Report for Naples, Marco Island and the Ten Thousand Islands
Capt. Matt Hoover
May 22, 2005
Marco Island - Saltwater Fishing Report
Breathless
It has been one long tough spring. I can’t remember a windier season. My anglers have been tough and slugged it out with me thick and thin. I have been working non stop since February so I can’t complain. It also explains why my reports have been spotty.
The crazy weather has finally returned to normal. Sweet windless mornings have blessed us for the last three weeks. We have been hooking a few tarpon by the grace of God each day as most of them have moved north. That does not mean that you can’t get one in our area. There are still plenty to go around. This morning we found about twenty fish rolling in a slick-as-glass bay. The air was thick and balmy. It was just the way I like it. We threw magnum plugs and jumped three over a hundred pounds before getting one to stay hooked. After about a half an hour fight we brought the fish alongside for a quick picture and release.
Bait has started to return to the beaches and hidey holes in the backcountry. That is a big relief as most of us are tired of playing Russian roulette with our nets on the wrecks offshore.
We have been catching plenty of snook on each outing. Some of them have been real barn burners. Those are the fish that leave you staring at your rod in disbelief. Redfish have been mingling with the snook as well. Small to very large jacks have been filling in the voids.
We have been catching a few permit by sight casting to them with crabs offshore.
The permit will be with the tarpon so keep both guns ready.
Fishing is only going to get better. The maddening crowd will start to thin out and we will have it all to ourselves. In a couple of weeks I am going to lick my wounds, sleep and heal up…….probably NOT! Too many fish to catch. I can sleep when I die. I’ll see you on the water.
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