Take Another Road: Hobies in Captiva

The folks at Hobie recently invited me to their second annual Hobie writer’s Event being held on Captiva Island in May. Outdoor Writers and Editors from around the country are invited for a few days of fishing and kayaking, and to check out some of Hobie’s products. The event ran for eight days with the participants arriving and leaving in shifts throughout the week.

Captiva Charm

I drove up from Bonita Springs, about an hour to the South, to join the group for fishing. I arrived at Captiva Charm, the beautiful bay front home that was the headquarters, to find it already alive with activity. Ingrid Niehaus, Director of Public Relations for Hobie, was busy coordinating the fishing for the day, as Frank Stapleton, Keeton Eoff, Butch Newell, Jerry McBride and John Donohue were gathering gear and getting ready to head to the launch.

Ingrid working diligently

Frank and Butch

Lots o' kayaks

The day’s launch was in Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel, just a short drive away. We launched in the backwater in an attempt to find shelter from the wind. That was short lived as we soon found 12+mph winds coming across Hardworking Bayou. The group split up and I headed out to the outer islands with a group of anglers and Jeffery Fortuna, Hobie’s Photographer. The fish were scarce, but even so there were a few snook caught. I managed a small trout outside, and then returned to the backwater where I found Butch and Frank working the mangroves. The wind was a little easier there, so I fished along side for a while. Aside from having a larger snook follow my paddletail to the kayak, I saw no other signs of fish.

Catching snook

Ding Darling backwater

Back at headquarters I met up with Morgan Promnitz, Fishing Product Manager for Hobie. I had the chance to check out Captiva Charm, the large rental home Hobie had secured for the weeklong event. This 4 bedroom 5 bath home sleeps 12 people. It’s a 3 floor facility with a huge kitchen, dining and living room, large verandah, pool and private beach access on the Gulf. There is lots of parking, a private boat dock and wet bar at pool level. This is a beautiful rental property right in the heart of Captiva. The property is very popular, but there are dates available through Royal Shell Vacation Properties at www.royalshell.com. Hobie's media guests enjoyed their beautiful accommodations at the Celebration House - www.captivaislandinn.com. Perfect accommodations and layout for groups, complete with pool, right across from the Key Lime Bistro.

Charming backyard

The lodge

Beautiful grounds

I left that afternoon, having talked fishing all day with Butch, Morgan, Jerry and Frank, with a promise to return Monday for more fishing. One of the Editors had a flight cancellation and was stuck at the airport. I managed to swing by and pick him up, delivering him the next morning for an early flight.

Morgan working on fly gear

The long dock

Friday came around and I arrived early at Captiva Charm. Everyone was slowly waking as we all had coffee and planned the morning fishing. Sam Root had arrived a few days before and he and I took off to get a jump on the fish. All of our early planning was for naught as the Refuge was closed and the windy conditions had persisted. Sam went his way and I went back to the house for some more fish stories.

A refreshing pool

All too soon I had to leave. I had a weekend planned in Matlacha and the Hobie folks had some packing to do. I invited them to come back for some fishing when the weather was better, and said my goodbyes till ICAST. It was great spending time with writers and Editors of such caliber and I look forward to talking to them all again.