On the Water: It was a slow week out on the water
It’s slow season on the water with not a lot of boats fishing mid-week, then picking up on weekends. It is tournament season, with at least one scheduled every week locally. Most occur over the weekend, but a lot of angler’s pre-fish or scout on weekdays. Again, this week the weather was up and down, and anglers that did fish often found a good bite with a variety of species.
Spotted seatrout were caught over grass flats inside Redfish and Captiva Passes, south of Rocky Channel, around Bokeelia and north Matlacha Pass off the channel. Fish are averaging 12-16 inches with a few over 20 inches. Live bait and lures fished around bait schools and feeding birds gave the best action.
Shrimp, small pilchards and pinfish, plus a variety of lures including Z-man and MirrOlures worked best. Big ladyfish, jack crevalle and small sharks were also hooked.
With a little effort, anglers are boxing limits of mangrove snapper across the inshore waters and Gulf passes. In Pine Island Sound and Charlotte Harbor, snapper were chummed up around bait schools, bar drop-offs, mangrove shorelines and structure. Inshore snapper are averaging 8-15 inches. If you catch the slower stages of the tides, drifting hard bottom in the passes or the Sanibel Causeway are good choices. Mangrove snapper were caught around nearshore reefs as well.
Redfish catches were good around the inshore waters. Larger fish 27-32 inches were hooked around the Gulf passes and smaller slot or keeper-size reds were found around oyster bars, creeks and mangrove shorelines from Bokeelia’s Jug Creek, south to St. James and areas in between in the Sound and Matlacha Pass. Seatrout, mangrove snapper, jack crevalle and snook were caught from the same areas.
Snook fishing remained steady around the barrier islands and passes of Sanibel, Captiva and Cayo Costa islands, plus inshore from Bokeelia south to Galt Island, plus south Matlacha Pass. From land, snook were hooked from the Matlacha Drawbridge. Anglers continue to report dolphin to be aggressive with hooked fish around the Gulf passes. Snook season remains closed through the month.
Tarpon sightings and hook-ups came from the southern Sound near the powerlines, around Boca Grande Pass and way up Charlotte Harbor near the bridges. A few were hooked on live and cut mullet, plus big Bomber lures.
Tarpon are often hanging around bait schools and ladyfish schools. If you are fishing around either, it’s a good plan to fish a bigger bait or lure for tarpon.
Offshore, working around unsettled weather, gag grouper up to 31 inches, plus mangrove and lane snapper was caught from reefs, ledges, and hard bottom over depths from 40-80 feet. Cobia was also hooked or sighted around artificial reefs.
Stay up to date with fishing regulations by visiting www.myfwc.com. Also, upload the Fish Rules app on your phone. It has current regulations with pictures to help identify fish.
If you have a fishing report or for charter information, please contact us at Gulf Coast Guide Service; phone (239) 410-8576, email gcl2fish@live.com or you visit us on the Web 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 Pine Island and Southwest Florida, and as a professional fishing guide for over 20 years.