Not the best week out on the water
With days of unfavorable tides, unsettled weather and reports of red tide, the fishing report is short this week.
Many anglers report floating fish, respiratory irritation and bait fish dying in live wells in Pine Island Sound and just off the beaches. Most reports came from the western half of Pine Island Sound from Redfish Pass and north. Most areas were OK early in the week then deteriorated as we neared the weekend. Most dead fish appear to be small bait fish such as pinfish, grunts, pilchards, etc.
Heading into the weekend unsettled weather from Fred brought rain and thunderstorms throughout the day that kept most anglers in port. At least the smart ones. Early in the week, weather was good in the morning, although tides were often slow moving that made for a difficult bite.
For the good, a variety of fish were hooked inshore in the Sound, Matlacha Pass and Charlotte Harbor. In Pine Island Sound, the best action came on the far eastern side, where redfish and snook were hooked along shorelines, and seatrout and mangrove snapper were located in deeper sand holes and sand bar drop-offs on the lower morning tides.
In Matlacha Pass, a mix of seatrout, ladyfish, jack crevalle and small sharks were caught a short distance off the channel from markers 68 to 76. Several redfish up to 26 inches were caught and released by kayak anglers in the Indian Fields area of the Pass.
Fishing around Bokeelia in Charlotte Harbor continues to produce a lot of blacktip sharks from 2 to 4 feet. Look for them in depths from 4 to 7 feet deep off bar edges and over grass/sand mottled bottom. These same areas turned up a few seatrout to 21 inches, mangrove snapper, ladyfish, mackerel, cobia and even a few garfish. Redfish up to 28 inches were caught inside the bar off the eastern shoreline near Burnt Store Marina.
For the next month or so we must keep our eyes on the water and the weather. We are entering the height of hurricane season and potential for red tide outbreaks. We don’t need a hit from a hurricane, but sometimes a tropical storm pushing up the coast is just the answer to rid waters of red tide.
If you have a fishing report or for charter information, contact Gulf Coast Guide Service at 239-410-8576 (call or text); on the web at www.fishpine island.com; or via email at gcl2fish@ live.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 Pine Island and Southwest Florida, and as a professional fishing guide for the past 23 years.