Pine Island - No Real Photo-ops

Just checked my digital camera to be sure but, it shows "No Picture" and that confirms what I thought (only two pictures in the Pine Island folder -- both of my RV parked in the campground).  Really nothing to take pictures of around the island as everyplace is "POSTED" (NO TRESPASSING) or you have to pay at the "Ships Store" in the marina off Pineland Rd. to park in their dirt and gravel, or pay to park at the Commercial Fishery/Marina off of Maria Rd. (again dust and dirt) -- rate seems to be $10 or $15 per day depending on which one you choose (I chose neither - NO THANK YOU).

I did check out Tropical Point per the recommendation of one gal in the camp office and found that it does have an opening in the Mangroves (as she had said) with a mud/sand beach about two parking spaces wide and there is space for maybe 6 cars and it had a port-a-john -- makes that beach (Annes Beach) in Plantation Key look ten times better with its real concrete structures and bathrooms.  While at Tropical Point I talked with a couple guys getting ready to fish and one of them had a place here and the other came down from New York (Rochester) to visit.  They had been to the marina at Pineland Rd. earlier trying to rent a boat but, the marina didn't have any so, they were forced to come to the one place they could get access to fish.  There were two fishermen out in the shallow waters fishing about a quarter mile down from the point but, they started from the same location -- they were about 75 yards out from the Mangroves in waist deep water and were fishing a small channel there but, hadn't caught anything.  I went back later in the day to see if anyone had caught anything but, they all were gone and were replaced by kayakers and a couple with two small children playing in the sandy mud beach waters.

So two days of probing for access to fish yields only Tropical Point -- I even looked for a small local charter boat fishing outfit (North Captiva Charters) supposedly on Flamingo Drive but, it seemed to be non-existent (perhaps taken captive by the locals).  Looks like today will be the trip to Sanibel Island and will stay to the southern end as recommended by one of those two men at Tropical Point -- he said the fishing pier is right there and that the traffic congestion from the other end of the island is bad later in the day.  Will take my camera, fishing gear, and beach towel expecting much better things than Pine Island offers (which seems to be very, very little).  I will also get a picture of Tropical Point and its facilities on the way to Sanibel Island and will post it later today or this evening.

Guess I had better remember to take my sunscreen too and a couple Gatorades.  Will also take info on kayaks and dealers to check out on the way back from Sanibel Island.  Still have one fish to reheat for dinner tonight but, after that I will need to start getting more fish for me and the twins -- maybe a fish market will need to be another stop to make on Sanibel Island or Ft. Myers Beach (just in case).