Ft. Myers - Offshore

Capt. Rick Featherstone
April 27, 2004
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

Offshore Springs Into Action

Greetings,

Pinch me because it doesn’t get better than this weeks fishing. Since the last front water temperatures have been steady on the rise, water clarity improving, bait schools are moving in and with them the pelagic fish eating out of control.

Offshore can be summed up on a word. Variety! I did not do any bottom fishing for grouper or snapper, but Little Tunny (false albacore) kingfish, cobia, permit, Amberjack, cuda, tarpon, and triple tail and goliath grouper kept us very busy aboard the Magic Hook. We fished with fly and spin tackle for the Little Tunny and really heated up some drags and had a big time of it catching them. We worked bait pods in fifty foot to seventy foot of water over hard bottom and a few shrimp boats as well catching them literally non stop. If there is a more fun fish on fly, I don’t know about it. Our best fish came on half and half’s and big Clouser’s. Kingfish were not thick, but we caught mid twenty pound fish almost every day just fishing incidentally for them. Thread hearing was the bait of choice. Nice cobia from thirty to fifty pounds were on the surface almost every day. Pitching crabs and baitfish to them gave a quick hookup and a big time fight. We caught permit to twenty nine pounds on shrimp and crabs. Triple tail are in the area, and we released our share to ten pounds. Clouser fly’s and shrimp was the bait of choice for us. Goliath grouper and here and eating everything in sight. We landed a couple of two hundred pound plus fish and got beaten up by a huge one over four hundred more than one trip. Tarpon are here. We hooked several, and released at least one on every day we tried for them. Crabs, threads, pinfish, and various cut baits all seem to be working, just keep changing until something bites. Plenty of sharks to keep us busy waiting for that tarpon bite as well. Tarpon was the only thing I fished for near shore that’s it from the deck of the Magic Hook this week.

Tight Lines,

Capt. Rick

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