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April has been great!
Capt. Jim Conant
April 19, 2020
Matlacha - Saltwater Fishing Report
19 April 2020
Despite the ongoing Pandemic paralyzing our country it hasn't affected the fish. So far I've had a lot of cancellations for April and May due to the pandemic. The fish have responded well to the lack of pressure during the week. Big schools of Reds out on the flats along with snook on the incoming tides. The boat traffic on weekends has ten folded and I no longer head out on weekends. It's crazy out there.
The big fish are chewing on just about anything thrown at them. From cut bait to live bait, you find the schools and you're in for a treat. I've been fishing for fun since this all happened heading out about two to three times a week and haven't been disappointed. Timing catching your bait and heading straight to the places I last caught has been working just fine.
The only drawback is with all the boats on the water and one person sees you catching and they pull up almost directly on you. Then next thing you know there is five boats spooking the fish away. It's so disrespectful to the guys that found the fish and got on them. It's ok to pull on the school if you are waived in to join the festivities. But otherwise you should stand off see which way the fish are going and get way ahead (150 yards or more) and wait till they come by. Now you're not spooking the fish and established where you're fishing. Otherwise be expecting to be FB and Insta famous as a googan along with being cursed out by the guys you're interrupting.
Another note if you see guys fishing and you're speeding by GO AROUND and GIVE A WIDE BERTH. I've had guys come well within casting distance then slow down and put up a huge wake while I was fishing just off the flats and on totally screwing me up and making me stumble about. Normally I give them a look of disgust and raise my hands like what are you doing? I can tell the difference of someone accidentally running upon me and doing it intentionally. Extremely rare but, … I have seen them later in the day and returned the favor when I know they did it intentionally otherwise I forget about it and don't let it ruin my day. Don't get me wrong I have unintentionally ran too close to other boats fishing. This is normally in the backwaters going around a bend and all of a sudden they are right there. I believe the correct thing to do is to keep flying by instead of slowing down unless you would be too close to the other boat and create a dangerous situation. And try to signal sorry about it. It still ticks guys off but what are you going to do. Out on the flats if this happens if the boat fishing is close to the deeper water or trench that all the boats run and need to run to stay on plane and not drag bottom they should expect to get ran by. Not all boats run in 6 inches of water. Enough of ranting. Just be courteous out there.
Again the fish have been on fire, tides have been getting higher and fishing is great.
Check out and like my Facebook https://www.facebook.com/jimbocharters/ and Instagram #jimboscharters page for recent pictures and trips. If you're ready to go fishing give me a call to plan your trip so we can try and catch the tides right. If you're a Disabled/ Retired Veteran or first responder I have discounts for you. I'm also on Facebook at Jimbo's Charters where I post pictures if my clients let me and my website www.Jimboscharters.com and my You tube channel I am slowly building https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGhDg-V7oR-ex6W-5ztwLAQ
Captain Jim
239-671-4692
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