Sanibel Island - Definite Destination

Made the trip around the mainland, over the Cape Coral bridge, more mainland, and over the causeway to Sanibel Island -- six dollar toll to get over the causeway bridges.  Be sure to stop at the Sanibar & Captiva Island's Chamber of Commerce (Visitors Center) on the right after coming over the causeway and pick up their island guide with map inside -- maybe get the Shell Museum brochure too as it folds out and has a wonderful guide with pictures of all the "Seashells of Sanibel and Captiva" (helpful when you walk the 15 miles of beaches and collect one of each).  I will definitely go back and try to complete my collection.

What a difference from Pine Island but, beware of all the stop and go in traffic because of the popularity of this beautiful oasis -- pedestrians and bicycles have the right-of-way at all crossings.  Most helpful at the busy intersections is the presence of traffic cops (with bright neon green gloves) directing traffic.  Getting back from Captiva Island at the northern end may offer some challenge but, I will save that for another visit (come earlier, stay later maybe).

This first time here, I decided, I would just like to walk the highly tauted "shell-lined" beaches and spend a couple hours there on the Gulf Coast (rather than Pine Island's Sound).  All parking is in designated areas and there is a $2 per hour fee that must be paid at the pay stations before you can comfortably leave your car behind and take one of the nice beach accesses to the wide sandy beaches.  They are really shell-lined and heavily mixed into the sand so, finding a band of sand comfortable to bare feet can be a bit of a challenge (or you can just wear sandals or flip-flops) -- I decided to wade in the gentle waves of the Gulf in water no deeper than my knees.  Later I took a dip to cool off after leaving my shirt behind during my walk toward the lighthouse end of the island.

On my walk, I encountered numerous flocks of various types of Seagulls or Terns and some Sandpipers -- all seemed to be visitor friendly and would let you walk within a couple feet of them without flying off (their squawking may have said something different but, I didn't understand them).  The Pelicans seemed to be content to just float around offshore in small groups enjoying the gentle rolling waves.  This wave action seemed to generate small waves in the sand of the shallow waters -- maybe two or three inches wide.

Lightning Whelk egg cases & shells

I originally tried to get into the parking area closest to the southern tip (Lighthouse Beach) but, it had filled up already when I passed through there around 10:30.  So, I ended up at the next area (Gulf Side City Park) where I happily paid for a couple hours with thoughts of leaving there before 1:00 p.m., get some live shrimp and stop at the causeway to try the fishing.  Parking on the causeway is free and there are nice restroom facilities there too.


Who Goes Where - I dunno



Pine Island (closer by boat)

The shrimp cost $1 a dozen more than in the Florida Keys (which was $3) and they were much smaller, leading to the smaller bait stealers to nibble at them and take most of them before I could catch anything.  I had my larger pole rigged with the recommended slip bobber and leader as I plied the sea grass just off the beach with my smaller rig for the bottom.  I never even noticed a bite on the bobber but, everytime I brought it in the hook was empty.  As I stared across the narrow bay while I wading in the water, I knew the narrow land mass close on the horizon had to be Pine Island -- thought how close it would have been to just paddle the mile or two across the sound to fish these same trout laden waters (that's what the guy at the "Bait Box" had said earlier).  I had a couple good strikes on the small rod but, missed them both.  One of the strikes came when I attempted to wade back in to be close to the larger rod planted in the holder at the beach -- as I let out the line to do so.

Friendly Fred I call this guy

After a couple hours, one guy next to me left and I decided to put away the larger pole in the Jeep and head further to my left and to the point where the seagrass seemed to start.  An older couple had pulled in and they had already headed that way with all their fishing gear but, stayed to the concrete above the beach.  As I walk/waded along the beach I felt the waters suddenly get warmer at one point and just after I cast to the grasses I felt the nice tug on the line and set the hook in my first sea trout.  He was a pretty spotted trout of some 12 inches or more -- slender and silvery in color.  Since I could only keep anything 15 to 20 inches (one over 20 inches is allowed), I gently eased the trout back into the shallows and nudged it along to the deeper waters and the sea grass.

Two or three more times I had the same tugs and a couple solid hits but, I didn't manage to get those as I ran out of shrimp.  I went over to the couple that had preceded me and told the guy of the numerous hits but, that I had used up all my bait and would be leaving.  They had fished there the night before and only caught a couple Flounder but, didn't keep anything as his wife didn't eat fish.  They were on vacation too and I noticed they were using some artificial bait that reminded me of the "Fish Bites" Mike Holland from PEI used at Flagler Beach.  It also reminded me that I had a pack of "Gulp!" in my tackle box (gift from my neighbor Charlie in Fiesta Key).  So, I dug out that pack of already opened shrimp look-a-likes with its pre-scented lures, hooked it on my bait hook and cast it back into the water -- after a couple good strikes, I began to think that old Charlie mght have given me something good afterall (I had tried it at Fiesta Key and got no nibbles at all -- spoiled Snappers only wanted real live shrimp).

I began to imagine I might catch one of those nice keepers after all and Charlie would need to be thanked.  Well, as it turned out, I did manage to catch about an 18 inch fish on this artificial stuff but, it wasn't a trout -- maybe a big Mullet or a Runner.  So, I let him go and tried for a little while longer until I felt I might run out of daylight to navigate my way back over the mainland to Pine Island.  Ended up getting back into the heart of Pine Island as a bright yellow sun began to set.  Just enough time to get to the local Post Office and mail my daugther's 30th birthday card before facing the twins (Tiger and Molly) with no catch of the day.