Ft. Myers - Offshore

Capt. Rick Featherstone
June 13, 2005
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

Golaith Wars!

Greetings,

Summer pattern is in full swing now. After our first tropical system of the season dropped several inches of rain the Gulf is now tanic acid stained on the outgoing tides.

In the passes and along the beach snook fishing is good. Live baits, plugs, jerk baits, jigs, take your pick they will all produce now. They are forming a spawning aggregation and they are out of season. Please be careful and release with as little stress as possible. Especially the big females, hanging vertical could kill them. Tarpon are in the area as well. Most are near the beach and moving is small pods, but we found one very large school offshore. Casting live baits is your best chance of a hookup, but again, plugs, and soft plastic lures and flies work well.

Near shore structures and reefs have been very good fishing as of late. They also hold snook as well as gag grouper, Spanish mackerel, snapper, cobia, permit, cuda, and of course goliath! Remember these fish see many boats so be stealthy on your approach, and while on station. Use lighter leaders etc.

Offshore out to thirty-five miles has been action packed. If it is rod-bending fun you are looking for this is the place. Fishing around large bait pods, wrecks, and large live bottom areas we are finding some high quality summer smoker kings to thirty pounds and more. We have used both live baits and lures to good success. Lots of cuda action around structure and some nice cobe's mixed in to keep it fun. With patience you can find the right shrimp boat or bait pod to find all of the little tunny will be in full force. These fish take flies, bait, and plugs with reckless abandon when chummed. They will play until your arms ache. Save one. Stop on your favorite structure and cut a steak-sized piece off the tunny. Drop that baby down on your heavy outfit and hang on! It will not be long before a goliath will try you on for size. If you are lucky a small one of a hundred pounds or less will eat before big mama does. That would give you a fighting shot. On a trip last week we caught two back to back. The first three hundred, the other a huge five hundred pound brute. Two Penn 9/0 rods hooked to the same three hundred pound test leader. Four big guys that make a living as prison guards, two on each rod and they still barely got the fish up! We hooked another one today about three hundred that popped the guides off of the rod like buttons off a shirt!

There are permit migrating around some of the wrecks now. Watch and again be stealthy with your approach. Crabs work well but crab flies are taken often. We caught three last week over thirty pounds and lost two more to goliath grouper that found them to be tasty.

Another part of summer is the afternoon thunderstorms. Leave early and return early. Watch and be careful. Lightning sucks.

Tight Lines,

Capt. Rick

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