Southwest Florida Fishing Report: Action heating up with weather
Traditional beacons including, blooming Poinciana trees, hatches of crabs flushing from shallow creeks and shoals of threadfin herring pouring in from the Gulf of Mexico waters signifies that it is now tarpon time here in Southwest Florida.
While there have been several small pulses of the mighty silver king filtering through the region, the action has been slowly heating up and is predicted to only get better. Unfortunately, Mother Nature has thrown tarpon recreational anglers and guides alike, weather curveballs of wind, wind and more wind.
Relentless in consistency and velocity, everyone is hoping for a reprieve and a return to the typical month of May normalcy.
Tarpon can be encountered and caught in many areas of the inshore arena. Popular locations include passes, creek mouths, protected coves and shallow bays. However, during the peak of the spring run, tarpon may be stalked in wide open, nondescript areas along the beaches or virtually in the middle of larger inshore bays.
Remember, tarpon fishing involves a stealth approach, minimizing engine/deck noise in an effort to just get close enough to get a shot at placing an offering in front of cruising or laid up target. Getting the tarpon to eat and hooking up is not always assured but a large part of the allure.
During this magical time of the year, it is important to note that fellow anglers and general boaters should afford those prospecting for tarpon a wide berth as to not dash what could have been hours of work procuring bait, hunting for a pod/school of fish with the hopes of hooking up and cashing in on their dreams of catching tarpon fever.
Pushing out to the offshore grounds, the bites have not changed too much along with the overall lumpy sea conditions beyond the 10-mile mark. Selecting a light wind day has rewarded anglers with good catches of red grouper, snapper and a bevy of small-sized coastal shark species.
An added option that has been present over the last few weeks has been a fleet of shrimp trawlers working the Gulf grounds out beyond 23 miles. Early departures in the dark and showing up behind one of these work vessels culling their shrimp catch at sunrise will yield quick hook ups with bonito, mackerel and blacktip sharks.
Offshore: Aboard the Grand Slam, I have a to pick and choose my days to venture out to the offshore grounds. While there has been wind, the nearshore has been fishable yet pushing out beyond 12 miles has not been routine and quite the adventure.
The nearshore wrecks and reefs have been active during the early hours of the fishing day. Anchoring up current and casting a variety of jigs, spoons, live shrimp and small profile sardines has led to rapid fire hook ups with Spanish mackerel, bonito, Atlantic sharpnose sharks and the occasional barracuda. Fun on light tackle, these toothy species have been off the feed by 9 to 10 a.m.
Bottom fishing for my Grand Slam crew has consisted of a steady pick of lane snapper, porgies and a scattering of red grouper. Fishing in 40 to 50 feet of water depth with small bits of squid, frozen herring, live shrimp and scaled sardines has kept us hooked up and bent to the rail.
Naples/Estero Bay: Wind has kept Naples light tackle guide Capt. Chris Turner mixing things up on his shallow water excursions. Prospecting the back bays to the middle bays and out to the beaches, Turner has been concentrating his guiding efforts on snook, redfish, tarpon and shark. Locating clean water, baitfish and protection from the elements has been paramount to his success.
During the outgoing tide phase, Turner has been covering ground in several of the area passes. Casting live scaled sardines close to live breaking structure and presenting larger live baits near the substrate has yielded medium to large-sized snook.
Middle and back bays during the lower phases of the tide have been fruitful for Turner. Concentrating on points and oyster bar areas good catches of redfish have been making their way into the landing net. Scaled sardines and jumbo live shrimp presented under a traditional popping cork has been the best redfish offering for Turner and clientele.
Big baits soaked in the middle bays during the higher stages of the tide have kept Turner tight to bull and lemon sharks while areas along the beaches in 8 to 20 feet of water depth have been the scene of several tarpon hook ups and battles.
With a forecasted break in the wind, Turner expects the tarpon bite along the Naples and Marco Island beaches to pick up significantly.
Ten Thousand Islands: “Fishing has been very good in The Ten Thousand Islands,” Capt. Paul Nocifora said. “The overall action has been active with a few challenging days of wind and poor tides mixed in.”
Guiding out of Calusa Island Marina located in Goodland, Nocifora has been concentrating his fly-fishing efforts in the middle bays and outside Gulf facing shorelines during the lower phases of the tide.
Big snook have truly made a comeback in Nocifora’s region with lots of large specimens being sighted and caught. Black colored baitfish fly patterns have been fooling snook for Nocifora and crew while cruising redfish have fancied an olive- and tan-colored shrimp pattern.
On spin fishing trips, Nocifora has been exclusively casting white colored Gulp shrimp rigged on a light ¼-ounce jig head. The reliable Gulp shrimp and jig combination has fooled plenty of snook, redfish, speckled trout and whopper-sized mangrove snapper.
Nocifora reports that tarpon have been caught throughout the islands, but the typical spring pattern has remained inconsistent thus far. Wind, coupled with many late season cool fronts has a less than positive effect on this season’s spring tarpon action.
If you have a report to share, email captwill@naplessportfishing.com.
Anglers, email your photos to news@naplesnews.com or post them at www.naplesnews.com/participate and we will compile your images into an online gallery that’s featured each Thursday morning at www.naplesnews.com. Please do not submit photos of fish caught illegally.