Good News For Once For Shore Bound Fishermen

[SnookMook]

Blind Pass between Sanibel and Captiva Islands is again open!! This is indeed good news for shore bound fishermen. I know this may be a good drive for many people who frequent this board, but the Blind Pass dredging project was finally completed back in August. I’m happy to say the Pass is open, flowing strong, and already has an established fishery.



I recently fished the Pass for on a number of days and nights last week during by bi-annual vacation I take every year on the islands.

I caught many species of fish, including snook, redfish, speckled trout, Spanish mackerel, and many mangrove snapper and sheepshead. I also caught some nice big black drum and snook at night from a top the bridge. I also caught all the usual suspects such as jacks, ladyfish, a few small sharks, etc. It's all there if you target it.





There are many areas to fish from the beach on the south shore wrapping under the bridge and onto the inside flats leading to Wulfurt Channel.

This is looking north on the east side toward Wulfert.



The jetty on the north side is much the same, however it extends all the way around to the bridge itself as you can see in this photo.



There is plenty of room to fish from the bridge and there are no signs posted saying fishing is not allowed. Hopefully, it will stay that way.

If anyone is looking for a good place to get away and shore fish, check out Castaways at Blind Pass. It’s right there at what they call Santiva.

I stay there all the time and now that the Pass is open again it is once again a great place to fish. There’s a general/convenience store right there as well and the Castaway’s marina bait shop gets great shrimp and there’s a great fish cleaning station there as well.

[bluemack]

tnx!!!!!

[diggin4grouper]

have been fishing it since it opened back up , there are a few fish that can be caught , if you have the right tackle. the fish that is mostly there is the mangrove snappers live shrimp by the bridge , will catch them other than that its a slow pick of the others besides the trash fish of lady's jacks , cats , and sharks , the only thisng that sucks if you dont have the parking pass from the island you will have to pay the 2 dollar an hour parking fee the north side parking lot isnt fully open yet and the south side only has parking for about 12 to 15 cars and is nomaly packed and the next parking is 2 1/2 miles away south , right about sun set is the best show in the world if you get out that way there is tons of bait that come through at that time and there is everything crashing them , and i have thrown every thing in the book at them to no avail , have seen kings , tarpon , spanish macks , snook , and huge reds jumping out of the water crashing the bait . there are a few grouper around but they are very selective on what they chew on from day to day ,

[JSG2891]

Thats my tarpon spot!! lol..I fish off the beach or the tip of the jetty out into the gulf..i believe it is called turner beach, one of the nicest i've ever been to and my favorite place on sanibel. real pretty there at sunset.

[JSG2891]

right about sun set is the best show in the world if you get out that way there is tons of bait that come through at that time and there is everything crashing them , and i have thrown every thing in the book at them to no avail , have seen kings , tarpon , spanish macks , snook , and huge reds jumping out of the water crashing the bait . there are a few grouper around but they are very selective on what they chew on from day to day ,

early summer, get yourself a catfish and chop the head and tail lobes off..on the outgoing tide i post up on the south side of the pass, the sanibel side..if you can get your bait out there about 100 yards it can get pretty nuts..for whatever reason it seemed like 75% of the time they prefered catfish, there are some real big tarpon that seem to hang around there early-mid summer.

[Joe Fisherman]

Anyone know if the other parking lot has opened back up yet? Probably gonna do some fishing during thanksgiving break.

[JSG2891]

Anyone know if the other parking lot has opened back up yet? Probably gonna do some fishing during thanksgiving break.

as far as i know both parking lots are open, there is one on the sanibel and captiva islands, either side of the pass. i haven't been out there in a while though, i was there back in august and the only parking lot open was the one on the sanibel side of the pass

[SnookMook]

Joe--Both parking lots are open now. However, bring some quarters or an ATM debit card. The machines have been real finicky, especially in the mornings due to the moisture and temperature. The dollar bill slots don't work well till they heat up and dry out. Big pain in the azz for me a couple of times.

By the way I like that avatar photo. That photog has some talent. LOL

[Big Daddy]

Thanks for the report and pics Mook. Glad to hear it's open again. Spent lots of great times there growing up on the W coast. Pulled nice snook off that bridge, and wading the beaches. One of our (wife) fav places for sunsets for almost 40 years!

[Joe Fisherman]

Haha yeah Mook I swiped that off you awhile back love your pics . Any chance I could get a higher res version of that picture for a wallpaper.