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Marco Island, Ft. Myers & Boca Grande
Capt. Scott Hughes
April 27, 2000
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report
High Winds Force a Retreat to the Backcountry.
The past few weeks since my last report have been fairly productive. The tarpon fishing was hot before strong winds forced us to hide in the backcountry and fish for snook, redfish, snapper and sheephead. All in all, we managed some great catches in the backcountry and on the outside when the weather let up.
Tarpon are on the move north to Boca Grande Pass and Tampa Bay. When the wind isn’t blowing from the west at 20 knots we have been hooking up around 4 per trip. Our landing percentage has been around 50%, which is slightly higher than last year. The major concentrations of tarpon have past Marco and are off the beaches of Sanibel and Captiva Islands. A few are now starting to show up in and around Boca Grande Pass.
The windy weather has forced us to snook fish around the islands for the past few days. We have been picking up some nice snook on jigs tipped with shrimp. About one in four have been in the keeper range. If you can catch some 4-5 inch sardines, large snook are on the outer points of the islands in the 10,000 Islands.
Redfish are starting to hit sardines on the flats south of Cape Romano and jigs around the islands in Rookery Bay. One notable redfish catch this week was a 33-inch red caught by Roberta Williams with a jig tipped with shrimp. I estimated the fish at about 15 lbs. In the same area Patrick Ganske landed a large permit using 6-pound test.
Trout are running in the 3-6 pound range south of Cape Romano. They are hitting live sardines in the same area as the redfish and snook. Patrick Ganske “backcountry slammed” on Easter morning and landed a few mackerel on a fly in the afternoon.
A mixed bag of sheephead, snapper, ladyfish, jacks and flounder rounded out the fishing for the week. The big jacks are running near the passes and will hammer any live sardine or plug that looks like a sardine. The sheephead are mostly hitting jigs around mangroves on a high tide. And the flounder are on the bottom near the passes. We’ve been catching them with jigs tipped with shrimp.
The outlook for the next few weeks is good. The winds will have to let up for the tarpon fishing to pick back up to speed but the backcountry has been producing good catches if you can pitch a jig. Remember, if your not getting hung in the trees every once in a while you’re not in the fish either.
Good Luck!
Capt. Scott Hughes
Blackwater Fishing Charters
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 I specialize in light tackle saltwater, and fly fishing from the backcountry of the 10,000 Islands to flats of Pine Island Sound and the bay system of Charlotte Harbor. I have pick-up locations out of Ft Myers, Marco Island, Pine Island, Punta Gorda and Boca Grande. I like to target big fish. During warm months, tarpon, sharks, snook, redfish, cobia, king mackerel and big jacks are the main species sought after. Most of the winter months are devoted to redfish, trout, snook and grouper. Whether
Contact Info:
Blackwater Charters
12571 Burnt Store Rd
Punta Gorda, FL 33955
Phone: 941-575-2389
Alt. Phone: 941-628-4247
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