Report for Naples, Marco Island and the Ten Thousand Islands
Capt. Matt Hoover
February 19, 2002
Marco Island - Saltwater Fishing Report
Major Players
Sunshine, cool weather, rain and red tide were major players in this past week of fishing. The weather was a constant challenge. It changed by the hour. Regardless, fishing was productive if you rolled with the punches.
The last front came through our area on Saturday. It brought with it rain and wind. Interestingly enough, Naples seemed to be the only place that received any amount of rain. Those of us fishing in Marco and the Ten Thousand Islands stayed dry. There is an unbelievable amount of red tide from Fort Myers to Marco. It doesn’t seem to be too prevalent in the islands. Dead fish are all over the beaches and I have seen several species that are not usually killed by it. Some folks are convinced that it is directly related to the lowering of the level of Lake Okeechobee via the Caloosahatchee River. There are a lot of phosphates coming down the river and folks that live along the river are concerned about the health of the river. There are a lot of people that are affected medically by the red tide. It can be a real hazard to the respiratory system.
Trout and pompano received a lot of attention this week. Most of the guides that I talked to did very well regardless of the weather. Pompano were taking small jigs in the major passes of Marco. The passes in the islands were giving up pompano too. Most of the trout that my clients caught were staging in the deeper runs along the islands. Larger trout like to hang where snook do so we were able to bag a few of them on jigs in shallower water. Jacks and ladyfish provided steady action throughout the week as well.
Chris Steffen threw the fly with me for a couple of days. He caught all of the above as well as redfish. He also caught a few snook too. The water temperature is climbing so I think that the snook will start to show. We were flyfishing today and saw several larger snook but they didn’t want the goodies we were throwing. I was happy to see those fish as a positive sign.
Anglers are still catching plenty of sheepshead as well as a few black drum in the deeper holes around Marco and the islands. They are dropping shrimp weighted with just enough split shot to keep them bouncing on the bottom. You never know what you are going to get with this tactic. Some very nice gag grouper have hit the dock as a result.
We have another front on the way. It looks like one of those systems that will slide to the north of Naples. There may be a little rain. There will be wind for sure. Hey, we are used to wind. Bring it on. I will see you on the water.
More Fishing Reports:
