Great Gulf Fishing with Spanish Mackerel, Cobia and Kings
Capt. Rob Modys
March 30, 2011
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fishing in the Gulf has been very steady while the back country has been up and down. A lot depends on the tides for fishing the flats and they were a bit slow this past week. Our summer pattern has shown an early start so things ought to get interesting a bit early this year including tarpon season.
The best overall fishing has been on the near shore rock piles and reefs within a few miles of the beach. Big spanish mackerel have shown up. We've been looking for large pods of bait near the surface in about 20 feet of water and almost always find them lurking underneath. A silver spoon or a light colored jig tipped with shrimp moved quickly through the water gets their attention.
On the bottom there are still lots of nice sized sheepshead with snapper and grouper mixed in. We've also been catching flounder, pompano and big sea trout in the same area.
While moving from spot to spot in the Gulf we've come across several nice size cobia. Trolled baits and lures with also pick up a king mackerel or two with most being in the 10 pound range.
The back bay was a bit slow except on the late day tide. If you could hit it right you'd get a nice mix of redfish, shook and trout, but the window was open only an hour or two each evening.
The forecast is for more summer like weather and the tides are improving each day and that should mean more great angling.
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