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Report for Naples, Marco Island and the Ten Thousand Islands
Capt. Matt Hoover
July 17, 2001
Marco Island - Saltwater Fishing Report
Weather And Issues
The weather has tamed down today and that might give anglers a much needed break. We have been crying for rain and we have sure received our fair share of it this past week. There was a tropical depression looming over south Florida all week. It brought gusty winds and buckets of wet stuff. That can make catching fish difficult. Being grounded, I have to go by what I am told and my spies tell me that fishing was tough all week.
Winds blew hard out of the south to southwest and I don’t have to be out there to know that catching our favorite bait was impossible. There are some large schools of small menhaden in the area and they work fine for live bait, but they do not live long in the well. I did manage to get out with my brother and dad on Saturday and I must say that the water looked like, well uh…..dark tea. That is usually caused by a large influx of fresh water. We didn’t burn down the house and it rained all day as well. Still, by all reports, there are snook being caught with all the usual methods. I talked to Captain Dave Harding last night and his anglers caught and released a few medium sized snook on the fly. Redfish remain very scarce. Most of the good trout flats were hit and miss. Snappers have been providing a good portion of the action this past week.
Now I have to get political. It is not something that I like to do too often, but we as anglers need scolded. We have more issues on our plates than we can shake a stick at. Right now we are in the fight of our times over fishing turf with the Manatee zoning dilemma. Most of which is an exercise in misinformation. I would hope that most anglers and boaters already know what I am talking about and have scribed out a huge check to Standing Watch.
But what really frosts my posterior is that we had a workshop presented by the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission this past Tuesday. This was an opportunity for everyone to learn about our West Coast snook fishery and to have input on further regulations that could very well be put in place. If you weren’t there, and I know you weren’t, you missed out on some vital information. What I did learn is that we have close to 250,000 people in Collier county and the same old fifteen of us showed up for the meeting. I still can’t describe how that makes me feel. Folks, if we are going to enjoy the outdoors and sometimes harvest from it, don’t you think that we should take responsibility as fishermen for it’s maintenance? I heard many excuses for not being there. If you call yourself a fisherman, then having to go over to Aunt Millies for dinner does not take precedence. I think a death certificate should have been the only proof of exemption. Let’s get with the program. I have that off my chest.
Where was I? It looks as if we might start to enjoy a more stable weather pattern for the next week. Expect your usual summer precipitation, but the satellite pictures don’t show any major fronts in the works. I think the water will clear up a bit and you guys can get back to another round of great fishing. I’m going too. I’ll see you on the water.
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