Ft. Myers - Offshore

Capt. Rick Featherstone
November 6, 2004
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

The Man In the Grey Suit!

Greetings,

I just love this time of year when the big decision of the day is what to fish for! The fall pelagic run is in mid migration making it really fun to be on the water. Little boats, big boats and even kayaks are enjoying the great fishing right now.

Near shore from the beach out to five miles is very active. Spanish mackerel, king mackerel, cobia, bluefish, redfish, and goliath grouper are all within this range. The turns, or what I call “tuna birds” will point the way to the schools of slashing Spanish mackerel. Mixed in have been bluefish as well. Most any silver spoon will bring a quick strike. If you find and area with a heavy concentration of bait, most likely a king or cobia will not be far. Live baits, jigs, and plugs will take them.

Offshore from five to forty miles is dealer’s choice. Reef fishing for grouper is going well for both red and gags. Live baits bring on the big bites in this game and the bigger the better. Wrecks are producing good cobia and king action. We caught and released thirteen cobia and sixteen king mackerel from one wreck this week. Big goliath is in town! We released several up to three hundred pounds.

Our catch of the week, month, and year happened this week. Actually it was the biggest fish ever caught aboard the Magic Hook. My four anglers from Miami were pretty inexperienced so we started the day Spanish mackerel fishing. After boating a dozen nice fish we hit a patch of hard bottom to try the grouper / snapper bite. We did and hour of catch and release fishing boating about twenty fish over all including a couple of Little Tunny (false albacore), which I kept for bait. Switching gears now we moved a short distance to and artificial reef to try our hand and catching a big goliath. Well all went according to plan and the goliath hit quickly. Too quickly and he was gone! Second, third and fourth bite just as quickly gone! Well, I re-rigged, and re-baited. While the bait (a whole L.T.) was dangling at boat side and I was giving some additional instructions all heck broke loose. A truly giant Hammerhead shark came straight up from the depths and pinned the bait against the hull, but she missed the hook. Not just a big shark, I mean the MAN IN THE GREY SUIT! THE Tax Collector, Old Hittler's mama! Four anglers yelling and one guide trying to get a grip on the situation must have looked really funny. This shark was huge and way out of proportion to what I am accustomed to seeing. I took me a minute to realize the situation, when I did I slapped the big Penn 9/0 in my anglers hand into free spool and let the bait fall. When the line started to move I put the reel back into gear. When that line came tight the look on my anglers face was the funniest thing I have seen in years! As I write this I am still laughing. Complete horror! He screamed at me “ARE YOU CRAZY”. One hour and twenty minutes, and over a mile later, and two complete rotations of our four guys the big shark slowed down. When she did I ran the boat right up along side and grabbed the leader. OH right! Like pulling on a truck bumper, no give at all. She finally came up right beside our boat for a quick picture and release. Estimated length was 18’ long. A day I will never forget. I had no takers on my offer to go swimming after that.

Bow em’ up,

Capt. Rick

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