Report for Naples, Marco Island and the Ten Thousand Islands
Capt. Matt Hoover
February 5, 2002
Marco Island - Saltwater Fishing Report
Mayhem
Fishing was absolutely spectacular this past week. With the water temperature approaching the eighty-degree mark, fish came out of the woodwork. Snook in particular stole the show. I say that because they are not usually a species that is easy to find this time of year. Large tarpon are making an early showing as well. Keep in mind that this is still February and anything can happen weather wise.
Bait started showing up in key spots this past week and some of us guides took advantage of it. Snook were all over the place. They were in the backcountry, inside islands and outer points. Larger snook could be found in plain view basking in the sun. Shiners, sassy shad soft baits, lures, and flies took their toll this week. Almost all the boats returning to my dock had a keeper or two to filet. Small snook kept the action going. Jacks, ladyfish and trout filled in the gaps. We even caught several redfish off of the oyster bars each day. Trout remained steady and helped fill several slams this week.
Tarpon were another nice surprise this week. Angler Bob Holice went toe to toe with a very large tarpon on the fly with me this week. We found several fish spraying mullet in a quiet bay. We found one fish laying up in a small pocket. Bob made a perfect twenty foot cast and he came tight with a very large, unhappy tarpon. With the drag wailing and the fish jumping, we were off on a thirty-minute ride before the hook pulled out. That’s tarpon fishing. He did get redemption on some respectable snook. One snook was thirty inches. That fish fell for one of my flies called a “Matt’s Forty”. I saw tarpon all week but most of my clients wanted trout, redfish and snook. Go figure.
Trout are still plentiful over the grass and in the islands. They are happy to hit a jig. You will have no problem using a popping cork with shrimp. I have seen a lot of pompano skipping in shallow water so I know that an angler could do well with them in the hard bottom passes of Marco and throughout the islands.
The weather has cooled down a little as of this writing. I see a large front in the not so distant future. Let’s hope that the major part of it slides to the north. Temperatures are dropping in Texas as I write. I think that it is safe to say that we will experience cooler weather in the future. For now there has never been a better excuse to get on the water. Fishing in February has never been as good as this. I will see you on the water.
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