It’s been a great few weeks of fishing. Tarpon, snook, redfish, pompano, sharks, and snapper have been the targets. A nice variety.
The tarpon have thinned off the beaches but I’ve been finding a few in the backcountry. Cut bait works best and along with the tarpon there’s plenty of sharks. I’ve fished backcountry tarpon for many years and the same bays always have sharks. And it’s always amazed me the variety of sharks there are. Just this past couple of weeks we’ve caught black tips, lemon sharks bull sharks all in the same bay. I’ve also caught hammerheads, nurse sharks and spinner sharks there also.
The tarpon in the backcountry are a variety of sizes but most are of the larger variety, 70 plus pounds. They show up in the backcountry when the water hits about 73 degrees usually in March. They showed up last December after a long warm spell so this tells me these are resident fish that lay up in deep holes almost dormant and then when conditions are to their liking the venture out to forage.
The new St. Croix rods we got this season have been a game changer for our bigger species. The Mojo Salt models cast well but also fight the fish well and put a whoopin’ on them.
Snook fishing’s been good. Sight fishing along the beaches has been fun, one of my favorite fishing activities. There are also good numbers of snook in the passes and the adjacent bays. Live bait, plugs and flies can all be successful this time of year.
A few redfish are being caught at higher tides. All good healthy fish mostly over 22”. Live or cut bait has been the ticket although we do catch some on jigs such as guilds and paddle tails.
Going forward there’s no reason the fishing shouldn’t continue to be good save a hurricane but it’s been a quiet hurricane season and the two week outlook looks quiet also.
We’re just coming off a new moon with good incoming tides in the morning and hard falling tides in the afternoon. Even with the quarter moon coming up on August 5 with the next full moon August 12.
Fishing this time of year is great as there’s not a lot of boat traffic, fishing good, waters warm and life is good.
Give me a call, 239-450-9230.
Capt. Mark
Fishing in SW Florida
Fishing in the tropical paradise known as Southwest Florida can be one of the most rewarding experiences you may ever have. Much of our coastline is lined with mangroves, a prime ingredient for an estuary which is basically a breeding ground for both bait fish and sport fish. The shallow back bays provide the perfect location to catch a “tailing” Red Drum, Trout or Snook.
Enjoy a quick excursion to deeper waters where shipwrecks and artificial reefs provide the perfect sanctuary for a variety of Grouper, Snapper and Mackerel. Feel the excitement as your spinning reel screams from a running 100 lb. tarpon in a Boca Grande Tournament.
Our diverse array of aquatic dwellers is astounding. There are more than 1,000 species of fish in the Florida waters and most of them are edible. To avoid overfishing, many rules have been established. To avoid fishing violations, it is well advised to be aware of them.
