Usually launch out of Froggies in Port O, but thinking about giving Charlie's a try. Anyone have any experience? Is it crowded? Do they sell live bait? How is parking?

I like Charlie's because I really like espirtu santu bay. They do have live bait, weekends are full, and they have fish cleaning stations

Yep. Charlie's is a good spot to launch from. It is a lot more crowded these days. Live bait usually available. Good fish cleaning station. $5.00 to launch, or park a vehicle.

Depends on where you are trying to fish. I dont launch out of charlies because i would have to make a long run to fish - and given that part of the bay has very little protection from hard south winds, i try and save my bones form rattling.

I wish some of you guys would mark the channel at Fulghums better

Charlie's is good if you primarily fish ESB.

If you want more tidal flow, POC launches are much closer to Pass Cavallo.

If you like to reef hop in SAB, Seadridt launch is much closer...but, you can launch at Charlie's and take the IC all the way to SAB.

They finally put in some crushed concrete at Charlie's. It's not the entire parking lot, but certainly helps keep the surface more even in the high traffic area.

Be careful and run shallow when going through the pass to get into Esperito. It looks wide, but the deep water is really just in the middle. It is not a big deal, but just pay attention and don't assume everything between the channel markers is deep.

Was fishing out of Fulgum's for many years prior to Charlies. Still have a place in Shoalwater Flats.

Nothing against Charlie's (I am aquainted with some of them, and do buy bait there on occasion), but fishing the ESB area prior to that ramp, was phenominal. We used to fish Contee and Long Lake/Corey's Cove and have it to ourselves. If you saw anyone in the East End of Shoalwater (Big Break to the Windmill) they were just passing through for fear of setting down. We would fish most of the West End of Shoalwater to Cat-man's and only see a couple of boats at most between Cat-man's and the entrance to SAB.

And that was on Saturdays. From October-June.

Can't say it was just Charlie's creating availability to the area though. The advent of shallow water boats made to run long distance with 200+ hp motors facilitates people putting in at POS and SD fishing that same water easily, resulting in nothing short of traffic jams, and redfish wakes heading for the horizon.

That and the FACT, that the majority of these folks have no idea on how to manage a drift to keep from spooking fish and cutting everyone elses drift. That is probably worthy of another thread altogheter though.

[This message has been edited by Old Sarge (edited 4/25/2013 9:29p).]