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Report for Naples, Marco Island and the Ten Thousand Islands
Capt. Matt Hoover
December 29, 2000
Marco Island - Saltwater Fishing Report
Zoo Fishing
The temperature has been on a steady decline and the cold fronts are coming like clockwork. This is the time of year when most of us concentrate on the finer art of “ zoo fishing”. There are occasions when it warms up before a front and a few tarpon come in. You can even get after snook and reds. But when the air is cold and the wind blows hard, it is time to go to the zoo. That is what most of us did during Christmas week and thereafter. Many different species will drop into deeper water to get a couple of degrees warmer. Those species would be redfish, snook, sheepshead, black drum, gag grouper, and snapper. The list goes on and on. That is why we call it zoo fishing.
Most of the fishing that we did this past week was zoo fishing. I usually use live shrimp with a split shot that is heavy enough to keep the shrimp from bouncing on the bottom too fast. I will fish in five to fifteen feet of water. Some of the rivers in the Ten Thousand Islands have a lot of structure on the bottom. We caught all of the aforementioned species. Some of the grouper were legal size. You can expect to catch anything. Don’t be surprised if you get your clock cleaned by an unknown beast.
When I had the chance, we would work points and oyster bars with jigs. There were spots where the jacks and ladyfish were non-stop. We also boated a few redfish and snook. Large trout are not uncommon.
Thursday rolled around and the weather deteriorated. Those of us that fished on Friday had to hide in the creeks and rivers. The wind was howling and it was cold. As tough as it may seem you can almost always catch fish in the islands. Just remember to go deep. I’ll see you on the water.
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