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Report for Naples, Marco Island and the Ten Thousand Islands
Capt. Matt Hoover
August 7, 2001
Marco Island - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fresh Water Washdown
Barry breezed by us this week and dumped more rain over most of south Florida. If you were out fishing this past week, it wasn’t hard to tell that there is a lot of fresh water pouring into the Marco and Ten Thousand islands areas. Fishing has been tough in those areas. I have heard through the grapevine that fishing has been good to excellent south of Chockoloskee. It only confirms to me that the over abundant fresh water influx is the main culprit for the slow action. As of this writing, things have improved a degree, but you have to work at it and I found that live bait was a better producer in our area.
We have many rivers that dump out of the estates directly into the Ten Thousand islands. As you head south from Chockoloskee, there aren’t as many avenues for the fresh water to flow. There are all the bights, nooks and crannies before you come across the first major rivers in Everglades National Park. In short, many of us believe that the fish that usually hang out in the Marco and Ten Thousand Island areas have migrated to the south to get into a more comfortable environment. Anglers down south are getting to double dip the fish. I have heard of some fantastic catches and many were accomplished on artificial baits. Many of us are starting to focus more on the middle of the Ten Thousand islands.
There are schools of finger mullet everywhere you go in our neck of the woods. After pitching plastic for days with limited success, this guide succumbed to the overwhelming temptation to throw the net. After major shoulder surgery, it wasn’t a pretty sight. I was told by another boatload of anglers that I should, “hire someone to throw that thing.” But believe it or not, I scored some finger food and we started to catch a few fish. Finger mullet have served me and other guides well for the remainder of the week.
Fishing has been a real hit and miss game. I have been working banks with fallen bushes and catching a few small to legal size snook. Redfish have been very scarce in our neighborhood. I know that they are catching them further south. We did catch a couple of redfish this week. They came as a surprise. Even the jacks have been scarce.
My advice to you is to bump and run to your favorite spots. I have not been lingering on points. I have been hitting key spots on banks that have cover. You may pick up a couple of fish then move to the next target. This upcoming week may provide us with more stable weather. If the rains slow down, I am sure fishing will improve. The Caribbean and the Gulf are very active with weather right now so anything can happen. I will say that it is good to be back on the water and I hope to see you out there.
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