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Date: March 2, 2024 Body of Water: Ten Thousand Islands, East of Marco Island, SW Florida Boat: Love-N-It With: DC Target: Snook Time: 8 AM - 4 PM Moon Phase: Waning Quarter Moon Conditions: Mixed sun and increasing clouds, generally southerly breeze, part of a recent warming trend after a cool Florida winter. Water neither clear nor muddy. Air temperatures to 80 and water temperatures finally exceeding 75 degrees to about 78 degrees. Slack low tide in the middle of the trip. Perhaps DC and I had not fished together in six or more years, but our friendship and fishing compatibility picked up right where we'd left off. After more than 35 years of sharing boats and adventures, we found ourselves comfortably together in the company of Captain J. of lovenitfishingcharters.com/home-1. Warm weather was arriving, water temperatures were climbing, and snook, tarpon, redfish and seatrout were all on our radar. We left the Goodland, Florida town launch and headed out in a generally easterly direction and into the Ten Thousand Islands Region. After a substantial run over the shallow, calm water and through multiple mangrove mazes and channels, we pulled up to a spot I'd have targeted for stripers on Casco Bay or Vineyard Sound. The ebbing tide created a mild current seam off the tip of an oyster-laden point. We set up and started presenting free-lined pilchards (small green-back herring) to any available predators. This spot added the bonus of "deep" water nearby as our boat sat in about 9 feet of water as we pitched to the shoreline and bar edges. We had a few taps and nervous baits here, but quickly moved on in search of active predators. At our third stop, and at about the height of sunshine for the day, we enjoyed the first real action of the day. A gut between two islands poured current out and over a lengthy oyster bar. We missed a couple of chances from small fish, and a large swirl indicated bigger ones were around before I finally got hooked up. An approximate 20-inch snook lept out of the water to identify himself. Unfortunately, our lines tangled and in a moment of slack, our first catch was slightly delayed. Fortunately, my next cast produced a similar-sized snook and we were on the board. After a couple of others, DC suddenly hooked up while retrieving his bait; soon a 28-inch, fat snook was in the net! Snook were finally waking up for the day and for the season, and this was the largest of J's for the year to date. After the action here quieted, we set up off another non-descript "island" of just a couple of mangroves. Here, I landed my best-ever snook on a larger-than-average pilchard. This snook was also 28 inches, but sleek and less energetic than DC's. Our next stop was in the Fakahatchee State Park East Strand, and we found a pocket of active snook in the the clearer water. These energetic guys were energetic but small. I was treated to a juvenile Goliath Grouper, too, for some spice and variety. This was a new-to-me species, and a cool-looking one, to boot. At this point (about 11:30 AM or so), slack low caught up to us and the fish activity slowed way down. We tried a variety of wind-blown edges and points, and worked hard to scratch out additional bites and fish. Several seatrout and a couple of jacks came aboard, as did a small shark, some mangrove snappers and some more small snook, but a hot bite never redeveloped. Still, the prospect of finding the right snook (or tarpon!) kept us motivated, and a few obviously bigger fish did avail themselves to chummed livies. We had transitioned from oyster bars to sandy beaches and mangrove edges, and as the current started to pick up, so did the quality bites. We added several more snook in the low-20s, and DC completed his Inshore Slam with the single (small) redfish of the day. We were running out of time, but our last stop produced another nice snook for me and a final solid miss, while several nice fish showed themselves on freebies. Unfortunately, we never connected with The One, but we were already looking ahead to the next day! What do I have to say about this? I cannot thank DC and his wife for reaching out to us and inviting us to join them. We've been friends for 37 or more years, and we should continue to do so. Every aspect of the weekend was pleasant. It was great to be outside and fishing again! Conditions were comfortably warm but not too hot, and the clouds made the long days bearable. But maybe hotter and clearer would have been better; the snook seem to prefer those conditions. Captain J at Love-n-It did a great job, working hard on our behalf to keep us on productive spots and near active fish. We burned a lot of gas and were mostly fishing alone and away from others. He provided a full day of intense fishing and opportunity. I'd fish with him again, without hesitation! It was great to be fishing with DC again. He's really the only fishing partner that I've had with the same consistent attitude, approach and appetite for fishing long and hard. I'm really pleased that we've re-connected. So many bites! We used the same presentation all day; nose-hooked 3-5 inch pilchards with no weight, light and small circle hooks, and the bail closed. Small fish proved pesky, but even they entertained with their multiple attempts to engulf the bait from the surface. Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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