First of all, I would definitely suggest that you come visit the area and see for yourself the different areas.
Sports bars in the area:
Harpoon Harry's on the water in Punta Gorda located about 15 minutes from NP
Gatorz in Port Charlotte 10 minutes from North Port
Sports City next to Coral Rock Cafe 10 minute drive
Boomer's in Port Charlotte 10 minute drive
Buffalo Wild Wings in North Port
Beef O' Brady's in North Port
The closest beaches are about 25 minutes from North Port.
You have
Venice Beach the only beach along the coast that is actually on the mainland rather than a barrier island. Venice Municipal Beach is directly on the Gulf of Mexico, but the sand is hot due to the prehistoric fossilized shark’s teeth and other fossils. This ancient burying ground earned Venice the slogan of “The Shark’s Tooth Capital of the World.” Happy hunting. Many beach stores sell small mesh scoops to capture and sift through your finds. Closer to the airport in Venice is the quiet and more remote Casperson Beach. There is a long fishing pier here with
Sharky’s restaurant.
Manasota Key Beach-a very narrow island where you can see both the Gulf of Mexico and the bay at the same time. A narrow ribbon of a road winds through the mostly residential and private island. Manasota Key Beach Road between Venice and Englewood provides the northernmost access to the narrow but beautiful beach.
Further south is Blind Pass Park, which has high beach walkovers and a boat ramp on the bay side. Just off Englewood on Manasota Key is
Englewood Beach, completely remodeled with a giant signature seashell sculpture and roundabout. At the very southern end of Manasota Key is Stump Pass Beach, where you can enjoy the Gulf, but don’t swim in the pass-The current is very strong there.
Boca Grande on Gasparilla Island. Beautiful but small beaches are mainly south of the little town. There is a $4 toll to drive onto the island. There are a few marked public access points plus the smaller lighthouse beach and the large historical Boca Grande Lighthouse on the south end containing a museum of local history. This is a state park with a small fee for parking. You can pick up supplies in town. Again, be very careful about swimming near the Boca Grande Pass. This pass is the home of world-famous tarpon tournaments and you can watch sport fishermen haul in the big ones during tarpon season. The giant fish are then released to fight again.
Let's move on to fishing. The state park at the south end of Boca Grande is a great spot. There's a rock jetty at the end. Towards the bayside of on the south tip of the island is a large concrete pier. If you fish underneath it around the pilings you can catch some pretty nice
grouper and
snook.
Another place to try is the Venice Jetty's in downtown Venice. Go to the Venice public beach and turn right and follow it around to the county park where it dead ends at the rock jetty's. Stand on the rocks and throw out your line and you can catch
mackerel,
snook,
redfish, etc.
In Englewood there is a state park at the end of Beach Rd. Go to Englewood Beach and turn left on Manasota Key and go to the end of the island. There is a state park with a big beach and you can fish the bayside or gulf side. Again, it's redfish, trout and snook primarily.
You need to get a free tide chart at one of the local tackle shops and fish the incoming and outgoing tides. When the tides are moving in and out is the best fishing because that's when the bait moves around and the fish bite better. Also buy a cheap book on Florida saltwater fishing and if you're from up north, don't fish with a pyramid sinker
My recommendation would be to use a medium size spinning rod, live shrimp for bait and two all around good lures a 52MR mirror Lure is a great artificial bait and a #1 or #2 silver fishing spoon. The shrimp will cost you anywhere from $1.50-$2 per dozen and the artificial lures will cost under $5 a piece.
North Port has never had a direct hit from a hurricane, although we were pretty close with Charlie. Anywhere in Florida can have a direct hit at any time. The further inland you get the more land a hurricane has to travel over, the more it's going to loose it's power.
As far as Gustav goes, we got a little rain. Nothing worse than some of the afternoon rain showers. If you are in Florida hurricanes just become some what of a fact of life. You watch the weather, stay prepared with your supplies and if looks fierce got out of dodge!
I was born and raise in SW Florida and have never evacuated. Not saying I wouldn't if there was a real mean one coming but up until now I never have had to. Charlie turned its path in the last half hour and didn't give us a chance to evacuate or we probably would have. We were in North Port and got a lot of wind and rain from Charlie. My in-laws live in Port Charlotte and their home got very torn up.
I have also lived in Port Charlotte. Personally, I like North Port better. My main reason for moving was the school system and to have my children attend a certain school that required Sarasota county residency-to each his/her own. What might be a good fit for someone might not be the best fit for another and vice versa.
Hopefully I have answered most of your questions
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Is moving to North Port a good idea?
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