17Hunter, When you say Stumps Pass, you probably mean Stump Pass at the end of Englewood Beach. You're talking about one of my favorite places on earth. If you go over the bridge from Englewood to Englewood Beach, you'll get to a point where the road stops and the sand starts. That's Englewood Beach State Park, which runs all the way down to Stump Pass. You can't drive the beach side at all, but you can walk. It's a fair walk, so be prepared. But, there are some sandy paths on the intracoastal side where you can pick your way through to a couple open spots to fish. That's pretty, too, and not bad fishing either. Spooked snook and redfish running through there in a boat in the early a.m.
Englewood and Englewood Beach are, shall we say were, a couple of sleepy little old FL cracker towns until a few decades ago. They've grown in size and popularity, but still somehow managed to maintain their old FL charm and pristine environments. The outside beach at Englewood Beach State Park is a big sea turtle nesting area in season.
I've probably caught more fish in less time in this area than anywhere else in FL. When I was younger, I spent a good part of a summer building a car dealership nearby and we caught fish everywhere we tried. We also netted big shrimp from the Englewood bridge with long dip nets at night. Every night after work was a race to get out to fish. Caught boatloads of snook, redfish, trout, snapper, and even caught a 10 black grouper from one of the docks on the inside one night after we already had a cooler full of the other usual suspects. BTW, we ate everything we caught, so most of our discretionary income went towards beer.
There were plenty of times we'd fish 'til the wee hours and get up and go to work the next day, and do the same thing the next night.
As for Boca Grande, it's a great spot to fish, too. However, I think accommodations may be a little richer in that area. The big tarpon tournament is in June, IF I'm not mistaken, which means beaucoup big money tarpon boats sitting right in Boca Grande fishing the tarpon tourney for the big prizes. There are still plenty of other fish to catch there at the time you're going.
Since you have a boat dialed in, you should be golden on wherever you choose to go. There's a BassPro down south of you. BassPro has a small 5 ft bait net they sell that can roll up and fits in a box less than the size of a loaf of bread. Good idea. Hint, hint.
Also Suggest you try
http://forums.floridasportsman.com/ for other local tips and more info.
Also, IMO, the best pizza in FL comes from an old wood paneled walls Italian place in Englewood on Placida called:
Angelo's Pizza
2611 Placida Rd
Englewood, FL 34224
Look at it on Google Maps. Looks like a schithole, doesn't it.
HTH, and enjoy your trip.
Best Wishes,
LD
