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Southwest Florida - Naples, Marco, 10,000 Islands
Capt. Jeff Legutki
December 3, 2007
Ten Thousand Islands - Saltwater Fishing Report
Its been a blast along the beach!
With the approach of winter amongst us, the migratory species are really making a presence. Bait from the colder northern end of the Gulf are moving south in search of warmer waters. Behind them are the seasonal preditors. Every thing from Bonita, Bluefish,Mackeral and Kingfish with a few stray cobia.
Past couple weeks with the calm winds and smooth seas we have been chasing schools bonita and mackeral. The flock of birds above them and frothing water below them are a dead give away.
Depending on the clients choice of weapon, light spinning rods and fly rods have been the arsenal. Accuracy is not a magor concern, just get it in the boiling mass of fish before the sound and move. For the flyrod a quick 9 wt. with floating line has been working well. For the bonita, this is where a quality drag comes in. Although these fish range from 5 to 12 pounds, they easily pull 200 yards of line in under a minute. Extremely fast and powerful! These fish are eating tiny glass minnows no longer than a 3/4 inch. Somedays this is the only thing they will eat and where the fly gets the nod. Other times if its in front of them they'll eat it, a small bucktail jig is working well. In between the bonita, the mackeral and bluefish will keep the rods bent.
Inside in the skinny water of the winter low tides of the back country, sight fishing for red fish has been spectacular. Clean water has been consistent making locating fish easy. As the sun climbs in the sky the fish move into the rapidly warming shallows in search of food. Soft plastic shrimp imitations with near no weight makes soft landings for spooky reds in less than 10 inches of clear water. Smooth movements is the key for these elusive reds, low side arm cast with little body movements. Shrimp and crab patterns for the fly rod in natural colors are working well.
Trout are starting to pile up in the holes and troughs and the pompano are starting to skip out of the water near the outside. Jigs tipped with shrimp in pink, yellow, and chartruece.
Snook are around just not taking the lime light as the water starts to chill. I have been finding a few nice snook moving to the back country over the muddy bottoms. Recently seems like the fish are moving in search for warmer water instead of the voracious preditor they are. Smaller sub slot fish are on the current swept points, and wind protected shallow coves.
Fishing is real good at the moment and expect it to stay the same until we start getting pegged by back to back cold fronts. Tight lines and screaming drags to all.
Capt. Jeff
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