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June and July 2019
Capt. Jim Conant
July 7, 2019
Matlacha - Saltwater Fishing Report
June & July 2019
I've been pretty busy the last two months between guiding and a two week vacation for myself and family at Yellowstone.
Good news, bait is everywhere! Small 1-2", medium 3" and large 4+" threadfins in different schools and only having to throw 1-3 cast to black out a livewell. Using threadies is tricky because their scales come off so easy they will suffocate themselves in the livewell as their scales come off. With that don't totally blackout your livewell or you'll have a lot of dead bait and dead bait breeds more dead bait. What's nice about threadies is it's a great all around bait, everything eats them from tarpon to snapper. The big ones I use whole for big snook or tarpon and I will also cut them into appropriate size chunks for snook, Redfish, and smaller pieces for snapper.
Water temperature is also a big player this time of year with temps starting around 86 and getting as high as 93 by mid-day. Tips for fishing these varying temps are, fish when it's the coolest for the bigger snook and reds. Once the water reaches 90 all bets are off on getting the big ones because they are so far up in the mangroves my clients will lose all my hooks and leaders trying to get the perfect spot. So when the waters get that hot I move to cutting my baits into small pieces and go for snapper in deeper troughs where the water maybe a bit cooler. I also will head out into deeper waters like charlotte harbor or passes and fish the bait schools for Spanish mack or sharks. Yesterday's trip they loaded up on Spanish mackerel and caught 5, 2 foot hammerheads. I had to do a double take because normally they are shovel head sharks, but these were hammers tearing us up.
If you're having a hard time catching fish you may be wearing too much jewelry. Most of my clients who hire me that are new to the area want to learn how to fish this area and are trying to use their techniques they use up North. Well those techniques don't really work down here. First off they always say this is your setup? Fishing line (Fins braid 15lb maybe 25lb if fishing for bigger fish in deep water) to leader (Seaguar fluorocarbon 20lb) to a 2/0-4/0 (Owner mutu-light wire hooks) and no weights or swivels. What they had been trying was 40+ lb. line to a swivel with a huge weight and even heavier leader and way too big of a hook. Also some other bad things they do is make a live bait swim backwards when it's out there doing its job on its own. Or twitching a cut bait that should be left alone as it's a dead piece of bait and shouldn't be moving anyway. When your target species is in the area and interested in your bait and see it move in an unnatural way they will leave it alone unless on a feeding frenzy. Another bad move they make is when they feel a bite they try and rip the lips off the fish to catch it. Again they miss when using the circle hooks. You have to let the fish totally take off with the bait and then gently pull back and the fish will hook itself when done correctly.
Catching bait, if you are having trouble learning how to throw a cast net look up you tube videos and practice in your yard. I am a disabled veteran with shoulder, back, neck and knee issues and while my form isn't the greatest I get the job done. If you need help after exhausting that I would be happy to lend a helping hand when I have the time. Give me a holler or if you see me at the dock and I have time I will gladly help. I may look a bit grumpy but I am an extremely nice person and bend over backwards to help people.
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
Also, if you see me out there say Hi. I am a friendly guy that likes to help. Just don't ask for a pin point location, but I will tell you what I am catching fish on.
Captain Jim
239-671-4692
Matlacha Fishing Forecast:
Great as long as water stays clean.
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