04-30-2011
Sunrise  6:51 AM EDT, Sunset  8:00 PM EDT
Moonrise  5:01 AM EDT, Moonset  5:58 PM EDT
High Tide:  12:37 AM EDT   1.4
Low Tide:   5:36 AM EDT   0.7
High Tide:  12:00 PM EDT   1.8
Low Tide:   6:37 PM EDT   0.1

Fair winds & following seas,

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

Another good day fishing off Captiva and North Captiva.

We caught 5 trout, lots of lady fish, jacks, bluefish, sharks, and lost a big snook.

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday.  Happy Easter and happy fishing!

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

We spent the morning shelling along North Captiva with a big group so we took two boats.

As I expected, the slow tide kept the fish from being active, and the afternoon fishing trip started out very quiet with very little action.

We caught a nice trout and a few ladyfish.

But then we went fishing for tarpon, something changed, and we got hot.  We quickly caught a shark and jumped two tarpon off Captiva.

We had a huge tarpon on that would not give up.   We just wanted to get the tarpon close enough for some good pictures.

My angler tired and wanted me to fight him but my arm could not take it. ( I was badly injured in an accident last fall that left my left arm partially paralyzed for a period of time.  My arm and hand have come back a long way, and keep improving every day, but are still weak.)

After a long fight, we were both exhausted and the fish was beating us.  As a last option, we tightened the drag down at 4:00 PM.  This made the fish mad – the tarpon must have sensed an advantage – and he fought even harder.

He looped around the boat and broke off the line.

It was a good fight.  We’ll get him tomorrow.

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

We changed things up on this morning’s charter.

We decided to skip chasing tarpon and dealing with sharks and headed a bit south and went grouper fishing on the bay side of Sanibel.

There are a couple of spots with underwater structure in the bay near Sanibel that tend to attract grouper.

We caught many small and a few decent sized black grouper, one gag grouper that was a keeper, and a nice sized goliath grouper that we released.

It was a beautiful day and both our little people and big people on the boat were happy!

Hank had fun too!

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