How about that WIND!
Capt. Scott Hughes
April 2, 2009
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report
The wind has been out of control lately. It hasn't cost me any trips but it has made thing a little difficult. I scoted my fist tarpon of the season on 3/31/09 and if it wasn't for the wind i would have many more by now. The only good news is that most of the 20-30 mph winds have been out of the south or southwest and that make for the best flats fishing in the areas that I fish. I feel for the guys on the southern eand of Pine Island. I'm sure that the water is pee soup dwon there.
Tarpon: They have been in the area for a few weeks now but not if fishable numbers. I caught a decent morning on 3/31 and my customers were able to hook 4 and land 1. All of the fish were in the 100-pound range. I hooked on on cut bait and the other three on free lined live herring. I'm not going to go into detail on the locations but the usual spots for early season tarpon are holding fish. I have seen fish in a number of places in Pine Island Sound and they have been moving though the passes and sight fishing off some of the larger sand bars is good for cruising singles.
Snook: Snook fishing has been the staple the past three weeks. The strong south winds hasn't hindered the bait gathering and the snook have been feeding most of the day on the extra high water that is pushed in with a southerly wind. 40-50 fish days are not that uncommon with 15-20 snook days the norm. 95% of the snook are a few inches below the slot. I'm seeing alot of slot and over slot fish but not in the numbers. If someone wants to put in the time for a trophy snook it is very likely that one could catch a couple of 10-15 pounders if we were to pass on the action that the smaller snook provide. All of my snook fishing has been with live sardines or "white bait" as they are called locally.
Redfish: There are alot of scattered redfish along the shorelines with the extra high tides that we are getting with all this wind. I'm catching a few each day with the exception of a couple of days that I pinned down a school and chummed them into a frenzy and landed 20 the fist day and 50 the second day. All the fish were 24-30 inches. Who know where that schools is now because the last time that i saw them they were runing south at a high rate of speed and I haven't seen them since.
Trout: I'm still catching some really big gator trout as a by catch while I'm snook fishing. I haven't actually when out and tried to catch trout in three weeks. I hear that its been very good for the guys going after them.
Sharks: Lots of sharks out there. Caught a couple while tarpon fishing and have been seeing a quite a few on the bars of Pine Island Sound and Charlotte Harbor.
Cobia, spanish mackerel, kingfish: A few cobia are cruising the bars and some kingfish are in the passes. Spanish mackerel are just about everywhere where the water is clear.
Fort Myers Fishing Forecast:
Cross your fingers for the wind to lay down and we'll be able to put up some tarpon numbers. Expect the snook to be good for the remainder of the season. Schools of redfish are around but we need to wind to lay down in order to stalk them.
Target Species:
Tarpon, Snook, Redfish, Trout, Shark, Kingfish
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