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Report for Naples, Marco Island and the Ten Thousand Islands
Capt. Matt Hoover
September 10, 2002
Marco Island - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fresh Water
The picture has changed dramatically in the past week or so. Fresh water is pouring into the upper Ten Thousand Islands. It is even effecting the south Marco area. Therefore, fishing got a little bit tougher for anglers in the past week. Being persistent was the key to success.
Activity slowed this week as the water turned to a soupy brown. It is that color that many of us have seen before when there is an extra amount of fresh water mixed in with the local waters. Too much fresh water can send fish packing.
Early in the week, I caught my bait off Marco and headed into the Ten Thousand Islands. I pulled into the middle grounds up by Dismal Key to start fishing. When we opened the livewell to snatch a bait, we found a disappointment. Most of the bait was doing the dance of death. There was too much fresh water in the mix. The surrounding water was tea colored. We fished some key areas where I have been catching snook and redfish. We didn’t even see a mullet jump. The Ten Thousand Islands has many major rivers running to the Gulf from the mainland. Heavy rainfall can be an overnight influence to this fishery.
The solution was to head back to Marco for more bait and stay in that area. The water didn’t look much better in the south Marco area, but the influence of the salty Gulf is more prevalent in that area. This fishing in Marco was hit and miss.
I found that you had to fish hard this week. We went to points of interest and could pick up a few snook and jacks. Most of the snook that we caught were eighteen to thirty inches. They didn’t come easy. It is what I call the bump and run method. We tried working banks methodically. This method would produce a snook or jack with and occasional trout but the pickings were slim.
This freshwater influx seemed to have pulled the plug on redfish. We were starting to do well with the redfish but I did not hear any favorable reports this week.
The current conditions are only temporary. Hurricane season has a tendency to throw a few curve balls. A massive amount of fresh water is one of them. It is certainly better than the alternative.
Bump and run. Fish hard. Persistence is often rewarded. The best part of fall fishing has yet to come. I’ll see you on the water
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