At Snook Haven little has but changed but the faces and style that all that remain of a day from the past. If you sit back, you can still hear Johnny Weissmuller ordering a cold can of brew from over the bar back. Old style pictures still hang at crooked angles and if you listen carefully, ignoring the hustle and bustle of the modern world down the road! Let your ears hear a raptor’s cry as, Marlene orders the same, waiting from a break in the rain, before filming again begins with Revenge of the Killer Turtles (1947). As an old Florida, bayou-style restaurant and pleasantly primitive entertainment venue, Snook Haven Restaurant & Fish Camp has been a fixture in Venice for more than 50 years. Even before that, fishermen traversing the fish-filled waters of the Myakka River in the early 1900s camped in the area.
Used as everything from fish camp to fish house, this journey back into time is well worth the time to visit. Back when I first moved to Venice, Florida, Snook Haven is where all who try and set up a head quarters and rendezvous for ReelnFish Charters. Running clients up the river for a chance to mingle with our Florida wildlife and catch Bass to freshwater Channel Catfish. Big cats in the twenty pound plus range on light tackle to cane poles. Camping on the banks or overnight pack-ins. Moving down stream we would catch everything from Snook to Reds and if the tides are right, you can catch Bull sharks on one side of the river and Bass on the other, along with an occasional Blue crab too. Now retired to angling and writing about it I enjoy my visits back where “Tarzan” slept lazily along an out stretched branch of a giant oak draped with Spanish moss beyond the restaurant's waterfront, back deck. There one can find a canoe tucked between a fleet canoes to kayaks loosely tied to the aging dock. Here you can elect to explore the slow-moving waters by powerboat or as Snook Haven's slogan states - "You and a Canoe" – paradise to me! In the canoe, the river is yours, at eye level with the crocks, the beauty is bountiful.
Snook Haven is on the sun-dappled shores of the winding Myakka River in Venice. Think giant oaks draped with Spanish moss, graceful cabbage palms, and tea-colored waters flowing by. Two movies have been filmed there, the most famous a Tarzan flick called Revenge of the Killer Turtles. On Thursdays, the public is invited to hear the Gulf Coast Banjo Society practice from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., and every Sunday the place overflows with weekend bikers and other regulars who gather round the shaded outdoor picnic tables to listen to live music.

For overnight stays, you can bring your own RV or rent one of the fully furnished cabins. Call first, though, as many are undergoing renovation. Snook Haven also offers guided pontoon boat charters up and down the Myakka River. Bring a camera; one November afternoon, one of the largest alligators the boat captain said he’s ever seen charged the charter and dove straight under. Even grown men shrieked. But the boat also meanders down some spectacularly scenic stretches of pristine county-owned lands that will never be developed.

Mike and Donna Pachota, with their son Justin and daughter-in-law Cheri, are the new concessionaires at Snook Haven. Pachota is planning a smokehouse menu with a variety of smoked meats and southern-style sides such as collard greens and baked macaroni and cheese. The banjos will be back. Count on bluegrass jams every week under the oaks and cabbage palms. The canoe and pontoon boat rentals are coming back too, along with a new menu and some craft beers to sip on the deck overlooking a scenic river bend. A new kitchen to go along with a new smokehouse menu. Some of the first through the door like Venice resident Terry Tingley are taking notice. "The place looks 150% better on the inside then it ever has. The outside is still wild and wonderful. The Duyn's said the alligator is will soon be on display at the Snook Haven Restaurant in Venice. Hank Duyn and Shawn Koss were in a 14-foot John boat on the Myakka River, Monday, when they made the catch. Two friends on a hunting trip ended up catching a 12-foot gator. Just another new member to the unforgetable toppings of Snook Haven and those killer tomatoes!

Kingfish Fever on a Trolley

This article is but of a trilogy in three rigs to catching that Kingfish fever on a Trolley. North Carolina to Florida, Kingfish, these fast moving toothy critters of the sea, make an appearance along the coastlines in a ritual migration in the spring and the fall. Coming up from the tropics, in the spring with a return in the Fall, the Kings are following a stew of baits from which the warm waters of the Gulf Stream produces. Florida Kingfish cause a fever from the boards of the piers, to the decks of many a boat, in both the thrill of the catch to the contest of a lifetime, in mega dollar tournaments. The most common practice in catching Kings are afloat in a drift or trolling but when it comes to shore anglers, there are but three methods in which to catch a kingfish; trolley, Anderson inline float or with a kite.

Rigging the Trolley:

Kingfish at 48”, cools the fever!

Dependent upon where you live and to the pier regulations of where you fish, may regulate the way in which you are allowed to angle when the Kingfish arrive as when they are here; Kingfish fever spreads like a wildfire as those who partake are truly infected! On some piers, trolling for Kingfish is a way of life twice a year; whereas, on others, trolly rigs are prohibited and each angler must work out the best way to reach the Kings without crossing another fishing line; my Anderson Inline Trolley rig does the trick or from the beach in using a “Caught in Flight,” Kite!

The most popular rig in angling for Kingfish from on a pier was developed in North Carolina, called a Trolly Rig. The Trolley Rig, engages the usage of two rods and though takes up more space on a pier than fishing with one rod, as with inline angling, it allows for more coverage in ones bait to cover, upping the odds in a hook up, while securing the bait in a straight and narrow path to swim freely. The first rod is the “Anchor” rod, as it is generally a surf rod with an a sand anchor attached to the end of the line. The anchors are homemade and come in every sort and size but for the most part they consist of a weight, claws made from cloths-hangers and held together by electrical tape. Usually a four to six ounce weight has four to six pieces of cloths hanger wire, taped to it. The wire is then bent and the anchor resembles a grappling hook. The best, I have seen, is a segment of re-bar cut at three inches long and the wire attached. The anchor is attached to the surf rods line and cast as far as possible off the end of the pier, in as of a straight of a line as possible because one wishes not to cross another trolley. After the anchor is on the bottom, a number of slow deliberate strokes (pulling the rod downwards), in trying to get hung up. Once the anchor is “hung up,” the anchor rod is secured to the pier in an upward position. This is achieved by placing the butt of the anchor rod in a three foot section of three inch wide PVC pipe that is tied to one of the boards, on the pier. A homemade clip or a Down rigger clip is used in attaching the trolley rod to the anchor rod. The trolley rod has its live bait attached anywhere from three to five feet below the trolley clip. The bait is released as the trolley reel, the reel on the trolley rod, as the reel is thumbed in freespool out to where one wishes its bait to dangle. The passing King hits the bait, hopefully takes the hook and the clip on the anchor rod releases, as the fight ensues. It is a simple method that catches everything from mackerels to tarpon and very large sharks.

General Trolley Rig Set Up

The problem of fishing with a trolley, lies in that, it takes up a lot of room, you must use two rods per person for one bait and the baits are visible by birds of prey over the lines. Many piers have a rod limit of two rods per person. If Trolley fishing, once your two rods are up, you need to catch baits; a third rod is needed. Signs on piers state not to feed the birds for a reason; birds and fishing lines are a nasty mess, usually a death sentence if not removed. They fly back to the nest at night. The fishing line becomes entangled in the branches. The bird is stuck in the bush; it starves to death! The hook, if caught in the bird, as a fish, rusts away and falls out over time, if the bird is hooked. Hooks do not kill, it is that hanging piece of line that puts them down and trolleys are notorious for fouling birds, as when they dive on the splashing bait below, they see neither line. You as the angler may lose your anchor and your trolley rig in a breakage to a bird. The bird flies off with his last supper. To this reason, many a pier either strictly enforce the two rod rule or No Trollies Allowed. The easy fix to this madness would be for people not to feed the birds, in that alone will not prevent a tangle but less would happen as less birds are out for a last supper. The others would be for all piers to place an plastic over sized Owl on the end of its pier. For some reason, it keeps many a bird away as they wish maybe not to be eaten and the other procedure comes down to responsible angling. I have but once seen it done, on my own rods, as it requires more work to set up than most anglers are willing to do. By running free-lined clips down the trolly, with colored strips of surveyors tape in strips of a foot or so in front of the baits and behind; the fluttering of the tape in the wind, scares the birds away. With many a pier succumbing to either new 

 

Bird of Prey caught in rigging, this one gets help! Notice the wire leader

left upper screen, pulling it to safety.

rules set by Enviros or the need for more space, catching Kingfish fever on a trolley is slowly becoming an extinct animal but with the invent of my inline float system, angling for Kings will continue to be an all time fun sport for those fishing from shore! Look for, “Onshore Kingfish Caught Inline,” part II of our Kingfish Trilogy in catching you more from the Online Fisherman, where information to education is our way of giving you the entertainment for all to learn by. 

 

Best Trolley baits include Ladies, Blue Runners & Bluefish

“FISH ON!” Gary A. Anderson “The Mentoring Angler”

A One-Stop Online Fishing Magazine and Resource - The History of Fishing Reels

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A Letter to the Governor of Florida; Rick Scott

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Wading For A Bite; Fishing Florida W/The Mentoring Angler

 

Wading for a bite in wad fishing El Jobean, Florida with hopes to wishes of Specks (Trout) or Reds but to our dismay; Hardhead cats were all that ate our baits. Using three inch Pinfish for bait on a 3/0 circle hook by Owner, attached to a 25# leader to Ohero 12 pound blue and a pencil cork! What you get is a lesson on how to Catch & Release a catfish without getting pricked by his fins...Enjoy, The Mentoring Fisherman, Gary A. Anderson

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The oil didn't disappear, just the media - help us keep the story alive by following the links after the video to send a letter to your Senator. Please also forward the video to your friends and family, asking them to take action.

Gulf Tides 11: Deepwater Deliberations - BP Drilling Disaster - Mar. 2, ...