What to do if you go aground while boating in SW FL

"If you have not gone aground, you have not been boating in SW FL" A quote I have heard more than once from boating friends. It is very important to stay in the channels as marked. News Press Article on "What to do if you go aground"

Bokeelia Boat Ramp re-opens and Locating other Boat Ramps in SW FL

The recreational boat ramp located at the far North end of Pine Island called the Bokeelia Boat Ramp, has re opened and is now available launches.  It had been closed for repairs so Lee County Parks & Recreation could to add cement slabs to the end of the two-lane ramp to make it easier for boaters to launch during low tide.

The Bokeelia Boat Ramp is accessible by water from Pine Island Sound and Charlotte Harbor by the Jug Creek Passage.  Here are two area maps and websites that can help you locate other boat ramps in the area of SWFL which includes Pine Island, Matlacha, Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Bonita Springs, Alva and Sanibel.

Lee County Boater's Guide

Lee County Parks Guide for Public Boat Ramps

Parking is $10 daily; ramp hours are 7 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. For more information, call 239-283-0015. The site, which is managed by Tropic Star of Pine Island Inc.  (Tropic Star runs a shuttle to Cabbage Key, one of our favorite spots for a Cheese burger in Paradise. ) 

This weeks Friday Oct 7th Fishing Report For SW Florida, Gulf Coast

Image via WikipediaThis week's fishing report looks good in spite to stiff breezes and first reports of Red tide.  Redfish, Spanish Mackeral and snook catches are reported alongshore between southern Sarasota County and northern Lee County, according to the latest analysis by the Florida Marine Research Institute.  

Bryon Stout editor for Outdoors of The News-Press gives a fishing report each week on catches in and around the Caloosahatchee River, Pine Island Sound and Sanibel Inshore and Offshore.  It is great to learn the different names to the different reefs and fishing spots each week.

This weeks Friday Sept 30 Fishing Report: Few good catches reported amid lull!

Image via WikipediaAccording to local anglers who reported to The News-Press the hot spot this past week was has been Spanish mackerel “all over,” from the nearshore Gulf, to Pine Island Sound waters inside the Gulf passes, and even from north of the Sanibel Causeway in San Carlos Bay.