If, as the cliche claims, "variety is the spice of life," then fewer places on earth are as "spicy" as the backcountry in south Florida's Ten Thousand Islands.
With literally thousands of square miles of shallow, brackish, and fishable water winding in, around, and through oases of mangrove root structure and oyster bars, it's little wonder this remote, jungle-like wilderness area is home to many tropical and subtropical game fish that rank so high on an angler's wish list.
Survey a hundred fishermen in places like Naples, Goodland, Everglades City, or Chokoloskee, and you're likely to get a dozen answers to the question: "What's your favorite fish?"
Depending upon the day, season, or locale, responses might range from Atlantic croaker to zebrafish, a colloquialism describing a sheepshead. However, the top four vote-getters will be snook, redfish, trout, and tarpon--probably in that order.
Indeed, it's often difficult to choose a piscatorial target when leaving a dock. But, fortunately, a specific selection is often academic because you frequently find all of the "Big Four" in the same area, hitting the same lures or baits.
It's not unusual to cast a jig toward an oyster bar in anticipation of hooking a redfish and connect with a scrappy trout. The same jig tossed in the direction of a rolling tarpon is likely to be ambushed by a formidable snook.
To successfully fish the Ten Thousand Islands, a knowledge of tides, depths, bottom conditions, fish habits, lures, and other factors is needed. Certainly it's easier to jump a tarpon in Boca Grande Pass, or land a trout on the grass flats off New Port Richey, than stumble through a seemingly endless maze of mangrove islands to reach the right place at the right time. Even experts unfamiliar with the area need help from experienced locals.
Those with a hankering to test these confusing but productive south Florida waters will be time and money ahead by first hiring the services of a guide for an initial trip or two. Probably nowhere else is a local guide as needed or as valuable.
An accurate navigation chart is a must, as are the maps, tips, and techniques offered in serious angling publications devoted to the area.
With homework and advanced preparation, an aqua-safari into the beautiful, remote and unique Ten Thousand Island can be one of life's most rewarding and pleasurable experiences.
And, where else in the world is it possible to catch a 100-pound tarpon, a 20-pound redfish, a 25-pound snook, and a 5-pound trout on four successive casts on the same lure?
Copyright (c) 1996 Herb Allen. All rights reserved.
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