*THE HULL TRUTH is the world's largest FREE network for the discussion of Boating & Fishing. Whether you're researching a new boat, or are a seasoned Captain, you'll find The Hull Truth Boating & Fishing Message Forum contains a wealth of information from Boaters and Sportfishermen around the world.
Welcome to the updated THT!
If you are having trouble signing in, please email feedback@thehulltruth.com with your username and we will help you. We thank you for your patience as we help you access the new site!
Random Quote: Fishy, Fishy, Bite my Hook! You be dinner, I be COOK!
I hope this is the right place for this post. I'm up here in Connecticut but interested in moving to Florida.....in fact.....this may be the right time to try to buy a house there.
The problem is being able to spend enough time in the area to really get a feel for what it is like so I'm trying to do my research before making the trip to Florida. I've been to Cape Coral (but was only there for a couple of hours) and think I would love a house on a canal but not with a 45 minute ride to the river from my dock. Are there tide restrictions on the river or canals in the Cape Coral area that would impact boating and fishing? I've heard that Punta Gorda and Fort Meyers are nice too.
Would any of you who live in that area be willing to comment on the housing and fishing? I'd like to be somewhere with good access to the Gulf as well as any decent fishing that may be around those islands just off the coast. I know very little about the fishing down there so any input would be greatly appreciated.
I'm not into trailering a boat which is why I'm considering a house with a dock. However, I don't mind being inland or without a canal if there are marinas where I could get a reasonably priced slip for the boat and have quick access to good fishing.
My wife likes the beach so I wouldn't want to be too far inland.
I thank you for any information you may be able to provide.
Now is definitely the time to buy.Their are plenty of realtors that are avid fisherman,they'll be able to hook you up.Price will determine how close to open water you can get.Punta Gorda has a excellent canal system,so does Port Charlotte.
Good luck
In Cape Coral, you have to be careful as to where you're buying. There are some canals that require going through locks to get out to the river, and a long ride to the gulf. I've heard the same thing about Punta Gorda, but I don't have first hand knowledge. Ft. Myers may also be a pretty solid bet for you. I have a place in Ft. Myers that I use as a rental property, and it's on the river. I love Ft. Myers area. Cape Coral and Ft. Myers can both be hit-and-miss when looking into neighborhoods, so it's worth investigating carefully.
Unfortunately we still own a rental house in CC so hopefully I can post with some local knowledge regarding transit times to the river. We too looked in Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte and found many of the canal homes with similar and many worse transits than Cape Coral. The other thought is you're not usually on the Gulf in PG or PC, you're on the Bay and some distance to the Gulf as well.
Don't think that it just the CC canals that will slow your transit to the Gulf down, it's the river too, with it's MANATEE Zones, speed limits. and shallow areas.
IMO the Southwest area with a direct access (no locks, no bridges) property that is closest to the river is about as good as it gets in Cape Coral, with the Southeast area near the yacht club (direct access only properties) being second. Just buy a map and and you should be able to estimate your transit time putting along @ idle speed. But now matter how slow you go, there will always be some jerk hollering at you for going too fast, even if your boat was moving backwards or you need a little speed to overcome winds. Trust me everyone in the neighborhood knows whom I'm talking about along the main canal in SW Cape Coral.
Best of luck choosing.
I am a Cape Coral native and have been fishing the area for over 20 years. The fishing is awesome, but the waters are getting a little crowded on the weekends. I live in NW Cape on a canal with no bridges or locks/lifts and it takes me about 20 min. to get to Matlacha Pass and 45 min. to Boca Grande Pass.
The waterfront direct access home prices in this area are ridiculously low right now because of all the foreclosures and short sales. My wife is a local realtor, so if you need any help drop me a line.
Good Luck!
You may want to look into Pine Island. We are spending our first winter here and having a good time. It's very laid back in PI and not at all like CC or Ft Myers. I trailer an 18' boat down here (getting used to it) and it's not too bad. Give those canals some thought as after having lived here a winter, I would hate to wonder thru those mazes to get out and fish.
There arn't any public beaches on Pine Island as it is mostly mangrove, but there are several very nice beaches on the islands only 10-15min by boat.
How set are you on south Florida? I live on a canal system in NW Florida, and there are several others in the area. All are locacted on inland waterways with easy access to the Gulf of Mexico and great fishing. On the bay side you also have access to river systems; intercoastal side has lots of grass beds and inshore fishing. Great beaches, more laid back than south Florida. Only downside, it does get colder here. Several nights this year we actually dropped into the lower 30's with highs in the 40's during the day.
just for the sake of being thorough, check out Anna Maria island on the west coast. it is very nice old florida type place with a very short ride to the gulf.
We are in Southwest Cape Coral, and love it. Direct access with no bridges is the key. We are behind the Chiquita lock, but I find no issues getting through with our Sundancer. Cape Coral is great due to access to the islands and beaches. Cayo Costa, North Captiva, Captiva and Sanibel.
Going south is also close. We can get to Key West at 25 knots in 5 and half hours.
It is a great time to buy, but be aware, the prime access houses have not taken quite the beating as the land locked homes.
If your primary interest is fishing Offshore for snapper and grouper you will want to be as close to the Gulf as possible. A trip to the Middle Grounds for grouper and snapper is a about an 80 mile run. I would not consider Punta Gorda as an offshore starting place. On the other hand if you intend to fish for inshore fish like reds, trout, and tarpon. Punta Gorda would be a good location. You are a short run from where they tarpon fish on TV, Boca Grand Pass. I'd charter a guide a few times to fish the pass before I tried myself. I call it NASCAR fishing. Do it and you will see why. You best be a great boat driver to fish there.
I hope this is the right place for this post. I'm up here in Connecticut but interested in moving to Florida.....in fact.....this may be the right time to try to buy a house there.
The problem is being able to spend enough time in the area to really get a feel for what it is like so I'm trying to do my research before making the trip to Florida. I've been to Cape Coral (but was only there for a couple of hours) and think I would love a house on a canal but not with a 45 minute ride to the river from my dock. Are there tide restrictions on the river or canals in the Cape Coral area that would impact boating and fishing? I've heard that Punta Gorda and Fort Meyers are nice too.
Would any of you who live in that area be willing to comment on the housing and fishing? I'd like to be somewhere with good access to the Gulf as well as any decent fishing that may be around those islands just off the coast. I know very little about the fishing down there so any input would be greatly appreciated.
I'm not into trailering a boat which is why I'm considering a house with a dock. However, I don't mind being inland or without a canal if there are marinas where I could get a reasonably priced slip for the boat and have quick access to good fishing.
My wife likes the beach so I wouldn't want to be too far inland.
I thank you for any information you may be able to provide.
Bought a second home in Punta Gorda Isles(PGI) last May (house about 40% of 2005 value). Some home prices have dropped some since then but not a great deal. Others that haven't dropped much are still owned by people stuck in 2005
We have a 35 minute ride to the Ponce Outlet /Harbor. Would be nice to be closer to the harbor but the house/lot cost is almost double (anywhere that has a relatively new house which is important because of building guidelines related to hurricance code/insurance costs). Along the main canal, with the quick outs, most of the places are $750-900K or more.
In our canal, we have caught Baby Tarpon (30-40 lpbs), snook, ,jack(see below), sheepshead, Mangrove Snapper, Pompano, and Redfish right off our dock. We have also been visited by dolphin.
We also like PGI because we can bike about everywhere, including Fisherman's Village. Here's a good website for home listings-http://www.ilovepuntagorda.com/
You might also consider using the buyers broker we used- Bill True from Sarasota (http://www.truesarasota.com/)- very knowledgable and the partial commission rebate comes in very handy with closing costs. Bill's a great guy and will help you figure out just what you're looking for and help you find it.
We do wish the beach was closer but within an hour you can drive to Boca Grande Beach or go by boat to the beach on Caya Costa.
My only regret is that I can't be down in PGI all the time.
Good luck with your search.
I just bought in Punta Gorda isles last year, from NW Connecticut. PGI is a great community with lots to do, and the prices are still coming down.
To back up other posters, for a fisherman, it's important to get as close to the harbor/gulf as you can afford.
So far we've caught cobia, snook, grouper, trout, mackrel, and snapper in the harbor. The water in the canals has been pretty cool this winter, so we haven't done that well, just some small snook, sheepshead and jack (and too many catfish). Wrong bait?
Finally got a boat, and I'm looking forward to going out of Boca for some bigger fish.
Ron---how about letting us rookies know what you were using to get those outside fish in the canal, and what time of year it was?
Ron---how about letting us rookies know what you were using to get those outside fish in the canal, and what time of year it was?
Believe me, I'm just a rookie also. Fishing down there is so different than in Michigan.
We did put a canal(snook) light in the water several months ago and that seems to attract more fish. If you're not aware, you can't fish in the light in Charlotte County (at least that's what I've been told although I checked with Florida Widlife and Conservation and they didn't say any restrictions).
What we do is have the light by 1 side of our dock and fish off the neighbors dock or the opposite side of our dock just to be sure we don't violate any rules. The bait store on Rio Villa has info on the lights and the guy selling them has been good about standing behind them as I had some trouble at first.
The moon phase and tide also seems to make a big difference. Don't bother fishing if the water is not moving. On Christmas, and Christmas Eve this year, the fishing was just nuts with the tarpon hitting about everything you threw out. That lasted for several hours until a dolphin showed up.
We mainly use live shrimp, medium to large. Free line, sometimes with a small sinker. Seem to have better luck at night. The tarpon were caught either on the live shrimp or a MirroLure, I believe a 2000 model. With either use a very slow retrieve.
The Jack in the picture above was caught on a shrimp on a faster retrieve.
So far Christmas was best but we got the snook, redfish in the middle of Feb.
Hope that helps.
Good Luck!
BTW, where's your place?
We're in the 'Bird' section.
Guess I missed the feeding frenzy, went north for the holidays.
I saw that underwater light at Rio Villa and had thought about getting it, but cheaped out. I think I'll give it another look. I haven't fished at night at all. I wonder if that's part of the secret? I use mostly shrimp with a split shot or gold spoons, with the shrimp getting the most action.
Last week a school of big jack was in my canal and swam all around my shrimp, but no hits. It was on a bobber, down about three feet.
I'm up north again for some parties, but will be back for the month of April into May, then back in Nov. I'm off West Marion. Do you belong to the PGICA fishing club?
No fishing club. I enjoy fishing but just get down there for long weekends and vacation weeks (not retired, yes, I know I don't fit the PGI demographic ) so I haven't really investigated anything like hat yet. Is it worth looking into?
They meet the second Tuesday of the month at the cicvic center, and for $20 a year, it's a bargain. We're a little off thread but, obviously, there are fish to be caught in and off Punta Gorda.
Punta gorda is a beautiful place.
I am selling my two bedroom condo on the water with it's own slip.
You said you are looking for a home. You could also look in port charlotte.
George n
From a future resale standpoint you would be better off in Ft. Myers than Cape Coral. Look in S. Ft. Myers, Ft. Myers Beach or even south of there. Good luck great area.
__________________
43' Cabo FB
36' Grady White
27' Contender
From a future resale standpoint you would be better off in Ft. Myers than Cape Coral. Look in S. Ft. Myers, Ft. Myers Beach or even south of there. Good luck great area.
Dont know about that..Port Charlotte was just ranked as #1 for retirement city by Money Magazine. In addition the traffic is insane in those areas with the snowbirds are in town. You couldnt give me a house in Cape Coral its either sewer/water lines, code enforcement, locks down for repair. Then some places takes you 1 hr to open water NO THANKS !!
You might check out Burnt Store Marina. I have a condo there and love it. Plenty of wet and dry slips. I do a variety of fishing from there, including off shore. Value are great right now. http://www.burntstoremarina.com/harbormasternews.htm
__________________
Cincinnati, OH
Boston Whaler 305 Conquest
Cape Coral - Punta Gorda
Cape Coral-Punta Gorda
) so I haven't really investigated anything like hat yet. Is it worth looking into?
