Marco Island, Ft. Myers & Boca Grande

Capt. Scott Hughes
February 24, 2003
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

With spring comes Wind!

The good news is that spring like conditions are becoming more prevelent which means tarpon, snook and sharks are on the move. The bad news is that early spring is usually windy. This year seems to be just that. I fished a couple of days this week that were pushing 30-35 mph and the rest were 15-20 mph. The fish have biting despite to tough fishing conditions. Redfish and trout have been eating in Pine Island Sound. Snapper, grouper and trout have been the main catches in the 10,000 Islands.

Capt. Bo Johnson has been reporting great catches of Redfish in the upper Pine Island Soound. Soft plastics and jig/shrimp combos are producing the best. I have been consistently catching 40-70 trout per day in the south end of the sound. The fish are running slightly smaller than a few weeks ago. Most are around 13-14 inches with about 1 per 10 over the 15-inch minimum. Grass flats in 3-4 ft of water are holding the most fish. Look for oyster bars to find the larger singles.

Out of Marco Island, the winds kept us from getting offshore to catch bait. We had to settle for throwing jig and shrimp rigs for snapper and small grouper in the major passes. Oyster bars in the back bays caught keeper trout and ladyfish.

Hopefully next week will have light winds and we will be trying some live bait for snook and redfish. I also have a few trips that want to focus on large sharks and tarpon. It is still probably a little early but if the conditions get right who knows.

Good Luck!

Capt. Scott Hughes

Blackwater Charters

941-628-4147 cell

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