August is nearly over! Where does the time go? I guess the saying is right “Time flies when you are having rum!” or is it “…when you are having fun!”? Oh well, either way we have had a fantastic month. The fishing has been great with some big snook and slot reds, and the usual mackeral, sharks, flounder, and snapper. Capt Mike even got some permit the other day. I have attached a picture of Maria, a recent passenger out with Capt Mike on a fishing charter, showing off her 34″ snook that she landed all on her own using light tackle! She truly enjoys the sport of light tackle fishing and she knew what she was doing. She was thrilled and enjoyed releasing him back to the water.
Tropical Storm Isaac is putting a bit of a damper on our good times though and we are storing the boats away today until he passes. The wildlife sightings have been great and we are spotting lots of manatees around. One day we came across a group of about 10 manatees, so we killed the engine and just drifted alongside them. It was really great for our passengers to see this spectacle. The shelling in the Fort Myers Beach and Bonita Springs area has been awesome! On a recent coastal sealife and dolphin cruise, one of my passengers found a huge horse conch shell. It was about 13 inches in length and she gave it to me so I can use it for my presentations! That was so kind and thoughtful. She said she had plenty of shells from all of her years traveling and it was no big deal. Usually when I find horse conchs of any size they are alive and we release them. The wading birds seem to be having a successful nesting season, we have observed many reddish egret and tricolored heron chicks around the rookeries. We have seen a couple bald eagles hanging around the islands in Estero Bay and I also spotted a great white heron the other day! Fort Myers Beach and the surrounding area are so scenic and I love the natural beauty here. Well, I’m off to get my hurricane preparations done! See y’all later! – Cristina
