The heat is on all across Southwest Florida

No doubt about it, August is one hot month in Southwest Florida. Many locals and old-timers don’t even bother to fish this month, or if they do, only venture out early or late or on overcast days. Like the air, the water temperature is also very warm. This can make fishing very challenging. With that said, if you go without high expectations and don’t get too focused on any one species, chances are you will catch some fish.
Again this week mangrove snapper were biting decent inshore and near the beaches. Capt. Cliff Simer found snapper up to 13 inches at Captiva Pass and around oyster bars in the sound on high water. On my boat we caught some really nice snapper while trout fishing on bar edges near Smokehouse Bay at the northern end of Matlacha Pass. Not a bunch of snapper, but they were running close to 14 inches on average. There were also reports of snapper from the Bokeelia Pier and the old phosphate docks at Boca Grande.
It sounds like the redfish bite might be getting better. I have heard a few reports of tailers around “Ding” Darling on the low water and reports of fish caught under the bushes on the highs. Capt. Shawn McQuade reports the best redfish bite he has had in quite some time. These fish were running in the mid to upper slot and were taking live pilchards and pinfish under the mangroves near Cayo Costa. Shawn said the only negative was that they were wade fishing and he was greeted with a bulky 8-foot bull shark shortly after he left the boat. After the shark scared the “you know what” out of him (the shark was just as surprised as it quickly vacated the flat), Shawn regained his composure and was rewarded with steady action. A few redfish were also caught along the eastern shore of the harbor near Burnt Store Marina.
Speaking of sharks, they don’t seem to mind the warm water as they remain plentiful. Just like all fish, there are some days when they just don’t want to play, but if you hit the time of day and tides right, you can have a lot of fun with them. Capt. Gary Clark found both black tip and lemon sharks biting in the sound. The lemons went up to 7 feet and were caught west of Demere Key during the incoming tides. The black tips were smaller, going up to 4 feet, and were taken between the intracoastal channel and Redfish Pass. Both were caught on fresh mackerel fished on bottom that were caught just inside the passes.
We only made one afternoon shark trip this week on a quick stop home from the beach at Cayo Costa. Armed with only two ladyfish for baits and not much time before sunset, I wasn’t sure what the results would be. Two baits weren’t in the water very long until we had a pair of runs, but nothing to show for it but bare hooks. Down to one line with our last half of a ladyfish and just about to call it quits the reels starts to sing. I handed the rod to Oscar Pula, visiting from Canada, and told him to hang on as the circle hook dug in. Oscar worked to regain a lot of line the fish took out and brought a broad bull shark alongside the boat. As I controlled the toothy end, my daughter Shelby successfully tail roped the fish on her second attempt so we could get a measurement. The fish measured slightly over 5 feet and it swam away unharmed after a few pictures. Earlier in the day Oscar caught several sea trout — the were the first saltwater fish he had ever caught, and this was his first shark, not a bad start.
That just goes to show you, never give up when fishing. We were about one step from reeling the bait in and heading for the house when the shark hit. Instead we were fighting his first shark as the sun hit the horizon behind us and creating some great memories. So you just never know!
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 visit us at http://www.fishpine-island.com.‘>www.fishpine-island.com. Have a safe week and good fishin’.