April 4-5, 2008
EDISON BIG SNOOK FISHING TOURNAMENT
Wow! That's the only word that I can come up with to describe this years
Edison Big snook tournament. With harsh windy weather conditions this
proved to be the most challenge 2 day event I have ever fished. 20+ knot
winds plagued us both days and the new slot size for snook presented us
an even bigger problem. How ever if size doesn't really matter to you and
all you care to do is catch fish than this was your trip. We boated plenty of
fish, We caught grouper, flounder , trout, redfish, lots of small under size
snook and even a tarpon. I think all of the slot size went south to get out of
the wind. 40 out of 60 boats never weighed a fish. All in all the tournament
was a great success and we had a great time. My thanks to tournament
director Sawyer Smith for once again hosting such exciting fun filled safe
weekend.
July 9th, 2008
Today was one those days I just had to ad to my fishing report. Not only
did I get to fish with my goods friends Dave Anderson and Rich Fooks
(Happy birthday Richy), I got to experience several different things all in
about six hours on the water. We left Punta Rassa boat ramp at 7:30am
and ran north, got bait and headed to Redfish pass to fish the top of the
high out going tide to target the snook that hang out there. We made a
few drifts and received a visit from a young dolphin. This dolphin would
not leave us alone! It hung around the boat on every drift and would come
up and stick his head out of the water, make noise, roll over on it's back
and followed us for about 20 minutes. Now dolphin are pretty cool but we
were after snook. So, we went to fish the nearby docks and had a blast.
We caught redfish and mangrove snapper and had a surprise visit from a
young manatee who came up to the transom for a back scratch. As we
were getting ready for departure the tarpon starting rolling, it was tough to
leave but I knew I would back.
July 10-13, 2008
Annual Fort Myers Beach Grouper Rodeo
2nd Place Finish
Now, as most of you know, I spend most of my time in the back country
where the average depth is about 4 feet but on occasion I do venture out
to the Gulf. This weekend was one of those occasions. I was asked by
my good friend Shane Wilson (Shane Waterfront Wilson that is) and
Capt. Mike Gavala to fill in on their team in the Fort Myers Beach Lions
Club Offshore Fishing Rodeo. BTW, we placed 2nd in the snapper
division. We lost 1st by 6 ounces, We had an incredible trip. This was a
grouper and snapper tournament which started Friday night at 7:00 pm
and ended Saturday night with weigh-in at 6:00 pm. We could weigh two
fish from each grouper species and two fish from each snapper species.
Now our grouper bite was slow as well as everybody else's but man did
Capt. Mike put us on the snapper. We limited Saturday morning on
American Reds and we also caught mangrove and yellow tail snapper.
We caught a few red grouper, sharks, Bonita and a estimated 300 pound
Goliath Grouper. Man what a fight! I don't know who was more tired, me
or the fish. Thanks to Capt. Mike and the Lions Club of Fort Myers Beach.
I had a great time and think I may have found a new offshore team to fish
with, Thanks Guys!
Capt. Bill can also be followed on:
www.Twitter.com/CaptBillHammond
EDISON BIG SNOOK FISHING TOURNAMENT
Wow! That's the only word that I can come up with to describe this years
Edison Big snook tournament. With harsh windy weather conditions this
proved to be the most challenge 2 day event I have ever fished. 20+ knot
winds plagued us both days and the new slot size for snook presented us
an even bigger problem. How ever if size doesn't really matter to you and
all you care to do is catch fish than this was your trip. We boated plenty of
fish, We caught grouper, flounder , trout, redfish, lots of small under size
snook and even a tarpon. I think all of the slot size went south to get out of
the wind. 40 out of 60 boats never weighed a fish. All in all the tournament
was a great success and we had a great time. My thanks to tournament
director Sawyer Smith for once again hosting such exciting fun filled safe
weekend.
July 9th, 2008
Today was one those days I just had to ad to my fishing report. Not only
did I get to fish with my goods friends Dave Anderson and Rich Fooks
(Happy birthday Richy), I got to experience several different things all in
about six hours on the water. We left Punta Rassa boat ramp at 7:30am
and ran north, got bait and headed to Redfish pass to fish the top of the
high out going tide to target the snook that hang out there. We made a
few drifts and received a visit from a young dolphin. This dolphin would
not leave us alone! It hung around the boat on every drift and would come
up and stick his head out of the water, make noise, roll over on it's back
and followed us for about 20 minutes. Now dolphin are pretty cool but we
were after snook. So, we went to fish the nearby docks and had a blast.
We caught redfish and mangrove snapper and had a surprise visit from a
young manatee who came up to the transom for a back scratch. As we
were getting ready for departure the tarpon starting rolling, it was tough to
leave but I knew I would back.
July 10-13, 2008
Annual Fort Myers Beach Grouper Rodeo
2nd Place Finish
Now, as most of you know, I spend most of my time in the back country
where the average depth is about 4 feet but on occasion I do venture out
to the Gulf. This weekend was one of those occasions. I was asked by
my good friend Shane Wilson (Shane Waterfront Wilson that is) and
Capt. Mike Gavala to fill in on their team in the Fort Myers Beach Lions
Club Offshore Fishing Rodeo. BTW, we placed 2nd in the snapper
division. We lost 1st by 6 ounces, We had an incredible trip. This was a
grouper and snapper tournament which started Friday night at 7:00 pm
and ended Saturday night with weigh-in at 6:00 pm. We could weigh two
fish from each grouper species and two fish from each snapper species.
Now our grouper bite was slow as well as everybody else's but man did
Capt. Mike put us on the snapper. We limited Saturday morning on
American Reds and we also caught mangrove and yellow tail snapper.
We caught a few red grouper, sharks, Bonita and a estimated 300 pound
Goliath Grouper. Man what a fight! I don't know who was more tired, me
or the fish. Thanks to Capt. Mike and the Lions Club of Fort Myers Beach.
I had a great time and think I may have found a new offshore team to fish
with, Thanks Guys!
Capt. Bill can also be followed on:
www.Twitter.com/CaptBillHammond
| Brothers, Wade and Capt. Bill Hammond with a small snook caught during the 2008 Edison Big Snook Tournament |
| Pictured at right, from top: Capt. Bill Hammond, Shane Wilson, Steve Teague & Mr. Goliath |
View Angela's Blog on:
| Check our availability calendar - |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
Location: Port Sanibel Marina, 14341 Port Comfort Rd., Fort Myers, FL 33908 Mailing: 16301 Vesta Ln., Fort Myers, FL 33908 (239)410-3454
January 19, 2010
THE RECENT FISH KILLS CAUSED BY FREEZING TEMPS AS I SEE IT
Hi Everyone!
I'm writing this letter because of the large amount of inquiries from our friends up
north about what they are seeing in the media regarding the fish kills that are a result
of the freezing temperatures down here in Florida lately.
My Firsthand knowledge of the fish kills in Florida.....
The freeze was devastating to many industries in our beautiful state. The fish kills in
Florida were massive and covered the whole state. I think that is why this has
become such a big story for the sometimes misinformed media.
Fortunately for us we live in the southern half of our long state so we were spared,
not totally, but spared in comparison. The fish kills here aren't nearly as bad as they
have experienced from Tampa area north. I'm not going to lie, we have seen fish kills
which saddens us immensely. The good news for this area is the fact that it targeted
mostly just a few species, Snook, Catfish, freshwater species and smaller bait fish that
I've seen.
Right now the FWC is closing snook for harvest (keeping) until August 31st. I
personally think it should be longer but I'll take it. We are still allowed to 'catch &
release' so fishing will NOT be affected.
They are also allowing 'catch & release' Tarpon fishing. We just can't keep or kill
them (not that we would ever want to) . We have never encouraged that anyway
since you have to buy a $50 tag to do so and besides there is no need for it.
Nowadays you don't need to kill a fish to have a mount made of your trophy.
So, as I see it, it really hasn't changed things for us. Sure, there won't be any Snook
dinners on the table between now and the end of Summer but we'll still have a great
time catching them. So if your not fishing for Snook in particularly to take them home
for dinner, nothings changed. Redfish, trout, sheephead, black drum, kingfish, cobia,
etc. are still in good shape.
Also on the bright side, the waters have warmed up quite a bit since then. We saw
twenty plus juvenile Snook hanging around the marina and eating well. It was an
absolute beautiful day and we expect 78 degrees as our high temp tomorrow.
We hope to see you all down here in our beautiful area of the world and hope we can
have you aboard to do some fishing!
Capt. Bill Hammond
THE RECENT FISH KILLS CAUSED BY FREEZING TEMPS AS I SEE IT
Hi Everyone!
I'm writing this letter because of the large amount of inquiries from our friends up
north about what they are seeing in the media regarding the fish kills that are a result
of the freezing temperatures down here in Florida lately.
My Firsthand knowledge of the fish kills in Florida.....
The freeze was devastating to many industries in our beautiful state. The fish kills in
Florida were massive and covered the whole state. I think that is why this has
become such a big story for the sometimes misinformed media.
Fortunately for us we live in the southern half of our long state so we were spared,
not totally, but spared in comparison. The fish kills here aren't nearly as bad as they
have experienced from Tampa area north. I'm not going to lie, we have seen fish kills
which saddens us immensely. The good news for this area is the fact that it targeted
mostly just a few species, Snook, Catfish, freshwater species and smaller bait fish that
I've seen.
Right now the FWC is closing snook for harvest (keeping) until August 31st. I
personally think it should be longer but I'll take it. We are still allowed to 'catch &
release' so fishing will NOT be affected.
They are also allowing 'catch & release' Tarpon fishing. We just can't keep or kill
them (not that we would ever want to) . We have never encouraged that anyway
since you have to buy a $50 tag to do so and besides there is no need for it.
Nowadays you don't need to kill a fish to have a mount made of your trophy.
So, as I see it, it really hasn't changed things for us. Sure, there won't be any Snook
dinners on the table between now and the end of Summer but we'll still have a great
time catching them. So if your not fishing for Snook in particularly to take them home
for dinner, nothings changed. Redfish, trout, sheephead, black drum, kingfish, cobia,
etc. are still in good shape.
Also on the bright side, the waters have warmed up quite a bit since then. We saw
twenty plus juvenile Snook hanging around the marina and eating well. It was an
absolute beautiful day and we expect 78 degrees as our high temp tomorrow.
We hope to see you all down here in our beautiful area of the world and hope we can
have you aboard to do some fishing!
Capt. Bill Hammond
| All the beautiful Snook above were released to catch another day. |
| Caught & Released! |
| Caught & Released! |
| Caught & Released! |
February 8, 2010
Taking over this Fishing Report!
I've decided to take over Capt. Bill's fishing report. Mutiny if you will. I hear all the
reports daily so since I have more time then Capt. Bill it only seems right since we're
in this together anyway. I hope to add a feminine touch to the blog so please don't
be confused when I use the words fabulous or pretty. Capt. Bill cringes every time I
Face book or Tweet a report and use those words. However, I do plan on adding a
little more about shelling, ecology and general beauty and events of S.W. Florida.
Right now we are in our Edison Pageant season in Ft. Myers so my time is also taken
up with Royal festivities and such. If you haven't been to Ft. Myers, come now. It's a
fun time of year here with sporting events, art festivals, concerts, parades, etc. I
describe it as our Mardi Gras. Thomas was an avid Tarpon fisherman and personal
friend of my Great Grandfather. This tradition which was inspired by the man of the
century is an event I've not missed since birth. I hope who ever is reading this also
get to partake. It's a great time for the guys to go fishing while the women fold do
some art buying and just enjoying the weather and festivities.
FISHING....
Fortunately, our weather and fishing had been much better then expected. We are
still catching snook and a customer had a nice 28" snook last week. I am getting
reports of many snook spotted but still lock jawed from the cold water. The redfish
are biting like crazy in the Ding Darling preserve area on Sanibel as well as sea trout.
The trout are bigger then we've ever seen and have landed up on many tables
recently. Flounder are making their appearance on the cleaning table also. Snapper
are small but plentiful. Sheephead are crazy right now with lots also ending up on the
table. I have to say despite the colder water Sanibel and Captiva waters are thick
with fish, not huge fish but lots of them.
Taking over this Fishing Report!
I've decided to take over Capt. Bill's fishing report. Mutiny if you will. I hear all the
reports daily so since I have more time then Capt. Bill it only seems right since we're
in this together anyway. I hope to add a feminine touch to the blog so please don't
be confused when I use the words fabulous or pretty. Capt. Bill cringes every time I
Face book or Tweet a report and use those words. However, I do plan on adding a
little more about shelling, ecology and general beauty and events of S.W. Florida.
Right now we are in our Edison Pageant season in Ft. Myers so my time is also taken
up with Royal festivities and such. If you haven't been to Ft. Myers, come now. It's a
fun time of year here with sporting events, art festivals, concerts, parades, etc. I
describe it as our Mardi Gras. Thomas was an avid Tarpon fisherman and personal
friend of my Great Grandfather. This tradition which was inspired by the man of the
century is an event I've not missed since birth. I hope who ever is reading this also
get to partake. It's a great time for the guys to go fishing while the women fold do
some art buying and just enjoying the weather and festivities.
FISHING....
Fortunately, our weather and fishing had been much better then expected. We are
still catching snook and a customer had a nice 28" snook last week. I am getting
reports of many snook spotted but still lock jawed from the cold water. The redfish
are biting like crazy in the Ding Darling preserve area on Sanibel as well as sea trout.
The trout are bigger then we've ever seen and have landed up on many tables
recently. Flounder are making their appearance on the cleaning table also. Snapper
are small but plentiful. Sheephead are crazy right now with lots also ending up on the
table. I have to say despite the colder water Sanibel and Captiva waters are thick
with fish, not huge fish but lots of them.
