Fort Myers flats fishing report
Capt. Scott Hughes
February 25, 2009
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report
We are starting some signs that spring is near. The trout are string to disperse out of the the extremely shallow flats and scatter out in the deeper runs where the grass grows in deeper water out near the passes. I'm also seeing lots of scattered redfish along Pine Island Sound and Matlacha. Bull Bay and upper Charlotte Harbor are holding the larger schools or redfish. I've seen many schools of over 100 redfish is those two areas. Snook are also starting to show up in fishable numbers and there have been a few days that prioduced great snook catches of snook up to 35 inches for aq few guys that went the extra mile and caught a livewell full of scaled sardines.
Trout: The trout are on the ove toward the passes. I've mostly had good days but I've lost the migration a few time and have struggled. Even when the fishing has been tough i've been able to scratch out a few limits of keeper trout in the 15-18 inch range. When the migration is located dozens over the 20 inch mark is not surprising. This week the water temps were a bit colder than last week so the topwater and hard baits didn't produce as well. We had to throw a variety of soft plastic baits soaked in Carolina Lunker Sauce to entice the bites. Zoom super flukes in watermelon, pumpkin and pearl worked best. The Lunker Sauce flavor was "mullet".
Redfish: We have alot more redfish in the area than we had just two weeks ago. Large schools are on the north side of Charlotte Harbor and scattered fish are on the south side. Some days the fish eat well and can be found "tailing" on the grass flats. Other days, the skys are clear and the fish are eitehr locked up or have dispersed off to who knows where. The only constent has been the 18-20 inch redfish that inhabit the deeper runs near the mangroves. They hit almost anything but especially love live shrimp.
Snook: Snook are moving out to the west and if you know where they are you can have a pretty good day if your able to find the schools of sardines. Bait this time of year is difficult unless that is yuour main goal and are willing to spend the time needed to catch it. The live bait guys had a few really good days with double digit snook and redfish days with snook up to 35 inches and slot red up to 7 pounds. There were also a couple of days that the bait catching was a bust and the fishing wasn't much better.
Sheepshead, flounder and snapper have provided some fine eating bycatch this week. The flounderhave been in the deeper lagoons and the sheepshead and snapper have been on the deeper shorelines that have good mangrove structure. Live shrimp has been a must when targeting the snapper or sheepshead. The flounder have been caught on shrimp or soft plastics.
Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:
Snook fishing will get better and better as the water temps rise. Redfish will become more plentiful. Sheepshead will spawn this next month.
Target Species:
Redfish, Snook, Trout, Snapper, Flounder, Sheepshead
