# Marco Island 7/17-19



## deerfly (Mar 10, 2007)

Took a dual family vacation in Marco this weekend. This was to be more of an "enjoy the weekend" sort of thing as opposed to a hard core fishing trip. Although I did make a stab at some serious dock light snooking with the fly rod, more about that in a minute.  I don't fish Marco much these days, preferring Chokoloskee and southward when ever I'm anywhere near the area. Back in the day we made 1/2 dozen trips or more a year between Goodland, Isle of Capri and Caxambas Pass or Cape Romano 100% hellbent on snook. As the area became more and more populated we went less and less preferring points way south into Everglades National Park instead. I haven't so much as drove through Marco in probably 5 years. Anyway, our friends have prodded us to join them on several occasions over the years, so this year we relented, or maybe "I relented" is closer to the truth. My wife knows I'm not much for these "lets act like tourists" and pretend to have fun getaways and after much of my grousing about the whole thing suggested I stay home and she'll go with "our" kids instead.   Its really hard for me to be so near my favorite place on Earth and not go hard at it. No doubt the fishing in and around the Marco area can be outstanding, but the area above the tide line looks more like Miami Beach these days than how I prefer to remember it when I first went there in 1964. If you've experienced it before the population explosion, its hard to accept it the way it is now. However, the fish probably haven't noticed the concrete as much as I have. So off we went...

Friday afternoon at the dock.









About 20 minutes later... (remember this is a tourist weekend)









Me and my brood.









Furture fishing show personalities (in the foreground). Look like redfish or bass pro touring anglers in the making to me...









Ok, I could only take hanging out for so long, here's a quick clip of about a 20lb tarpon that I ended up loosing maybe 5 mintues after this. Trey thought he was taking snap shots and didn't notice the camera was in video mode.   Right after this we jumped into the LT25 and tried to pull out into the canal, but the tarpon had enough energy to make it to the pilings one last time and cut me off.  



Not much later this little guy gave his all too.









The loaner LT25 (Navy Seal dock light assassin) thanks Captnron  









The studly pose for curtiss  :-*









While soaking baits along comes this little manatee. He comes up to the piling for a sniff of air kinda looking up at me. So I reach down and splash the water a bit with my hand and he comes a little closer for a scratch or two on the nose and the top of his head. Trey can't believe it, so I move out of the way and let him have at it. After a few seconds the manatee rolls over slowly and lets him scratch his belly. Pretty cool I'd say and definitely gives you another perspective on manatee idle zones...

















A little later our friends son Matt, gets a nice little snook.









Whats missing here is pictures of about 4 hours and 75 catfish later and maybe 2 hours of me napping in the A/C. I come out to the dock area around 4AM with kids laying everywhere on the patio furniture, passed out cold.   A half dozen empty Monster tall boys scattered on a table nearby too. Maybe a full dozen would have got another hour out of them.   

So I grab my fly rod and proceed to pry the two dock lights within casting distance. After maybe 2 casts to my left I hook a decent little snook, but pull the hook trying to keep him out of the pilings. Another 2 dozen casts and no takers, so I switch to the light to my right. Again after a few casts I hook another snook, fight him for 10-15 seconds and pull the hook again.  

After about 20 more casts and two fly changes, nadda. Since its almost daybreak by then I decide tp head across the canal to try the beach.  









A minute or two after that I decide the sunrise is worthy of a snap too. Not bad even with the concrete mucking it all up.  :









A little further down the beach I notice something at the shoreline. As I get closer I see the tragedy. Only an idiot would do this and a lucky idiot at that. Blacktips are pretty quick, hard to believe someone stupid enough to do something like this would also be lucky enough to actually net this fine creature, only to let it die? A$$ holes.  









Matt with a nice fat gray on a bucktail off the bottom. 









Right about here is another flurry of dock light action on the fly rod. After loosing a handful of flies Friday night I tied another 1/2 dozen Saturday afternoon, giving the kids a lesson on fly tying 101. Here's the pattern dejur on a #4 mustad. Not my best work but all I wanted to do was match the little glass minnows and pilchards that escaped my 3/8 mesh cast net, which is what the snook wanted. Anything bigger was rejected.









So after my mid evening nap, I come out to the same carnage of passed out kids only this time is was a tad after 3am. So I sneak away in the LT25 armed with my new flies. Lost all but 3 in absolute knock down battles. I ended going from 8lb tippet to straight 30lb and they either pulled the hooks or cut me off. Between the current and the size of the fish, way too much power for my 8wt. Anyway I came in to tie more leaders in better light and Matt was awake and wanted to join me. Off we go, me with the 8wt and Matt with is spinner and an assortment of arties. Again, I got hit after hit and each time I got a good hookset the hook would either pull from the pressure or they'd cut me off. I did manage to get one 8, maybe 10lb crevalle to the boat after taking me into the backing twice and then ruining my fly line on the pilings. Matt was impressed tho, never seeing anyone fly fish first hand. With out any prodding he talked about the strike ratio with the flies compared to everything he tried. In almost two hours of casting he might have got two hits to my 20 and I let him have first dibs on most of the lights. Although I couldn't muscle them out of the current and structure, he's a changed fishing kid now. I predict within a few weeks he'll end up with a flyrod of his own.  

forgot to add... the spanish mackerel are thick in the passes and even on the inside in some of the deeper canals down there. The kids caught a fat 18"er off the docks and I caught two throwing mirrodines against the mangroves in a little back bay. The ones I hooked were a bit smaller, maybe 14"-17", but the water was less than 4' deep where we were.  Didn't matter tho, the little mack's were in there wearing out the huge schools of tiny pilchards. The second one cut through my 30lb mono leader and left with one of my favorite chartruse mirrodines.   Good thing I buy one every time I see them.


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## phishphood (Dec 15, 2006)

Nice breath mint DF. ;D

Looks like everybody had a good weekend to me. Job well done.


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## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

Flavored flys, no wonder you were out-fishing the youngster...


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## iwannagheenoe (Jun 28, 2007)

looks like a great trip


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## tom_in_orl (Dec 9, 2006)

Another great report. There are several people on this forum that make it more entertaining to read posts hear than it is to read most fishing magazines.


Deerfly, I have a theory on the shark. I agree that it would have to been one heck of a random event for someone to have thrown the cast net and end up with a shark. More likely is that someone lost their cast net in then ocean. It probably collected a couple of bait fish when it went in or at a later time. The shark might have been after what ever was in the net and got caught itself. Not too much different than other nets that are lost at sea. Again just a theory.


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## deerfly (Mar 10, 2007)

Tom, that is a good theory too and could have been what happened as well. I did think about that briefly too. The thing that swayed me though was the mesh is too fine for the shark to get entangled like it would in a gill the net. And if the the net was lost with bait stuck in it I would have expected the shark to have some or part of the net in its mouth where it ate the bait. Of course its all speculation, but I'm sticking with my theory anyway.


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## Canoeman (Jul 23, 2008)

> Tom, that is a good theory too and could have been what happened as well. I did think about that briefly too. The thing that swayed me though was the mesh is too fine for the shark to get entangled like it would in a gill the net. And if the the net was lost with bait stuck in it I would have expected the shark to have some or part of the net in its mouth where it ate the bait. Of course its all speculation, but I'm sticking with my theory anyway.


Like you said, it is now a tourist destination. 

I can see it now, pasty white legs, learning to throw a cast net when in comes a Mr. Shark. "Quick Babs, pack it up, we're leaving." 

Two days later... safe at home in Chicago.  ;D

Nice report and pics.


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## aaronshore (Aug 24, 2007)

Good job Eric. There is almost nothing better than a snook on the fly rod. The bonefish maybe, but its a total different fight. The snook is more like a UFC brawl.


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

hey deerfly,
is that the boat house you were staying at? if so where did you launch your boat and store the trailer?

They told me I couldn't park my trailer in there lot so we cancelled our vacation recently. Also how much were the rooms going for now?


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## deerfly (Mar 10, 2007)

> hey deerfly,
> is that the boat house you were staying at? if so where did you launch your boat and store the trailer?
> 
> They told me I couldn't park my trailer in there lot so we cancelled our vacation recently. Also how much were the rooms going for now?


sent ya a PM. All I will say publicly is for a "boating" destination Marco Island is probably the "least" friendly place for a family with a trailer able boat I've ever stayed. I seriously doubt I'll ever go back for that reason alone. 

As fer the cost, I haven't looked at the bill yet, but before we left my wife told me to be prepared for $150 a night by the time taxes and all that other crap are figured in. Not really worth it IMO, esp when you factor in the boat launch and trailer stowage costs and hassles. I'd recommend Everglades City or Chokoloskee for anyone that wants to fish/boat that region. The Marco Nazi's can have their island as far as I'm concerned.   

Which now that we're in this mode, I had a little "incident" with a local guide running up to and right by me within 15-18 yards while I was poling in 2'-3' of water casting along the mangroves with our friends son Matt. It was one of those deep stern squat idles tho, not on plane, want to make that clear.  I wasn't gonna mention it but since you opened the wound with the trailer business...

This idiot's FL numbers are 8330 LR if anyone wants say hi or hire him to trash others' fishing experiences in the Marco area. Needless to say I had some "words" with him and his customers as they went by. The captain and the big fat customer tried to act as though they couldn't hear me over the engine noise (it was a Yami 2 stroke, had it been a 4 stroke they would have needed another excuse ). The "other" customer, an older gentleman understood exactly what I was ranting about was obviously embarrassed too. So, watching in total disbelief at the disrespect and lack of courtesy, by a professional captain no less, I let them pass and get settled tossing their live baits in a cove about 80 yards further down the shoreline. All the while trying to explain best I could to Matt why I said the things I said. :  

Once they were busy fishing I cranked up Ron's whisper quiet 4 stroke and drove right to and by them as though they weren't even there.   One could argue that I kinda did to them exactly what they did to us. Of course, that's my view, others may differ.  

Anyway, as expected neither the captain nor his customers would even turn around to look at me. Probably because that 4 stroke is so damn quiet and that camo so effective these turds honestly didn't realize I passed withing 15 yards of them while staked out in 2' of water. That LT25 is one stealthy craft I tell ya.  Interestingly, after I passed them by 50 yards or so they picked up their baits and left.  :-?


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## skinny_water (Jun 11, 2008)

lol, sounds like the Tampa area. Fishing in Terra Ceia there are very large "manatee" zones everywhere. We were 200 yards inside of one of them polling an oyster bar in less than 2ft on some redfish. We got blown out by a boat load of college kids. They ran on plane all the way to the back corner of a mangrove line in a bay boat. After about 30 minutes they picked up and left for no apparent reason. Found them anchored just 15ft outside of the channel on the lee side of the mangroves. The waves were way up in the channel, and running such a small skiff in those waves we woulda took a beating.  ;D


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## HaMm3r (Dec 11, 2006)

That sure sounded like a great family getaway! [smiley=1-thumbsup1.gif] Taking it easy with the kids, catching some fish and just having fun. Doesn't get much better...


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

hey deerfly that sucks, My wifes family goes to the boathouse and rents the villa atleast once a year and fishes for a few days off the docks. I had hopes of bringing my boat next time, but.....
Theres gotta be some alternative.


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## deerfly (Mar 10, 2007)

> hey deerfly that sucks, My wifes family goes to the boathouse and rents the villa atleast once a year and fishes for a few days off the docks. I had hopes of bringing my boat next time, but.....
> Theres gotta be some alternative.


well, don't let me and my grouchy attitude scare you off. It is doable, its just that you'll need to either launch at a marina facility where you can stow the trailer too or launch at a public ramp and then take the trailer back towards Naples to stow etc and deal with the logistics of all that. Plus it will definitely cost you money or time and most likely both with a dose of aggravation tossed in for good measure. 

Like I said there is a place in Goodland that you can launch and stow the trailer, but it will cost you and its about 6 miles by water from the hotel. Not a big deal, but does add to the logistics of getting in and out of there. The hotel and location on the island is nice though, no complaints from that standpoint. Its just dealing with the boat and trailer that sucks.


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