On the Water: Cooler days are here — fishing luck changes with the temps
With cold fronts arriving weekly, our average water temperature is on a steady decline. For the past several weeks the fishing pattern is as follows: a cold front drops down and the bite slows, after a couple days the air temperature is back up along with the water, and good fishing resumes. Then another cold front drops down and we repeat the process. This past week was no different. Fishing was good mid-week, then a struggle into the weekend as the thermometer dropped.
Snook and redfish were caught and released around the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River, in lower Pine Island Sound from Blind Pass up past Buck Key, and north of Demere Key. Fish were also hooked around docks and pilings around St. James City, Bokeelia and the outer islands. Several boats found nonstop action with redfish up to 31 inches mid-week along bar drop-offs around Charlotte Harbor.
Undersize gag grouper, with an occasional keeper, were caught in and near the Gulf passes, and along the intracoastal channel in Pine Island Sound. Large live pinfish or thread herring, and big diving lures, worked best.
Grass flats across Pine Island Sound and Charlotte Harbor continue to hold a mix of fish including seatrout, bluefish, ladyfish, jack crevalle and the occasional Spanish mackerel and shark. Action on some days was good while other days were slow. The best bite came while anchoring or drifting 4 to 6-foot depths. Several seatrout over 20 inches were reported.
A few reports from anglers targeting nearshore reefs off Captiva in 25 to 40-foot depths were disappointing, as they found a nonexistent bite bottom fishing. We should begin to see sheepsheads at this depth anytime. In the same area, tripletail up to 20 inches were caught on live shrimp
Keep 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, contact Gulf Coast Guide Service at 239-410-8576 (call or text); on the web at www.fishpineisland.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.