Report for Naples, Marco Island and the Ten Thousand Islands
Capt. Matt Hoover
October 16, 2003
Marco Island - Saltwater Fishing Report
October Crush
October is always one of the best times of the year to fish in the Marco Island and Ten Thousand Islands areas. Bait of all species is everywhere and the fish are going bonkers. Every corner you turn you will see bait spraying. All the backcountry players are in motion. This is one time of the year where a grand slam is more than a possibility.
I have just returned form a trip to Jamaica. My mother lives there and each year I participate in the Port Antonio International Marlin Tournament. This year I took Robb Murchison with me. Robb is an old friend and is also the creator and cinema photographer for the TV fishing show, Tales Of The Everglades Angler. You can catch host Curtis Grant and him on Fox Sports. I captain a small Roballo down there during the tournament. It puts us in the small boat division. To make a long story short, on day four, Robb hooked, tagged and released his first blue marlin. That fish won the small boat division for us. We took awesome pictures of the event. If you would like to view them, I have a photo gallery set up on Pbase. Feel free to have a look. Click on the thumbnails and you will get an enlarged view as well as a commentary about what you will see. http://www.pbase.com/pirate55/jamaican_marlin_tournament.
When I returned, it was right back to work. It wasn’t hard to get back into the swing of things. Bait is everywhere and so are the fish. The tides were strong due to the moon we had this past week. Snook and redfish were staging around points, knock downs, and banks with current hitting them. It was not hard to have double digit days with snook of all sizes. Medium to oversize reds were in the mix. Jacks have been filling in the gaps.
I have been seeing tarpon of all sizes chowing in the schools of bait in the bays just inside of the islands. We managed to hook and land several tarpon in the seventy to one hundred and twenty pound class using live menhaden.
We have also been catching larger trout while fishing for snook and redfish. When the tides hit the higher phases, fishing on the outside points has been the way to go.
Anglers have been doing very well on artificial lures. Soft plastic on quarter ounce jigs heads are a good lure. Early morning hours have been producing great results for the top water junky.
The mornings are cool and the afternoons are pleasant. The change of seasons is here. That means that Old Man Winter is just around the corner. Don’t wait for this transitional period to pass before getting in on the superb action. We’ll all be wearing winter clothes too soon. I’ll see you on the water.
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