Report for Naples, Marco Island and the Ten Thousand Islands
Capt. Matt Hoover
May 31, 2000
Marco Island - Saltwater Fishing Report
Premonition Fishin'
It has been like a steam bath almost every morning this past week. A lot of people don’t like it because it’s “too hot”. Well fish love it. The tarpon are very fond of a sticky breathless morning. The snook and redfish are of the same mind. It was great to have them all show off this week for us. When the water is slick in the morning, it is not hard to get a premonition about the kind of fishing day that you will have.
War was waged this past week with the tarpon. They were caught in passes and back bays on thread herring, cut bait, plugs, and flies. Tarpon were spotted “daisy chaining” along the beaches this week too. A tarpon daisy chain is when tarpon follow each other in a nose to tail fashion. It looks like a big black tire under water. Sometimes their fins will cut the surface. There is nothing that will get a fly fisherman more excited than to see a chain within casting distance. These fish are monsters. It is believed that it is a pre-spawn ritual. Many of these fish are large females. Captain Stacy Mullendore had a client catch and release a fish that was estimated at one hundred and seventy pounds. I was there and saw the fish as it came blasting towards my boat. It was a gorilla. I had several clients release fish that were in the one hundred and thirty to one hundred and fifty pound range. Other captains gave similar reports. I saw fish in clear water today that were beyond my guessing ability.
Most of us have been relying on full-grown thread herring for bait this week. One thing is for sure; you catch larger snook with them. Plenty of thirty-inch snook hit the dock this week as a result. Buy the time that you read this, snook season will have closed. It’s a good thing too because they have been getting hit hard in the last month. This time of closure will take some of the pressure off of them so that they can get to the business of spawning. I did a bit of fly fishing this week. The snook were willing to pounce the fly. Most of the fish were small but we did boat a few that were legal. Because shiners are non existent, we have been throwing jigs and plugs. Screwtail jigs and soft baits have been working well. Redfish will readily hit a jig and that is what most of the fish that I saw were caught on. Trout have been hitting jigs over the grass flats and in the troughs along the islands.
The fishing this time of year is like a smorgasbord. Stop making excuses. Get out there and just do it. I’ll see you on the water.
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