Ft. Myers - Offshore

Capt. Rick Featherstone
August 7, 2005
Fort Myers - Saltwater Fishing Report

Sumertime Fun

Greetings,

Summer pattern is in full swing in Southwest Florida. We are catching lots of fish every day and almost every day it’s been something new. Versatility is the key and is ready to change it up to keep action in high gear. Be ready with plan A,B, and c. Weather, bait, and time will all play a factor in your choices.

Near Shore has a good supply of bait. The beaches from Big Hickory to Blind Pass have snook around many of the passes and structure. Live shiners, or many of the popular crank baits that imitate a threadfin or scaled sardine. A white buck tail shrimp tipped is killer. Spanish macks are in the area, watch for birds. A Clark spoon will do the trick nicely. Cobia are around the heavy structure. They love lively pinfish.

Offshore there is Spanish mackerel and Little Tunny scattered in schools throughout the range. They are all over big schools of glass minnows. That same Clark spoon will serve you will here again. Big structure is holding cobia and goliath grouper. We are having a ball with the big guys up past three hundred pounds. They cannot resist big live bait right now. Rig big, and pass the testosterone, as they will test your determination to the limit. Out past sixty feet of water the grouper bites have been consistent. Some very nice gags are on the bigger ledges in the mid seventy-foot range. The bait of choice is a big live something. We used silver trout the other day with good results. You will find solid red grouper action over live bottom from sixty to eighty feet. When it’s calm I prefer drift fishing these areas with a variety of baits. Scaled sardines, squid, Spanish sardines, pinfish, and jigs tipped with Berkley gulp soft plastics will catch the bigger fish.

Watch the weather and fish you window, don’t push the limit. Lighting sucks.

Stay in the Game,

Capt. Rick

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