Report for Naples, Marco Island and the Ten Thousand Islands
Capt. Matt Hoover
August 13, 2002
Marco Island - Saltwater Fishing Report
This past week produced some great fishing. The tides were perfect for the RedSnook tournament. It was the first tournament where every angler in the event caught fish. There were moments when the fishing was slow, but if you poked around enough, you could pull one to half a dozen snook out of one spot.
The tournament had general, artificial and fly divisions. Many fish were caught in all divisions. Over four hundred snook were reported caught and released. One hundred and fifty redfish were caught and released in a two day period. Not all of the fish caught were reported because you get to a point where you are culling for larger fish.
This past week many snook were caught in the eighteen to twenty six inch range. Quite a few fish were caught in the thirty to forty inch range as well. Redfish are still spotty, but they seem to be showing up in better numbers than we have seen in the last two months. My anglers hooked five redfish and boated three on the second day. We might have done better, but my boat had mechanical problems. We didn’t start fishing until nine thirty. Despite the difficulties, we had a blast and we made some new friends.
Anglers have been seeing and catching many small tarpon in the ten to thirty pound class. Just look for them to roll along the deeper edges of the mangrove shorelines. The docks around Marco have been holding small tarpon. Don’t be surprised to catch a snook or two while you are at it.
Trout fishing has been excellent over the grass flats of Cape Romano. As usual, we have been catching some larger trout while fishing for snook and redfish. These trout will usually hang out in a shallow area where there is a drop off into deeper water. I think that it serves as a good ambush spot as well as a good escape route.
Early morning is the best time to get some serious action. Anglers in the tournament did very well with plugs, jigs, and flies. With so much live bait around, it is hard to resist catching a few for the livewell. Scaled sardines usually guarantee success.
Fishing is only going to get better as we approach fall. The water will cool down a bit and the gamefish will really pour it on. Right now, we have the water to ourselves. Hurry up and get in on the action. I’ll see you on the water.
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