Marco Island, Ft. Myers & Boca Grande

Capt. Scott Hughes
April 25, 2005
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

Grand Slam Time!

It took a while this year but the tarpon are finally here in fishable numbers thoughout our region. I have been finding good numbers of tarpon from Everglades City to Boca Grande. We had success with cut bait, live herring and soft plastics. Most of the fish this week were 70-100 pounds. Snook, redfish and trout are also abundant so its quite possible to complete the slam by landing all four species in one trip.

Tarpon: Are mostly on the otside of the barrier islands mgrating toward the north. Look in the 10-30 ft range. When you locate fish use cut bait, live herring or a variety of plugs or soft plastics to hook-up.

Snook: Are running slightly larger this week with about 1 of 5 being a keeper. The slot limit is 26-34 inches with a bag limit of 1 fish per person. Live sardines are the key to the catching the larger fish.

Redfish: I wouldn't call the redfishing hot right now but a few keepers are mixed in everyday. They have taking everything from cut bait to soft plastics.

Trout: Lots of trout are still on the flats near the passes.Soft plastics wll catch the most numbers but the live sardines have started to produce the larger "gator" trout over 20 inches.

Sharks: I didn't target sharks much over the past two weeks but we caught plenty as a by catch while tarpon fishing. Shark fishing will continue to get better as the summer draws nearer.

Tripletail, cobia, jack crevelle, and spanish mackerel were also entered the mix this week. When the weather is good there is alot of things to do this time of year.

Good Luck !

Capt. Scott Hughes

Blackwater Charters

941-575-2389 home

941-628-4247 cell

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