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Marco Island, Ft. Myers & Boca Grande
Capt. Scott Hughes
April 24, 2001
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fish On!
I’m sorry about not getting the fishing reports updated each week but computer time has been limited to checking my e-mail about every three days or so. I have been fishing mostly out of the Marco-10,000 Islands area so I haven’t been around Ft Myers or Charlotte Harbor much. We had great weather for the first two weeks of April and the fishing responded like I had hoped it would. My anglers have scored on 41 tarpon this month. Most of the tarpon have been over 75-pounds. We even had time to do some snook fishing after the tarpon fishing on a few days when the tarpon bite was hot in the morning. Large jacks, mackerel, trout, sharks, grouper, jewfish and tripletail round out the most notable catches over the past two weeks.
The tarpon fishing was at its best for the first two weeks of April. Like it usually is. We caught most of the fish offshore of Everglades City with live thread herring and sardines. As the month progressed a strong cold front pushed into our area and forced anglers to retreat to the backcountry. We got lucky, because I found a little bay that has been hold good numbers of tarpon from 20-100 pounds. Last week that spot saved my butt because we caught 9 tarpon in there on live sardines. It was pretty cool because the tarpon were usually in 2-3 feet of water and when we hooked one he was out of the water more than in the water. Yesterday was the first time that I have seen good numbers of tarpon on the outside off the islands in over a week. Unfortunately I have heard rumors that we have another strong cold fronts coming in this weekend.
Another species that has been getting hot this month is snook. Snook have been moving to the outer islands and are hitting smaller live sardines. Smaller snook are out on the beaches already but the larger 34inch snook are still in the creeks and passes leading to the outside. Fish the points of the islands where dead mangroves are present.
Large trout are showing strong. The flats south of Round Key have been popular with plenty of keepers hitting sardines fish with a popping cork. Cape Romano Shoals has also stared to produce. The only trout that we have catching has been large 23-26 inchers that have been hitting our tarpon bait in Dismal Key Pass. I guess that when you are using a 6-inch thread herring you won’t get a small trout.
Tripletail are moving north toward Sanibel. Good numbers were south of Cape Romano but are more toward Naples presently. A free-lined shrimp is hard to beat but a live sardine with its tail snipped will catch plenty. Also, once you have caught one for dinner, try them on a fly.
Large Jacks up to 18-pounds are cruising the beaches near the passes form Ft Myers to Cape Romano. They can’t turn down live bait but jigs, lures and flies are great fun. One surprise this past week was when one of my customers Adam Zukal (age 8) was fishing for jacks with 12-pound tackle off Caxambas Pass. After catching an 8-pound jack he hooked what we thought was another. To our surprise it was an estimated 100-pound tarpon. We fought the fish for about 20 minutes before it chewed through the 50-pound leader.
Schools of spanish and very small king mackerel are all over the coast about a mile or two out. They will hit flies and spoons the best. Use a heavy mono leader to get the most hook-ups and with less of a chance of getting cut off.
The forecast for tarpon will be getting better toward Sanibel and Boca Grande. Marco Island tarpon fishing will remain good but I think the majority of the large fish have migrated north. Snook fishing will continue to improve with each day that the winds are calm and the temperatures are warm. If you waited to late to get a tarpon trip in April or May, don’t forget that we have excellent tarpon fishing in Charlotte Harbor in June and July. The accommodations are very reasonable and the tarpon fishing can be as hot as the weather.
Good Luck!
Capt. Scott Hughes
Blackwater Charters
863-946-9171
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 I specialize in light tackle saltwater, and fly fishing from the backcountry of the 10,000 Islands to flats of Pine Island Sound and the bay system of Charlotte Harbor. I have pick-up locations out of Ft Myers, Marco Island, Pine Island, Punta Gorda and Boca Grande. I like to target big fish. During warm months, tarpon, sharks, snook, redfish, cobia, king mackerel and big jacks are the main species sought after. Most of the winter months are devoted to redfish, trout, snook and grouper. Whether
Contact Info:
Blackwater Charters
12571 Burnt Store Rd
Punta Gorda, FL 33955
Phone: 941-575-2389
Alt. Phone: 941-628-4247
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