Marco Island, Ft. Myers & Boca Grande

Capt. Scott Hughes
February 15, 2002
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

Cold Front Fishing.

Sight fishing is still the most attractive prospect this week. Last week we found excellent numbers of snook and redfish in the shallow backcountry of Charlotte Harbor. Cold fronts have been coming through on a regular basis and water temperatures dropped and the fish became lethargic and wouldn’t eat much of anything. Offshore snapper fishing is still good but grouper are small and far between. Marco Island water have been choppy which make for muddy conditions and runs what little bait there is offshore. Trout, pompano and ladyfish have been the main catches since the fronts started to move through.

The most interesting fishing that I did last week was sight fishing for snook and reds in about a foot of water in Charlotte Harbor. We didn’t do much catching but we found hundreds of snook and dozens of redfish lying in crystal clear water. Conditions were less than perfect because there was an overcast cold day. The fish were very spooky and weren’t feeding at all. We a managed some ladyfish and one snook that hit a top water lure. When the weather starts to get warm these fish will go crazy and we’ll get the serious numbers that we got this time last year.

Live bait has been tough out of Marco Island but there is always fish to be caught and trout and pompano have been the best action in town. Jigs tipped with shrimp fished around the passes or along the beach are producing fair numbers of pompano and trout are hitting the same thing on the grass flats between Marco Island and Everglades national Park. When the live bait moves in expect good catches of snook, redfish, trout jack crevelle and don’t be surprised if a tarpon doesn’t pop into the reports. Last year we started catching a few tarpon a week from today and this year is much warmer than last so expect the unexpected in late February or early March.

Good Luck!

Capt. Scott Hughes

Blackwater Charters

863-946-9171

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