Report for Naples, Marco Island and the Ten Thousand Islands
Capt. Matt Hoover
March 18, 2002
Marco Island - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fresh Start
Consistent eighty-degree weather has made the water temperature climb into the upper seventies. That makes everybody happy. Bait has started coming into the beaches and islands. Attention is turning from trout to snook, redfish and tarpon.
Snook are starting to come out of hiding in the deep backcountry. We were able to score beautiful scaled sardines in the cast net this week. We had a few days at the end of the week where we caught small to legal sized snook. We had several snook that went ten to twelve pounds. Larger jacks and a few redfish made a strong showing as well. It is sweet music to the ears to here the drags sing again.
Trout are abundant on the grass flats off of Cape Romano. Popping corks and shrimp or jigs will do the trick. Pompano are still hitting jigs in the passes around Marco and in the islands. Large ladyfish and a few mackerel are in the mix.
The showstoppers are the tarpon that have been steadily coming into our area. We saw small schools come into the Cape Romano area. Tarpon are showing up in the passes and bays of the Ten Thousand Islands too. I had several hookups this pass week on cut bait with fish that went well over one hundred pounds. We also had opportunities to throw to laid up tarpon with the flyrod.
Now is the time when the tarpon will be aggressive. Many of them have made a long journey. They are lean and mean. As the weeks pass by they will settle into a pattern of rest and feeding. They will also become more wary of our assault on them. Make the next weeks count. Tarpon will take plugs, jigs, and flies, live bait and cut bait. Look for fish to roll. Make a soft approach. Many times you will find them laying motionless in a quiet cove. This is a good time to throw a fly or use soft plastic baits. Open passes and large bays are good places to throw plugs. Try live bait or cut bait. Tarpon have good olfactory senses and can pick up on the scent of cut bait very fast. Expect a shark or two in the process.
The fishing is going to improve with each passing day. Most of our boats will look like pincushions with all the types of rods that we will carry. The are so many options that one can lose sleep over it. My father hooked a large tarpon on light line last year when we were trying for snook and he turned to me and said, “this fishing is interrupting my fishing”. Spring is all about getting a fresh start. I’ll see you on the water
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