On the Water: Beginning of fall brings cooler weather for fishing
Heading into the weekend, anglers experienced cooler weather as we welcome the first week of fall. The front brought several days with a stiff breeze, and a full moon brought strong tides.
Anglers looking for a sea trout dinner found success throughout the Pine Island Sound from Galt Island north to the Rocky Channel, at the north end of the Matlacha Pass near marker 72, and in the Charlotte Harbor west of Bokeelia. Trout up to 20 inches took top water lures and soft paddle tails around potholes and channel edges in the Sound. Trout up to 18 inches were caught, along with Spanish mackerel, small sharks and ladyfish in the Matlacha Pass and around Bokeelia with pilchards, shrimp and Berkley Gulp baits.
Redfish were reported around the Charlotte Harbor and the Pine Island Sound. Many of the fish are running over the 27-inch maximum legal size. They were located along shorelines on the morning high water, then bar edges and docks over the falling water. Baits included cut ladyfish, mullet, pilchards, pinfish and top water lures. It’s possible to run across a school of big reds inshore until our first real cold front arrives.
Catch-and-release snook fishing was often good in many of the same areas the redfish frequented, including areas around the passes and the Charlotte Harbor. In the Pine Island Sound, snook were hooked around island points and sand depressions from the Rocky Channel south to Demere Key and around oyster bars and shorelines from the powerlines to Buck Key, including Blind Pass on the Sanibel side of the Sound. Snook were also hooked from the Matlacha Draw Bridge after sunset.
A few tarpon hook-ups came from the Charlotte Harbor and the Pine Island Sound. In the Harbor, they were located between Cape Haze Point and Pirates Harbor and in the Sound near the powerlines. Baits included live and cut ladyfish, cut mullet, thread herring, pinfish and Hogy lures. Sharks from 4-6 feet, including bull sharks, were hooked from the same areas as well.
Bait schools are all over the area, including inshore and offshore. Where there’s food, there’s generally predators. A long cast and fast retrieve with small shiny spoons and mylar jigs around the bait turned up Spanish mackerel, plus jack crevalle and ladyfish. Offshore, often not far from shore, casting around bait pods yielded Spanish mackerel and large ladyfish. Always expect larger predators to be lurking around the bait schools.
There are only a few days left before gag grouper season closes. In Gulf waters, the deeper you go, the better the odds of boxing the bigger grouper. A few keeper-sized gags, plus mangrove and lane snapper, were reported from depths 60 feet and less, but 90 feet and deeper were productive for the big ones, plus red grouper.
These are the last few days of gag grouper season as they close at the end of the month, and snook season opens on the first day of October. Stay up to date with fishing regulations and seasons as they change often. You can visit www.myfwc.com for all current state and federal regulations. Also, you can upload the Fish Rules app on your phone. It has current regulations and seasons with pictures to help identify fish.
If you have a fishing report or for charter information, contact us at Gulf Coast Guide Service by calling 239-410-8576 or emailing gcl2fish@live.com. Or you can visit us online at www.fishpineisland.com.
Have a safe week and good fishin’.
As a lifetime resident of Matlacha and Pine Island, Capt. Bill Russell has spent his life fishing and learning the waters around the Pine Island and Southwest Florida, and as a professional fishing guide for over 20 years.