Snook, Redfish, Sharks and Tarpon
Capt. Scott Hughes
March 17, 2009
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report
All the major species are makeing their spring showings. We are coming into some of the best fishing of the year. Snook, redfish, trout, sharks, sheepshead, mackerel, snapper and even a few tarpon are raoming the flats and shorelines of Southwest Florida.
I have mostly been fishing in lower Charlotte Harbor and Pine Island Sounds the past two weeks. The fist week of March was cold and the fishing was slow due to cold water but the past 8 days have been on fire. The live sarines and herring have moved into the harbor and the lively baits have helped catch double digit bags of snook and some really large redfish.
Snook: Snook fishing is the best that I've seen it this year and the fish are coming out of the woodwork. Excellent snook catchs are coming in from south of March Island, Pine Island, Fort Myers, Boca Grande and Charlotte Harbor. I have been filling my livewell with 500-1000 live scaled sardines and chumming the shorelines and sanbars looking for schooling sized snook. These snook are usually 22-28 inches. An average day has been 25-30 school size snook but a couple of days produced snook catches of 50-70. I finding that I catching 1 slot snook for every 10-15 snook caught in Pine Island and Charlotte Harbor. In the Marco Island and the 10,000 Islands I'll catch one slot snook for every 5-6 snook caught. I'm seeing a lot of bigger snook in the 10-15 pound range but these fish are much more educated and unless we are fishing for a trophy fishing, I haven't spent much time trying to catch them.
Redfish: I've been spending about 2 hours a day targeting redfish. Most of the fish that I've been catching have been over the slot. I finding some schools of big redfish running the Bars of Matlacha Pass and Charlotte Harbor. Scattered smaller redfish have been in Pine Island Sound, Bull Bay and Lemon Bay. I've been mostly using cut Ladyfish of rthe larger "bull" redfish. These reds have been running 30-40 inches and range anywhere from 10-25 pounds.
Trout: I haven't been targeting trout but I've have been catching some bycatch of nice 20-24 inch trout while fishing for redfish and snook. I also know that April is one of the best month of catching gator trout over 20 inches. The trout will spawn in April and they will be moving toward the passes in will most likely be in deeper water with heavey grass. Live sardines and soft plastics are the best way to catch a bunch oif big trout this time of year.
Sharks: I'm seeing a lot of sharks on the flats right now. This also means that the tarpon are not far away. I'm seeing bull and blacktip sharks the most. Almost any large sand bar in Pine Island Sound is holding large sharks right now. They can be caught using cut mullet or ladyfish.
Tarpon: I finally get to make a tarpon report this year. I have been seeing a few large tarpon "laying up" in the potholes of Pine Island Sound and in Bull and Turtle Bay. I have also seen a few cruising inshide the passes. I haven't tried to catch any yet but if the weather stays good i'll try within a few days.
Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:
We have a double cold front approaching us as i write this report. I hope that the water temps don't drop to much. The fishing is really getting good. The snook, redfish, trout and shark fishing shouldn't be affected to much unless we get alot of wind. The tarpon fishing will get better and by the time I write another report I should be landing a few. They will probably be big because the ones that I'm seeing are all over 100 pounds.
Target Species:
Snook, Redfish, Sharks, Tarpon
