10,000 ISLANDS

Shell Mound Al · **Posted:** Mon Mar 01, 2010 7:09 am

Capt Ken, Myself and two friends headed off to 10,000 Islands for a three day fishing trip.
Ken and I left early Friday and arrived in Everglades City early that morning, a five hour drive.
We scouted the area and found that the best place to launch was at the bridge since every landing charged a launching fee.
Just paddeled and looked for fish on Friday with no sucess in finding the concentrated holes of fish.
My two friends arrived later and found a hole that was holding large Trout. They released all their catch on Friday since they had left their coolers in the car.
That night at dinner we planned our attack for Saturday Morning. The weather report called for gale winds and thunderstorms. We got up Saturday Morning and the weather looked OK. The Trout hole was very close to our cabin and our facility had a nice launch site that was free for the guests.
We launched at 8:30 in persuit of dinner for Saturday night. Ken had a bad headache so it was up to me and my two friends to catch our limit.
I had my cooler and they had theirs. The first cast I made produced a large gator Trout and the rest is history.
I caught my limit and they caught theirs. None of us had any idea of how much weight of fish we had caught.
After I filleted the Trout we had over 30 pounds of Fillet. We ate Trout for dinner that were Blackened and also Leomon Pepperrd. Dinner was great.
We spilt up the balance of fish since we decidied not to fish next weekend. Our wives deserve one weekend with their husband due to the permission to go away for a three day weekend without them and no complaining.
We released fish all day Saturday and Sunday. Our takehome and dinner catch was in a three hour period.
I love 10,000 Islands and plan on a return trip this spring.

Afishy1 · **Posted:** Mon Mar 01, 2010 10:18 am

Very nice report. Sounds like you guys had a great feast plus some. Great job. I would like to head down there sometime. :cheers:

moslick · **Posted:** Mon Mar 01, 2010 11:46 am

Sounds like a great trip! Where did ya'll stay for the 3 days? I'm looking to do a similar trip.

~Matt

Vinnyjojo · **Posted:** Mon Mar 01, 2010 1:13 pm

Sounds like it was a lot of fun (man, I wish I wasn't out of town this weekend - would have loved to join you guys)

Any luck trolling 2 lines with the Fish2 system?

How big was the gator trout?

Dreads0518 · **Posted:** Mon Mar 01, 2010 3:01 pm

So thats where all the darn trout went!!! On Vacation!!!

Sounds like an Awesome road trip!!! :thumbright:

More information on your accommodations please...........

Shell Mound Al · **Posted:** Mon Mar 01, 2010 4:13 pm

After several Emails on the accommodations I am answering the question. We stayed at Cozy Cabins ,Glenn Haven Resort, in Everglades City. It cost $156.00 per night so for 4 people it was $77.00 each for the extended weekend. The average launch price in 10,000 Islands is $10.00 per kayak.
I suggest you take your full supply of groceries before you get there and make sure you fill up with gas before you leave the interstate.
The exit before you get off to Everglades City is the last gas station for 50 miles.
The gas was between $3.19 and $3.06 per gallon in Everglades City.
I drive a 2009 GMC 5 Cylinder Canyon and the gas to and from which was almost 700 miles was $110.00 split between 2 people.
The entire cost of the trip was less than $135.00.
Go to Cozy Cabins + Everglades City Fl and you will see the facilities.
They have a nice launch and of course it is free for the guests.
3:00 PM check in and 11:00AM checkout. If no one was in the cabin the night before they will allow you to check in at any time. We checked in at 8:30 AM.
The Seafood Buffet offers a salad bar with all the boiled shrimp you can eat for $7.95 per person. Great deal and great food.

captkenroy · **Posted:** Mon Mar 01, 2010 10:31 pm

Al, Willie, Wade and I went to EC for a 3 day fishing trip. None of us had ever been there before and we had no real intel. I was sort of miffed when everybody wanted $15 to launch a kayak. We decided to launch for free right where we stayed and that turned out to be a really good decision because we didn't see anybody else with more than a couple of fish per boat. Some of the guides were cast netting Mullet for their shore lunch.

It was extremely windy on Saturday with rain and lightning in the afternoon. I didn't even launch Saturday

Wade and Willie found the fish, more or less by happy accident. We had a couple of Trout that may have weighed 3-1/2-4 pounds. I caught all of the Trout I caught on a Mirradine but the other guys used various lures and shrimp. I caught a couple of Redfish on the Mann's Hardhead Shad.

We walked a short section of a bar because it was blowing 20mph plus Saturday and Sunday. The current was so strong I could not move the Mini-X against it. Paddling as hard as I could, I couldn't cross one of the bars. The long skinny yaks had a hard time but could make it against the current.

Here are a few photos.
My first Trout on the first cast Sunday morning.

Al with Trout.

Wade with Trout

Pelican 3 way tug of war.

We probably caught 50 or more Trout. I thought it was pretty good for a new area, super strong tide and terrible weather.

10,000 ISLANDS

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