On the Water: Bite slows down with cooler weather
Cooler weather dropped water temperatures and with it came a noticeable slow down on the good steady fishing over the past few weeks. Fish were still caught, but not in the numbers over the previous weeks.
Sheepshead fishing is down compared to the past few years. Warm weather up to this point is a likely cause. With a decline in water temperature, anglers are finding sheepshead becoming more numerous. They were reported around the gulf passes including Boca Grande, Captiva, Redfish, Blind and around structure at either end of the Sanibel Causeway. Nearshore reefs in 20 to 40-foot depths yielded some big fish on the few days the winds were light. Shore-bound anglers scored while fishing from the Bokeelia and Sanibel fishing piers, plus Blind Pass and from the beach of Cayo Costa State Park.
Shrimp is the bait of choice rigged in various ways, including knocker rigs, split shot and hook, and shrimp/jig head combination. A few black and red drum, plus snook, gag grouper and mangrove snapper were also hooked with the sheepshead under the piers.
If you hit the right spot at the right time, seatrout fishing was good on some days. Later in the week with cooler temperatures required patience as the bite was noticeably slower. Seatrout were caught off Bokeelia between west mouth and Bokeelia Shoals, off the west side of the intracoastal along bar edges from Cabbage Key south to Captiva’s Foster Point, and between Red Light Shoals and Galt Island. Favorite baits included live shrimp under rattling or popping corks, DOA shrimp and a variety of soft plastic lures. A few pompano, bluefish, Spanish mackerel and bonnethead sharks were hooked as well.
Catch-and-release snook fishing was slower than previous weeks but still decent. Fish up to 30 inches were caught on live bait and top or sub-surface lures. Over the cooler days, fish were hooked fishing canals around St. James City and northwest Cape Coral plus creeks in the “Ding” Darling Wildlife Refuge. Warmer days found snook sunning along shorelines across Pine Island Sound and south Matlacha Pass. As water temps continue to drop, I expect the snook bite to do the same.
Our coldest temperatures of the year has arrived and likely will affect how we fish. Up this point bait fish are plentiful giving fish plenty to feed on. It’s common after a good cool down for a majority of the bait fish to vacate shallow inshore waters. Shrimp and artificial baits become the choice for many anglers during times when water temps drop below 70 degrees.
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.