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Fish Tales
 Cheers
to the Baitbox!
My first visit in more than 30 years
since I lived on the island. We went down there to pay homage to my mom to
spread her ashes by the fishing pier. So naturally we decided to pack
fishing gear. This is my youngest son Josh's first Sanibel Island snook off
the beach. Talk about a hard fighting fish on light tackle! They rate right
up there with the steelhead we catch up here in Michigan. My son and I
landed and released 8 nice snook last week. Lost so many I lost track. These
were small compared to the biggest one I landed (which I didn't get on
camera, but it was about 38"-12 lbs-I used my rod to measure it). It was the
last fish on the last cast of the week as a huge lightning storm was moving
in followed by 40 mph winds. My oldest son Zack saw the whole thing as well
as one avid fisherman cheering me on from the balcony of the condos.
I caught 15+ fish of 8 different
species in one morning of fantastic fishing. The bait was in so thick, you
could see it rolling down the
beach for a mile or so. Took me a couple days to get acclimated, but once I
got my cast net wet, things came easy. Pilchards, small hooks and light line
were deadly. Also caught as many mullet as I needed for shark fishing with
the cast net. The Baitbox set me up with everything I needed including some
new rigging techniques and tricks that I'll be using up here in the Great
Lakes for the musky,steelies and salmon. I'm definitely coming back!
Thanks for a truly memorable trip!
Rodney Jurban
Sportsman's Paradise, Michigan
Hello,
My family and I just spent a week
at the Sundial resort on Sanibel and had some amazing fishing right from
 the
beach in April. I’ve
included a few pictures/stories
for your website and would like to
thank the Bait Box for all of your tips, advice, and great service. As for some
of the fish stories, it all started with my first cast of the silver spoon that
I picked up from your shop that morning. I was casting my 2 year old daughter’s
tiny ice fishing reel that you can see in one of the pictures. Less than 20
yards from the shore, a snook nailed the spoon
 as
I was just testing the new little
ice
spinning
combo that I had bought. I had
never caught a snook before and was dying to hook into one. Folks gathered as I
reeled him in on 6-lb test with no leader and the tiniest rod ever. It was
quite humorous and one of those unforgettable fish tales. As for the rest of
the week, I mostly used the cut up thread-fin herring from the Bait Box and
fished on the bottom with a steel leader casting
out as far as possible. I’ve never
 seen
surf fishing and activity this good right in front of a resort. There were
constant bait fish, dolphin, and lots of species all over the shallow water.
I was able to land about 8 small
sharks between 10-25 inches, 1
snook, 1 mackerel, and
1 jack, with never a dull moment.
I lost 3 fish over 30 inches and
watched another gentleman
lose about a 50-lb tarpon
or snook that hit in about 3 feet of water. It was a great week of fishing and
family fun on a gorgeous island.
Thanks again from
Ed in Cleveland!
My buddy Brett and I left the wives and kids
at home last week with a smile on our face and a duffle bag full of tackle
boarded the plane for Ft. Myers. We spent three awesome days on the beach
surf fishing, a much needed break from the dreary Michigan winter. Though
we never caught any pompano which is what we really wanted there were enough
other species to keep us busy. One morning the Spanish Mackerel were in
thick and we loaded up on them. Bluefish and Ladyfish were so prevalent
they became a nuisance. One day we decided to break out the big
 surf rod
and cut up some ladyfish as bait. After Brett pulled in this 5’ lemon
shark, people on the beach figured they had enough swimming for the day. We
caught three nice sharks in a matter of an hour. Stopped by your place to
pick up some lures as usual, wish we could come more often! Thanks for all
the good information and tips.
Andrew Berki
Click here to
see the video of Alec landing his shark!
 I
caught this shark on a live mullet in Red Fish Pass. The rig was an Owner
8/0 circle hook and wire leader made from mason single strand wire that you
guys showed me how to tie. The rod and reel was a Penn 320i combo filled
with 300 yards 80 lb. power pro fishing line. All components to this success
story were purchased from you but the knowledge you shared was PRICELESS!
We should note
that success is not easily achieved and is seldom achieved without the cost
of failure. Although I landed two Bull Sharks that exceeded 100 lbs. and a
Black Tip Shark that was about 60 lbs. and a large Sting Ray. A very large
Tarpon and a few large Sharks were successful in taking 300 yards of 80
lb. power pro line off the reel so I could see the monofilament backer. No
choice but to break them off! The reel was definitely hot to the touch. The
large Tarpon did this in less than 30 seconds, at least he waved goodbye on
his last jump.
I will see you
guys in June when I come back from freezing Ohio.
Hello,
 Thought
I would send you a quick fishing report with some pictures. Our family
vacationed on Captiva the week of March 30 - April 7th (2007). We found the
beach fishing to be really sporadic, and tough at times. Could have had a lot
to do with the full moon? One day the fish were there, the next they were gone.
It was even tough to catch whiting this year which really surprised me, the ones
we did catch were all quite big however. We still managed enough pompano for
several good dinners, and plenty of bluefish and ladyfish in the mornings
supplied lots of action. The highlight were the blacktip sharks which were
plentiful. We would catch a ladyfish or whiting and use a 4" chunk of it for
bait, typically the rod would not sit for more than 20 minutes before it was
singing. I managed to land several in the 3' range and hooked several more that
spooled me, they were a lot of fun for sure. Here are a few pictures, maybe you
could post some on the "Catches of the Day".
Andy Berki,
Michigan
 *
As you can see my 11 yr old son Eric had quite a fan base.
 Was surf fishing in front of Sand Pointe from June 3rd -
10th. There were larger numbers of trout than usual and a few less snook.
Fishing was great and addictive as usual. Once the sun started setting I walked
my shark lines out to the second trough or sometimes further depending on the
surf. Almost every night I had at least one good run before dark. There were
schools of lady-fish all over the beaches so there were plenty of shark, snook
and the occasional tarpon would roll. I was using large catfish, ladyfish,
whiting and jack for bait on either my twin 9/0 penn reels or a 9/0 and my 12/0
(usualy with the 12/0 line out past the second sand bar and the 9/0 in the
second trough or in the first trough) The 12/0 was just mean spooled with 130#
Dacron (It's like something you would use to pull a jeep out of the mud) the 9/0
was perfect for 6 ft.+ sharks But catching a large lemon shark on my small bait
rod was a blast. I was using a 2 inch long piece of ladyfish in the first
trough to catch bait when a 5 ft lemon shark ate it instead. With the little
hook and short 2 foot leader, the fish didn't even know he was hooked at first
and was acting like a ray and then it took off for Mexico like a SHARK always
does. Took some pictures and let them all go healthy except for a bull shark
that I walked out passed the sandbar to revive, he was a 5 1/2 ft. bull that
only took about 10 - 15 minutes to get in on my 9/0 so he must have been pretty
weak to begin with. He flipped his tail and went for the bottom when I let him
go. I was able to share my fun and excitement
 with several people who would come
check periodically to see what I had hooked into through the week. I can't
wait to come back.
Bear from Kokomo, IN
 The
Bait Box Staff,
June
2006 - I just wanted to take a minute to thank all of you at the Bait
Box for your local fishing expertise. Even with having Tropical Storm
Alberto dampening the first couple of days of our vacation, we still
ended up having an amazing time fishing in Sanibel/Captiva.
Your
fishing lure and fishing spot recommendations really paid off. One
evening,
 after
the tropical storm had past, my wife Neida
 and myself caught Nine (9)
Snook just after sunset in the trough at the beach. As the darkness of
night came upon us, the only reason we stopped fishing was that a Six
(6) foot Lemon Shark cruised right past me in shin deep water. Earlier
that morning I had caught Ten (10) Snook in One (1) Hour - the bite was
really on. Sixteen (16) Snook in one day was a personal best for me, so
we reeled up and went home.
All
total for the week, I caught Twenty (22) Snook, One (1) Redfish, One (1)
Speckled Trout, One (1) Jack Crevalle and many Lady Fish and Mangrove
Snapper. My wife caught (6) Snook, One (1) Redfish and many Lady Fish
and Mangrove Snapper.
Thank you again for your friendly conversations and local expertise. We
are already looking forward to returning once again for more fishing
adventures.
Kevin T. Maus
Orlando, FL
Hi,
Thought I would let you know that I just got back from
a tremendous week of fishing off the surf in Captiva Island. I stopped at the
Bait Box on the way to Captiva and bought a bunch of tackle, line, hooks,
sinkers, and a large Yo-Zuri minnow (black back with mirror sides) and a big
Johnson Silver Minnow. My 7 year old son Eric and I had a blast during the week,
catching a total of 11 different species of fish from shore. The highlight of
the trip was this 41" snook that nailed my Yo-Zuri one morning and put up
quite the battle
on my medium action spinning gear and 14 lb mono. I'm from Michigan however a
guy was fishing down the beach and came down to watch me battle the fish and
took this picture of my son and I. He was from Orlando and said the snook was a
big one to catch off the beach. Anyway, thanks for all your tips and we will see
you again next year! Also caught this nice 25" Spanish which hit the
Johnson Silver Minnow.
One thing I forgot to add to my message was that it was
great reviving the big snook in the surf and watching her swim away. I think it
is really important to instill good fishing ethics in young children, our future
fisherman of tomorrow....
You will definitely see us next year, I wish it could
be sooner however it is kind of costly coming all the way from Michigan. You
folks provided top-notch information that really made our trip a success. Thanks
again.
Andy Berki, Michigan
In his own words...
 "I've
been fishing at Sanibel and i thouhgt it was great. In 2 weeks i cought 5
sharks, 13 snook, and many other fish. I thought the best way to fish was
getting 5-dozen shrimp and catching a bunch of whiting for bait then using them
to catch sharks and snook. i also liked using rappala stick baits ( silver /
black back) (white / red head).
On July 4'th after people stopped w/ their fire works i whent out fishing. it
was about 10:00 pm. I put on a piece of whitting w/ a 5/o catfish hook, 40lb.
test berkly, 6500-abu garcia, and a 10 ft berkly
catfish rod. The tide was out so i was standing on the sand bar which was out of
water. i was looking for shells and baitfish in the little bit of water runing
betwene the sand bar and the beach. Then i heard my reel singing as the line
peeled off of it. i was so exited i forgot to put on my glove and when i set the
hook it took the skin off my finger , but i was to happy to let that bother me.
i put on my glove and set the hook again. i was down to very litlle line, i
could even see the knot, then suddenly the fish turned arround and started
coming twards me. it was moving so fast i could hardly reel my line in fast
enough. THen the lin when totaly slack. i thought he got of so i lowered my rod
and started slowly reeling in my line. Then it took off again and almost taking
the rod out of my hands. After a while of fighting the fish i saw that it was a
pretty good sized lemon shark. it was totalk dark so the flashlight i
had on a string dangling from my wrist was getting in the was a bit. The tide
started coming back so while still fighting the shark i managed to move all my
stuff off from the sand bar to the beach. About 1.5ft of water was on the sand
bar now. I reeled the tired shark into the the sand bar but he got stuck. i was
going to get him of the sand bar but the water was to dark and to high for me to
get out there. After i while i cut the line. As soon as i did my mom finaly came
down to check on me untill then i was alone out there that night. my mom
couldn't believe the shark i had cought that night. When my mom and step dad got
done looking at the shark they came back into the condoe to find me laying in
bed to tired to talk about the fish. The next day i whent out
to go fishing again. about 10 min after i got out there 2 guys spotted my shark
in the water. After i explained to them that i couhgt the shark and it was dead
a man who i found to be a new fishing partner pulled the shark out of the water.
not many people believed i had cought it so i showed them my green line, 90lb.
wire leader and my 5/o hook that was still hanging out of it's mouth. It was
about a 7 ft. lemon shark.
at
the time i was 12 now i'm 14.
Bear
sitzes"
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