Windy Weather and Great Fishing in Naples Backwaters!
Capt. Todd Geroy
November 5, 2011
Naples - Saltwater Fishing Report
I'm taking the morning off after a very busy week running double half day trips daily. I will be heading out this afternoon to fish again on this beautiful cool November Saturday!
My clients enjoyed a very productive week on the water despite dealing with some heavy winds the first few days. Snook were particularly active with Wednesday bringing the single best snook day I have experienced since last spring. Redfish were a bit scarce early in the week, but by Friday morning the tide and conditions were more favorable and we had great success.
Live sardines took most of the snook, but a mix of live bait and jigs with Gulp shrimp tails worked well on the redfish.
Wednesday morning I fished with old clients Dave and Wayne. They found the snook very hungry and boated at least 50 fish to 29 inches during their 4 hours on the water. They hooked snook on nearly every cast at several stops!
My afternoon trip Wednesday was with one of my great lady clients, Dorrie Barton fishing solo. On her very first cast, she hooked and boated her largest snook ever. It weighed in at a solid 19 lb. and measured 41 inches! The bite was on all afternoon, and we continued to catch and release at least 30 more fish including several in the 27 to 32 inch range! Here are some shots of Dorrie with her snook…
That's over 80 snook released in a single day! Unbelievable!
Friday morning I fished with veteran anglers Ann Dunlap, Alan Novick and his wife Betty. We have fished together for at least 25 years and Friday was the single most interesting, productive trip ever! Calm conditions and higher water in the morning seemed like a great opportunity to find the redfish feeding. We ran to the Johnson Bay area and free lined sardines along the flooded shorelines. The slot reds obliged at every stop as well as snook, big jack crevalle and even a nice 20 lb. class juvenile tarpon. Betty hooked up to a giant snook in shallow water that I would estimate at about 18 lbs. As the fish neared the boat it decided to release itself politely returning our hook! But only after giving all of us a thrill with a showy fight!
The great fall fishing continues! November is very busy with only a couple half days still available. It's time to grab the last dates and get in on the action!
Naples Fishing Forecast:
November is perhaps my favorite month of the year for variety fishing in SW Florida. Bonito, spanish mackerel, pompano, bluefish and tripletail as well as the redfish and snook are all in the area right now as waters cool to the north of us.
Target Species:
Snook, redfish
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