Marco Island, Ft. Myers & Boca Grande

Capt. Scott Hughes
February 22, 2001
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

Feels Like Spring!

After a full week last week I got a break with only a couple of trips this week. The fishing is still very unpredictable out of Marco Island. Every day presents a different challenge, but all in all most of my trips have had some good action. Next week I’ll be fishing out of the Ft Myers area and I will be able to give a more accurate account of what’s going on up there.

Snook action has been very good when live sardines or thread herring can be caught. Most of the “good” bait is still offshore so we have been limited to catching them on the calm days. Herring produced the best south of Cape Romano Island with snook to 11-pounds and redfish to about 7-pounds hitting them on a falling tide. Large trout and jacks also hit the sardines on the falling tide. Most of the jacks were smaller than I like but most were at least 5-pounds.

Pompano are hitting ¼ ounce jigs tipped with shrimp in Caxambas Pass and along the beaches south of Marco Island. The first half of the rising tide is usually the best, but considering everything this week who knows. Capt. Bill Jones and his customers landed up to 50 one day last week and the next day they could hardly buy a strike. Small jacks and ladyfish are all over the passes as well. So come prepared with plenty of shrimp to tip your jigs with.

Like I mentioned earlier the jacks have been pretty consistent. We have been catching them in the rivers with buck tail jigs and in the passes with shrimp tipped pompano jigs. The river fish have been larger than the pass jacks have been. On the Flats the jacks have been running 4-6 pounds and we have been catching most of them on live sardines. They will take flies as well but I haven’t been focusing on flyfishing.

We have caught some nice keeper sized mangrove snapper in the deeper runs leading to the large bays north of Everglades City. Free lined shrimp with a light leader seems to be the key to getting the big ones. Dismal Key pass and Fachatchee Pass are good places to start.

Tarpon are still showing their faces from time to time through out the upper 10,000 Islands. I have spotted tarpon from Cape Romano south to White Horse Key and other guides have reported seeing them all the way down to the Broad River.

Offshore, bonito are hitting bait schools around the wrecks from 5-20 miles out. Bluefish and spanish mackerel are scattered around nearshore. Spoons will catch the spanish mackerel and cut bait will catch the bluefish. Kingfish have been scarce at best.

The forecast for the bait is going to get only better. So its time to keep those live bait rods in the rod holders. Tarpon will start becoming more of a common occurrence and snook fishing will remain consistent unless red tide or something drastic happens. Trout fishing will improve when the water clears up.

Good Luck!

Capt. Scott Hughes

Blackwater Charters

863-946-9171

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