by John Kumiski

INTRODUCTION
Paralleling Florida's west coast from about Naples north to Tarpon Springs lies a series of barrier islands, appearing on a map like so many beads on a string. Shearing through these barrier islands at intervals, the sea flows through passes with names like Longboat, Midnight, Gasparilla, and the most famous pass on the Florida peninsula, Boca Grande. This Special Report tells you what you need to know when fishing in two passes to the south of Boca Grande, Captiva Pass and Redfish Pass.

Redfish Pass slices Captiva Island from North Captiva Island. Despite being a rather narrow pass, Redfish Pass is deep, up to 33 feet. Captiva Pass lies to the north, separating North Captiva from LaCosta Island. It's about three times wider than Redfish, and deeper as well, to 42 feet. Both lie to the west of Pine Island, the nearest cities being Punta Gorda to the north and Fort Myers to the south. Both passes basically harbor the same species of fish and are fished about the same way.

TACKLE
Spin, plug and fly tackle all have their devotees and all types work here. While to an extent what you're fishing for will dictate the type of tackle to use, some generalizations can be made. Spin fishermen will want an outfit with a six to seven foot rod matched to a quality reel with 150-200 yards of eight to twelve pound test monofilament. Plug fishermen will want a similar type of outfit, although they may opt for a slightly heavier line. For fly fishers an eight-weight outfit works well.

If you want to fish for jewfish or tarpon you will need heavier gear. In Boca Grand Pass Penn Senators are standard issue. It's not as deep in Captiva Pass. but you'll still need to lift the fish. That requires a stout outfit.

Being able to cover the entire water column is important in a good lure selection. Since the water here is so deep and the currents often run strong, some heavy jigs need to be added to your basic selection. Half ounce, 3/4 ounce, and one ounce jigs are all needed, depending on the tidal flow. Surface and subsurface plugs, weedless spoons, jigs, and some soft plastic baits will all come in handy, too, especially when working along the shorelines. Since we have lots of catch and release fishing in Florida nowadays, try to find lures with only one hook. The DOA Bait Busters have one large single hook

and the deep running version work well as a subsurface plug. The Johnson Minnow has been a redfish standard for a long time and still prove effective on a daily basis. Be sure to carry a file to sharpen the hook of this spoon!

The DOA line of lures should not be overlooked. The deep running BaitBuster just mentioned and the small pilchard-sized bait called the TerrorEyz can be very effective in the passes.

RipTide carries an extensive line of soft plastic baits.  The shrimp, curly, and shad tails are designed to be used with a jig head, and RipTide markets a beauty in several different weights. Other popular and effective lines of jigs include the DOA, the Cotee jig, and the Love's Lure.

I've pretty much stopped using gang hook plugs for my own fishing. However, many plugs are very effective here. Some of the better ones include the Mirrolure line, the Bagley baits, especially their Finger Mullet series, the Bomber, Rebel, and Rapala type of plugs, and theYozuri line of plugs.

Flyfishers want a rod in the nine foot eight weight range. Although a weight forward floating line handles most needs, here in the deep water of the pass the fly fishing die hard really needs a sinking line, and for serious deep water work a number 5 shooting head is necessary. Make sure there's plenty of backing on the reel. Leaders on floating lines should be nine or ten feet long, tapered to a 12-15 pound tippet, but on the sinking line three feet of leader material is plenty.

Hundreds of fly patterns exist. You absolutely need Clouser Deep minnows in chartreuse and white, with various sizes of eyes. Deceivers in white and/or chartreuse, seaducers in red and white and red and yellow, a couple of poppers, some mullet imitations (I like the woolhead siliclones), and Puglisi line of flies, especially those that imitate a pilchard, will cover 90% of your fly needs. Put weedguards on some of your flies.

If you want to walk the beach and look for beach snook, all white flies on about a #4 hook work as well as anything else. A little flash in the fly helps. Simply walk along the beach, up 30 or so feet from the water. Look for snook. They will be very close to the sand most of the time. Lead them and let them encounter your fly. This fishing is best from about 8 AM until the sea breeze kicks in

Regardless of the type of tackle you use, you'll need a shock tippet. Thirty or 40 pound fluorocarbon material is standard when snook might be encountered.

WHEN TO FISH
The pass fisherman's year starts in May, when the snook begin to think about sex. They congregate around the outsides of the passes during the times of the full and new moons during the summer, using the strong tides that occur then to pull the fertilized eggs deep into Pine Island Sound. Catch-and-release snook anglers can score big on the fish in and around these passes then. Pay particular attention to the plentiful snags to the north of Redfish Pass. On an outgoing tide you'll see dozens of boats pitching bait along the seawall on the south side of this same pass. Although some resident fish remain in the passes all year, snook fishing tapers off in September as spawning ends and the fish scatter.

Redfish now begin to appear in force to take up the slack. Redfish are also feeling amorous when they gather around the passes. They stay that way until about the end of November, when their schools break up and disperse. While sometimes the fish can be sightcast to from the beach, most fishing for them is from a boat with lures or live bait.
Gag grouper and mangrove snapper inhabit the waters of both passes year-round, fall being about the best time of year for both. Grouper will get into double-digit poundage, they're certainly not all little guys! Seatrout, redfish, and snook lurk over grassflats to the insides of the passes during most of the year also, although the warmer months are again the best for snook.

Tarpon in the hundred pound range are taken in Captiva Pass during May and June. Tarpon hunters can use conventional gear with 20 pound test line, using live crabs, threadfin herring, or pinfish for bait. Fly anglers need 12 weight fly tackle with intermediate lines and weighted tarpon streamers similar to those used in the Keys or Homosassa. This is strictly a sightfishing proposition. Look for fish rolling in the pass or moving along the beaches, and cast to or better yet ahead of the moving fish.

Captain Mike Fuery of Sanibel Island fishes both passes extensively, and claims fishing for both snook and redfish can be ridiculously easy if one fishes the right tides. Mike prefers the strong tides around the times of the full or new moons. He says the middle of the tide is the best time, whether incoming or outgoing. The current flows most strongly then, and much of the grass that washes out of Pine Island Sound with the outgoing tide is already gone. He prefers the outgoing tide because it washes large quantities of shrimp and baitfish out of the passes. The fish stack up behind snags and bars and wait for easy pickings to float by. If this tide period occurs early or late in the day, so much the better.

Snapper and grouper fishing, on the other hand, is best on slack tides. The fish are active then. Furthermore, several ounces of lead must be used to pull the bait down to the fish when the tide is flowing. A strong current deposits this lead into cracks and crevices in the bottom with remarkable consistency. Fishing the slack tide periods requires less lead, alleviates the problem, and saves the angler a small fortune in rigs.

TECHNIQUES
 Staying out in the middle of the pass will put you in touch with the snapper and grouper populations. They'll strike live or cut bait. Jigs, preferably tipped with a piece of shrimp or a strip of meat cut from a baitfish, will also work. Use the smallest size sinker or jig that will reach the bottom.

If snook or reds are desired, get up close to the edge. More specifically, the north side of Captiva Pass has grassflats along the inside edge which hide shrimp and baitfish. On high tide some snook can be enticed with surface plugs worked over the grass. As the tide starts to flow out, the fish move down current until they come to the bars outside the mouth of the pass, where they stack up waiting for the smorgasbord to appear.

Live bait is most popular with regular pass fishermen. Live pinfish, pigfish, baitfish of the Clupeid family including greenbacks and pilchards, and mullet are all popular baits. All these baitfish are captured by means of castnet over grassflats in Pine Island Sound. Large live shrimp work well, too. Keep the baits fresh!

Shore fishermen throw their baits out into the current and let them sweep around, up and over the bar. Boat fishermen cast their weighted lines up tide and drift back with the current, keeping the lines tight. Some guides use their motors to slow their drift. If you drift over the bar when the water is clear, snook can plainly be seen holding down there, including some real bruisers.

Tackle for the boaters can be fairly light, twelve or fifteen pound outfits. There are few snags here.

The south side of Captiva Pass has some docks which will hold fish most of the year, both snook and reds. Don't use light tackle here! Twenty pound test on a serious plug rod would be the minimum, and thirty might be a better choice. Fish with fresh live baits as described above.

In Redfish Pass in the summer, fish hold under shady snags on the north side. Drift the bait past the snags. The inside of the south side, where the South Seas Plantation is located, has a seawall along which fish hold. Again, boaters drift tight lines out up tide of their boats, and wait for a strike. There are a lot of rocks on the bottom here, so expect to lose a few rigs. This fishing is a summertime institution for local guides. Just watch what they're doing and join the parade.

When fishing for snook or reds, chumming with "whitebait" (small baitfish, primarily pilchards) can accomplish two things. It pinpoints the exact location of the fish. The minnows stay up and top and when the gamefish come up for them they reveal their presence. Chumming also puts the fish in a feeding mood. Try this when the going gets tough.

If the passes don't produce, or if the tides are wrong, the angler has other options. Anglers can walk the outside beaches with a flyrod. When the sun is high enough, you can sightfish for snook along the beach, using a simple white streamer fly. The snook lie right in the wash along the edge of the water. The angler walks along, about ten feet from the edge of the water, looking to spot the fish. Once the fish are seen the fly is delivered. The fish make up their minds very fast, either striking the fly immediately or fleeing. Although most fish are on the small side you can take some nice fish this way, up to twelve pounds or so.

The grassflats, mangrove shorelines, oyster bars, and spoil islands in Pine Island Sound provide excellent angling for seatrout, snook, and redfish. Sharks, tarpon, and other species can also be found there. It's a good area!

ACCOMMODATIONS
Anglers visiting this area will find a wide range of accommodations, from the plush comfort of the South Seas Plantation (800-282-3402) to the basic simplicity of a campsite at Cayo Costa State Park (941) 964-0375, located on LaCosta Island. There are literally dozens of motels on Sanibel and Captiva Islands. South Seas Plantation is the most expensive, but has its own marina (for overnight guest's use only!) and stable of guides. Further, it lies right on Redfish Pass.

ACCESS
Public boat ramps on Captiva Island include one at Tim's Nook (941) 472-9444 and Jensen's Twin Palm (941) 472 5800.  I personally launch my skiff at the Pineland Marina (941) 283-0080 on Pine Island. This is a full service marina with bait, fuel, tackle, etc. There are also several guides available here.

GUIDES
The guides I've had the most dealings with in this area are Capt. Paul Hobby at 941.433.1007, or Capt. Rick DePaiva at 239.246.8726. If they're both booked on your dream weekend they can recommend other excellent guides as well.

CONCLUSION
Remember snook season is closed at the time of year when snook fishing is most productive. Visit the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission website for the latest regulations.

Handle your fish gently before releasing them. If you're going to live bait the fish use circle bronzed hooks. They'll quickly rust should the fish be deeply hooked.

Also remember that the maximum legal size for redfish is 27 inches. Many reds caught at these passes will exceed the maximum legal size.

This article has given you the information you need to know in order to fish successfully at Captiva and Redfish Passes. Good luck fishing, and enjoy your trip!

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This article was written by John Kumiski of John Kumiski Outdoors and Travel. Contact him at his website www.johnkumiski.com or via email at john@spottedtail.com. Copyright John Kumiski.

John Kumiski 's most recent fishing guidebooks are How and Where to Catch Redfish in the Indian River Lagoon System (Argonaut Publishing Company), and Fishing Florida's Space Coast (Argonaut Publishing Company).

John Kumiski's newest book is Redfish on the Fly- A Comprehensive Guide .

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