Marco Island, Ft. Myers & Boca Grande

Capt. Scott Hughes
November 8, 2003
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

Inshore Slam!

Inshore slams of snook, redfish and trout are about as easy as it gets right now. Grande Slams which consists of catching a tarpon aren't as easy but if you look long enough that is a possibility also. Since my last, report things have changed a little. The redfish aren't schooling as much and the huge mangrove snapper that we saw this fall have moved more offshore. Trout fishing has really improved lately even though they are out of season until January 1st. Large spanish mackerel, big jacks and bluefish have been easy targets for fly anglers.

Snook fishing this week was good in Pine Island Sound. We used live sardines to catch snook up to 30 inches along the islands near the main passes and along the bars of lower Charlotte Harbor. Chumming was nessary to get the good bites going.

We could not find the redfish schools this week but had good succes finding slot size reds along the bushes during the higher stages of the tides. Pinfish, sardines and ballyhoo were the best producers. One sign that winter is here is that we caught lots of small reds this week instead of the large over the slot reds that we have been catching.

Trout fishing is great in Pine Island Sound and Charlotte Harbor. Big trout are eating jigs and live sardines along the drop offs outside the sand bars.

Some of the largest Spanish mackerel I've have ever seen are taking everything from jigs to pencil popper flies. Most of the large fish are holding near structure a few miles offshore. We caught spanish mackerel up to 4 pounds flyfishing offshore of Marco Island.

We also caught jack crevelle up to 7 pounds on fly until our arms felt like they were going to fall off. The jacks fell for polar fiber minnow flies.

Lots of snapper and under sized grouper are in the passes of Southwest Florida. Shrimp and small sardines are working the best. Jigs will catch plenty also. Fish near slack tide to have the best chance to get your baits down.

The forecast for the next few weeks should be similar to this report. If the weather starts to get cold then you'll see more fish start to move into the creeks and shrimp will be slightly more effective than baitfish.

Good Luck!

Capt. Scott Hughes

Blackwater Charters

941-575-2389

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