Outstanding Early November Fort Myers Tarpon Action
Capt. Eric Anderson
November 8, 2014
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report
That early cold snap really dropped the water temps on the flats and back country. It went from the low 80's to around 70 degrees in a short period of time. Now that the water temps have stabilized the fishing is really picking up. The trout have moved into their traditional winter habitat and the fishing has been very consistent on the first half of the incoming tide.
The resident Tarpon have gone into their annual fall feeding binge getting ready for the cold winter water temps. Yesterday 11/7/14 the action started once the sun warmed up the surface temps about noon. The Tarpon were hitting just about any small topwater bait or jig that matched the bait they were feeding on.
There are few things in angling more fun than having one Tarpon after another hit your topwater bait. It was a classic hook - fight - and release day. If you give them a little slack line after a few jumps they would usually come off and you could go right back and jump another one. It is important this time of the year not to tire them out since they are building body mass for the winter. Enjoy the fight and try to get them to jump off so you don't have to handle them if at all possible. If you switch to barbless hooks and sharpen them carefully they will increasing the number of Tarpon that stay on after that first jump, but more importantly you can easily release them if they don't come off on their own.
You can look for the Tarpon to continue their afternoon feeding frenzy until we have that next cold snap. So get out there and have some fun while it lasts and please take extra care to handle them gently, they are the future silver kings.
Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:
Trout fishing on the flats will continue to improve and don't forget to try topwater at different times during the day.
Target Species:
Trout
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