Get Out On The Water in a Gheenoe

Gheenoe 2
Gheenoe 2 (Photo credit: jspeaks)

Sport fishing is a favorite pastime in Florida and the fish are plentiful.  Fishing from shore is easy enough, but getting out on the water means spending money (lots of money) on a boat.  Or does it?

When I was in Florida this past summer my son’s friend had come by to go fishing at our rental house on the ICW. He works at Boston Whaler in Edgewater, and the boys got to talking about boats. My son doesn’t have a bunch of money, but would love to have an affordable boat to get out to the little islands all up and down the coast and do some fishing.  His friend mentioned a Gheenoe, saying it was a “glorified canoe”. It’s small and affordable with a motor and a good setup wouldn’t cost much more than $5,000 – with the motor and all.  They are made right in Titusville, Florida.

It sounded perfect for what my son wanted to do.  During the summer, my son looked into it more and visited a place in Maitland which sells the Gheenoe.  He ended up with one and loves it.  It’s like a canoe, but with a motor, and options to make additions, like comfy seats, lights, etc., and he says it handles big waves very well.  He’s come across some fast moving yachts in areas of the ICW which have caused giant swells for him to navigate, and he’s done so without a problem.  He even caught his first Redfish not too long ago.

Fishing in Florida For Redfish

fisherman with redfish
This Redfish is a Keeper

My son recently bought a little boat so he could go out on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) and do some fishing. One of the most sought after fish on the east coast, around Mosquito Lagoon, is the Redfish. My son was lucky the other day and caught one that is the perfect size to keep. He brought it home and ate it and said it was delicious. I think they are really gorgeous looking fish with that shiny reddish silver and the distinguishing black dot on the tail. Only one fish per person per day is allowed (I believe) and they can’t be over or under a certain size. This one is just about right. Anything much bigger is not allowed to keep and won’t be all that great eating I guess. I’m not a fishing expert, but thought I’d share this image with anyone who loves to fish in Florida.  He was using frozen shrimp for bait, I think.

The Poor Man’s (Woman’s) Boat

 

Wouldn’t we all love to have a big beautiful boat – tied to the long dock in front of our lake front home, river or waterway?  Well, I sure would.  We owned a pontoon for a few years and going out on that was most wonderful.  Of course we had to tow it for a half hour to the water (our house was inland) but stepping onto that boat and pushing off from shore was a magical feeling of leaving the world behind.

 

boat
boat (Photo credit: pupski)

My son lives in Florida and goes fishing every chance he gets, which is more than most people with full time jobs because he is a firefighter.  With quite a bit of time off between shifts, he usually heads to the beach to do some surf fishing.  But his love for fishing came from our times out on the pontoon.

He can’t afford a motor boat but a kayak would be a perfect alternative for what he wants to do.  Get off the shore and into the water.  We always fished in the Itracoastal Waterway (ICW) and although it can be wide in areas, there are many little islands creating shallow places to paddle a kayak.  We took the pontoon into some very shallow areas too, but being a large boat it was difficult to navigate.  A kayak could be dragged across sandy areas to read otherwise unreachable bodies of water.

Load up the fishing poles and head out.  I think he has a goal.