Skip navigation

FishingMobile

Fishing Best Bets: Fishing action hit hard by Colin

Post


The old saw says it's an ill wind that blows no good. But there's not much good to say about tropical depression Colin, which dirtied the beaches, kept offshore boats in port, and will be sending gushers down the coastal rivers for days to come.

For whatever reason, one good thing was an inspired bite Monday by juvenile tarpon in Sanibel's J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

Offshore anglers got in a few licks on red snapper, for which the recreational season closes today in federal waters. Reports on gag grouper, which opened June 1, have been nil.

Bass fishing in fresh waters took a blow, but Lake Trafford Marina reports anglers fishing from Ann Olesky Park have been catching bluegill, catfish and Mayan cichlids.

SNOOK

Get Hooked Charters Capt. Matt DeAngelis reports good catch-and-release snook fishing under Big Hickory Pass docks with live herrings. Fifteen-year-old Kyle Haan of North Carolina caught a bunch, and the guide also sent pictures of a personally caught 42-incher.

Crystal waters along Sanibel's beaches revealed oodles of snook, some of which were caught by Frank and Julie Walsh on live threadfins.

Norm Zeigler's Fly, Bait & Tackle reports pre-blow fly fishers got lots of shots, but few takes when the snook were in full spawning mode. The best reports were from guides drifting above the Blind Pass Bridge with live pinfish, and anglers casting around the culverts on Wildlife Drive (closed Fridays) in Ding Darling also were catching sublegal linesides.

King Fisher bay boats out of Fishermen's Village in Punta Gorda report good snook action around the keys along Charlotte Harbor's upper east side, where snook were ganging up in large pods, sometimes well off the island shorelines. Long casts with big threadfins were the ticket.

TARPON

Besides the juvenile tarpon in Ding, Zeigler's reports guides fishing live and cut baits were finding big fish biting in upper Pine Island Sound off Foster's Point and the Captiva Rocks. Matlacha Capt. Gregg McKee reported tarpon have been scarce this week.

REDFISH & TROUT

Will and Melissa Tucker and Bobby and Laura Davis caught a 20-inch red and released a 17-incher, while also boxing five mangrove snapper and a 13-inch sheepshead last Thursday on their Fishbuster Charter in lower Hickory Bay, which also produced five stingray releases.

Most of the reds biting along Wildlife Drive this week have been keepers, according to Zeigler's. For trout the action has been along the islands of the Sanibel Causeway.

Mark and Barry Toler released three oversize reds to 31 inches on a mid-Pine Island Sound oyster bar Sunday morning, before catching four slot-size fish to 24 inches by casting live shrimp "way, way under the bushes" on knocker rigs, according to Lehr's Economy Tackle in North Fort Myers.

Wildfly Charters Capt. McKee sent in a picture of United Kingdom angler Geoff Seed with a 24-inch red that responded to chumming with shrimp under the bushes of Matlacha.

King Fisher bay boats report limits of trout are possible for anglers willing to sort through enough sub-15-inch specks, while drifting shrimp and small thread herrings under floats on the flats of northeast Charlotte Harbor.

MIXED BAGS

Lehr's reports Jim Purnell of North Fort Myers caught his limit of five mangrove snapper to 12 inches, fishing oyster bars in the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River on Friday. An angler fishing with cut ladyfish caught a 34-inch black drum under the north end of the Edison Bridge.

King Fisher Capt. Sam Sisemore chummed and baited with large thread herrings for his party's catch of four blacktip sharks from 3 to 3-1/2 feet, in seven feet of water outside Charlotte Harbor's eastern bar last week.

OFFSHORE

Jeff, Maddie and Scott Heinrich caught 15 sublegal red grouper, 20 lane snapper, one mangrove snapper and a few grunts, while releasing 15 sublegal red grouper and several short yellowtail snapper on a windy Sunday Fishbuster trip to 20 miles off New Pass. Capt. Dave Hanson also reported a catch of 11 lanes and two porgies, plus releases of lots of short red grouper, triggerfish, a 25-inch king mackerel and a 30-inch bonnethead shark Friday by Walter Mistak, Walt Jr. and Monica, 20 miles west of New Pass. Last Wednesday's catch for Steve Cook and friends was similar, with a keeper red grouper also in the box.

Lehr's reports anglers fishing for red snapper during the short recreational season found a few, in depths of 130 to 180 feet, but were generally disappointed in the average size of the fish. The private-boat season ends today, but anglers can target red snapper on charter boats with Gulf federal reef fish permits through July 16. A list of permitted charter boats is available online at: http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov

Saturday's King Fisher offshore trip to 75 feet of water off Boca Grande Pass produced releases of five out-of-season amberjacks on an artificial reef, plus three keeper red grouper and a mix of lane and mangrove snappers, porgies and grunts over hard bottom.

United Kingdom angler Geoff Seed was the beneficiary of a lot of chumming with small, summertime shrimp that attracted snapper, sheepshead, and finally this nice redfish to the Matlacha mangroves he was fishing with Wildfly Charters Capt. Gregg McKee.

United Kingdom angler Geoff Seed was the beneficiary of a lot of chumming with small, summertime shrimp that attracted snapper, sheepshead, and finally this nice redfish to the Matlacha mangroves he was fishing with Wildfly Charters Capt. Gregg McKee.

 

FISH TIP

Wildfly Charters Capt. Gregg McKee reports waiting for nice redfish like UK angler Geoff Seed's to show up in a chumline of small, summertime shrimp is no problem, when sorting through a frenzy of smaller snapper and sheepshead.

This is the outset of what is known as "peewee season," when local pink shrimp are "all whiskers and eyeballs" as they grow to maturity in inshore waters. But just because they're small doesn't mean they aren't good bait. Downsizing hooks and adding weight to the line for better casting is key, as is fishing as deeply into mangrove shade as possible, under the summer sun.

FRESH WATER

LAKE TRAFFORD

School's out, and bluegills, catfish and Mayan cichlids are in for anglers dangling worms from the pier and shorelines of Ann Olesky Park. No boaters have been on the lake since Monday, according to Lake Trafford Marina.

LAKE OKEECHOBEE

Guiding out of Garrard's Tackle Shop in Okeechobee, Capt. Eddie Perry reports a good early bite on bass with spinnerbaits, spin jigs and topwater plugs along outside edges all around the Big O, including King's Bar, Tin House Cove and the Indian Prairie Canal areas. The lake level also is high enough to try flipping inside mats for bigger, if less frequent bites.

Bluegills are between bedding periods but will continue to improve toward the Father's Day full moon. Prospect for good areas in the shallows with a cricket or tiny spinner/grub combo.


HOT SPOTS


 

No. 1: Eastern shore of Charlotte Harbor for snook around the islands, trout on the flats.

No. 2: Pine Island Sound for redfish of all sizes.

No. 3: Sanibel beaches for snook, Ding Darling for tarpon, snook and redfish.

No. 4: Mouth of the Caloosahatchee for snapper.

No. 5: Big Hickory Pass for snook.

No. 6: Offshore for lane and mangrove snappers, maybe a red grouper.

No. 7: Lake Trafford for panfish.

LAKE OKEECHOBEE

No. 1: King's Bar to the Indian Prairie Canal for bass along outside vegetation.

No. 2: Harney Pond Canal to Dyess's Ditch for bluegills.

No. 3: Uncle Joe's Cut and spoil islands for bluegills.

Back to the top
1 guest and 0 member have just viewed this.
Control functions:

Contract Quick reply