Looked for redfish around Sanibel.  Unfortunately, we found plenty of cat fish.

We were able to catch mangrove snapper and grouper offshore.

Fair winds and following seas,

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

Fun day …

We caught plenty of jacks, ladyfish and mackeral this morning along with a nice nurse shark.

This afternoon I caught many black nose sharks and two large nurse sharks.

Fair winds and following seas,

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

We went to Boca Grande this morning.

The bite was good and we had five fish on the line but only landed one.

Welcome to the world of tarpon fishing!  We all pay are dues when it comes to big game fishing.

The tarpon were also numerous and active off the beach off the Sanibel & Captiva today.  Live bait would be best for those fish.

Good luck chasing those silver kings!

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

Hank and I took a day of rest.

Hank is getting a little older and was a bit exhausted after fighting that goliath grouper in all that sun and heat!

Fair winds and following seas,

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

Caught bait at Blind Pass bridge this morning and then ran down to Redfish Pass on the north end of Captiva to pick up my clients and catch smaller bait.

We started off catching ladyfish, mackeral, jacks and catfish on the bay side of North Captiva.

After that, we headed down the beach side of Captiva to look for tarpon.  There were many fishermen, but few  fish.

We decided to go offshore where we caught a huge goliath grouper, a nice gag grouper and a large snook.

Hank took a very keen interest in that goliath grouper!  It was 200+ pounds and was the biggest I have caught on a charter trip in the gulf off Sanibel & Captiva.

Another great day of charter fishing off Captiva!

Fair winds and following seas,

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

Like yesterday, it was another good Captiva fishing charter day.

We caught spanish mackerel and ladyfish.

Spanish mackerel are a great fish.  They are incredibly fast and feed aggressively in schools.  They can be a lot of fun to catch because they fight very hard for their size.

Spanish mackerel have very sharp teeth and can sometimes bite the bait fish in half and not take the hook.  You can also catch them on lures and jigs in the right feeding situations.

They are generally considered a good eating fish.  If the fish are cleaned correctly, you’ll have large, non bony filets, relative to the size of the fish.  Have a guide or someone else who has experience cleaning mackerel show you how to best filet the fish.

Some people think they are a bit too oily, but many folks consider this part of mackerel’s culinary appeal.

Ladyfish are also fun to catch because they jump and give a very good fight, relative to their size.  You often encounter ladyfish mixed in with mackerel.

Ladyfish are most definitely not an eating fish.  They are missile-like in shape and all hard bone and hard muscle.  They can be good to cut up as shark bait.

Make sure the ladyfish’s belly is pointed away from you when you handle them to remove the hook.  They are hard to hold because they squirm and fight so vigorously.  You’ll end-up grasping them quite firmly which may cause them to poop on you, if you have them pointed in the wrong direction!

They are also pretty slimy.  Keep an old towel nearby to wipe your hands and the deck.

One of my dog Hank’s habits is that he loves to lick the slime off ladyfish.  He doesn’t have the “hankering” to do this with other fish – he is very selective and his only licking habit is with ladyfish.  But Hank is a good first mate – we all have our weaknesses!

Fair winds and following seas,

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

Pretty straight forward day.

We caught trout and jacks off Captiva, and then moved up to North Captiva and caught mackerel and ladyfish.

Then tried for some sharks and, for the first time in a long time, came up empty.  They weren’t biting.

Fair winds and following seas,

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

Tried for tarpon off the beach at Captiva this morning.  We saw a few but never got a bite.

We moved up to Boca Grande Pass towards midday.

It was a great bite in the the pass before a hard sea breeze picked up.  We caught 3 tarpon and lost 2 between 11:00 and 3:00.

Here are a couple of  a videos of today’s action:

Tarpon Jumping, Boca Grande – June 1.

Tarpon release, Boca Grande Pass – June 1.

Fair winds and following seas,

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