Hot Summer Snook Fishing in Naples Backwaters!
Capt. Todd Geroy
June 12, 2014
Naples - Saltwater Fishing Report
I have been on a bit of a writing hiatus for the last month, with no excuse other than a busy fishing schedule and some relatively slow fishing for this time of year. While we have had to work really hard for the fish so far this summer, our efforts have produced some great catches with a few tarpon and some big snook coming to the boat.
This is peak tarpon season here and there are some big fish in the area. For some reason, this year I have only had a few anglers wishing to dedicate their trips to fishing the silver kings with most anglers opting for action fishing for other species. We have jumped a few tarpon and also boated a few. Most of the larger fish are now congregating off area beaches near the numerous schools of small bait fish. The best time to target them has been at first light and near sunset.
Snook fishing has been our main focus and my anglers have been having success with some large fish running up to 29 inches. Live baits (scaled sardines) are taking the largest fish but we have also had success on the smaller snook with flies and a variety of plugs and soft plastic baits. Incoming tides have been most productive. I have been targeting most of the snook near the passes or just inside where they are staging for spawning this time of year.
On Tuesday of this week, I had and angler hook up with a large snook against the mangroves on a very high tide. The fish put up maximum resistance against Neil making several long runs into the cover before becoming completely entangled. Determined not to lose this prize, I slipped into the water and waded into the entanglement of roots. I managed to get hold of the fish and return to the boat to celebrate the great catch before releasing the 15 lber back to the water. My guests snapped a photo of a determined guide!
eil Henges proudly shows off his 15 lb. snook before release on 6/10/14
Wednesday I fished with Jim Cober of Dallas who has been a client for over 20 years. He brought his 14 year old grandson, Tucker along for his first experience fishing in saltwater. We had to work hard, as we found numerous lazy snook slapping at the baits and not connecting and only seeming to be able to boat one fish per stop. At the fourth stop, Tucker's first cast was quickly consumed by a giant snook! The fish made a long run down the shoreline and tried desperately to get into the cover, but Tucker was able to maneuver the fish and boat it after a long battle. The fish was released after a quick photo to remember a great catch!
Tucker with a 39 inch snook released 6/11/2014 with Capt. Todd Geroy
Redfishing has been spotty, but they are large fish in the 26 to 30 inch range when we find them.
-Capt. Todd Geroy
Naples Fishing Forecast:
Snook and tarpon will remain the main targets for the rest of June. Baby tarpon action should heat up once the summer rainy pattern settles in and runoff pushes these fish out of the back country creeks into the bays. Redfishing has been spotty, but they are large fish in the 26 to 30 inch range when we find them.
Target Species:
snook, tarpon
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