Fort Myers to Boca Grande early spring fishing report 2012
Capt. Scott Hughes
February 26, 2012
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report
Spring has come early this year. Even when we get a cold front its not very cold. The last front only dropped the water temps down a couple of degrees. Normally after a front this time of year the bite slows down and the fish seek water water. Well thats not the case this year. I fish during the passing of a front yesterday and the speckled trout and redfish fed just like they did the day before. Even with a stiff north wind the fish were biting on the artificial lures.
Redish: Fishing for redfish has been excellent all winter but now that the tides are getting higher is really been good and we are finally starting to see some real nice 7-10 pounders on the flats. All areas in Southwest Florida are producing good redfish. The east and west walls of Charlotte Harbor are hold slot size fish and i've even heard reports of good redishing in the river mouths. Naturally The flats near Gaspiralla Sound are hold good redfish and so is Pine Island Sound. Most of my fishing has been arfifical lures but alot of guys like to put live bait on a cork. Each to his own. Both methods are productive.
Speckled Trout: Trout fishing is good for most everyone because the fish are very scattered out on the flats due to the water water tempatures. I would rather have colder water because that pushes them to more isolated pockets and makes for some great action. No need for live bait for the trout. They bite lures better than the bait most of the time.
Snook: I have not been targeting snook because most of the best snook fishing is with live sardines and I have been able to keep people happy without the use of live bait. However, I know plenty of other guides who do target snook and they are haivng a great year on snook in Charlotte Harbor. Snook up to 30 inches have been common catches with the use of live sardines.
Sharks: Again I have not been targeting sharks but I have been seeing a lot of them lately and I know a few guys that target large sharks daily. They are hooking sharks up to 200 pounds almost every day. Bulls, spinner and blacktips are the most common catches right now.
Tarpon: I have not tried to target tarpon because March is usually to early for them in Southwest Florida but the conditions are getting closer to what tarpon like. If we get a good weather window i'd expect to see some tarpon reports. It might even be from me:)
Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:
Expect good fishing in March for most of the above species for the next couple of months.
Target Species:
redfish, specked trout
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