On the Water: Spring fishing is now at its best
The first week of spring rolled in with good weather and great fishing. Anglers report hooking into everything from trout to tarpon over the past week.
Trout increased in both numbers and size throughout the inshore waters. Limits of fish were caught off the grass flats outside Sanibel’s Tarpon Bay, east of Buck Key and near Foster’s Point in Pine Island Sound. Large trout, with a few reported over 26 inches, were caught off both the east and west side of Charlotte Harbor and in the northern Sound from Wood Key to the north.
Redfish reports were sparse with a few here and there, but most were hooked while targeting snook off the eastern side of the Sound and Matlacha Pass. Fish that were caught went anywhere in size from 16 to 30 inches.
With the warming water, if you hit the tide and time of day right, snook fishing was very good. Of course, with the 5-inch keeper size slot, catching a legal fish is about the same as winning the lottery. But that’s OK; snook of any size are a blast to target and even better to catch.
Most of the catches reported came while fishing live shiners around mangrove shorelines, oyster bars and sand potholes. Several oversized fish were caught and released including one measuring over 40 inches caught off Charlotte Harbors eastern shore on Capt. Cliff Simer’s Boat. Increasing numbers of snook were also noted showing up around the Gulf Passes.
This week we caught some of the largest Spanish mackerel I have seen inshore. If you have kids looking for action, these drag screaming speedsters are hard to beat. Look for them schooling across Charlotte Harbor in 6 to 10 feet of water over a mix of grass and sand bottom, inside Captiva and Redfish Passes over the same bottom, and in 5 to 8-foot depths near the Sanibel Causeway. Sharks are hanging around the macks looking for an easy meal; we lost a couple mackerel on the hook to large blacktip and spinner sharks as they chased down the hooked fish near boat side.
Tarpon numbers are increasing and fish were hooked on live bait, cut bait and flies. In mid-Pine Island Sound, anglers catching sharks for several weeks are finding more tarpon hook-ups while soaking cut bait or fishing live ladyfish and mullet. Clear water throughout Charlotte Harbor was the perfect scenario for sight casting to tarpon over the sandy bar edges. Most are singles and doubles but the opportunities are there for those willing to put in the effort. Tarpon were also reported southwest off Knapp’s Point in 20 to 30-foot depths.
Moving offshore, fishing reports were also good. Red grouper were caught over hard bottom in depths from 65 to 110 feet, amberjack were found in good numbers over wrecks beginning in about 70 feet of water. Cobia were hooked cruising over reefs from as shallow as 30 feet out to 120-foot depths and permit schools were reported hanging just under the water’s surface over structure for 30 to 50-foot depths.
Also, a few large king mackerel were hooked around artificial reefs and schooling Spanish mackerel could be sighted harassing bait schools at any depth.
This is the time of year we have been waiting for. It does not really matter if you are an inshore or offshore angler, prefer fishing live bait, sight casting or the thrill of fly fishing, these next couple weeks will be the time to get out there and enjoy some great fishing opportunities.
If you have a fishing report or for charter information, please contact us at 239-283-7960, on the web www.fishpineisland.com or email gcl2fish@live.com
Have a safe week and good fishin’.