Fish the incoming tide for best results
Again this week it was hot with not much relief in the way of afternoon showers. However we had strong, above-average incoming tides during the day most of the week that kept the fish fairly active.
The water on the flats is really hot and without an overcast or breezy day the best option for many anglers is fishing closer to the Gulf Passes.
Once the water temperature gets over 90 degrees on the flats the fish tend to feed more during the cooler hours of night and really early and late in the day. If you fish a little closer to the Passes, Sanibel Causeway or off the beaches the incoming water from the Gulf tends to be cooler resulting in more active fish.
There have been some really good trout reports for summertime in these areas with plenty of fish of the keeper size and a good amount pushing 19 inches. Look for them over grass fingers or areas where sand and grass bottoms meet in depths from five to eight feet. Most found the bite slow during the falling tide but really hot through the incoming. For baits live pilchards or shiners or any imitation of the bait fish worked best. There is a ton of small bait on the grass flats early in the day, you may have to clean a lot of the little guys from the net, but it’s pretty easy to get a well full of bait. As hot as the water is don’t overcrowd the well or they won’t live very long.
Anglers also found Spanish mackerel, mangrove snapper and ladyfish with the trout and an occasional blacktip shark averaging about three feet. Spanish mackerel were also caught on the Gulf side of Redfish and Boca Grande Passes during the incoming water.
Catch and release snook fishing continues on the beaches from Sanibel north to Boca Grande. Some fish were sighted cruising in schools along the surf while others were congregated around submerged structure. Schools of small baitfish are also on the beaches, the best baits were of course the real thing live and free lined or small imitations of the flashy baitfish. Flipper tends to hang around the area of snook concentrations awaiting a free meal, so make a little extra effort when releasing your fish not to give him a free meal. It may be cool to visitors, but it’s illegal and worst than that these dolphin are becoming accustomed to easy meals and in time could become human dependant for food and lack the ability to hunt their own fish. Some days the only way to prevent this is to just stop fishing for a while and wait for the dolphin to move on or you might just need to pick up and move on.
A few snook were also reported from Redfish and Captiva Passes over the falling tide. Fish up to thirty-five inches were caught and released while drifting live baits across the bottom near structure on the Sound side of the Passes. The best bite was the first hour and the last hour of the falling tide. A few big mangrove snapper and several undersize grouper were also caught.
Offshore fishermen are finding decent amounts of yellowtail snapper at depths from ninety to one-hundred twenty feet.&n bsp; Several gags were also caught from the same depths. A little closer in mangrove snapper were found from 40 to 60 feet, some of the mangs are running four pounds or bigger and spear fishermen are finding hog fish at the same depths.
It’s almost the end of the month already, schools going to start again before you know it. Take advantage of the weather and get out there on the water with the kids. As hot as it’s been I wouldn’t recommend a whole day fishing, go fishing early or late in the day and spend the hottest part of the day swimming at the beach.
If you have a fishing story or photo that you would like to share or for charter information please contact us at (239)283-7960 or visi t us at www.fishpineisland.com. Have a safe week and good fishin’.