Marco Island, Ft. Myers & Boca Grande

Capt. Scott Hughes
January 9, 2001
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

I'm getting used to the cold.

So are the Fish!

There was ice on my boat twice last week! All of ya’ll from up north, don’t tell me it doesn’t get cold in Florida. Our inshore barracuda and snapper took a pretty good hit. But I haven’t seen any dead snook yet. However, the fishing since New Years Day has been great. I have been fishing primarily fishing in the Ft Myers area so my reports for Marco Island are mostly from what the other guides are telling me.

Redfish have been consistent producers in the backcountry of Pine Island Sound. The deeper that you can get the bigger the reds have been. We caught reds up to 26 inches on every trip last week. Jigs tipped with shrimp have been the best producers. Free-lined shrimp are also catching a few but out of 6-10 reds per trip over 75% have hit the jigs.

Snook are also feeding deep into the backcountry along with the redfish. They are much more concentrated and more difficult to find. When we have found them they have provided some great light tackle action. We caught 9 snook up to 25-inches one day last week. All hit jigs or free-lined shrimp fished around the mangroves in 6-8 feet of water. That may not sound to great, but for winter that impressive.

Sheephead are all over the backcountry of Pine Island Sound. We are catching up to 30 keepers per trip while fishing for reds and snook. The same jigs that I mentioned above are catching the sheepies. Look for mangroves with at least 5 feet of water or a channel with good current and hard bottom.

Trout, pompano and ladyfish round out the catches for the week. Most have taken the jigs tipped with shrimp. I have also been spotting some small permit on the flats south of Captiva Island. At first I thought they were pompano, but I’m sure they are permit. We made some good casts to them with the jigs but they wouldn’t hit.

The forecast for the week should be excellent. The cold should keep the fish pushed deep into the creeks and good strong tides should make for a good bite.

Good Luck!

Capt. Scott Hughes

Blackwater Charters

863-946-9171

[email protected] www.blackwatercharters.com

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