Report for Naples, Marco Island and the Ten Thousand Islands
Capt. Matt Hoover
October 30, 2004
Marco Island - Saltwater Fishing Report
Jamaica Blues
I just got back from Jamaica last week. My mother lives in Port Antonio. Every year we participate in the Port Antonio International Marlin Tournament. It is always a premier event and is part of the IGFA Rolex thing. Despite the hurricane, this year was well received and the event was a great success.
My brother Drew and I always come to the boat prepared to get our butts in the air. It is a 26 foot Roballo with twin 200 Johnsons on it. They don’t get much use so they always need work. We managed to get them coughing and spitting well enough to try our hand one more time. I might add that we are the smallest boat in the fleet. Most of the participants are riding full blown sport fishermen type boats. This year there were about ten boats in the Small Boat division. All of them had the latest motors. Give me fuel injection please mom.
The first day was fairly uneventful for most of the fleet. We had one marlin knock down but no hook up. Some of the other boats had successful tag and releases.
Just before noon on day two, the port flat line took off. My brother Drew was hooked solid to a small blue. For the most part, this is a tag and release tournament so size didn’t matter to us. At 12:09 PM, we tagged our first blue.
Wednesday was rest day. Good friend Robb Murchison of Tales of the Everglades Angler flew in. He brought with him much needed coils and a new shift cable. We worked under drop lights until ten at night. Things were getting better each day.
The next day, Robb would take the chair. The sea was smooth and the crew of ASDIP was on point. We were on the board and ready for more. Just before 10 AM, Drew saw some bait spray. We conferred and decided to pull a u turn on the area. After the turn, all hell broke loose. The starboard rigger snapped off and went silent. Then the port rigger snapped off. It fell silent too. The boys started cranking them in to reset the lures. I pulled a slow turn to the port. Our friend Linval, put the port rigger rod in it’s holder until I could straighten out the boat. The lure was only thirty feet behind the boat. All of a sudden, a healthy blue jumped clear over the flat line and NAILED the unclipped rigger rod. I wish I had video of that. Robb was hooked up and fighting before 10 am. At 10:09, we tagged and released his blue. It was about 150 to 170 pounds.
The final day, it was Linvals’ birthday and it was his turn in the chair. Just after 8 am, a flat line went off. It was a small fifty and line was coming to the knot fast. I spun the boat and Linval gathered line. After twenty minutes, we tagged a blue around 120 pounds. This was the first fish caught in the tournament on Friday. It was guarantied prizes.
In the end, we won the Small Boat Division and were third overall. We had a great time. This is a wonderful tournament for anyone interested. The venue is perfect and the people are wonderful. Next year the tournament will run from October 10th through October 14th. Visit the tournament web site at www.themarinaatportantonio.com or go to www.igfatournaments.com
So what about your home waters Matt? Ok. Ok. Fishing in the immediate Marco and Ten Thousand Islands has been super. The bait has been stupid thick. Just go to any beach, cove or pass and throw your net over your back and hope that it doesn’t open all the way.
There are plenty of smaller snook. Double digit days are easy. The larger fish have thinned out some. With a little luck you should be able to get a keeper. I have been catching a few redfish on each outing this week. Most are small but we have been landing some larger fish as well. The jacks are smashing bait everywhere. They are all sizes and have provided lots of entertainment in between the glamour species.
Clients have been hooking tarpon to the sixty pound range off and on all week too. I have been keeping medium sized rods loaded for the occasion on the boat. They are smashing well presented sardines.
We have been slaying the bluefish and large Spanish mackerel on the flats around Cape Romano. Expect to catch your share of trout in the process.
Now that I have the Pathfinder Tournament, I hope to do a little more near shore wreck fishing. This boat is a dream to fish out of. My Action Craft 1890 is still up for grabs. It has a tight Yamaha HPDI 200 on it. It comes with the trailer. I am selling this boat CHEAP. Call me.
My globe trotting days are over for another year so I hope to get you fishing reports with more frequency. Get out and get in on this super fall run action. I’ll see you on the water.
More Fishing Reports:
